This page features brief excerpts of stories published by the mainstream
media and, less frequently, blogs, alternative media, and even obviously
biased sources. The excerpts are taken directly from the websites cited in
each source note. Quotation marks are not used.
Source: The Chronicle of Higher Education
September 8, 2009
The University of Wisconsin at Madison's Washburn Observatory, opened in 1881, will reopen Friday after a two-year, $2.5-million renovation that preserved the Italianate building's historic 15.6-inch refractor telescope while creating office and classroom space for a university honors program.
The renovation, overseen by Isthmus Architecture, involved making the building's basement and main level accessible to people with disabilities, according to a university news release. But the
Source: CNSNews,com
September 7, 2009
Washington (AP) - Former President Bill Clinton says those in his party should ignore any grief from Republicans on health care reform, because the GOP is just waiting for Democrats to "mess up."
Clinton told Esquire magazine that lawmakers should put together the best health care measure for President Barack Obama, even if it must be fixed later.
"All we have to worry about is getting things done and doing them as well as we can," Clinton said. &quo
Source: AP
September 8, 2009
Germany's parliament unanimously passed a blanket measure Tuesday overturning Nazi-era verdicts convicting people of treason, nearly 65 years after the end of World War II.
Treason convictions carried the death penalty and were handed down in Nazi Germany for any act deemed harmful to the nation or helpful to the enemy. Under that umbrella, people were convicted of treason for political resistance, aiding Jews, helping prisoners of war, selling products on the black market and score
Source: The Daily Beast
September 9, 2009
Another knock against Dick Cheney: According to The Times of London, Cheney “nearly destroyed” Britain’s efforts to bring to justice three men plotting to blow up an airliner by ordering the early arrest of the plotters’ link man in Pakistan in 2006. Consequently, British police had to arrest their suspects before they had finished gathering evidence against them. “We believed the Americans had demanded the arrest and we were angry we had not been informed,” writes Andy Hayman, who briefed the m
Source: telegraph.co.uk
September 8, 2009
Researchers claim that the Pendragon apple, which has been grown in England since the 12th century, contains higher levels of plant chemicals linked to health benefits - including reducing inflammation and lowering blood sugar - than other varieties.
The apple came top in a test of 12 organic and three normally grown apples, beating rivals such as Golden Delicious, Royal Gala and Cox...
... The compounds are disappearing from many people’s diet because of modern farmin
Source: telegraph.co.uk
September 6, 2009
Barack Obama is committing the same mistakes made by policymakers during the Great Depression, according to a new study endorsed by Nobel laureate James Buchanan.
His policies even have the potential to consign the US to a similar fate as Argentina, which suffered a painful and humiliating slide from first to Third World status last century, the paper says.
There are "troubling similarities" between the US President's actions since taking office and those whic
Source: The Telegraph
September 8, 2009
The 15 mint condition black and white and colour drawings, which could be worth up to $20,000 (£12,000) each, were in the middle of hundreds of files gathered in over a century of Blackpool Illuminations.
Altogether the files have been valued at £500,000 for insurance purposes, but it is thought the original Disney drawings alone could fetch up to £180,000 altogether should they be auctioned off.
The material is now being catalogued and will be archived for future publi
Source: BBC
September 8, 2009
A former Bosnian Serb leader convicted of crimes against humanity in the Bosnian war has been sent to the UK to serve his 20-year sentence.
Momcilo Krajisnik, 64, was jailed for the deportation, forcible transfer and persecution of non-Serbs in the war.
A 27-year term was cut when convictions for murder, extermination and persecution were overturned on appeal.
Source: BBC
September 8, 2009
A senior Libyan diplomat has said there was "surprise" that the issue of compensation for victims of the IRA has been raised again.
Speaking on Al-Jazeera TV Abd al-Ati al-Ubaydi said the British government had been told some time ago that it "was not open for discussion."
He said "domestic political pressures" on Gordon Brown had led to the compensation issue being raised again.
Source: Telegraph (UK)
September 6, 2009
Philip Pullman, the children's author, is set to cause controversy with a new book - called The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ - denying that Jesus was the son of God.
The book which is due to be published at Easter next year, argues that St Paul came up with the ''story'' that Jesus had a divine link.
Pullman told The Times newspaper that the idea of Jesus being the son of God came from Paul's ''fervid imagination''.
Source: Foxnews
September 8, 2009
Yale University wiped a forthcoming book clean of controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, fearing the images would cause another outbreak of violence.
Yale University Press, which the Ivy League school owns, removed the 12 caricatures from the book "The Cartoons That Shook the World" by Brandeis University professor Jytte Klausen — which is scheduled to be released next week.
A Danish newspaper originally published the cartoons, including one depicting
Source: CNN
September 8, 2009
As President Obama gets set to address a joint-session of Congress on the issue of health care reform Wednesday night, former President Clinton says it's time to forget about the Republican Party's role in the process entirely.
Though it increasingly appears the White House will win few if any Republican votes on a final health care bill, some members of the GOP say they remain open to supporting a potential version legislation, including Arizona Sen. John McCain.
Still
Source: SignOnSanDiego.com (Union Tribune)
September 7, 2009
We don't labor, not most of us anyway. It's a day off, and an odd one. It's the only national holiday where the thing we are celebrating is the thing we're getting paid not to do: work.
The result is scores of people who attach no meaning to the day beyond its place on the calendar — the first Monday of September. The unofficial end of summer, or at least of summer vacation.
That kind of historical amnesia is either a tribute to the widespread acceptance of the labor m
Source: Independent (UK)
September 8, 2009
A pair of enormous knickers which belonged to Queen Victoria have been uncovered after being hidden away in a private collection for more than 100 years, it was announced today.
The linen bloomers, which measure more than 50 inches around the waist, have been added to the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection, housed at Kensington Palace in west London.
The royal underwear, known as "split drawers", is embroidered with a small crown and the initials VR, and come
Source: Times (UK)
September 8, 2009
Dick Cheney, the former US Vice President, nearly destroyed Britain's efforts to bring the airline bomb plotters to justice, police and intelligence experts said today.
By ordering the early arrest of Rashid Rauf, the bombers' link man in Pakistan, Washington forced British police to detain the suspects in the UK before all the evidence had been gathered, it was claimed.
Yesterday three British Muslims - Abdulla Ahmed Ali, Tanvir Hussain and Assad Sarwar - were finall
Source: BBC
September 6, 2009
Archaeologists have solved an ancient mystery surrounding the famous Easter Island statues.
At 2,500 miles off the coast of Chile, the island is one of the world's most remote places inhabited by people.
Up to 1,000 years ago, the islanders started putting giant red hats on the statues.
The research team, from the University of Manchester and University College London, think the hats were rolled down from an ancient volcano.
Dr Colin Richards
Source: Breitbart
September 7, 2009
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen renewed his criticism of the country's U.N.-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal Monday, warning that arresting more suspects could spark civil war.
Hun Sen spoke in response to last week's ruling by the tribunal allowing prosecutors to pursue further arrests. The matter had been in contention because the Cambodian co-prosecutor opposed the idea, while his international counterpart supported it.
The tribunal is seeking
Source: BBC
September 7, 2009
Most people in China and Taiwan might think they know what happened after the long and bloody civil war between the Chinese Nationalist Party and the Communist Party ended in 1949.
But recently declassified government archives have revealed a previously unknown secretive plan by Taiwan's late President Chiang Kai-shek to take back mainland China.
According to these newly-revealed government documents, by the 1960s Chiang thought the time was right to launch a counter-a
Source: Telegraph (UK)
September 7, 2009
Paris considered protecting two of Saddam Hussein's top aides just three months before the allied invasion of Iraq, according to the notes of a retired French spymaster.
Just as President Jacques Chirac was vehemently arguing against invading Iraq in late 2002, General Philippe Rondot wrote that he had been given the green light to "recover" top officials including Tariq Aziz, Saddam's foreign minister.
Previously unseen extracts of Gen Rondot's private diari
Source: CNN
September 7, 2009
Former first lady Laura Bush praised the performance of her husband's successor Monday, breaking with many Republicans in telling CNN that she thinks President Obama is doing a good job under tough circumstances.
She also criticized Washington's sharp political divide during an interview covering a range of topics including her thoughts on first lady Michelle Obama, former Vice President Dick Cheney, the situation in Afghanistan and Myanmar, and life after eight tumultuous years in
