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: Rapid City Journal
August 30, 2009
Four men accused of trafficking in archaeological resources will forfeit more than 12,500 archaeological items as part of their federal penalties.
Three of the men were recently sentenced, and a fourth is awaiting sentencing.A fifth man, Scott Matteson, 60, of Fort Pierre, has pleaded not guilty and will be tried in January 2010. Matteson faces up to five years in prison and a $100,000 fine.
John Sheild, 77, of Monona, Wis., was fined $10,000 and ordered to forfeit his
Source: Dawn Media Group
September 1, 2009
ISLAMABAD: Taxila valley does not just boast country’s rich heritage, it has been a source of enduring pride for the people. But it has been under stress from continuous quarrying and blasting in its surroundings.
Archaeologists and environmentalists are again voicing outrage at substantial harm to this irreplaceable cultural heritage – ancient structures, archaeological sites, and priceless artifacts – from continuous quarrying.
The archaeological remains and en
Source: Yahoo News
August 31, 2009
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Josef Stalin was in the dock on Monday when a Russian court held a preliminary hearing in a libel case brought by his grandson over a newspaper story which said the tyrant had ordered the killings of Soviet citizens.
Rights groups say the case shows a creeping attempt in modern Russia to paint a more benevolent picture of the Soviet Union's most feared leader, under whose rule millions perished.
Stalin's grandson, Yevgeny Dzhugashvili, is seeking 9.5
Source: LA Times
August 31, 2009
Mt. Wilson Observatory is a historic architectural site that has survived more than 100 years in the rugged wilds of the San Gabriel Mountains high above L.A.
This week, however, the observatory's very existence is in jeopardy as the Station fire continues to spread due to dry, hot weather conditions.
In a post today on the Chicago Tribune's Cityscapes blog, Blair Kamin writes that the observatory was designed by D.H. Burnham & Co., the firm of the notable Chicago a
Source: BBC
August 31, 2009
Gaza's ruling Islamist movement Hamas has resisted suggestions that Palestinian children should be taught about the Holocaust in UN-run schools.
The head of its education committee in Gaza, Abdul Rahman el-Jamal, told the BBC that the Holocaust was a "big lie".
He said that to teach it would be to "grant a big favour" to Israel, which has been fighting Hamas for years.
The UN, which runs most Gazan schools, recently asked local groups
Source: BBC
October 1, 2009
The remains of the last two Australian servicemen missing in action from the war in Vietnam have been returned to their homeland.
The remains of Flying Officer Michael Herbert and Pilot Officer Robert Carver were found last month.
They were found at a remote jungle site near the border with Laos where their bomber crashed 39 years ago.
They were honoured with a military ceremony at an airfield on the outskirts of Sydney.
Source: telegraph.co.uk
August 31, 2009
The Bridge on the River Kwai – the monument to the suffering of Allied troops in Japanese hands – has been overshadowed by a controversial new Buddhist statue.
A 55ft statue of Guanyin, the goddess of mercy, has been built next to the bridge as part of a religious retreat.
Local conservationists described it as "visual pollution", saying that it endangered the symbolism of the site, which is in the western Thai town of Kanchanaburi.
The bridge sym
Source: CNN.com
September 1, 2009
At least 20 world leaders gathered Tuesday in Poland to commemorate the start of World War II 70 years ago -- a conflict in which 6 million Poles died.
Germany's pre-dawn invasion began when the battleship Schleswig-Holstein fired on the Westerplatte military base in Gdansk harbor on September 1, 1939.
The attack set off a chain of events that eventually embroiled all of the world's major powers in the war. The conflict lasted until September 2, 1945 when Germany's ally
Source: telegraph.co.uk
September 1, 2009
British agents foiled a desperate German plot to monitor troop movements just days before D-Day, according to newly-released MI5 files on the Nazis.
During the Second World War, Iceland became tactically important for both sides and Germany sent a series of spies to gather weather information about the area to send back to the Luftwaffe.
But by May 1944 they had become convinced that any naval assault on their forces would be launched from Iceland, MI5 files released on
Source: NYT
August 31, 2009
WASHINGTON — Seven months after taking office, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. is reshaping the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division by pushing it back into some of the most important areas of American political life, including voting rights, housing, employment, bank lending practices and redistricting after the 2010 census.
As part of this shift, the Obama administration is planning a major revival of high-impact civil rights enforcement against policies, in areas rangin
Source: CNN
August 31, 2009
Pennsylvania landowners around the September 11, 2001, crash site of Flight 93 have reached an agreement with the federal government allowing construction of a permanent memorial there, the government announced Monday.
U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the National Park Service has "reached agreements with all the landowners needed" to establish the permanent memorial for the 40 people killed in the terrorist hijacking nearly eight years ago.
Salazar sa
Source: BBC
September 1, 2009
The great-great-granddaughter of Charles Darwin has set sail from Devon to recreate the journey which inspired his theory of evolution.
Darwin's original five-year voyage of discovery on HMS Beagle began in 1831 from Plymouth Sound.
Biologist and botanist Sarah Darwin, 44, will retrace her forefather's footsteps.
Ms Darwin said she had been looking forward to the journey for many months, not only to see many of the things which influenced her great-great-
Source: Daily Mail (UK)
September 1, 2009
It was almost the 'sorry' that Poland has waited seventy years for.
But just as Vladimir Putin inched towards an apology for Russia's invasion of Poland in the wake of the Nazi-Soviet pact in 1939, he pulled back from the precipice, placing the blame for the outbreak of the Second World War squarely on Britain and France.
At a ceremony marking the outbreak of the war in Gdansk, Poland today, Mr Putin downplayed Russia's responsibility, emphasising instead the Soviet Un
Source: http://techpresident.com
August 28, 2009
The Kennedy family, you might have heard, quickly erected a Twitter account (at @kennedynews) to push out information on and observations from Senator Ted Kennedy's "memorial and funeral activities," said the feed. But that's the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the digital memorialization of the senator's life that has begun to take place. And consider this. Ted Kennedy is today lying in repose in the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library. That Boston edifice, dedicated to his brot
Source: Times (UK)
September 1, 2009
British spies spent more than a decade checking supposed sightings of Martin Bormann in what became a comical and pointless hunt for Adolf Hitler’s right-hand man, according to secret intelligence files released today.
Various towns in Switzerland, a Franciscan monastery in Italy and even a mountainside in Brazil were among the places where he was allegedly spotted. One man who approached the British Embassy in Paris in 1947 even claimed that Hitler was alive and living with monks
Source: Daily Mail (UK)
September 1, 2009
A statue commemorating British Empire soldiers singing one of the most famous songs of the First World War has been attacked in northern France.
The £20,000 ‘Mademoiselle from Armentières’ monument was unveiled in the town less than a year ago as a moving tribute to the thousands who died during the 1914-18 conflict.
It depicted four Tommies - including an Englishman, Scot, Australian and Indian - supporting the legendary ‘Mademoiselle’ on a plinth.
But tod
Source: BBC
September 1, 2009
Russia is marking the fifth anniversary of the Beslan siege in which more than 330 people died after a school was seized by Chechen rebels.
The rebels, who held more than 1,000 people hostage, demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya.
The siege ended three days later when security forces stormed the building. Those killed in the ensuing battle included 186 children.
Five years on, the people of Beslan are still haunted by what happened ther
Source: BBC
September 1, 2009
In the past, most people who went to Angola were searching for oil, diamonds or landmines.
Now, the country is also proving a big draw for fossil hunters - known in the scientific community as palaeontologists - who have described Angola as a "museum in the ground".
Angola was closed off for many years because of its three-decade long civil war, which only ended in 2002, so few scientists have had the chance to visit.Those get
Source: BBC
September 1, 2009
Libya has started a week of massive celebrations to mark 40 years since the coup that brought Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to power.
Jets have been flying over the capital Tripoli to prepare for a military parade which is due to start shortly.
Hundreds of dancers and musicians will put on a show charting Libya's history, followed by a firework display.
Several African and Arab leaders are attending the celebrations but Western leaders are staying away.
Source: BBC
September 1, 2009
Polish President Lech Kaczynski has voiced his anger at the Soviet role in World War II at commemorations marking the beginning of the global conflict.
In front of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and other world leaders, Mr Kaczynski said the 1939 Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact had divided Europe.
At an earlier event in the port city of Gdansk, he had described Russia's actions as a "stab in the back".
Mr Putin said all pacts with the Naz
