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: AP
July 7, 2009
A judge refused Tuesday to reinstate a University of Colorado professor who was fired on plagiarism charges after he likened some Sept. 11 terrorist attack victims to a Nazi leader.
If it stands, the ruling means Ward Churchill cannot return to the classroom even though a jury ruled in April that his firing was politically motivated.
Churchill wrote an essay after the 2001 terrorist attacks calling the World Trade Center victims "little Eichmanns," a reference
Source: NYT
July 6, 2009
Robert S. McNamara, perhaps the most influential defense secretary of the 20th century, who helped lead the nation into the maelstrom of Vietnam and spent the rest of his life wrestling with the war’s moral consequences, died early Monday at his home in Washington, the Associated Press reported, citing his wife, Diana. He was 93, and according to the news agency, had been in failing health for some time.
Serving Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from 1961 to 1968, Mr.
Source: LiveScience
July 7, 2009
At least one of our ancestors regularly ate fish 40,000 years ago, a new study finds.
Scientists analyzed chemical compositions of the protein collagen in an ancient human skeleton from Tianyuan Cave near Beijing to reach their conclusion.
Fishing at this time must have involved considerable effort, the researchers think, because fossil records suggest humans were not using sophisticated tools — beyond crude stone blades — until about 50,000 years ago.
Source: Miami Herald
July 7, 2009
A long-forgotten cemetery may have been the final resting place for hundreds of black Miamians, but preliminary findings suggest the burial ground was not that large.
The mystery surrounding a long-forgotten cemetery unearthed by construction crews two months ago has only deepened with a genealogist's discovery of records suggesting hundreds of black Miamians may have been buried there more than 75 years ago.
Historian Larry Wiggins, using a database of Florida death ce
Source: AP
July 7, 2009
Israeli archaeologists have uncovered an ancient quarry where they believe King Herod extracted stones for the construction of the Jewish Temple 2,000 years ago, the Israel Antiquities Authority said Monday.
The archaeologists believe the 1,000-square-foot quarry was part of a much larger network of quarries used by Herod in the city.
The biggest stones extracted from the quarry would have measured three yards long, two yards across, and two yards high.
Source: St. Louis Today
July 6, 2009
While he’s busy poring over potential statutes passed by state
lawmakers, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has found time to make some changes
to statues as well.
Nixon’s office has sent a request to the Architect of the Capitol in
Washington to replace the state’s official representation in the
national statue collection.
Out is Francis Preston Blair Jr., a former Civil War Union General and
U.S. Senator from Missouri. In, if Nixon has his way, will be — who
else? — Harry S Truman, t
Source: Telegraph (UK)
July 7, 2009
President Kennedy's speech to Congress in 1961, in which he unveiled the Apollo programme to an amazed public, has gone down in history. "I believe," he said, "that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth." In case anyone was in any doubt about the patriotic nature of this mission, he made it crystal clear in subsequent passages: "It will not be one man going to
Source: Telegraph (UK)
July 7, 2009
For more than six decades, Howard Manoian revelled in his heroic reputation as one of the men who landed in Nazi-occupied France on D-Day.
The Second World War US parachutist said he was wounded in action after coming down on Sainte-Mère-Église - the scene of the ferocious battle of June 6 1944 depicted in the epic film The Longest Day, starring John Wayne.
But after Mr Manoian, 84, was awarded the Legion d'Honneur, France's highest award for bravery, at last month's 6
Source: The Times (UK)
July 8, 2009
The Royal Agricultural Show, for years Britain’s leading farming event, was consigned to the history books yesterday, without a single member of the Royal family present.
Instead of the promised grand finale, the showground at Stoneleigh, Warwickshire, was more akin to a ghost town, with the dark clouds and sporadic showers only adding to the gloom.
The demise, after 170 years, reflects the difficulty the show had in keeping up with the changes in British farming: the
Source: Times Online (UK)
July 8, 2009
It has been 67 years since a young tree wrapped in a swastika was planted in honour of Adolf Hitler’s birthday, and it has grown into a sturdy oak that casts its shadow over a tiny Polish village. Now the mayor wants the tree axed — because it knows too much.
Maria Kurowska, the Mayor of Jaslo, now wants the tree to be chopped down. It is bad for the village’s image, she says, and is standing in the way of a potential traffic roundabout. “It’s only a tree,” she says,” and we have h
Source: AP
July 7, 2009
The justice ministry says more fugitive war criminals could be put on trial in Britain under planned changes to the law.
Justice Secretary Jack Straw says that Britain will extend laws on genocide and war crimes which currently only cover crimes committed since 2001.
It means people suspected of war crimes in the former Yugoslavia and in Rwanda could be put on trial in Britain.
Source: AP
July 7, 2009
British officials unveiled a memorial of 52 steel pillars in a London park Tuesday — one for each victim of the July 7, 2005, attacks on the city's transit system.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown, London Mayor Boris Johnson and the Prince of Wales and his wife the Duchess of Cornwall attended the memorial service along with families of the victims. The stainless steel columns stand 3.5 meters (11.5 feet) tall in central London's Hyde Park.
Former Mayor Ken Livingstone, who
Source: BBC
July 4, 2009
Next summer marks 70 years since the formation of the Local Defence Volunteers - renamed the Home Guard in July 1940 by Winston Churchill.
From starting out as groups of poorly equipped, but enthusiastic, men in May 1940, the organisation was trained and armed to combat a German invasion.
In 1968, the exploits of a fictional unit was first broadcast on the BBC.
Dad's Army ran until 1977 and the series has its own appreciation society.
Hand-writ
Source: BBC
July 6, 2009
A memorial to one of the youngest British service casualties of the World War II has been unveiled by his former friend and shipmate.
Reginald Earnshaw was "about 15" when he died under enemy fire aboard the SS North Devon exactly 68 years ago.
It is widely believed he lied about his age in order to serve his country - and evidence suggests he may been just 14.
Source: Telegraph (UK)
July 7, 2009
Germany has awarded the first medals for bravery in combat since the Second World War in a move to rally public support for its military missions abroad.
The military has had no medal for bravery since it stopped awarding the Iron Cross, which was first issued in 1813 but bestowed so frequently under the Nazis that it become associated with Hitler's regime.
Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, honoured four soldiers who aided injured soldiers and civilians after a sui
Source: Culture24
July 6, 2009
A £250,000 project to restore a half-mile section of Hadrian's Wall, a Site of Specific Scientific Interest, and remove it from the English Heritage 'At Risk' Register has now been completed.
The project, begun in April 2008, has included urgent restoration work to Hadrian's Wall to protect the Roman remains from both wandering farm animals and the harsh effects of the weather.
Dry stone walls that were originally built in the 1890s on top of and alongside parts of th
Source: Times (UK)
July 7, 2009
A fresh investigation is to be launched into allegations made in 2004 that British troops killed twenty Iraqi prisoners and tortured nine other detainees after a battle with insurgents.
The High Court has been hearing evidence in a judicial review case, brought by families of the alleged victims, and yesterday lawyers acting for the Defence Secretary conceded that there was a case for the new inquiry.
The Royal Military Police investigated the alleged mistreatment and
Source: Spiegel Online
July 7, 2009
Getting permission to chop down a tree for the building of an intersection is not unusual. What is slightly rarer is the discovery that that tree was bequeathed to the city by the most famous dictator of the last century. An oak tree that had been growing in the Polish city of Jaslo for almost 70 years now faces the chop as its links with Hitler are revealed.
Jaslo's mayor, Maria Kurovska, has reacted to the discovery with vehement demands that the tree be cut down and burnt publicl
Source: Telegraph (UK)
July 7, 2009
The former first lady was so in love with Mr Kennedy, that when he was shot during his presidential campaign in 1968 it was her - not his wife Ethel - who instructed doctors to turn off his life support machine.
Ethel was aware of the affair but chose to ignore it, according to Bobby and Jackie: A Love Story, by C.David Heymann.
Several political insiders and celebrities are quoted in the book, which will be published in the US next week.
Source: Telegraph (UK)
July 7, 2009
Saba Mozakka, 28, said she still feels a sense of loss and described the new memorial as a reminder of "52 very much loved and missed people".
Her mother Behnaz Mozakka, a 47-year-old, biomedical officer, was commuting to work at London's Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital on the morning of July 7, when she was killed while travelling on a Piccadilly line tube.
A bomb carried by Germaine Lindsay detonated as her train travelled from King's Cross to Russe
