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: AFP
June 1, 2009
Egyptian researchers are using DNA tests to discover the lineage of pharaoh king Tutankhamun, whose ancestry remains a mystery to Egyptologists, antiquities chief Zahi Hawass said on Monday.
The young king, whose mummy was found in a gold and turquoise sarcophagus by English archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922, ruled Egypt between 1333 and 1324 BC.
His ancestry has been as much a source of speculation as his abrupt end.
Source: http://www.courier-journal.com
May 30, 2009
The three kilns date to the 19th century, remnants of an industry that burned limestone into lime and shipped it to cities along the Ohio River to make bricks, mortar and plaster.
Preservationists and Indiana officials thought enough of the structures, built into hillsides near Utica, Ind., to protect them from the Ohio River Bridges Project as part of a massive preservation plan.
But the kilns are now at risk -- part of a dispute over who is responsible for keeping the
Source: BBC
June 2, 2009
A first edition of Charles Darwin's seminal work On The Origin Of Species is to be sold at auction in Edinburgh after being unearthed at a family home.
The book, which was published 150 years ago, transformed the science world with its theories on evolution and natural selection.
Only 1,250 were produced in its first print run back in 1859.
Source: AFP
June 2, 2009
A guilt-ridden New Yorker has returned a massive marble stone he took from an excavation site in Jerusalem's Old City 12 years ago, Israel's Antiquities Authority said on Tuesday.
The 21-kilo (46-pound) piece of 9th century marble column disappeared from an Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA) dig in 1997.
Several weeks ago the authority received an email from a priest in New York state who requested forgiveness on behalf of a member of his congregation.
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Source: AP
June 2, 2009
Ahead of the 20th anniversary of the bloody crackdown on Tiananmen Square this week, Chinese authorities have rounded up dissidents and shipped them out of town. Now, they've even shut down Twitter.
Along with their usual methods of muzzling dissent, the authorities extended their efforts Tuesday to silence social networking sites that might foster discussion of any commemoration of the events of June 3-4, 1989.
The action is a new sign of the government's concern of th
Source: CNN
June 1, 2009
Former Vice President Dick Cheney said Monday that he does not believe Saddam Hussein was involved in the planning or execution of the September 11, 2001, attacks.
He strongly defended the Bush administration's decision to invade Iraq, however, arguing that Hussein's previous support for known terrorists was a serious danger after 9/11.
Cheney, in an appearance at the National Press Club, also said he is intent on speaking out in defense of the Bush administration's na
Source: AP
June 1, 2009
Some key events in General Motors' history:
Sept. 16, 1908 — General Motors Co. founded by William C. Durant, incorporating Buick Motor Co. Oldsmobile joins GM in November.
1909 — GM sells 25,000 cars and trucks. Acquires Cadillac for $5.5 million. Also purchases GMC, AC Spark Plug....
Source: http://www.thenorthwestern.com
May 31, 2009
All 12 American POWs who died when the Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima may have their names added to a memorial in time for an anniversary observance, thanks to efforts by one northeast Wisconsin woman.
Cathy Huber of Combined Locks was intrigued by a May 24 Appleton Post-Crescent report about the American prisoners of war — including Appleton native John J. Hantschel — the mystery surrounding their deaths and Japanese historian Shigeaki Mori's determination to have th
Source: BBC
June 1, 2009
Examples of pottery found in a cave at Yuchanyan in China's Hunan province may be the oldest known to science.
By determining the fraction of a type, or isotope, of carbon in bone fragments and charcoal, the specimens were found to be 17,500 to 18,300 years old.
The authors say that the ages are more precise than previous efforts because a series of more than 40 radiocarbon-dated samples support the estimate.
The work is reported in the Proceedings of the N
Source: http://www.irrawaddy.org
June 1, 2009
Danok Pagoda, an ancient temple thought to contain two Buddha relics, collapsed on Saturday killing at least 20 people and injuring about 150, according to local residents.
It is believed that the casualties were all construction workers and naval personnel who were working to restore the pagoda when it suddenly collapsed.
The incident is immediately shrouded in mystery and superstition with locals and surviving workers telling tales of strange weather, bright red light
Source: http://www.coastalcourier.com
June 1, 2009
In the early 1980s American Museum of Natural History archeologist David Hurst-Thomas found the ruins of the Spanish mission, Santa Catalina de Guale, on the western side of St. Catherines Island.
Unearthing the mission provided evidence the Spaniards had made it to the New World centuries before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock. It also provided a glimpse of the Guale Indian tribe believed to be among the first settlers on the coastal island since it formed roughly 5,000 years
Source: Telegraph (UK)
June 2, 2009
While the disappearance of Air France flight 447 over the Atlantic is
unusual, there have been previous instances of aircraft vanishing
during flight:
* In 1936, French aviator Jean Mermoz disappeared along with his
Latécoère 300 plane 800 kilometres off the coast of Dakar, Senegal,
after sending a short message reporting engine problems. The wreckage
was never found.
* US aviator Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over
the central Pacific Ocean in 1937 whil
Source: CNN
June 1, 2009
When Gregg Wenzel died six years ago in Ethiopia, the obituaries said
he was a U.S. Foreign Service officer killed by a drunken driver on
the streets of Addis Ababa.
Monday the public learned the State Department job was a cover for his
real occupation: CIA spy.
At a ceremony commemorating those who died in the line of duty, CIA
Director Leon Panetta revealed Wenzel's affiliation with the agency
and noted Wenzel was a member of the first clandestine service class
to graduate
Source: Sky News
June 1, 2009
Notorious murderer Dr Crippen could soon be exhumed from his prison grave as lawyers seek to prove his innocence with DNA evidence.
Efforts to dig up his remains have moved a step closer after prison authorities gave his family the green light for re-burial.
But they have been told they must first get permission from the relatives of three other killers whose bodies lie in unconsecrated graves next to his at Pentonville jail in London.
Now the Crippen lawyer Giov
Source: Daily Mail (UK)
June 2, 2009
Prince Charles will attend the 65th anniversary of D-Day celebrations this Saturday after Barack Obama intervened in the row.
In a hastily-arranged move that will embarrass the Prime Minister, the Prince of Wales is being lined up to represent Britain at the Normandy commemoration.
Clarence House has confirmed that he will now attend and had been invited by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Source: BBC
June 2, 2009
She told Vanity Fair magazine: "At night time, if I wake up, I think Ronnie is there, and I start to talk to him... And I see him."
Mrs Reagan, 87, also spoke about how much she still missed her husband, who died in 2004.
And she mentioned that the present First Lady, Michelle Obama, called for advice on running the White House.
Source: BBC
June 2, 2009
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said: "We are working with those involved to see that it happens."
Mr Obama and Prime Minister Gordon Brown will mark the 65th anniversary of the Normandy landings alongside the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy.
Buckingham Palace said the Queen will not attend as she has not been invited.
Source: BBC
June 2, 2009
Federal judge Thomas Hogan has given the US Justice Department until 29 July to release the documents or specify what information it wants kept secret.
Department officials said they did not intend the documents to remain sealed forever, and asked for an extension to remove sensitive material.
Human rights groups have welcomed the court order.
Source: Secrecy News, written by Steven Aftergood, is published by the Federation of American Scientists
June 1, 2009
Following sharp increases in the first several years after 9/11, the total estimated costs of implementing the national security classification system seem to have leveled off at around $10 billion annually, according to a new report to the President (pdf) from the Information Security Oversight Office. The total cost of protecting classified information in government and industry last year was $9.85 billion, down slightly from $9.9 billion the year before, ISOO director William J. Bosanko repo
Source: WaPo
May 28, 2009
President Obama directed his national security adviser and senior Cabinet officials yesterday to examine whether the government keeps too much information secret.
In a memo, Obama acknowledged that too many documents have been kept from the public eye for years and affirmed that he remains "committed to operating with an unprecedented level of openness."
Obama asked national security adviser James L. Jones to canvass executive branch officials about their proc
