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: http://www.windycitymediagroup.com
January 14, 2009
1996 statement: ‘I favor legalizing same-sex marriages'[--Barack Obama]
During the final weeks of the presidential campaign last fall, several media outlets contacted Windy City Times because of an old Internet story from the 1996 Illinois State Senate race. In that campaign, Outlines newspaper, which merged with Windy City Times in 2000, reported that 13th District candidate Barack Obama supported gay marriage. Reporters wanted to know what exactly Obama had said.
Outlines newspap
Source: Telegraph (UK)
January 12, 2009
A father and son are both serving as priests in the Roman Catholic church for what is thought to be the first time for almost 900 years.
Fr Dominic Cosslett, who has begun work as a curate at St George's Church in Worcester, joins his father Ron Cosslett, 70, in the ministry.
Although the tradition of sons following their fathers into the ministry is well established in protestant denominations, the Catholic requirement for priests to be celibate rendered it impossible
Source: Independent (UK)
January 13, 2009
The Army says it has come a long way since minority recruits were weeded out, but has Prince Harry's 'Paki' remark uncovered a less palatable truth?
They were known as "D Factor personnel". For 20 years, the British Army restricted the number of ethnic minority recruits to its ranks by instructing its medical officers to use the secret designation to single out would-be soldiers with "Asiatic or negroid features".
It was a policy which might have bel
Source: http://www.tehrantimes.com
January 13, 2009
A team of archaeologists are currently excavating water wells of the ancient city of Parsa near the Persepolis.
The first water well was discovered in November 2008 during the initial studies for construction of public toilets at the threshold of Paras at a distance of 500 meters west of Persepolis.
Ten intact pottery works, probably used by the people of Parsa, were discovered in the well during grading for the construction project, which was stopped due to the signi
Source: WaPo
January 11, 2009
Officials staged a large-scale rehearsal of the upcoming presidential inauguration and parade this morning -- and even practiced the swearing-in at the Capitol with a stand-in for Barack Obama.
The stand-in, Army Staff Sgt. Derrick Brooks, delivered a six-word inaugural address that nonetheless drew a cheer: "My fellow Americans, God bless America!"
The activities began before dawn, with thousands of people deployed later in the morning at the Capitol and alon
Source: Telegraph (UK)
January 13, 2009
Reproductions of Nazi-era newspapers, which are being produced by a British publisher, are being sold on the streets of Berlin.
The currently available edition of Der Angriff (The Attack), originally published in 1933, has the front page headline "Hitler Chancellor of the Reich" and features a commentary from Joseph Goebells.
The editor of the project, Sandra Paweronschitz, a historian, told The Times: "From today you will have a unique opportunity to r
Source: Telegraph (UK)
January 13, 2009
Second World War trainee secret agents were tested for their resilience to the 'honey trap' at a Surrey manor house, according to a new analysis of the role Britain's country properties played during the war.
But few succeeded in keeping their secrets to themselves when plied with alcohol and seduced by pretty women at Wanborough Manor near Guildford, according to the architectural historian Marcus Binney.
Writing in the latest edition of Country Life magazine, Binney
Source: Guardian (UK)
January 13, 2009
Fresh questions over the legality of the Iraq war were raised today after the government admitted it could not substantiate its claim that Lord Goldsmith had changed his mind over the legal basis for the invasion before a highly controversial meeting with two of Tony Blair's closest allies.
The admission has revived allegations that the former attorney general was pressured to revise his opinion that an invasion could be illegal without an explicit UN resolution.
Opposi
Source: Deutsche Welle
January 12, 2009
The year 2009 marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and in 2010 Germany celebrates 20 years since the reunification of East and West. DW-WORLD recalls the key events in Germany's history, portrays the protagonists of the peaceful revolution in the former GDR, gives contemporary witnesses a voice and reports on the winners and losers on the path to German unity.
Source: Los Angeles Times
January 12, 2009
National Portrait Gallery director Martin E. Sullivan replied today to a letter sent Jan. 7 by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who was concerned about an inaccuracy in a museum wall label next to the newly acquired official portrait of President Bush. The National Portrait Gallery is a branch of the Smithsonian Institution.
The original label said "the attacks on September 11, 2001… led to wars in Afghanistan and Iraq." Sanders objected to the link between 9/11 and the Iraq i
Source: Politico.com
January 12, 2009
After eight stressful years on the job, President Bush will deliver a farewell address to the nation on network television at 8 p.m. on Thursday, the White House announced.
The address will be 10 to 15 minutes long, from the East Room of the White House.
White House press secretary Dana Perino e-mailed reporters: "Continuing a ritual that dates back to George Washington, President Bush will deliver a farewell message to the American people Thursday night. He will
Source: Secrecy News, written by Steven Aftergood, is published by the Federation of American Scientists
January 12, 2009
"In May 1974, the U.S. government received its first serious nuclear threat," recalls author Jeffrey T. Richelson. "A letter demanding that $200,00 be left at a particular location arrived at the FBI. Failure to comply, it claimed, would result in the [detonation] of a nuclear bomb somewhere in Boston."
The threat was soon exposed as a hoax, but it prompted the creation of a then-secret organization originally known as the Nuclear Emergency Search (later: Source
Source: Secrecy News, written by Steven Aftergood, is published by the Federation of American Scientists
January 12, 2009
Most U.S. Government spending on nuclear weapons-related programs is unclassified. But it is functionally secret since such spending is widely dispersed across many programs in several agencies and it is not formally tracked or reported.
A new study prepared for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace estimated that the cost of U.S. nuclear weapons and weapons-related programs exceeded $52 billion last year.
"That's a floor, not a ceiling," said Stephe
Source: IHT (UK)
January 12, 2009
They waxed nostalgic about secret negotiations in Beijing, a Cold War alliance against the former Soviet Union and the first visit to the United States by Deng Xiaoping, the now deceased Chinese leader.
They mentioned some touchy issues, like the ongoing tensions over Taiwan and Tibet.
But in the end, the American and Chinese leaders who gave speech after speech in Beijing on Monday afternoon chose to focus on China's stunning economic growth and its place in the world
Source: IHT (UK)
January 12, 2009
President George W. Bush held what he called "the ultimate exit interview" on Monday, using the final news conference of his presidency to deliver a vigorous defense of "the decision I have made to protect the homeland" and a pointed warning to President-elect Barack Obama that, despite the turbulence in the economy, his most urgent priority must be protecting the United States against "an enemy that would like to attack America and Americans again."
Th
Source: Foxnews
January 12, 2009
Construction workers in northern Poland have unearthed a World War II-era mass grave containing what are believed to be the bodies of 1,800 German men, women and children who disappeared during the Soviet Army's march to Berlin.
Poles digging at the site of a planned luxury hotel in Malbork — which was called Marienburg and was part of Germany during the war — excavated a bomb crater at the foot of the city's famous 13th century Teutonic Knights fortress, authorities said Monday.
Source: Telegraph (UK)
January 12, 2009
President George W Bush launched a passionate defence of his record in office today claiming America was still admired by ordinary people across the world.
In his last press conference before handing over to President-Elect Barack Obama next week, Mr Bush said the country had retained its standing despite criticism from European elites.
He cited the prevention of another terrorist attack on US soil as the signature achievement of his eight-year presidency and said he
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
January 11, 2009
One fragment is a poster-size patch of discolored red-and-white cloth, the other little more than threads and fibers. Both pieces come from the same source. And both are more than what they seem.
Both swatches were snipped from a giant U.S. flag that President-elect Abraham Lincoln raised at Independence Hall during the 1861 rail voyage that took him through Philadelphia to Washington for his inauguration. On Saturday, nearly 150 years later, another president-elect from Illinois w
Source: CNN
January 12, 2009
James Presley stands amid chopped cotton, the thick Mississippi mud caked on his well-worn boots. A smile spreads across his face when he talks about voting for Barack Obama and what that might mean for generations to come. His voice picks up a notch. He holds his head up a bit higher."There's a heap of pride in voting for a black man," he says.
At 78, Presley is a legend of the past living in the present and now hopeful for the future. A grandson of slaves, he's one of th
Source: BBC
January 12, 2009
War crimes judges have begun hearing evidence against a militia commanded by former Democratic Republic of Congo Vice-President Jean-Pierre Bemba.
His Movement for the Liberation of Congo intervened in a power struggle in neighbouring Central African Republic in 2002 and 2003.
The International Criminal Court pre-trial hearings involve claims of murder and rape. Mr Bemba denies all charges.
He says his troops were not under his command once they crossed t
