function getStories(theCategory) {
	// fetch XML data
	if (window.XMLHttpRequest) { xhttp = new XMLHttpRequest(); } // code for IE7+, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari
	else { xhttp = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP"); } // code for IE5, IE6
	xhttp.open("GET","/xml/stories.xml",false);
	xhttp.send(null);
	xmlDoc=xhttp.responseXML;
	
	// make sure we have a valid data source to work with
	if (xhttp.responseXML.hasChildNodes()) {
		theStories = xmlDoc.getElementsByTagName("STORY");
		var list = document.createElement("ul");
		var listText = document.createTextNode("Related News Stories:");
		list.appendChild(listText);
		if (theCategory) {
			var dest = document.getElementById("TL_STORY");			
			for (x=0;x<theStories.length;x++) {
				if (theStories[x].hasChildNodes()) {
					if (theStories[x].attributes.getNamedItem("CAT").value == theCategory) {
					    var line = document.createElement("li");
					    var link = document.createElement("a");
						if (theStories[x].getElementsByTagName("TITLE")[0].hasChildNodes()) {
							var linkText = theStories[x].getElementsByTagName("TITLE")[0].childNodes[0].nodeValue;
						} else {
							var linkText = "ERROR: Title Not Specified";
						}
						if (theStories[x].getElementsByTagName("LINK")[0].hasChildNodes()) {
							var linkTarget = theStories[x].getElementsByTagName("LINK")[0].childNodes[0].nodeValue;
						} else {
							var linkTarget = "#ERROR: Link Not Specified";
						}
						link.setAttribute("target","_blank");
						link.setAttribute("href",linkTarget);
						link.appendChild(document.createTextNode(linkText));
						line.appendChild(link);
						list.appendChild(line);
						list.className = "TL_story";
					}
				}
				dest.appendChild(list);
				dest.className = "TL_stories";
				dest.setAttribute("id","TL_"+theCategory);
			}
		} else {
			dest.appendChild(document.createTextNode("ERROR: Category Not Specified"));
		}
	}
}