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History

Will Coal Power Plants be the Berlin Wall of the Future?

David Kroodsma | Posted 12.29.2009 | Green

Read More: History, Copenhagen 2009, cop15, Hopenhagen, Climate Change, War, Hopenhagen Ambassador, Berlin Wall, Nazi, Global Warming, Berlin, Green News
David Kroodsma

At the Brandenburg gate, which once sat in "no-man's land" between East and West Berlin, I wondered if, 20 years from now, abandoned coal power plants will be nothing more than museums.

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Photos of Annie Moore, First Ellis Island Immigrant: Help Solve a History Mystery

Megan Smolenyak | Posted 12.29.2009 | New York

Read More: History, Annie Moore, Roots, Genealogy, Immigration, Immigrant, Family History, Ellis Island, Irish, New York News
Megan Smolenyak

I'm hoping that someone reading this can help solve a history mystery in time for January 1 -- the 118th anniversary of the opening of Ellis Island.

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Least Known Contributions of History's Greatest Civilizations

Mark C. Miller | Posted 12.29.2009 | Los Angeles

Read More: History, Comedy News, Comedy, Civilization, Los Angeles News
Mark C. Miller

Surely Southern Californians are not the only ones in history to be nominated for the Cultural Wasteland Hall Of Fame.

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Chicken Picking and Other Strange Telluride Pastimes

Lise Waring | Posted 12.24.2009 | Denver

Read More: History, Sports, Miners, Telluride, Racetrack, Broom Ball, Bike Polo, Skitching, Chicken Picking, Demographics, Pastimes, Colorado, Denver News
Lise Waring

Why can't we just play basketball, lose money on poker night and go to the gym like everyone else? Here's my theory.

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Why Americans Can't Learn from History

Carol Smaldino | Posted 12.23.2009 | Politics

Read More: History, Carl Jung, American Culture, Perfectionism, The Shadow, Winning, Politics News
Carol Smaldino

It it is repeated often: What we don't learn from history, we are doomed to repeat. History is available as a source for comprehending how we can change from making war to exploring peace.

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Sending the Dawn to Its Post

Mike Lux | Posted 12.22.2009 | Politics

Read More: History, Progressive Movement, 2009, Politics News
Mike Lux

It has been one of the strangest years ever politically. Progressives keep battling, and we and our values endure. Progress is always possible, but it always, always comes with struggle.

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Yes Virginia, There Really Is a Santa Claus

Reyne Haines | Posted 12.21.2009 | Style

Read More: Santa Claus, History, Collecting, Style News
Reyne Haines

Modern technology has invited us into Santa's office via webcam. If you'd like to see what's he's up to the week before Christmas, click here!

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"Our Bodies, Ourselves": 40 Years on, Still Circling the Globe

Bella DePaulo | Posted 12.16.2009 | Impact

Read More: Health Policy, Sexual Orientations, Matrimania, Women’s Studies, Boston Women’s Health Book Collective, Media, Movies, Birthing, Consciousness-Raising, History, Singlism, Activism, Health Consumers, Disability, Translations, Health Care, Spirituality, Revisions, Medical Procedures, Aging, Social Change, Relationships, Menopause, Social Movement, Singles, Our Bodies Ourselves, Sexuality, Children’s Books, Childbearing, Going Viral, Health, Teens, Books, Diversity, Adults Without Children, Impact News
Bella DePaulo

There are some truths about women's health that may now seem self-evident, but perhaps would not be so obvious if it were not for the ideas espoused, starting so long ago, by "Our Bodies, Ourselves."

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Responding to Hitchens on Chanukah

Rabbi Michael Lerner | Posted 12.15.2009 | Politics

Read More: Jews, Empire, History, Religion, Chanukah, Maccabees, Science, Religion and Politics, Religion-and-Science, Imperialism, Richard Dawkins, Politics News
Rabbi Michael Lerner

The story of Chanukah is a story of resilience and courage. Unfortunately for some, it is also a story of rejecting Western values. This is why that belief is not correct.

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Determining a "Just War" in 2009, 1906, and 412 AD

Lapham's Quarterly | Posted 12.14.2009 | Politics

Read More: Theodore Roosevelt, Nobel Peace Prize, Barack Obama, Obama Peace Prize, History, St. Augustine, Rome, Obama Nobel Peace Prize Speech, War, Politics News
Lapham's Quarterly

In December of 1906, Roosevelt was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and he made these remarks to Congress in that same month.

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Telling the Story of History

Richard Albert | Posted 12.11.2009 | Politics

Read More: Race-Talk, History, Race Issues, Race, 2008 Election, Barack Obama, Politics News
Richard Albert

Years from now, when history strokes its pen to tell the story of the 2008 presidential election, how will it capture in words a moment whose full meaning can be conveyed only with emotion?

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"The Marne 1914": A Bold New Account (PHOTOS)

Holger H. Herwig | Posted 12.01.2009 | Books

Read More: History, Military History, Historians, Wwi, World War I, Writing, Authors, New Books, Battle of the Marne, Books, Nonfiction, The Marne, Slideshow, Books News
Holger H. Herwig

I wanted to write about the Battle of the Marne because I regard it as the most decisive land battle since the Allies defeated Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815. I regard its impact to have been spectacular.

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White House Gate Crashing, From Andrew Jackson To Grace Slick

Chris Weigant | Posted 12.02.2009 | Politics

Read More: Born in a Log Cabin, Jefferson Starship, President, White House, Tricia Nixon, President Obama, The People, Gate Crasher, Andrew Jackson, Obama, Campaign, State Dinner, Abbie Hoffman, Burned, History, Politics, Gate Crash, Richard Nixon, Inauguration, Tricky Dick, A Rock and Roll Memoir, Anti-Elitist, John Quincy Adams, Somebody to Love, Old Hickory, Lsd, Yippie, Man of the People, Dolley Madison, Hoffman, Gate Crashing, Acid, Fence Jumper, Finch College, Gate Crashing the White House, Barack Obama, Grace Slick, Jackson, White House Gate Crasher, Chris Weigant, Madison, British, Dosing Tricky Dick, Dose, Nixon, War of 1812, Jefferson Airplane, Finch, Politics News
Chris Weigant

While Washington is all a-twitter over two society climbers crashing the gates at an Obama soirée, in the grand sweep of history, it was a fairly minor event. No one was in danger, and no real harm was done, nobody got dosed with LSD.

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How to Live On $0 a Day: Saving a Cherished American Holiday

Lesley Stern | Posted 11.23.2009 | Comedy

Read More: Depression, Lifestyle, America, Humor, Thanksgiving, Autumn, Bankers, Recession, Thanksgiving Recipes, Advice, History, Wall Street, Citibank, Pilgrims, Financial Crisis, Living, Comedy, Thanksgiving Tips, Comedy News
Lesley Stern

Ask your neighbors over for a potluck Thanksgiving feast, just like the Pilgrims invited the Native Americans. Once you've enjoyed their delicious offerings, kill them and steal their possessions and property.

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Build, Don't Destroy in Afghanistan: An Open Letter to President Obama

Jim Wallis | Posted 11.20.2009 | World

Read More: White House, Strike, President Obama, Civil, International, Indigenous, Washington, Pakistan, War, United Nations, Campaign, Muslim Countries, Collateral Damage, Surge, Prayer, America, Muslim, Conflict, Un, Terror, Technology, Security, Development, History, Afghan Government, Democracy, Fear, Terrorist, Ngos, Unmanned Drones, Religious Leaders, Engagement, Death, Foreign Policy, Moral Values, Occupier, Extremists, Moral Issues, Deaths, Women, Escalation, Faith Community, Economic Support, Taliban, Military, Afghanistan, General Assembly, Terrorism, Humanitarian Assistance, D.C., Casualties, Faith-Based, World News
Jim Wallis

Already, thousands of our readers have signed a letter and contacted the White House urging a new way forward in Afghanistan. I encourage you to read it and to endorse this message if you have not done so already.

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Celebrating Berlin While Enabling Israel's Apartheid Wall

Ahmed Shihab-Eldin | Posted 11.11.2009 | World

Read More: History, Apartheid, West Bank, Israel Wall, Middle East, Berlin, Angela Merkel, Israel, Berlin Wall, Injustice, Palestinians, Barack Obama, I, World News
Ahmed Shihab-Eldin

The 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall highlights both the inherent thirst for freedom and proclivity to hypocrisy ingrained in the human condition.

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What is Work? Gail Collins: When Everything Changed

Sharon Glassman | Posted 11.03.2009 | Books

Read More: History, Women's Rights, Ella Baker, Nora Ephron, Civil Rights, Women's History, Little Brown, Ann Richards, American Women, Feminism, Madeline Kunin, When Everything Changed, Gail Collins, Sncc, New Books, Gail Collins New York Times, Gail Collins When Everything Changed, New York Times, Books, Author Interview, Books News
Sharon Glassman

The women in When Everything Changed are gutsy, goal-setting, game-changing, God-chatting, family-loving individuals who share a belief in Change - and an enduring, if irrational love of sexy shoes.

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Afghanistan: A Whole New Approach

Jim Wallis | Posted 10.29.2009 | World

Read More: Capitol Hill, White House, President, Relief, President Obama, International, Indigenous, Council, Washington, War, Oxfam, Muslim Countries, Collateral Damage, Surge, America, Dick Cheney, Muslim, World Vision, Counter Insurgency, Terror, Development, Faith, History, Tragedy, Afghan Government, Democracy, Counter Terrorism, Special Forces, Religious, Terrorist, Richard Stearns, Congress, Unmanned Drones, Religious Leaders, Foreign Policy, Urgency, Moral Issues, Occupier, Arab, Taliban, Military, Afghanistan, Terrorism, Humanitarian Assistance, D.C., Casualties, Faith-Based, World News
Jim Wallis

When you massively intervene in a country as much as the U.S. has in Afghanistan, you can't responsibly just walk away. We must lead with what works -- development.

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Is Obama Keeping His Promises?

Newsweek | Anna Quindlen | Posted 10.24.2009 | Politics

Read More: Taxes, White House, War, Immigration, Obama, Campaign, Presidency, Barack Obama, President, Promises, History, Gay Rights, Campaign Promises, Spending, Analysis, Wall Street, Health Care, Promise, Politics News

History will judge Barack Obama over the long haul. But we've learned something in the short term that is simple, obvious, and has less to do with him...

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L.A. Times: Testimony Of Roman Polanski's Victim Turned "Almost Benign"

Los Angeles Times | Joe Mozingo | Posted 10.25.2009 | Entertainment

Read More: La, Switzerland, Crime, Case, Extradition, Quaaludes, Film, Rape, Sodomy, History, Testimony, Details, Samantha Gailey, Polanski Testimony, Polanski Trial, Roman Polanski, Hollywood, Entertainment News

An extensive review of several thousand court documents, as well as numerous interviews, shows a basic dynamic defining the entire saga -- one force t...

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Mad Hatters Don't Have Monopoly on Patriotism

David Segal | Posted 10.22.2009 | Politics

Read More: Election Reform, Providence Journal, Voting Rights, Progressives, Immigration, Rhode Island, Tea Party, Labor Unions, Providence, History, Dorr Rebellion, Politics News
David Segal

In Rhode Island, it was left-leaning patriots, in the form of labor activists, immigrants, and suffragists, who propelled Rhode Island towards the ratification of its constitution in 1842.

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Getting the Vietnam Analogy Right in Afghanistan

Leon T. Hadar | Posted 10.21.2009 | World

Read More: Nazi Germany, President Obama, Lebanon, Iran, Hitler, China, History, Muslim, Saudi Arabia, Nato, Vietnam War, John Kennedy, Chechnya, Munich, Analogies, Czechoslovakia, Syria, Xinjiang, West Germany, South Vietnam, Hamas, Soviet Union, Hizbollah, Afghanistan War, Al Quaeda, Kashmir, Shiites, Iraq War, Communism, North VIetnam, Taliban, India, Lyndon Johnson, Cuba, Ospolitik, Detente, World News
Leon T. Hadar

The ghosts of the Vietnam War seem to be hanging around the White House Situation Room as President Obama and his national security aides debate a new strategy for the war in Afghanistan.

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The Opportunity Of Change

Gangaji | Posted 10.21.2009 | Living

Read More: Fulfillment, Change, The Inner Life, Peace, Politics, History, Gangaji, Living News
Gangaji

Either we fight it as it is appearing, or we mourn for it as it passes us by, but we are hardly ever at peace with change.

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John Brown's Body Lies A-Moldering in Upstate New York

Alfred Gingold | Posted 10.19.2009 | New York

Read More: History, Heroes, Harpers Ferry, Terrorism, Slavery, Terrorist, Civil War, Race, John Brown, Race Relations, Lake PLacid, New York News
Alfred Gingold

150 years after his raid on Harpers Ferry, John Brown looms ever larger in the national psyche, either a great martyr to a just and necessary cause, or our first domestic terrorist.

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Columbus: Blundering into Immortality

Michael Kaplan | Posted 10.14.2009 | World

Read More: History, Gold, Columbus, Indians, America, Genocide, New World, Taino People, Christopher Columbus, Spice Islands, Native Americans, Discovery of America, World News
Michael Kaplan

It is as well that Christopher Columbus was so sure of himself, because he was in many respects staggeringly incompetent. The very basis of his journey to the New World was a miscalculation.

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