Author: Tom Faranda

From the Washington Post: Darfur Rebels Balk At Talks in Libya – washingtonpost.com SIRTE, Libya, Oct. 27 — Mediators from around the world struggled late Friday to salvage talks to end the four-year conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan after at least one leading rebel group pulled out on the eve of negotiations. A…

Right, I interviewed Conor McGee, a fellow who didn’t even know about the race until the night before, and then showed up and wiped out the field. More about that at the end. (I had fun doing this posting, which is why it’s taken me five days to get it online.) The Harry Chapin run…

Who is Jagerstatter? A heroic figure. Here’s a post about him. The book the author mentions – "In Solitary Witness – is one of the dryest books I’ve ever read. BUT it’s redeemed by having Jagerstatter’s surviving correspondence in an appendix at the back. The full article is long; you need to print it out.…

Like the prior posting, this article is from yesterdays Health section of the NY Times. And a very good article. The Family Meal Is What Counts, TV On or Off – New York Times Families who watched TV at dinner ate just about as healthfully as families who dined without it. The biggest factor wasn’t…

In Southern Darfur, Signs of Another Massacre – New York Times NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct. 16 — African Union and United Nations officials are looking into reports of a new massacre in Darfur, in which witnesses said Sudanese government troops and their allied militias had killed more than 30 civilians, slitting the throats of several men…

Lt. Michael Murphy, raised on Long Island Navy SEAL to receive Medal of Honor – Los Angeles Times Ambushed by insurgents, Murphy’s four-man SEAL team engaged in a fierce firefight and was in danger of being overrun. Although he was wounded, Murphy risked his life to save fellow SEALs and then maneuvered into an open…

Because the "Perky Redhead" decided to let Stephen Colbert write it. A Mock Columnist, Amok – New York Times He was sneering that Times columns make good “kindling.” He was ranting that after you throw away the paper, “it takes over a hundred years for the lies to biodegrade.” He was observing, approvingly, that “Dick…

The "Great Siege", is the Siege of Malta in 1565, as the Turkish Ottoman Empire tried to expand further into the Mediterranean and up to Italy. The Ottomans had already conquered most of Eastern Europe. The book, by a British historian named Ernle Bradford, is great! But unfortunately extremely difficult to get. It’s not stocked…