Two very valuable websites
I talked with my buddy, Detlef, the other night and we got on the subjects of iPods. He is training for the Vancouver marathon and DOESN'T HAVE AN IPOD! You can imagine my shock and horror as well. I will leave it up to him to join the 21st century on his own, but recently I've decided to put my iPod to better use.Currently, I use it for music most of the time with the occasional podcast from Rick Steves, MSNBC, Newsweek, C-Span and the Onion. However, starting today I've created a new genre on my iTunes called "Speech" and I've decide to listen to the top speeches ever given. In this quest, I found AmericanRhetoric. They have the top 100 speeches, as well as Christian rhetoric, movie speeches and a speech bank. I even found Bono's speech given to the National Prayer Breakfast that Wade Hodges recommended. A truly amazing resource. So far I've listened to MLK's "I Have a Dream Speech" and "I've Been to the Mountaintop" as well as JFK's inaugural and Reagan's "Challenger" Amazing proof, that American's can talk a good game.
In a related civic's vein, I found 100 Milestone Documents-put together by the National Archives. It has the 100 documents that have helped shape America. It has all the biggies and stops at the 1965 Voting Rights Act, but has other great documents like the check for the Louisana Purchase, Thomas Edison's Patent Application for the Light Bulb , and the Manhattan Project Notebook. Very interesting stuff. Spend a lazy Sunday looking at some of this. It may remind you of what America can be.
posted by Expat Teacher @ 5:58 PM
