Oak tracks at 10th century road site leave archaeologists puzzled
EOGHAN MacCONNELL

ARCHAEOLOGISTS ARE puzzled as to the exact purpose of an ancient oak road unearthed on a Bord na Móna bog in Co Tipperary.

Operations manager and site director with Archaeological Development Services (ADS) Jane Whitaker believes the track, which runs parallel to a modern road, may have formed part of an ancient road network.

The road, discovered by ADS during a walking survey, is constructed from oak planks laid across oak beams and gravel. Mortise holes have been bored into the planks to facilitate wooden pegs. All of the materials were brought to the site from other locations.

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Koshkonong dig yields wealth of artifacts
By NEIL JOHNSON ( Contact ) Saturday, Sept. 4, 2010

KOSHKONONG TOWNSHIP — Although scientists tend to cringe when terms such as “treasure trove” are applied to archaeological sites, it’s hard to describe the Finch Site at Highway 26 north of Milton any other way.

What else would you call a two-acre strip of wooded hills that archaeologists say holds 160 identified pits where prehistoric Native American people dumped everything from deer bones to weapon shards to burnt and broken clay cookware?

What do you call a property that contains, at the very minimum, 100,000 Native American artifacts which scientists believe date from 5000 B.C. to 1200 A.D.?

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Celtic Temple Opens in Northeast Minneapolis

Posted on September 3, 2010 by dianarajchel

September 18 heralds a new piece of Minnesota Pagan history: a Celtic Pagan temple, in Northeast Minneapolis, opens to the public. Andrew Jacob, priest of the Temple of the River, (TOR) will lead a purification ceremony in the Mississippi River. After the ritual, participants can dry off in the new temple, also called the Irish Cottage Building.

The temple is the first official structure of the Old Belief Society, a community intended to train Celtic priests by combining academic and spiritual teachings. Temple of the River, a smaller subset of that society led by Jacob, formerly occupied a space in Dinkytown before moving their meeting space to his home in Northeast. He conceived of building a physical temple after helping construct a Native American style pavilion in 2006. “We made it a priority to have a physical temple in a permanent space – because a welcoming meeting space is one of the first things you need for community.”

While contractors built the initial foundation, roofing and stucco of the temple, community members constructed the rest. Volunteers poured the earth floor, put a lime wash on the exterior and have painted moldings and performed other small construction tasks. Originally, TOR members intended to build an Iron Age style roundhouse, but could not engineer a solution to make it possible. Setbacks ranging from inspections to funding challenged the building process over the course of three years.

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Religious Freedom and Tolerance Standing Up, Fighting Back After Taking a Hit Below The Bible Belt
By Geoffrey Stewart / Pax
Sept. 2nd 2010

ORLANDO – Even under the best of times living as a Pagan below the U.S. Bible Belt can be a challenge, especially in a state that is listed as having the 3rd highest number of hate groups in the U.S. according to the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Hate Map. With an ongoing war, economic turmoil, and mounting tides of political and religious extremism coming to dominate the public square, these are not the best of times. Which is why recent developments in Gainesville, Florida could be encouraging, especially to members of minority or non-mainstream faiths.

The Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville Florida announced earlier this year that they were sponsoring an International Burn The Qur’an Day on September 11th 2010. The controversial Church, which has marketed a variety of merchandise bearing the slogan “Islam is the Devil” and began to get more vocal and seek more attention after a protest/visit to Gainesville by members of the Westborough Baptist Church, quickly sprang to national and international attention with coverage on CNN and a brief article in The Times of India.

The controversy has also been contentious enough that an “armed Christian conservative group” which had promised in a press release to help protect the event from interruption later decided to pull it’s support. Despite the controversy, despite calls to cancel the event from the National Association of Evangelicals (a U.S. network of Evangelical Christians), and despite the burning of books being a violation of Gainesville fire ordinances, the church has vowed to continue with the event.

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Waupun man claims vampires tried to rip off his head

Gannett Wisconsin Media • September 23, 2010

WAUPUN — A 30-year-old man was taken to the hospital on Sept. 17 after he told employees at the Walgreens store in Waupun that vampires were trying to rip off his head.

Workers told police that the man had red marks on his neck and was sweating and acting anxious.

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Titanic sunk by steering mistake, author says
– Wed Sep 22, 11:50 am ET

LONDON (Reuters) – The Titanic hit an iceberg in 1912 because of a basic steering error, and only sank as fast as it did because an official persuaded the captain to continue sailing, an author said in an interview published on Wednesday.

Louise Patten, a writer and granddaughter of Titanic second officer Charles Lightoller, said the truth about what happened nearly 100 years ago had been hidden for fear of tarnishing the reputation of her grandfather, who later became a war hero.

Lightoller, the most senior officer to have survived the disaster, covered up the error in two inquiries on both sides of the Atlantic because he was worried it would bankrupt the ill-fated liner's owners and put his colleagues out of a job.

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Published: Wednesday, 22nd September, 2010 4:54pm

Planning permission fears at Tara-Skryne plan meeting
by Paul Murphy

Demands for a referendum to be held to allow the people of Tara and Skryne have their say on the implications of a controversial landscape conservation plan for the area were made at a highly-charged meeting in Navan on Monday.

Several hundred people turned out at the Ardboyne Hotel for the meeting, the second within a week to hear the views of councillors and TDs, and to air their own opinions on the plan.

Last week, an information meeting organised by Meath County Counci had to be abandoned amid chaotic scenes which included slow hand-clapping and heated contributions from the floor.

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