Quoted: Across the countryside of this nation on the heel of the Arabian Peninsula, the pumps and drills roar. Wildcatters bore as much as 1,000 feet into the earth and draw out the valuable liquid. They pump it into tankers and haul it away to sell to the highest bidder.

Jože Plečnik exhibition on through the end of August.

Quoted: Wednesday, 14 May 2008 - Sunday, 31 August 2008
Brussels, Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels

Kind of tough to navigate this site, but rewarding images and info.

Quoted: Jože Plečnik`s Virtual Museum, image collection, interactive maps, searchable database of Plečnik`s work, articles, interviews. Bibliography, biography, special gift collection, downloads and more.

Quoted: The new generation's neocon nationalists.

Quoted: The trouble is that the fighting is unlikely to end as long as the Taliban can finance themselves through drugs — and as long as the Kabul government is dependent on opium to sustain its own hold on power.

Quoted: Elizabeth tried to adopt and adhere to many of her father's public policies. Unlike some of her predecessors, she preferred to appoint Russians and not foreigners to the highest positions in the country and being a patron of the arts and sciences, she established the Russian Academy of Arts. As well as a conscientious leader, Elizabeth was also a very lively and social personality and organised regular balls, receptions, masquerades and firework displays.

Quoted: Aptekarsky Ostrov is the only one of the islands along the northern banks of the Neva Delta that was never privately owned. This was specifically the intention of Peter the Great, who chose the island as the site of the Apothecary Gardens, which were dedicated to the cultivation of medicinal herbs for the benefit of the city.

Quoted: Tunneling into the fascinating dark underbelly of the City of Lights

Interesting video of a flood in St. Petersburg with links to photos.

Quoted: So far, one of the most striking images there is this one, taken by LJ user aorist at Vasilyevsky Island around 4 PM. Most comments are of ...