Aug. 8-24  Olympic Games in Beijing

Massive media hype, global political implications, spectacle on a grand scale: the Games of the XXIX Olympiad promise all of this - even before the athletes take the stage. Billions around the world will watch the Olympics - the zenith of human physical competition. The media will lap up all and every informed interpretation of China's first Olympic Games.

Aug. 14-17  American Psychological Assn. Annual Meeting

The American Psychological Association will hold its 116th annual meeting in Boston. Topics on the agenda include voting behavior, racial disparities and life with Asperger’s syndrome. More than 5,000 psychologists are expected to attend. See:

http://www.apa.org/convention08/

Aug. 15-17  Philadelphia Folk Fest

This annual event, held in Schwenksville, Pa., is now in its 47th year. It's become perhaps the oldest, largest, best known and most durable festival of its kind by including flexible programming that makes room for artists with more of a pop following. This year's lineup, for example, includes mainstream stars Al Stewart and Judy Collins.

http://www.pfs.org/PFF.php

Aug. 16-21  Veterans of Foreign Wars National Convention

The VFW will hold its 109th national convention in Orlando, Fla. Presumed presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain will tell the veterans how they plan to keep the country safe.

Aug. 17-21  American Chemical Society Meeting

More than 12,000 scientists will attend the ACS' 236th National Meeting in Philadelphia, one of the year's largest and most influential scientific meetings. See:

http://www.chemistry.org

Aug. 21-24  National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Meeting

The annual convention of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA) has the theme "NLGJ Goes to Washington" as the journalists gather in the nation's capital. See:

http://www.nlgja.org/convention/2008/index.html

Aug. 22-28  American Legion Annual Convention

The world's largest veterans organization has gotten smaller and less influential in recent years as the World War II generation that formed the backbone of the group has died off. Nevertheless, many of the country's political leaders will address this conservative patriotic group at its 90th annual meeting in Phoenix.

Aug. 23  International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has designated this day to remember the slave trade and its abolition. An uprising in Santo Domingo on Aug. 22-23, 1791 played a crucial role in the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade.

Aug. 26  Women's Equality Day

This observance was designated in 1971 to celebrate women winning
the right to vote with the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the
Constitution in 1920. The occasion is also used to draw attention to women's continuing efforts toward full equality. See:

http://www.nwhp.org/resourcecenter/equalityday.php

Aug. 25-28  Democratic National Convention

The mood among Denver delegates will range from optimistic to giddy as the Democratic party nominates Sen. Barack Obama as its candidate for president. In a unique piece of populist theater, Obama will accept the historic nomination in front of as many as 75,000 people at Denver's Mile High Stadium (currently known as Invesco Field).

Aug. 25 - Sept. 1  Burning Man Festival

This quirky annual cultural event attracts 25,000 people to the Black Rock Desert in Nevada for a week of performance art and uninhibited self-expression. The encampment is part street fair, part environmental rally and part around-the-clock rave (clothing optional). It's also a barometer of hipness for the media. Burning Man's art theme this year, "American Dream," should spawn an eye-opening variety of art pieces. See:

http://www.burningman.com

Aug. 25 - Sept. 7  U.S. Open Tennis Championships

The richest tennis event in the world takes place at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. Prize money this year will top $20.6 million. Fans of the men's game will be hoping for a reprise of the epic battle for the French Open title between Roger Federer and arch-rival Rafael Nadal. Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic headline the women's field. See:

http://www.usopen.org/home/default.sps

Aug. 26  Consumer Confidence Index

The Conference Board will release its monthly Consumer Confidence Index for August.

Aug. 28  Gross Domestic Product and Corporate Profits

The Bureau of Economic Analysis will release the second of its three increasingly refined estimates of the Gross Domestic Product for the 2nd quarter 2008. It will also release the second of its estimates of corporate profits for the same period.

Aug. 28-31  American Political Science Association Meeting

This annual meeting in Boston will bring together more than 7,000 political scientists. The theme of this year's conference is "Categories and the Politics of Global Inequalities" - challenging scholars to reconsider the relationship between the categorization of peoples, nations and institutions and inequalities around the world. See:

http://www.apsanet.org/section_222.cfm

Aug. 29  Third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina Disaster

It has been three years since Hurricane Katrina laid waste to a huge swath of the Gulf Coast. The media will look back on this enormous and shameful national tragedy, and spotlight successes and failures in the rebuilding effort.

Sept. 1-4  Republican National Convention

The GOP's presidential nominating convention will take place in Minneapolis-St. Paul. President Bush and Vice President Cheney will address the convention on the first night; Sen. John McCain hopes their appearances will be forgotten by the time he accepts his party's nomination three days later.