Friday, October 31, 2014

To Quarantine or Not to Quarantine? Michael Reagan | Oct 31, 2014

Michael Reagan
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That is the legal and medical question of the hour.

Should the good people coming back to the USA after helping fight Ebola in West Africa be forced to undergo a 21-day quarantine?

The defense department obviously thinks so.

It has announced that all U.S. military personnel returning from West Africa will be required to undergo "controlled monitoring" for 21 days to make sure they aren't carrying the deadly virus.

The men and women serving in the military is a separate issue. They didn't choose to go to the Ebola hot zone.

They were ordered to go, and when they return stateside they'll be ordered to undergo what is essentially a quarantine. It's called the military.

But the doctors, nurses and other health workers who volunteered to go to West Africa are another matter.

So far, depending on what state they live in and what their state health officials require, they may or may not be forced to comply with a 21-day quarantine when they return.

The legalities of mandatory quarantines for civilians are vague and still must be sorted out.

Kaci Hickox, the nurse who was forced by the state of New Jersey to stay in a tent while being tested for Ebola, looks like she's willing to become a test case.

>She's threatened to sue Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. And now she's back at her home in Maine and refusing to abide by health officials there to comply with a "voluntary" quarantine.

Saying she is in perfect health and showing no symptoms of Ebola, Hickox insists she's not a risk to the public. She told NBC's "Today" show she believed that the quarantine policy was "not scientifically nor constitutionally just."

The quarantine question shouldn't have to become a constitutional issue. And there's no reason for state or federal governments to be put in the position of having to force an American citizen to undergo a quarantine.

The solution is simple. Before anyone goes to West Africa, they should fill out and sign an application form.

If they are unwilling to submit to a 21-day quarantine when they come back, they should be told by their employers, their relief agency or their church group that they cannot go.

>Period. It's nothing new or strange for us to have rules like quarantines that protect the public from infectious diseases.

For example, I have type O negative blood, the kind everyone wants.

But I'm not permitted to donate blood, which I'd like to do, simply because I was in Europe in the 1980s when mad cow disease was a problem there.

That's all it takes to be disqualified. When you apply to give blood, if you answer "yes" to the question "Were you in Europe for more than six weeks in the '80s" you can never donate a drop of blood in the United States.

Some health experts have argued that a strict quarantine requirement would hurt the war against Ebola because it would dissuade many volunteers from going to West Africa.

That's no doubt true. But any health worker who's not willing to undergo a quarantine isn't a real hero and isn't looking at the big picture.

If they're willing to do good works in Africa, and God bless them for that, they should be willing to do it the right way.

And that means paying the full cost of doing good overseas by ensuring the safety of their families, friends and neighbors back home.

America is an incredibly generous country. It has millions of goodhearted heroes who would volunteer to help the sick and dying in West Africa.

But they can do good without endangering the rest of us.

 
Michael Reagan

Michael Reagan

Michael Reagan, the eldest son of Ronald Reagan, is heard daily by over 5 million listeners via his nationally syndicated talk radio program, "The Michael Reagan Show."
 
Carl Ray Louk

"FRIENDSHIP NEVER ENDS" SG-1996
"LET LOVE LEAD THE WAY" SG-2000
"THE PHOENIX SHALL RISE" SD
"EVEN A MAN WHO IS PURE IN HEART AND SAYS HIS PRAYERS BY NIGHT, MAY BECOME A WOLF WHEN THE WOLFBANE BLOOMS AND THE AUTUMN MOON IS BRIGHT." LT-1941
"FLESH OF MY FLESH; BLOOD OF MY BLOOD; KIN OF MY KIN WHEN SAY COME TO YOU, YOU SHALL CROSS LAND OR SEA TO DO MY BIDDING!" CVTD-1895
"FROM HELL'S HEART I STAB AT THEE, FOR HATE SAKE I SPIT MY LAST BREATH AT THEE" CA-1895 
"I HAVE BEEN, AND ALWAYS SHALL BE YOUR FRIEND" Spock 
"TRICK OR TREAT, TRICK OR TREAT CANDY IS DANDY BUT MURDER, OH MURDER, IS SO SWEET" CRL-2003 
"EYE OF NEWT, AND TOE OF FROG, WOOL OF BAT, AND TONGUE OF DOG ADDER'S FORK, BLIND-WORM'S STING, LIZARD'S LEG, AND OWLET'S WING. FOR A CHARM OF POWERFUL TROUBLE, LIKE A HELL-BROTH BOIL AND BABBLE. DOUBLE, DOUBLE, TOIL AND TROUBLE, FIRE BURN, AND CALDRON BUBBLE" WS

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The Democrats' Achilles' Heel David Limbaugh | Oct 31, 2014

David Limbaugh
I read a shocking headline today: "Ex-Con: Most Black Youths See Obama As 'Deadbeat' Leader." Is this an obvious outlier, or could there be something to this?

The ex-con referred to in the headline is Paul McKinley, a member of Voices of the Ex-Offender, which is described as a grass-roots group of former inmates.

On the "Steve Malzberg Show" on NewsmaxTV, McKinley said: "Every time they question the president about the black community, he's apologetic or he's embarrassed. ... I would say, 97 percent of the time he (doesn't) even want to say that there even exists a black community. So a lot of the young people are seeing this double standard that the president has."

McKinley correctly observed that black Americans have identified with the Democratic Party since the mid-1960s, when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law. Since that time, they have been voting overwhelmingly Democratic.

McKinley's choice of the word "identified" is telling. Black Americans do identify with the Democratic Party, as distinguished from particularly aligning with its policies.

I have long believed that the Democrats' real Achilles' heel is it's urgent, desperate need to retain some 90 percent of the black vote to win national elections, for if that percentage decreased even moderately, they would be in serious electoral jeopardy.

This Achilles' heel is exacerbated by the largely unspoken disconnect between the worldview of many blacks and the Democratic Party's agenda. There are many black Christians and other blacks who tend to incline toward social conservatism, which is anathema to the party with which they almost monolithically identify. I would bet that many blacks, even among those who vote reliably Democratic, lean toward economic conservatism, as well. Yet many of the blacks who aren't in line with the Democrats' obsession with abortion on demand and other socially liberal ideas still vote for Democrats.

I think this is purely and simply because most blacks have been convinced that only Democrats care about them. Sure, many believe that the evidence for this is that Republicans promote welfare reform and the like. But it's more than that for most.

I truly believe that many blacks vote Democratic mostly because of this noxious lie that Republicans and conservatives are racist, a pernicious slander that race-baiting black leaders and way too many Democratic politicians have peddled. This has been a pet peeve of mine for years, and it amazes me that it still works at all.

If this tactic didn't work, Democrats wouldn't keep using it, but they do, as when certain of their party leaders suggested that President George W. Bush deliberately abandoned blacks on their rooftops in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina and when others suggested that a vote for a certain Republican would mean another black church would burn or the civil rights of the African-American community would be eliminated.

If anything, Democrats are getting worse about this. The New York Times reported this week that in the closest Senate races across the South, Democrats are turning to racially charged messages -- "invoking Travyon Martin's death, the unrest in Ferguson, Mo., and Jim Crow-era segregation -- to jolt African-Americans into voting and stop a Republican takeover in Washington."

The Times admitted: "The images and words they are using are striking for how overtly they play on fears of intimidation and repression. And their source is surprising. The effort is being led by national Democrats and their state party organizations -- not, in most instances, by the shadowy and often untraceable political action committees that typically employ such provocative messages."

Democrats are employing this shameless smear all over. In North Carolina, a super PAC begun by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid aired an ad on black radio accusing Republican candidate Thom Tillis of supporting the kind of gun law that "caused the shooting death of Trayvon Martin." In Georgia, Democrats are distributing a flier warning blacks that their voting is the only way "to prevent another Ferguson." It shows two black children with cardboard signs saying "Don't Shoot."

These are so transparently over-the-top that I can't help but believe that even some black voters will be turned off by them. Indeed, there are signs that some black voters are tiring of the propaganda. I just saw an Internet video featuring a number of black men citing the Democrats' advocacy of the minimum wage law as insulting. What good would a minimum wage increase do, one asks, when there would be even fewer jobs?

These developments, coupled with the fact that black turnout is predicted to be very low in the upcoming elections, do not portend well for Democrats.

I am optimistic that at some point, many black voters will realize they have been used and abused by the Democratic Party, which is keeping them down, dependent on government and locked in inner-city schools and is overtly trying to alienate them against Republicans by categorically describing Republicans as racists.

The objective evidence is clear; it's only a matter of time before this translates into dramatically shifting voter patterns. What a glorious day that will be -- and what a great day for America and all Americans.

 
David Limbaugh

David Limbaugh

David Limbaugh, brother of radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh, is an expert on law and politics. He recently authored the New York Times best-selling book: "Jesus on Trial: A Lawyer Affirms the Truth of the Gospel."

©Creators Syndicate
 
Carl Ray Louk

"FRIENDSHIP NEVER ENDS" SG-1996
"LET LOVE LEAD THE WAY" SG-2000
"THE PHOENIX SHALL RISE" SD
"EVEN A MAN WHO IS PURE IN HEART AND SAYS HIS PRAYERS BY NIGHT, MAY BECOME A WOLF WHEN THE WOLFBANE BLOOMS AND THE AUTUMN MOON IS BRIGHT." LT-1941
"FLESH OF MY FLESH; BLOOD OF MY BLOOD; KIN OF MY KIN WHEN SAY COME TO YOU, YOU SHALL CROSS LAND OR SEA TO DO MY BIDDING!" CVTD-1895
"FROM HELL'S HEART I STAB AT THEE, FOR HATE SAKE I SPIT MY LAST BREATH AT THEE" CA-1895 
"I HAVE BEEN, AND ALWAYS SHALL BE YOUR FRIEND" Spock 
"TRICK OR TREAT, TRICK OR TREAT CANDY IS DANDY BUT MURDER, OH MURDER, IS SO SWEET" CRL-2003 
"EYE OF NEWT, AND TOE OF FROG, WOOL OF BAT, AND TONGUE OF DOG ADDER'S FORK, BLIND-WORM'S STING, LIZARD'S LEG, AND OWLET'S WING. FOR A CHARM OF POWERFUL TROUBLE, LIKE A HELL-BROTH BOIL AND BABBLE. DOUBLE, DOUBLE, TOIL AND TROUBLE, FIRE BURN, AND CALDRON BUBBLE" WS

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The New York Times' War on Gun-Owning Rape Victims Michelle Malkin | Oct 31, 201

Michelle Malkin

Nasty New York Timeseditorial writer David Firestone pretends to care about campaign scare-mongering. But what he and his elitist ilk really fear are independent-thinking women who have dared to exercise their First Amendment powers to defend their Second Amendment rights.

This week, Firestone took aim at "attack ads" sponsored by the National Rifle Association. The "worst commercial," he says, "features a rape victim describing her assault and accusing" former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg "of wanting to take away her right to defend herself."

That rape victim has a name and a story Firestone couldn't even bother to mention. She is Kimberly Weeks, a brave and fierce Colorado woman who testified against the Bloomberg-backed gun-control measures that beleaguered Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper now admits he passed "without basic facts" and concedes were ineffective from the get-go.

Weeks was brutally raped as a college junior at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. As she recounted last year, "I will never know if I would have been able to stop my rape if I had owned a firearm. I can tell you that any fear I had of guns evaporated as soon as I got a second chance at living my life. Had I been armed, I very well could have changed my circumstances and possibly prevented another attack on myself or the next victim."

Firestone dismissed Weeks' response to Bloomberg's gun-grabbing efforts by asserting that "the former mayor is not trying to take away anyone's legal handgun, and neither is any Democrat." Never mind that Colorado Democrats, goaded by Bloomberg and lobbied by Vice President Joe Biden, were contemplating a radical ban on concealed carry on college campuses.

Victims of sexual assault in Colorado were snubbed by Democratic state legislators, Weeks reminded voters. She is speaking out to prevent other rape victims and rape targets from being disarmed and dismissed Another rape victim and pro-concealed carry advocate, Amanda Collins, faced similar hostile treatment from Colorado Democrats when she protested draconian gun-control laws that undermined women's self-defense autonomy.

"I just want to say, statistics are not on your side, even if you had had a gun. ... Chances are that if you had had a gun, then he would have been able to get that from you and possibly use it against you," former Democratic state Sen. Evie Hudak lectured Collins. But as I've reported previously, even the liberal Denver Post pointed out that the old statistics Hudak cited from a liberal anti-gun group applied only to women with guns who were attacked by "intimate acquaintances," not strangers, as was the case with Collins.

But let's not let facts get in the way of a liberal New York Times writer's hysterical anti-hysteria diatribe.

While Firestone pronounces Weeks' ads as the "worst" example of the "use of fear," abortion rights group NARAL is running election ads telling Colorado women that Republicans are going to take away all their condoms. Harry Reid's super PAC is accusing North Carolina GOP Senate candidate Thom Tillis of causing "the shooting death of Trayvon Martin." And the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has poured $2.5 million into scare-mongering ads in Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Louisiana and New Hampshire telling elderly voters that Republicans are going to strip them of their Social Security and Medicare.

When victims embrace liberal orthodoxies, they're heroes and absolute moral authorities in the eyes of The New York Times editorial board.

When victims become survivors who reject the Nanny State, they're liars, ideologues and pot-stirrers who deserve to be sneered at from the rarefied offices of the Fishwrap of Record.

The Times has spilled barrels and barrels of ink decrying the campus rape epidemic. Its opinion writers and reporters call for more money for sexual assault prevention, more government programs and more respect for rape victims. But when a rape victim advocates armed self-defense, where's the crusading New York Times?

Catcalling courageous armed women like a Big Apple street bum. Shame on the smug rape-survivor shamers.

 
Michelle Malkin

Michelle Malkin

Michelle Malkin is the author of "Culture of Corruption: Obama and his Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks & Cronies" (Regnery 2010).

©Creators Syndicate
 
Carl Ray Louk

"FRIENDSHIP NEVER ENDS" SG-1996
"LET LOVE LEAD THE WAY" SG-2000
"THE PHOENIX SHALL RISE" SD
"EVEN A MAN WHO IS PURE IN HEART AND SAYS HIS PRAYERS BY NIGHT, MAY BECOME A WOLF WHEN THE WOLFBANE BLOOMS AND THE AUTUMN MOON IS BRIGHT." LT-1941
"FLESH OF MY FLESH; BLOOD OF MY BLOOD; KIN OF MY KIN WHEN SAY COME TO YOU, YOU SHALL CROSS LAND OR SEA TO DO MY BIDDING!" CVTD-1895
"FROM HELL'S HEART I STAB AT THEE, FOR HATE SAKE I SPIT MY LAST BREATH AT THEE" CA-1895 
"I HAVE BEEN, AND ALWAYS SHALL BE YOUR FRIEND" Spock 
"TRICK OR TREAT, TRICK OR TREAT CANDY IS DANDY BUT MURDER, OH MURDER, IS SO SWEET" CRL-2003 
"EYE OF NEWT, AND TOE OF FROG, WOOL OF BAT, AND TONGUE OF DOG ADDER'S FORK, BLIND-WORM'S STING, LIZARD'S LEG, AND OWLET'S WING. FOR A CHARM OF POWERFUL TROUBLE, LIKE A HELL-BROTH BOIL AND BABBLE. DOUBLE, DOUBLE, TOIL AND TROUBLE, FIRE BURN, AND CALDRON BUBBLE" WS

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I bid you Happy Halloween. I am @ dialysis & hooke...

I bid you Happy Halloween. I am @ dialysis & hooked up. I have 3:53 left I'll come off around 5:09pm
Carl Ray Louk

Season's Greetings: Happy Halloween.

Season's Greetings: Happy Halloween.

 

I bid you Seasons Greetings of Halloween. When werewolves howl and pumpkins scowl and frightful witches fly, when fearsome phantoms haunt the dark and eerie voices cry! It's time to send a special friend a notice to remind you if you're out on Halloween, be sure to look behind you! Have a Frightfully Happy Halloween!

 
Carl Ray Louk

"FRIENDSHIP NEVER ENDS" SG-1996
"LET LOVE LEAD THE WAY" SG-2000
"THE PHOENIX SHALL RISE" SD
"EVEN A MAN WHO IS PURE IN HEART AND SAYS HIS PRAYERS BY NIGHT, MAY BECOME A WOLF WHEN THE WOLFBANE BLOOMS AND THE AUTUMN MOON IS BRIGHT." LT-1941
"FLESH OF MY FLESH; BLOOD OF MY BLOOD; KIN OF MY KIN WHEN SAY COME TO YOU, YOU SHALL CROSS LAND OR SEA TO DO MY BIDDING!" CVTD-1895
"FROM HELL'S HEART I STAB AT THEE, FOR HATE SAKE I SPIT MY LAST BREATH AT THEE" CA-1895 
"I HAVE BEEN, AND ALWAYS SHALL BE YOUR FRIEND" Spock 
"TRICK OR TREAT, TRICK OR TREAT CANDY IS DANDY BUT MURDER, OH MURDER, IS SO SWEET" CRL-2003 
"EYE OF NEWT, AND TOE OF FROG, WOOL OF BAT, AND TONGUE OF DOG ADDER'S FORK, BLIND-WORM'S STING, LIZARD'S LEG, AND OWLET'S WING. FOR A CHARM OF POWERFUL TROUBLE, LIKE A HELL-BROTH BOIL AND BABBLE. DOUBLE, DOUBLE, TOIL AND TROUBLE, FIRE BURN, AND CALDRON BUBBLE" WS

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The Witches' Caldron *

The Witches' Caldron *

 

"Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog"
"Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing"
"For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and babble"
"Double, double, toil and trouble,
Fire burn, and caldron bubble"
William Shakespeare

 

Witches and Warlocks have had a long history with Halloween. Legends tell of witches gathering twice a year when the seasons changed, on April 30 - the eve of May Day and the other was on the eve of October 31 - All Hallow's Eve.

 

The witches would gather on these nights, arriving on broomsticks, to celebrate a party hosted by the devil. Superstitions told of witches casting spells on unsuspecting people, transform themselves into different forms and causing other magical mischief.

 

It was said that to meet a witch you had to put your clothes on wrong side out and you had to walk backwards on Halloween night. Then at midnight you would see a witch.
When the early settlers came to America, they brought along their belief in witches. In American the legends of witches spread and mixed with the beliefs of others, the Native Americans - who also believed in witches, and then later with the black magic beliefs of the African slaves.

 

The black cat has long been associated with witches. Many superstitions have evolved about cats. It was believed that witches could change into cats. Some people also believed that cats were the spirits of the dead.

 

One of the best known superstitions is that of the black cat. If a black cat was to cross your path you would have to turn around and go back because many people believe if you continued bad luck would strike you.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Holidays on the Net has received numerous objections about our presentation of Halloween folklore involving witches. In fairness we present this letter from one of our visitors wishing to address this stereotyping. "Letter to the Webmaster:"
Letter to the Webmaster

 

Please Note: We at Holidays on the Net work hard to present factual holiday information. We have received numerous objections about our presentation of Halloween folklore involving witches. In fairness we present this letter from one of our visitors wishing to address this stereotyping. This letter is unedited (aside from spelling corrections).
Holidays on the Net is great! There is only one really big problem that I see here.
You see there is this religion that IS recognized by the United States of America as an actual religion. We hold the SAME religious freedoms that you hold. It is called Wicca, for short we are witches.

 

Yes it's true that we do gather on Halloween and May first. Actually their names would be Samhain, pronounced Sow-wan, Oct. 31.Yule, Dec. 21, Imbolc, Feb 2nd, Ostara, March 20, Beltane, May 1st, Summer Solstice, June 21, Lammas, Aug 1, Mabon Sept 22, and then back to Samhain again.

 

We, however, do not worship the devil as your story put it. In fact we have no deity that we call the devil, Lucifer, Satan, or whatever. We believe is a balance of both male and female. Thus we worship the God and the Goddess. We honor Mother Earth, and hold all of nature with great respect.

 

Also we do not harm anyone. The Wiccan Reed states that, AN IT HARM NONE, DO WHAT YE WILL. This one line encompasses all of the Ten Commandments the Moses supposedly brought down off of Sanai. We do not seek to destroy nor harm others for their beliefs. And we always try to understand everyone for their own system of beliefs. We do not believe that Wicca is the only true religion, and that we are all heading in the same direction after life, but we all get there on different paths.

 

If you were to sit down and actually study the Christian holidays you would see that many of our traditions were taken by them. Many of the rites that Christians perform were here long before there was a Christian church, or Jewish for that matter. These are rites and ceremonies that were and still are practiced by Wiccans.

 

Just to name a few, Yule is on December 21. That is when we celebrate the birth of our Lord. Ostara is right before Easter. This holiday, or sabbat as we call them, is a fertility rite. Hence that is why there are bunnies and eggs. We believe that on Samhain the veil between the worlds is at its thinnest. So this is when we gather to honor our past on ancestors. To tell them that we love them, that we miss them, and ask for help if needed. It's our memorial day. Not a day that we gather to fly out on "brooms" and bring harm and evil upon the world. To be quite honest, the Samhain ritual is very emotional and touching. There are lots of tears and hugging.

 

We also do a little ritual at our sabbats called cakes and wine. This is when we break bread and offer it to the God and the Goddess. Then in turn we each partake of the bread. After this we do the wine. It is offered to the God and the Goddess, and then we each partake of this. It seems strange how a pagan ritual has been put into a Christian ritual, communion.
On Yule we celebrate the birth of the Lord. This falls on December 21st. We decorate our homes with Yule logs and holly. Funny how Christmas songs still sung by Christians today talk of "pagan" rites for the sabbat. The holly is placed to honor the Holly King. The Yule log is set with three candles. They honor the maiden, mother and crone. The three forms of the Goddess. The Christians use the three as well, as the father, son and Holy Ghost.
Also we DO NOT use the term "warlock". This word means oath breaker. A male witch is called a witch, not a warlock. Many witches will take offense to this. Myself being a "male witch", and High priest and ordained minister of the Wiccan faith, I am not very fond of people calling me a "warlock".

 

The myth that people formed about us flying on brooms is a very old crop fertility rite. The people would gather together at their fields with brooms and pitch forks. They would jump over the brooms and such as a gesture of showing how high the crops should grow that year. The higher they would jump, the higher they believed their crops would grow. We did not fly through the air on the full moon wreaking havoc.
This is just a very small portion of our belief system.

 

And as usual, people have misconstrued us out to be some evil beings trying to bring harm to the world. It's sad that people can't understand who we really are. Even the Hebrews worshipped the Goddess for a time.

 

If you don't think so look in Jeremiah chapter 7:8. Everything was fine until good old Jehovah got mad. In all actuality, he didn't get mad. It was more likely that the male governing body couldn't keep control if the woman were not brought down. Probably where they got the saying of let your women be silent in church.

 

Understand that I am not trying to bash you for your story. But it would be nice and VERY appreciated if after the stories you could put the actual truth. It may have been just a Halloween tale, but people read this stuff and believe it all to be true.

 

There may be no more witch burnings in America, but we still lose our jobs, homes, families, and children because of belief. Because we are not following the "one true god" as the Christians would put it. That is why there are organizations like the Witches League for Religious Discrimination. We are still here, and growing in numbers. Our belief will never die out, no more than the Christians. But we do hold the same religious freedoms that they hold.

 

When you do your holiday net stories and such perhaps you should add people of other faiths as well. Not just the Christians and Jews. Maybe then the world would be more at peace and people could understand one another better.
Thank you,
Rev. (Name Withheld)*

 

* Holidays on the Net has chosen to leave the writer anonymous because we have not been able to contact the writer to get permission to publish his name.

 
Carl Ray Louk

"FRIENDSHIP NEVER ENDS" SG-1996
"LET LOVE LEAD THE WAY" SG-2000
"THE PHOENIX SHALL RISE" SD
"EVEN A MAN WHO IS PURE IN HEART AND SAYS HIS PRAYERS BY NIGHT, MAY BECOME A WOLF WHEN THE WOLFBANE BLOOMS AND THE AUTUMN MOON IS BRIGHT." LT-1941
"FLESH OF MY FLESH; BLOOD OF MY BLOOD; KIN OF MY KIN WHEN SAY COME TO YOU, YOU SHALL CROSS LAND OR SEA TO DO MY BIDDING!" CVTD-1895
"FROM HELL'S HEART I STAB AT THEE, FOR HATE SAKE I SPIT MY LAST BREATH AT THEE" CA-1895 
"I HAVE BEEN, AND ALWAYS SHALL BE YOUR FRIEND" Spock 
"TRICK OR TREAT, TRICK OR TREAT CANDY IS DANDY BUT MURDER, OH MURDER, IS SO SWEET" CRL-2003 
"EYE OF NEWT, AND TOE OF FROG, WOOL OF BAT, AND TONGUE OF DOG ADDER'S FORK, BLIND-WORM'S STING, LIZARD'S LEG, AND OWLET'S WING. FOR A CHARM OF POWERFUL TROUBLE, LIKE A HELL-BROTH BOIL AND BABBLE. DOUBLE, DOUBLE, TOIL AND TROUBLE, FIRE BURN, AND CALDRON BUBBLE" WS

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The Story of Halloween

The Story of Halloween

 

Halloween is one of the oldest holidays with origins going back thousands of years. The holiday we know as Halloween has had many influences from many cultures over the centuries, from the Roman's Pomona Day, to the Celtic festival of Samhain, to the Christian holidays of All Saints and All Souls Days.

 

Hundreds of years ago in what is now Great Britain and Northern France, lived the Celts. The Celts worshipped nature and had many gods, with the sun god as their favorite. It was "he" who commanded their work and their rest times, and who made the earth beautiful and the crops grow.

 

The Celts celebrated their New Year on November 1st. It was celebrated every year with a festival and marked the end of the "season of the sun" and the beginning of "the season of darkness and cold."

 

On October 31st after the crops were all harvested and stored for the long winter the cooking fires in the homes would be extinguished. The Druids, the Celtic priests, would meet in the hilltop in the dark oak forest (oak trees were considered sacred). The Druids would light new fires and offer sacrifices of crops and animals. As they danced around the fires, the season of the sun passed and the season of darkness would begin.
When the morning arrived the Druids would give an ember from their fires to each family who would then take them home to start new cooking fires. These fires would keep the homes warm and free from evil spirits.

 

The November 1st festival was called Samhain (pronounced "sow-en"). The festival would last for 3 days. Many people would parade in costumes made from the skins and heads of their animals. This festival would become the first Halloween.

 

During the first century the Romans invaded Britain. They brought with them many of their festivals and customs. One of these was the festival know as Pomona Day, named for their goddess of fruits and gardens. It was also celebrated around the 1st of November. After hundreds of years of Roman rule the customs of the Celtic's Samhain festival and the Roman Pomona Day mixed becoming 1 major fall holiday.

 

The next influence came with the spread of the new Christian religion throughout Europe and Britain. In the year 835 AD the Roman Catholic Church would make November 1st a church holiday to honor all the saints. This day was called All Saint's Day, or Hallowmas, or All Hallows. Years later the Church would make November 2nd a holy day. It was called All Souls Day and was to honor the dead. It was celebrated with big bonfires, parades, and people dressing up as saints, angels and devils.

 

But the spread of Christianity did not make people forget their early customs. On the eve of All Hallows, Oct. 31, people continued to celebrate the festivals of Samhain and Pomona Day. Over the years the customs from all these holidays mixed. October 31st became known as All Hallow Even, eventually All Hallow's Eve, Hallowe'en, and then - Halloween.

 

The Halloween we celebrate today includes all of these influences, Pomona Day's apples, nuts, and harvest, the Festival of Samhain's black cats, magic, evil spirits and death, and the ghosts, skeletons and skulls from All Saint's Day and All Soul's Day.

 
Carl Ray Louk

"FRIENDSHIP NEVER ENDS" SG-1996
"LET LOVE LEAD THE WAY" SG-2000
"THE PHOENIX SHALL RISE" SD
"EVEN A MAN WHO IS PURE IN HEART AND SAYS HIS PRAYERS BY NIGHT, MAY BECOME A WOLF WHEN THE WOLFBANE BLOOMS AND THE AUTUMN MOON IS BRIGHT." LT-1941
"FLESH OF MY FLESH; BLOOD OF MY BLOOD; KIN OF MY KIN WHEN SAY COME TO YOU, YOU SHALL CROSS LAND OR SEA TO DO MY BIDDING!" CVTD-1895
"FROM HELL'S HEART I STAB AT THEE, FOR HATE SAKE I SPIT MY LAST BREATH AT THEE" CA-1895 
"I HAVE BEEN, AND ALWAYS SHALL BE YOUR FRIEND" Spock 
"TRICK OR TREAT, TRICK OR TREAT CANDY IS DANDY BUT MURDER, OH MURDER, IS SO SWEET" CRL-2003 
"EYE OF NEWT, AND TOE OF FROG, WOOL OF BAT, AND TONGUE OF DOG ADDER'S FORK, BLIND-WORM'S STING, LIZARD'S LEG, AND OWLET'S WING. FOR A CHARM OF POWERFUL TROUBLE, LIKE A HELL-BROTH BOIL AND BABBLE. DOUBLE, DOUBLE, TOIL AND TROUBLE, FIRE BURN, AND CALDRON BUBBLE" WS

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The Pumpkin Patch

The Pumpkin Patch

 

The Celts that lived in what is now Great Britain and Northern France would carry a lantern when they walked on the eve of October 31. These lanterns were carved out of big turnips and the lights were believed to keep the evil spirits away. Children would carve faces in the turnips. These carved turnips were called "jack-o-lanterns.

 

Legends have it that the "jack-o-lantern" got its name from a stingy and mean old man, named Jack, who when he died was too mean to get into heaven. When Jack went to hell he was met by the Devil who gave him a piece of burning coal and sent him away. Jack placed the burning coal in a turnip to use as a lantern to light his way. The legends claim that Jack is still walking with the lantern looking for a place to stay.

 

When the early settlers came to America they found the big round orange pumpkin. Being larger and much more colorful than turnips, the pumpkin made great "jack-o-lanterns". Eventually the pumpkin would replace the turnip.

 

As the settlers spread across America they took their Halloween celebrations with them. The custom of the "jack-o-lantern" would travel with them. Eventually the Pumpkin would become the most widely recognized symbol of the Halloween holiday.

 
Carl Ray Louk

"FRIENDSHIP NEVER ENDS" SG-1996
"LET LOVE LEAD THE WAY" SG-2000
"THE PHOENIX SHALL RISE" SD
"EVEN A MAN WHO IS PURE IN HEART AND SAYS HIS PRAYERS BY NIGHT, MAY BECOME A WOLF WHEN THE WOLFBANE BLOOMS AND THE AUTUMN MOON IS BRIGHT." LT-1941
"FLESH OF MY FLESH; BLOOD OF MY BLOOD; KIN OF MY KIN WHEN SAY COME TO YOU, YOU SHALL CROSS LAND OR SEA TO DO MY BIDDING!" CVTD-1895
"FROM HELL'S HEART I STAB AT THEE, FOR HATE SAKE I SPIT MY LAST BREATH AT THEE" CA-1895 
"I HAVE BEEN, AND ALWAYS SHALL BE YOUR FRIEND" Spock 
"TRICK OR TREAT, TRICK OR TREAT CANDY IS DANDY BUT MURDER, OH MURDER, IS SO SWEET" CRL-2003 
"EYE OF NEWT, AND TOE OF FROG, WOOL OF BAT, AND TONGUE OF DOG ADDER'S FORK, BLIND-WORM'S STING, LIZARD'S LEG, AND OWLET'S WING. FOR A CHARM OF POWERFUL TROUBLE, LIKE A HELL-BROTH BOIL AND BABBLE. DOUBLE, DOUBLE, TOIL AND TROUBLE, FIRE BURN, AND CALDRON BUBBLE" WS

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CarlRayLouk

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Tricky Treats: Candy Myths

Tricky Treats: Candy Myths

 

Young trick-or-treaters have found needles, pins and razor blades in their Halloween candy.

 

The correct answer is true. While only a few minor injuries have been reported, there have been several instances of kids or young adults inserting pins, needles and even razor blades in apples and candy bars as a rather poorly-conceived prank. If you're worried about this happening to you, it's not your neighbors that you should be concerned about, but your own family. There is only one documented incident of someone actually handing out pin-laden candy bars to trick-or-treaters. In all other cases, the candy was usually tampered with by a sibling or the child himself after it was brought home.

 
Carl Ray Louk

"FRIENDSHIP NEVER ENDS" SG-1996
"LET LOVE LEAD THE WAY" SG-2000
"THE PHOENIX SHALL RISE" SD
"EVEN A MAN WHO IS PURE IN HEART AND SAYS HIS PRAYERS BY NIGHT, MAY BECOME A WOLF WHEN THE WOLFBANE BLOOMS AND THE AUTUMN MOON IS BRIGHT." LT-1941
"FLESH OF MY FLESH; BLOOD OF MY BLOOD; KIN OF MY KIN WHEN SAY COME TO YOU, YOU SHALL CROSS LAND OR SEA TO DO MY BIDDING!" CVTD-1895
"FROM HELL'S HEART I STAB AT THEE, FOR HATE SAKE I SPIT MY LAST BREATH AT THEE" CA-1895 
"I HAVE BEEN, AND ALWAYS SHALL BE YOUR FRIEND" Spock 
"TRICK OR TREAT, TRICK OR TREAT CANDY IS DANDY BUT MURDER, OH MURDER, IS SO SWEET" CRL-2003 
"EYE OF NEWT, AND TOE OF FROG, WOOL OF BAT, AND TONGUE OF DOG ADDER'S FORK, BLIND-WORM'S STING, LIZARD'S LEG, AND OWLET'S WING. FOR A CHARM OF POWERFUL TROUBLE, LIKE A HELL-BROTH BOIL AND BABBLE. DOUBLE, DOUBLE, TOIL AND TROUBLE, FIRE BURN, AND CALDRON BUBBLE" WS

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CarlRayLouk

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Yahoo Group: Yahoo! Groups : TheWorldAccordingtoCarlRayLouk http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheWorldAccordingtoCarlRayLouk/