My brain is Grand Central Station, a veritable beehive of activity. Ideas are easy, the imagination fertile. Filtering the truth: now, that's a challenge.
Saturday, December 08, 2012
Vintage Minolta Camera
Hope someone who sees this ad will want this camera or forward it to someone who wants it! It is an antique but still takes good pictures (35mm film).
Friday, December 07, 2012
Mormons and Gays
I hope this website helps me and others to understand that we should strive to love each other as we are loved by our Heavenly Father. We are each unique and challenged in this life by various circumstances. Standing together and believing in the worth of souls will help us get through hard times.
Tell John Boehner To Stop Purging Fiscal Conservatives! - FreedomWorks
I will be calling his office tomorrow morning; you can be sure! I didn't think he would ever give in to the pressure of the President or some other person or group.
Wednesday, December 05, 2012
A Brief History of Florida - Education - Florida Facts - Florida Division of Historical Resources
The rich tapestry of Florida's history is a great story to share with your family.
Welcome - Viva Florida 500
What is Viva Florida 500
Viva Florida 500 commemorates Florida's rich heritage and diverse cultural history through 2013, a significant milestone unlike any other in the history of the United States. As 2013 nears, this website reflects the plans, activities and events that will mark Florida's 500th anniversary, a statewide and year-long event. Learn More.
What's New
Expedition Florida 500: An adventure more than 500 years in the making
The 500th anniversary of Juan Ponce de León's landing on Florida's east coast has inspired the rediscovery of Florida's unique ecosystems, waterways and coastlines. Learn more about Expedition Florida 500.
The Viva Florida 500 time capsule is coming to a library near you
To encourage activities in every community in each of Florida's 67 counties, the Department has provided a Viva Florida 500 Time Capsule to every county library in the state. Learn More about the Viva Florida 500 time capsule
A Message from Governor Rick Scott
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I'm just learning about this celebration. Perhaps you or your organization will want to support it and participate in the plans and activities.
Easiest Online Backup Service - Backblaze
Storage. With so much to lose if our files are compromised, we have to be concerned about backing up our files. This is one tool that seems fairly inexpensive. I suggest using two or three different tools for the purpose. This could be just one way to save your genealogy files. Consider researching other ways as well and make a commitment to protect your research.
WorldCat for genealogy [OCLC]
The terminology a lot of us continue to use is "BOOKS", alas the age of technology is changing us everyday. We seek a lot of information from online sources, now. Digitized databases and resources abound. Fortunately, World Cat is not just about books. It's about all kinds of documents and all about research that we genealogists still need to do. I'm excited to use such an intensive tool. Tell us what you found at World Cat!
Saturday, December 01, 2012
Happy Birthday Gatherings are a Positive Experience
I had a great time, tonight, helping my son celebrate his birthday. He hadn't had the best week of his life, or of this day, but bravely, he chose to share with us this family tradition where we all (as many as are available) get together. I think my mom and dad had given us kids the example to follow. The only mistake they made was in letting me lead the way in planning the occasion!
I remember one time, my mother said I could invite some classmates to my tenth or eleventh birthday party. I invited the whole seventh grade! Seriously. I don't think my parents knew that I had done this. Just before the party, my mother had to go to the hospital--right now, I couldn't tell you what the situation was. Anyway, a neighbor offered to help my dad go ahead with the party.
Wow! Did she have a surprise! People just kept arriving. My dad was giving horse rides--no Thunder or maybe it was Stormy--was a full grown horse. The kids, my friends, most of whom I had known from first grade, were loving it. We didn't think about liability those days. Or at least, if my dad thought of it, he never shared with me. I'm pretty sure that our neighbor never forgot that day, as she tried to replenish the food table!
But tonight was different. My grandchildren (the three that live here in the area) were in good spirits. My son, Kevin, participated and my Birthday son's wish was to eat at a pizza parlour in Destin, (Graffitti), which was fine with all. After all, you only turn 49, once! Richard, the birthday boy, will always be young at heart. These days, I don't think any of us look at age quite the way my parents did, possibly. The older generation is living longer and healthier. It's hard for me to believe that just 17 years ago, when I turned fifty, I was sure I could care less. Surprise, surprise! A dark cloud of depression met me on the day of my birthday. I couldn't shake it; my body knew and my brain knew that I was about to head over the hill.
Whatever happens in life, it is good to know that you have family who care about you. Every birthday is good if you still have some family or friends to share it. And if you don't, then you just have to invite folks who need a laugh at your expense! This is Richard's son. He's seventeen now, but this picture is a couple of years old, I believe.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Links to Other Winter Activities
DLTK's Crafts for Kids
Links to Other Winter ActivitiesDLTK's Christmas Activities for Kids
Coloring Pages with a Winter Theme
FirstSchool Seasons Activities
KidZone Winter Themed Math Pages
MakingLearningFun Snow and Snowmen Activities
This is mostly for little kids or kids in the younger grades. However, if you're a grandma with company coming or a busy mom, you might want to plan ahead by acquiring green and red craft paper, glue sticks, glitter glue, and the odds and ends that some of the activities might require. Good luck and have fun!
Monday, November 12, 2012
The ILGenWeb Project
Links to the counties will be available soon.
The ILGenWeb Project's is located at:
http://illinoisgenweb.orgILGenWeb Announcements Calendar
Please use the calendar to announce reunions, genealogical & historical meetings, etc. Brief History of the State
The first Europeans to explore what is now Illinois were Frenchmen Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet, who reached the area in 1673. The area was controlled by the French until 1763, and was then controlled by the British. In 1778 it came under the control of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Territory of Illinois was created by an act of Congress in 1809. On December 3, 1818, Illinois became the 21st state admitted to the union.
For more in-depth history of the state, be sure to visit the The Illinois History Project.
Available Counties
The following counties are available for adoption:
Bureau, Edwards, Ford, Gallatin, Hardin, Henry, Jackson, Massac, McDonough, McHenry, Mercer, Morgan, Putnam, Rock Island, Saline, Stark, Tazewell, Vermilion, Wabash and Whiteside. If you are interested in adopting one of the above counties, please visit the adoptions page for more information.
Last Update: Wednesday, 24-Oct-2012 22:16:48 EDT
This is a wonderful example of an USGenWeb page. I just discovered that one of my former students in the Center for Lifelong Learning is the State Coordinator for Illinois! I love how non-fussy and easy to use it is.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Stardock: Fences 2.0 is now available!
You may be wondering, "What is this"?!! I stumbled across the free version of this program a few years ago and used it for a while. The idea of organizing and simplifying the Desktop provides a sense of being able to exercise a little control on an ever expanding number of icons and options.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Vintage Minolta Camera
De-cluttering cleans out corners and makes money. Sometimes.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Turkish book on Darwin sparks outrage
A series of books for primary schoolchildren, describing Charles Darwin as a Jew with a big nose who kept the company of monkeys and other historical figures in anti-Semitic terms, has caused outrage in Turkey amid fears of rising religious intolerance.
A teachers’ union is taking legal action over the distribution of the books last week to about 1,000 schoolchildren in the Maltepe district of Istanbul. The local education authority, which approved the books and ultimately answers to the central government, has denied knowledge of their content.
More
On this topic
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- Turkey authorises sending troops to Syria
IN Europe
But the incident has already made waves far beyond Maltepe. It follows previous attacks in Turkey on the theory of evolution; last year, an internet filter briefly restricted access to evolutionist websites.
It also comes in the wake of wide-ranging education reforms pushed through this year by the country’s Islamist-rooted government, which have increased the number of religious schools in Turkey and introduced optional lessons on the Prophet Mohammed in ordinary state schools.
Such changes are hailed by the government as increasing freedom of choice in a country that for decades excluded the religiously conservative majority. Opponents say the secular educational system is being threatened.
“The education system is becoming reactionary; imams are now teaching religion in schools,” said Mehmet Aydogan, an official in the union asking for the books to be impounded. “These books are discrediting worldwide accepted artists and scientists and forcing students to think unscientifically.”
The European Commission and other bodies have long complained that the traditional Turkish education textbooks are deeply flawed, painting minorities as untrustworthy and treacherous.
But the books in Maltepe, intended as potted biographies, go further. A book on Albert Einstein describes the physicist as “filthy and slovenly”. Immediately after saying that he ate soap, it adds: “The sad part is during that time the Gestapo was putting Jews into ovens and making them into soap.”
The book on Darwin says the proponent of natural selection “had two problems: first he was a Jew; second, he hated his prominent forehead, big nose and misshapen teeth.” It adds that he threw nuts to monkeys at the zoo rather than go to school. Darwin was not Jewish.
Speaking to Turkey’s Radikal newspaper, Faik Kaptan, Maltepe’s director of education, said he had not read the books, adding: “It is not possible to check all the books distributed in the district.”
But Yaman Akdeniz, a professor of law at Istanbul’s Bilgi university, said that the attack on Darwin came in the context of a more general assault on evolution, which many Turks associate with atheism. Mr Akdeniz represented Richard Dawkins, the British scientist, in a case that successfully reversed a two-year ban on Mr Dawkins’ website. “Evolution is the second most sensitive issue after sexually explicit material,” he said.
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After teaching Evolution for years I have come to realize that no matter how much evidence one brings to the classroom people will believe what their social group instructs, regardless. Knowing that the "belief" system doesn't need to include evolution promotes those peoples needs to discredit it. They in turn fit in and rock no boats at home. Life is good. In the largest scheme of things whether evolution exists or not really doesn't matter to anyone except the scientist who needs to understand its implications, and of course us teachers who are supposed to teach our children correct scientific theory.
1939 doesn't seem so far removed, after all. I'm not personally concerned whether Turkish schools teach evolution or not, but to portray Judaism as an enemy or a disease, in the guise of Charles Darwin, really bothers me. Sowing seeds of hate is insupportable.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Tuesday, October 09, 2012
No White House Press Briefing in Last 15 Days | The Weekly Standard
It isn't transparency in this administration; its obscurity.
Saturday, October 06, 2012
FamilySearch Labs
Research Assistance
We are exploring better ways to provide community-driven research assistance to those who have specific genealogical questions. Please give Research Assistance a try and let us know how it goes.
(Requires a free FamilySearch account.)
General Research Questions
Research Assistance is currently available for these specific areas in the United States: -->
I have been interested in the development aspect of FamilySearch.org from the beginning. Some of the elements of FamilySearch were tried and then retired, probably because something better was on the way in. I love the FamilySearch Center locator, which is fairly new as far as I know. It is user friendly and interactive; a positive result of the software engineers that I think will stay around.
Tuesday, October 02, 2012
South Asia Mail
I love it when good people get together! They can accomplish understanding, good works, and who knows what else!
Saturday, September 22, 2012
New genetic light shed on human evolution
Historians and genealogists, I think, are fact finders. We try not to assume such and such is true because we know that as we continue to delve into our mysteries, new facts come to light. We wait to see what is going to develop, we collect evidence and see how our hypotheses stands up.