Friday, November 30, 2007

Horse Drawn Carriage with Christmas Trees

Horse Drawn Carriage with Christmas TreesScott D. Harmon of Brandy Station Va. drives a horse drawn carrage delivering the official White House tree Nov. 28 2007, to the North Portico of the White House. The 18 foot Fraser fir-tree from the Mistletoe Meadows tree farm in Laurel Springs, N.C. will be on display in the Blue Room of the White House for the 2007 Christmas Season. White House photo by Chris Greenburg.
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National Christmas Tree (United States) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In the United States, a large tree near the White House is decorated as the National Christmas Tree. The switching-on of the Christmas lights on the tree by the President of the United States early in the Christmas season is an annual televised event and a month-long festivities known as the Pageant of Peace. Nearby smaller trees and other decorations leading up to the National Christmas Tree are referred to as the Pathway to Peace.

The tradition of having a "National Christmas Tree" in Washington, D.C. began in 1923 during the presidency of Calvin Coolidge. That year, a 48-foot Balsam Fir from Vermont, Coolidge's home state, was donated by Paul D. Moody, President of Middlebury College in Vermont, and placed in the Ellipse outside the White House. At 5:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve, standing at the foot of the tree, President Coolidge briefly addressed a crowd and lit up the tree electrically with a touch of a button. 2,500 electric bulbs in red, white and green, donated by the Electric League of Washington, illuminated the tree.

In 1924, the National Christmas Tree became known as the National Community Christmas Tree and lighting ceremony was moved to Sherman Plaza near the east entrance of the White House, where a 35-foot Norway Spruce donated by the American Forestry Association was planted. A bronze marker was placed at the base of this tree in 1927, marking it as the "National Community Christmas Tree." This tree was found to be damaged due to the process of trimming and the repeated stress caused by the heat and weight of the lights and was replaced in 1929 by another Norway spruce from New York. This second Norway spruce was similarly damaged and replaced with a 25-foot one replanted from the nursery of the Office of Public Buildings and Public Parks in the spring of 1931.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article, National Christmas Tree (United States)

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Thursday, November 29, 2007

Merry Christmas from Santa Claus

Merry Christmas from Santa ClausPrivacy & Security Notice The DoD Imagery Server is provided as a public service by the American Forces Information Service. and the Defense Visual Information Directorate.Information presented on DoD Imagery Server is considered public information. (High Resolution Image). (except where noted for government and military users logged into restricted areas) and may be distributed or copied. Use of appropriate byline/photo/image credits is requested.
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Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus From Wikipedia

In 1897, a certain Dr. Philip O'Hanlon, a coroner's assistant, was faced with a minor family crisis. His eight year old daughter, Virginia had begun to doubt in the existence of Santa Claus. Her friends had been telling her that he was no more than a piece of fiction.

Dr. O'Hanlon told his little daughter to write to the Sun, a prominent New York newspaper at the time, in the assurance that the paper would tell her the truth. While he was undoubtedly passing the buck because he couldn't bear to tell his daughter that Santa Claus was a myth, he unwittingly gave one of paper's editors, Francis Pharcellus Church, an opportunity to rise above the simple question, and to speak to the philosophical issues behind it.

Mr. Church was a war correspondent during the American Civil War, a time which saw great suffering and a corresponding lack of hope and faith in much of society. Although the paper ran the editorial in the seventh place on the editorial page, below even an editorial on the newly invented "chainless bicycle", its message struck a chord in the hearts of people who read it. After over a century, it is today the best known and most reprinted editorial ever to run in any newspaper in the English language, and it is considered as pertinent today as it was in 1897.

Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus

Editorial Page, New York Sun, 1897

We take pleasure in answering thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun:

I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, "If you see it in The Sun, it's so." Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?

Virginia O'Hanlon

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a sceptical age. They do not believe except what they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.

He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The external light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus? Thank God he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!!

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article, Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus

Rememberance Hanukkah 5768 and Vintage Santa Claus and “Heftier” Atoms Reduce Friction at the Nanoscale

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Vintage Santa Claus

Vintage Santa ClausPrivacy & Security Notice The DoD Imagery Server is provided as a public service by the American Forces Information Service. and the Defense Visual Information Directorate.Information presented on DoD Imagery Server is considered public information. (High Resolution Image). (except where noted for government and military users logged into restricted areas) and may be distributed or copied. Use of appropriate byline/photo/image credits is requested.
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Santa Claus From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Santa Claus, also known as Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle, or simply "Santa" is a historical, legendary and mythological character associated with bringing gifts on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. The popular North American form Santa Claus originated as a mispronunciation of Dutch Sinterklaas, which in turn is a contracted form of Sint Nicolaas (Saint Nicholas). However, the Dutch Sinterklaas is different from Santa Claus in many ways: see the section on Dutch folklore. The Dutch word for Santa Claus is Kerstman ("Christmas man"). Santa Claus has a suit that comes in many colors depending on the country. The most common depiction (red with white sleeves, collar, and belt) became the more popular image in the United States in the mid-to-late 19th century.

Saint Nicholas of Myra is the primary inspiration for the Christian figure of Santa Claus. He was a 4th century Christian bishop of Myra in Lycia, a province of the Byzantine Anatolia, now in Turkey. Nicholas was famous for his generous gifts to the poor, in particular presenting the three impoverished daughters of a pious Christian with dowries so that they would not have to become prostitutes. He was very religious from an early age and devoted his life entirely to Christianity. In Europe (more precisely the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Germany) he is still portrayed as a bearded bishop in canonical robes. The relics of St. Nicholas were transported to Bari in southern Italy by some enterprising Italian merchants; a basilica was constructed in 1087 to house them and the area became a pilgrimage site for the devout.

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Rememberance Hanukkah 5768 and Andrew Jackson and Delft University of Technology rotates electron spin with electric field

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson Creator: Department of Defense. Department of the Army. Office of the Chief Signal Officer. (09/18/1947 - 02/28/1964) ( Most Recent) Type of Archival Materials: Photographs and other Graphic Materials. Level of Description: Item from Record Group 111: Records of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer, 1860 - 1982.

Location: Still Picture Records LICON, Special Media Archives Services Division (NWCS-S), National Archives at College Park, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001 PHONE: 301-837-3530, FAX: 301-837-3621, EMAIL: stillpix@nara.gov
Coverage Dates: ca. 1900 - 1982. Part of: Series: Signal Corps Photographs of American Military Activity, 1754 - 1954. Access Restrictions: Unrestricted. Use Restrictions: Unrestricted.

Variant Control Number(s): NAIL Control Number: NWDNS-111-SC-94193. Copy 1 Copy Status: Preservation-Reproduction. Storage Facility: National Archives at College Park - Archives II (College Park, MD) Media. Media Type: Negative

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Andrew Jackson From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the 7th President of the United States (1829–1837). He was also military governor of Florida (1821), commander of the American forces at the Battle of New Orleans (1815), and the eponym of the era of Jacksonian democracy. He was a polarizing figure who dominated American politics in the 1820s and 1830s. His political ambition combined with the masses of people shaped the modern Democratic Party. Nicknamed "Old Hickory" because he was renowned for his toughness, Jackson was the first President primarily associated with the frontier as he based his career in Tennessee.

Andrew Jackson was born to Presbyterian Scots-Irish immigrants Andrew and Elizabeth Jackson in Lancaster County, South Carolina, on March 15, 1767.[2] He was the youngest of three brothers and was born just weeks after his father's death. Both North Carolina and South Carolina have claimed Jackson as a "native son," because the community straddled the state line, and there was conflicting lore in the neighborhood about his exact birth site.

Controversies about Jackson's birthplace went far beyond the dispute between North and South Carolina. Because his origins were humble and obscure compared to those of his predecessors, wild rumors abounded about Jackson's past. Joseph Nathan Kane, in his almanac-style book Facts About the Presidents, lists no fewer than eight localities, including two foreign countries, that were mentioned in the popular press as Jackson's "real" birthplace including Ireland where both of Jackson's parents were born.

Jackson himself always stated definitively that he was born in a cabin just inside South Carolina. Having received a sporadic education, Jackson, at age thirteen and during the American Revolutionary War, joined a local regiment as a courier

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Monday, November 26, 2007

Arbeit Macht Frei

Arbeit Macht Frei View of the entrance to the main camp of Auschwitz (Auschwitz I). The gate bears the motto "Arbeit Macht Frei" (Work makes one free).

Date: May 11, 1945 - May 15, 1945. Locale: Auschwitz, [Upper Silesia] Poland; Birkenau; Auschwitz III; Monowitz; Auschwitz II. Credit: USHMM, courtesy of Instytut Pamieci Narodowej. Copyright: Public Domain
Arbeit macht frei From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In 1872 the German-nationalist author Lorenz Diefenbach used the expression, "Arbeit macht frei," as the title for a novel, causing the expression to become well-known in nationalist circles. It was adopted in 1928 by the Weimar government as a slogan extolling the effects of their desired policy of large-scale public works programmes to end unemployment, and mocking the individualist slogan, "Stadtluft macht frei" ("Urban air liberates"). It was continued in this usage by the NSDAP (Nazi Party) when it came to power in 1933

The slogan, "Arbeit macht frei," was placed at the entrances to a number of Nazi concentration camps, not as a mockery, not even literally – as a false promise that those who worked to exhaustion would eventually be released – but rather "as a kind of mystical declaration that self-sacrifice in the form of endless labour does in itself bring a kind of spiritual freedom." [1]

Although it was common practice in Germany to post inscriptions of this sort at entrances to institutional properties and large estates, the slogan's use in this instance was ordered by SS General Theodor Eicke, inspector of concentration camps and first commandant of Dachau Concentration Camp.

The slogan can still be seen at several sites, including the entrance to Auschwitz I—although, according to Auschwitz: a New History, by BBC historian Laurence Rees, it was placed there by commandant Rudolf Höß, who believed that doing menial work during his own imprisonment under the Weimar Republic had helped him through the experience. At Auschwitz, the upper bowl in the "B" in "ARBEIT" is wider than the lower bowl, appearing to some as upside-down. Several geomerically constructed sans-serif typefaces of the 1920s experimented with this variation.

The slogan can also be seen at the Dachau concentration camp, Gross-Rosen, Sachsenhausen, and the Theresienstadt Ghetto-Camp.

At Buchenwald, however, "Jedem das Seine" ("To each his own") was used instead.

In 1938 the Austrian political cabaret writer Jura Soyfer and the composer Herbert Zipper, while prisoners at Dachau Concentration Camp, wrote the Dachaulied (The Dachau Song). They had spent weeks marching in and out of the camp's gate to daily forced labor, and considered the motto, "Arbeit macht frei," over the gate an insult. The song repeats the phrase cynically as a "lesson" taught by Dachau.

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Presidential Podcast 11/24/07 and Seasons Greetings Horse Drawn Carriage and Make way for the real nanopod

Sunday, November 25, 2007

methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria

methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteriaMagnified 20,000X, this colorized scanning electron micrograph (SEM) depicts a grouping of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria. See PHIL 617 for a black and white view of this image.

These S. aureus bacteria are methicillin-resistant, and are from one of the first isolates in the U.S. that showed increased resistance to vancomycin as well.
Note the increase in cell wall material seen as clumps on the organisms’ surface. Retrieve uncompressed archival TIFF version (10.77 megabytes)

Content Providers(s): CDC/ Jim Biddle. Creation Date: 1998. Photo Credit: Janice Carr. Links:


  • CDC – Div. of Healthcare Quality Promotion (DHQP) MRSA - methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus

    Copyright Restrictions: None - This image is in the public domain and thus free of any copyright restrictions. As a matter of courtesy we request that the content provider be credited.

    Presidential Podcast 11/24/07 and Seasons Greetings Horse Drawn Carriage and Make way for the real nanopod

    Saturday, November 24, 2007

    Seasons Greetings Horse Drawn Carriage



    Greetings Horse and buggy fans, i see google sending a lot of you here, see if this is more what you're looking for Horse and buggy in Old Havana it's a beautiful image i hope you like it.

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    Seasons Greetings Horse Drawn Carriage

    Carriage From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    A carriage is a horse-drawn vehicle, especially one designed for private passenger use and for comfort or elegance, though some are also used to transport goods. It may be light, smart and fast or heavy, large and comfortable. Carriages normally have suspension using leaf springs, elliptical springs (in the 19th century) or leather strapping. A public passenger vehicle would not usually be called a carriage – terms for these include stagecoach, charabanc and omnibus.

    A four-wheeled vehicle that is not sprung is a wagon, used mainly for goods. An American buckboard or Conestoga wagon or "prairie schooner" is not a carriage – but a wagonette is a carriage, not a wagon.

    The word carriage (abbreviated carr or cge) is from Old Northern French cariage, to carry in a vehicle. The word car, then meaning a kind of two-wheeled cart for goods, also came from Old Northern French about the beginning of the 14th century[1]; it was also used for railway carriages, and was extended to cover automobile around the end of the 19th century, when early models were called horseless carriages.

    A carriage is sometimes called a team, as in "horse and team". A carriage with its horse is a rig. An elegant horse-drawn carriage with its retinue of servants is an equipage. A carriage together with the horses, harness and attendants is a turnout. A procession of carriages is a cavalcade.

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    What will YOU ask the REPUBLICAN presidential candidates? VIDEO and Hanukkah.Dreidel and IH recognizes Clemson nanotechnology for molecule tracking

    Friday, November 23, 2007

    Hanukkah.Dreidel

    Hanukkah.DreidelThis image has been (or is hereby) released into the public domain by its author, Roland Scheicher at the German Wikipedia project. This applies worldwide. In case this is not legally possible: Roland Scheicher grants anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law.
    Dreidel From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    A dreidel (Hebrew: סביבון, Sevivon) is a four-sided top, played with during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. The dreidel is used for a gambling game similar to Teetotum.

    Each side of the dreidel bears a letter of the Hebrew alphabet: נ (Nun), ג (Gimel), ה (Hei), ש (Shin), which together form the acronym for "נס גדול היה שם" (Nes Gadol Haya Sham – "a great miracle happened there"). These letters also form a mnemonic for the rules of a gambling game played with a dreidel: Nun stands for the Yiddish word "nit" ('nothing'), hei stands for "halb" ('half'), gimel for "gants" ('all'), and shin for "shteln" ('put'). In Israel, instead of ש (Shin), the letter פ (Pe) is written to symbolize the location of the miracle — "פה" (Po – "here").

    The Yiddish word "dreydl" comes from the word "dreyen" ("to turn"). The Hebrew word "sevivon" comes also from the root "sov" ("turn") and was invented by Itamar Ben-Avi (the son of Eliezer Ben-Yehuda) when he was 5 years old. Before that, different terms were used by Hayyim Nahman Bialik in his poems. [citation needed] While the only mandated mitzvot for Chanukah consist of lighting candles and saying the full hallel, there are numerous other customs that have come to be associated with Chanukah.

    This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article, Dreidel

    Rudy Giuliani campaign ad “Challenges” VIDEO and Swearing in of Lyndon B. Johnson as President on Air Force One and Research goes nano, natural and green

    Thursday, November 22, 2007

    Swearing in of Lyndon B. Johnson as President on Air Force One

    Swearing in of Lyndon B. Johnson as President on Air Force OneImage Number: 1A-4-WH63, Credit: LBJ Library Photo by Cecil Stoughton, Image Date: 11/22/1963, Event: Swearing in of Lyndon B. Johnson as President

    Location: Air Force One, Love Field, Dallas, Texas, Rights Information: Public Domain (No usage fees, no permission required)
    High Resolution Image‎ (3,000 × 2,374 pixels, file size: 1.94 MB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Retrieve uncompressed archival TIFF version (6.8 megabytes)

    Description: L-R: Mac Kilduff (lower left corner), Jack Valenti, Judge Sarah T. Hughes, Congressman Albert Thomas, Lady Bird Johnson, Chief Jessie Curry (behind LBJ's hand), President Lyndon B. Johnson, Evelyn Lincoln (eyeglasses only visible behind LBJ), Jacqueline Kennedy, Congressman Jack Brooks

    Attention Publishers and Media: Please print out this page and retain for your permissions records before downloading this image file for possible publication. Library staff cannot sign permission forms or provide additional paperwork. The Library charges no usage fees for its images.

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    Find the Perfect Fine Art and Image Gifts

    Technorati tags: and or and or or John D. Negroponte Remarks on Pakistan VIDEO PODCAST and The Annual Pardoning of the Thanksgiving Turkey and Rice University expert calls for coordination in nanotechnology research

    Wednesday, November 21, 2007

    The Annual Pardoning of the Thanksgiving Turkey

    The Annual Pardoning of the Thanksgiving TurkeyThis work is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work of the United States Federal Government under the terms of 17 U.S.C. § 105.

    Generally speaking, works created by U.S. Government employees are not eligible for copyright protection in the United States. See Circular 1 "COPYRIGHT BASICS" PDF from the U.S. Copyright Office.
    The public has spoken. 28,726 votes have been cast and "May and Flower" are the winning names of the Thanksgiving Turkey and the alternate that the President pardoned on November 20, 2007.

    This year marks the 60th anniversary of the National Thanksgiving Turkey presentation. Though live Thanksgiving turkeys have been presented intermittently to presidents since the Lincoln administration, the current ceremony dates to 1947, when the first National Thanksgiving Turkey was presented to President Harry Truman.

    The presentation at times has brushed against broader history. For example, the November 1963 event was one of President Kennedy's last in the Rose Garden. The first President Bush conducted the 1990 ceremony just before leaving for Thanksgiving with the troops in the Persian Gulf region. President Clinton in 1996 returned from an Asian summit and literally went directly to the ceremony.

    The 2007 National Thanksgiving Turkey and its alternate are from Dubois, Indiana and were raised under the direction of National Turkey Federation Chairman Ted Seger. The 21-week old turkey, will weigh about 45 pounds, when he is driven to Washington.

    The National Thanksgiving Turkey was raised using normal feeding and other production techniques. The one exception is they were provided increased interaction with people so that they would be prepared for their role at the White House Ceremony.

    Presidents traditionally have granted the National Thanksgiving Turkey a "pardon". After the presentation, the turkey will be flown first class to Disney World in Orlando, where he will be the grand marshal of “Disney’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.” After the parade, guests will be able to visit the bird in the backyard of Mickey’s Country House in Magic Kingdom Park.

    President Bush Pardons Turkeys "May and Flower" VIDEO PODCAST and Prehistoric Animals Dinosaurs Stegosaurus and Using nanotech to make Robocops

    Tuesday, November 20, 2007

    Prehistoric Animals Dinosaurs Stegosaurus

    Prehistoric Animals Dinosaurs StegosaurusFrom MONSTER-HUNTERS BY FRANCIS ROLT-WHEELER, WITH FIFTY-THREE ILLUSTRATIONS, MOSTLY PROM
    PHOTOGRAPHS LOANED BY THE AMERICAN, MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, BOSTON. Copyright 1916 by LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO.
    The Author desires to express his appreciation of the consultation and assistance of Professor Henry Fairfield Osborn, President of the American Museum of Natural History, New York City, and of the members of the Scientific Staff of the Museum, especially: Dr. Frederic A. Lucas, Director ; Dr. W. D. Matthew, Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology; Mr. Walter Granger, Associate Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology (Mammals); and Mr. Barnum Brown, Associate Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology (Reptiles).

    The Author further wishes to express appreciation for the use of illustrations provided by the Museum, naming especially the restorations of Mr. Charles E. Knight.

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    Stegosaurus From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    Stegosaurus (IPA: /ˌstɛgəˈsɔːrəs/) is a genus of stegosaurid armoured dinosaur from the Late Jurassic period (Kimmeridgian to Early Tithonian) in what is now western North America. In 2006, a specimen of Stegosaurus was announced from Portugal, suggesting that they were present in Europe as well. Due to its distinctive tail spikes and plates, Stegosaurus is one of the most recognisable dinosaurs, along with Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops, and Apatosaurus.

    The name Stegosaurus means "roof-lizard" and is derived from the Greek στέγος-, stegos- ("roof") and σαῦρος, -sauros ("lizard").[2] At least three species have been identified in the upper Morrison Formation and are known from the remains of about 80 individuals. They lived some 155 to 145 million years ago, in an environment and time dominated by the giant sauropods Diplodocus, Camarasaurus, and Apatosaurus.

    This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article, Stegosaurus

    Mike Huckabee TV Ad Featuring Chuck Norris VIDEO and Prehistoric Animals Dinosaurs Alamosaurus and Wireless sensors to monitor bearings in jet engines

    Monday, November 19, 2007

    Prehistoric Animals Dinosaurs Alamosaurus

    Prehistoric Animals Dinosaurs AlamosaurusDescription: a speculative representation on how the Alamosaurus sanjuanensis could have been. there is no complete skeleton found yet. Date: 2 august 2006. Author: Mariana Ruiz Villarreal [user:LadyofHats] Permission: (Reusing this image) public domain
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    In some countries this may not be legally possible; if so: LadyofHats grants anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law.

    Alamosaurus was named for Alamo Creek, San Juan Basin, New Mexico, where the first specimen was discovered. Alamosaurus roamed over much of southwestern North America during the latest part of the Cretaceous. It became extinct at the very end of the Mesozoic Era, during the mass extinction episode that wiped out many other species at the same time. Alamosaurus was one of the very last of the non-avian dinosaurs in Texas. Alamosaurus sanjuanensis Giant Sauropod Dinosaur

    Alamosaurus From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    Alamosaurus, (pronounced IPA: /ˌæləməˈsɔrəs/; meaning "Alamo lizard"), is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period of what is now North America. It was a large quadrupedal herbivore, up to 53 feet (16 metres) in length and up to 33 tons (30 metric tonnes) in weight. Alamosaurus, like other sauropods, had a long neck and a long tail, which may have ended in a 'whiplash' structure.

    This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article, Alamosaurus

    Google meets Sherlock Holmes and The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus and World's most complex silicon phased-array chip developed at UC-San Diego

    Sunday, November 18, 2007

    The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus

    The Life and Adventures of Santa ClausThe Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, by Lyman Frank Baum and illustrated by Mary Cowles Clark (Indianapolis: Bowen-. Merrill, 1902.

    Mary Cowles Clark (1871-1950) was born in Syracuse, New York, studied with the Art Students League, and spent her summers in Siasconset, in a cottage on Sankaty Road. She illustrated several books, including Frank Baum's The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus. Nantucket Art Colony
    These images (or other media files) are in the public domain because their copyright has expired. This applies to the United States, where Works published prior to 1978 were copyright protected for a maximum of 75 years. See Circular 1 "COPYRIGHT BASICS" from the U.S. Copyright Office. Works published before 1923 are now in the public domain In the United States,

    These inages however may not be in the public domain in countries that figure copyright from the date of death of the artist (post mortem auctoris), in this case 1950, and that most commonly runs for a period of 50 to 70 years from that date. If your use will be outside the United States please check your local law.

    The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus

    The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus

    The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus

    The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus

    The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus
    THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF SANTA CLAUS CHAPTER FIRST. HAVE you heard of the great Forest of Burzee?

    Nurse used to sing of it when I was a child. She sang of the big tree-. trunks, standing close together, with their roots intertwining below the earth and their branches intertwining above it; of their rough coating of bark and queer, gnarled limbs; of the bushy foliage that roofed the entire forest, save where the sunbeams found a path through which to touch the ground in little spots and to cast weird and curious shadows over the mosses, the ljchens and the drifts of dried leaves.

    The Forest of Burzee is mighty and grand and awesome to those who steal beneath its
    shade. Coming from the sunlit meadows into its mazes it seems at first gloomy, then pleasant, and afterward filled with never-ending delights. For hundreds of years it has flourished in all its magnificence, the silence of its inclosure unbroken
    save by the chirp of busy chipmunks, the growl of wild beasts and the songs of birds.

    Yet Burzee has its inhabitants—for all this. Nature peopled it in the beginning with Fairies, Knooks, Ryls and Nymphs. As long as the Forest stands it will be a home, a refuge and a playground to these sweet immortals, who revel undisturbed in its depths. Civilization has never yet reached Burzee. Will it ever, I wonder?

    Once so long ago our great-grandfathers could scarcely have heard it mentioned, there lived within the great Forest of Burzee a wood-nymph named Necile. She was closely related to the mighty Queen Zurline, and her home was beneath the shade of a wide-spreading oak.

    Once every year, on Budding Day, when the trees put forth their new buds, Necile held the Golden Chalice of Ak to the lips of the Queen, who drank therefrom to the prosperity of the Forest. So you see she was a nymph of some importance, and, moreover, it is said she was highly regarded because of her beauty and grace.

    When she was created she could not have told; Queen Zurline could not have told; the great Ak himself could not have told. It was long ago when the world was new and nymphs were needed to guard the forests and to minister to the wants of the young trees. Then, on some day not remembered, Necile sprang into being; radiant, lovely, straight and slim as the sapling she was created to guard.

    Her hair was the color that lines a chestnut-bur; her eyes were blue in the sunlight and purple in the shade; her cheeks bloomed with the faint pink that edges the clouds at suns¿t; her lips were full red, pouting and sweet.

    For costume she adopted oak--leaf green; all the wood--nymphs dress in that color and know no other so desirable. Her dainty feet were sandal-clad, while her head remained bare of covering other than her silken tresses. Necile's duties were few and simple. She kept hurtful weeds from growing beneath her trees and sapping the earth - food required by her charges.

    She frightened away the Gadgols, who took evil delight in flying against the tree--trunks and wounding them so that they drooped and died from the poisonous contact. In dry seasons she carried water from the brooks and pools and moistened the roots of her thirsty dependents.

    That was in the beginning. The weeds had now learned to avoid the forests where wood-nymphs dwelt; the loathsome Gadgols no longer dared come nigh; the trees had become old and sturdy and could bear the drought better than when fresh--sprouted.

    So Necile's duties were lessened, and time grew laggard, while succeeding years became more tiresome and un-eventful than the nymph's joyous spirit loved. Truly the forest--dwellers did not lack amusement. Each full moon they danced in the Royal Circle of the Queen.

    There were also the Feast of Nuts, the Jubilee of Autumn Tintings, the solemn ceremony of Leaf Shedding and the revelry of Budding Day. But these periods of enjoyment were far apart, and left many weary hours between.

    That a wood--nymph should grow discontented was not thought of by Necile's sisters. It came upon her only after many years of brooding.

    You may download a Public Domain copy of The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus complete with all illustrations in PDF format here The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by Lyman Frank Baum

    Friday, November 16, 2007

    John Brown (abolitionist)

    John Brown (abolitionist)Digital ID: cph 3b35940 Source: b&w film copy neg. Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-89569 (b&w film copy neg.) Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA Retrieve uncompressed archival TIFF version (1,488 kilobytes)

    TITLE: [John Brown, three-quarter length portrait, facing left, holding New York Tribune] CALL NUMBER: PGA - Anonymous (A size) [P&P] REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USZ62-89569 (b&w film copy neg.)
    MEDIUM: 1 print : lithograph. CREATED, PUBLISHED: [1859(?)]

    This image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired. This applies to the United States, where Works published prior to 1978 were copyright protected for a maximum of 75 years. See Circular 1 "COPYRIGHT BASICS" from the U.S. Copyright Office. Works published before 1923 are now in the public domain and also in countries that figure copyright from the date of death of the artist (post mortem auctoris) and that most commonly run for a period of 50 to 70 years from that date.

    REPOSITORY: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. DIGITAL ID: (b&w film copy neg.) cph 3b35940. hdl.loc.gov/cph.3b35940, VIDEO FRAME ID: LCPP003B-35940 (from b&w film copy neg.), CONTROL #: 97515662

    John Brown (abolitionist) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    John Brown (May 9, 1800 – December 2, 1859) was the first white American abolitionist to advocate and practice insurrection as a means to abolish slavery. President Abraham Lincoln said he was a "misguided fanatic" and Brown has been called "the most controversial of all 19th-century Americans." His attempt in 1859 to start a liberation movement among enslaved African Americans in Harpers Ferry, Virginia electrified the nation, even though not a single slave answered his call. He was tried for treason against the state of Virginia and was hanged, but his behavior at the trial seemed heroic to millions of Americans. Southerners alleged that his rebellion was the tip of an abolitionist iceberg and represented the wishes of the Republican Party, but those charges were vehemently denied by the Republicans. Historians agree that the Harpers Ferry raid in 1859 escalated tensions that a year later led to secession and the American Civil War.

    Brown first gained attention when he led small groups of volunteers during the Bleeding Kansas crisis. Unlike most other Northerners, who still advocated peaceful resistance to the pro-slavery faction, Brown demanded violent action in response to Southern aggression. Dissatisfied with the pacifism encouraged by the organized abolitionist movement, he was quoted to have said "These men are all talk. What we need is action - action!" His belief in confrontation led him to kill five pro-slavery southerners in what became known as the Pottawatomie Massacre in May 1856, in response to the raid of the "free soil" city of Lawrence.

    Brown's most famous deed was the 1859 raid he led on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (in modern-day West Virginia). During the raid, he seized the federal arsenal, killing seven people (including a free black) and injuring ten or so more. He intended to arm slaves with weapons from the arsenal, but the attack failed. Within 36 hours, each of Brown's men had fled or been killed or captured by local farmers, militiamen, and U.S. Marines led by Robert E. Lee. Brown's subsequent capture by federal forces, his trial for treason to the state of Virginia, and his execution by hanging were an important part of the origins of the American Civil War, which followed sixteen months later. His role and actions prior to the Civil War, as an abolitionist, and the tactics he chose still make him a controversial figure today. Depending on one's point of view, he is sometimes heralded as a heroic martyr and a visionary or vilified as a madman and a terrorist.

    This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article, John Brown (abolitionist)

    Thursday, November 15, 2007

    Turkey 101: How to make a good Thanksgiving turkey

    Turkey 101: How to make a good Thanksgiving turkey, 39th Air Base Wing Public AffairsImage Disclaimer: 1. This Web site is provided as a public service by 39th Air Base Wing Public Affairs.

    2. Information presented on this Web site is considered public information and may be distributed or copied. Use of appropriate byline/photo/image credits is requested.
    by Kay Blakely Defense Commissary Agency food economist

    INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey -- If you're the appointed to cook the turkey this Thanksgiving and you're stressing to the max because you've never done it before, take comfort in knowing this -- roasting the turkey is the easiest part of the entire traditional feast. Check your commissary for the turkey tailored to your specific needs -- we've got them big and small and everything in between.

    We've got disposable roasting pans to cook them in (meaning easy clean-up), turkey roasting bags (meaning faster cooking time) and instant-read thermometers (meaning greater safety). Just choose the products that suit your goal, arm yourself with the following basic guidelines and tips, and you'll be "good to go."

    How much do you need? Plan on cooking one-half to three-quarters a pound per person for a regular bone-in turkey, and about one-third a pound per person for a boneless breast or turkey roast. Allow for a bit more if you want plenty of leftovers. Have a houseful of white-meat-only or dark-meat-only lovers? A breast or turkey legs alone might be a better choice than a whole bird. However, if you go this route, you give up the turkey carcass that makes for such good soup once the main feast is over -- decisions, decisions!

    How long does it take to thaw? Short answer -- a long time! Place the frozen turkey on a tray in the refrigerator and allow five hours per pound to complete the thawing process. Depending on size, this can take from two to five days. To speed things up a bit, remove the giblet packet and neck from inside the turkey and thaw them separately. Be sure to check both the body cavity and the neck cavity for these; sometimes they are stored in two packets.

    If time is short, use the cold water method for thawing, but do so carefully. Spoilage bacteria can multiply rapidly at temperatures above 40 F (4.5 C). With the turkey in its original wrapper, place in a large container and cover completely with cold water. Change the water every 30 minutes and allow an hour per pound for total thawing time.

    How to roast? Preheat the oven to 325 F (163 C). Remove giblet packets from inside the turkey, then rinse inside and out with cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Rub the body and neck cavities generously with salt, and insert a medium onion (cut into quarters) and two or three celery sticks with leaves. Sprinkle the skin with salt, then brush all over with melted butter or oil. Place the turkey breast-side-up in a shallow roasting pan and roast on the lowest oven rack until a meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh registers 175 to 180 F (79-82 C), and in the breast 160 to 165 F (71-74 C). Refer to your turkey's original wrapper for approximate total roasting times, which can range from two and a half to three hours for a small turkey to four and a half to five hours for a large one.

    Remove the turkey from the oven, tent loosely with aluminum foil and let it rest for 15 to 20 minutes before carving.

    If you're a tad on the impatient side, or you just need to free the oven for other dishes to compliment the turkey, consider using an oven-roasting bag. You won't produce a picture-perfect turkey with a roasting bag, but looks only matter if you plan to make a big production of carving a beautiful bird at the table. The skin of an oven-bag-cooked turkey will be only lightly brown with some variation in coloring, and it won't be crisp like that of a traditionally roasted bird. The meat will be moist, tender and juicy, though, and the technique can save substantial oven time (from one to one and a half hours, depending on size). Look for the oven bags located near the aluminum foil, and follow the package instructions.

    Don't want to roast at all, but prefer to grill or fry instead? You're on your own when it comes to supplying the special equipment for deep-frying turkey, but the commissary's got you covered on the seasonings, injection syringes and the copious quantities of peanut oil you'll need. We even have recipes for turkey grilling or frying on Kay's Kitchen, a special culinary page on the Defense Commissary Agency's official Web site.

    To stuff or not to stuff? If your favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal is the stuffing, then by all means choose a reliable recipe and give it a try. Just be aware that food safety experts consider it a breeding ground for pathogens that can make you sick if not done properly. For first-timers, baking a pan of dressing separately is usually easier and definitely safer.

    Have a whole unit to feed? Though the commissary can't help you there the Sultan's Inn Dining Facility here can. If you plan on having a unit Thanksgiving function the Sultan's Inn will prepare the food. All food and ingredients must be provided and they can't support Nov. 22 and the 23. Thanksgiving isn't the only holiday that units can use this service. Any other day throughout the year is allowed. The dining facility can make what you need to stuff yourself.

    The decision to "stuff yourself," however, is totally up to you! From my viewpoint, it's the one day each year when it's totally acceptable. I'll burn off those extra calories by adding some distance to my daily walk, I tell myself -- but I'll probably need a nap first. After that, I'll see you at the commissary!

    Visit Kay's Kitchen at www.commissaries.com/ under the "shopping" link for more details on Thanksgiving turkeys, along with recipes for dressing, fresh cranberry sauce, candied sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie and more.

    White House Press Briefing by Dana Perino 11/14/07 VIDEO PODCAST and Thanksgiving Mayflower Pilgrims and UTSA/UT lead national nanoscience consortium

    Wednesday, November 14, 2007

    Thanksgiving Mayflower Pilgrims

    Thanksgiving Mayflower Pilgrims. From History of the Pilgrims and Puritans: Their Ancestry and Descendants by Joseph Dillaway Sawyer. illustration by Bernard Finnegan Gribble, R.B.A.,S.M.A. (British, 1873-1962) Published 1922 Century History Co.

    This image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired. This applies to the United States, where Works published prior to 1978 were copyright protected for a maximum of 75 years. See Circular 1 "COPYRIGHT BASICS" PDF from the U.S. Copyright Office. Works published before 1923 are now in the public domain In the United States,

    This inage is however not in the public domain in countries that figure copyright from the date of death of the artist (post mortem auctoris), in this case 1962, and that most commonly runs for a period of 50 to 70 years from that date. If your use will be outside the United States please check your local law.

    Thanksgiving Mayflower PilgrimsMayflower - The Mayflower was the famous ship that transported the Pilgrims from Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts (which would become the capital of Plymouth Colony), in 1620. The vessel left England on September 16, and after a gruelling journey marked by disease, the ship dropped anchor inside the hook tip of Cape Cod (Provincetown Harbor) on November 11 (dates in Old Style, Julian Calendar).
    The Mayflower originally was destined for the Hudson River, north of the 1607 Jamestown Settlement. However, the Mayflower went severely off-course as the winter approached and remained in Cape Cod Bay (mapped in 1602 by Gosnold).

    The Mayflower

    On March 21, 1621, all surviving passengers, who had inhabited the ship during the winter, moved ashore as Plymouth Colony, and on April 5, the Mayflower, a privately commissioned vessel, returned to England.

    This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article, Mayflower

    This image (or other media file) is in the public domain because it's copyright has expired. This applies to the United States, where Works published prior to 1978 were copyright protected for a maximum of 75 years. See Circular 1 "COPYRIGHT BASICS" PDF. Works published before 1923 in this case 1883 are now in the public domain.

    This work is in the public domain in the United States, and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or less in this case Antonio Gisbert (1834-1902). This file has been identified as being free of known restrictions under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights.

    Landing of the Puritans in America Depicting the landing of the Puritans in America in 1620. Pilgrims Fathers traveled aboard the Mayflower.

    Pilgrims Fathers

    Tom Tancredo Television Ad Tough on Terror VIDEO and Rose of Jericho Resurrection Plant Selaginella lepidophylla and Video shows buckyballs form by 'shrink wrapping'

    Tuesday, November 13, 2007

    Rose of Jericho Resurrection Plant Selaginella lepidophylla

    Rose of Jericho Resurrection Plant. Selaginella lepidophylla, http://www.nps.gov/archive/amis/nr_profile/ferns_guide.htmNational Park Service Disclaimer: Ownership, Information presented on this website, unless otherwise indicated , is considered in the public domain. It may may be distributed or copied as is permitted by the law.

    U.S. Department of the Interior Disclaimer: Information presented on this website is considered public information and may be distributed or copied. Use of appropriate byline/photo/image credit is requested.
    Selaginella lepidophylla From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    Selaginella lepidophylla (syn. Lycopodium lepidophyllum; Resurrection Plant, Dinosaur Plant, Rose of Jericho, Siempre Viva, Stone Flower, Doradilla) is a desert plant in the spikemoss family. S. lepidophylla is noted for its ability to survive almost complete desiccation; during dry weather in its native habitat, its stems curl into a tight ball and uncurl when exposed to moisture (Lebkuecher 1993). It is native to the Chihuahuan Desert.

    This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article, Selaginella lepidophylla


    Related:Technorati tags: and or and or or President Bush and Chancellor Merkel PODCAST VIDEO and Thanksgiving Pilgrims and NIST demos industrial-grade nanowire device fabrication

    Monday, November 12, 2007

    Thanksgiving Pilgrims

    Privacy & Security Notice The DoD Imagery Server is provided as a public service by the American Forces Information Service. and the Defense Visual Information Directorate.
    Information presented on DoD Imagery Server is considered public information, (except where noted for government and military users logged into restricted areas) and may be distributed or copied. Use of appropriate byline/photo/image credits is requested.

    About Images on DefenseLINK, All of these files are in the public domain unless otherwise indicated.However, we request you credit the photographer/videographer as indicated or simply "Department of Defense."

    Generally speaking, works created by U.S. Government employees are not eligible for copyright protection in the United States. See Circular 1 "COPYRIGHT BASICS" PDF from the U.S. Copyright Office.

    Pilgrims From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    Pilgrims is the name commonly applied to early settlers of the Cape Cod in present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts. Their leadership came from a religious congregation who had fled a volatile political environment in the East Midlands of England for the relative calm of the Netherlands to preserve their religion. Concerned with losing their cultural identity, the group later arranged with English investors to establish a new colony in North America.

    The colonists faced a lengthy series of challenges, from bureaucracy, impatient investors and internal conflicts to sabotage, storms, disease, and uncertain relations with the indigenous people. The colony, established in 1620, became the second successful English settlement in what was to become the United States of America, the first being Jamestown, Virginia, which was founded in 1607. Their story has become a central theme in United States cultural identity.

    The people who would come to be known as the Pilgrims (known as the Pilgrim Fathers in the UK) were brought together by a common belief in the ideas promoted by Richard Clyfton, parson at All Saints' Parish Church in Babworth, East Retford, Nottinghamshire, between 1586 and 1605. This congregation held Separatist beliefs comparable to nonconforming movements (i.e., groups not in communion with the Church of England) led by Henry Barrowe, John Greenwood and Robert Browne.

    Unlike conforming Puritan groups who maintained their membership in and allegiance to the Church of England, Separatists held that their differences with the Church of England were irreconcilable and that their worship should be organized independently of the trappings, traditions and organization of a central state church

    This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article, Pilgrims

    Factor key to severity of community-associated methicillin-resistant staph infections identified and A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens and UD researchers race ahead with latest spintronics achievement

    Sunday, November 11, 2007

    A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens



    Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol with Numerous Original Illustrations by George T. Tobin. New York Frederick A. Stokes Company Publishers. Copyright 1899.

    This image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired. This applies to the United States, where Works published prior to 1978 were copyright protected for a maximum of 75 years. See Circular 1 "COPYRIGHT BASICS" PDF from the U.S. Copyright Office.

    Works published before 1923 are now in the public domain and also in countries that figure copyright from the date of death of the artist (post mortem auctoris) and that most commonly run for a period of 50 to 70 years from that date.

    A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost Story of Christmas was first published in 1843. The story met with instant success, selling six thousand copies within a week. Originally written as a potboiler to enable Dickens to pay off a debt, the tale has become one of the most popular and enduring Christmas stories of all time. — A Christmas Carol Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

    MORE CHRISTMAS CAROL IMAGES A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens

    A Christmas Carol Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim

    A Christmas Carol Marley's Ghost

    Above image. Illustrator: John Leech This work is in the public domain in the United States, and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or less in this case John Leech August 29, 1817 – October 29, 1864. This file has been identified as being free of known restrictions under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights.

    A Christmas Carol Marley's Ghost

    ‘I wear the chain I forged in life,’ replied the Ghost. ‘I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it. Is its pattern strange to you?’

    Scrooge trembled more and more.

    ‘Or would you know,’ pursued the Ghost, ‘the weight and length of the strong coil you bear yourself? It was full as heavy and as long as this, seven Christmas Eves ago. You have laboured on it, since. It is a ponderous chain!’

    A Christmas Carol the Ghost of Christmas Past.

    It was a strange figure—like a child: yet not so like a child as like an old man, viewed through some supernatural medium, which gave him the appearance of having receded from the view, and being diminished to a child’s proportions. Its hair, which hung about its neck and down its back, was white as if with age; and yet the face had not a wrinkle in it, and the tenderest bloom was on the skin. The arms were very long and muscular; the hands the same, as if its hold were of uncommon strength. Its legs and feet, most delicately formed, were, like those upper members, bare. It wore a tunic of the purest white, and round its waist was bound a lustrous belt, the sheen of which was beautiful.

    It held a branch of fresh green holly in its hand; and, in singular contradiction of that wintry emblem, had its dress trimmed with summer flowers. But the strangest thing about it was, that from the crown of its head there sprung a bright clear jet of light, by which all this was visible; and which was doubtless the occasion of its using, in its duller moments, a great extinguisher for a cap, which it now held under its arm.

    A Christmas Carol The Ghost of Christmas Present.


    A Christmas Carol The Ghost of Christmas Present

    Above image. Illustrator: John Leech This work is in the public domain in the United States, and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or less in this case John Leech August 29, 1817 – October 29, 1864. This file has been identified as being free of known restrictions under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights.

    ‘I am the Ghost of Christmas Present,’ said the Spirit. ‘Look upon me!’

    Scrooge reverently did so. It was clothed in one simple green robe, or mantle, bordered with white fur. This garment hung so loosely on the figure, that its capacious breast was bare, as if disdaining to be warded or concealed by any artifice. Its feet, observable beneath the ample folds of the garment, were also bare; and on its head it wore no other covering than a holly wreath, set here and there with shining icicles. Its dark brown curls were long and free; free as its genial face, its sparkling eye, its open hand, its cheery voice, its unconstrained demeanour, and its joyful air.

    Girded round its middle was an antique scabbard; but no sword was in it, and the ancient sheath was eaten up with rust.

    A Christmas Carol Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim

    ‘And how did little Tim behave?’ asked Mrs. Cratchit, when she had rallied Bob on his credulity, and Bob had hugged his daughter to his heart’s content.

    ‘As good as gold,’ said Bob, ‘and better. Somehow he gets thoughtful, sitting by himself so much, and thinks the strangest things you ever heard. He told me, coming home, that he hoped the people saw him in the church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to remember upon Christmas Day, who made lame beggars walk, and blind men see.’

    Bob’s voice was tremulous when he told them this, and trembled more when he said that Tiny Tim was growing strong and hearty.

    His active little crutch was heard upon the floor, and back came Tiny Tim before another word was spoken, escorted by his brother and sister to his stool before the fire; and while Bob, turning up his cuffs—as if, poor fellow, they were capable of being made more shabby—compounded some hot mixture in a jug with gin and lemons, and stirred it round and round and put it on the hob to simmer; Master Peter, and the two ubiquitous young Cratchits went to fetch the goose, with which they soon returned in high procession.

    A Christmas Carol the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come

    The Spirit stood among the graves, and pointed down to One. He advanced towards it trembling. The Phantom was exactly as it had been, but he dreaded that he saw new meaning in its solemn shape.

    ‘Before I draw nearer to that stone to which you point,’ said Scrooge, ‘answer me one question. Are these the shadows of the things that Will be, or are they shadows of things that May be, only?’

    Still the Ghost pointed downward to the grave by which it stood.

    ‘Men’s courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead,’ said Scrooge. ‘But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change. Say it is thus with what you show me!’

    The Spirit was immovable as ever.

    Ghost of Christmas Future Last of the Spirits

    Above image. Illustrator: John Leech This work is in the public domain in the United States, and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or less in this case John Leech August 29, 1817 – October 29, 1864. This file has been identified as being free of known restrictions under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights.

    Scrooge crept towards it, trembling as he went; and following the finger, read upon the stone of the neglected grave his own name, Ebenezer Scrooge.

    "Am I that man who lay upon the bed?" he cried, upon his knees.

    The finger pointed from the grave to him, and back again.

    "No, Spirit! Oh no, no!"

    The finger still was there.

    "Spirit!" he cried, tight clutching at its robe, "hear me! I am not the man I was. I will not be the man I must have been but for this intercourse. Why show me this, if I am past all hope?"

    Fred Thompson TV Ad: Consistent Conservative and Thanksgiving Turkeys' morning exercise and ASU researchers give memory a boost