Samhain Festival: The Origins of HALLOWEEN

Halloween's origins can be traced back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, which was a pagan celebration to mark the end of summer and the beginning of winter:



The festival
The Celts believed that on the night of Samhain, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. They celebrated by:

Lighting bonfires: To guide souls to the afterlife and to frighten away evil spirits


Wearing costumes: To avoid being recognized by ghosts and to confuse spirits


Dancing around bonfires: To keep evil spirits away


Divination: To seek answers about marriage, health, and death


Setting out favorite foods for the dead: To welcome departed loved ones


The name
The word "Halloween" is thought to be a combination of the word "Hallow", which originally meant "saint", and "een", an abbreviation of "eve" or night before.


The date
The Celts celebrated Samhain on October 31, the night before the new year, which they celebrated on November 1.


The location
The Celts lived in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France.


The cave
According to a National Geographic article, the cave where Halloween originated is Oweynagat, which means "cave of the cats".


The popularity
The popularity of Halloween skyrocketed in the 20th century.


The traditions
Over the centuries, Halloween has evolved into a day of parties, costumes, jack-o-lanterns, and trick-or-treating.

SOURCE:  AI Generated

Spooky

 

Pumpkins

 

Today is my Birthday

Today, 77 years ago, I was born in Raleigh, North Carolina at Baptist Hospital, sometime in the early morning, if I recall correctly.

Soon after my birth, my parents relocated to Alexandria, Virginia where we lived until I was almost 15 years old.  Looking back on my years in Alexandria, Virginia, I was constantly harassed because my birthday was on Halloween and was often accused of wearing my Halloween mask all year long.

However, I do remember walking around the community with a brown grocery bag trick or treating with my pals.  I am sure at what age I stopped but one night someone had left a rake in the yard that I stepped on and the handle hit me square in the head knocking me down.  I continued undeterred.

In the summer of my 14th year, the family relocated to Cairo, Egypt where I attended high school at Cairo American College, graduating in 1966.  Spending four years in Egypt was an education in and of itself and since we could not work in the summers, we had no choice but to travel through Europe for month based upon the Eurail pass we all purchased.  Europe on $3/day was the standard back then.

I entered Elon College in North Carolina until December 1968, when I dropped out of college and enlisted into the military.  I returned to Elon in 1972, graduated in 1974 with a BA in English and in 1979, I entered the Babcock Graduate School of Management at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem where I earned a MBA in 1981 with a focus in strategic planning and small business management.

I started my working career full time in 1969 and retired at the end of 2014...  working for a total of 45 years, in middle and upper management in the field of education.  My work in education included teaching, consulting, designing training materials and course, managing corporate training, and managing teachers and students as a Dean and Director of Education.

From 1990 until 2015, I was CEO and President of Quest Training, Inc.  Quest Training focused on organizational development, strategic planning, statistical team problem solving, process re-engineering, and quality management that included ISO9000/2000 quality standards.

I have been retired almost 10 years - I will reach that landmark on January 1, 2025.

Euclid "Dark Universe" Telescope

The huge mosaic released by ESA’s Euclid space telescope on October 15, 2024, accounts for 1% of the wide survey that Euclid will capture over six years. The location and actual size of the mosaic on the Southern Sky is shown in yellow. This all-sky view is an overlay of ESA Gaia’s star map from its second data release in 2018 and ESA Planck’s dust map from 2014. Credit: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA; ESA/Gaia/DPAC; ESA/Planck Collaboration

A new 208-gigapixel cosmic map, capturing 132 square degrees of the Southern Sky, was unveiled, marking the start of a six-year journey by the Euclid mission to create the largest 3D cosmic map, revealing the universe in unprecedented detail.

The first section of Euclid’s map, a massive 208-gigapixel mosaic, was unveiled at the International Astronautical Congress in Milan, Italy, by ESA’s Director General Josef Aschbacher and Director of Science Carole Mundell.

This mosaic is composed of 260 observations taken between March 25 and April 8, 2024. In just two weeks, Euclid managed to capture 132 square degrees of the Southern Sky with incredible clarity—an area over 500 times larger than the full Moon.               READ MORE...

AMAZING !! The Allman Brothers Band - One Way Out , Germany 1991

HERE THEY COME...

p5

 

Erasing

Arrested

 

Good Ole Days

 

Knowing

 

In The NEWS

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Barcelona's Aitana Bonmatí wins Ballon d'Or as soccer's best female player for second straight year; Manchester City's Rodri takes honor for best male player (More)

> French actor Gérard Depardieu's criminal trial for sexual assault postponed until March by French court due to Depardieu's health issues (More) | Actor Jay Johnston sentenced to one year in prison for role in Jan. 6, 2021, US Capitol storming (More)

> Jon Stewart extends deal to continue hosting Monday edition of "The Daily Show" through December 2025 (More)


Science & Technology
> Apple debuts its Apple Intelligence features for iPhone, iPad, and Mac; marks the company's first public foray into AI products (More) | UK man sentenced to 18 years in prison for AI-generated child sexual abuse content; advocates call outcome a landmark decision in AI law (More)

> Biologists decode genetic adaptations that allow critically endangered Cat Ba langurs to drink salt water; traits give increased ability to metabolize calcium and sodium (More)

> Engineers demonstrate prototype device using recycled polystyrene—a common packing material—that generates enough static electricity from air motion to lower air-condition power demand by 5% (More)


Business & Markets
> US stock markets close higher (S&P 500 +0.3%, Dow +0.7%, Nasdaq +0.3%) as investors await earnings reports this week from five of "Magnificent Seven" tech stocks—Alphabet, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta (More)

> Boeing launches $19B stock sale by issuing 90 million new shares, $5B in depository shares to avoid credit downgrade amid ongoing machinists strike (More) | Volkswagen reportedly plans to shut down three factories in Germany, lay off thousands, and cut salaries by 10%; domestic closures would be the first in the 87-year history of Germany's largest employer (More)

> Nuclear startup Pacific Fusion Corp. raises over $900M in funding; startup seeks to commercialize fusion technology for energy (More) | Nuclear fusion 101 (More)


Politics & World Affairs
> Suspect vehicle identified in connection with devices that set fires to ballot drop boxes in Oregon and Washington state (More) | Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner (D) sues to halt political action committee led by Elon Musk from awarding $1M daily giveaways to voters registered in swing states (More)

> Man sentenced to life for the 2022 killing of Memphis teacher and 34-year-old mother Eliza Fletcher, an heir to a multibillion-dollar hardware company who was abducted while jogging (More)

> Pentagon confirms North Korea has sent roughly 10,000 troops to aid Russia in its war against Ukraine (More) | See war updates (More)

SOURCE:  1440 NEWS

A New Vehicle Upgrade

 Sometime in 2025, my wife and I have decided to trade in our 2015 Toyota Venza for a newer vehicle...  bear in mind, WE NEVER BUY NEW.  We always look for a year-old vehicle that has been LEASED with low mileage.

When we purchased the 2015 Venza in 2016, it had been leased and only had 7,500 miles on the odometer.  It was like a brand-new vehicle.  We actually drove to Ohio from East TN to purchase the car. It is now approaching 100,000 miles so it is time for a newer one.  We've been very pleased with its performance, riding comfort, and durability.

We are looking at the RX350 Toyota Lexus.  We wanted to buy another Venza, but Toyota is only manufacturing the hybrid, and we do not want to go that route because:

• resale value is low
• cost of battery replacement
• doesn't perform well in the cold

We might look at other vehicles and what we look at are the following criteria:

1. must ride well
2. low maintenance costs
3. must perform well
4. have carrying space
5. not too big or too small
6. latest safety features
7. gas mileage
8. durability

When we purchase the vehicle and are left with the cost after our trade-in value, we will put the expense on an American Express Delta card to receive our frequent flyer points.  Then, in the next couple of days, we will transfer money out of savings and pay off the credit card, so we are left with NO DEBT.

At 77 and 72 years of age, it is doubtful that my wife and I will do a whole lot of driving over the next ten years.  For the five/six years we drove the Venza we averaged about 8.000/8,500 miles each year.  Those miles will probably drop down to 5,000/6,000 each year, so when I am 87 years old, there will only be about 60,000 on the vehicle when we sell it to some young, interested buyer or junk yard.

Lesson Learned:  Don't Buy A NEW VEHICLE

Somewhat Political

 

Global Water Crisis

More than half the world’s food production will be at risk of failure within the next 25 years as a rapidly accelerating water crisis grips the planet, unless urgent action is taken to conserve water resources and end the destruction of the ecosystems on which our fresh water depends, experts have warned in a landmark review.

Half the world’s population already faces water scarcity, and that number is set to rise as the climate crisis worsens, according to a report from the Global Commission on the Economics of Water published on Thursday.


Demand for fresh water will outstrip supply by 40% by the end of the decade, because the world’s water systems are being put under “unprecedented stress”, the report found.      READ MORE...

Sheryl Crow - "Rock and Roll" (Led Zeppelin) 2002 - featuring Peter Stroud

Trying to be HEALTHY

 

I am 77 years of age and on my 40th birthday, I woke up and quit smoking, quit drinking alcohol often, quit eating red meat, and quit eating fried foods along with sugars.

To be honest with you, since age 40, I have had 1-2 hamburgers a year, 3-4 pizzas a year, 2-3 glasses of wine during the holidays, fried foods once in a while along with candy...   so, it was not just a complete stop...  HOWEVER, it was a complete stop on smoking cigarettes.

Along with a change in those habits, I began a daily exercise program of 30-60 minutes for 5-7 days each week.  I tried to get plenty of sleep as well but that did not work out every night especially when there was something on my mind.

At age 60 (TWENTY YEARS LATER), I had a triple bypass level heart attack and was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins B Cell Lymphoma.  My cardiologist said my heart issue was an ANOMOLY and could not offer an explanation as to why it happens since there were no triggers or pre-existing conditions in me or in my immediate family.

SO...

was it necessary that I tried to get healthy at age 60?

YES!!!

Because I was healthy, my body created dozens of small arteries that acted as a bypass and that actually SAVED MY LIFE when I had my attack.

Interestingly, I was walking on the treadmill when I had my heart attack.

Two and a half years ago, I had 5 LUMBAR disks fused due to spinal stenosis AND... punishment due to an aggressive exercise program to remain healthy.

IRONY???

Of course it is...

You try to do what is right and then that behavior BITES YOU IN THE ASS when you get old.

On the other side of the coin, BEING OBESE IS WORSE from a health standpoint.

Control

 

Getting Closer

 

As we get closer and closer to our November Election, I am becoming increasingly amazed by the BIDEN ADMINISTRATION because the DOJ is wanting to ALLOW NON-CITIZENS to be able to vote because they have a driver's license... where they stated they were NON-CITIZENS.

WHY WOULD ANY GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION WANT TO DO THIS???

It is obvious, at least to me, that they want to PREVENT Trump from becoming President and are willing to BREAK THE LAW to achieve that goal.

THE ENDS JUSTIFY THE MEANS...

Personally,

I believe that this action is an attempt to DESTROY DEMOCRACY...

AND...

find it kinda curious that they ACCUSE TRUMP of DESTROYING DEMORACY.

So, the question is:  WHY ARE THE DEMOCRATS ACTING LIKE THIS?

In my humble opinion, when you attempt to CHEAT that tells me that you either have something to HIDE or that you are afraid of LOSING.

If a political party is willing to CHEAT in order to win, how will this CHEATING POLITICAL PARTY manage the country?

Will they CHEAT at that as well?

<OR>

Will they just CHEAT to win then act normal in office?