At 96, a Palm Beach county teacher is a calligraphy legend
For his 90th birthday, calligraphy teacher Harold Bernstein got a letter from Palm Beach County schools Superintendent Art Johnson, congratulating him for being the oldest teacher in the county.That was six years ago, and Bernstein has no plans to retire anytime soon.
Celestial Railroad just a nickname
One of the more interesting features in the early modern history of Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast is the Celestial Railroad.The 7 1/2 -mile, narrow-gauge line from Jupiter to Lake Worth ran from July 1889 until 1895, when it fell to Henry Flagler’s Florida East Coast Railway.
Fabulous footage of snow leopards in the Pakistani mountains, from the BBC. Click on the link to view them on another page (saves space). Continue reading
| Clean Energy Can Fuel Economic Revival, Green Groups Tell Obama
By J.R. Pegg |
Climate Change Could Destroy Vast Forests, Report Warns BOGOR, Indonesia, November 28, 2008 (ENS) – Without immediate concerted action by governments, climate change could have a devastating effect on the world’s forests and the nearly one billion people who depend on them for their livelihoods, warned forest scientists in a report to be released next week at the UN climate conference in Poland. |
| Global Carbon Dioxide Hit Record Levels in 2007
GENEVA, Switzerland, November 26, 2008 (ENS) – Climate-heating greenhouse gases continue to increase in the atmosphere, and last year, global concentrations of carbon dioxide again reached the highest levels ever recorded, according to an annual report released Tuesday by the World Meteorological Organization based on observations from more than 65 countries. |
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November 28, 2008
Record Atlantic Hurricane Season Ends, Time to Plan for 2009 New York Proposes Cleanup for Onondaga Lake Tributaries More Than Health Damaged by Ag Nutrients in Drinking Water |
We think: Children in crisis suffer under Florida’s ban on gay adoptions — OrlandoSentinel.com
Florida has nearly 1,000 neglected children waiting to be adopted.Almost every one of them is traumatized. They have the physical and emotional scars to prove it. Their biological parents have been deemed unfit and were stripped of their parental rights. Fortunately, others are willing to adopt some of these children and provide a stable home.
But Florida has some preconditions. By law, gay men and women can be foster parents. That’s OK with the state. They just can’t adopt their foster children.
Let’s see some of the good folks who oppose gay adoption adopt some of the kids themselves. Wait! What am I SAYING? Talk about uncaring, unfit parents…
Now that the weather down here in the Sunshine State has reached a point where someone besides mad dogs, Englishmen and golfers are willing to venture out into it, I’ll be recommending more things to do outdoors.
It has not escaped the notice of half the Northern Hemisphere that Winter in Florida is about as close to heaven as you can get in this life. I distinctly recall the days when we went to Orlando because they had three doctors (that’s very close to not being a joke), and now it’s the number-one destination in the world! They had to convert an old B-52 base south of town to accommodate the jumbo jets from Europe — and thank goodness it was already there. The mind boggles at what it would have cost to turn those swamps into a jetport at today’s prices. But I digress…
I’ll be trying to point you (both of you) in the direction of some outdoor activities that are 1) uncrowded and 2) cheap. This is a humongous state. Among other things we have nearly 1200 miles of coastline, 663 miles of beaches, and 11,000 miles of rivers and waterways. Our largest county (Palm Beach) is twice the size of Rhode Island at 2,578 sq. mi. and has a larger population. There are 7,700 lakes greater than 10 acres and, up until a few years ago, East-central Florida was home to the second-largest contiguous cattle ranch in the US.
Florida? Ranches? Folks, the last range war in the United States was fought in Southwest Florida — in 1910. I went to school with kids who rode their horses out to the “hard road” to catch the bus, then cowboyed their way home in the evening.
Outdoor-wise, there’s a lot to do. And otherwise. So check back occasionally. Search for the category “The Other Florida” to see all the pieces after they’re posted.
This time, I’m directing you to a piece I wrote a few years ago, about one of my favorite places in the whole world, Highlands Hammock State Park — near Sebring, my home town. You can read it here, and then check out some more photos here on my SmugMug pages.
Enjoy — both virtually and otherwise.
Tips about avoiding holiday scams.
http://crackerboy.us
The following tips from Lifelock.com, an online identity theft insurance company.
Practice safe shopping online.Follow these three basic rules whenever you’re online: never give out your personal information to unsolicited emails, only shop on sites you know you can trust, and make sure the site you’re entering your information into is secure. You can tell a site is secure if there is a closed lock in the browser window, or the web address starts with “https:”.
Remove unnecessary items from your wallet.
When you go out to purchase the items on your holiday shopping list, don’t take everything with you. Lost and stolen wallets, checkbooks, and cards account for about 33% of all identity fraud. Only take the card or checkbook you’ll need.
Check your statements as soon as you receive them.
Keep all of your receipts and as soon as you receive your monthly statement, reconcile it against them. If you find even the smallest discrepancy, notify your bank or credit card company immediately.
The 7 Key Types of Holiday Scams to Watch Out For This Christmas Season
Many holiday scams are variations of tricks you may encounter at any time of the year. In this issue, we highlight the 7 most common areas where they’re likely to strike, with the most frequent trick in each group and a list of other seasonal scams to watch out for. Be sure you don’t miss #5, especially “parcel-waiting.”
One indication of moral progress in the United States would be the replacement of Thanksgiving Day and its self-indulgent family feasting with a National Day of Atonement accompanied by a self-reflective collective fasting.
Robert Jensen re-flogs a dead horse. It was a terrible thing, but it’s over. Resentment is the poison we drink before waiting miserably for the other person to die.
