30th Anniversary -- Banned Books Week - 2012 - American Library Association

from ALA (American Library Association dot-org):

     Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. Typically held during the last week of September, it highlights the value of free and open access to information. Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community –- librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types –- in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.
By focusing on efforts across the country to remove or restrict access to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship. Check out the frequently challenged books section to explore the issues and controversies around book challenges and book banning.
Banned Books Week 2012 marks its 30th anniversary (see timeline).
    Thousands of individuals and institutions across the United States participate in Banned Books Week each year, and it has grown into a premier literary event and a national awareness and advocacy campaign around censorship. In honor of the 30th anniversary of Banned Books Week, the Office for Intellectual Freedom delivers the 50 State Salute to Banned Books Week in coordination with ALA Chapters. The 50 State Salute consists of videos on how each state celebrates the freedom to read. For more information on how your organization can participate, please visit the 50 State Salute page. And for the second year in a row, we are cosponsoring the Banned Books Virtual Read-Out, where readers can declare their freedom to read by uploading videos of themselves reading from their favorite banned/challenged books. The critieria and video submission information has been updated. Please check out the Banned Books Week Virtual Read-Out page for more information.

     The books featured during Banned Books Week have all been targeted with removal or restrictions in libraries and schools. While books have been and continue to be banned, part of the Banned Books Week celebration is the fact that, in a majority of cases, the books have remained available. This happens only thanks to the efforts of librarians, teachers, students, and community members who stand up and speak out for the freedom to read.
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/bannedbooksweek

Sept. 30, 10 a.m. - Red Mass for new term SCOTUS - Wash. DC St. Matthew the Apostle

from parish newsletter-web page ( http://stmatthewscathedral.org )

Sunday, September 30, 2012 - 10:00am

The 60th Annual Red Mass will be held at the Cathedral on Sunday, September 30 at 10:00 a.m., with Cardinal Donald Wuerl as celebrant and the Most Rev. Timothy P. Broglio, J.C.D., Archbishop for the Military Services, as homilist. The John Carroll Society hosts the Red Mass for its members and guests, including many government officials with attendant security. It is open to the public, but attendance is very high. . .

If you plan to attend the Red Mass, please arrive early as the fire marshal will not allow entry once the Cathedral is filled to capacity. Thank you for helping us extend the Cathedral’s hospitality to the John Carroll Society for this celebration.

Earliest AUTUMN - September 22, 2012, 10:49 a.m. Eastern

from Old Farmer's Almanac web list serv ( www.almanac.com/ ) - Yankee Publishing, Dublin, NH 03444

An Early Autumn

September 22—Autumnal Equinox
The earliest autumn since 1896 arrives this Saturday, September 22, at 10:49 A.M. (EDT). At this time, the Sun appears to cross the celestial equator from north to south.

As the weather cools, the days start to get shorter than the nights. See your local Sun rise and set times—it’s interesting to see how your day length changes.

The word equinox comes from the Latin words for "equal night.” Around the time of the fall and spring equinoxes, there are equal days of daylight and darkness.

However, if you look at your Sun rise and set times, you’ll notice that there aren’t exactly 12 hours of light and dark. Why not?

On the equinoxes, the very center of the Sun sets just 12 hours after it rises. But the day begins when the upper edge of the Sun reaches the horizon (which happens a bit before the center rises), and it doesn't end until the entire Sun has set.

Not only that, but the Sun is actually visible when it is below the horizon, as Earth’s atmosphere refracts the Sun’s rays and bends them in an arc over the horizon.

According to our former astronomer, George Greenstein, “If the Sun were to shrink to a starlike point and we lived in a world without air, the spring and fall equinoxes would truly have ‘equal nights.’”

Happy 65th Birthday -- to Stephen King (American author - essayist-journalist)

from Writer's Almanac (American Public Media: Garrison Keillor):

September 21, 1947 is the birthday of horror writer Stephen King, born in Portland, Maine. . . When he was 10, he was at the local theater watching a matinee of Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, and the manager interrupted the film to announce that the Soviet Union had launched Sputnik. Stephen King says that for the first time, he saw "a useful connection between the world of fantasy and that of what My Weekly Reader used to call Current Events." He decided that the main purpose of horror was "its ability to form a liaison between our fantasy fears and our real fears." After coming upon an H.P. Lovecraft paperback in the attic, he decided to write horror stories himself.
Eventually, he took a job teaching high school, and that inspired him to write about a troubled and telekinetic teenage girl. But he decided his story was worthless and threw it out. His wife, Tabitha, took it out of the trash, read it, and thought it was promising. She told him to keep writing, so he did, and Carrie was published (1974). It didn't get great reviews, but it went on to sell more than 4 million copies.
At 65, King is as prolific as ever. The eighth installment of his Dark Tower series just came out last spring (2012). His next book, due out in 2013, is a sequel to The Shining (1977), and he's currently at work on Joyland, a novel about a serial killer in an amusement park.

Happy 129th Birthday to William Carlos Williams (American poet)

from Writer's Almanac (American Public Media: Garrison Keillor) broadcast

September 17 is the birthday of the American poet who wrote this highly-recognizable and oft-parodied poem:

I have eaten
  the plums
  that were in
  the icebox
and which
  you were probably
  saving
  for breakfast.
Forgive me
  they were delicious
  so sweet
  and so cold

That's William Carlos Williams, born in Rutherford, New Jersey (1883). He was a doctor as well as a poet, and his poems often spoke of simple things: the objects of everyday life, or moments in the life of ordinary people. He summed up his poetic philosophy with the phrase "no ideas but in things."
William Carlos Williams, who also wrote, "It is difficult to get the news from poems, yet men die miserably every day for lack of what is found there."
And, "We are blind and live our blind lives out in blindness. Poets are damned but they are not blind, they see with the eyes of angels."

Astronaut Neil Armstrong Memorial (National Cathedral) - service details

http://www.nationalcathedral.org/events/Armstrong20120913_post.shtml

Thursday, September 13, 2012 10 A.M.

Memorial Service for Neil Armstrong

Neil Armstrong

Washington National Cathedral and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) offered a public memorial service for astronaut Neil Armstrong at the Cathedral on Thursday, September 13. The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, bishop of Washington, preached the sermon. The Hon. Charles F. Bolden, Jr., Captain Eugene A. Cernan, and the Hon. John W. Snow offered tributes. The Hon. John H. Dalton read the Old Testament lesson, and Armstrong’s fellow Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins (St. Albans School ’48) read intercessory prayers. Diana Krall sang “Fly Me to the Moon,” and the Navy Sea Chanters and the Cathedral Choristers sang.

The New Year upcoming (Rosh Hashanah - Jewish New Year) September 15, 2012 - 5773

from WashingtonPost columnist (Rabbi) Brad Hirschfeld --

Six things that will help you make sense of the Jewish New Year, which begins sundown on Sunday:

1. Rosh Hashanah means the head or start of the year. According to the Jewish calendar that happens on the first of the month of Tishrei, which occurs this year at sundown on Sunday, Sept. 16. It always occurs in early autumn, but the exact date on the “regular” or Gregorian calendar changes because the latter is a solar calendar while the former is a lunar calendar which keeps things seasonal by regular adding an extra month to close the gap between the moon’s cycle and solar months. The Muslim calendar, by the way, doesn’t make those additions, which is why the same Muslim holidays occur at different seasons during different years.

2. Rosh Hashanah celebrates the birth of the world and humanity. While the number 5773 corresponds to the age of the world, according to some ancient calculations, it speaks to a much larger issue which remains central to understanding Rosh Hashanah even for those of us who think that that world is far older. By celebrating the birth of the world and of humanity, not the birth of the Jewish nation or of the first Jew, Rosh Hashanah celebrates that whatever particular faith we follow, we share a common origin and destiny.

3. Rosh Hashanah promises everyone a second chance, even if it’s their hundredth one. The New Year also carries the promise of a new you. We are invited to see both ourselves and each other in light of that promise. In fact, Rosh Hashanah teaches that with a bit of work, there is no past that cannot be overcome, and no person who does not deserve the opportunity to do so.

4. Symbolic foods such as apples and honey are central to the holiday. The adage that we are what we eat is taken quite seriously on Rosh Hashanah, as those celebrating the holiday break out all kinds of foods symbolizing the sweetness, health, success and good deeds which they hope the coming year will bring. Of course, you don’t have to be Jewish to eat your wishes for the year ahead! What foods would you eat to symbolize your aspirations for the new year at work, school, or any other part of your life?

5.Rosh Hashanah is also called “the day of the horn sounding.” The horn referred to is known in Hebrew as the shofar, a curving ram’s horn that is mentioned numerous times in the Hebrew Bible, always associated with life- changing events. Perhaps the best way to think of a shofar is as an ancient alarm clock, and Rosh Hashanah as the day on which set to help wake ourselves up to becoming the person we most want to be.

6. Rosh Hashanah is about relationships. Whether between individuals and the God in whom they believe, communities and the traditions which define them, or simply between individuals, whether any God or tradition is a part of their lives, it’s all about sustaining relationships which sustain us and help us do the same for others. Rosh Hashanah invites us to reconnect, repair, and renew. Call it what you will, observe it any way you choose, but if that isn’t worthy of our attention and celebration, what is?

So Happy Rosh Hashanah to us all!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/for-gods-sake/post/understanding-rosh-hashanah-2012--5773/2012/09/13/2d8dbb56-fdc0-11e1-8adc-499661afe377_blog.html?hpid=z10

Pope's Trip to Lebanon during Widespread Protests & Embassy Attacks (Sept. 15, 2012)

from NY TIMES coverage -- "Middle East" (trip began Friday 9/14/2012)

Benedict Takes Message of Tolerance to Lebanon

By KAREEM FAHIM and RACHEL DONADIO

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Pope Benedict XVI traveled to Lebanon on Friday with a message of tolerance that took on wider resonance as protests over an anti-Muslim video produced in the United States spread to about 20 countries.

Soon after the pope’s plane touched down in Beirut for his first visit to the region since 2009, protesters 50 miles away attacked American restaurant chains in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli. Soldiers opened fire on the protesters, killing one and wounding more than two dozen other people, officials said.

As the pope stepped onto the tarmac, looking tired and using a cane, he was welcomed by cheering crowds and children bearing flowers. Benedict, who has stumbled in the past when speaking of Islam, made no mention of the protests, instead praising Lebanon as an example of cooperation among faiths.

“Like me, you know that this equilibrium, which is presented everywhere as an example, is extremely delicate,” he said. “Sometimes it seems about to snap like a bow which is overstretched or submitted to pressures which are too often partisan.”

He added, “This is where real moderation and great wisdom are tested.”

The Vatican had played down security concerns, saying the pope would be warmly welcomed for his three-day visit to Lebanon, where more than 30 percent of the population is Christian and posters bearing his likeness lined the highway. On his plane en route to Lebanon, Benedict told reporters, “Nobody has advised me to cancel this voyage,” according to the Italian daily La Stampa. “I never thought of it,” he said, “because I know that the more complicated a situation becomes, the more necessary it is to send this signal of fraternity, encouragement and solidarity.”

In keeping with Benedict’s longstanding plan for the trip, the message appeared to be aimed principally to bolster Christians in the region, an ancient community whose numbers have dwindled in recent decades because of wars, occupations and discrimination.

At a meeting with religious leaders at St. Paul’s Basilica outside Beirut on Friday evening, the pope signed a Vatican document on the state of Christians in the region.

“A Middle East without Christians, or with only a few Christians, would no longer be the Middle East," Benedict said in the document, The Church in the Middle East,  which is the product of a meeting of bishops at the Vatican in 2010.

Benedict said that Christians in the Middle East should be allowed “full citizenship” and not considered “second-class citizens or believers,” adding that their steady decline in the region was leading to “human, cultural, and religious impoverishment.”

The pope also focused on the war in Syria, a deepening civil conflict that has left thousands of people dead and poses a growing threat to regional stability. Adding emphasis to his previous calls for an end to the violence, he called for a halt to arms imports by both sides in the conflict.

“The importing of arms cannot continue,” the pope said. “Instead of importing arms, which is a grave sin, one should import ideas of peace, creativity, find solutions for accepting everyone in his otherness.”

Those comments, which seemed aimed at the government of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria and the growing number of militias fighting to topple him, also served as a sharp rebuke to regional powers, including Iran, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which continue to funnel arms into Syria.

The pope also spoke for the first time about the wave of uprisings that have transformed the region since his last visit. “I would say it’s a positive thing: it’s the desire for more democracy, more liberty, more cooperation and a renewed Arab identity,” Benedict said.

But he also added that amid such revolutions, “there is always a danger of forgetting a fundamental aspect of liberty: tolerance for others and the fact that human liberty is always a shared liberty.” He added, “We must do everything possible” to encourage tolerance and “reconciliation.”

In a dark moment in his papacy in 2006, Benedict angered Muslims when on a visit to Germany he quoted a Byzantine emperor who called Islam “evil and inhuman.” In response, Muslims demonstrated around the world, and an Italian nun was killed in Somalia. The pope later apologized.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/15/world/middleeast/pope-benedict-arrives-in-lebanon-as-turmoil-grips-region.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print

Vatican II 50th Anniversary -- Lecture at St. Mary's, Notre Dame, IN

The Reforming Dimension of Christianity in Western Culture: Vatican II and Beyond with James Carroll

September 25, 2012

7:30 P.M.

O'Laughlin Auditorium

Free admission with ticket

Please call the Box Office to reserve your free ticket. 574-284-4626

James Carroll, “one of the most adept and versatile writers on the American scene today” (Denver Post), is the award-winning author, columnist for The Boston Globe, and Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Suffolk University in Boston. He has authored ten novels and seven works of non-fiction, including the National Book Award winning An American Requiem; the New York Times bestselling Constantine's Sword, now an acclaimed documentary; House of War, which won the first PEN-Galbraith Award; and Practicing Catholic, which Hans Kung calls "brilliantly written, passionate, and vivid." His most recent book is Jerusalem, Jerusalem: How the Ancient City Ignited Our Modern World, which was named a 2011 Best Book by Publishers Weekly. He lectures widely, both in the United States and abroad.

Join us as award-winning author James Carroll discusses the tension between religious tradition and change and how the reforms begun by Vatican II must still be brought to completion.

Press Release: http://www3.saintmarys.edu/news-events/news-releases/christian-culture-lecture-james-carroll-2012

Four Flags CROP Walk (Annual Youth Walk - Niles to Buchanan Michigan - Road) SW Michigan

Details:
CROP Walk (Church World Service - Stop World Hunger) - September 23, 2012 (Sunday)
Location: Grace United Methodist Church, Niles, Michigan USA zip = 49120
Registration: 2:30 p.m., Walk: 3:00 p.m.

The Walk is 2.6 or 5.6 miles.
   
Incentive Challenge: A gift of $10.00 for every sponsored youth walker who raises at least $10! Our goal is 50 youth walkers raising at least $10 for a $500 gift! Come walk with us! Thanks to our generous donor!. 
ONLINE Pledges can be contributed -- see below web URL!
Contact:
Rev. Rob McPherson, revrobmac@sbcglobal.net, 269-695-3282

---

CROP Hunger Walks help children and families worldwide – and right here in the U.S. – to have food for today, while building for a better tomorrow.  Our local efforts are making a huge difference... and you are part of it!
http://www.churchworldservice.org/site/TR/2012FallCROPHungerWalk/TR-Fall2012?JServSessionIdr004=241i6mmtk2.app246b&pg=entry&fr_id=14848

Flags to be lowered at half-mast -- Ambassador Stevens

From Presidential Proclamation (9/12/2012):

A PROCLAMATION

As a mark of respect for the memory of John Christopher Stevens, United States Ambassador to Libya, and American personnel killed in the senseless attack on our diplomatic facility in Benghazi, by the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, September 16, 2012. I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same length of time at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twelfth day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand twelve, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-seventh.

BARACK OBAMA

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/09/12/presidential-proclamation-honoring-victims-attack-benghazi-libya

Constitution Day & Week: "In Pursuit of a more Perfect Union" - Pres. Proclamation 2012

www.whitehouse.gov/   Proclamation signed September 13, 2012

Today, we celebrate our heritage as a country bound together by fidelity to a set of ideas and a system of governance first laid out in America's Constitution. The product of fierce debate and enduring compromise, our Nation's Constitution has guided our progress from 13 to 50 United States that stretch from sea to shining sea. It has watched over our growth from a fragile experiment in democracy to a beacon of freedom that lights the world. It has vested in each of us the power to appeal to principles that could broaden democracy's reach.

As we mark this 225th anniversary of the signing of our Constitution, we also recognize the candidates for citizenship who will commemorate this day, September 17,  by joining our American family. For more than two centuries, our country has drawn enterprising men and women from around the world -- individuals who have sought to build a life as good as their talents and their hard work would allow. Generations have crossed land and ocean because of the belief that, in America, all things are possible. As a new group of citizens takes an oath to support and defend our country's oldest principles, we affirm another truth: that our American journey and our success would never have been possible without the hope, the drive, and the irrepressible optimism that every generation of immigrants has brought to our shores. Across our country, Americans are working side-by-side with our Nation's newest citizens to build strong, welcoming communities that embrace the talents and contributions of all their members.

This week, we reflect on the basic rights and responsibilities of citizenship, the founding documents from which they were drawn, and the extraordinary legacy of progress they have enabled. Let us forever uphold the ideals the Framers enshrined in our Constitution, and let us never cease in our pursuit of the more perfect Union they imagined so many years ago.

In remembrance of the signing of the Constitution and in recognition of the Americans who strive to uphold the duties and responsibilities of citizenship, the Congress, by joint resolution of February 29, 1952 (36 U.S.C. 106), designated September 17 as "Constitution Day and Citizenship Day," and by joint resolution of August 2, 1956 (36 U.S.C. 108), requested that the President proclaim the week beginning September 17 and ending September 23 of each year as "Constitution Week."

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim September 17, 2012, as Constitution Day and Citizenship Day, and September 17 through September 23, 2012, as Constitution Week. I encourage Federal, State, and local officials, as well as leaders of civic, social, and educational organizations, to conduct ceremonies and programs that bring together community members to reflect on the importance of active citizenship, recognize the enduring strength of our Constitution, and reaffirm our commitment to the rights and obligations of citizenship in this great Nation.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/09/13/presidential-proclamation-constitution-day-and-citizenship-day-constitut

Paranormal Society (Michigan & N. Indiana = Michiana) - Sept. 22, 1 p.m.

TMPS (The Michiana Paranormal Society), a local non-profit organization dedicated to the research of paranormal activities, is presenting an informative lecture at the Niles District Library.  They will share their theories on those creepy noises and things that go bump in the night, demonstrate their equipment, and discuss their methods of getting clients the answers they seek.

The lecture begins at 1 p.m. on Saturday, September 22, 2012 in the Meeting room of the Library (620 E. Main Street, Niles Michigan, USA 49120 -- phone 269 -683-8545 ext. 111).

Following the lecture, adult guest who have signed a liability waiver will be allowed to join them as they conduct an actual ghost hunt in the basement of the District Library.

The event/s are free and open to the public.
www.nileslibrary.com and www.themps.webs.com/

40th Annual Apple Festival (Niles, Michigan USA) -- Sept. 27 - 30

http://fourflagsapplefestival.org/events.html
Events include:

Home-Baked Apple Pie, Cake, and Pastries Contest

The contest is on the Saturday of festival. Judging begins at 5:30pm with registration one hour prior. Prizes are $75 for 1st place and $50 for 2nd place in each of the three categories..

Arts and Crafts Fair

This event welcomes over 200 crafters from the Four Flags Area and all around the country. Come out and enjoy homemade crafts and goods on both Saturday and Sunday the weekend of festival.

 

Beard and Mustache Contest

Window Decorating Contest

This is an event that started more than ten years ago. The downtown merchants decorate their windows following the theme of the Apple Festival. The merchant with the best design wins a traveling trophy, which can be displayed in their store for the next year. This event has been hosted for several years by Karen Alexander of Coldwell Banker.

Grande Parade

The Grande Parade is one of our largest events. It starts at 1:30 pm Saturday in downtown Niles on Second Street. The parade route is about 5 miles long through town, ending at Niles High School. Our community goes all out when it comes time for the Apple Festival Grande Parade.

Old Fashioned Log Cutting and Hand Sawing Contest

One of the more competitive events we have at the Apple Festival! This is where you can partner up with your pal and find out just what you’re made of. In this event your on one end of the saw and your partner is on the other, the logs range in size from 4” to 8” around and your jobs are to saw it in a give and take motion in the quickest time the team with the fastest time is declared the winner and has bragging rights for the year cash prizes are awarded and you can even have the piece of the log inked with the time it took to cut it, it yours for the asking. There are several teams in this event; boys & girls, men & women as well as seniors. There’s something for everyone. This is boasted as a Good Old Fashion Contest.

Biggest Apple Contest

The Biggest Apple Contest is just that. The entrants are from area orchards and devote time to a special tree in their orchard where they have discovered a large apple growing. They will keep an eye on this tree and give it just a little more attention. They will water this tree maybe a little more often all the while watching this one particular apple. Once it gets to just the right size, they carefully pick it and hand deliver it to the Apple Festival where it will be displayed until the time of the judging of the Biggest Apple Contest.

The apples are measured from the stem around the bottom and then back to the stem, as well as around the middle of the apple. Then after the measurements have been taken the Biggest Apple is chosen and the Award goes to the winner.

Custom Car Show

12th Annual Custom Car Show!

Date: Sunday, September 30th
Registration: 9:00 - noon
Cost: $10.00
Awards at 3:00 p.m.

The Custom Car Show is a big draw during the Festival with over 200 cars to see. This event is held all day Sunday. Trophies are handed out around 5 p.m. September 30.

The Harold Galbreath "Galley" Memorial Horseshoe Tournament

This contest is just what the name says it is, a Horse Shoe Tournament. It starts with 2 person teams and goes through several elimination rounds where the best keeps advancing to the next round, the winner is declared when the last team is standing defeating all other opponents. Next are the 4 person teams the same thing for them the last team in contention is declared the winner. Then it’s on to singles, person against person right up to the very end this makes for a long day and a lot of shoe throwing. This is fun to watch and even more fun to participate!

Apple Pie Eating Contest

This is by far one of the most fun Contests to WATCH. It sometimes gets a little messy! The contest has different age groups that will participate. Boys compete against each other to see who can eat their pie the fastest in the 1 minute allotted time. The pies are all weighed before the start and after the clock is stopped, the difference is… well you guessed it the amount that was eaten then the person with the most pie eaten is declared the winner for that category. Then it the girls turn to compete against each other. This gets pretty competitive to say the least. Next the same goes for the men. Wow you should see these guys eat! Next up is the women. These gals are very competitive. Some nibble at their pie and some just devour it! Sometimes it takes longer to cleanup than it does to hold the contest. After all of the contestants are finished, we invite our Festival Royalty to give it a try and words just can’t describe it. You have to see it for yourself. So come out Sunday afternoon and enter the Apple Pie Eating Contest. Registration is just prior to the contest.

Apple Peeling Contest - Sunday September 30, 2012

Patriot Day - 8:46 a.m. 11 September 2012 -- day of service proclamation

from WHITE HOUSE dot-gov (posted one day early)

On September 11, 2001, a bright autumn day was darkened by the worst attack on the American people in our history. Thousands of innocent men, women, and children perished when mighty towers collapsed in the heart of New York City and wreckage burned in Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon. They were family and friends, service members and first responders -- and the tragedy of their loss left pain that will never fade and scars our country will never forget.

More than a decade later, the world we live in is forever changed. But as we mark the anniversary of September 11, we remember what remains the same: our character as a Nation, our faith in one another, and our legacy as a country strengthened by service and selflessness. In the spirit that moved rescue workers and firefighters to charge into darkness and danger that September morning, we see the same sense of moral responsibility that drove countless Americans to give of themselves in the months that followed. We offered our neighbors a hand and lined up to give blood. Many helped our Nation rebuild and recover long after the dust had settled, donating and volunteering and helping survivors who had borne so much. We were united, and the outpouring of generosity reminded us that, through challenges that have spanned from acts of terrorism to natural disasters, we go forward together as one people.

Today, as we remember the victims, their families, and the heroes who stood up during one of our country's darkest moments, I invite all Americans to reclaim that abiding spirit of compassion by serving their communities in the days and weeks ahead. From volunteering with a faith-based organization, to collecting food and clothing for those in need, to preparing care packages for our men and women in uniform, there are many ways to bring service into our everyday lives -- and each of us can do something. To get involved and find a local service opportunity, visit www.Serve.gov, or www.Servir.gov for Spanish speakers.

Even the simplest act of kindness can be a way to honor those we have lost, and to help build stronger communities and a more resilient Nation. By joining together on this solemn anniversary, let us show that America's sense of common purpose need not be a fleeting moment, but a lasting virtue -- not just on one day, but every day.

By a joint resolution approved December 18, 2001 (Public Law 107-89), the Congress has designated September 11 of each year as "Patriot Day," and by Public Law 111-13, approved April 21, 2009, the Congress has requested the observance of September 11 as an annually recognized "National Day of Service and Remembrance."

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim September 11, 2012, as Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance. I call upon all departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the United States to display the flag of the United States at half-staff on Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance in honor of the individuals who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. I invite the Governors of the United States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and interested organizations and individuals to join in this observance. I call upon the people of the United States to participate in community service in honor of those our Nation lost, to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities, including remembrance services, and to observe a moment of silence beginning at 8:46 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time to honor the innocent victims who perished as a result of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

September 9 is Birthday of Leo Tolstoy

from Writer's Almanac (American Public Media: Garrison Keillor):

September 9 is the the birthday of novelist Leo Tolstoy, born into nobility near Tula, Russia (1828). Besides the pain of losing his mother as a young boy, his childhood was one of relative ease: He read books from his father's extensive library, went swimming and sledding, listened to stories, and played in the fields and woods on his family's large estate. After his father died, he lived with relatives and then enrolled at the University of Kazan. His teachers thought he wasn't very bright, and although he managed to teach himself about 12 languages, he was less interested in academics than he was in gambling, drinking, and women. He dropped out of college and spent years visiting brothels, binge drinking, and racking up such huge gambling debts that he had to sell off part of his estate.

Finally Tolstoy's brother suggested that he needed a change and encouraged him to sign up for the army. He agreed, joining his brother's artillery unit in the Caucasus in the spring of 1851. The following winter, 23-year-old Tolstoy wrote his first novel, Childhood (1852). It was praised by Turgenev and established Tolstoy's reputation as a writer. Over the next few years, he published two more novels in the same vein, Boyhood (1854) and Youth (1856).

In 1854, he was promoted and sent to the front to fight in the Crimean War. He was horrified by the violence of war, and in 1857, he witnessed a public execution in Paris, which affected him deeply as well. He wrote: "During my stay in Paris, the sight of an execution revealed to me the instability of my superstitious belief in progress. When I saw the head part from the body and how they thumped separately into the box, I understood, not with my mind but with my whole being, that no theory of the reasonableness of our present progress could justify this deed; and that though everybody from the creation of the world had held it to be necessary, on whatever theory, I knew it to be unnecessary and bad; and therefore the arbiter of what is good and evil is not what people say and do, nor is it progress, but it is my heart and I."

By 1863, he had finished a draft of what would become the first part of a novel he was calling 1805. It was set during the Napoleonic Wars and the French invasion of Russia, but he channeled his experiences in the Crimean War. A version of 1805 was published in 1865, but Tolstoy did not like it, so he went to work rewriting and expanding the novel. He gave it a new name: War and Peace. In 1867, the first three sections of War and Peace were published, and sold out in a matter of days. Tolstoy began writing furiously, publishing the sections as he wrote them, and finally, in December of 1869, he published the sixth and final volume. He said, "What I have written there was not simply imagined by me, but torn out of my cringing entrails."
Tolstoy did not think of his new book as a novel. He published an article in 1868, even before the final parts of book had come out, called "A Few Words Apropos of the Book War and Peace." In the article, he wrote: "What is War and Peace? It is not a novel, still less an epic poem, still less a historical chronicle. War and Peace is what the author wanted and was able to express, in the form in which it is expressed." Tolstoy published Anna Karenina between 1873 and 1877, and he declared that it was his first true novel.

46.6 Milliion Americans receive Food Assistance : U.S. Dept. of Agriculture report (June 2012 statistics)

from Obama - Food - o - rama (Google BLOGGER weblog)

. . .the US Department of Agriculture has newly reported an all-time high for the number of Americans using the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, aka Food Stamps. In June, the latest month for which data is available, more than 46.6 million Americans received benefits, at a cost of more than $6.2 billion. That's a spike from the previous record high during the Obama Administration in December of 2011, when more than 46.5 million beneficiaries used the nutritional safety net. About 1 in 7 million Americans are enrolled in the program.

When President Obama took office in January of 2009, about 31.9 million Americans used Food Stamps, at a monthly cost of more than $3.6 billion. In the last four years, federal spending for Food Stamps more than doubled, to a record $75.7 billion for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2011.

The June number is 3.3% higher than in 2011, and up .4% from May. The news comes as the economy is a major issue for the President's re-election effort, with White House and campaign aides regularly asked by reporters if Americans and the economy are "doing better."
http://obamafoodorama.blogspot.com/2012/09/usda-food-stamp-use-hits-new-record.html

Why build a disaster preparedness kit? -- Food, water, essential supplies

September 2012 -- is a National Preparedness Month -- White House dot-gov features this proclamation

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS MONTH, 2012

 

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

 

A PROCLAMATION

 

As thousands of our fellow Americans respond to and recover from the damage done by Hurricane Isaac, we are called to remember that throughout our history, emergencies and natural disasters have tested the fabric of our country.  During National Preparedness Month, we renew our commitment to promoting emergency preparedness in homes, businesses, and communities nationwide, and to building an America more ready and resilient than ever before.

 

Each of us has an important role to play in bolstering our preparedness for disasters of all types -- from cyber incidents and acts of terrorism to tornadoes and flooding.  That is why my Administration is pursuing an approach to emergency management that engages the whole community -- from Federal, State, local, and tribal governments to the private sector, nonprofits, faith based organizations, and the general public.  I encourage all Americans to visit www.Ready.gov or www.Listo.gov to learn more about the risks facing their communities, find out what they can do to prepare, and join thousands of individuals from coast to coast by becoming a member of the National Preparedness Coalition.  Individuals and families can also take action by building a disaster supply kit with food, water, and essential supplies in case of emergency, and by developing and sharing an emergency plan with their loved ones.

 

As cities and towns across our country recover from natural disasters that have spanned historic drought to devastating wildfires and storms, we are reminded of the spirit of resilience that binds us together as one people and as one American family.  This month, let us honor that spirit by standing with all those affected by recent severe weather, as well as past disasters, and by taking the steps we can to protect our loved ones and our communities before disaster strikes.

 

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 2012 as National Preparedness Month.  I encourage all Americans to recognize the importance of preparedness and observe this month by working together to enhance our national security, resilience, and readiness.

Bow to the monster of your own imagination -- Quotation by Famous Author (b. 1908)

from "Writer's Almanac" (American Public Media: Garrison Keillor):

September 4 is the birthday of the man who said, "The artist must bow to the monster of his own imagination." That's writer Richard Wright, born on a plantation near Natchez, Mississippi (1908). He's the author of Black Boy (1945), White Man, Listen! (1957), and American Hunger (1997), as well as a number of short stories and a volume of haiku.
But he's best known for his novel Native Son (1940), about a black man named Bigger Thomas who gets a job as a chauffeur for beautiful young white woman and accidentally kills her. Native Son was a huge best-seller when it came out, and was soon afterward made into a Broadway musical. It's now required reading at many high schools across the country.

Richard Wright said, "I would hurl words into this darkness and wait for an echo, and if an echo sounded, no matter how faintly, I would send other words to tell, to march, to fight, to create a sense of hunger for life that gnaws in us all."

President Obama arrives in St. John the Baptist Parish (Near New Orleans) -- Hurricane Isaac response Team meets

coverage on September 3, 2012 -- NOLA dot-com

President Barack Obama has arrived in New Orleans to inspect Hurricane Isaac damages. He was greeted on the tarmac of Louis Armstrong International Airport by Gov. Bobby Jindal, U.S. Sens. Mary Landrieu and David Vitter, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, U.S. Rep. Jeff Landry and FEMA director Craig Fugate.

The president's motorcade left for St. John the Baptist Parish minutes after the 4:30 p.m. Central Time zone arrival of Air Force One.
http://www.nola.com/hurricane/index.ssf/2012/09/president_obama_arrives_to_ins.html

Enlarge Ted Jackson, The Times-Picayune TED JACKSON / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE St. John the Baptist Parish President Natalie Robottom and Louisiana Bobby Jindal sit to either side of President Barack Obama at the Percy Hebert Building Emergency Operations Center in Laplace, Louisiana after Hurricane Isaac, Monday, Sept. 3, 2012.

Michigan Fruit Farmer really does love his work-ready customers "a bushel and a peck"

from Tree-Mendus Farms website calendar page:

Labor Day Weekend! Sept. 2nd - Sept. 5th Peach and Nectarine harvest continues, Plum & early Apple Harvest begins*. 
"Love ya a Bushel and a Peck".  With each bushel of apples or peaches you pick, receive a free peck of Tree-Mendus Fruit as you check out.  We will be making Cherry Waffle Boats filled with our own Cherry Brite Topping.  Clean Picnic & Play ground area...farm animal Corral, farm-wagon Rides.

Sept 3rd,   Early Fall Hours BeginOpen 10-6 PM Fri., Sat., Sun., & Mon.  through Nov 1st Closed Tuesdays through Thursday.  Special event and group tour with reservations welcome almost anytime.

Sept 14th,   Heritage Apple Showcase begins*We produce over 230 varieties of apples.  Showcase display and sampling counter open each weekend through November 1st.  Private Tours by reservation.  We ship fresh gift packages of Heritage Apples along with other Tree-Mendus Fruit products.  (A great idea for unique holiday gifts.)

Tree-Mendus Fruit Farm
9351 E. Eureka Rd
Eau Claire, MI 49111

Phone: 269-782-7101 or 877-863-3276

Ripe-N-Ready Report:  877-863-3276

http://treemendus-fruit.com/album1_004.htm

America will always stand behind our workers --- President's Proclamation -- Labor Day 2012

from White House dot-gov Proclamation (for Sept. 3, 2012):

Through times of prosperity and hardship alike, America counts on the strength and dynamism of the world's finest labor force.  From the factory floor and the office to the classroom and the interstate, working men and women are the unshakable foundation of American innovation and economic growth.  On Labor Day, we celebrate their vital role and reaffirm that America will always stand behind our workers.

 

The rights and benefits we enjoy today were not simply handed to working men and women; they had to be won.  Brick by brick, America's labor unions helped raise the landmarks of middle-class security:  the 40-hour workweek and weekends, paid leave and pensions, the minimum wage and health insurance, Social Security and Medicare.  These are the victories that make our Nation's promise possible -- the idea that if we work hard and play by the rules, we can make a better life for ourselves and our families.

 

I am committed to preserving the collective bargaining rights that helped build the greatest middle class the world has ever known.  It is the fundamental right of every American to have a voice on the job, and a chance to negotiate for fair pay, safe working conditions, and a secure retirement.  When we uphold these basic principles, our middle class grows and everybody prospers.

 

Our Nation faces tough times, but I have never stopped betting on the American worker.  This is the labor force that revolutionized the assembly line and built the arsenal of democracy that defeated fascism in World War II.  These are the workers who built our homes, highways, and rail lines, who educate our children and care for the sick.  American workers have taken us through the digital revolution and into a 21st century economy.  As my Administration fights to create good jobs and restore the American dream, I am confident that, together, we will emerge from today's challenges as we always have -- stronger than ever before.

 

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 3, 2012, as Labor Day.  I call upon all public officials and people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities that honor the contributions and resilience of working Americans.

Happy Birthday, Malcolm Gladwell (Essayist - Author) !

from Writer's Almanac (American Public Media: Garrison Keillor):  September 3 is the birthday of New Yorker staff writer and best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell, born in Fareham, England (1963), and raised in Canada, the son of a Jamaican psychotherapist and a British engineering professor.
Parts of what would become his first book first appeared in The New Yorker magazine, where he started as a staff writer in 1996. He received a million-dollar advance for that first book, published in 2000 as The Tipping Point. Since then, he's written Blink (2005) and Outliers (2008). He said about his books: "The hope with Tipping Point was it would help the reader understand that real change was possible. With Blink, I wanted to get people to take the enormous power of their intuition seriously. My wish with Outliers is that it makes us understand how much of a group project success is."
His next book, David and Goliath, is set to be released in 2013.

MDA Telethon shrinks to three-hour pretaped program (Local Fox affiliate): other 2012 developments

Last Year the telethon disassociated itself from Jerry Lewis -- the website ShowBiz411 dot-com has further details about the improprieties and unfulfilled fundraising:

Jerry Lewis vs. the Muscular Dystrophy Association: after 50 plus years, MDA tossed Lewis out last year and replaced him as chairman of the charity and host of his famous Labor Day telethon.

The 2011 telethon, shrunk to six hours from 21, was ghastly. When it was over MDA trumpeted that they’d made $61 million– up 4 percent from the prior year when Lewis was at the helm. MDA boasted it did better without Jerry.
http://www.masslive.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2011/09/jerry_lewis_gone_but_mda_telet.html
Alas, it wasn’t true. MDA has just posted its 2011 federal tax form 990 on its website and this tells a much different story. MDA was only able to collect $31 million of that much publicized amount. Without Jerry Lewis to cajole or persuade or inviegle, exactly half the amount came in that was promised by the public. Whether people simply reneged, or never actually pledged that amount at all, remains to be seen.

MDA will argue this happens every year: the tote board total is never what actually comes in. But in 2010, MDA crowed about $58 million at the end of the telethon with Jerry; $48 million came in. In 2009, the first telethon after the recession, the shortfall was about $15 million–$60 million announced, $45 million arrived.

For last year, MDA lists gross receipts from the first non Jerry Lewis telethon at $30,683,816. The charitable contribution portion was 18,059,876 . This left a gross income of $12,623,940.
A 50% shortfall is unprecedented. Because of it, the Form 990 shows a running $30 million loss or more in all categories stated on the MDA return from the beginning of 2011 to the end. Net assets and fund balances seem severely deplenished.

And public support dropped overall, not just with the Telethon. In 2010, MDA claimed it received over $174 million in gifts and grants (including the telethon). In 2011, there was a big drop: the number was only $157 million.

Even more disturbing: revenue less expenses left MDA in the red for 2011 at $19 million.
MDA’s now deposed CEO, the man who got rid of Lewis, Gerald C. Weinberg, still pulled down his nearly $400K a year salary in 2011, which he’d been making fo years. The top staff at MDA all make decent six figure salaries as well. Weinberg and most of that staff are no longer working at MDA.

To be fair: MDA divides up the millions that do come in to dozens of worthy hospitals, universities, research programs, and facilities. The halved $61 million is still a sizeable chunk for these donation-starved groups. However: without the bad publicity and the controversy around Jerry Lewis, MDA might have been able to collect a higher percentage of pledges which would have benefited these groups even more.

Something happened at MDA in 2011  that’s never quite been explained. They committed a kind of hari-kari, taking an established brand and flushing it down the toilet. On Sunday night, the so-called remnants of the annual telethon are down to three hours. Almost everything is pre-taped except for local cut ins. The acts have no relationship to the history of the MDA.

Because it’s taped, there will be no drama to see if they can top last year. Of course, last year doesn’t really exist since the actually collected $31 million is far below the amounts from preceding years.
http://www.showbiz411.com/2012/09/01/exclusive-without-jerry-lewis-mda-couldnt-collect-50-of-last-years-pledges

Great Fire of London (Anniversary of 1666 catastrophe)

as noted in "Writer's Almanac" (American Public Media: Garrison Keillor)
September 2 is the date in 1666 when the Great Fire of London started. The fire broke out near London Bridge, at the house of Thomas Farynor, the king's baker. One of his workers awoke at two in the morning to the smell of smoke, and the family fled over the rooftops. The blaze spread rapidly, helped by strong winds and drought conditions. Samuel Pepys, who lived nearby, took matters into his own hands and went to Whitehall to inform King Charles II of the situation. Pepys then went home to evacuate his own household and join the throngs of escaping Londoners choking the streets and the River Thames. He reported digging a hole to bury "[his] Parmazan cheese as well as [his] wine and some other things," and contemplated ways to slow or stop the blaze. "Blowing up houses ... stopped the fire when it was done, bringing down the houses in the same places they stood, and then it was easy to quench what little fire was in it."

It was the worst fire in London's history. It burned for four days and destroyed 80 percent of the city: most civic buildings, more than 13,000 homes, and nearly 90 churches, including St. Paul's Cathedral, whose lead roof melted and flowed away down Ludgate Hill. A catastrophic fire of this sort was inevitable, really; the buildings were made of timber and pitch, and the lanes were narrow and crowded; overhanging upper stories nearly touched their counterparts across the way.

Remarkably, there were only four reported casualties, although the death toll was probably much higher. There was one positive outcome from the fire, though: It may have halted the progress of the plague, which had been ravaging the city for the past few years. The rats and their disease-carrying fleas perished in large numbers.

Within days of the fire, architects Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke, and diarist John Evelyn, had all submitted plans for the rebuilding of the city; all of them called for making the streets more regular. In the end, almost all the original layout of the city was preserved, although the streets were widened. Wren was given the task of rebuilding 50 of the churches, including St. Paul's Cathedral, which remains one of his masterpieces.

Various Subjects Religious and Moral - Phillis Wheatley published Poems (1773)

from Writer's Almanac (American Public Media: Garrison Keillor):

On September 1, 1773,  Phillis Wheatley published Poems on Various Subjects Religious and Moral, the first book ever published by a former American slave. She was bought by a family in Boston and they found her drawing a wall with chalk. It was clear she was trying to make letters, so the daughter of the family taught her to read. She started to write poetry and no publisher in America would publish it, so she went to London and published it there.