Angela Merkel 1/1/2016 - "Wir Schaffen Das" (we can do this!)

www.reuters.com Online edition of International Press Service =
BERLIN (Reuters) – German society and the economy stand to benefit from the influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday, repeating her optimistic mantra “we can do this.”
In her New Year address to the nation, Merkel acknowledged that the integration of migrants, many of them Muslims fleeing war in the Middle East, would cost Germany “time, strength and money.” But the country was strong enough to cope, she said, pointing to low unemployment and rising wages.
“I am convinced that if we tackle the formidable task posed by the influx and integration of so many people in the right way today, then this will represent an opportunity for us tomorrow,”Merkel said in the text of a speech supplied by the government before she spoke.
“It’s true, we live in challenging times. But it’s also true that we can do this, because Germany is a strong country.”
Germany has taken in just over a million migrants this year, far more than any other European country. Merkel is one of the few European leaders to welcome them, arguing that Germany has a duty to shelter people fleeing conflict and persecution.
She has repeatedly rebuffed pressure to clamp down along German borders, telling Germans “wir schaffen das,” or “we can do this.”
This stance led Time magazine to name Merkel its “Person of the Year” earlier this month. But at home, where local communities have complained of being overwhelmed by the influx, her own popularity ratings and support for her conservative party have suffered.

Shelbyville IL New Year's Eve 2015 - New Year's Day 2016

from www.lakeshelbyville.com/


New Year's Eve dinner and music at VFW Post 4829 at 513 S. Cedar Street in Shelbyville, IL. You must sign up for the meal by 12/26. Steak Dinner is from 5-7:30 p.m. with DJ starting at 8 p.m. There will also be a kids' menu.

Prairie Du Rocher -- Southern IL community needs help with sandbags

posted at IL Great Rivers Conference list serv and e-notification:

The Village of Prairie du Rocher is requesting help filling sandbags tomorrow morning, Thursday December 31, 2015.  Those from the Illinois Area (United Methodist congregations) wishing to help should come to the work area, which is located behind the American Legion Building.  If possible, please bring a shovel/s with you and dress for the weather (boots highly recommended as the area is wet).  Prairie du Rocher is located approximately1 hour south of St. Louis, MO in Randolph County, IL.

Bunny Wolfe
Coordinator, Missions and Outreach
EMAIL for further information to bwolfe @ IGRC dot-org


Alexander County Highway Department is requesting sandbagging assistance. Additional sandbagging is needed along the Ley Small levee.  Volunteers are to call the Alexander Highway Department at 618-342-6208 for additional information on up to date volunteer need and where to report.  The Mississippi River is expected to crest early next week Jan. 4 - 8, 2016.
Bunny Wolfe
Coordinator, Missions and Outreach
bwolfe@igrc.org

Alzheimer's Organization benefit (Jan. 1 - 3, 2016) in Peoria, IL restaurants

from ALZ dot-org list serv e-mail notification:

Start off the New Year with a great meal! Join the Alzheimer’s Association this upcoming weekend for their monthly Bob Evans Fundraiser. All day long from Jan. 1- Jan. 3, 2016 dine out at a Bob Evans Restaurant in Peoria, East Peoria, or Pekin, IL to have 15% of your meal cost benefit the Alzheimer’s Association.

During the Battle of Britain (World War II) -- on this date in history (N Y Times)

from List Serv / E-notification from New York Times dot-com :

ON THIS DAY

On December. 29, 1940, during World War II, Germany began dropping incendiary bombs on London.

Thank you Visitors to this Google BLOG -- first started in 2007

http://faithfor2008.blogspot.com/


"Searching for Faith and Understanding"
Timothy J. Shaw


Today December 29, 2015 you have brought the page views and visits to the Blog to ninety-thousand =

Pageviews [Dec. 1 - 29, 2015]      2,301

Pageviews all time history

90,033 Pageviews on Dec. 30, 2015 - 108 Pageviews today  (Jan. 1, 2016)  - 154 Pageviews yesterday  (Dec 31, 2015) -  146 Pageviews in New Year (Jan. 3, 2016) 107 pageviews on Jan. 8, 2016 (Friday) 112 -- since blog started 90,999 JANUARY 2016 Tuesday Jan. 12 Pageviews today     101; Wed. 1/13/2016 Pageviews 105; Sunday 1/24/2016 Pageviews 129; Monday 1/25/2016 Pageviews 100; Wed. 1/28/2016 Pageviews 131; Thurs. 1/29/2016 Pageviews 102; Sunday 1/31/2016 Pageviews 103 Monday 2/1/2016 pageviews 103 Wed. 2/3/2016 pageviews 112. Thur, 2/4.2016 pageviews 112 Friday 2/5/2016 pageviews 104 Sat. Feb. 6 Pageviews 104 Monday Feb. 8 Pageviews 120 Tues. 2/9 Pageviews 120 Thursday 2/11 Pageviews 102 Friday 2/12 Pageviews 146 Saturday 2/13 pageviews 148 Thursday 2/18 pageviews 116 Monday 2/22 pageviews 100 Friday 2/26 pageviews 103 Monday 2/29 pageviews 126 Friday 3/11 pageviews 114 Wed. 3/16 pageviews 154 Friday 3/18 pageviews 110 Thurs. 3/31 pageviews 160

Flood Waters on highways (40 and 51) -- Fayette County, IL

Posted at Vandalia Radio website (6:45 a.m. Dec. 31, 2015):

Route 40 now open, 51 south of Vandalia, IL remains closed

U.S. Route 40, between Vandalia and Bluff City, re-opened yesterday afternoon (Wed. 12/30/2015) to traffic after waters receded. U.S. Route 51, from Route 40 to Country Road 900 North, remains closed this morning (Thursday 12/31/2015) due to water on the roadway.

Power Outages -- Shelby County, Illinois (Dec. 26 - 29, 2015)

Tweet posted by SHELBY ELECTRIC CO-OP :
PWR-net customers off the Williamsburg Hill ... That tower took a lightning strike earlier this morning (Saturday Dec. 26). Techs have the part just eating in weather to break so they can fix it.


Township -- TOWER HILL
# Served who are out -- 189
Township -- Cold Point
# served who are out of power -- 24 out -- area is 229 customers
Monday Dec. 29 -- 7:41 p.m. Central Time Zone

On Dec. 26, eleven years ago -- Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami

from Writer's Almanac (American Public Media, Garrison Keillor):
On this date in 2004, a tsunami devastated coastlines along the Indian Ocean. It was triggered by an earthquake in the middle of the ocean, 160 miles west of Sumatra. With a magnitude of between 9.1 and 9.3, the quake was the third strongest ever recorded on a seismograph, and it lasted for up to 10 minutes. It occurred when pressure built up along a 600-mile fault line between two tectonic plates to such a degree that one plate slipped underneath the other. The quake occurred in relatively shallow water, which meant that the energy was not dispersed as much as it would have been in deeper seas. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that the quake released energy equivalent to 23,000 Hiroshima-type atomic bombs. The quake was so powerful that it vibrated the whole planet and actually changed the Earth’s rotation very slightly.
The shifting of the plates raised the sea floor by about 10 yards, and this displaced massive amounts of water. The tsunami chain that this generated reached the Sumatra coast within 15 minutes. The waves — which started small but grew as high as 50 feet — wiped out whole villages in seconds. The tsunami even claimed lives in South Africa, up to 3,000 miles away from the epicenter of the quake. An estimated 230,000 people from 14 different countries died; half a million more were injured. Five million people required humanitarian aid. A ship weighing almost 3,000 tons was thrown almost a mile inland, where it remains a tourist attraction in Indonesia. But there were very few animal casualties; many people reported seeing animals fleeing for higher ground just minutes before the tsunami struck.
Two years after the quake and tsunami, the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System went into operation, and it was successfully put to the test in 2012, when more quakes hit the Indian Ocean.

After Pearl Harbor, on December 26, 1941 : Winston Churchill address to joint session of Congress

from NY TIMES list serv / e-message:


On Dec. 26, 1941, Winston Churchill became the first British prime minister to address a joint meeting of the United States Congress.

Flash Flood Advisory - Western Shelby County and other IL areas

from WEATHER dot-com (Weather Channel / National Weather Service):
Flood Advisory WESTERN SHELBY COUNTY IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS...

* UNTIL 1030 PM CST

* AT 435 PM CST... DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED HEAVY RAIN THAT WILL CAUSE MINOR FLOODING IN THE ADVISORY AREA. SO FAR TODAY... RAINFALL TOTALS HAVE RANGED FROM 1.5 TO 2.5 INCHES... WITH THE HEAVIEST TOTALS OVER CHRISTIAN AND WESTERN SHELBY COUNTIES. THIS IS CAUSING PONDING OF WATER ON SOME STREETS... DITCHES... AND LOW SPOTS.

FROM NOON CST TODAY (revised) to 9 p.m. Saturday 12/26/2015

* PERIODS OF MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN... WITH EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS... ARE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH MONDAY... FLOOD WATCH all weekend BEFORE DIMINISHING MONDAY NIGHT. RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 3 TO 5 INCHES ARE LIKELY... WITH LOCALLY HEAVIER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE.

* THIS HEAVY RAINFALL MAY RESULT IN FLASH FLOODING OF LOW LYING OR POOR DRAINAGE AREAS... AND SMALLER CREEKS AND STREAMS. SIGNIFICANT RISES ON LARGER STREAMS AND RIVERS ARE EXPECTED.

100-yard Swimming Race tradition on Christmas Day (Peter Pan Club, London)

London for Christmas website :
Whilst all across London, children are eagerly waiting to unwrap their presents, the members of the “Serpentine Swimming Club” who have met in London’s Hyde Park, winter and summer since 1864 are preparing, some decked out in Santa hats, to swim their traditional 100 yards annual Christmas day swim.

The Serpentine Swimming Club is one of the oldest swimming clubs in the country, and the first race was won by H.Coulter. He streaked home to win a gold medal, which became customary to award to the winner. This changed in 1904 when Sir James Barrie, the novelist, immortalised the race by presenting the first “Peter Pan Cup”; like the boy that never grew up, the race has taken on a similarly legendary appeal.

The race is only open to members and is raced on a handicap system. For anyone foolish enough to plunge into the icy Serpentine waters, with its temperature usually below 40 ^oF (4 ^oC) degrees in the winter, without acclimatisation over several months, the shock could prove fatal! As one New Year’s reveller found to his cost.

To compete in the Peter Pan Christmas Day Race you must have competed in the entire Winter Series. Note: You cannot join the swimming club on the day and swim in the race.

The race starts at 09.00 a.m. on the 25 December, on the south bank of the lake close to the Serpentine Café (the old pavilion). Spectators are most welcome, but are advised to wrap up warm.

Queen Elizabeth II Christmas Day Message (refers to Princess Charlotte, born 2015)

from Reuters Coverage (online story, 12/25/2015):
Britain's Queen Elizabeth focused on what she called the light of the Christian faith in her annual Christmas message on Friday, after a year marked by militant Islamist attacks across the world.
Elizabeth, 89, the head of the Church of England, quoted the Bible and spoke of millions of people lighting candles of hope.
"It is true," she said, "that the world has had to confront moments of darkness this year, but the Gospel of John contains a verse of great hope, often read at Christmas carol services: 'The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.'"
Elizabeth, who overtook her great, great grandmother Queen Victoria this year to become Britain's longest-reigning monarch, recorded the message earlier this month at Buckingham Palace, her London residence.
She did not make direct reference to Islamist attacks in 2015, which included two in Paris killing some 150 people and a beach massacre of tourists in Tunisia in June 2015 in which 38 people died, most of them British.


But she reminded her audience that Christianity's unchanging message "was not one of revenge or violence but simply that we should love one another."
She added: "There's an old saying that it is better to light a candle than curse the darkness."
Seated in front of a Christmas tree as she delivered the latest in a long line of seasonal royal messages that date back to George V in 1932, the queen, who turns 90 in April, 2016 reflected on her reign of over 63 years.


"One of the joys of living a long life is watching one's children, then grandchildren, then great-grandchildren, help decorate the Christmas tree," she said.
"And this year my family has a new member to join the fun," she added, referring to her fifth great-grandchild, Princess Charlotte, who was born in May 2015 to her grandson Prince William and his wife Kate.


"Gathering round the tree gives us a chance to think about the year ahead - I am looking forward to a busy 2016, though I have been warned I may have 'Happy Birthday' sung to me more than once or twice."
She concluded: "There are millions of people lighting candles of hope in our world today. Christmas is a good time to be thankful for them and for all that brings light to our lives."
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-queen-christmas-idUSKBN0U80S620151225

First humans to circle a celestial extraterrestrial body (Apollo 8, Dec. 24 - 25, 1968)

from Writer's Almanac (American Public Media, Garrison Keillor):
In 1968, the Apollo 8 spacecraft entered orbit around the moon on Christmas Eve - Day. Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and William Anders became the first humans to orbit a celestial body other than our Earth. Apollo 8 circled the moon 10 times over the next 20 hours, while the astronauts tested equipment and took many photographs of the moon’s surface. It was the first manned space mission to the moon, and it was a crucial step toward meeting the Apollo mission’s ultimate goal — putting a man on the surface of the moon. NASA would achieve that goal less than a year later.
The astronauts sent a Christmas Eve broadcast home to Earth from their path around the moon. Borman later recalled, “We were told that on Christmas Eve we would have the largest audience that had ever listened to a human voice, and the only instructions that we got from NASA was to do something appropriate.” All three astronauts took turns reading from the Book of Genesis, which begins, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.”
William Anders later said that although the astronauts went on their mission to explore the moon, what they really discovered was the planet Earth. He added: “I think it’s important for people to understand they are just going around on one of the smaller grains of sand on one of the spiral arms of this kind of puny galaxy [...] it [Earth] is insignificant, but it’s the only one we’ve got.”

Whose idea was the "Living Nativity Scene"?

from Writer's Almanac (American Public Media, Garrison Keillor):
Today is the day St. Francis of Assisi created the first Nativity scene, in Greccio, Italy (1223). A Nativity scene, or crèche, is the special exhibition of objects that represent the story of the birth of Christ. Nativity scenes can be assembled using model figurines, animals, and human reenactment.
St. Francis was a Roman Catholic friar and preacher. He’d recently completed a trip to the Holy Land. Inspired by his visit to Jesus’s traditional birthplace, he wanted to create something to honor the birth of Christ that the villagers of Greccio could take part in. At that time, Mass was in Latin, which only the clergy understood, so during the Middle Ages, “Mystery” and “Miracle” plays were created as ways to teach Scripture to laypeople. They were popular and educational, and Francis thought he could use that idea to entertain the villagers of Greccio.
He received the blessing of Pope Honorius II, gathered an ass and a donkey, found some villagers to play Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus, and staged the whole thing in a cave outside Greccio. He drew quite a crowd and preached about the “babe of Bethlehem.” His living Nativity was such a hit that the hay he used as a crib for baby Jesus miraculously acquired the power to cure cattle diseases and various pestilences.

Christmas Day - Feed the hungry, shelter the homeless

Effingham Ministerial Christmas Dinner

When: Friday, December 25, 2015  @  11:30 AM

Where: Sacred Heart Parish Center

---

Sacred Heart Church
405 S. Henrietta
Effingham, IL 62401

Today is Christmas Eve

A time for Candle lighting and singing -- join with your local believers at a nearby house of worship; sing a carol with your family and loved ones!

Celebrate with Crepes (Original Pancake House, Champaign, IL)

Cherry Kijafa Crepes


A Danish favorite! Three delicate crepes filled and topped with Montmorency cherries simmered in our Kijafa sauce and lightly dusted with powdered sugar.

Happy Birthday to great composer -- Puccini !

from WRITER's Almanac dot-org (American Public Media, Garrison Keillor):
December 22 is the birthday of composer Giacomo Puccini, born in Lucca, Tuscany, Italy (1858). He is responsible for creating some of the most popular and recognizable operas of all time. Puccini’s four greatest works are all tragic love stories centering on a female lead: the seamstress Mimi of La bohème (1896), the singer Floria of Tosca (1900), a Japanese teenager who goes by the nickname Butterfly in Madame Butterfly (1904), and a Persian princess in Turandot, which was left incomplete at the time of Puccini’s death in 1924.

Another translation of "Stille Nacht" (words by Franz Gruber)

1. Silent night, peaceful night!
All things sleep, shepherds keep
Watch on Bethlehem's silent hill;
And unseen, while all is still,
Angels watch above,
Angels watch above.

2. Bright the star shines afar,
Guiding trav'lers on their way;
Who their gold and incense bring,
Offerings to the promised King,¹
Child of David's line,²
Child of David's line.

3. Light around! joyous sound!
Angel voices wake the air;
"Glory be to God in heav'n;
Peace on earth to you is giv'n,
Jesus the Saviour is come,³
Jesus the Saviour is come."

Note:

1. Or: "Peace on earth to you is giv'n,"

2. Or: "Christ the Saviour's come."

3. Or: "Christ the Saviour's come."

http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/silent_night_peaceful_night.htm

Books for the Bases

USO Wishbook -- Give Gifts to Deployed Troops --

Books for the Bases

Price: $15.00         Whether it’s a long flight home or a short break on base, a good book can mean so much to our troops. Help stock our library.


http://usowishbook.uso.org/templates/landing-product.aspx?cid=193&rid=34

"Blue Christmas" help and treatment this year -- UM Communications article by Joe Iovino

If you or someone you love is struggling with the Christmas blues, you are not alone. Many people find the season difficult. To help you through what may be a challenging Christmas season, we sought sound advice from United Methodist pastors and counselors.

Accept feelings

Though you may feel like you are supposed to be merry, don’t force it. "You just can't be where you're not,” says retired United Methodist state correctional chaplain, The Rev. Ben Wright. “So if you feel down,” he continues, “feel down.” As he tells the members of the grief support group he facilitates in his United Methodist congregation, “When we acknowledge that we are down, it helps us.”
We ought to give others space to feel whatever they are feeling as well. United Methodist counselor Cindy Elrod cautions, “be in touch with your own anxiety that may surface when you are in the presence of someone who appears to be in distress, so that you are not trying to ‘fix’ them in order to ease your own distress.”

Manage expectations

There can be a lot of pressure to make Christmas perfect. Megan Forshey, program manager of Gilda’s Club Nashville, reminds us to, “try to let go of how things have always been or are supposed to be and allow this holiday to reflect your current reality.” If you are feeling blue, the goal of perfection can lead to stress or disappointment. Keep expectations realistic, and receive the season as it comes to you.
http://www.umc.org/what-we-believe/sad-at-christmas-advice-for-coping-with-holiday-blues
When supporting a friend though a difficult period, help keep the pressure low. Don’t push the “holiday spirit” upon your loved one. Give space and permission for them to cancel a day of shopping, or to initiate a deep conversation on a day you had planned for celebration.

The Rev. Daniel H. Nigolian of the United States Air Force (ret), stands in a field chapel in Afghanistan. Photo courtesy of the Rev. Dan Nigolian.

Be selectively social

While everything in you may want to be alone, fight that urge sometimes. Retired United Methodist Chaplain, Lieutenant Colonel Daniel H. Nigolian of the United States Air Force, encourages those who are struggling to “get with other people.” When serving those deployed far from family during the holidays, “Chaplains work very hard to provide fellowship opportunities for the troops whenever and wherever they happen to be,” Nigolian continues. Don’t feel obligated to attend every Christmas event, but make sure you make time to be with other people.
Nigolian also recommends others stay connected with those who are feeling blue during the holidays. “I always worry about the person who is alone,” he says. “I would stay with that person until relieved by someone close to him or her. I think it's that important.” So stick close and remember, not everything you do together needs to be Christmas related. Mundane chores like laundry and grocery shopping can be lonely times. Offer to help.

Care for the body

Physical factors such as fatigue and low blood sugar, can contribute to a sense of sadness. When feeling down, extra attention to your health is helpful. “Take care of yourself,” Forshey urges. “Adequate sleep, exercise, and good nutrition relieve stress, deter depression and improve self-esteem.” That doesn’t mean you have to avoid every Christmas cookie, but take care of your body.
Healthy habits are sometimes set aside during the holidays. When supporting one who is struggling, you can help by offering to go for a walk together or by making healthy eating choices. The disciplines of diet and exercise always seems a little easier with a partner.

Watch your language

Be mindful of times you talk to yourself in ways you would never speak to another. Thoughts like, “I should be over this by now,” or “I’m ruining Christmas for everyone,” add guilt, which exacerbates the sadness. Instead, look for things to celebrate. When you get yourself to go to that party, pat yourself on the back. When you turn down that third cup of eggnog, tell yourself how proud you are of your accomplishment. Be your own cheerleader.
Cindy Elrod reminds us also to be cognizant of what we say to others. “Avoid these phrases: ‘It’s Christmas! Catch the spirit!,’ ‘You’re just sad because you WANT to be sad!,’ ‘I know just how you feel.,’ or ‘If you really believed in the reason for the season, you wouldn't be sad.’” None of these is helpful. “Giving advice,” Elrod continues, “often results in the other person feeling minimized, dismissed, judged, or unheard.”
While typical Christmas worship services and programs may not be appealing to you, many churches offer special Blue Christmas or Longest Night worship gatherings. Churches design these services to offer those in attendance the hope of Christmas even while feeling a sense of sadness.
Joyce Kieffer has been planning "Blue Christmas: A Service of Hope" for Community United Methodist Church of New Cumberland, PA for ten years. The service, followed by a time of prayer and fellowship, has been valuable to those participating. "The Blue Christmas service gives people a place to validate their sadness, and to find kindred spirits," she says, in others who are also sad. This year, she continued, "people stayed and stayed. Talking to each other. They didn't want to leave, but needed time to linger and relax."

Marriage Counseling and Pre-marriage sessions w/pastor - other situations (Help available, training)

If you are looking for a tool to help couples who are struggling in their marriage, engaged couples to prepare for their marriage as completely as they prepare for their wedding, or facilitate groups of married couples, adoptive families, or step-families, you may want to try out Prepare-Enrich.

Rev. Debbie Reese was invited by Prepare-Enrich to become a facilitator when they observed that she had been using it for over 20 years. Reese has been very impressed with the ways in which the developers of this tool have continued to evolve and improve the inventories through the years.

This is an online tool that the couple takes at their convenience. The couple then meets with the pastor/facilitator to go over their strengths which they'll be taught to use in addressing their areas of growth.

Reese will be leading a workshop in which the participants will learn about and be certified to use this tool. This will be held on Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Normal Calvary UMC. The cost is $195 and the participants will receive all training materials as well as a free scoring.

Contact Rev. Debbie Reese by email or call at 309-452-5413 by Jan. 14, 2016 to register.

A terrible day in the history of commercial aviation -- Pan Am Boeing 747 Flight destroyed by on-plane bomb

from NY TIMES Email - list serv :

ON THIS DAY

On December 21, 1988, a terrorist bomb exploded aboard a Pan Am Boeing 747 over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people.

USA TODAY on Winter Solstice -- Dec. 21, 2015, 10:48 p.m. Central Time

article posted online Dec. 20, 2015 (author is Doyle Rice):
Here comes the dark. The winter solstice — marking the longest night and shortest day of the year — is Monday night.
The solstice occurs at the same instant everywhere on Earth. In the United States, it happens at 11:48 p.m. ET Monday (or 10:48 p.m. CT, 9:48 p.m. MT and 8:48 p.m. PT).
In Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia, that means the solstice actually comes on Tuesday.
The winter solstice is the precise moment the Northern Hemisphere is tilted its farthest from the sun all year, and usually occurs near the day when there is the least amount of daylight and the most darkness.
One of the most famous solstice celebrations occurs at the ancient Stonehenge ruins in Wiltshire, England, where druids, pagans and other revelers gather each year to celebrate the event.
The solstice is the astronomical beginning of winter — the start of the coldest three months in the Northern Hemisphere — even though meteorologists view winter as starting Dec. 1. After the solstice, the days slowly start to get longer again.
It's the opposite in the Southern Hemisphere, where Dec. 21 marks the longest day of the year and the beginning of astronomical summer.
Winter's shortest day, however, is typically not the coldest day of the year. There is a lag between the shortest day of the year and the coldest average temperatures for most spots in the USA.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/sciencefair/2015/12/20/winter-solstice-first-day-of-winter/77667242/

Christmas Eve Full Moon (Long Night): not seen since 1977

from Boston Globe Online article for "Weather Wisdom":
For the first time since 1977, the moon is going to be full on Christmas. Of course that is also the same year the original Star Wars movie was released. How fun! If you are under 38 years old, this is the first full moon on Christmas in your lifetime. The next one won’t occur until 2034, I shudder to think how old I will be by then.
While the release of Star Wars was big, there was another important full Christmas moon in American history on Dec. 25, 1776. Historians tell us this was the night George Washington and his Continental Army crossed the Delaware River from Pennsylvania into New Jersey. If there were clear skies, the army used the moonlight to help with the crossing.
You likely have heard that the Native Americans gave each of the full moons a name. This month it’s called the cold moon, but within some tribes, this moon was called the Full Long Nights Moon.
December is the month with the longest nights and when cold typically establishes its winter grip. The Long Night Moon this month takes a very high trajectory across the sky because of the position it has in relation to the sun.

The show begins Christmas Eve at 4:02 p.m. EST when the moon rises in the eastern sky. I’ll talk about the weather conditions for this in a moment. The moon will be 99.7 percent full at that time, becoming 100 percent full at 6:11 a.m. EST. Christmas morning before setting at 6:55 a.m. EST in the west.
On Christmas evening, the moon rises full at 4:59 p.m. EST. This mean it will be visible all night on Christmas before setting Saturday morning, December 26, at 7:47 a.m. EST.
http://www.boston.com/news/weather/weather_wisdom/2015/12/first_full_moon_on_christmas_s.html?p1=feature_stack_8_hp

$1.8 Trillion Spending Measure passes House & Senate -- is signed by President (Dec. 18, 2015)

from NY TIMES dot-com coverage:

In the House, which approved the tax breaks on Thursday, the vote Friday morning on the spending measure was 316 to 113, with 150 Republicans and 166 Democrats supporting the bill.

The Senate followed with uncharacteristic alacrity. In expedited floor action, on the edge of the holiday recess, the Senate voted to end debate on the overall legislation, dispensed with several procedural steps, and approved the package. The vote was 65 to 33.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/19/us/congress-spending-bill.html?emc=edit_th_20151219&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=18242002&_r=0

Global Candlelight Vigil (Dec. 18) - sponsored by IOM (International Organization for Migration)

www.iom.int/


To mark this year’s International Migrants Day on December 18, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) is calling on the international community to come together and remember the refugees and migrants who have tragically lost their lives this year.
IOM invites the international community to hold the first global Candlelight Vigil to commemorate the lives that have been lost or have disappeared while trying to reach safe harbour after arduous journeys across seas and deserts this year. Each person has a name, a story and left their homelands seeking better opportunities and safety for themselves and in many cases for their families - aspirations that all of us strive for.
In commemoration of the thousands of lives lost this year and each year during migration, IOM is encouraging the distribution of white wristbands with the inscription #IamaMigrant which will serve as the theme for the day as well as a powerful social media hashtag.
The Candlelight Vigil is a renewed opportunity to increase awareness on drivers of migration, and most importantly shift the narrative of migration towards a positive recognition of the many ways migrants contribute to host societies.
The candlelight should become the symbol of our solidarity with migrants and their families and remind us that for many, migration is often the only sliver of light left for millions of people around the world.
IOM will remain steadfast in ensuring that the international community stays fully committed to saving migrants lives.
We must ensure that their lives have not been lost in vain. We must not forget them.
https://www.iom.int/news/international-migrants-day-2015-worldwide-iamamigrant-candlelight-vigil-remember-lost-migrant

Born on this date in 1707 - Charles Wesley

Born on December 18,1707, Charles Wesley became famous for the hymns he wrote (think "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing") and the movement he helped found with his older brother which grew to become The United Methodist Church.  Historians at the United Methodist General Commission on Archives and History tell us more about the man best remembered as the poet laureate and great writer of Methodism.  “Charles’ influence on John was every bit as great as John’s influence on Charles. In these two brothers, here’s a dynamic duo that gives us the heart and soul of Methodism,” reflects the Rev. Alfred Day III.  
http://www.umc.org/who-we-are/charles-wesleys-gift-of-music

Will America become home to more cremations than burials by 2030? Religious News Article (Simon Davis)

(RNS) Before his death a few years ago, Jim Underdown’s father, James, requested that he be cremated — becoming the first in his family to do so. A month later, the family had a memorial luncheon in Chicago. In accordance with his wishes, his cremated remains were scattered in a favorite wooded area in Wisconsin.
The decision to forgo traditional burial was in line with his father’s rejection of religion, Jim Underdown said. “He certainly didn’t want any churchiness surrounding his death.”
Choosing cremation is becoming more common every year in the United States, largely for similar reasons. According to estimates by the funeral industry’s main trade group, 2015 is on track to be the year that cremation surpasses burial for the first time, as a long-standing trend continues. A key factor driving this: decreased religiosity.  A surge in the number of Americans that no longer identify with any religion has contributed to the decline of the historically traditional funeral in America — and the rise in cremation as the disposition of choice,” says the National Funeral Directors Association in its latest annual report.
For the past few years, the association has conducted surveys asking Americans 40 and older to rank the importance of including a religious component in the funeral for a loved one. The percentage of people responding that it is “not at all important” has more than doubled in the last three years, from 10 percent to 21 percent.
A separate survey is conducted every five years by the Funeral and Memorial Information Council, a trade group representing several associations in the death care industry, including the NFDA. In the most recent study, in 2015, 91 percent of nonreligious respondents said they would be “definitely” or “somewhat likely” to consider cremation for a friend or family member.
According to data from the Cremation Association of North America, cremation percentages correlate with regional variations in religiosity. For example, in less religious Oregon, 73 percent of burials involve cremation; in more religious Mississippi, cremations make up just under 18 percent.

---

READ: Cremation is popular, but is it green?

---

With the notable exception of Eastern Orthodox churches, most Christian denominations no longer actively oppose cremation. Reform Judaism also permits it. Islam prohibits cremation but mandates burial without a casket. Buddhist and Hindu traditions have long encouraged cremation.
To be sure, burial need not incorporate a religious ceremony. So why is it then that the nonreligious are increasingly drawn to cremation? Barbara Kemmis, executive director of CANA, said that overall, cost is the reason cited most often in that group’s consumer surveys.
But there are other considerations, particularly the flexibility to have a memorial ceremony after some time has passed, with practically limitless options for venue — she even hears the term “destination funerals” being used. Underdown says the month between his father’s death and the memorial service not only gave his family time to plan, but also allowed more notice for other people from all over the country to attend.
Citing the Funeral and Memorial Information Council’s data, Kemmis said her sense is that nonreligious people are also more likely to incorporate nontraditional rituals, such as releasing doves or helium-filled balloons, “different things that are unique and personal,” she said.  Underdown said his father also “had no feeling of belonging in a place where ‘one’s own kind’ would be resting nearby for all time — like a Catholic or Jewish cemetery. He knew that once he was dead, it didn’t really matter what happened to his body because he would not be able to experience anything anyway.”
Numbers are less definitive on other nontraditional options, such as body donation for medical research; NFDA figures show a slight increase nationwide, from 6.3 percent to 6.9 percent in the past decade. But Kemmis said her research had shown body donation percentages in California and in Arizona, where it’s tracked by state agencies, is “well into the double digits.”
The NFDA projects that by 2030, only 23 percent of Americans will be buried, a sharp decline from 61 percent in 2005.
Kemmis believes cremation is “becoming the new tradition in the United States,” for the religious as well as the nonreligious. For the nonreligious, cremation can be a way to create a more individualized memorial service.
But even for religious families, it can be seamlessly incorporated into centuries-old traditions. Kemmis illustrates the point by paraphrasing what a traditional funeral home outside of Boston that serves predominantly Catholic families told her:
“When a family chooses cremation, it’s (just) an extra step. You’ve got the Mass, you’ve got the wake, you go to the cemetery … but first we go to the crematory.”
http://www.religionnews.com/2015/12/17/nonreligious-reshaping-american-burial-rituals/

Wright Brothers - on this date in 1903

From NY TIMES -- email notification of daily coverage (Thursday 12/17/15):
On Dec. 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first successful man-powered airplane flight, near Kitty Hawk, N.C.

Yes, let us sing carols in English, Polish, and Latin (Greenfield, Massachusetts congregation)

posted in Newspaper website (Greenfield, MA):
Our Lady of Czestochowa Church, 84 K St., Greenfield on Dec. 24, the Vigil Mass of Christmas Eve will begin at 4 p.m. with the Blessing of the Christmas trees, manger, and the Christmas hay to await the coming of the Christ Child. Carols will be chanted in English, Polish and Latin. After the Mass, which will be in English, the congregation, following an old Polish tradition, is welcome to take a memento of the blessed hay for the centerpiece on their Christmas Eve dinner table.

The midnight mass of the shepherds will begin at exactly midnight. It will be introduced at 11:30 p.m., Dec. 24, with a concert of carols in English, Polish and Latin. As the bells ring the midnight hour of Christmas morning, Dec. 25, the time of the birth of the Christ Child, a statue of the Infant Jesus will be blessed and carried in solemn procession around the church and then enshrined in the manger. The Mass will follow in English.

Pasterka is the name given to the Polish Midnight Mass. Pasterka means Shepherds Mass and it is filled with all the joy and pageantry the Polish people can muster for this holy commemoration of the moment when God became man. The crib is blessed, processions are held, the bells are rung and the choir is at its best.

On Dec. 25: The Mass of Christmas Day will begin at 10:30 a.m. with the solemn proclamation of the birth of Christ and the solemn procession to the manger. Mass will be in English with carols chanted in English, Polish, and Latin.

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What would a second Lincoln Administration (1865 - 1869) have been like?

from Cleveland (Ohio) Lincoln round table website (2015-6):

January 13, 2016The Dick Crews Annual Debate:Resolved, What Would a Second Lincoln Administration have Been Like?
Moderator: William F. B. Vodrey

One of the great tragedies of American history is the assassination of president Abraham Lincoln in April 1865. A significant component of that tragedy is the question that preys on the mind of any serious student of American history or American politics, namely: Could a second Lincoln term have in any way attenuated the long, painful racial struggle that consumed our nation for every bit of the 150 intervening years since Lincoln's death?

Could it? Or is that question just a reflection of our boundless Lincoln hero worship and the desire to anoint the martyred president with near supernatural powers? Could anyone have made a difference in post Civil War America or were we doomed, like the characters in a Greek tragedy, to pay a bloody price for the sins of our (founding) fathers and their legitimization of slavery?

What would a second Lincoln administration have looked like? It's an interesting question and precisely the question the brave participants in this year's Dick Crews Debate will be seeking to answer. Join us for what will certainly be a lively and interesting discussion.

http://www.clevelandcivilwarroundtable.com/schedule16.htm

Zero Suicide Initiative (Radio Call-in Show Dec. 17, 2015) - National Public Radio, Diane Rehm Show

Thursday, Dec 17, 2015 • second hour 

New Reported Successes in Efforts to Reduce Suicide Rates

                         

     

Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States. And the suicide rate has grown slightly over the past decade. But a group of psychiatrists and health care professionals is working to change this trend. They’ve launched an initiative that aims to reduce the number of suicides to zero. It sounds impossible. But a health system in Michigan is reporting impressive results. After overhauling the way it screens and treats patients, it reduced the number of suicides by eighty percent. And one year, no suicides were reported. Now others are trying to replicate this success. Diane and a panel of guests discuss the “Zero Suicide” initiative.

Guests

• Julie Goldstein Grumet clinical psychologist, and director, Health and Behavioral Health Initiative, Suicide Prevention Resource Center at the Education Development Center
• David Jobes professor of psychology, Catholic University, and clinical psychologist
• Brian Ahmedani director of psychiatry research, behavioral health services department, Henry Ford Health System in Michigan
• Diana Cortez Yanez public speaker on suicide prevention strategies. She has been treated for being suicidal and depressed.

An important holiday for the PEANUTS character Schroeder (Charles Schulz comic strip)

Beethoven's Birthday is an important holiday observed annually by Schroeder. He first celebrated it in 1953, then celebrated it almost every year afterwards, on December 16, the birthday of Ludwig van Beethoven.
Schroeder is the only person who really celebrates Beethoven's birthday, since he idolizes the composer. Lucy also celebrates it, but only to impress Schroeder. Normally, she is unable to impress him, and sometimes ends up hating Beethoven's birthday, since Schroeder does not care if Lucy likes Beethoven or not. However, in a strip from 1984, Schroeder kisses Lucy on the cheek because she gives him a cupcake. Lucy has tried to commercialize the day by selling T-shirts, which makes Schroeder upset, because he wants people to enjoy Beethoven's birthday for Beethoven, and not for merchandise.

Schroeder worries about Beethoven's birthday becoming commercialized in the strip from December 1, 1960.

A running gag connected to Beethoven's birthday has Schroeder holding up signs to remind everyone that Beethoven's birthday is coming up. For instance, the sign says, "5 more days til Beethoven's birthday". In one strip Lucy tells Schroeder that the exact date of Beethoven's birth is not known. Schroeder then holds up a sign that says, "10 more days til Beethoven's birthday (more or less)".

Happy Birthday, Arthur C. Clarke (British sci-fi author of 20th Century)!

December 16 is the birthday of science fiction author Arthur C[harles] Clarke (1917), born in Minehead, Somerset, England. He was known as one of the "Big Three" of sci-fi, along with Robert A. Heinlein and Isaac Asimov. His best-known work is 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
He was also an inventor. He developed an early-warning radar system during World War II, proposed a satellite communication system as early as 1945, and served as the chairman of the British Interplanetary Society on two occasions.
In 2007, on his 90th birthday, Clarke recorded a video in which he says goodbye to his friends and fans. In it, he said: "I have great faith in optimism as a guiding principle, if only because it offers us the opportunity of creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. So I hope we've learnt something from the most barbaric century in history — the 20th. I would like to see us overcome our tribal divisions and begin to think and act as if we were one family. That would be real globalization ..." He died of respiratory failure three months later.

Bill of Rights Day (December 15 annually)

from Writer's Almanac (American Public Radio: Garrison Keillor)
It was on December 15 in 1791 that the Bill of Rights was ratified by the newly formed United States of America. From the beginning, American politicians fought about how much power the central government should have. Some believed that the Constitution did not do enough to protect individual liberties, and worried that the Constitution would allow the central government to oppress the people. During the Constitutional Convention, several states only agreed to ratify the Constitution with the understanding that a Bill of Rights would be added to guarantee basic rights to American citizens.
The most vocal supporter of a Bill of Rights was George Mason, who wrote the Virginia Declaration of Rights. Thomas Jefferson used it as an inspiration for the opening paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence, and James Madison used it as a model for the Bill of Rights. Madison ran for Congress (and won) with the promise that he would support a Bill of Rights. Four days after Washington’s inauguration, Madison began the work of reading through the Constitution and noting all the places he thought it should be changed. These changes were presented as a list of 19 amendments. Madison used non-negotiable language. For example, where the states rights documents said that the government “ought not” to interfere with freedom of the press, Madison wrote that it “shall not.” Of Madison’s 19 amendments, the House approved 17, and the Senate 12. By the time they were ratified by all the states, the amendments were down to 10. One of the two amendments that didn’t make the final cut was never ratified, but the second — an amendment about congressional salaries — was ratified in 1992. The 10 amendments that became the Bill of Rights guarantee the freedom of the press, right to bear arms, freedom of religion, the right to trial by jury, and other basic rights.

Pray for Liberia that it may again be Ebola-free (mid-December 2015)

from List Serv IGRC IL GREAT RIVERS Conference of United Methodist Church:
Due to the U.S. State Department's heightened international travel alert until late February 2016, and the recent three new cases of Ebola in the outlying area of the capital city of Monrovia, the January IGRC teams scheduled for travel to Liberia are being postponed.

Although there have now been 21 days with no new cases of Ebola in Liberia, it will take 42 days for CDC to declare Liberia once again Ebola free.

Our mission partnership with Liberia continues although we are not currently taking teams. New Hope UMC in Paynesville (IGRC Advance #6675) and Bethany UMC in Buchanan (designated donations may be channeled through IGRC Advance #6660) are ongoing building projects.

Approximately 160 students in Liberia are attending school because of the IGRC Liberia Scholarship Advance #6995 with many other students being sponsored by direct gifts. Our mission partners and friends in Liberia remain in constant contact with us.

Let us pray not only for Liberia, but also for neighboring countries of Guinea and Sierra Leone that the region of West Africa may remain Ebola free.

Everyone, our teams waiting to go and our partners in Liberia, all await for the day when IGRC mission teams may resume travel to Liberia. Both teams will be rescheduled. At the present, the rescheduled dates are not yet determined. In the meantime, no ocean, no heightened terrorist alert, no potential threat of disease will separate us as we remain connected in prayer for one another.

Happy Birthday, Mary Todd Lincoln! (born on this date in 1818)

from www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/


This Week in History
December 13, 1818
Lincoln's future wife Mary is born in Lexington, Kentucky to Robert and Eliza Todd.

In 1941 -- a momentous day in History

ON THIS DAY On December 11, 1941, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States; the U.S. responded in kind.

On this date: Declaration of Human Rights

from NY TIMES dot-com:

ON THIS DAY

On December 10, 1948, the U.N. General Assembly adopted its Universal Declaration on Human Rights.

Cross at the Crossroads (near Effingham, IL on Interstate Highway 70) - Dec. 13 events for Christmas

The Cross Foundation will again host its annual “Christmas at the Cross” celebration.

It will be held on Sunday, Dec. 13, at the Cross Welcome Center.

 

Join us from 1:30-3:30 p.m. for a variety of Christmas activities, including: live Christmas music performed by choirs from the First Presbyterian Church in Effingham; make-and-take family Christmas craft project, Nativities from around the world; free gifts to visitors; door prizes;

and of course, refreshments. The event is free and open to the public.

 

We look forward to welcoming you to our annual Christmas at the Cross event for December 2015.

Get your influenza vaccination during Dec. 6 - 12 Week!

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, CDC, state and local health departments, and other partners will observe National Influenza Vaccination Week (NIVW) during December 6–12, 2015, with educational and promotional activities across the country.
Beginning in 2005, NIVW was established to highlight the importance of annual influenza vaccination and to foster greater use of influenza vaccine during the months of December, January, and beyond. As of November 13, 2015, approximately 133 million doses of 2015–2016 seasonal influenza vaccine have been distributed to vaccination providers in the United States.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends influenza vaccination for all persons aged ≥6 months, with rare exceptions. Influenza vaccination is especially important for persons in certain groups who are at higher risk for influenza-related complications. Those high-risk groups include children aged <5 years, but especially children aged <2 years; persons with certain chronic health conditions, such as heart disease, asthma, and diabetes; pregnant women; and adults aged ≥65 years. Health care personnel are at risk for acquiring influenza and transmitting it to their patients.
www.cdc.gov (Center For Disease Control, federal Government)

How to celebrate St. Nicholas Day?

from St. NICHOLAS Center dot-org :


Why Celebrate St. Nicholas Day?
December 6 or December 19 on the Julian Calendar


• To learn about the true Santa Claus and Father Christmas: St. Nicholas, a man of faith who lived his life in devotion to Christ
• To focus on giving more than receiving: St. Nicholas cared for the needy
• To emphasize small treats and family fun: St. Nicholas loved children
• To provide a bit of special festivity early in the waiting weeks of Advent: St. Nicholas points to Jesus, the heart of Christmas
• To offer a spiritual dimension to gift giving
• To tell the story of a Christian saint, whose model life inspires compassion and charity
• To honor St. Nicholas honors the Christ Child who selflessly gave the greatest gift of all—himself.
http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/how-to-celebrate/

Working to identify the "Unknown Soldier" of Pearl Harbor Day" (Hawaii 2015)

from Wash. Post article :
December 7 is the anniversary of Pearl Harbor –> “After 74 years, bones from tomb ship may be identified,” by Michael E. Ruane: “Legs, arms, ribs, vertebrae. Some have blue tags tied with string, identifying the type of bone. Some have beige tags, indicating that experts also want samples for DNA testing. They are the unidentified remains of hundreds of sailors and Marines who perished 74 years ago Monday, when Japan launched a surprise air attack on Hawaii and plunged the United States into World War II. Now, seven decades later, the government is trying to put names to the old salts and teenage sailors who died when their ship was sunk by enemy torpedoes Sunday morning, Dec. 7, 1941. … After the remains were exhumed recently, they were cleaned and photographed, and most of them were flown to the DPAA lab in Nebraska for further analysis. …Thus far, the DPAA has made seven identifications, a spokeswoman said last week. But officials are still reaching out to family members, and no identifications have been publicly announced.”

First Presidential Address broadcast on this date (Radio)

from NYTIMES dot-com

ON THIS DAY On Dec. 6, 1923, a presidential address was broadcast on radio for the first time as President Calvin Coolidge spoke to a joint session of Congress.

Dec. 6 Address - Keeping America Safe from Terrorism (White House, 8 p.m. Eastern)

President Barack Obama plans to address the nation Sunday (Dec. 6, 2015) from the Oval Office on the government's efforts to keep Americans safe, the White House announced.
Annotated Transcript (Dec. 6 posted article at Washington Post online) =
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/12/06/heres-what-obama-said-in-his-sunday-night-address-an-annotated-transcript/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_obama-8pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
Obama will address the ongoing investigation of the San Bernardino attacks, as well as the broader threat of terrorism, according to a release from the White House Press Secretary sent out Saturday. The address is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET.

[The president] will reiterate his firm conviction that ISIL will be destroyed and that the United States must draw upon our values — our unwavering commitment to justice, equality and freedom — to prevail over terrorist groups that use violence to advance a destructive ideology," the release said.

The address comes in the wake of the San Bernardino, Calif., attacks, which the FBI is currently investigating as an act of terrorism. The FBI hasn't stated whether the suspected shooters were inspired by ISIL.
Obama's last Oval Office address to the nation was in August 2010, on the end of U.S. combat operations in Iraq.


Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/obama-oval-office-address-terror-216457#ixzz3tVClCOqY

90th Anniversary Tour (Jan. 1, 2016 at Springfield, IL sports arena)

from www.harlemglobetrotters.com/

Harlem Globetrotters
Prairie Capital Convention Center

Friday, January 1, 2016 at 7:00 p.m.

 

Event Details

The iconic Harlem Globetrotters are coming to Prairie Capital Convention Center in Springfield, IL  with their most epic tour in history, as the world famous team celebrates its 90th anniversary world tour. A star-studded roster will have fans on the edge of their seats to witness the ball handling wizardry, basketball artistry and one-of-a-kind family entertainment that thrills fans of all ages. Join Globetrotter stars after the game where they will stay for an autograph, photograph and high five session for fans.

When does Hanukkah begin in December 2015?

According to Religion & Ethics Newsweekly (www.pbs.org/) :
Hanukkah begins on Sunday, December 6, at sundown.

Cargo-laden CYGNUS spacecraft to lift off Sunday Dec. 6 after 48 hour delay

https://blogs.nasa.gov/orbital/
Space Launch Complex 41 where a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft stand in preparation for liftoff later. Liftoff was rescheduled for Saturday Dec. 5 and the forecast still calls for a 40 percent chance of acceptable conditions. Join us here and on NASA TV for countdown and launch coverage of the mission to deliver scientific gear, equipment, and supplies to the International Space Station.
LIFTOFF!!

Posted on December 6, 2015 at 4:45 pm  

The Atlas V has cleared the tower and the S.S. Deke Slayton II Cygnus spacecraft is heading into space loaded with more than 7,000 pounds of science equipment and cargo for the International Space Station!

On this date in history (year was 1839)

From "Almanac" (Abraham Lincoln Online dot-org):
December 3, 1839Abraham Lincoln is admitted to practice law in the U.S. circuit courts.

Dense Fog Advisory (morning hours of both Dec. 4, 5, and 7, 2015) National Weather Service based in Lincoln, IL

* VISIBILITY... LESS THAN ONE QUARTER OF A MILE OR LESS AT TIMES WILL GRADUALLY EXPAND EAST AND SOUTH . UNTIL NOON Central Time Monday Dec. 7.

* IMPACTS... SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED VISIBILITIES IN DENSE FOG WILL CAUSE POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS TRAVEL. IN ADDITION... THE DENSE FOG MAY DEPOSIT A LIGHT COATING OF ICE ON BRIDGE DECKS AND OVERPASSES WITH LESSER TRAVELED ROADWAYS SEEING SOME PATCHY BLACK ICE FORM AS WELL DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS (until 12:01 p.m. Central Time).

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A DENSE FOG ADVISORY MEANS VISIBILITIES WILL FREQUENTLY BE REDUCED TO ONE QUARTER MILE OR LESS. IF DRIVING... SLOW DOWN... USE YOUR HEADLIGHTS... AND LEAVE PLENTY OF DISTANCE AHEAD OF YOU.

MANY AREAS WILL SEE SURFACE TEMPERATURES BELOW FREEZING WITH THE DENSE FOG DEPOSITING A LIGHT COATING OF ICE ON BRIDGE DECKS... OVERPASSES AND ON LESSER TRAVELED ROADWAYS. MOTORISTS ARE URGED TO USE EXTREME CAUTION THIS MORNING.

World AIDS Day

from ETHICS & NEWS WEEKLY (PBS dot-org):
December 1 is World AIDS Day, an opportunity for people worldwide to support those who are living with HIV and to commemorate those who have died. World AIDS Day was held for the first time in 1988.
Watch our 2012 video on blessing panels from the AIDS memorial quilt at Washington D.C. National Cathedral. http://to.pbs.org/1LM7OcL

In honor of IL Statehood Day (Dec. 3 annually), a Press Conference at D.C. with Pres. Lincoln (re-enactor)

sponsored by Abraham Lincoln Association dot-org, Springfield, IL =
Abraham Lincoln: A Press Conference
Thursday, December 3, 2015
12:00 noon

Ketchum Hall
200 Maryland Ave., NE
Washington, D.C.   20002

Illinois Statehood Day, Thursday, December 3, 2015, will be commemorated with a presentation of “Abraham Lincoln – A Press Conference” on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The event will take place at noon in Ketchum Hall of the VFW Building at 200 Maryland Avenue, NE, across 2nd St. NE from the Hart Senate Office Building.

It is sponsored by the Abraham Lincoln Association (ALA), the Illinois State Society of Washington, DC, The Lincoln Academy of Illinois, the Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia, the National Press Club, and the US Capitol Historical Society.

Mr. Lincoln will be portrayed by George Buss of Freeport, Illinois, a sixth generation Illinoisan who, for the past quarter century, has portrayed Abraham Lincoln for thousands of audiences across the United States to critical acclaim. He will be accompanied by former ALA president, Robert Lenz, a prominent Illinois attorney, who will appear as an aide to President Lincoln.

 Questions will be posed by reporters and other members of the audience.

Ben Carson tells interviewer of his Christian understandings of End of The World

www.washingtonpost.com/ (Sally Quinn, interviewer)


There are things Carson, a Seventh-day Adventist, does not believe. He dismisses the “Rapture” — the idea, embraced by many evangelicals, that at some point before the last days described in the book of Revelation, many Christians will literally be, as predicted in the New Testament, “caught up together … in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.”
Carson doesn't share that view. “I don’t see any evidence for that in the Bible,” he says.
He also does not believe in hell: “I don't believe there is a physical place where people go and are tormented. No. I don't believe that,” he says.
But Carson does believe in God — though he can't quite describe the divine. “There’s no man who can explain God, or he would be God. ... He’s a force that doesn’t believe in dictating and gives you a choice: whether you want to be associated with Him or not. It can provide enormous strength and power if you do. And He has been an integral part of my life. There are many things I would have never taken on in the medical had I not felt that He was behind me.”
And he believes in the idea of heaven a physical place. “The Bible says when you die, you know, there is no soul that kind of floats away. But essentially, when you die, the next thing you know is the coming of Christ because you don’t know anything when you’re dead. If you’re dead for a second or a thousand years, it’s the same. But when he comes, according to the book of First Corinthians, that the sound of the archangel will rise and that’s when things happen.”

Holiday Baking Competition (4-week run beginning Nov. 30, 2015) - ABC TV Network

The Great Holiday Baking Show

“The Great Holiday Baking Show,” based on the hit UK series, “The Great British Bake Off,” is hosted by Nia Vardalos (“My Big Fat Greek Wedding”) and husband Ian Gomez (“Cougar Town”). “The Great Holiday Baking Show” stars some of the nation’s best amateur bakers as they compete in a series of themed challenges and eliminations all hoping to be crowned Holiday Baking Champion. For four weeks, James Beard Award-Winning pastry chef and author, Johnny Iuzzini, joins England’s “Royal Queen of Baking,” author and television personality Mary Berry, as they judge the decadent and delicious holiday fare these bakers create as they throw down their best culinary skills.
http://abc.go.com/shows/the-great-holiday-baking-show

Quotation - "Think and Let Think" - John Wesley in "Character of a Methodist"

“The Character of a Methodist.” There Wesley describes a Methodist as someone who, through the Holy Spirit, has come to know God’s love and as a result loves God and neighbor. That is, Wesley’s Methodism was a movement focused on renewing hearts and lives both within and outside the church. This is why he states “The distinguishing marks of a Methodist are not his opinions of any sort.” Like all Christians, Methodists believe in the inspiration of Scripture and the divinity of Christ, and like all Protestants believe in Scripture as “the only and sufficient rule” of faith and practice. “But,” he says, “as to all opinions which do not strike at the root of Christianity, we think and let think” (¶ 1). Here Wesley clearly distinguishes between the essentials that all Christians or Protestants believe and the opinions that divide one denomination from another. . . .- See more by Henry H. Knight III at: http://www.catalystresources.org/consider-wesley-58/?utm_content=bufferdfac0&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer#sthash.Fm5k48Y2.dpuf

8 x 10 view Camera - Photography that is art

Daniel Jones always shoots for picture-perfect

November 29, 2015, 9:10 AM|CBS Sunday Morning feature story

 In this "Short Take," Long Island photographer Daniel Jones, renowned for his evocative landscape images, demonstrates his use of a large-format 8x10 view camera, and talks about his growth as an artist.
http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/daniel-jones-always-shoots-for-picture-perfect/

The Piano Guys

Featured on CBS Sunday Morning segment (www.cbsnews.com/ )


MUSIC: The Piano Guys
If you spend any time at all on YouTube, you've no doubt heard of The Piano Guys. Their unique team approach to playing songs on the piano has made them an Internet sensation. And it all started at a small piano shop in St. George, Utah, where for fun five friends started looking for new approaches to playing the piano -- not just by pressing the keys, but by tapping the wood, plucking the strings, and a lot more.
Their videos have captivated millions around the world, and so our Lee Cowan pays the Piano Guys a visit to see just how the magic happens.


http://www.cbsnews.com/sunday-morning/show-notes/

Give thanks on this day for the gifts we have (Nov. 26, 2015)

from WHITE HOUSE Press Department (whitehouse.gov) :
Rooted in a story of generosity and partnership, Thanksgiving offers an opportunity for us to express our gratitude for the gifts we have and to show our appreciation for all we hold dear.  Today, as we give of ourselves in service to others and spend cherished time with family and friends, we give thanks for the many blessings bestowed upon us.  We also honor the men and women in uniform who fight to safeguard our country and our freedoms so we can share occasions like this with loved ones, and we thank our selfless military families who stand beside and support them each and every day. 
Our modern celebration of Thanksgiving can be traced back to the early 17th century.  Upon arriving in Plymouth, at the culmination of months of testing travel that resulted in death and disease, the Pilgrims continued to face great challenges.  An indigenous people, the Wampanoag, helped them adjust to their new home, teaching them critical survival techniques and important crop cultivation methods.  After securing a bountiful harvest, the settlers and Wampanoag joined in fellowship for a shared dinner to celebrate powerful traditions that are still observed at Thanksgiving today:  lifting one another up, enjoying time with those around us, and appreciating all that we have.
Carrying us through trial and triumph, this sense of decency and compassion has defined our Nation.  President George Washington proclaimed the first Thanksgiving in our country's nascence, calling on the citizens of our fledgling democracy to place their faith in "the providence of Almighty God," and to be thankful for what is bequeathed to us.  In the midst of bitter division at a critical juncture for America, President Abraham Lincoln acknowledged the plight of the most vulnerable, declaring a "day of thanksgiving," on which all citizens would "commend to [God's] tender care" those most affected by the violence of the time -- widows, orphans, mourners, and sufferers of the Civil War.  A tradition of giving continues to inspire this holiday, and at shelters and food centers, on battlefields and city streets, and through generous donations and silent prayers, the inherent selflessness and common goodness of the American people endures.
In the same spirit of togetherness and thanksgiving that inspired the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag, we pay tribute to people of every background and belief who contribute in their own unique ways to our country's story.  Each of us brings our own traditions, cultures, and recipes to this quintessential American holiday -- whether around dinner tables, in soup kitchens, or at home cheering on our favorite sports teams -- but we are all united in appreciation of the bounty of our Nation.  Let us express our gratitude by welcoming others to our celebrations and recognize those who volunteer today to ensure a dinner is possible for those who might have gone without.  Together, we can secure our founding ideals as the birthright of all future generations of Americans.
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 November 26, 2015, as a National Day of Thanksgiving.  I encourage the people of the United States to join together -- whether in our homes, places of worship, community centers, or any place of fellowship for friends and neighbors -- and give thanks for all we have received in the past year, express appreciation to those whose lives enrich our own, and share our bounty with others.
www.whitehouse.gov/

On Nov. 25 -- Birthday of Pope John XXIII (Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli)

from Writer's Almanac (American Public Media, Garrison Keillor):
November 25 is the birthday of Pope Saint John XXIII, was born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli in 1881. He was the fourth of 14 children born to sharecroppers in Lombardi, Italy. He served as a sergeant in the Royal Italian Army during World War I, as a chaplain and stretcher-bearer. Before being elected pope, he served at posts in Bulgaria, Italy, Greece, and Turkey.
His papacy was unexpected due to his advanced age (76), and he arrived in Rome for the voting with a return train ticket, not believing he would garner enough votes.
He was considered one of the most compassionate popes. He said, “We were all made in God’s image, and thus, we are all Godly alike.” He was the first pope since 1870 to make pastoral visits in the Diocese of Rome, when he visited children afflicted with polio at a hospital and then visited a prison. He told the inmates, “You could not come to me, so I came to you.”
Pope John is largely known for orchestrating the Second Vatican Council in 1962, which produced major change in the Church for the first time in hundreds of years. Most obvious were changes in the Mass, which had been said in Latin, with priest facing away from the congregation, often speaking quietly (even mumbling). It was impersonal at best, and for most, not understandable.
In 2000, he was beatified by Pope John Paul II.

N.C.I.S. star prays and gives thanks following attack near her church (Hollywood United Methodist, CA)

ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT dot-com website (November 2015):


Pauley Perrette showed up for church Sunday morning (Nov. 15), just days after being assaulted by a "psychotic homeless man."
An eyewitness at the Hollywood United Methodist Church told ET that the NCIS star was in "good spirits" as she attended the service with her police friend Nicole, who was with her following the attack, and her pal James, who helped track down the man police arrested.
The pastor called attention to Perrette's traumatic event during his sermon.
"Even though this man was punching her and threatening her life, Pauley prayed for her safety and for him," the pastor told the congregation. "One, she was able to pull the strings of God's love for each of us ...and was able to ask his name, then connect with him on a human level and say, 'Your name is William?' That's my sweet nephew's name too. When Pauley was telling her story to the media on Friday, first by proclaiming herself as a person of faith. ...Second, she proclaimed her forgiveness for the man who assaulted her. And third, she not only called attention to the critical need for mental health services in our country but especially here in Hollywood."
The pastor also spoke of the man behind bars, 45-year-old David Merck, who was arrested on felony assault charges. "He's now hopefully receiving treatment but he's definitely in jail," he said. "And we just wanted to say we are so glad that you (Perrette) are here and we love you very much."
Following the sermon, church members applauded the 46-year-old actress, and Perrette gave thanks by putting her hands in the air. The CBS star was greeted by parishioners with hugs and kisses.
http://www.etonline.com/news/176129_pauley_perrette_goes_to_church_following_violent_attack/

Great American "Smokeout" (Thursday Nov. 19)

from CDC dot-gov =
Prepare to quit smoking during the Great American Smokeout on November 19.
If you're a smoker, quitting can be the single most important step you take to protect your health and the health of your loved ones. Smoking causes immediate damage to your body, and it threatens your future with increased risks for cancer, heart attack, lung disease, and early death. Many people have probably urged you to quit smoking already, but we all know that quitting can be hard. Just as every journey begins with a single step, so, too, does quitting.
That's where the American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout can help. This event takes place on November 19 and encourages smokers to quit or to use the day to make a quit plan. Free help is available at 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669) and at 1-855-DÉJELO-YA (1-855-335-3569) (for Spanish speakers).
When you quit smoking during the Great American Smokeout, you have the support of many other people across the nation. And you're taking an important step towards a healthier life.

Five Ways to Get Ready to Quit Smoking

Quitting smoking can be hard, so a good plan can help you get past symptoms of withdrawal. Five steps can help.

1. Set a quit date. Choose the Great American Smokeout or another quit day within the next 2 weeks.
2. Tell your family and friends about your quit plan. Share your quit date with the important people in your life and ask for support. A daily phone call, e-mail, or text message can help you stay on course and provide moral support. Try SmokefreeTEXT for 24/7 help on your mobile phone.
3. Be prepared for challenges. The urge to smoke is short—usually only 3 to 5 minutes. Surprised? Those moments can feel intense. Even one puff can feed a craving and make it stronger. Before your quit day, write down healthy ways to cope.
   • Drink water.
   • Take a walk or ride your bike.
   • Listen to a favorite song or play a game.
   • Call or text a friend.
4. Remove cigarettes and other tobacco from your home, car, and workplace. Throw away your cigarettes, matches, lighters, and ashtrays. Clean and freshen your car, home, and workplace. Old cigarette odors can cause cravings.
5. Talk to your pharmacist, doctor, or quitline coach about quit options. Nicotine patches, gum, or other approved quit medication can help with cravings.

http://www.cdc.gov/features/GreatAmericanSmokeout/