Archive for October, 2007

Halloween Fun and Facts

October 31st, 2007 Comments(0)

I’ve been looking over the internet for some quick links to all things Halloween, and here’s some that I’ve come across:

  • Halloween Facts and Traditions:  A little bit of history, a little bit of fun, and of course a little bit of food!
  • Pumpkin Masters:  All things Jack O’ Lantern.
  • Wikipedia:  I know, I know…But I had to include it.
  • BBC:  Had to include a British twist, since, well, that’s where the Druids are (were) from.
  • Do-It-Yourself:  And lastly, something for the AD-ults out there.  (Are there any on Halloween?)

Hope ya enjoy these links.  And to finish things off, some lyrics to a famous Halloween song!

Happy All Hallow’s Eve

October 31st, 2007 Comments(0)
Since today is All Hallow’s Eve, or Halloween, I decided I’d jump on the hay-ride of people telling the origin of the holiday. Here’s a little snippet that I found while surfing the internet. I’ll add more as the day goes on.
clipped from www.halloweenishere.com
The
word itself, “Halloween,” actually has its origins in the Catholic Church.
It comes from a contracted corruption of All Hallows Eve. November 1, “All
Hollows Day” (or “All Saints Day”), is a Catholic day of observance in honor
of saints. But, in the 5th century BC, in Celtic Ireland, summer officially
ended on October 31. The holiday was called Samhain (pronounced sow-in), which
means “end of summer”, the Celtic New year.
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Nanny who used Craiglist found dead

October 29th, 2007 Comments(0)

This story just disturbs me, and if it proves to be true, proves another reason to be super-cautious when using the internet. Full story here:

Police in Minnesota say an online ad may have cost a young woman her life.

They say Katherine Olson was last seen by friends when she went to meet someone about a nanny job posted on Craigslist.org, the Internet bulletin board.

Where they found her is really disturbing.

A day later, her body was found in her car at a Minnesota nature preserve. Police declined to say how the 24-year-old was killed.

But, the authorities do have someone in custody:

Authorities say a 19-year-old man who they believe placed the ad is being held pending charges. Authorities did not release his name but said charges could be filed as soon as today.

Gap Stores using Child Labor in Indian Sweatshop

October 28th, 2007 Comments(0)
clipped from www.foxnews.com
The Observer quoted the children as saying they had been sold to the sweatshop by their families in Indian states such as Bihar and West Bengal and would not be allowed to leave until they had repaid that fee.Some, working as long as 16 hours a day to hand-sew clothing, said they were not being paid at the unidentified Gap supplier because their employer said they were still trainees.

The Observer quoted one boy identified only as Jivaj as saying that child employees who cried or did not work hard enough were hit with a rubber pipe or had oily cloths stuffed into their mouths.

The paper said the sweatshop, or “derelict industrial unit,” that it found during its investigation in New Delhi was “smeared in filth, the corridors flowing with excrement from a flooded toilet.”

The Observer printed a photograph of one of the child workers, and British Broadcasting Corp. television broadcast what it said was footage of the youngsters taken at the sweatshop by an unidentified German TV crew.

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Now this just ticks me off big-time. It seems that a corporation as big as Gap is wouldn’t have to resort to such means to produce top-quality clothing. Of course, I don’t buy from them. But if I did, I would boycott them instantly. I thought the main reason corporations outsourced to India was to take advantage of the high-intellect individuals out there?! (Or is that just naivety?) Well, it seems that they only outsource to India to get their products made as cheaply as possible. (Of course you already knew that.)

Now we all know how cheap.

Heading Up North

October 15th, 2007 Comments(0)

Today has been an interesting day, so far.  I am on my way to  Brunswick, Maine for a company meeting (currently on the plane flying over New Jersey/NYC).  The only real excitement I’ve had today was a gate change in Atlanta.   Our flight was supposed to leave out of Gate D35 (we waited there for a good hour), then found out that the flight was leaving out of gate D15.  Remarkably, neither flight was late today. 

And the weather!  Absolutely beautiful!  I can’t wait to see the landscape up there in Maine.  Later on tonight I’ll include a few photos (if I can get to take some tonight, which probably won’t happen until tomorrow!)

Well, I guess I need to get off here.  Writing a blog post on a plane isn’t all it’s cracked up to be…No room!

Until later,

God Bless!

Quote of the Day - October 8, 2007

October 08th, 2007 Comments(2)

It’s a rare person who wants to hear what he doesn’t want to hear.

Dick Cavett
US comedian & television host (1936 - )

Quote of the Day - October 2, 2007

October 02nd, 2007 Comments(1)

How ’bout a little humor for the day?

I wanna hang a map of the world in my house. Then I’m gonna put pins into all the locations that I’ve traveled to. But first, I’m gonna have to travel to the top two corners of the map so it won’t fall down.

–Mitch Hedberg (1968-2005), American stand-up comedian