Christmas Time ~the true spirit of Christmas ~

[image] Luke 2:1-20 (KJV)  And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. 2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) 3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) 5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. 6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. 7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. 8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. 15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. 16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. 17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. 18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

"Hello! Welcome to Christmas Time; especially if this is your first visit.  You'll find lots of Christmas related information here,  including Christmas Poems, Christmas Prose, Christmas History, Christmas Music,  Christmas Traditions, Christmas Stories,  Christmas Jokes, Christmas Quotations, Christmas Illustrations and Christmas Food.   I have collected much of this material by writing and compiling Christmas  entertainments for  many different, venues from theatres to village halls, so I'm sure you will find the  prose and  poetry sections valparticularly vuable if you are thinking of providing your own entertainment this Christmas."    http://www.christmas-time.com/index.htm

Neuroscientists have found a way to read the mind of a fly

Using fluorescent compounds from jellyfish, scientists were able to find what was going on in the minds of flies Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

• Doug Bolton: 
• Neuroscientists at Northwestern University in Illinois have figured out how to 'read the mind' of a fly, using a tool that can detect conversations between neurons in the insect's brain.
  Using fluorescent molecules, the scientists were able to tag neurons in the brain, allowing them to identify which individual synapses were active during a given sensory experience.
  These fluorescent compounds were derived from from a glowing protein found in jellyfish. The scientists took three differently-coloured signals, blue, green and yellow, and painstakingly applied them to different brain connections in the fly's most prominent sensory systems - its sense of smell, sight, and heat...Read more>>http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/neuroscientists-have-found-a-way-to-read-the-mind-of-a-fly-a6776096.html
   

Marijuana Addiction Is Real, but It Still Defies Definition

• As legal marijuana spreads, science can address addiction without the cloud of social stigma.

  Kashann Kilson: 
•    The old saw that pot’s not addictive has run hard into scientific consensus of late. Marijuana does cause dependency and addiction. But as the science improves — and laws let weed users relax a bit — we’re left with some major questions. For instances: Is marijuana addiction physical or psychological? How many recreational marijuana smokers become dependent, and how does that happen? Will the definitions of addiction change as the country slowly but surely legalizes cannabis? And of course, how can we best treat those with a marijuana dependency?
•     To answer them we’ll have to clear hurdles, not least the subjective, inconsistent ways we define addiction. The criteria for what constitutes dependency can include the ease of which people can stop using a substance; the physical, mental, and emotional symptoms associated with withdrawal; the frequency with which the substance is used; increased spending on the substance over time; whether use and/or overuse of the substance causes negative effects (and the severity of the impact of those effects) on the user; social and personal sacrifices the user is willing to make to continue using; and altered behavior that correlates directly with frequency of use.
      By these measurements, people can become addicted to just about anything: harder drugs like crack or meth, cigarettes, alcohol, fast food, shopping, sex, porn — hell, even a substance as innocuous as water can be considered addictive, depending on who renders a diagnosis. In most recovery circles, a statement like “I can quit whenever I want to, I just don’t want to today!” points to an addiction. For most medical practitioners, any noticeable change in mood, behavior, and/or physical health associated with changes in use are considered withdrawal, which subsequently signals some level of dependency...Continue reading...

Christian Social Media Group Uses YouTube to Counter ISIS’ Jihadist Message

By Barbara Hollingsworth [photo]

(CNSNews.com) –  A Los-Angeles based social media group is using YouTube to give a voice to the victims of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and counter its jihadist message with the Christian message of redemption.
The Nine: Overcoming ISIS – the latest video produced by Mighty.LA in conjunction with the mission group More International- features testimony by nine Iraqi Christians who were part of more than a half million people who fled from their homes and businesses in Mosul after the ISIS invasion on June 9, 2014.
 “We left everything behind and fled,” one woman recounts.
 “During this time I was very scared, because it was a life or death situation,” another Christian refugee says. ”Because 20 days earlier, I had seen dead bodies in the street. Bodies that were burned or beheaded. I thought that I would end up like them.”
But dying was “better than abandoning my religion to become Muslim,” said a Christian man, his voice cracking with emotion...Continue reading...

Malaysia’s obsession with Syria (Sunni at war with Shiite)

Wonderful Malaysia

Pak Tam Derma;   At the UN General Assembly 2015, Prime Minister Najib Razak pledged that Malaysia will bring in 3,000 Syrian refugees into the country. That, at the expense of the plight of the Rohingya refugees, while he and Umno are still mired in the 1MDB scandal and Malaysia is currently in an economic quagmire.
Such is one of the symptom of the mainstream Muslim community in Malaysia. The other symptom is the reports of hundreds of Malaysian Muslims who ran to Syria to join IS and fight a jihad there. They have favoured Syria over their own country, for what?
   Mainstream Muslims are in thrall of Syria. Mention “Syria” and it becomes a trigger word for Muslims to their wanting to help free Syria from the Assad regime. This desire to help Syria has gone to such extremes that it becomes an obsession. Such Malaysians are willing to take a bullet for Syria rather than fellow Malaysians suffering under the weight of corruption.
   A lot of readers have pointed out that Syrians are favoured more than other any victim because of their fairer skins. But ask any typical Malaysian Muslim and they will answer back two things: Syrians suffer because Bashir Assad is a sort of a Shiite Hitler oppressing the ‘true’ Muslims; and that the greater Apocalypse is about to happen in Syria and every Muslim must obliged to fight there to usher in the incoming End.
   First answer is behind the recent discrimination of the local Shiite community. Since Bashir Assad is Shiite, every Shiite Muslim is suspected as an agent of Assad bent on sowing discord between Muslims. Shiites are deemed by mainstream Ahli Sunnah Waljannah Muslims as wanting to slaughter the ‘true’ Muslims and must be stopped preemptively first before they ‘kill’ them...Read more>>.https://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/323545

Garfield Facebook page is the web’s last bastion of sincerity

      By Joe Blevins:

   So much depends upon an overweight, orange tabby, devouring lasagna atop a kitchen counter. If a Gizmodo piece by Ashley Feinberg is to be believed, a private Facebook group devoted to Jim Davis’ long-running comic strip Garfield might just be the last refuge of sincerity and sweetness on the entire internet. For the last two years, literally thousands of fans have flocked to a group called Simply Garfield to ask questions, share opinions, and just generally express their fondness for the rotund, wisecracking tomcat, a character whose adventures have already spawned two live-action feature films, numerous animated series and specials, and countless toys, sweatshirts, calendars, and other assorted merchandise. Considering how jaded and sarcastic internet commentary tends to be, Feinberg is amazed at what a safe haven this forum is.
   “The comments, the pictures, the exchanges,” she writes. “It is absolutely astonishing.”...Read more, video >>http://www.avclub.com/article/read-garfield-facebook-page-webs-last-bastion-sinc-229846

Cat Repeatedly Punching a Toy Tiger

Fedor Larsihttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FpekWcvTaQ

"Under the Milky Way" by The Church

http://atmospheric-phenomena.blogspot.ca/2014/10/beautiful-northern-lights-gif-and-video.html

Rogério Vieira:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6jhpaX7fNQ

Charles Laughton performs "The Fiery Furnace" : Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

Shadrach Meshach and Abednego

folktaledotnet

See an Ontario photographer’s majestic photos of Lake Erie’s ‘amazingly violent displays of beauty

Photo: Ontario photographer Dave Sandford                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Debora Van Brenk, Postmedia Network 

   This is Lake Erie as you’ve never seen it.
Majestic, roiling, angry, exquisite.
Eight-metre waves rising like leviathans under a red sky. Wind-sculpted liquid mountains crashing into a furious maelstrom. The images shot by London, Ontario photographer Dave Sandford are making waves internationally...Photos here>>http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/see-one-ontario-photographers-majestic-photos-of-lake-eries-amazingly-violent-displays-of-beauty

Seeing a bobcat is rare, getting glamour shots is an even bigger treat

Photo: globalnews.ca

By Natasha Pace Reporter  Global News 
HALIFAX – Catching a glimpse of a bobcat in Nova Scotia is quite unique, so imagine being able to be get video of one walking along the side of the road from just 20 feet away.
That’s just what videographer Cory McGraw caught on camera this week in Nine Mile River.
Bobcats are not uncommon in the province, but the mammals are rarely spotted and there is hardly ever video taken of them...Read more>>http://globalnews.ca/news/2395094/seeing-a-bobcat-is-rare-getting-glamour-shots-is-an-even-bigger-treat/
  
globalnews.ca

"Shaddap You Face" Joe Dolce

Soxman2004

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFacWGBJ_cs

Golden eagle and goat face off downhill (video) Yahoo7 News

Yahoo7 News

Published December 15th, 11:58 am

This is the jaw-dropping moment an eagle and a goat face off in a fight for survival as they crash into boulders and tumble down a mountain slope, both refusing to give up. Source: Brothers of the Wind/Otmar Penker
https://au.news.yahoo.com/video/watch/30369123/raw-golden-eagle-and-goat-face-off-downhill/#page1

Top 15 Most Famous Native Americans

Photo; listverse.com

Jamie Frater November 20, 2007

   Before the arrival of the colonists, the Native Americans had already secured a foot-hold over the vast expanses of America. Initially the Native Americans were treated with an almost cursory respect as the new settlers and pilgrims were afraid, apprehensive, yet friendly and hopeful. The newcomers befriended many and made what they thought were close ties with their new brethren. But, unfortunately, it was not to last and disease coupled with the settlers ravenous desire to claim land as their own, destroyed everything the native peoples held dear. However, most of these mistakes have since been admitted, and reparation has been made. Fortunately history has not forgotten the many important faces and contributions of the original Americans. In honor of the United States’ Thanksgiving, here are 15 such heroes. Read here, photos>>http://listverse.com/2007/11/20/top-15-most-famous-native-americans/

Turkey and the Cat, twitter image

The cat next to the old gobbler sure looks like Kitty Mittens.

https://t.co/PdPZniJziQ pic.twitter.com/vJ7NbpbzPr

Please vote for Rikkis Refuge every day.
— Rikki's Refuge (@rikkisrefuge) December 15, 2015

Syrian refugees shouldn't take priority over homeless, group says

CBC - Syrian refugees shouldn't take priority over homeless, group says.

   As Canadians across the country are welcoming Syrian refugees to their new home, a Moncton man is warning people not to forget homeless people already living here.

   Charlie Burrell founded The Humanity Project in 2014 as a group to give comfort and housing to the poor.
Burrell said he understands the world is watching the Syrian refugee situation.

   "We need to help these people and bring them here, but we also need to help our own and one shouldn't take precedence over the other," he said.

​   Burrell said policy makers and bureaucrats don't seem to have the same sense of urgency toward combating homelessness as they do toward giving Syrians a safe place to live.
   "As quickly as we were able to jump on this situation to help people in another country, we aren't taking that same urgency with our own homeless," he said.
   Burrell said the government jumped to help the refugees quickly — while homelessness and poverty have been problems for decades.
   "I think that people are marked as racist or as bigots for saying lets help our own when really it's not like they don't want to help others, but they feel we should help our own as well," he said...Read more>>https://ca.news.yahoo.com/syrian-refugees-shouldnt-priority-over-112255155.html

Lindsey Stirling, "What Child Is This?"

by Maggie

 Lindsey Stirling gives an amazing performance, in the forest, in the snow. Snow softly falling. The words seem to leap from the strings –– What Child is This? [link]                                                                            Lindsey Stirling

'Middleton: Beautiful By Nature'

JANE BURNS jburns@madison.com

 Annette Knapstein's photo "Sunday Stroll", a Sandhill crane family going for a stroll in Middleton.
  
   Finding what’s beautiful in nature can sometimes be as easy as seeing what’s in your own backyard.

That’s certainly the case for Michael and Annette Knapstein, as their Middleton neighborhood and areas just beyond it provide the location for 30 photographs on display at Prairie Café and Bakery...Read more>>host.madison.com/wsj/news

"Please Don´t Let Me Be Misunderstood", The Animals

 A Girl Apart[link]

20 Reasons Why Being A Wildlife Photographer Is The Best Job In The World

by Admin
 As fascinating as nature and wildlife photography can be, there are often beautiful and unforgettable things that happen behind the lens as well. Usually, these can only be enjoyed by the photographers themselves, but occasionally, we’re lucky enough to have a second photographer on the scene to capture these special moments. These photos are some of the weirdest, funniest, scariest and most beautiful moments that we’ve ever seen behind the scenes in nature and wildlife photography...Photos here>>http://cuteoverload.net/20-reasons-why-being-a-wildlife-photographer-is-the-best-job-in-the-world/

[link]

Alberta firm selling fresh Canadian air in canisters - Update

CBC News

Vitality Air charging $15-$46, depending on the size.Vitality Air sells canisters of fresh air collected in Banff and Lake Louise, Alta. (Vitality Air)
   

Two entrepreneurs are capitalizing on air pollution problems abroad by selling people bottled fresh air from the Canadian Rockies.
"Essentially we're selling air," Troy Paquette, one of Vitality Air's Canadian co-founders, told CBC's The Current. "Clean, beautiful, fresh Banff mountain air."...Read more>>http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/technology/alberta-firm-selling-fresh-canadian-air-in-canisters-1.3359236
  Related: Bottles of FRESH AIR from Canada are a hot sale in China

"Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall," By Mother Goose

http://aliceinwonderland.wikia.com/wiki/Humpty_Dumpt                                                                                                                       "Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,"

By Mother Goose 

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;

All the king's horses and all the king's men

Couldn't put Humpty together again.

Source: The Dorling Kindersley Book of Nursery Rhymes (2000) poetryfoundation.org

The Plateros, "Forever I'm With You"

indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com

shonie777https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhkTyCN8MD8

Huma Abedin is accusing Donald Trump of “racism”

I should not meddle in American politics, but since Vancouver and Toronto have spoken out, I will step up to the plate.  Islam is not a race, it is a religion. It is not Islamophobia when they really want to kill you.

[photo:freerepublic.com]                                                                                                                                                                               by Neil Munro: Huma Abedin, Hillary Clinton’s top personal aide, is accusing Donald Trump of “racism” for criticizing Islam’s violent doctrines in a new email to Democratic supporter

Huma Abedin wrote a letter which says:

I’m a proud Muslim — but you don’t have to share my faith to share my disgust.
Trump wants to literally write racism into our law books. His Islamophobia doesn’t reflect our nation’s values — it goes far enough to damage our country’s reputation and could even threaten our national security.
Unfortunately, Trump is leaning into the kind of fear of progress that very well could help him win the nomination. We have to be ready to stop him.
Add your name to stand with Hillary and build a stronger, fairer, more inclusive country together:
Thank you,
Huma
Huma Abedin..Read more>>www.breitbart.com

ChooDoobwww.youtube.com

Albertans heckle Leo DiCaprio over climate change remarks

"It's a Chinook, Leo"

Leeanna McLean
Digital Reporter:

     Thursday, December 10, 2015, 10:33 AM - It seems Leonardo DiCaprio is unfamiliar with Chinooks. 

In the recent issue of Vanity Fair, the American actor and film producer discussed witnessing the "terrifying" effects of climate change firsthand while in Alberta filming his new film The Revenant.
   "We would come and there would be eight feet of snow, and then all of a sudden a warm gust of wind would come," DiCaprio told Vanity Fair. “We were in Calgary and the locals were saying, ‘This has never happened in our province, ever."
   The actor has a strong passion for environmental activism but the issue is, the warm gusts he is referring to are common, natural occurrences in Alberta called Chinooks...Read more>>theweathernetwork.com

Elephants grieving - BBC wildlife

by TrendChaserNews

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5RiHTSXK2A

"The Boxer" by Simon & Garfunkel. A Tribute to the 'Brown Bomber'

[Joe Louis; the life of a heavyweight]

SimonGarfunkelVEVO                                                                          Jeff Jackson

Heart-stopping Footage Shows Israeli Commandos Rescuing Wounded Men From Syria

Saving their sworn enemy:

http://www.israelvideonetwork.com/heart-stopping-footage-shows-israeli-commandos-rescuing-wounded-men-from-syria

Microscopic predator devours prey in award-winning video

by Michael Franco @writermfranco 
   Watch a compilation of the top videos in Nikon's Small World in Motion competition, which also includes the roiling guts of a termite and a wasp larva breaking out of its host...Read more>>http://www.cnet.com/news/microscopic-predator-attack-wins-eye-popping-nikon-video-competition/

NikonMicroscopeshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyJYRLw_hkk

Maddie & Tae, 'Shut Up & Fish'

maddieandtae.com/homepage/

by Malorie McCall 
     Maddie & Tae have made waves in the country world for their brazen honesty, traditional influence and pop-like style. Now they're making waves with the cheeky new video for their single "Shut Up and Fish," premiering exclusively on Billboard.com...Maddie & Tae, "Shut Up and Fish," premiering exclusively onBillboard.com.                                                                                                                                                           

Christianity In The Middle East: On The Verge Of Extinction

ISIS members destroying the St. George Chaldean Catholic Monastery in Mosul, Iraq (photo: ISIS twitter).

By Russ Read

Daily Caller

    One million three hundred thousand Iraqi Christians have been displaced, murdered or taken prisoner since 2003. A centuries old civilization now faces permanent extinction while the rest of the world, including the U.S. government, looks on.   As Christians across the world begin to celebrate Christmas, the 300,000 remaining Christians displaced in Iraq and Syria are preparing for a harsh winter that will almost certainly dwindle their numbers further. Islamic State has been assaulting Christianity in the Middle East for well over a year and a half, and now the few remaining will be forced to brave the elements in the face of a genocide.
   "Assyrian culture is melting," says Juliana Taimoorazy, head of the Iraqi Christian Relief Council, a group dedicated to aiding Christians being persecuted in the Middle East in an interview with The Daily Caller News Foundation. Taimoorazy is making a desperate push to try and raise money to save Assyrian Christians in Iraq before winter settles in. "We want to buy caravans," says Taimoorazy, referring to the camper-style vehicles that can serve as temporary shelters equipped with running water and electricity.
   The Iraqi Christian minority, also known as Assyrian Christians, has a history in the Nineveh Plains region of Iraq going back 6,700 years. Assyrians were one of the first major groups in the region to convert to Christianity and are one of the last groups to speak Aramaic, the language of Jesus Christ...http://www.butlereagle.com/article/20151208/EDITORIAL02/151209955

Vancouver aboriginal-music record nominated for Grammy

[Kevin "Sipreano" Howes]

by ahnationtalk
   Former Straight staffer Kevin Howes produced album of forgotten folk, rock, country gems
A Vancouver-made compilation record of forgotten or neglected North American aboriginal music from the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s received a nomination for a 2016 Grammy award today.
   The album, Native North America Vol. 1: Aboriginal Folk, Rock, and Country 1966-1985, was released almost a year ago by Seattle-based label Light in the Attic Records.
   Vancouver deejay and vinyl collector Kevin Howes, a former Georgia Straight editorial assistant whose performing name is Sipreano, is named as compilation producer; mastering engineer Greg Mindorff, from East Van’s Suite Sound Labs, also received a nomination. http://nationtalk.ca/story/vancouver-aboriginal-music-record-nominated-for-grammy-straight-com

Bob Dylan, "Thunder On The Mountain"

BobDylanVEVO

Sinister Sites – The EU Parliament 169

"CONFUSION" in the KJV Bible

ByVC 

Ever since its completion on December 14 1999, the EU parliament has raised eyebrows and questions regarding its structure. The main tower, called the “Louise Weiss” building, looks peculiar and modernist. Why does it look unfinished? Promoters say it reflects the “unfinished nature of Europe”. However, some research on the subject reveals the dark and deep symbolism of the building. Exposing the real source of inspiration behind the Louise Weiss building is exposing the esoteric beliefs of the world elite, their dark aspirations and their interpretation of ancient scriptures.
We’ll go straight to the point: the Louise Weiss building is meant to look like painting “The Tower of Babel” by Pieter Brueghel the Elder in 1563. Story says that the Tower of Babel was never completed. So, the UN Parliament is basically continuing the unfinished work of Nimrod, the infamous tyrant, who was building the Tower of Babel to defy God. Do you think this is a good source of inspiration for a “democratic institution”?...http://vigilantcitizen.com/sinistersites/sinister-sites-the-eu-parliament/
Sites I have been examining relevant to “The Tower of Babel” :
   a) The Sabbath Covenant
   b) Plain Truth About Islam
   c) A Handbook of Bible Prophecy
   d) The Two Babylons; by Alexander Hislop
   e) Nimrod & The Tower of Babel
   f) ATLANTIS : THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD; BY IGNATIUS DONNELLY.
   g)The Mystery Religion of Babylon

Billie Joe Armstrong & Norah Jones, "I'm Here To Get My Baby Out Of Jail"

[photo]  

    http://wordlair.com

The internet has united to photoshop Isis fighters as rubber ducks

by Bethan McKernan

 http://i100.independent.co.uk/article/the-internet-has-united-to-photoshop-isis-fighters-as-rubber-ducks--WyxqDAgDJ5x

Droitwich photographer wins national award for her picture of a laughing seal

Hannah Worrall

    A TALENTED photographer from Droitwich has scooped a top national award for a photograph of a seal who appears to be laughing.
    Julie Hunt snapped the characterful sea creature during a boat trip to the Farne Islands this year.
But she would never have guessed it would win her a highly commended prize, out of 1,500 entrants, at the inaugural Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards in November.
    Mrs Hunt, 50, said: "It was a complete shock and surprise, but such a huge achievement to finally receive some worldwide recognition of my wildlife photography.
    "All it took was a split second to capture that moment. It takes quick thinking, skill and having the correct camera settings to nail that special shot. It really did look like the seal was laughing.
    "I'm a bird and wildlife photographer at heart. That's where I'm happiest at, being surrounded by nature and the environment around me in all kinds of weather conditions."...http://m.worcesternews.co.uk/news/14124238.Droitwich_photographer_wins_national_award_for_her_picture_of_a_laughing_seal/

Photographing Animals When They Least Expect It

"Red foxes are often camera-shy in the American West, but in Alaska they are bold and curious. Here one heads out to forage at sunset, inspecting my camera as it walks by." Jonny Armstrong

By Jordan G. Teicher 

As a working ecologist, Jonny Armstrong often uses camera traps—cameras that are remotely activated via motion sensor—for scientific purposes. Since 2011, Armstrong has also been using camera traps along with flashes in his personal nature photography to make images that are unusually intimate and unguarded.

“My research photos are occasionally pretty, but usually they’re grainy nighttime shots with low contrast, motion blur, and eye-shine from the on-board flash. These images are great for generating data and communicating science, but they fail to capture the beauty of nature. My personal photos strive to do what my science cannot—emotionally engage audiences,” Armstrong said via email...Continue reading, photos...

Appreciation becomes appropriation: Is deeming yoga politically incorrect a complaint too far?

“In the case of something like yoga, it is not possible to return economic control and ownership to the originating culture,” one professor says. 
 Adrian Humphreys: 

   Pundits from around the globe weighed in on the death of a yoga class for students at the University of Ottawa over questions of cultural sensitivity, often awkwardly squeezing in “bending over backwards” or “tying themselves in knots” puns in lampooning out-of-control political correctness.
   Student yoga joins a long list of art, fashion, music, sports and activities chastised as insensitive or racist acts by a Western or white majority cultural appropriation from minority communities.
   Cultural appropriation, as a term, was once largely confined to academic critiques of colonialism, but has become an increasingly popular watchword in social media and among activists.
   But is yoga one complaint too far?
   It leaves campus administrators, public relations experts and, perhaps, almost everyone else pondering when appreciation became appropriation, mimicry exploitation and cultural interest insult...Continue reading, story in the comments...

Laurel & Hardy dance to The Rolling Stones

jthyme https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpV-VKu45nM

Animal Planet Is getting sued

The reality TV show is no stranger to scandal. Photo illustration: Bac Totrong/Daily News/AP/Animal Planet

The beleaguered network's latest debacle involves some seriously shady antics in the woods.

—By James West

Read here>> http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2015/11/animal-planet-kentucky-trespass-trial-turtleman

US condemns Ezra Schwartz's murder

 By Tova Dvorin:

US ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro and the US State Department condemned the murder of 18-year-old American citizen Ezra Schwartz late Friday night, more than 24 hours after he was killed in a Palestinian terror attack in Gush Etzion.
"As Shabbat begins, we mourn with the family and friends of Ezra Schwartz z"l, an American citizen murdered yesterday in a terrorist attack," Shapiro posted, at 4:35 pm Friday local time. "Our thoughts and prayers are with them, and with the families of the other victims of yesterday's attacks. May God bring them comfort."...Continue reading...
 Watch moment of silence: New England Patriots Stop to Honor Ezra Schwartz, Murdered in Israel for Being a Jew

The House Cat and the Bear

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/wild/unlikely-animal-friends/videos/the-house-cat-and-the-bear/

Ron Hynes, 'man of a thousand songs,' dead at 64

CBC News[photo]  

   Legendary singer-songwriter Ron Hynes, who documented hope and heartbreak in his native Newfoundland for decades with songs like Sonny's Dream and Atlantic Blue, has died at the age of 64.
   Close friends of the famous musician confirmed to CBC News that Hynes died Thursday and that family are flying home.
   Hynes, who had been battling cancer, was rushed to hospital earlier this week.
   Hynes, known for years as "the man of a thousand songs," was born in December 1950 in St. John's. He was raised in Ferryland.
   Through a career that spanned more than three decades, Hynes became known as one of Newfoundland and Labrador's greatest singer-songwriters. His songs became commonplace in St. John's, around the bay and indeed around the world.
   His songs have been covered by more than 100 artists from all over the world.
    Hynes released seven solo albums, starting with Discovery in 1972. The record holds the distinction of being the first made up of all original material from a Newfoundland artist...Continue reading...

Stefanie Roy "No Change In Me", by Ron Hynesyoutube.com

Penticton Indian Band Economic Success Turning Heads Across Canada

[photo]

by ahnationtalk: PENTICTON/OKANAGAN (SYLIX) TERRITORY, B.C. – The wave of economic progress taking hold at the Penticton Indian Band has caught the attention of national business leaders and other First Nations across Canada.
   The Band’s development corporation has been named Economic Developer of the Year by the Council for the Advancement of Native Development Officers (CANDO) at their 22nd Annual National Conference held recently in Toronto.
   “We’re very honoured to receive this award. It’s a huge boost of confidence for our community and confirmation that we’re moving in the right direction,” said Chief Kruger.
   This is the second major national award this year for the Penticton Indian Band Development Corporation, having won the 2015 Aboriginal Economic Development Corporation Award from the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business.
   “I am so proud of our community, giving us the mandate to move forward with economic development projects that give people a chance for a more prosperous future,” said Chief Kruger.
The Penticton Indian Band, with the largest reserve lands in British Columbia, is moving forward on multiple fronts to strengthen the community’s economy and culture. Within the past three years, the band has opened a new $10-million community school, opened a state-of-the-art community health centre powered by geothermal energy, and built the Satikw Crossing bridge spanning the Okanagan River Channel. That $7.4 million project will open up 150 acres (60 hectares) of prime development land along Highway 97 in the heart of Penticton...Continue reading...

Nigerians Are Building Fireproof, Bulletproof, And Eco-Friendly Homes With Plastic Bottles And Mud

.by Amanda Froelich

Credit: Andreas Froese/ECOTEC

   These colorful homes are bulletproof, fireproof, and can withstand earthquakes. They also maintain a comfortable temperature, produce zero carbon emissions, and are powered by solar and methane gas from recycled waste. Read here, photos.

An optical illusion

Sometimes you just have to die a little inside so as to be reborn and rise again as a stronger,wiser version of you pic.twitter.com/3tKke0lMWs

— Optical Illusion (@Way_Things_Work) October 17, 2015

Sainsbury’s OFFICIAL Christmas Advert 2015 – Mog’s Christmas Calamity

bathchronicle.co.uk/

Sainsbury's

Databasing of refugees coming into the 'US of A'

American politics, entertaining. Juan Wiliiams is a clown, his facial expressions when someone else is speaking is rude, but comical.                                                   link][link]

Kelly Clarkson "Piece by Piece"

Haley Chouinard
via GIPHY http://www.bustle.com/articles/124948-kelly-clarkson-releases-piece-by-piece-music-video-that-will-make-you-want-to-hug-your

Good-bye, Euro-med.dk - New.euro-med.dk Is Coming. Euro-med.dk Summary

EU Council President Van Rompuy announces the existence of the one-world government since 2009.                                                 Posted by Anders under Deutsch, Euromed:
   I found that this is the Rockefeller/ Brzezinkski  Trilateral Commission´s plan, the EU being the actual model for the elite´s one-world government, which is Agenda 21, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2013. Its terrible urbanization was praised by EU Council President, the Jesuit and Bilderberger Hermann van Rompuy. The EU project incl. the euro was launched and initially paid for by the Rothschild/Rockefeller  Council on Foreign Relations in collaboration with Nazis, as a corporative EU Ltd. with the Nazi- IG Farben as its model.  For many years, the EU was financed with recovered Nazi money and was planned  in 1944  by the Gestapo as the 4. Reich: A German financial superpower under supranational umbrella (The Trilateral Commission´s men from Rothschild´s Goldman Sachs) for Europe´s New Order.
   The One-World-State is to be a merger of the North American Free Trade Association - the NAFTA (developing into  the North American Union) , the EU and the  ASEAN + 3 for a start. States which are opposed to this transglobal  belt, i.e. Middle Eastern and  Central Asian countries,  are being conquered militarily for the NWO.
   The Arabs never took an interest in the Euro-Mediterranean Process - apart from taking the money that the EU so generously offers for projects. This money is  widely not implemented on the agreed projects - it was invested by the European Investment Bank so that it largely disappeared into tax havens and the pockets of “partner” dictator friends. Now the EU offers “partner countries” an “advanced status” - already bestowed upon Morocco, which is known for the genocide of Western Saharan Africans and terrible persecutions of Christians. This country and Tunisia (next “advanced partner”) are governed by the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhood has a detailed plan for the Islamization of Europe - apparently with the blessing of the EU. Also, Jordan has an “advanced status“.
    This means the four freedoms of the EU, including - in time - free immigration into the EU  for such “partners”!..Continue reading...

Watch the new John Lewis Christmas TV advert with The Man on The Moon.

John Lewishttp://www.johnlewis.com/christmas-advert?tmad=c&tmcampid=70&s_smcid=TW3112015_christmasad____

Astronaut just tweeted a picture of a ‘UFO’

By Michael Blaustein

   For the past year, astronaut Scott Kelly has been tweeting breathtaking photos of Earth from the International Space Station.
   On Sunday, he may have tweeted a photo of something far more astounding — a UFO.
That, at least, is what conspiracy theorists and alien obsessives would have you believe.
   Their proof is “clearly” visible in a photo Kelly tweeted on Sunday from the ISS over India.
“In the upper right of the photo you can clearly see a large object with two lights on each end,” alien hunter Sonofmabarker wrote on YouTube (see video below). “It also appears to be very large and constructed.”...Continue reading...
 sonofmabarker