The Amboy Times

Honor our Day of Rememberance

Display the flag, say a prayer, and honor those who gave thier lives.

History of Memorial Day.

Hot Air posted a Reagan speech and lots of links.

Michelle Malkin has more and several worthwhile videos.

WHT has an inspiring post up.

In contrast, there's this from American Thinker.

He is risen!

Reposted from 2 years ago.

Matthew 28, The Resurrection

1After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

2There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

5The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."

8So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."

Happy Easter!

Happy April Fools Day

However big the fool, there is always a bigger fool to admire him. (Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux)

Merry Christmas

The 12 Days of Global Warming

The Goracle hath bringeth us the miracle of Global Warming!

Happy Thanksgiving

Click to enlarge cartoons.

The First Thanksgiving

The tradition of the Pilgrims' first Thanksgiving is steeped in myth and legend.  Few people realize that the Pilgrims did not celebrate Thanksgiving the next year, or any year thereafter, though some of their descendants later made a "Forefather's Day" that usually occurred on December 21 or 22.  Several Presidents, including George Washington, made one-time Thanksgiving holidays.  In 1827, Mrs. Sarah Josepha Hale began lobbying several Presidents for the instatement of Thanksgiving as a national holiday, but her lobbying was unsuccessful until 1863 when Abraham Lincoln finally made it a national holiday with his 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation.

Today, our Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday of November.  This was set by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 (approved by Congress in 1941), who changed it from Abraham Lincoln's designation as the last Thursday in November (which could occasionally end up being the fifth Thursday and hence too close to Christmas for businesses).  But the Pilgrims' first Thanksgiving began at some unknown date between September 21 and November 9, most likely in very early October.  The date of Thanksgiving was probably set by Lincoln to somewhat correlate with the anchoring of the Mayflower at Cape Cod, which occurred on November 21, 1620 (by our modern Gregorian calendar--it was November 11 to the Pilgrims who used the Julian calendar).

There are only two contemporary accounts of the 1621 Thanksgiving:  First is Edward Winslow's account, which he wrote in a letter dated December 12, 1621.  The complete letter was first published in 1622, and is chapter 6 of Mourt's Relation: A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth.

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Our corn [i.e. wheat] did prove well, and God be praised, we       had a good increase of Indian corn, and our barley indifferent good, but       our peas not worth the gathering, for we feared they were too late sown.        They came up very well, and blossomed, but the sun parched them in       the blossom.  Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men       on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after       we had gathered the fruit of our labors.  They four in one day killed       as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week.        At which time, amongst other recreations, we exercised our arms, many       of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king       Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted,       and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation       and bestowed on our governor, and upon the captain and others.  And       although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet       by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you partakers       of our plenty.

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The second description was written about twenty years after the fact by William Bradford in his History Of Plymouth Plantation.  Bradford's History was rediscovered in 1854 after having been taken by British looters during the Revolutionary War.  Its discovery prompted a greater American interest in the history of the Pilgrims, which eventually led to Lincoln's decision to make Thanksgiving a holiday.  It is also in this account that the Thanksgiving turkey tradition is founded.

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They began now to gather in the small harvest they had, and to fit       up their houses and dwellings against winter, being all well recovered in       health and strength and had all things in good plenty.  For as some       were thus employed in affairs abroad, others were exercising in fishing,       about cod and bass and other fish, of which they took good store, of which       every family had their portion.  All the summer there was no want; and       now began to come in store of fowl, as winter approached, of which this place       did abound when they came first (but afterward decreased by degrees).  And       besides waterfowl there was great store of wild turkeys, of which they took       many, besides venison, etc.  Besides they had about a peck of meal a       week to a person, or now since harvest, Indian corn to that proportion.        Which made many afterwards write so largely of their plenty here to       their friends in England, which were not feigned but true reports.

Reposted from 2006.

Happy Halloween

What ever happened to my Transylvania Twist?

Pardon me boy, is this the Transylvania Station?

Talk like a Pirate Day

Avast ye hearties! Be ye talkin' like a Pirate today?

Check out the official website.

Happy Constitution Day

Why isn't this day a holiday? It seems a bit more important than most of the bank holidays.

 

Constitution Day, Sept. 17, commemorates the date in 1787 on which the United States Constitution was approved by the state delegations to the Constitutional Convention and signed by 39 of its framers.

Two hundred and twenty-two years later, many have noted an alarming lack of knowledge about the Constitution and our system of government. A recent national survey found that more American teenagers could name The Three Stooges than could name the three branches of our government.

 

That kind of ignorance can hurt more than Moe poking you in the eye. If you have kids, read some of the Constitution to them, explain it's unique historical importance and how the Founders risked thier very lives to provide us with the freedoms we so often take for granted. Ask them to imagine how cruel life must seem to those who are denied the basic freedoms we enjoy and the kinds of risks these unfree people take to obtain our freedoms.

 

Fast facts about the Constitution.

 

Nickname: Bundle of Compromises

 

Chief Draftsmen of the U S Constitution:James Madison and Gouverneur Morris

 

Ratification of the U S Constitution: 1789 with the agreement of 9 out of 13 states. Eventually all 13 would ratify the US Constitution.

 

Read more fast facts here.

 

Happy Easter

I'm taking the day off from politics. Go to my Easter post from last year for spiritual reflection.