5 Things You Didn't Know: Halloween

Kinda busy finishing up the house for Halloween tomorrow so no time to do a proper post. Ran across this from the Askmen website and thought they were pretty good. Enjoy!

1- Halloween is the second-largest commercial holiday in America
Second only to Christmas (and a far second at that), Halloween is a commercial juggernaut in America, where people spend an estimated $6.9 billion annually on candy, costumes, decorations, and more. The holiday had much more modest beginnings in America. First celebrated in Colonial times by a few communities, it was still tied tightly to the harvest, and it featured fortune-telling and games on a communal level. Not until the 19th century’s immigrant influx did costumes and the concept of trick-or-treating reach American shores. And by the dawn of the 20th century, the holiday had lost many of its religious motifs, beginning instead to take shape as a commercial force to be reckoned with.

2- Halloween trick-or-treating originated from begging
The only real difference between begging and trick-or-treating is in perspective: The former is lowly, the latter is sanctioned. In fact, some U.S. states don’t hide it, calling Halloween “Beggars' Night,” while some groups have campaigned against the practice, labeling it extortion. Although no documentary evidence exists, trick-or-treating resembles a practice known as "souling," once performed in the British Isles by poor people around November 1. They would go door to door begging for food; in exchange, they would offer to pray for the souls of the dead. 

3- The devil provides the light in a jack-o'-lantern
Another thing you didn’t know about Halloween, but that you should be aware of, is the fact that lighting the candle inside your carefully carved pumpkin is doing nothing less than introducing your porch to the fires of hell compliments of Satan, the original Red Menace. According to legend, a fellow named Stingy Jack twice played tricks on the devil, managing in the process to cut deals with him. The second of these deals was that he would not take Jack’s soul when he died. Yet upon his death, Stingy Jack learned that heaven had no place for a jackass like him, so he descended into hell, but the devil did the honorable thing: he kept up his end of their deal and denied him entrance. Caught between a hot rock (hell) and a high place (heaven), Jack had no choice but to wander endlessly in the darkness between the two, using a lantern he made from a hollowed-out turnip that was lit up with one of hell’s embers that had been generously donated by the devil.

4- The first jack-o'-lanterns were made from turnips
Nineteenth century Irish immigrants to America brought many traditions with them to their new country, and one of them was the jack-o'-lantern. In their case, however, it was a turnip carved out to make room for a light -- a practice in accord with the legend of Stingy Jack. Yet, according to the Ulster American Folk Park in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, when those immigrants arrived in America they had trouble finding turnips, so they turned to a vegetable native to their new land: the pumpkin. The commercial success of the holiday then contributed to the spread of the traditions associated with this American interpretation.

5- Halloween was the ancient Celtic New Year's Eve
For the Celts, the new year began on November 1; or, in more drastic terms, it began at the traditional end of summer harvest and the onset of winter -- the seasonal commencement of death. On the night before, the Celts believed that the realms of both the living and the dead became fuzzy enough to permit dead spirits to create enormous problems, such as destroying crops meant to sustain them through the difficult winter months.

The presence of these spirits enabled Celtic priests, known as Druids, to make reasonable predictions about just how harsh the winters would be, providing the villages with some guidance about how to manage the coming months. While accompanying festivities did not include fireworks, party hats and wobbly chants of “Auld Lang Syne,” they did feature costumes, bonfires and the sharing of scary stories (fortune-telling, actually, but depending on the content, it could be very scary).

People who are ignorant about the issues & canidates should not vote

This article from John Stossell is outstanding and I agree 100%. Uninformed people should not vote!

I'll stretch that out a bit to include what I call voter come lately's. Which are people who start paying attention to the commercials in the last few weeks of the campaign cycle. Any of you guys can stay home too because your voting simply on whatever you've heard on radio, TV or a friend saw on a blog on the net and told you. That's no way to make your decision. The political ad's are total B.S. as are lot of the blog sites. Do your own research and try your best to find out the truth. In some cases the truth is almost impossible to discover but you can at least try. Just do your home work. Click off that episode of Ugly Betty or Dancing with the idiots & hit the web.

Do not believe anything a politician says. Period. Oh and party affiliation is irrelevant. All of them will lie, cheat, steal or give a reach around to Sasquatch if it will get them elected. The only way to really figure out who to vote for is to look into their past and see who their friends were in their formative years. Who they hung out with in their political career, what bills they voted for or against. In general check out just how they've lived their lives up until this point. Then pick the candidate that you think has lived closest to your beliefs & values and vote for them.

El Rushbo says something along these lines that ignorance is the most expensive commoditie we have as country. Which is a another way of saying people who are totally uninformed are costing America billions a year by voting in people they know nothing about. Just going by how they 'feel' instead of actually researching the issues and the candidates. We are quickly getting to the tipping point of voters electing whoever promise's the most welfare handout's to them. Once we cross that line we are doomed to the same fate as the Roman Empire. Don't know how that went down? Get your research started right now and google it! :-)

Family Tree of Telecommunication Companies

Always had a weird perhaps unhealthy affinity for telephones especially Bell system & Western Electric related hardware. Few years ago went nuts on ebay buying up a crapload of them and 2 are in use right now in my home.

Just ran across this link about the Family Tree of Telecommunication Companies also this site is outstanding for the history of the Bell System.

Government is the problem

Stumbled across this story and the title grabbed me straightaway & made me want to read it.

Think it makes a spot-on point that the fed's incessant meddling prolonged the great depression far longer than it should have been & now some 70+ years later they are making the exact same mistakes. Long as the Gov. is constantly changing the playing field then investors & business's are going to take a wait and see attitude before doing anything. Like hiring or infrastructure spending.

A good example of Gov. meddling causing uncertainty is the Oil industry. As of right now the offshore drilling ban has elapsed and do you see any of the Oil companies even attempting to get permits and start drilling? No and you won't, reason is they are waiting to see what Washington is going to do after the elections. They know that if McCain gets elected offshore drilling will mostly likely be allowed. They also know that if the messiah steals the election he'll have a veto proof majority in the both houses of congress they've already stated they will reinstate the offshore ban and this time make it permanent.

Best thing can be done is NOTHING. Well I take that back, a few things could be done & wouldn't cost taxpayers a freaking cent.

1. Cut the capital gains tax to zero for 6-12 months.
2. Get rid of the 1977 CRA act & undo the 1995 meddling that Clinton did to it.
3. American business are taxed the 2nd highest in the world. That has to change to bring more investments.
4. Repeal any regulations or red tape that in anyway could hinder a business's growth.
5. Get rid of the IRS & institute a flat/fair tax.

If only a few of those 5 would be put into effect think this would be the shortest lived recession/depression in history and if all were done we'd see a economic explosion that would make the 90's tech boom look like cold spit.

Halloween History

Just a quick post today with a couple links to some Halloween History. This one is the History channel and they always have great stuff. This one is halloweenhistory.org   Enjoy!

Muslims & Christians

We in the US are pummeled with the PC meme to always be tolerant of other religions especially Islam. Overlook and ignore everything they do or say because you know most of them don't think that way. Ok great, is that true? Yeah, I think it probably is. Most Muslims are most likely peaceful people just like most of us Christians which is great but think about this. Let's for the sake of assuming that 5% of the Muslim population is hostile towards and wants to kill anyone who doesn't think like them. Well the current worldwide population of Muslims is 1.1 billion so that would mean that a whole lot of Muslims are potential terrorists. Is it any wonder we look at them all with a distrustful eye.

Anyway, kind of got of topic a bit from what I was originally posting about. I think Muslims are treated pretty well in the US. Not perfect but not bad considering followers of their religion have killed thousands of our people over the years. Take a look at this to see how Christians are treated in Muslim countries. Could you imagine the hand wringing caterwauling that would ensue from the UN loving surrender at any cost crowd if any of those things were going on here? THINK ABOUT IT.....

To the Undecided Voter from Neal Boortz

Here is a outstanding article from Neal Boortz aimed at all the undecided voters out there.
Personally I don't see how you can still be undecided with less than 2 weeks to go. Turn off dancing with stars and start doing some research on the canidates already! Here's some help....both will grow the Gov. and take us further down the socialist road. Only difference is 1 will do it much faster. Do your research and you'll figure out which is which :-)

Horror Movie Remakes

Heard awhile back that Micheal Bay's production company was doing remakes of Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street but didn't think much about at the time. (You know, life kinda get's in the way & movie remakes are pretty far down on my deep thoughts list) Anywho, the same group did remakes of Texas Chainsaw massacre, The Hitcher, and Amityville Horror. The TCM remake was pretty good, haven't seen the other 2 yet. Ran across this story and I recalled, oh yeah when is that coming out?!?!  Well I think that F13 has potential to be fairly decent. I mean lets face it, all you need is a camp in the woods, a big guy to play Jason, rack up a high body count, some good looking kids to use drugs & get naked then bam! you gotta movie. So if they follow that formula then it should turn out ok.

It appears they are staying close to the original flicks and the remake will encompass 1-3 of the originals. The mask and the way Jason is dressed stays the same so WTG on that decision. Never heard of the actor playing Jason, Derek Mears and I would have preferred Kane Hodder but they want to do it all fresh now with new people so he probably wasn't even asked. Oh well, even with that glaring oversight it still has the potential to be watchable anyway. I was 12 when the 1st one came out so I grew up with this franchise and like them all. Even the horrible one in space. Some things are so bad you just have to love them you know? :) Here's the official trailer

So much for Friday the 13th now onto Nightmare on Elm Street.

Well to start with see this story. If that is indeed true then that kinda queer's the whole deal for me. Just can't imagine a Nightmare without Robert Englund. Grew up watching him too & for me he is and always will be Freddy. Remake will probably will be ghastly (not in a good way) but I'll give it a shot on DVD anyway :)

Also just read a piece about Hitchcock classic The Birds being remade. That might be good but will probably miss the slow build up suspense that Hitchcock was a master of. DVD worthy as well.

UPDATE - 10/24/2008

Don't know how I missed this one but they remade My bloody Valentine in 3D no less! Sweet :-) The preview here looks really good. I saw the original the the preston drive-in back in 1980 and have loved it ever since so look forward to seeing it.

Cuban missle crisis today in 1962

Always been a huge history buff and JFK's presidency is intriguing to as a what could have been scenario. This doesn't really fall under that but it meets 2 of the criteria! Anyway credit the history channel for this.  

October 22 1962 - Cuban Missile Crisis

In a televised speech of extraordinary gravity, President John F. Kennedy announces that U.S. spy planes have discovered Soviet missile bases in Cuba. These missile sites--under construction but nearing completion--housed medium-range missiles capable of striking a number of major cities in the United States, including Washington, D.C.
Kennedy announced that he was ordering a naval "quarantine" of Cuba to prevent Soviet ships from transporting any more offensive weapons to the island and explained that the United States would not tolerate the existence of the missile sites currently in place. The president made it clear that America would not stop short of military action to end
what he called a "clandestine, reckless, and provocative threat to world peace."

What is known as the Cuban Missile Crisis actually began on October 15, 1962--the day that U.S. intelligence personnel analyzing U-2 spy plane data discovered that the Soviets were building medium-range missile sites in Cuba. The next day, President Kennedy secretly convened an emergency meeting of his senior military, political, and
diplomatic advisers to discuss the ominous development. The group became known as ExCom, short for Executive Committee. After rejecting a surgical air strike against the missile sites, ExCom decided on a naval quarantine and a demand that the bases be dismantled and missiles removed. On the night of October 22, Kennedy went on national
television to announce his decision. During the next six days, the crisis escalated to a breaking point as the world tottered on the brink of nuclear war between the two superpowers.

On October 23, the quarantine of Cuba began, but Kennedy decided to give Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev more time to consider the U.S. action by pulling the quarantine line back 500 miles. By October 24, Soviet ships en route to Cuba capable of carrying military cargoes appeared to have slowed down, altered, or reversed their course as they approached the quarantine, with the exception of one ship--the tanker Bucharest. At the request of more than 40 nonaligned nations, U.N. Secretary-General U Thant sent private appeals to Kennedy and Khrushchev, urging that their governments "refrain from any action that may aggravate the situation and bring with it the risk of war."
At the direction of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, U.S. military forces went to DEFCON 2, the highest military alert ever reached in the postwar era, as military commanders prepared for full-scale war with the Soviet Union.

On October 25, the aircraft carrier USS Essex and the destroyer USS Gearing attempted to intercept the Soviet tanker Bucharest as it crossed over the U.S. quarantine of Cuba. The Soviet ship failed to cooperate, but the U.S. Navy restrained itself from forcibly seizing the ship, deeming it unlikely that the tanker was carrying offensive weapons. On October 26, Kennedy learned that work on the missile bases was proceeding without interruption, and ExCom considered authorizing a U.S. invasion of Cuba. The same day, the Soviets transmitted a proposal for ending the crisis: The missile bases would be removed in exchange for a U.S. pledge not to invade Cuba.

The next day, however, Khrushchev upped the ante by publicly calling for the dismantling of U.S. missile bases in Turkey under pressure from Soviet military commanders. While Kennedy and his crisis advisers debated this dangerous turn in negotiations, a U-2 spy plane was shot down over Cuba, and its pilot, Major Rudolf Anderson, was killed. To
the dismay of the Pentagon, Kennedy forbid a military retaliation unless any more surveillance planes were fired upon over Cuba. To defuse the worsening crisis, Kennedy and his advisers agreed to dismantle the U.S. missile sites in Turkey but at a later date, in order to prevent the protest of Turkey, a key NATO member.

On October 28, Khrushchev announced his government's intent to dismantle and remove all offensive Soviet weapons in Cuba. With the airing of the public message on Radio Moscow, the USSR confirmed its willingness to proceed with the solution secretly proposed by the Americans the day before. In the afternoon, Soviet technicians began
dismantling the missile sites, and the world stepped back from the brink of nuclear war. The Cuban Missile Crisis was effectively over. In November, Kennedy called off the blockade, and by the end of the year all the offensive missiles had left Cuba. Soon after, the United States quietly removed its missiles from Turkey.

The Cuban Missile Crisis seemed at the time a clear victory for the United States, but Cuba emerged from the episode with a much greater sense of security. A succession of U.S. administrations have honored Kennedy's pledge not to invade Cuba, and the communist island nation situated just 80 miles from Florida remains a thorn in the side of
U.S. foreign policy. The removal of antiquated Jupiter missiles from Turkey had no detrimental effect on U.S. nuclear strategy, but the Cuban Missile Crisis convinced a humiliated USSR to commence a massive nuclear buildup. In the 1970s, the Soviet Union reached nuclear parity with the United States and built intercontinental ballistic missiles
capable of striking any city in the United States.

Early Voting - why?

My thoughts on early voting

All of this early voting in 31 states has me and I suspect a lot of other American's wondering why? Seems to me that it kicks the door wide open for massive voter fraud ala Acorn and I don't see the point in it. If you know you won't be near your local voting booth at election time then it's up to you to obtain and cast a absentee ballot and if you do that then there's no need for early voting. That's what I would do and all responsible people would do the same.

I mean seriously why even classify Nov. 4th as election day if you can vote almost any damn time you feel like it?

Have a feeling after this is all over and regardless of who wins the losers will file lawsuits out the arse accusing the winners of voter fraud and you know what. They'd probably have a pretty good case for it.

Made in the USA

Here's a great link & video of a tour Leatherman Factory

I buy US made good whenever possible and always encourage others to do the same. Sad state of affairs is a lot of things like electronics aren't made here anymore so you really don't have choice. Like shoes fer instance. Most are made in China now which cheeses me off to no end. Even my beloved Chuck Taylor's are Chi-com made and have been for about 8 years. I still own 2 old pairs which are USA made and I hardly wear so's to not wear them out.

Levi's are another case. Jeans made in Mexico & jackets in China...and trust me they don't fit like they used to either but again what choice do you have? I'm kinda brand loyal and have been for 20 years. Love my Levi's and don't want to give them up no matter where they are made. Mexico I don't have a problem with but China I do. Commies aren't cool and I try to avoid anything to prop up a Commie gov. Sorry for the rambling rant but things just pour out like that :)

G&R for real this time - update

Seen multiple news stories on Ultimate Guitar & RR website and sure looks like Chinese Democracy is finally coming out. Back in the 80's I loved these guys but it's really not those guys anymore is it? Just Axl and whatever band of merry yes men he's been able to gird into staying with him.

Whatever. I wish him & the scabs well but I probably won't buy the record. Still waiting for the real G&R to get back together which (crazy as it sounds) I think will happen someday. But I've thought zeppelin would have gotten back together by now too so I could be really wrong!

Update 10/22 - Finally heard part of the song Chinese Democracy off the new album and it’s not too bad. Was it worth a 14 year wait? ahhh not so much. It’s ok but no where near the caliber of their classic material. Suppose only time will tell if anyone buys it. For me, I’ll probably DL a few songs & call it a day. BTW for all you holding your breath supposedly comes out 11/23  read more here 

Test post

Hey, it's my 1st blog post ever so yay for me!

In case anyone stumbles across this I will start posting stuff here eventually and most likely after Halloween. That's my fav holiday and all efforts go towards that :)  Also the wife and mines 6th anniversary so it's kinda a big day for us.