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t is a basic notion that during the 1600's, accurately in the year 1621, the English settlers and the Wampanoag Indians got together and shared a fantastic fall harvest feast to celebrate the bounty from the rich earth. Today this celebratory feast is acknowledged to be one of the first Thanksgiving festivities in the early days of the colonies. While that long ago feast is supposed by a lot of people to be the first Thanksgiving celebration, it was, in fact, part of a long existing custom of celebrating the seasonal harvest and giving thanks for a good bounty of crops that would last through the long hard winter. Many Native American tribes of what would be named America, including the Pueblo, Cherokee, Shawnee, Huron, Creek, Blackfoot and so many others would hold huge harvest festivals, consisting in ceremonial dances, races, games and other cheerful celebrations of gratefulness hundreds of years before the European peoples arrived. If you are like me, you are surely wondering the kind of meals served at the harvest feast. Historians, as usual, are not one hundred percent sure regarding it; however they are sure that pilgrims weren't eating pumpkin pies nor building castle towers with mashed potatoes. However, it is easy to think that the list of meat available during this period of time should surely include venison as well as several types wild poultry such as duck, goose as well as wild turkey. While there are hundreds of manuscripts describing such feast, the most detailed description of this celebration of late harvest date of 1621 and was written by a man called Edward Winslow. It is from his manuscript called "A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth" that historians have gleaned the greatest part of information about this first Thanksgiving celebration:

Although the first Thanksgiving dinners were not concentrated on the turkey; today's usual meal primarily focuses around this animal. During the 17th century, vegetables were not as important as of today, so the meal of this period of time included a lot of different meats. The many types of vegetables we take for granted today were not available to the colonists. Freezing methods did not exist; which means that the vegetable consumption was based on seasonal harvests. Because the colonists and Wampanoag tribe had no refrigeration in the 1600s, they dried a lot of their foods to preserve them. They would dry corn, wild boar hams, fish, venison, and many wild herbs.

Beijing Olympics

China's environmental

Choked Waters

One of the keys to getting the most out of your training program is to work outside of your comfort zone.

I can't argue that you're doing something to stay in shape and work on your game. But you're not really pushing yourself, and you shouldn't really expect those types of workouts to pay huge dividends.

Change your approach. Push yourself harder than you normally do, and you'll start to see results. Instead of shooting 30 or 40 random, lazy jump shots, create a plan for yourself. Shoot from 4 or 5 spots on the floor until you've made 30 or 40 shots from each spot (or some number that you set as a goal for yourself). Get in the triple-threat position, head-fake, take a quick dribble to one side or the other, get good lift on your shot (really getting off the ground), and concentrate on your follow-through. Push yourself to move quicker than you normally do, and to jump higher than you normally do.

Taking the stage for a good cause, the Jonas Brothers perform to a sold-out crowd at the Gibson Amphitheater in L.A. during the Concert for Hope, benefiting cancer research and treatment programs at City of Hope, a Duarte, Calif., cancer hospital. In addition to the $1.2 million raised at the event, the Jonas Brothers and their Change for the Children Foundation pledged an additional $250,000.

he brain is composed of: A.         The cerebrum, which is divided into two cerebral hemispheres. The cerebrum is the largest part of the brain and is divided into lobes where discrete functions occur. Higher reasoning takes place in the cerebrum. B.         The cerebellum, or little brain, located beneath the cerebrum. The cerebellum controls coordination and balance. C.         The brain stem, which is the lowest portion of the brain and connects to the spinal cord, controls involuntary functions essential for life, such as the beating of the heart and breathing. D.         The meninges, membranes that surround and protect the brain and spinal cord. There are three meninges.

This is like taking 6.3 million cars off the road!

Small gaps in your windows and doors can cause you to consume a lot more energy than you really need to in order to heat and cool your home.

Born on January 4, 1809, Coupvray, France, Braille was accidentally blinded in one eye at the age of three. Within two years, a disease in his other eye left him completely blind.

Captain Charles Barbier invented sonography, or nightwriting, a system of embossed symbols used by soldiers to communicate silently at night on the battlefield. Inspired by a lecture Barbier gave at the Institute a few years later, the fifteen-year-old Braille adapted Barbier's system to replace Haüy's awkward embossed type, which he and his classmates had been obliged to learn.

In his initial study, Braille had experimented with geometric shapes cut from leather as well as with nails and tacks hammered into boards. He finally settled on a fingertip-sized six-dot code, based on the twenty-five letters of the alphabet, which could be recognized with a single contact of one digit. By varying the number and placement of dots, he coded letters, punctuation, numbers, diphthongs, familiar words, scientific symbols, mathematical and musical notation, and capitalization. With the right hand, the reader touched individual dots and, with the left, moved on toward the next line, comprehending as smoothly and rapidly as sighted readers. Using the Braille system, students were also able to take notes and write themes by punching dots into paper with a pointed stylus which was aligned with a metal guide.

Nichiren (日蓮) (February 16, 1222 - October 13, 1282), born Zennichimaro, later Zesho-bo Rencho and sometimes called Nichiren Shonin or Nichiren Daishonin, was a Buddhist monk in 13th century Japan, and founder of Nichiren Buddhism, a Buddhist movement which continues today.

Nichiren believed that the teachings contained in the Lotus Sutra were given by the Buddha Shakyamuni.

One central theme in the Lotus Sutra, which was emphasized by Nichiren and is emphasized in Nichiren Buddhism today, is that enlightenment may be attained in a single lifetime.

Many of us celebrate Thanksgiving and just assume since we do that everyone else does as well. The answer to whether Thanksgiving is celebrated nationally or not is that it is. Most families celebrate Thanksgiving each and every year and individuals from all over the country make plans to eat turkey and give thanks. Thanksgiving is a nationally recognized holiday. Kids dont go to school, most businesses arent open, and politics are briefly put on hold. The most important Thanksgiving activities include eating, watching sports, and spending time with family and friends. No matter where you are in the nation you will find that most people celebrate Thanksgiving pretty much the same. Some families will celebrate at lunchtime and others at dinner and still others may go out to dinner or not celebrate at all. But, for the most part, celebrating Thanksgiving is an American tradition and one that all Americans enjoy taking part in. Parades Around the Country Even if you cant travel the entire country to see how Thanksgiving is celebrated you can get a pretty good idea. There are Thanksgiving Day parades all over the country and many of them are televised. One of the most popular and well known parades is the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade. This parade has been around for decades and continues to be a hit with New Yorkers as well as individuals around the country who make watching the parade on television part of their celebration. You may choose to attend a parade on Thanksgiving day in your town or perhaps you will choose to watch one on TV. Regardless, parades around the country really make up part of the Thanksgiving culture we have all become so accustomed to. In fact, when you turn the television on Thanksgiving Day you will more than likely see a parade or a football game! Thats just part of Thanksgiving Day culture in our country.

Section: Festival The Lunar New Year is the most important festival of the Chinese year. It is the celebration to welcome the start of a new year and a festival of family reunion. Families who live apart come together to celebrate. Although outside the Chinese-speaking world (China, Taiwan, Singapore, and some parts of Malaysia) Chinese New Year is not a public holiday, people still celebrate with a family get-together and a special meal, either on Chinese New Year's Eve or on the first weekend after the Chinese New Year. Chinese New Year is a family celebration that takes place in the home. The Chinese place particular importance on caring for the family. This is particularly true at the New Year Festival when the very young are treated specially because of their importance for the future, and the old are honored for their connection with the past. Public celebrations of Chinese New Year happen all over the world; cities with Chinese communities celebrate with Lion and Dragon Dances and parades with traditional costumes. They also welcome the new year with firecrackers. In China many places have traditional celebrations that last for several days. ~~~~~~~~By Sarah Moyse This article is copyrighted. All rights reserved.Source: Chinese New Year (0-7613-0374-X)

is crucial in order to build a solid base of conditioning. This type of training should be executed 3-4 days per week and can involve activities such as running, biking, hiking and swimming.

Running is extremely effective, but it is also extremely stressful if done over long periods and distances. Cross-Training is an effective method to use in order to get results with little risk to your body

. The stresses that the body encounters doing a variety of activities is more beneficial to the athlete than the stresses encountered by doing the same old, tired routine. Also, the risk of injury is greater if you only take part in one activity.

he type of advertisements focused on the youth market generally take on different forms from standard advertising to adults. Young people are more susceptible to product placements and tie-ins. For example fast food restaurants routinely offer toys connected to popular movies and a number of toy lines are created around successful existing television series. Coca-Cola paid $150,000,000 for the global tie-in marketing rights to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.[6] Advertiser also attempt to disguise ads so that children will spend more time looking at them. Quaker Oatmeal had a series of ads published in 4 children's magazines that appeared to be Popeye comics and the Seventeen Magazine "Ask Loren" column of the 1980s, a supposed beauty advice column, were really ads for Epilady brand products.

This pollution, coupled with the diversion of much of the river's clean water by Israel, Syria and Jordan, is endangering the river

"The Lower River is an open sewage canal, and the sad irony is that the sewage water is keeping the river flowing. Being baptized in the water below the dam - something that takes place on the Jordanian side of the river - cannot be too spiritually uplifting,"

Yes, Yahoo is losing share to Google. Yes, Yahoo is barely growing. Yes, it's a tired argument that Yahoo is one of the strongest brands in the media world. Yes, this argument for owning its stock hasn't worked in a long time.

It's cheap. There's always that. Morgan Stanley's Mary Meeker figures that given the value of Yahoo's cash and its publicly traded Asian assets (even taking into account the difficulty in selling stakes in other companies), investors value Yahoo's core business at just $6 per share, or eight times Wall Street's estimates of 2009 profits. That's an extraordinarily low multiple for any company with the opportunities in front of it that Yahoo has. Yahoo's management thought Yahoo was cheap at $30, of course. Today, investors would do quite nicely for a fraction of that amount. 

Only the gifted, only the dedicated, only the best will win.

Modern sport is plagued by suspicions that many top athletes resort to drug-taking – doping – to enhance their performance. They use anabolic steroids, human growth hormone, erythropoietin (EPO), beta-blockers, stimulants or diuretics.

Every two years as the Olympic Games begin, we hear about athletes using or at least being tested for performance-enhancing drugs. Every time the Tour de France rolls around, there's talk of possible doping. Sometimes, competitors raise the question when one athlete does particularly well. Other times, tests catch athletes with drugs in their systems. The practice of using artificial substances or methods to enhance athletic performance is called doping. Doping has become such a great concern that the United States formed an Anti-Doping Agency.

Why Some Athletes Use DrugsAthletes face enormous pressure to excel in competition. They also know that winning can reap them more than a gold medal. A star athlete can earn a lot of money and a lot of fame, and athletes only have a short time to do their best work. Athletes know that training is the best path to victory, but they also get the message that some drugs and other practices can boost their efforts and give them a shortcut, even as they risk their health and their athletic careers.

As far back as ancient Greece, athletes have often been willing to take any preparation that would improve their performance. But it appears that drug use increased in the 1960s. One well-publicized incident happened at the Seoul Olympics in 1988 when sprinter Ben Johnson tested positive for anabolic steroids and was stripped of his gold medal. Athletes may also misuse drugs to relax, cope with stress or boost their own confidence. Athletes may have several reasons for using performance-enhancing drugs. An athlete may want to: Build mass and strength of muscles and/or bones Increase delivery of oxygen to exercising tissues Mask pain Stimulate the body Relax Reduce weight Hide use of other drugs

The Ryukyu chain to the southwest was U.S.-occupied from 1945 to 1972, when it reverted to Japanese control, and the Kurils to the northeast are Russian-occupied.

Constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary government.

Through the 700s Japan was much influenced by China, and the Yamato clan set up an imperial court similar to that of China.

Typically it involves a large number of people and can take anywhere between a few months to several years to complete.