Is There a Flying Car In Your Future?

Since the early days of aviation and the automobile visionaries have dreamed of combining the automobile and the airplane into a single vehicle. Today, there are inventors and entrepreneurs who are working hard to make that dream come true. Don't be surprised if, in the not too distant future, you neighbor calls you over to see his new autoplane.

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A Visit to the Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch

Located just off Interstate 10 in Picacho, Arizona, the Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch is both a working ostrich ranch and a popular local tourist spot. In addition to ostriches, visitors can also see close-up and feed deer and lorikeets - tropical birds that look like parrots.

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How to Emigrate to Ireland

Article describing types of Irish citizenship along with naturalization process for foreign citizens who do not qualify for dual Irish and another citizenship as a result of being born to foreign citizen parents in Ireland, citizenship through Foreign Births Registry or post-nuptial citizenship.

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Rocky Point / Puerto Penasco Mexico

Puerto Penasco (called "Rocky Point" by Americans) is fast growing resort town on the eastern shore of the Gulf of California just south of the border in Mexico. With its beautiful beaches and ocean fishing, this area is gaining a world wide reputation as a vacation spot. And the resort industry is quickly building new luxury beach front resorts.

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Global Warming Promises to Open the Northwest Passage

The famed Northwest Passage - a sea route connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans across the northern border of Canada in the Arctic Ocean - which explorers searched for for centuries may soon be a reality if global warming continues.

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Companies Compete to Digitize Books

Amazon.com has joined the book digitization effort. The growing number of companies in the movement is a positive effect for consumers as the range of books to choose from and options for obtaining books is expanding rapidly while prices of books are falling.



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A Visit to Rochester's Warner Castle

Warner Castle sits in the middle of Rochester, New York's beautiful Highland Park. Built in 1854 as the home of local judge and businessman Horatio Gates Warner, the castle was a part of the nineteenth century tradition among the rich of modeling their palatial homes after European castles.



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Annual Lilac Festival in Rochester New York

Pictures and commentary on the lilacs in Highland Park in Rochester, New York. History of lilacs and of the century old park that is world famous for its lilac collection.



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A Very civil War in the Arctic

A somewhat humorous account of the dispute between Canada and Denmark over control of Hans Island - an uninhabited rock in the Arctic between Greenland and Canada. Because of Global Warming interest in the island has increased as whoever controls Hans Island also controls the resources (including oil) in the surrounding sea.



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Speech of Samuel S. Fisher at the 1869 At First Memorial Day Celebration in 1869

Below is a patriotic speech given on May 30, 1869 at the Memorial Day celebration at Arlington Cemetery. Fisher was, at that time the Commissioner of Patents in the U.S. Government and this was the nation's first official honoring of the dead in the Civil War.

The nation was trying to unite again after the Civil War and Fisher's speech has themes of patriotism, national unity and justification for the Union cause in the war. While extending an olive branch to the South he also makes great effort to justify the Union cause as the war had not been that popular in the North and many were apparently still questioning whether the it had been worth the terrible cost in lives.

In addition to being a good example of 19th century oratory, it also gives us an insight into the issues of the day as well allowing us, who have had to deal with the costs of war in our own century, to feel the emotion of our ancestors who had been through a terrible war themselves.

Samuel S. Fisher's Decoration Day Speech

A year ago these mounds, beneath which dead heroes sleep, were strewn with garlands by loving hands and watered by tears from loving eyes. The flowers that we scattered have long since withered; the Spring that gave the flowers has long since passed away. Summer and Autumn and Winter have come and gone. Each grave has been wrapped in a winding sheet of snow, and bleak winds have sung dirges over the spot which the living had deserted.

But nature never forgets the dead. From her lap she brings forth green blades and leaves and modest wild flowers, and herself decks their graves with beauty. We can only add her gifts to us to her gifts to them. She does more than this; for if there be any tomb unknown to us, or that we have forgotten, any peaceful sleeper in some village churchyard, in the lonely wood, by the roadside, at the ford, on the picket line, or tenting still "on the old camp ground," she has found the spot where he lies, and flung over him her mantle of beauty.

If these graves be dear to her, by how much more are they dear to us!

We read in an old familiar story that one day, in the Roman forum, the earth opened and a great gulf yawned in the very midst. The augurs said that the gulf would never close its horrid mouth until it had been fed with the most precious thing in Rome. There was doubt as to what the most precious thing might be, when a soldier, armed and mounted, rode boldly forward and plunged into the chasm, declaring that there could be nothing so precious as a life given for one's country.

One day, in our own land, stretching from side to side, from ocean to desert, a great gulf yawned dividing in twain families, communities, States, yea, the very nation itself. Into this widening chasm we have cast our most precious possessions, the youth, the strength, the talent, the virtue, the patriotism of the land. From homes where gray-haired grandsires still spoke of Washington, from cabins which sheltered the emigrant of yesterday fresh from the shores that he left in search of freedom, from the lap of luxury, from cramping poverty, from the wayside of the blacksmith, from the broad acres of the farmer, from the woodland clearing of the pioneer, from the jeweled cave of the miner, from the halls where pale students gathered, from the marts of trade where busy merchants thronged with the bounding step of youth, with the sober walk of manhood, ay, and with the halting of age, they come in a great throng to stand between the nation and its foes. Life was as dear to them as to others - death not more welcome, but life must end and death must come, and they sang the song of the old hero "Who kept the bridge so well:"

Then out spoke brave Horatius, the Captain of the Gate:
‘To every man upon this earth Death cometh soon or late.
And how can man die better than facing fearful odds,
For the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his Gods,

The gulf is cleared, but sealed and scared like these beneath us now and reminding of how great the sacrifice. The storm has passed, but many giants of the forest are laid low, and many trunks are torn and twisted and maimed and blasted. We can never chant in too lofty strains the praises of those who saved the nation. No body of men were ever more unselfish, more truly patriotic, more actuated by noble motives, less led by the love of gain, less goaded by ambition, less deluded by the phantom of glory. Glory! Why, here in or presence, beneath yonder monument, rest more than two regiments of your countrymen, whose very names are unknown yet, whose deeds were as noble, whose loss is as keenly felt, whose places are as hard to fill, and for whom as many tear drops fall as for any whose titles are cut in enduring bronze or sculptured marble. We come not here to mourn the loss of men like these. Fire no minute gun over their graves - toll no funeral bell. Rejoice, rather, that the nation has given birth to such sons. Deck their tombs with the crowns and garlands and laurel wreaths of victory - bid their children and ours mark well their example; and for ourselves, let us draw fresh inspirations of love for our land and for liberty, and seek from them lessons of deliverance from narrow party spirit, greed of gain and lust of power.

And first among these lessons these graves remind us that we have a country. This seemed once to be doubted. We were told by unfriendly nations, and ourselves repeated and half believed the charge, that we were such worshipers of gold that we had lost the love of country; that the very form of our Government had fostered State pride, and destroyed pride in the nation; that men loved party, but not their native land; that they hated their political opponents, but not their country's foes; that, boasting of our liberty, we were a nation of slaves; that our coin was a circulating falsehood, and our flag a flaunting lie. This reproach has been taken away forever; but the answer to the foul slander is found, not so much in the great uprising when Sumter fell - not so much in the flag of BARBARA FRITCHIE, and the thousands of waving banners that floated from loyal house-tops - not so much in gathering bands of armed men, or in the treasure freely offered - it is found here. If any man shall hereafter ask, "Do Americans love their country?" " Have we a nation?" from these mounds shall the question receive its final, conclusive, eternal answer - for if these men had no country, why are they here?

Another lesson, which we review to-day, is the oft-told tale of history, that no nation can live that is founded on wrong. There was a time when we refused to heed this warning; we stilled the voice of conscience and defied the voice of God; we sought in the virtues of our fathers to find excuse for their errors; we put union before right, and with the memory of dead compromises sought to shut out the knowledge of living wrongs. We failed. Not until we stood squarely upon right and liberty did success follow our banners. repenting of our sin, we live, while our foe, who clung to it, has perished. But we were slow to learn this lesson, and the teaching was sharp and terrible - how the young, the brave, the noble, the good, upon either side, were madly sacrificed that we might learn that "Right is Might, and Truth is God." For how many weary days and months and years the war dragged slowly on, while upon both sides men prayed with equal unction for Divine assistance. Both sides were wrong, and no help came to either. When we became right the fight was over. We were fighting for union - they were fighting for slavery. God meant that we should fight for liberty. Whatever statesmen may plan or armies try to execute,

"His truth goes marching on."

It is but a little while since these hills were a great fortification, resounding with the notes of war. Here, in long extended chain, around the seat of Government, stood the men who now, rank upon rank, rest behind the battlements which they built and manned. Then their living bodies protected the Capital of the Nation from the grasp of those who would have seized upon it with unhallowed hands - who would have withstood the will of the people and perverted the free institutions of the land. Those living lines were never broken - the city over which they kept watch and ward was never lost. Today they rest from their labors and hardships, but they remain at the post of duty - they sleep, but they sleep in line of battle, and sleep upon their arms. It seems as if in thy gray of morning, the long roll might break their slumbers and that a mighty host would fall in line and stand again to their guns; and in truth, not less dead than living are they a wall of defense. Let the man who wishes his country ill look well upon these grass-grown mounds. If there be one here who would still destroy what these have preserved, who would impair the right of self government, who would surrender the principles which have baptized in blood and purified by fire who would pull down the statue of liberty and set up a throne - let him look upo0n the shadowy forms of these soldiers of freedom and of the Republic as they form ranks again, again rush to the charge, again shout their war cry and again fall amid the din of strife; and remembering what history they have written, what people they represent, what mothers bore them, what fathers trained them, and what children they have left behind them - let him stay his hand and cry, with one who, like him, loved the bloody road to power: "By Saint Paul, shadows to-night have struck more terrors to the soul of Richard, than could the substance of ten thousand soldiers." For if the hand of treason should again be raised, and the living should stand aloof, it seems as if these graves would open and the dead come forth to shame them. There is yet another lesson which we many learn in this presence. That battle cry is no longer sounded. War's thunders have rolled muttering away, and skies are bright after the storm.

Our heroes are sleeping side by side with those whom they withstood in battle, and they sleep in peace. In the graves dead foes have stricken hands, and proclaimed a truce forever. Let the living strike hands also; for we are not enemies, but brethren. The nobler part of man may succumb to a temporary madness, but he is nevertheless a man; and when the cloud has passed away, he is to be restored to a man's loves and rights and privileges.

Brother, late our foe in battle, but brother still, this country was always our joint inheritance - this flag was always our joint banner. The glory of our past belongs to both of us. Our grandsires and our fathers stood side by side in battle - sat side by side in council. The glory of the future belongs to both of us; this purified land; this great united people; these broad acres, stretching from ocean to ocean, yet bound by a cord of commerce that made of oceans near neighbors, and of mountains level plains; this boundless wealth, this tireless energy, this hunger for progress, this thirst for knowledge - it is yours, it is ours, and no man ca take it from us. We alone can despoil and destroy the rich inheritance. Over brothers' graves let brothers' quarrels die. Let there be peace between us - nay, more, let there be love between us - that these swords that we have learned so well to use may, if ever used again, strike only at the common foe. In a few days assembled thousands in the City of the Pilgrims will sing anthems of peace. Let the song be taken up throughout the land - by the shores of the great lakes, by the waters of the Gulf, in the land of the loom and spindle, in the land of gold, on broad prairies, on sunny savanah - let the chorus again and again break forth, "Peace on earth, good-will toward men." We have had enough of war; too many widows' weeds are scattered in this throng - too many orphan children are gazing upon this scene. It was a just and righteous war. It was nobly fought and nobly won. Thank God it is over; and, let us hope, it will be revived only in memory. And now, we lay our tribute upon these tombs. To these, who rest beneath this tomb of the unknown, lost to fame but great in deeds, let us give our choicest flowers, - for here, unrecognized, may be the form of some stout soldier who stood in the critical hour when the fate of the nation hung trembling in the balance on some bloody field, and when to stand was to gain the victory. The forms of those whom he loved may not be with us to-day. They, alas, know not that he is here, but we know that all who rest in this spot or in yonder vast and beautiful camp of the dead, form a worthy part of the noble army of martyrs, whose epitaph is written "faithful until death."

Mother's Day Dinner at Jennie's Bordello Bistro & Pizzeria

Despite its name, this is a fine Italian restaurant in Jerome, Arizona. Once a rowdy mining town with an abundance of bars and real brothels, Jerome has found a new life as a thriving artist colony and tourist destination. While embracing the twenty-first century, the town's residents are not about to forget their past with the result that many current establishments still boast of their colorful past in their names and decor.



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Barbara Fritichie – A Woman Who Waved the Flag and Rallied the Nation

Barbara Fritichie (maiden name Barbara Hauer) was born in 1766 and died in 1862. She was friends with Francis Scott Key (author of the “Star Spangled Banner”).

According to legend, when Stonewall Jackson marched through her hometown of Fredrick Maryland in 1861 that Barbara Fritichie, a staunch supporter of the Union side in the war, waved the American flag out her bedroom window and defied the Confederate troops to make her stop.

In actuality, Barbara Fritichie was sick in bed that day and did nothing of the sort. A while later, when Union troops marched through the town, she did wave the flag to the cheering of the Union troops (it should be remembered that Maryland was a so-called border state where the sympathies of many lay with the Confederacy even though it was nominally allied with the Union cause and did not succeed like the other states of the Confederacy). Another woman had supposedly waved the American flag in front of Stonewall Jackson's troops, however, people soon came to associate Barbara Fritichie with that act and, without her knowing or encouraging it, the legend grew that she had not been the one. With the Union desperate for just this kind of patriotic act to inspire the public, the erroneous story was soon being spread far and wide.

In 1864, after Barbara's death, the poet John Greenleaf Whittier, believing the legend about her to be true, composed and published the following poem which added further fuel to the legend.

Just as Longfellow's poem about Paul Revere's midnight ride earned Paul Revere a place in our historical memory while William Dawes and Samuel Prescott, who accompanied Revere on his famous ride are all but forgotten, so too, did Whttier's poem serve to etch Barbara Fritichie in our historical memory.

Up from the meadows rich with corn,
Clear in the cool September morn,

The clustered spires of Frederick stand
Green-walled by the hills of Maryland.

Round about them orchards sweep,
Apple and peach tree fruited deep,

Fair as the garden of the Lord
To the eyes of the famished rebel horde,

On that pleasant morn of early fall
When Lee marched over the mountain wall;

Over the mountains winding down,
Horse and foot, into Frederick town.

Forty flags with their silver stars
Forty flag with their crimson bars,

Flapped in the morning wind; the sun
Of noon looked down, and saw not one.

Up rose old Barbara Frietchie then,
Bowed with her fourscore years and ten;

Bravest of all in Frederick town,
She took up the flag the men hauled down;

In her attic window the staff she set,
To show that one heart was loyal yet.

Up the street came the rebel tread,
Stonewall Jackson riding ahead.

Under his slouched hat left and right
He glanced; the old flag met his sight.

"Halt!" - the dust-brown ranks stood fast.
"Fire!" - out blazed the rifle-blast.

It shivered the window, pane and sash;
It rent the banner with seam and gash.

Quick, as it fell, from the broken staff
Dame Barbara snatched the silken scarf.

She leaned far out on the window-sill,
And shook it forth with a royal will.

"Shoot, if you must, this old gray head,
But spare your country's flag," she said.

A shade of sadness, a blush of shame,
Over the face of the leader came;

The nobler nature within him stirred
To life at that woman's deed and word;

"Who touches a hair of yon gray head
Dies like a dog! March on!" he said.

All day long through Frederick street
Sounded the tread of marching feet;

All day long that free flag tost
Over the heads of the rebel host.

Ever its torn folds rose and fell
On the loyal winds that loved it well;

And through the hill-gaps sunset light
Shone over it with a warm good-night.

Barbara Frietchie's work is o'er,
And the Rebel rides on his raids no more.

Honor to her! and let a tear
Fall, for her sake, on Stonewall's bier.

Over Barbara Frietchie's grave,
Flag of Freedom and Union, wave!

Peace and order and beauty draw
Round thy symbol of light and law;

And ever the stars above look down
On thy stars below in Frederick town!

Bringing Your Foreign Fiancee to the U.S.

Article describes process for bringing a foreign fiancee to the U.S. As more and more Americans meet and fall in love with foreign nationals it is important to know the process for legally bringing their fiancee to the U.S. to marry and live with them.



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Are You a Turtle?

Article about the Order of the Turtle, an informal fraternity of aviators whose only requirement of members is that when asked by a fellow Turtle "Are you a turtle" that they answer with the required response or buy a round of drinks. Walter Schirra and other early astronauts were asked this by colleagues during flight while the world was listenin



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Remembering Astronaut Wally Schirra

A short tribute, with photos and video links, to Walter Schirra, one of America's original 7 Mercury Astronauts who died at age 84 on May 3, 2007.



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Fiesta Cinco de Mayo

Contrary to what many people think, Cinco de Mayo, Spanish for the 5th of May, is not Mexican Independence Day (that holiday is celebrated on September 16th). Instead, Cinco de Mayo celebrates celebrates the victory of the Mexican Army over a vastly superior French force dispatched by the French ruler Napoleon III (Louis Napoleon) to make Mexico a French colony...read more | digg story

Titanic Passenger List Now On line

Copies of the original handwritten passenger list for the Titanic are now available on line and, for a limited time, can be viewed and downloaded for free.



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The Couch Potato Workout

Simple exercises you can do while watching TV.



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We Find David

Father's account of the first day he and his wife were introduced to the child they were about to adopt from abroad.



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Google's April Fool Prank

In recent years it has become common for the mainstream news media to produce an April Fools Day hoax story. Of course no matter how outlandish it is, large numbers of people believe the story. Credit for the first April Fools Day hoax story...read more | digg story

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre

According to the Bible, Christ was taken outside Jerusalem to a hill known as Golgotha, or Mt. Calvary as it is referred to now days, and put to death by crucification He was then buried in a nearby burial crypt. Today, the City of Jerusalem has spread far beyond its boundaries at the time of Christ and both Mt. Calvary and the burial crypt in which Christ was laid after being taken from the cross are located well within the confines of the modern city of Jerusalem. In fact a mere decade or so after the crucification...read more | digg story

Easter Eggs

Since ancient times, eggs have always been a symbol of life and fertility, with spring as the time when most birds in the wild lay eggs from which, a few weeks later with new little birds hatch. It is no wonder that eggs are closely associated with spring and often played a role in ancient spring festivals. Following the death and resurrection of Christ, early Christians began to link eggs, symbolically, with the resurrection thereby making it an Easter symbol. As Christianity spread, the egg became, in effect, a common link between the ancient pagan religions and the new Christian religion. Pagan traditions associated with eggs...read more | digg story

April Fools Day

The origins of April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day appear to be lost in time. Humor is a part of life and most people enjoy a good laugh. Of course life has its serious side as well and if no one took life seriously, not much would get done. So, as with other things that are needed to keep society running smoothly, customs and unwritten codes of behavior were developed. For serious things, laws were established with punishment, however, societies tend to operate in a more informal manner with rules enforced through social stigma rather than punishment. Since, as the old saying goes all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy (and the same for Jill), societies throughout history have made exceptions by having certain days or times when the normal rules are relaxed or suspended.

April Fools' Day appears to be one of these days when...

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Vacationing in Outer Space

Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic company plans to begin testing its SS2 space craft which he expects to begin offering tourist flights to space in 2009. Current cost is $200,000 which expected to fall as more competition enters the field.



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Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday is the sixth Sunday in Lent and the Sunday before Easter. It is celebrated in all major Christian churches - Roman Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox. In popular parlance it is called Palm Sunday because it commemorates the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. The Gospels describe how the crowds lined the route, spread palm branches on the road and waved palm leaves in their hands enthusiastically... read more

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Lady in Blue

Between myths behind which are verifiable facts and those that are so removed from the truth that they are just stories we occasionally find one that can be easily verified up to a point but, at its core is a mystery that cannot be explained. This is the case with the American Southwest's mysterious Lady in Blue.



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Why the Date of Easter Changes Each Year

Why Easter Sunday varies between late March and late April.



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Help rewrite the Oxford English Dictionary

The Oxford English Dictionary is the per-eminent dictionary of the English language. But as the language continues to grow so does the need to keep updating the OED. The OED in cooperation with the BBC TV is having a contest for people to try to find the earliest verifiable use of words on their list of words being researched.



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Death of Computer Pioneer John Backus

John Backus, who developed the first high level computer language, FORTRAN, in 1954 died on March 17, 2007 at age 82.



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Pack Rats

There are two legged and four legged varieties of pack rat. One clutters your home, the other ruins your car.



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Citizen of Both Ireland and America

Brief account about how dual citizenship works.



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St Patrick's Day

Brief history of this popular American holiday (when everyone becomes Irish for the day) and the saint it honors.



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Albert Einstein 1879 - 1955

Today, March 28, 2007 is the 128th anniversary of the birth of Albert Einstein one of the greatest astrophysicists of all time and a dominent figure of the 20th Century.

Born in Germany on March 14, 1879 to a Jewish family, Einstein grew up in Gremany but went to college in Switzerland where he remained after college. He later returned to Germany and taught college in Berlin. The rise of Hitler and the Nazi Party was not good for Einstein as he was both Jewish and openly critical of Nazi policies. Prudently, accepting a visiting teaching postion at Princeton University in the United States in 1932 removed him from the Nazi threat but he was considered a threat to the U.S. by J. Edgar Hoover's FBI. Fortunately, the FBI left him alone and he was available as a key figure in the Manhattan Project which built the atomic bomb that helped end World War II in the Pacific.

Einstein died on April 18, 1955, but his contributions to scientific knowledge live on.

Read the entry below about how Einstein's birthday, March 14th, coincides the the math holiday, Pi Day.

Pi Day - A Holiday for Math Geeks

A description of Pi Day - A holiday for Math lovers.



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Family Arts Festival in Tucson

Photo essay on Tucson, Arizona's annual Family Arts Festival.



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All Things Irish - Eamon de Valera

Brief biography of Irish revolutionary leader, Eamon de Valera.



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Spice up Your Oatmeal

Quick and tasty ideas for a hearty oatmeal breakfast.



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Quick and Easy Cinnamon Flavored Coffee

Rather than paying extra for cinnamon flavored ground coffee, here is an easy way to make it yourself.



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Oddities of English

Twenty funny sentences incorporating words with double meanings.



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Fiesta de los Vacqueros Rodeo Parade

Today is Rodeo Day in Tucson, Arizona. An annual event since 1925, the day starts off with the Fiesta de los Vacqueros Parade which ends at the Rodeo grounds and heralds the start of Rodeo Week in the city.


For additional information and photos of this annual event please see my articles about the rodeo on HubPages, on this blog last year and at the IgoUgo travel site.