6-year-old boy was killed, thrown into the Ohio River, police say. His mom is charged with murder.

CINCINNATI — A 6-year-old Ohio boy died after his mother attempted to abandon him in a park and then ran him over when he tried to get back in the car, court documents state.

The documents state Brittany Gosney, 29, tried to leave her son, James Robert Hutchinson, at a park in Preble County. Gosney reported the 6-year-old missing Sunday morning, but police said she later admitted what happened.

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White nationalists are once again using Christian symbols to spread hate

WASHINGTON – A screaming man with his fist raised, a Byzantine cross emblazoned in red on his T-shirt. A white flag with a lone green pine tree and the words "An Appeal to Heaven" fluttering over the angry crowd. The Christian flag whipping in the wind from a parked pickup.

Those images on display at the Jan. 5-6 rally and riot in Washington, D.C., have raised concerns that some of former President Donald Trump's most ardent and dangerous supporters, including groups such as the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, QAnon, 3 Percenters and America Firsters, are cloaking themselves in biblical language to justify their actions.

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Gina Carano fans cry ‘cancel culture’ in new Change.org petition

Fans of “The Mandalorian’s” Gina Carano are crying “cancel culture” in a new Change,org petition that demands Disney+ bring her back to the series.The petition urges Disney+ to keep Carano on in the role of Cara Dune in the hit Star Wars 

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United States Declaration of Independence

United States Declaration of Independence is a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain were now independent states, and thus no longer a part of the British Empire. Written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration is a formal explanation of why Congress had voted on July 2 to declare independence from Great Britain, more than a year after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. The birthday of the United States of America—Independence Day—is celebrated on July 4, the day the wording of the Declaration was approved by Congress.

After finalizing the text on July 4, Congress issued the Declaration of Independence in several forms. It was initially published as a printed broadside that was widely distributed and read to the public. The most famous version of the Declaration, a signed copy that is usually regarded as the Declaration of Independence, is on display at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Although the wording of the Declaration was approved on July 4, the date of its signing has been disputed. Most historians have concluded that it was signed nearly a month after its adoption, on August 2, 1776, and not on July 4 as is commonly believed.

The sources and interpretation of the Declaration have been the subject of much scholarly inquiry. The Declaration justified the independence of the United States by listing colonial grievances against King George III, and by asserting certain natural and legal rights, including a right of revolution. Having served its original purpose in announcing independence, the text of the Declaration was initially ignored after the American Revolution. Its stature grew over the years, particularly the second sentence, a sweeping statement of human rights:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

This sentence has been called "one of the best-known sentences in the English language" and "the most potent and consequential words in American history". The passage has often been used to promote the rights of marginalized groups, and came to represent for many people a moral standard for which the United States should strive. This view was greatly influenced by Abraham Lincoln, who considered the Declaration to be the foundation of his political philosophy, and promoted the idea that the Declaration is a statement of principles through which the United States Constitution should be interpreted.

Declaration of Independence

The first sentence of the Declaration asserts as a matter of Natural law the ability of a people to assume political independence, and acknowledges that the grounds for such independence must be reasonable, and therefore explicable, and ought to be explained.

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

The next section, the famous preamble, includes the ideas and ideals that were principles of the Declaration. It is also an assertion of what is known as the "right of revolution": that is, people have certain rights, and when a government violates these rights, the people have the right to "alter or abolish" that government.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

The next section is a list of charges against King George III, which aim to demonstrate that he has violated the colonists' rights and is therefore unfit to be their ruler:

Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Many Americans still felt a kinship with the people of Great Britain, and had appealed in vain to the prominent among them, as well as to Parliament, to convince the King to relax his more objectionable policies toward the colonies. The next section represents disappointment that these attempts had been unsuccessful.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

In the final section, the signers assert that there exist conditions under which people must change their government, that the British have produced such conditions, and by necessity the colonies must throw off political ties with the British Crown and become independent states. The conclusion incorporates language from Lee's resolution of independence that had been passed on July 2.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Everything You Need to Know About the Declaration of Independence

When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe .

Thomas Jefferson

The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.

Thomas Jefferson

It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world.

Thomas Jefferson

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.

Thomas Jefferson

My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.

Thomas Jefferson

No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.

Thomas Jefferson

The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.

Thomas Jefferson

To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson said in 1802:

I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property - until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.

1776

June 7 -- Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, receives Richard Henry Lee's resolution urging Congress to declare independence.

June 11 -- Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston appointed to a committee to draft a declaration of independence. American army retreats to Lake Champlain from Canada.

June 12-27 -- Jefferson, at the request of the committee, drafts a declaration, of which only a fragment exists. Jefferson's clean, or "fair" copy, the "original Rough draught," is reviewed by the committee. Both documents are in the manuscript collections of the Library of Congress.

June 28 -- A fair copy of the committee draft of the Declaration of Independence is read in Congress.

July 1-4 -- Congress debates and revises the Declaration of Independence.

July 2 -- Congress declares independence as the British fleet and army arrive at New York.

July 4 -- Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence in the morning of a bright, sunny, but cool Philadelphia day. John Dunlap prints the Declaration of Independence. These prints are now called "Dunlap Broadsides." Twenty-four copies are known to exist, two of which are in the Library of Congress. One of these was Washington's personal copy.

July 5 -- John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress, dispatches the first of Dunlap's broadsides of the Declaration of Independence to the legislatures of New Jersey and Delaware.

July 6 -- Pennsylvania Evening Post of July 6 prints the first newspaper rendition of the Declaration of Independence.

July 8 -- The first public reading of the Declaration is in Philadelphia.

July 9 -- Washington orders that the Declaration of Independence be read before the American army in New York

July 19 -- Congress orders the Declaration of Independence engrossed (officially inscribed) and signed by members.

August 2 -- Delegates begin to sign engrossed copy of the Declaration of Independence. A large British reinforcement arrives at New York after being repelled at Charleston, S.C.

1777

January 18 -- Congress, now sitting in Baltimore, Maryland, orders that signed copies of the Declaration of Independence printed by Mary Katherine Goddard of Baltimore be sent to the states.

Happy Independence Day! Let 'John Adams' provide the ceremonial reading

Resolution was voted on July 2nd, 1776. The document was dated July 4th. John Adams wrote a letter to his wife Abigail on July 3rd. Other than the date, I offer his words for your consideration today. Happy 4th of July. Enjoy the picnic. Applaud the fireworks. Hug your loved ones. Remember.

Since the vote was taken The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more. You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.

The words still have weight, though it’s sometimes difficult to appreciate the magnitude of their meaning when they’re being read at the family barbecue by your uncle who’s wearing a Kiss the Chef apron. Instead, I recommend re-watching the moment of independence from HBO’s 2008 miniseries, John Adams. As the representatives of the original colonies ponder separation from Great Britain, the political fire-breathing is over and the celebration is a long way’s off. As Adams (Paul Giamatti) tells Thomas Jefferson (Stephen Dillane) in an earlier scene, “We’re about to take a leap in the dark.”

What a masterful depiction of that crucial moment’s conflicting emotions. Each colony’s rep rises in the hall to vote on the course of revolution, and their faces convey the sense of, “Dear God, are we really going through with this?” Even when the Declaration is publicly announced, its primary fathers — Jefferson, Adams, and Benjamin Franklin (Tom Wilkinson) — ponder in silence. “What did we just do?” you can almost hear them thinking.

The scene is an important reminder that the United States was not inevitable, and that the loyalties of many early Americans were still complicated. The document closes with, “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.” There was no turning back, and for that courage, we thank our Founding Fathers on our Independence Day.

Gay Marriage Clash of Civil and Religious

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg plans to unveil a campaign to sell the most populous U.S. city as a gay-wedding destination after thousands marched to celebrate the state’s legalization of such marriages.

The “NYC I Do” campaign “will create millions of dollars in additional economic impact to the city’s $31 billion tourism industry,” Kimberly Spell, a spokeswoman for NYC & Company, the city’s marketing office, said yesterday in an e-mail. Bloomberg will unveil more details in coming days, she said.

Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a law June 24 to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples after the Republican- controlled state Senate approved it. Passage came about a month after a group of Democratic state senators issued a report finding New York stood to reap $391 million from areas including economic activity and tax revenue within three years.

With rainbow flags waving and throbbing dance music blaring, as many as 6,000 marchers in Manhattan’s annual Gay Pride parade celebrated yesterday. Once the law takes effect July 24, New York will become the sixth and most populous state to legalize same-sex marriage and more than double the number of Americans living in such states to 35 million.

Some saw the religious-based objections to gay marriage as mere pretext for deeper, and harder to express public antipathy towards homosexuality. And others, like Mohler, see the provisions as mere fig leaves for defecting conservatives who wanted cover for their votes n favor of marriage. But whatever their political uses, the religious protections point to one aspect of the New York vote that will resonate throughout the country as the issue advances elsewhere.

"There is certainly a religious liberty issue," Andrew Koppelman, the John Paul Stevens Professor of Law at Northwestern University, told TIME after the New York vote. And it's not just a question for the prelates of the world who might bristle at the idea of the state ordering up gay marriage, a prospect that sent Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York City into rhetorical overdrive in the days leading up to the vote. Individuals who deeply oppose gay marriage could find themselves pushed to participate in ways big and small — and for that reason the protections in the New York law could become important.

"The 'guy who runs the tuxedo shop' is trying to live his life in accordance with his most deeply held ideals, which is just what gay couples are trying to do," Koppleman says. "The fairly mild religious accommodations in New York law will somewhat ease conflicts of that sort, in a way that is unlikely to significantly injure any gay people.

Harold camping Family Radio

In 1961, Family Radio began the Open Forum program, a live weeknight call-in program that Camping hosts. Listeners call in primarily with questions about the meaning of certain passages from the Bible, and Camping answers them by means of interpretations, often with reference to other Biblical passages. Occasionally the questions pertain to general Christian doctrine, such as the nature of sin and salvation, and to matters of everyday life conduct, such as marriage, sexual morality, and education. This program has continued to the present time and is broadcast on the more than 150 stations owned by Family Radio in the United States. The Open Forum is also translated into many foreign languages and together with other Family Radio programming is broadcast worldwide via shortwave station WYFR, a network of AM and FM radio stations, a cable television station, and the Internet.

Family Radio runs various programs on its radio stations. Programs that do not conform to Camping's understanding of the Biblical principle of comparing scripture with scripture (1 Corinthians 2:13) are normally removed from programming upon discovery. Before Camping started teaching that the "Church Age" had ended, programs produced outside of Family Radio were welcome provided they did not accept any "extra-Biblical revelation", and were associated with teachings accepted by the historic Christian faith. Now Camping refuses any ministry associated with the organized church. These programs can be heard by radio, satellite, television, short wave and Internet broadcasts.

His organization also utilizes numerous low-power television signals, for example WFME-TV digital television channel 66 in the New York City area. As of April, 2009, that transmitter has been configured to send out ten separate subchannels, with the first (66-1) carrying the main video at a low quality 480i, the second and third (66-2 and 66-3) sending out a blank video image and, respectively, carrying the audio of "Family Radio East" and "Family Radio West". The other seven have no video and are a mix of different audio content, mostly of a religious nature, and NOAA Weather Radio on 66-9.

Losing virginity before marriage

Modern English, fornication is a term that typically refers to consensual sexual intercourse between two people not married to each other. For many people, the term carries a moral or religious association. Fornication is regarded differently by various religions, societies and cultures. The definition is often disputed. In modern usage, the term is often replaced with the more secular terms premarital sex, sex before marriage or extramarital sex.

The laws on fornication have historically been tied with religion and the legal and political traditions within the particular jurisdiction. Laws differ greatly from country to country. Most Western countries and some secular Muslim countries like Turkey and Azerbaijan have no laws against fornication if both parties are above the age of consent.

Christianity

In English translations of the Bible, the exact translation of πορνεία (porneia) in the New Testament is not entirely clear; while Vine's Dictionary of New Testament Words translates it into English as fornication, it may also have the alternate meaning of sexual immorality. In Biblical Greek, the word porneia meant "sexual immorality" or "sexual perversions." It was often used as a blanket term to encompass all sexual activity outside of marriage and even sexual thoughts (i.e. sexual lust/fantasies) that were considered unrighteous by the Old Testament laws of Leviticus, in particular Leviticus 18, including: incest, bestiality, and "lying with a man as with a woman.. See also Biblical law in Christianity.

Etymology

It is common belief that the origin of the word derives from Latin. The word fornix means "an archway" or "vault" and it became a common euphemism for a brothel as prostitutes could be solicited in the vaults beneath Rome. More directly, fornicatio means "done in the archway"; thus it originally referred to prostitution.

The first recorded use of the noun in its modern meaning was in 1303 AD, with the verb fornicate first recorded around 250 years later.

Mother's Day: Honor lasts

U.S. moms may get dinner in a restaurant for Mother's Day, but they say they are honored on Mother's Day for no more than 5-10 minutes, a survey indicates.

A survey of 1,690 U.S. mothers for The Mom Complex -- a global think tank that inspires, enables and challenges moms and marketers to better understand each other -- indicates that on Mother's Day, mom is supposed to come first, 40 percent of American mothers say their husband and children come first on Mother's Day.

The card has a flower drawn by the student and the face of the flower is a button with their child’s picture and a banner wishing them a Happy Mother’s Day.

“When I first came here we started collecting aluminum cans and if we made a gift or bought something for our moms, we didn’t have to ask Mom for money,” first-grade teacher Jan Dickerhoff said. “So we collect aluminum cans and use that money to buy what we need.” While she does have a little help from a friend who takes the children’s pictures and creates the buttons for them, the gift is otherwise completely made by the students.

What do I want for Mother’s Day? Just two simple things - sunshine and just a few hours of peace to enjoy my kids and not have to worry about anything. My mother used to say when it was sunny on Mother’s Day that “God was smiling on mothers today” and I said “God smiles on mothers every day.” After all, isn’t it every day we get to enjoy the gifts of motherhood?

Hugs are a great environmentally friendly choice this Mother’s Day. Depending on the donor, they can be organic, vegan, and full of love.

Happy Mother’s Day to all!

Mother's day celebrations in Dallas

What an amazing way to celebrate my 10th Mother's Day! Watching my own story on the big screen! Whew, I'm glad I already have the evening gown I'll need for the premiere. I bought it for the day my husband and I renewed our vows to celebrate our new commitments to each other as parents. My only complaint about the movie trailer is that there's too much focus on me. Really it's an ensemble cast, as it was in real life.

Real change, big change, is built upon relationships and the belief that together we can do things none of us could do alone. I've found that this applies in spades to mothers -- and fathers.

So the main ingredient to celebrate Mother's Day is, of course, a mother, but from there, where you go is up to you.

Is your mother the sort who wants to wander through iris fields? Determine her own omelette destiny at a Mother's Day brunch? Take a carriage ride?

We suggest you ask her what she wants assuming you haven't already because there are lots of things to do in Salem and beyond this weekend.

DALLAS — No stranger to "best" lists, The Grape on Greenville Avenue in Dallas made a national list of Top 10 Mother's Day Brunch Spots compiled by Gayot for MSN.com.

The Grape is first on the list, followed by nine other notables around the country such as A Voce Columbus in New York, Bluehour in Portland, Ore., Zuni Cafe in San Francisco, and Michael's in Santa Monica.

Of The Grape, the writeup says: "totally unpretentious and casual, this European-style bistro is the kind of place we'd all like to have in our neighborhood," and acknowledges the restaurant's Texan roots "with dishes like the jalapeno-cheese biscuit with fried chicken and cheddar.

ANGELINA COUNTY,

He came home from war, giving Angela Russell the Mother's Day gift of a lifetime.

"He ran into the house as I was running to the door," Russell said. "We met each other at the door and he grabbed me up and I was very excited."

After 10 months in Afghanistan and a year away from home, Gage Richey is reunited with his mom.

"It was probably the greatest feeling in the world coming off the plane, back in the states after being over there," Richey said.

The U.S. Army private first class joined the army two years ago, just months after graduating from Central High School.

Mother's day celebrations in Jacksonville, Florida

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -The Okefenokee Swamp Fire continues to grow and has surpassed 25,000 acres.

Mothers Day will heat up as a heat wave builds into the area. Highs will reach 90 in many inland locations and even the beaches will see highs in the middle to upper 80s with a sea breeze pinned to the coast with a southwest wind near 10 mph. Most of the smoke will be in Southeast Georgia on Mother's Day.

Actress Hallie Foote, who is in Jacksonville for rehearsals of Players by the Sea's production of her father's play "Dividing the Estate," will be doing a book signing today at The BookMark in Neptune Beach.

She'll sign copies of two memoirs written by her father, the late Horton Foote, who won two Academy Awards for his screenplays and the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for his play "The Young Man from Atlanta."

Hallie Foote will sign copies of "Farewell" and "Beginnings" from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the bookstore, located at 220 First St. in Neptune Beach.

If you’re a mom, and you plan on eating at Hooters on Mother’s Day, have I got a deal for you.

Hooters of America LLC is offering all moms a free order of 10 chicken wings May 8. The offer is on the honor system, the company said in a news release, so moms need not bring their children along as proof.

The offer is good on dine-in orders only and there is a limit of one order per mom.

Mother's day celebrations in Austin, Texas

Celebrate Mother's Day

Love Lollies. Eat My Words returns to Sherway Gardens for its Mother’s Day fundraiser Saturday, May 7 from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. with hand-crafted Love Lollies as well as cupcakes and brownies. Profits go to the Stephen Lewis Foundation. Courtesy/SHERWAY GARDENS

Mother's Day is Sunday (yes, a few days from now) and in case you don't have tickets to the various now sold out events across the city, here are a few ideas to show mom how much you appreciate her.

Austin, TX, May 07, 2011 --(PR.com)-- With Mother's Day on Sunday, the editors of DVD and Blu-ray website DiscDish.com didn’t want to celebrate by guessing which films mothers might like best. Instead, they’re asking mothers what they really like to watch — and so far, the films have some surprises.

Nine DiscDish.com writers asked their mothers to reveal their three favorite films and explain why. Interestingly, all the moms chose different movies. As expected, many of the moms picked romantic comedies, such as 1999’s "Notting Hill" and 1942’s "Once Upon a Honeymoon," and romance films, including 1965’s sweeping epic "Doctor Zhivago" and 1987’s "Dirty Dancing.

Warm, sunny Mother’s day weekend on tap

Austin is in for a warm and mostly sunny Mother’s day weekend, with highs near 90, according to the National Weather Service.

Today, the high is slated to reach 86 degrees with relatively calm winds, the service said. Tonight, we’ll see a chance for drizzle and a low of 63, the service said. We could also see a wind gusts of up to 20 miles per hour.

We’ll see temperatures climb slightly as we move further into the weekend. Windy conditions will continue, with gusts of up to 25 miles per hour on Saturday and Sunday.

Tomorrow, the high is slated to reach 91, the service said. The low that evening will be 70, the service said.

Sheffield Half Marathon and Sheffield's Great Fun Run,May 8th 2011

Race's starting and finish line area is the city's famous Don Valley Stadium, the home of both the Sheffield Eagles Rugby League Football Club and the Rotherham United Football Club. From there, runners head out on an out-and-back course that runs in a roughly southwest direction on the outward route, and a roughly northeast direction on the return route. Runners will encounter long straightaway stretches along Brightside Lane and Princess Street in the race's early going, followed by numerous twists and turns through the neighborhoods as the course winds its way toward and through Sheffield's city center.

The hilliest stretches of the race -- which unfolds entirely over paved surfaces throughout -- occur in the middle section of the race, between mile markers 4 and 9. The course reaches its peak elevation around the mile 8 marker (at Fitzwilliam Street) at a height of about 300 feet above sea level; the race's low point, which occurs in the first and last three miles or so of the race, is just under 150 feet above sea level.

Runners in the half marathon will have a three-hour limit in which to complete the race's 13.1 miles, after which time a race bus will come along to pick up any stragglers or those having trouble finishing in the time allotted. For runners who don't feel up to running the half, the race also offers a 3K "Great Fun Run," which is open to all ages, including wheelchair competitors and "fancy dress," which means it welcomes runners in costume.

2010 RACE RESULTS

The 2010 race this year was won by Andrew Pearson of Longwood Harriers in a time of 1hr 7m 4s

The women's race winner was Natalie Farrow of Lincoln and Wellington AC with a time of 1hr 23m 24s

Full Results

Yorkshire Men's results

Yorkshire Women's resuts 

South Yorkshire Men's resuts 

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Day of the Dead

Day of the Dead'  Día de los Muertos). The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. It is particularly celebrated in Mexico, where it attains the quality of a National Holiday. The celebration takes place on October 31st through November 3rd, in connection with the Catholic holidays of All Saints' Day (November 1) and All Souls' Day (November 2). Traditions connected with the holiday include building private altars honoring the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed and visiting graves with these as gifts. The Day of the Dead is a time of celebration when eating and parties are common.This holiday is similar to All Saints Day.

Scholars trace the origins of the modern Mexican holiday to indigenous observances dating back hundreds of years and to an Aztec festival dedicated to a goddess called Mictecacihuatl. In Brazil, Dia de Finados is a public holiday that many Brazilians celebrate by visiting cemeteries and churches. In Spain, there are festivals and parades, and, at the end of the day, people gather at cemeteries and pray for their dead loved ones. Similar observances occur elsewhere in Europe, and similarly themed celebrations appear in many Asian and African cultures.

In popular culture

Literature

The novel Under the Volcano (1947) by Malcolm Lowry takes place on this day in a fictionalized Cuernavaca, Morelos.

The science fiction novel Necroville (aka Terminal Cafe (US)) by Ian McDonald is set on the day before and during a future Day of the Dead, in a time when the dead are reanimated by nanotechnology.

Ray Bradbury's novel The Halloween Tree (1972) includes an explanation of the holiday as part of a greater worldwide tradition and features a Mexican sugar skull as a plot device.

The character of Death in the novel Candy Skulls by McKenzie Maclaine refers to Day of the Dead being the only time when death is honored instead of feared.

Barbara Hambly's novel Days Of The Dead (2003) climaxes on this day in 1835.

Film

The film Once Upon a Time in Mexico, directed by Robert Rodriguez, takes place in the days leading up to the Day of the Dead, culminating in numerous acts of violence on the holiday itself.

The Tim Burton film Corpse Bride (2005) shows a scene where town people are surprised to discover their deceased loved ones among calaca-like characters and thus take the opportunity to reunite again and have a family moment with the departed. This is reminiscent to similar beliefs that are the basis for the Mexican Day of the Dead celebration.

The movie Assassins has a scene that takes place during a Day of the Dead procession crossing the streets of San Juan, but this is inaccurate since the procession is not celebrated in Puerto Rico.

The film The Crow: City of Angels takes place in a fictionalized version of Los Angeles during the Day of the Dead celebration. Sugar skulls and tribute altars are referenced, and the film's climax takes place during a large Day of the Dead street party.

In the movie Blood In Blood Out the members of the jail gang "La Onda" selects the Day of the Dead as the date to exterminate their rival racial jail gangs.

Games

The computer game Grim Fandango (1998) relies heavily on Day of the Dead imagery, with most characters resembling calaca-like figurines. The plot spans four consecutive years from one November 2 to another.

The computer game World of Warcraft added in 2009 an in-game event with the same name and similar unique items related to this celebration, only accessible between November 1 and 2.

In the video game LittleBigPlanet, one of the arcs of the main storyline has a Day of the Dead theme. Oddly, this arc is set in South America rather than in Mexico.

Social Media

A calavera with crossed crutches and a helmet is used as the logo for the Facebook page Derby Hurts, which is an on-line community for injured roller derby skaters. Furthermore, some Latina skaters use Día De Los Muertos imagery as their regalia.

Television

The first episode of the Adult Swim series The Venture Bros., "Dia de Los Dangerous!", takes place on this day. Hank and Dean Venture purchase sombreros and sugar skulls, and then Hank describes the events to their father, who has just given a lecture to a very small audience, due in part to the holiday.

The Nicktoons Network animated series El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera, has an episode dedicated to the Day of the Dead, "The Grave Escape," in which Manny and Frida, after ridiculing the celebration and eating Manny's ancestor's ofrendas, discover that Sartana of the Dead has summoned an army consisting of the dead that had been forgotten. During their fight with the enraged beings, the two are transported into the Land of the Dead, where they meet Manny's ancestors.

On the seventh episode of Community, Annie hosts a Day of the Dead party for extra credit in her Spanish class.

Beliefs

People go to cemeteries to be with the souls of the departed and build private altars containing the favorite foods and beverages as well as photos and memorabilia of the departed. The intent is to encourage visits by the souls, so that the souls will hear the prayers and the comments of the living directed to them. Celebrations can take a humorous tone, as celebrants remember funny events and anecdotes about the departed.

Plans for the day are made throughout the year, including gathering the goods to be offered to the dead. During the three-day period, families usually clean and decorate graves; most visit the cemeteries where their loved ones are buried and decorate their graves with ofrendas ("offerings"), which often include orange mexican marigolds (Tagetes erecta) called cempasúchitl (originally named cempoalxochitl, Nahuatl for "twenty flowers").

In modern Mexico, this name is sometimes replaced with the term Flor de Muerto ("Flower of the Dead"). These flowers are thought to attract souls of the dead to the offerings.

Origins

The Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico can be traced back to the indigenous cultures. Rituals celebrating the deaths of ancestors have been observed by these civilizations perhaps for as long as 2,500–3,000 years. In the pre-Hispanic era, it was common to keep skulls as trophies and display them during the rituals to symbolize death and rebirth.

The festival that became the modern Day of the Dead fell in the ninth month of the Aztec calendar, about the beginning of August, and was celebrated for an entire month. The festivities were dedicated to the god known as the "Lady of the Dead", corresponding to the modern Catrina.

Parsons table

Parsons table was designed by Jean-Michel Frank whilst he was working at Parsons Paris School of Art and Design, then known as the Paris Atelier. While the form is generally credited to Parsons The New School for Design in New York City, according to an article in The New York Times that referred to archives at the Parsons School, the table was developed out of a course taught at the Paris Atelier by the French designer Jean-Michel Frank in the 1930s.

As the article states, "Frank challenged students to design a table so basic that it would retain its integrity whether sheathed in gold leaf, mica, parchment, split straw or painted burlap, or even left robustly unvarnished. What grew out of Frank's sketches and the students' participation was initially called the T-square table ... " The first example, as recalled by Parsons instructor Stanley Barrows, was constructed by the school's janitor and displayed at a student show.

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) exhibition in 2009-2010 presented the "Bauhaus 1919 to 1933", the entire course of the Bauhaus. A "Parson's" table, noted as a Children's table and chairs by Marcel Breuer, is documented in a photograph dating the table to 1923.

Parsons tables are often intended for use as modern or contemporary furniture, and their striking design has made them popular as coffee tables, dining tables, side tables, and occasional tables. Less-expensive versions are also available that can be easily stacked or disassembled and reassembled. Most are typically made of wood, metal, or plastic, and they are frequently employed in interior furnishings as well as patio or even lawn furniture.

Nude recreation

Nude recreation refer to recreational activities which some people engage in in the nude. Such activities can take place in private spaces, such as in a person's own property or in a naturist context, but also in public areas. Activities in which people engage in the nude include hiking, running (in some contexts this is referred to as streaking), swimming, cycling and yoga. More passive activities include sauna, hot springs, and sunbathing, such as at a nude beach.

When such activities take place in a public context, they are subject to laws and social attitudes to public nudity. Most nude recreational activities take place in private places, such as naturist resorts, and when on public lands participants try to be discreet to minimize any potential discomfort it might bring to an accidental passerby. Some public places have been set aside for the use of those who wish to engage in recreational activities in the nude, such as nude beaches.

European nudist culture

In the Nordic countries, with their sauna culture, nude swimming in rivers or lakes was a very popular tradition. In the summer, there would be wooden bathhouses, often of considerable size accommodating numerous swimmers, built partly over the water; hoardings prevented the bathers from being seen from outside. Originally the bathhouses were for men only; today there are usually separate sections for men and women.

Motivation

People participate in activities in the nude for various reasons. Many consider nude out-of-door activities to have health benefits. They point to health benefits of sunlight for some skin conditions and the body's production of vitamin D. Some nude proponents argue that those who take part in nude activities are often more relaxed about their nudity and body image.

Away from their private property, many people have the first experience of a clothes-free recreation activity at a nude beach, at a friend's place in the woods, or a party on the shore or skinny dipping.

Recreational nudity is generally associated with the naturist movement, though some people participate in activities without membership of naturist clubs or adherence to the naturist philosophy.

Swimming and sunbathing

Nude swimming and sunbathing are the most common nude recreational activities. These can take place in the privacy of a person's backyard or pool or that of a friend, at a naturist facility or at a clothes-optional beach. It is not uncommon for private clubs to have nude swimming on a male-only or a female-only basis. Other water activities in which some people engage in the nude include snorkeling, diving, canoeing or kayaking (sometimes called canuding).

World Naked Bike Ride

Since 2004, World Naked Bike Rides have taken place all over the world involving thousands of people. These take place in mostly western cities, where cyclists ride either partially or totally nude in a light-hearted attempt to draw attention to the danger of depending on fossil fuels.

Naked bungee jumping

The performer Billy Connolly is reported to have done the 134m Nevis Bungee Jump naked, during his 2010 World Tour. Nevis, near Queenstown, New Zealand and other jumps in the area appear to waive the change for nude participants.

Quotes

Body Acceptance is the idea, Nude Recreation is the way. -Lee Baxandall. Popular motto of The Naturist Society

Every civilized nation has nude beaches. That's a mark of a civilized nation. -Lee Baxandall from video: The Beginner's Guide to Skinny Dipping. The Naturist Society. Fast Forward Images, Inc. 1991.

Child labour in India

LOf 12.6 million children in hazardous occupations, India has the highest number of labourers in the world under 14 years of age. Although the Constitution of India guarantees free and compulsory education to children between the age of 6 to 14 and prohibits employment of children younger than 14 in any hazardous environment, child labour is present in almost all sectors of the Indian economy Companies including Gap, Primark, Monsanto etc have been criticised for using child labour in either their operations in India or by their suppliers in India.

Silk manufacture

Human Rights Watch estimates that at least 350,000 bonded children are employed by the silk industry in India. As per Human Rights Watch, children as young as five years old are employed and work for up to 12 hours a day and six to seven days a week. Children are forced to dip their hands in scalding water to palpate the cocoons and are often paid less than Rs 10 per day.

Domestic labour

Official estimates for child labor working as domestic labor and in restaurants is more than 2,500,000 while NGOs estimate the figure to be around 20 million. The Government of India expanded the coverage of The Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act and banned the employment of children as domestic workers and as workers in restaurants, dhabas, hotels, spas and resorts effective from October 10, 2006.

Construction

The misuse of adult labor can be found in the construction industry too. adults are found in construction of both home and office buildings. In 2011, for the construction of the Asian Games care house, the contractors had employed adults, for they had to be paid more, making it a small issue.

Brick kilns

Each year, thousands of children are rescued from brick kilns, working in awful conditions. Some of the children are actually sold to the brick kiln owners, and are not paid.

Initiatives against child labour

In 1979, the Indian government formed the Gurupadswamy Committee to find about child labour and means to tackle it. The Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act was enacted based on the recommendations of the committee in 1986. A National Policy on Child Labour was formulated in 1987 to focus on rehabilitating children working in hazardous occupations. The ministry of Labour and Employment had implemented around 100 industry-specific National Child Labour Projects to rehabilitate the child workers since 1988.

Beedi manufacture

A survey conducted between 1994 and 1995 revealed that child workers comprise of more than 30% of total hired workers in the beedi manufacture sector . The United States Customs Service subsequently banned the import of Beedis made in Ganesh Beedi Works of Mangalore

Diamond industry

In 1997, the International Labour Organization published a report titled Child Labour in the Diamond Industry, claiming that child labour is highly prevalent in the Indian diamond industry, as child labourers constitute nearly 3% of the total workforce and the percentage of child labourers is as high as 25% in the diamond industry of Surat. The ICFTU further claimed that child labour was prospering in the diamond industry in Western India, where the majority of the world's diamonds are cut and polished while workers are often paid only a fraction of 1% of the value of the stones they cut.Pravin Nanavati, a Surat-based diamond businessman argued that, since high cost diamonds could easily be lost or broken while cutting or polishing, employing a child labourer would mean risking "lakhs of rupees" and “Around 8-10 years back, some western countries deliberately created the impression that child labour is prevalent in the Indian diamond industry" and called the boycott for monopolising in the sector. The South Gujarat Diamond Workers Association secretary Mohan Dhabuwala, argued that while child labour is highly prevalent in the construction and hotel industries, there are few child labourers in the diamond industry of Surat, less than 1% according to their surveys, mainly because of stern punishments and penalties for violation of child labour laws.

In 1998, Madhura Swaminathan from the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research argued that economic growth in Western India was associated with an increase in the number of child workers over the last 15 years and that children work at simple repetitive manual tasks that do not require long years of training or experience in low-paying hazardous works that involves drudgery and forecloses the option of school education for most children.

Legislation

The Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act (1986) bans employment of children in occupations related to

Transport of passengers

Manufacture and selling of crackers and fireworks

Abattoirs

Carpet weaving

Manufacture of Beedi,cement, matches, explosives, soap, slate pencils, agate products, agarbatti etc

Building and construction industry

Hazardous processes under the factory act

Brick kilns etc

The violation of the act can result in punishments ranging from imprisonment for one month to two years.

Non Governmental Organizations

Many NGOs like CARE India, Child Relief and You, Global march against child labor etc have been working to eradicate child labour in India. In 2005, Pratham, an Indian NGO was involved in one of the biggest rescue operations when around 500 child laborers were rescued from zari sweatshops in North East Delhi