Thanksgiving Day is a harvest festival celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Traditionally, it is a time to give thanks for the harvest and express gratitude in general. While perhaps religious in origin, Thanksgiving is now primarily identified as a secular holiday.
Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States and on the second Monday of October in Canada. Thanksgiving dinner is held on this day, usually as a gathering of family members and friends.
Giant balloons, floats, marching bands and clowns with confetti are part of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade held in New York.
This year, for the first time, the parade route bypassed Broadway, which cuts a diagonal slice through Manhattan, as it made its way south from the Upper West Side to the finish at Macy’s flagship store in Herald Square.
The new route traverses the grid of the city’s streets and avenues, includes turns around five corners, and is slightly longer than in previous years.
We may only have exactly 3 years and 1 month left… And what if it’s true? What if 21.12.2012 is the end of the world, the day we will “step into the darkness”?
The Long Count Calendar of the Ancient Mayans ends on Dec 21 2012. There isn’t much information regarding what the Mayans thought would occur in 2012, but the consensus of opinion is that there will be great change. To some people this means a positive, spiritual change. Others consider that a catastrophic event may have been predicted.
Astronomers and other natural scientists have rejected the apocalyptic forecasts, on the grounds that the anticipated events are precluded by astronomical observations, or are unsubstantiated by the predictions that have been generated from these findings. NASA likens fears about 2012 to those about the Y2K bug in 2000, suggesting that an adequate analysis should stem fears of disaster.
The movie 2012 is another disaster movie. We’ve seen a lot of those so far: Independence Day, Armaggedon, The Day After Tomorrow, War of the Worlds…
The special effects are fine but it is highly unlikely to see something like that live.
The disaster as depicted in the movie doesn’t scare me at all but the cause of such a disaster is believable. In fact the earthquake is what I fear the most.
I won’t mention the things that don’t fit into place. There are many and I don’t want this post to be a spoiler. But I don’t even know if I want to recommend this film…
Chelsea have been banned from registering any new players for the next two transfer windows in a shock move by FIFA after being found guilty of inducing a French teenager to breach his contract with another club.
Gael Kakuta, 18, joined Chelsea from Lens two years ago after which the French club lodged a complaint with FIFA.
Now FIFA’s dispute resolution chamber has ruled that Kakuta breached his contract with Lens and that Chelsea induced him to do so.
They now cannot make any signings until January 2011, while the player has been fined £682,000 and banned for four months.
FIFA said in a statement: “The French club had lodged a claim with FIFA seeking compensation for breach of contract from the player and requesting also sporting sanctions to be imposed on the player and the English club for breach of contract and inducement to breach of contract respectively.”
A wire-haired dachshund that held the record as the world’s oldest dog and celebrated its last birthday with a party at a dog hotel and spa has died at age 21 — or 147 in dog years.
The dog, named Chanel, died Friday of natural causes at her owners’ home in suburban Port Jefferson Station, on Long Island.
Chanel, as stylish as her legendary namesake, wore tinted goggles for her cataracts in her later years and favored sweaters because she was sensitive to the cold, owners Denice and Karl Shaughnessy said Monday.
The playful dachshund was only 6 weeks old when Denice Shaughnessy, then serving with the U.S. Army, adopted her from a shelter in Newport News, Va.
Along with her owner, Chanel spent nine years on assignment in Germany, where she became adept at stealing sticks of butter from kitchen countertops and hiding them in sofa cushions in the living room. She also liked chocolate, usually considered toxic to dogs.
“She once ate an entire bag of Reese’s peanut butter cups, and, you see, she lived to be 21, so go figure,” Shaughnessy said.
Karl Shaughnessy nominated Chanel for the title of world’s oldest dog after noticing the Guinness World Records book had no record.
Guinness World Records officials presented Chanel with a certificate as the world’s oldest dog at a Manhattan birthday bash hosted by a private pet food company in May.
Chanel loved the party, especially the cake, which had a peanut butter flavor and had been made for dogs.
“Dogs are God’s angels sent here to look out for us,” Denice Shaughnessy said.
A dog from New Iberia, La., named Max, is vying for the record of world’s oldest dog. Owner Janelle Derouen said Max marked his 26th birthday on Aug. 9. She said Guinness World Records officials were reviewing documents to authenticate his age; a Guinness World Records official in London didn’t immediately answer an e-mail from The Associated Press requesting confirmation of that.
La Federación Internacional del Automóvil (FIA) ha abierto una investigación sobre la victoria de Fernando Alonso en el Gran Premio de Singapur del año pasado.
En aquella carrera Alonso se impuso contra todo pronóstico tras salir desde la decimoquinta plaza de la parrilla. La salida del coche de seguridad en los primeros compases de la carrera por un accidente de su entonces compañero en el equipo Renault, el brasileño Nelson Piquet, cuando el español acababa de hacer su primer repostaje, fue crucial en su triunfo.
Entonces se llegó a decir que el accidente de Piquet fue deliberado y fruto de unas órdenes de equipo, pero el brasileño se apresuró a afirmar que no pudo evitar acabar contra el muro en la primera carrera nocturna de la historia.
“Fue un error. Teníamos dos estrategias muy extremas: una con Fernando muy corto (de combustible) y otra conmigo más largo con la esperanza de que saliera el coche de seguridad. Si no me hubiera accidentado me habría venido mejor un ’safety car’”, dijo entonces Piquet, que ya ha sido despedido como piloto de Renault y sustituido por el francés Romain Grosjean.
Según informa ‘Autosport’ se desconoce si la investigación de la FIA es fruto de una acusación directa de Piquet, enfrentado con su anterior escudería y en especial con su director, el italiano Flavio Briatore, o es una iniciativa propia de ese organismo.
El FC Barcelona se proclamó campeón de la Supercopa de Europa, la tercera de su historia, gracias a un gol del canterano Pedro en la prórroga que hizo cierta justicia, pues los blaugrana fueron superiores al Shakhtar Donetsk en un encuentro que, sin embargo, fue bastante aburrido debido a un ritmo de juego demasiado lento y por la actitud defensiva de los ucranianos.
5 títulos de 5 posibles: Copa del Rey, Liga Española, Liga de Campeones, Supercopa de España, Supercopa de Europa.
Con la llegada de Pep Guardiola al mando del equipo, el Barcelona pasó a la historia en la temporada 2008/09 tras conseguir el triplete (Liga, Copa y Copa de Europa). Guardiola en su debut en Primera División como entrenador, logró lo que Frank Rijkaard y Johan Cruyff no consiguieron en varios años. Con el triunfo en la final de Roma ante el Manchester United (2-0) el Pep Team consiguió el triplete, siendo el único equipo español en haber logrado tal hazaña, y pasando al selecto círculo de clubes europeos que lo han logrado antes (Celtic, Ajax, PSV y Manchester United).
Además el Barcelona se proclamó campeón de Europa contando entre sus filas con 7 canteranos titulares. El equipo de Pep Guardiola, además de alzarse con los tres principales títulos, logró superar las hazañas del Dream Team en cuanto a cifras conseguidas en Liga, batiendo varios récords de goles, partidos ganados como visitante.
Al inicio de la temporada 2009-10, el equipo ganó la Supercopa de España al imponerse al Athletic Club en ambos partidos. También logró la Supercopa de Europa al ganar al Shakhtar Donetsk por 1-0.(more…)
There was a time 40 years ago, right after the assassination of his brother Robert, when it looked like Edward Kennedy would become President someday by right of succession. The Kennedy curse, the one that had seen all three of his brothers cut down in their prime, had created for him a sort of Kennedy prerogative, or at least the illusion of one, an inevitable claim on the White House. For years he seemed like a man simply waiting for the right moment to take what everybody knew was coming his way.
Rose Kennedy wanted a family. Joe Kennedy wanted a dynasty. They both got what they wanted, but only for a time. Joe had made a fortune in film production, liquor, real estate and stocks. But he wasn’t just a businessman. In the scope of his ambitions and schemes, he was something out of Shakespeare. He married Rose in 1914, and as their children arrived, he formed the conviction not only that the boys belonged in public life but that one of them, maybe more than one, should be President of the United States.
This was the atmosphere that Ted was born into on February 22, 1932 – the last of the nine Kennedy children. But from the start, he had three elder brothers as a buffer between himself and the worst of the old man’s ambition for his sons. All the same, he grew up at some distance from his parents. Over the years, Joe and Rose had become increasingly estranged. Overweight and lonely, Ted was shuttled through a succession of boarding and day schools, but he grew into an athletic, good-looking teenager, one who ambled into Harvard, where Jack and Bobby had gone before him.
He hadn’t been at Harvard long before he screwed up in a way that would come back to haunt him years later. In his freshman year, Kennedy was having trouble with a Spanish class. There was a test coming up, and he needed to do well in order to be eligible to play varsity football the next year. With the encouragement of some of his buddies, Kennedy recruited a friend who was good at Spanish to take the exam in his place. The scheme backfired. The surrogate was caught, and both boys were expelled, though Harvard offered them the opportunity to be readmitted later if they showed evidence of “constructive and responsive citizenship.”
Ted had been in the Senate for less than a year when J.F.K. went to Dallas the day Lee Harvey Oswald was lying in wait. Jack’s death was more than a personal tragedy for Ted. It was a watershed. It put him one step closer to assuming the Kennedy burden, the perennial quest for the heights. It marked the beginning of his transformation into a true public figure. As a first measure, Ted devoted himself to ensuring the passage of legislation that had been important to his brother, especially the civil rights bill J.F.K. introduced the summer before his death. On June 19, Ted added his vote to the 73-to-27 majority that turned that bill into the historic Civil Rights Act of 1964. Then he headed to the airport to board a private plane that was to take him to the state Democratic Party convention in Springfield, Mass. But as the plane made its descent into a fogbound Springfield airport, it struck a row of trees and somersaulted across an orchard. The pilot, Ed Zimny, died at the scene. A Kennedy aide, Ed Moss, died a few hours later. Indiana Senator Birch Bayh and his wife Marvella, who were also on board, survived with minor injuries. Kennedy suffered a broken back and a collapsed lung.
What followed was a five-month recovery, mostly spent immobilized in a hospital bed, and a lifetime of back pain. Yet when he returned to the Senate the following year, Kennedy set to work with the energy that comes to a man who gets a second chance at life. It wasn’t long before Ted scored a victory on another of Jack’s unrealized goals, the reform of immigration quotas to allow more arrivals from nations outside Northern Europe. One year later, he secured federal support for neighborhood clinics, marking the first time he applied himself to the problem of health care, the signature issue of his public life.
Ted Kennedy, 1932-2009: The Brother Who Mattered Most
By Richard Lacayo
A finales de enero David Bisbal grabó en México, con el productor Armando Ávila, el tema Esclavo de sus besos, primer single de su nuevo trabajo de estudio.
Hace menos de un mes hizo publicó en su sitio web que el nuevo sencillo de su cuarto álbum sería Esclavo de sus besos. El pasado 13 de agosto, en la Ciudad de México y bajo la dirección de Ángel Flores, se rodó el videoclip de este primer single.
El 24 de agosto se lanzó a nivel mundial Esclavo de sus besos en la radio y el 28 de agosto lo cantará por primera vez en vivo, en el Madison Square Garden de Nueva York. Unos días más tarde, el 3 de septiembre, estrenará el vídeo y a finales de octubre su nuevo disco llegará a las tiendas.
Hurricane Bill became a dangerous Category 4 storm. Forecasters said Bill should begin pushing large swells toward Bermuda and parts of the southeastern U.S. coast by the weekend, but it wasn’t yet clear how close the storm will come to land.
Bill was maintaining a top wind speed of 135 mph Wednesday, and forecasters said it could get stronger. The storm’s center was located 380 miles east of the Leeward Islands — or more than 1,500 miles southeast of Miami — and it was moving west-northwest near 18 mph.
The most significant threat could be to Bermuda, which the storm could pass in three or four days. But it also could move directly between Bermuda and the eastern coast of the U.S. without making landfall.
The Beijing News, one of the Chinese capital’s best-selling newspapers, had a particular grievance with Mourinho after he criticized their reporter in the post-match press conference.
Asked why Lazio, playing on the same pitch and in the same searing heat that Mourinho had previously complained about, were able to win, the Portuguese rounded on her.
“After the first two questions, I know why Chinese football is so rubbish and why China has won gold medals in so many sports but not football, because the journalists are so unprofessional.”
Mourinho later expanded on the shortcomings of the Chinese media after a question from state news agency Xinhua, saying he could only conclude that they did not “understand a thing”.
The Chinese media responded by branding Mourinho arrogant and stories of other snubs and gibes circulated on the internet. On Monday, Inter posted a statement on their Chinese language website defending him against accusations that he would not meet China’s national team coach.
“José Mourinho today firmly denied the reports that he refused to meet China’s coach Gao Hongbo,” it read. “After Inter’s training in the Olympic Sports Centre on 5 August, Gao met and talked to Mourinho…”
Alice