In God We Trust!
By Cheree Zamarra
Spartanburg SC
August 10, 2009
Editor’s Note: This was sent to us by one of our readers, I would like to share it with you. I hope you like, it gives us a lot to think about.
We would like to know what you think? dan@youngchronicle.com
A little Biblical Humor to Start the Day…..
Q. What kind of man was Boaz before he married Ruth ?
A. Ruthless
Q. What do they call pastors in Germany ?
A. German Shepherds.
Q. Who w as the greatest financier in the Bible?
A. Noah He was floating his stock while everyone else was in liquidation.
Q. Who was the greatest female financier in the Bible?
A. Pharaoh’s daughter.. She went down to the bank of the Nile and drew out a Little prophet.
Q. What kind of motor vehicles are in the Bible?
A. Jehovah drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden in a Fury. David ‘s Triumph was heard throughout the land. Also, probably a Honda, because the apostles were all in one Accord.
Q. Who was the greatest comedian in the Bible?
A. Samson . He brought the house down.
Q. What excuse did Adam give to his children as to why he no longer lived in in Eden ?
A. Your mother ate us out of house and home.
Q. Which servant of God was the most flagrant lawbreaker in the Bible?
A. Moses. He broke all 10 commandments at once.
Q. Which area of Palestine was especially wealthy?
A. The area around Jordan . The banks were always overflowing.
Q. Who is the greatest babysitter mentioned in the Bible?
A. David He rocked Goliath to a very deep sleep.
Q. Which Bible character had no parents?
A. Joshua , son of Nun.
Q. Why didn’t they play cards on the Ark ?
A. Because Noah was standing on the deck. (.)
PS… Did you know it’s a sin for a woman to make coffee?
Yup, it’s in the Bible. It says . . ‘He-brews’
KEEP SMILING!!!! GOD LOVES YOU BUNCHES AND BUNCHES !!!!
Friends are God’s way of taking care of us.
Hero of the Week – Steven Carter
By Dan Samaria
Publisher/GCC
August 10, 2009
Editor’s Note: Each Week we will be Honoring people or groups that are making a difference in helping others especially during this tough times in America.
When we as Americans are put through a test, we come out in flying colors on the other side.
We would like to know what you think? And if you know someone or group that we can Honor. You can contact us at dan@youngchronicle.com
This week we will be honoring: Steven Carter. Here is his story:
“Lots of people ask me why I make the drive from Missouri to Tennessee every other week to donate platelets. It’s simple. Knowing that I’m helping a child is the greatest pleasure I can get.”
Many years ago, a boy from my hometown in Missouri went to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for treatment. As a result of his experiences, I learned about the great research and clinical care that occurs at the hospital. After he passed away, I wanted to find a way to give back to St. Jude. I began donating money and, since I had just moved to Memphis, I also began donating platelets at the hospital’s Blood Donor Center.
Even though I later relocated to Mississippi and then to Missouri, I knew I needed to continue helping the children. So, for the past seven years, I have returned to Memphis every two weeks to donate platelets.
Lots of people ask me why I make that drive from Missouri to Tennessee so often. It’s simple. Knowing that I’m helping a child is the greatest pleasure I can get.
Ever since I began donating, I’ve been encouraging my friends and relatives to tour St. Jude and donate platelets. Some have taken me up on the offer; some haven’t, but I spread the word as much as I can.
The donation process is actually enjoyable. I walk in with a big, old smile, and everybody in the Blood Donor Center greets me. Then I go through the interview process. They check my iron and take my temperature. Then I climb into an easy chair, put on my headphones and watch TV while I donate.
It’s not hard. You could sit at home for an hour or so watching a movie on TV. Why not spend that time at St. Jude donating platelets—knowing that you’re helping a child in need?
The drive home is always great. I go home with a smile, knowing that I’ve helped somebody. I never have a bad day when I come to St. Jude.
Since I’ve spent so many hours in the St. Jude Blood Donor Center, I’ve had the chance to meet a few of the children who come in there to receive platelets. Those kids are far stronger than I am. They always have a smile on their faces.
No matter where I am in the country, I’ll continue to come back every other week. My message to you is this: Please help! The children of St. Jude need as much help as they can get.
Every day St. Jude performs about 15 to 25 platelet transfusions for children undergoing treatment at the hospital. If the St. Jude Blood Donor Center does not have enough donated platelets, it must purchase them at a cost of $500 to $700 per unit.
By donating platelets at St. Jude, you can help a child while helping the hospital save money. If you plan to be in the Memphis area, why not consider making an appointment to donate? Simply call (901) 595-2024 or dial toll-free 1-866-2STJUDE (278-5833), ext. 2024
Source: St. Jude Hospital
International Coastal Cleanup
By HG Kids
August 5, 2009
Editor’s Note: This article was first Published Oct 5, 2007. We think it is worth repeating. About 150 volunteers came out in Washington, D.C. for the International Coastal Cleanup. Photo Courtesy Ocean Conservancy
We would like to know what you think? dan@youngchronicle.com
Eleven-year-old Cammy Holmes tramped along the shores of Washington, D.C.’s Anacostia River with her big sister and a friend. Wearing gloves to protect their hands, they filled a garbage bag with everything from fishing line and dirty plastic bottles to old grocery bags.
The girls, and about 150 others volunteered in the International Coastal Cleanup, an annual event that raises awareness of the importance of keeping the world’s waterways and oceans clean.
The cleanup was sponsored by an organization called the Ocean Conservancy that works to protect ocean animals and their homes. Unfortunately, a lot of trash never makes it into a trash can. It blows on the wind, and travels down streams and rivers to the sea.
Trash isn’t just ugly—it can be dangerous for creatures that live in the water. Every year, plastic trash like old fishing gear, shopping bags, and food wrappers kills one million sea birds and 100,000 marine mammals and sea turtles.
Sometimes these animals get tangled up in garbage and die. Sometimes they eat trash that chokes or poisons them. Sea turtles, for example, mistake plastic bags for the jellyfish they love to eat.
At the Anacostia River, Cammy helped the volunteers pick up 2,380 pounds (1079.5 kilograms) of trash in just a few hours along three miles (4.83 kilometers) of shoreline.
“When you hear about a coastal cleanup you think, gross, you have to pick up trash,” says Cammy. “But then you get there and find out it is actually fun! I liked meeting all the other people and helping out the environment.”
This one-day event has an important message 365 days of the year: “We are all connected to the ocean. You can help keep the ocean clean by putting trash in the right place. Take the extra time to put your snack wrapper in the garbage can instead of throwing it on the ground, and recycle everything you can,” says Sonia Besteiro of the Ocean Conservancy.
Fast Facts:
- In the past 21 years, volunteers with the International Coastal Cleanup have cleared millions of pounds of litter from 211,460 miles (340,312 kilometers) of coastline worldwide. That distance is the equivalent of going around the Earth eight times!
- In 2006, 358,617 volunteers cleaned 34,560 miles (55,619 kilometers) of shoreline, collecting 7 million tons of trash!
- In the 2007 cleanup, nearly half a million people in 70 countries pitched in.
Text by Catherine Clarke Fox
Editor’s Note: Here is a game for kids called “Water Life. Help Valerie and her otter pal Oscar save Oscar’s estuary home, and find out why estuaries and all waterways are important. Play Waterlife, a new game from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration game.
Play WaterLife on the NOAA website
Source: Kids National Geographic
Fading Fireflies Fewer Glowing Bugs
By Laura Leigh Davidson
August 4, 2009
Fireflies. Lightning bugs. Glow worms. These are all names for the tiny flying insects that light up lawns from Asia to the United States. For as long as anyone can remember, kids around the world have spent warm summer evenings catching and admiring fireflies.
But your backyard may not be as bright with lightning-bug light as it used to be. Scientists believe the firefly population is dwindling, and they want to know why. The trouble is, the twinkling bugs are somewhat of a mystery.
“There’s not a lot known about fireflies,” Don Salvatore, a science educator at the Boston Museum of Science told The Washington Post recently. He said that to really understand the things that affect firefly populations, scientists need to track firefly levels in many areas over several years.
To get the most information possible, Salvatore and scientists from Tufts University near Boston, Massachusetts, organized a citizen-science project called Firefly Watch. In a citizen-science project, volunteers team up with professional researchers to answer questions about real-world science.
The project is simple. Researchers are asking people to count, in a given time period, the fireflies that they see in their backyards or in a nearby field once a week. Participants then send their findings to scientists through the Firefly Watch Web site. Experts will use the information that volunteers collect to track firefly population and health.
Why Is Firefly Flicker Fading?
Scientists believe that firefly numbers are falling because the bugs are sensitive to changes in their environment. Buildings and parking lots have taken over the open fields where fireflies like to live.
They also think that lots of artificial light from street lamps and houses could be driving fireflies away. The research gathered by Firefly Watch will help experts find out for sure what is causing the apparent drop in the population.
You Can Be a Citizen-Scientist!
People who work at the National Children’s Museum in Maryland thought kids would love to participate in Firefly Watch. So they created www.readysetglow.org, a Web site that is just for kid citizen-scientists. The site explains how to join Firefly Watch, and is packed with firefly facts and games.
Scholastic Kid Reporter Caitlin Wardlow is participating in the firefly count. “It was cool to sit outside and watch the fireflies light up the night,” said the 10-year-old from Connecticut. “[On my first try], I counted 20 fireflies in 10 seconds.”
To participate, you have to register online (with an adult) on the Firefly Watch Web site. Then you’ll need to answer basic questions about where you will be observing fireflies. Then you will spend a few minutes once a week recording the number of fireflies that you observe.
Caitlin has already discovered new things about these insects of summer. “I learned that fireflies are actually a type of beetle,” she reports. “Also, I found out that I am no longer grossed out by them!”
Fireflies continue to glow in many places through mid-September. So you still have time to get outside and watch the firefly action!
Source: Scholastic News Online
Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think? dan@youngchronicle.com
Enric Sala, Marine Ecologist and National Geographic Emerging Explorer
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By NGK
August 3, 2009
Editor’s Note: Dr. Enric Sala is a marine ecologist who studies everything from microbes to sharks. Find out what he daydreams about, what he was like as a kid, and how you can save the coral reefs!
We would like to know what you think? dan@youngchronicle.com
Q: What were you like as a kid?
Sala: Restless! In the summer, I could not wait to wake up and go out and explore the little forest nearby, the meadow, and the coves on the Spanish Mediterranean coast.
Q: Do you have a hero?
Sala: When I was a kid Jacques Cousteau was my hero, and the person who inspired me to become an underwater explorer. I have many other people who inspired me after him, but he is still my all-time hero.
Q: What do you daydream about?
Sala: About being underwater, diving among sharks and beautiful corals in crystal clear tropical waters.
Q: How did you get into your field of work?
Sala: When I was a kid I spent my summer on the Spanish Mediterranean coast and had a chance to spend a lot of time swimming in the shallows and looking at marine life through my mask. Also, watching Jacques Cousteau’s movies truly inspired me to become an underwater explorer. My dream was to dive with my heroes in the Seven Seas and discover new wonders.
Q: Explain what a marine ecologist is.
Sala: A marine ecologist is a scientist who studies the many species that live underwater and how they interact with each other, and with humans.
Q: What’s a normal day like for you?
Sala: When I am at sea, I wake up early, have a quick breakfast and jump in the sea as soon as I can! I dive and collect data underwater three or four times every day, and after the dives I prepare the gear for the next dive, enter the data I collected in the laptop computer, and try to not forget to eat something! After dinner, I am so exhausted that I collapse in bed until the next morning.
Q: What do you do for fun or to be silly?
Sala: My job is fun all the time! We try to joke and laugh as much as we can, even underwater! Sometimes I think I don’t need a vacation because I do what I like to do. I am very fortunate!
Q: What’s the best place you’ve ever traveled to?
Sala: Kingman Reef, a virgin coral reef in the middle of the Pacific Ocean that is full of sharks and beautiful corals… and no people!
Q: What’s the best piece of advice anyone ever gave you that you can share with others?
Sala: Follow your heart!
Q: Have you ever touched coral? What does it feel like?
Sala: I have touched coral, and it feels hard like a rock, with a little slimy thing on top of it. But it is better to not touch coral, to prevent damaging it.
Q: What would you suggest we do to help save coral?
Sala: There are so many things kids can do, as well as adults! Keep trying to help preserve the environment in general. Ask your parents what they are doing to save energy and recycle. Also, make sure that the seafood you eat is sustainable, and you will start a chain reaction.
Q: What’s the one thing you can’t travel without? (Or what’s the most important item you take on your explorations?)
Sala: My fins, mask, and snorkel.
Q: What’s your favorite sea creature and why?
Sala: The sharks, because they are the top predators, the tigers of the sea, and they make sure that the reefs are clean and healthy.
Q: What’s the one thing you can’t travel without? (Or what’s the most important item you take on your explorations?)
Sala: My fins, mask, and snorkel.
Q: What’s your favorite sea creature and why?
Sala: The sharks, because they are the top predators, the tigers of the sea, and they make sure that the reefs are clean and healthy.
Source: Kids National Geographic
Who Were Our Presidents? Part 2
by Dan Samaria
Publisher/YC
August 4, 2009
Editor’s Note: How many of us along with our children? KNow who our Presidents were and what they have done in Office.
Each week we will pick a President and tell you about them and their accomplishes.
We hope that you will enjoy this series. And let us know what you think? dan@goldcoastchronicle.com
2. JOHN ADAMS 1797-1801
Learned and thoughtful, John Adams was more remarkable as a political philosopher than as a politician. “People and nations are forged in the fires of adversity,” he said, doubtless thinking of his own as well as the American experience.
Adams was born in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1735. A Harvard-educated lawyer, he early became identified with the patriot cause; a delegate to the First and Second Continental Congresses, he led in the movement for independence.
During the Revolutionary War he served in France and Holland in diplomatic roles, and helped negotiate the treaty of peace. From 1785 to 1788 he was minister to the Court of St. James’s, returning to be elected Vice President under George Washington.
Adams’ two terms as Vice President were frustrating experiences for a man of his vigor, intellect, and vanity. He complained to his wife Abigail, “My country has in its wisdom contrived for me the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived.”
When Adams became President, the war between the French and British was causing great difficulties for the United States on the high seas and intense partisanship among contending factions within the Nation.
His administration focused on France, where the Directory, the ruling group, had refused to receive the American envoy and had suspended commercial relations.
Adams sent three commissioners to France, but in the spring of 1798 word arrived that the French Foreign Minister Talleyrand and the Directory had refused to negotiate with them unless they would first pay a substantial bribe. Adams reported the insult to Congress, and the Senate printed the correspondence, in which the Frenchmen were referred to only as “X, Y, and Z.”
The Nation broke out into what Jefferson called “the X. Y. Z. fever,” increased in intensity by Adams’s exhortations. The populace cheered itself hoarse wherever the President appeared. Never had the Federalists been so popular.
Congress appropriated money to complete three new frigates and to build additional ships, and authorized the raising of a provisional army. It also passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, intended to frighten foreign agents out of the country and to stifle the attacks of Republican editors.
President Adams did not call for a declaration of war, but hostilities began at sea. At first, American shipping was almost defenseless against French privateers, but by 1800 armed merchantmen and U.S. warships were clearing the sea-lanes.
Despite several brilliant naval victories, war fever subsided. Word came to Adams that France also had no stomach for war and would receive an envoy with respect. Long negotiations ended the quasi war.
Sending a peace mission to France brought the full fury of the Hamiltonians against Adams. In the campaign of 1800 the Republicans were united and effective, the Federalists badly divided. Nevertheless, Adams polled only a few less electoral votes than Jefferson, who became President.
On November 1, 1800, just before the election, Adams arrived in the new Capital City to take up his residence in the White House. On his second evening in its damp, unfinished rooms, he wrote his wife, “Before I end my letter, I pray Heaven to bestow the best of Blessings on this House and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise Men ever rule under this roof.”
Adams retired to his farm in Quincy. Here he penned his elaborate letters to Thomas Jefferson. Here on July 4, 1826, he whispered his last words: “Thomas Jefferson survives.” But Jefferson had died at Monticello a few hours earlier.
Editor’s Note: President John Adams accomplished very little in his presidency:
-supported clay’s American system and wanted the federal government to play a lager role in supporting the American economy.
– proposed a national program to build roads and canals and a high tariff to protect industry.
-also planned to set up a national university and an observatory for astronomers in Washington, D.C.
lacked the political skill to push his programs through congress.
He also killed himself while in office.
Source: White House
Reading To your Children Very Important
By Creative Years News
August 3, 2009
Has anyone ever stopped to ask, “Why are those early childhood teachers always gathering the children in a group to read?” In most early childhood classrooms at any given time of day an observer will notice a group of children quietly listening as the classroom teacher reads a book aloud. This is common practice in many pre-primary classrooms. The answer to the above question is not, “we don’t have anything else to do.” The answer is, “this is what we have to do.”
Reading aloud to children is so commonplace in the classroom that sometimes it can become an undervalued activity; however, when you stop to see the benefits you will wonder why the entire day isn’t devoted to such activity. When children are gathered together to listen to a story they know there are expectations: they need to listen, they need to wait their turn if the teacher asks questions and they need to respect their peer’s thoughts and ideas.
Children learn that reading can be a collaborative activity as well as an independent one. When read alouds are done properly, children gain much more than just the mere excitement of a new story. Children learn that an author writes the words and an illustrator draws the pictures. They come to understand that books convey meaning and words put together tell a story. Children learn that knowing how to read is important, but that getting there is half the fun.
A story can be told through pictures and knowing this allows children to gain confidence in the ability that, “yes, I can read too!”
While reading in the classroom is part of the everyday routine it is something that should also be continued at home. Studies show that when families place value on reading children also come to value this activity as opposed to those children who are only exposed to books at school. Reading in the home should begin during infancy. Using board books with young children is a great way to allow them to handle the books without worrying about ripped pages. As children get older consider incorporating the following into your reading routine:
- Introduce the author and illustrator. Getting in the habit of telling your child who wrote the book as well as drew the pictures provides the knowledge they need to specifically express the authors and illustrators they enjoy. I will never forget when my 16 month old grabbed a book from his shelf and said, “Look Mommy! Dr. Seuss!” At this moment he was so excited to be able to share his enthusiasm and I was so proud and amazed that he knew the author of the book!
- Take a picture walk. Before reading any words go through the pages and briefly examine the pictures. See if you can tell what the story might be about by simply looking at the illustrations. As your child gets older the picture walks can become more involved by looking for specific clues such as examining facial expressions or the placement of objects.
- Begin to read. Reading with younger children will require a quicker pace as their attention span is shorter. Gauge their interest and let that set the tone for how long you will spend on each page. As children get older more time can be spent examining the pictures and asking questions.
- Don’t confuse reading with comprehension! We sometimes assume that as we read the story our children understand the plot development. It is so important to ask your child questions throughout the book to gain a sense for how much they comprehend. Think ahead a few years to those wonderful standardized tests your child will take and you will immediately realize the importance and value for building strong comprehension skills now.
- Make mistakes! When reading, if you don’t make a mistake naturally, feel free to pronounce a word incorrectly or skip a word or two. Then simply say, “Oops, I made a mistake. Let me try again.” Children need to know that adults make mistakes too.
- Allow your child to choose books that are of interest to them. As parents we have our favorites and sometimes we try to impart those books onto our children. The problem with this is that if they are not interested they are not going to enjoy the experience. If your child wants to choose Margaret Brown’s, Goodnight Moon, for the millionth time, then so be it. Maybe you institute a rule where the reading adult chooses one book and the listening child chooses another. This allows for exposure to new books while still satisfying the craving for the old.
- Share reading responsibility among all the readers in the house. Read alouds should be done by everyone in the family. This is not a solely “mom” or “dad” activity. This is especially important for families who have boys. Studies show that boys who grow up having only been read to by the females in their lives are less likely to enjoy reading later on. It is important for children to experience reading by mom, dad and other readers (i.e. siblings, grandparents).
- Routine, routine, routine. When reading is part of your daily routine it naturally fits into your everyday life. Most often reading is done during the bedtime routine, but it can certainly be done at other times during the day. Reading can be a breakfast or dinner activity. The time of day does not matter as much as the making a time in the day.
- Parents should demonstrate their own interest in reading. It is important for children to see their parents or other family members reading for enjoyment. When we take time to read whether it be a novel or the daily newspaper children gain the perspective that everyone can enjoy reading.
- Have fun! Make reading time fun. It should never be viewed as a chore by either parent or child. Make this a special time valued by all.
Source: Creative Years
Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think? dan@youngchronicle.com
Children Protection from the Sun
By Creative Years News
August 3, 2009
As a reminder, for sun protection we ask parents to apply sunscreen to their child before coming to school. We then reapply each time we go outdoors. We ask that parents provide their child with a bottle of sunscreen along with a hat.
Just a few serious sunburns can increase your child’s risk of skin cancer later in life. Kids don’t have to be at the pool, beach, or on vacation to get too much sun. Their skin needs protection from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays whenever they’re outdoors.
- Seek shade. UV rays are strongest and most harmful during midday, so it’s best to plan indoor activities then. If this is not possible, seek shade under a tree, an umbrella, or a pop-up tent. Use these options to prevent sunburn, not to seek relief after it’s happened.
- Cover up. Clothing that covers your child’s skin helps protect against UV rays. Although a long-sleeved shirt and long pants with a tight weave are best, they aren’t always practical. A T-shirt, long shorts, or a beach cover-up are good choices, too—but it’s wise to double up on protection by applying sunscreen or keeping your child in the shade when possible.
- Get a hat. Hats that shade the face, scalp, ears, and neck are easy to use and give great protection. Baseball caps are popular among kids, but they don’t protect their ears and neck. If your child chooses a cap, be sure to protect exposed areas with sunscreen.
- Wear sunglasses. They protect your child’s eyes from UV rays, which can lead to cataracts later in life. Look for sunglasses that wrap around and block as close to 100% of both UVA and UVB rays as possible.
- Apply sunscreen. Use sunscreen with at least SPF 15 and UVA and UVB protection every time your child goes outside. For the best protection, apply sunscreen generously 30 minutes before going outdoors. Don’t forget to protect ears, noses, lips, and the tops of feet.
Take sunscreen with you to reapply during the day, especially after your child swims or exercises. This applies to waterproof and water-resistant products as well.
Follow the directions on the package for using a sunscreen product on babies less than 6 months old. All products do not have the same ingredients; if your or your child’s skin reacts badly to one product, try another one or call a doctor. Your baby’s best defense against sunburn is avoiding the sun or staying in the shade.
Keep in mind, sunscreen is not meant to allow kids to spend more time in the sun than they would otherwise. Try combining sunscreen with other options to prevent UV damage.
Too Much Sun Hurts
Warning: Even a few serious sunburns can increase your child’s risk of getting skin cancer.
Turning pink? Unprotected skin can be damaged by the sun’s UV rays in as little as 15 minutes. Yet it can take up to 12 hours for skin to show the full effect of sun exposure. So, if your child’s skin looks “a little pink” today, it may be burned tomorrow morning. To prevent further burning, get your child out of the sun.
Tan? There’s no other way to say it—tanned skin is damaged skin. Any change in the color of your child’s skin after time outside—whether sunburn or suntan—indicates damage from UV rays.
Cool and cloudy? Children still need protection. UV rays, not the temperature, do the damage. Clouds do not block UV rays, they filter them—and sometimes only slightly.
Oops! Kids often get sunburned when they are outdoors unprotected for longer than expected. Remember to plan ahead, and keep sun protection handy—in your car, bag, or child’s backpack.
Source: Creative Years
Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think? dan@youngchtonicle.com
Who Were Our Presidents?
by Dan Samaria
Publisher/YC
August 1, 2009
Editor’s Note: How many of us along with our children? KNow who our Presidents were and what they have done in Office.
Each week we will pick a President and tell you about them and their accomplishes.
We hope that you will enjoy this series. And let us know what you think? dan@youngchronicle.com
First President GEORGE WASHINGTON 1789-1797
On April 30, 1789, George Washington, standing on the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York, took his oath of office as the first President of the United States. “As the first of every thing, in our situation will serve to establish a Precedent,” he wrote James Madison, “it is devoutly wished on my part, that these precedents may be fixed on true principles.”
Born in 1732 into a Virginia planter family, he learned the morals, manners, and body of knowledge requisite for an 18th century Virginia gentleman.
He pursued two intertwined interests: military arts and western expansion. At 16 he helped survey Shenandoah lands for Thomas, Lord Fairfax. Commissioned a lieutenant colonel in 1754, he fought the first skirmishes of what grew into the French and Indian War. The next year, as an aide to Gen. Edward Braddock, he escaped injury although four bullets ripped his coat and two horses were shot from under him.
From 1759 to the outbreak of the American Revolution, Washington managed his lands around Mount Vernon and served in the Virginia House of Burgesses. Married to a widow, Martha Dandridge Custis, he devoted himself to a busy and happy life. But like his fellow planters, Washington felt himself exploited by British merchants and hampered by British regulations. As the quarrel with the mother country grew acute, he moderately but firmly voiced his resistance to the restrictions.
When the Second Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia in May 1775, Washington, one of the Virginia delegates, was elected Commander in Chief of the Continental Army. On July 3, 1775, at Cambridge, Massachusetts, he took command of his ill-trained troops and embarked upon a war that was to last six grueling years.
He realized early that the best strategy was to harass the British. He reported to Congress, “we should on all Occasions avoid a general Action, or put anything to the Risque, unless compelled by a necessity, into which we ought never to be drawn.” Ensuing battles saw him fall back slowly, then strike unexpectedly. Finally in 1781 with the aid of French allies–he forced the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown.
Washington longed to retire to his fields at Mount Vernon. But he soon realized that the Nation under its Articles of Confederation was not functioning well, so he became a prime mover in the steps leading to the Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia in 1787. When the new Constitution was ratified, the Electoral College unanimously elected Washington President.
He did not infringe upon the policy making powers that he felt the Constitution gave Congress. But the determination of foreign policy became preponderantly a Presidential concern. When the French Revolution led to a major war between France and England, Washington refused to accept entirely the recommendations of either his Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, who was pro-French, or his Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, who was pro-British. Rather, he insisted upon a neutral course until the United States could grow stronger.
To his disappointment, two parties were developing by the end of his first term. Wearied of politics, feeling old, he retired at the end of his second. In his Farewell Address, he urged his countrymen to forswear excessive party spirit and geographical distinctions. In foreign affairs, he warned against long-term alliances.
Washington enjoyed less than three years of retirement at Mount Vernon, for he died of a throat infection December 14, 1799. For months the Nation mourned him.
Editor’s Note: Here is one of the items that Washington is well known for by the readers of answer.yahoo.com.
He nominated the first members of the Supreme Court led by the first Chief Justice John Jay.
He signed a number of Bills setting much of the foundation of the country, including such as:
To regulate the time and manner of administering certain oaths.
First tariff act placing duties on imports as a protective measure of domestic industries.
First federal navigation act imposing duty on the tonnage of vessels.
State Department created as Department of Foreign Affairs.
First federal bond issued to authorized to refund domestic and state debt.
Department of War created.
Treasury Department created.
Office of Attorney General created.
First ten amendments to the Constitution enacted by Congress (the Bill of Rights).
First copyright law signed.
The ship the Columbia (under Captain Gray) returned to Boston, completing first around the world trip under the U.S. Flag.
Bank of the United States chartered.
District of Columbia established.
First internal revenue act.
Presidential secession act enacted.
U.S. Mint established.
President Washington vetoed apportionment bill.
Peace Treaty signed with Wabash and Illinois Indians.
Cornerstone laid at White House.
Handled the Whiskey Rebellion in Western Pennsylvania.
Miami Indians defeated at Fallen Timbers.
Treaty signed with Great Britain to settle terms of peace, amity, commerce, navigation, boundary claims, and extradition.
Eleventh Amendment ratified.
Treaty of Peace and Amity with Algiers signed.
First National game law approved.
Treaty with the Six Nations concluded.
Treaty of peace, friendship and navigation signed with Tripoli.
Next Week: #2 President John Adams
Source: White House Yahoo
Conservationist J. Michael Fay
by Anne A McCormack
July 30, 2009
Mike Fay, conservationist and NG Explorer-in-Residence, has survived an elephant attack, contracted malaria, walked over 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) across central Africa in the Megatransect, and completed an 11-month journey through the redwoods trekking another 1,800 miles (2,897 kilometers). Find out what he was like as like as a kid and what he does for fun.
NG Kids: What were you like as a kid?
Fay: I grew up in Pasadena, California in this neighborhood with lots of kids called Hastings Ranch, which was in the foothills, adjacent to the San Gabriel Mountains wilderness area. …That was our playground that vast wilderness behind the house, which was literally all the way to the Colorado River.
So I think that’s where I started wandering and I also had the good fortune of having an older brother, he was ten and I was like six, and he probably had friends that were 12 or 13. So we were just the rowdy kids out there doing our “Little Rascals” kind of thing.
We spent a lot of time back in those woods exploring and wandering around out there building forts and growing up. Pretty much my whole childhood that’s all I did.
I remember taking guitar lessons, when I was eight or something…and I went to the first lesson, which happened to be on a Saturday morning. And I am sitting there in this school building thinking to myself, ‘what am I doing sitting inside on Saturday.’ That was my first and last guitar lesson. And I was back in the woods.
When I was about 13, we moved back east to New Jersey of all places, so you think that it’s all done, but I already had this wanderlust. I started fly fishing a lot and started riding my bike west of where we lived and there was plenty of woods and wild spaces there. So I continued my wandering. But I also started to get into technical fly fishing, where you learn all the aquatic insects, I became much more of a naturalist rather than just a punk wandering around the woods.
I was always interested in all the species….We knew all the snakes, all the lizards, all the newts, the fish, but when I moved to New Jersey it became much more formalized. I started guiding fly fishing at a camp up in Maine, so I got to spend summers in Maine when I was 14 and 15, and that was kind of my first formal wilderness experience and making it a profession as a fishing guide.
NG Kids: Do you have a hero or did you when you were young?
Fay: When I was young, it was [Henry David] Thoreau. He wrote two books that I read–one called The Maine Woods and another was called Cape Cod. And both of those places I had spent summers in junior high and they were very well-written naturalist type of books rather than philosophical like Walden. I remember being in Cape Cod and my friend’s mother asked me what I wanted to do with the rest of my life, and I said I wanted to just camp out and be outside. And she was laughing at me and saying, ‘You’ll grow up someday!’ Here I am 53 and it hasn’t happened yet.
Later on and certainly today, in terms of leadership and knowing what’s important on the planet, [it’s] Teddy Roosevelt. If every U.S. president since Roosevelt was as conservation-minded as he was, this world would be a very different place. He hasn’t been followed by a single president who recognizes the importance of managing resources like he did.…He could see the wholesale destruction of the redwoods and wildlife on the western plains and all these things that shocked him. So he woke up to the fact that if we didn’t do something, the money changers of the world would pretty much liquidate every single natural resource we had very quickly.
NG Kids: What do you daydream about?
Fay: All I think about 24/7—well, I think about girls once in a while—I spend most of my time thinking about conservation and natural resource management. And I am kind of a nerd that way, because I don’t have any real hobbies beyond that. I am not into anything else except making the human race recognize and help to manage the natural resource base more efficiently than we do.
I am still working a lot in Africa, and concentrating on Chad and few other places in central Africa, like Mozambique and Sudan, and a few off the beaten track places, and really still focused on this North American rain forest. I started with the redwoods, but I fully intend to walk the entire North American rain forest in the next five years.
I might do it in two pieces, maybe three pieces, but I am going to continue from the end of the redwood transect north and get a complete view of ….what’s going on out there from an ecosystem wide perspective… knowing all the species and learning about the ecological processes so that you can talk with authority about what’s going on.
NG Kids: What’s a normal day like for you?
Fay: Normal day? I would say on the average, I am usually outside walking, somewhere. Here in Alaska, I have my place out in the woods, and I will be exploring far and wide locally, over the next few months. But if you look at the past year as an example—we are in July now—so in July of last year, I was finishing up the redwood transect. I had been walking for a whole year, 11 months, 1,800 miles (2,897 kilometers), and camping out. So over the last ten years, I probably slept in a bed maybe 50 times. So I do sleep in a bed once in awhile, but not very often.
And after that walk, I went to Chad for about a month-and-a-half to survey elephants there. Another thing I do a lot besides walking is flying. So I spent about month and a half with our project in Chad shoring up Zakouma National Park. We just got an airplane there.
Then I went back to the redwoods and worked for a month or two and then went on a long haul back to Chad and did an aerial survey there and counted all the elephants—we went from 3,020 elephants in 2006 to 617 elephants in 2009. It was a major drop, it was shocking, but the good news is that since the airplane showed up, we have only reported 25-30 deaths.
And then I went to Mozambique and did a foot survey there for about a month in the Maputu Elephant Reserve, which is a place that needs better management and I am getting involved there.
Then I went to the Southern Line Islands with Enric [Sala] and did the terrestrial survey on those islands. That was two months.
So this past year, I have walked about five months—in an off year when I am not doing a long walk—and then I have spent about two months in an airplane.
NG Kids: How many pairs of shoes did you go through in a year?
Fay: Actually you’d be surprised. I wear these Chaco sandals whenever possible… If I buy a pair of Chacos and wear them constantly I can put about 2,000 km on a pair of Chacos, that means about 6 months so—about two pair a year is just fine. I figure 140 bucks a year is worth my investment in my primary vehicle.
NG Kids: What do you do for fun or to be silly?
Fay: Well to have fun, I walk. That is my greatest enjoyment that I could ever have, even more so than flying. Being able to go places where I haven’t been before is the most fun, because of the way I walk. I record information the whole way—I am piecing things together. It’s like a big puzzle for me….So I just walk and walk and walk and walk, and I have my notebook. I am recording information about trees, how big they are and the stumps, and the roads and the wildlife …but you piece together this whole puzzle as you are walking along. It’s really fun. So that is what I do for fun.
To be silly, I have to think about that one. I joke around a lot with people and I wouldn’t say play with people, but I like to see people’s reaction to this and that. I guess I am too serious. But I enjoy every day of life.
NG Kids: What is the best advice anyone has given you that you can share with us?
Fay: My mother wouldn’t agree, but it was my sixth grade teacher. His name was Mr. Royce. He was one of these completely unconventional teachers in a very conventional school system that spent a lot of his time bringing kids outside.
So we would go out at night and do astronomy, go kick around the local quarry to look for fossils, or go down to the rivers and look for amphibians, and it was about all the natural sciences, not just about wildlife.
He basically said don’t listen to anybody when they try to tell you that you should do something different from what you want to do. And you will find yourself doing something because you want to rather than because you have to. If you keep on that path, you find that you will never have to do what you don’t want to do, I believe….I just made the choice between having something that I might want, or being who I want to be, and I take the latter. If you do without, then you get what you want.
So Mr. Royce’s advice was don’t even listen to those guys, do what you think is right and you’ll end up much better off, and much happier.
NG Kids: What can’t you travel without?
Fay: Normally it’s a pocket knife and a lighter and a pair of shoes. For instance the last trip I took I was away for almost four months. So I leave California and I have a little day pack, and I have my computer in there, and a few other things. And in my back pack I had a tent, ‘cause I was going to Africa and tents have mosquito netting. I have a sleeping mat for rain and not for comfort, because if it rains, you are off the ground. So normally if it doesn’t rain, I don’t inflate it. I like sleeping on the ground. And I have a sleeping bag, and a pair of shorts, a t-shirt, my [sandals], and a raincoat, and a hat—and my lighter, my pocketknife, and a GPS, and a notebook.
NG Kids: How many notebooks have you filled in all your journeys?
Fay: Hundreds. On the redwood transect I filled 24 notebooks. But they are big notebooks…so it’s like writing a little book in each one. I keep a yellow notebook with me [from] this company called Rite in the Rain that are made out of plastic and the paper is plasticized so you can write on them in the rain. And they are indestructible. And a .7 millimeter mechanical pencil. Can’t do without that and extra lead.
But I literally traveled with just that kind of kit. I wash my shorts once a week and my shorts weigh about an ounce and my shirt dries almost immediately and if I am in cold I wear a pair of longer Patagonia pants with wool long johns and if it’s really cold then I have to put on boots and I will wear a thicker coat.
NG Kids: What is the best place you have ever traveled to?
Fay: I love exploring any place. If you put me in Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C., I am happy as a clam in there. I wouldn’t say that I have a favorite place, but I love the vast wilderness areas. The Congo basin is certainly a place where I have spent decades so I must love it. And this North American rain forest for me is an unbelievable place. Everyday when I am out here and I look at these hills and when you fly out of here it is a vast wilderness. It’s really spectacular.
So those two place stick out in my mind. When people ask me where I live I say planet Earth. My favorite place would also be planet Earth.
NG Kids: What can kids do to help with conservation?
Fay: Kids have a giant challenge that they need to think about—that is this notion that the natural resource base of this planet could collapse in the next century and they could face great hardship. They don’t want to live in hardship. They want to live nice prosperous lives. They are tasked to make that happen.
They should get outside and start thinking about natural resource management and if you look at the redwoods, it’s a perfect place to start thinking about it because 95% was taken out and yet we see humanity shifting there to repairing the damage that was done, and rebuilding the forest and making it more productive for humanity at the same time. That is the key. We need to replenish the natural resource capital that we have lost rather than to continue to liquidate it. If we do that, then there is hope.
NG Kids: What’s a normal day like for you?
Fay: Normal day? I would say on the average, I am usually outside walking, somewhere. Here in Alaska, I have my place out in the woods, and I will be exploring far and wide locally, over the next few months. But if you look at the past year as an example—we are in July now—so in July of last year, I was finishing up the redwood transect. I had been walking for a whole year, 11 months, 1,800 miles (2,897 kilometers), and camping out. So over the last ten years, I probably slept in a bed maybe 50 times. So I do sleep in a bed once in awhile, but not very often.
And after that walk, I went to Chad for about a month-and-a-half to survey elephants there. Another thing I do a lot besides walking is flying. So I spent about month and a half with our project in Chad shoring up Zakouma National Park. We just got an airplane there.
Then I went back to the redwoods and worked for a month or two and then went on a long haul back to Chad and did an aerial survey there and counted all the elephants—we went from 3,020 elephants in 2006 to 617 elephants in 2009. It was a major drop, it was shocking, but the good news is that since the airplane showed up, we have only reported 25-30 deaths.
And then I went to Mozambique and did a foot survey there for about a month in the Maputu Elephant Reserve, which is a place that needs better management and I am getting involved there.
Then I went to the Southern Line Islands with Enric [Sala] and did the terrestrial survey on those islands. That was two months.
So this past year, I have walked about five months—in an off year when I am not doing a long walk—and then I have spent about two months in an airplane.
NG Kids: How many pairs of shoes did you go through in a year?
Fay: Actually you’d be surprised. I wear these Chaco sandals whenever possible… If I buy a pair of Chacos and wear them constantly I can put about 2,000 km on a pair of Chacos, that means about 6 months so—about two pair a year is just fine. I figure 140 bucks a year is worth my investment in my primary vehicle
NG Kids: What do you do for fun or to be silly?
Fay: Well to have fun, I walk. That is my greatest enjoyment that I could ever have, even more so than flying. Being able to go places where I haven’t been before is the most fun, because of the way I walk. I record information the whole way—I am piecing things together. It’s like a big puzzle for me….So I just walk and walk and walk and walk, and I have my notebook. I am recording information about trees, how big they are and the stumps, and the roads and the wildlife …but you piece together this whole puzzle as you are walking along. It’s really fun. So that is what I do for fun.
To be silly, I have to think about that one. I joke around a lot with people and I wouldn’t say play with people, but I like to see people’s reaction to this and that. I guess I am too serious. But I enjoy every day of life.
NG Kids: What is the best advice anyone has given you that you can share with us?
Fay: My mother wouldn’t agree, but it was my sixth grade teacher. His name was Mr. Royce. He was one of these completely unconventional teachers in a very conventional school system that spent a lot of his time bringing kids outside.
So we would go out at night and do astronomy, go kick around the local quarry to look for fossils, or go down to the rivers and look for amphibians, and it was about all the natural sciences, not just about wildlife.
He basically said don’t listen to anybody when they try to tell you that you should do something different from what you want to do. And you will find yourself doing something because you want to rather than because you have to. If you keep on that path, you find that you will never have to do what you don’t want to do, I believe….I just made the choice between having something that I might want, or being who I want to be, and I take the latter. If you do without, then you get what you want.
So Mr. Royce’s advice was don’t even listen to those guys, do what you think is right and you’ll end up much better off, and much happier.
NG Kids: What can’t you travel without?
Fay: Normally it’s a pocket knife and a lighter and a pair of shoes. For instance the last trip I took I was away for almost four months. So I leave California and I have a little day pack, and I have my computer in there, and a few other things. And in my back pack I had a tent, ‘cause I was going to Africa and tents have mosquito netting. I have a sleeping mat for rain and not for comfort, because if it rains, you are off the ground. So normally if it doesn’t rain, I don’t inflate it. I like sleeping on the ground. And I have a sleeping bag, and a pair of shorts, a t-shirt, my [sandals], and a raincoat, and a hat—and my lighter, my pocketknife, and a GPS, and a notebook.
NG Kids: How many notebooks have you filled in all your journeys?
Fay: Hundreds. On the redwood transect I filled 24 notebooks. But they are big notebooks…so it’s like writing a little book in each one. I keep a yellow notebook with me [from] this company called Rite in the Rain that are made out of plastic and the paper is plasticized so you can write on them in the rain. And they are indestructible. And a .7 millimeter mechanical pencil. Can’t do without that and extra lead.
But I literally traveled with just that kind of kit. I wash my shorts once a week and my shorts weigh about an ounce and my shirt dries almost immediately and if I am in cold I wear a pair of longer Patagonia pants with wool long johns and if it’s really cold then I have to put on boots and I will wear a thicker coat.
NG Kids: What is the best place you have ever traveled to?
Fay: I love exploring any place. If you put me in Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C., I am happy as a clam in there. I wouldn’t say that I have a favorite place, but I love the vast wilderness areas. The Congo basin is certainly a place where I have spent decades so I must love it. And this North American rain forest for me is an unbelievable place. Everyday when I am out here and I look at these hills and when you fly out of here it is a vast wilderness. It’s really spectacular.
So those two place stick out in my mind. When people ask me where I live I say planet Earth. My favorite place would also be planet Earth.
NG Kids: What can kids do to help with conservation?
Fay: Kids have a giant challenge that they need to think about—that is this notion that the natural resource base of this planet could collapse in the next century and they could face great hardship. They don’t want to live in hardship. They want to live nice prosperous lives. They are tasked to make that happen.
They should get outside and start thinking about natural resource management and if you look at the redwoods, it’s a perfect place to start thinking about it because 95% was taken out and yet we see humanity shifting there to repairing the damage that was done, and rebuilding the forest and making it more productive for humanity at the same time. That is the key. We need to replenish the natural resource capital that we have lost rather than to continue to liquidate it. If we do that, then there is hope.
Source: Kids National Geographic
Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think? dan@goldcoastchronicle.com