The Story of Halloween

Happy Halloween!

The Story of Halloween

Halloween is one of the oldest holidays with origins going back thousands of years. The holiday we know as Halloween has had many influences from many cultures over the centuries.

From the Roman's Pomona Day, to the Celtic festival of Samhain, to the Christian holidays of All Saints and All Souls Days.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month 1-31 October 2008.
* Updated
Breast Cancer Awareness Month is an annual international health campaign organised by all the major breast cancer and cancer charities.

The purpose of this campaign is about raising and creating awareness among public and health professionals.

Many women and also men suffer this disease and there is the need to create  more awareness by sharing experiences and ideas, plus more information about what breast cancer is all about.

There has been so much said about breast cancer and prevention of it, but there is also a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding about the same.

Our culture has always put a big remark on the femininity about breasts,having big breasts or at least a very good pair of them means: beauty...the images of topless girls or just women wearing bikinis with their breasts almost exposed have been part of that cliche and it is why breast cancer receives much more attention than other forms of cancer.

In the same way, there is also the need of increasing funds for research into the cause, for preventing and cure of the disease once it is detected in order to offer more support to those affected by Breast Cancer.

Sandra Villanueva

Updated

Dolores, Hidalgo, Guanajuato-In the first hours of September 16th,1810.

Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla,"The Father of the Country" (in Spanish: El Padre de la Patria),who was a priest in the small town of Dolores, rang the church's bell for gathering the people in order to raise them up against the Spanish Crown during the third century of Spaniard Domination that was crushing Mexico, this initiated the war of Independence, a cruel,raw and wild war that ended on 1821, when Mexico finally was free of the Spaniard oppresion and achieved its Independence.

"Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends (life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness), it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government."

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), from the Declaration of Independence

July 4th is more than a celebration that happens in summer,it's the most important Holiday/celebration for Americans living around the world and of course for United States of America.

It's the day USA celebrates its independence from England,it was America's official split from Britain's rule and the beginning of the American Revolution.

United States only had 13 colonies at the time of the signing,in that time England was ruled by King George III,and the major problem between US and England was "Taxation without Representation",the colonists didn't have any opportunity for complaining,they didn't have voice in the decisions of English Parliament,those 13 colonies couldn't negotiate with King George III and he sent extra troops to the colonies to help control any rebellion that could arise due to people's anger,but it took more than a single day and a few hours as it can be just thought,it was a hardworking process fighting for the freedom and independence because the original resolution was introduced by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia on June 7, 1776, and called for the Continental Congress to declare the United States free from British rule.

On June 11, 1776, the colonies' Second Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia formed a committee for preparing an appropiate document that would formally separate USA from Great Britain,it was the document that we know as the Declaration of Independence,and it was adopted by Congress on July 4th although the resolution that had led to the writing of the Declaration was actually approved two days earlier.The committee included Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman and Robert R. Livingston. The document was written by Jefferson, who was considered an eloquent writer.

But before the Declaration was approved,on April 1775 when King George's troops advanced on Concord, Massachusetts,prompting Paul Revere's midnight ride that sounded the alarm "The British are coming, the British are coming." The battle of Concord,was famous for being the "shot heard round the world",it would mark the unofficial beginning of the American Revolution.

After several changes to the document written by Jefferson,a vote was taken late in the afternoon of July 4th. Of the 13 colonies, 9 voted in favor of the Declaration, 2 - Pennsylvania and South Carolina voted No, Delaware undecided and New York abstained.The next day
copies of the Declaration of Independence were distributed.On July 6, The Pennsylvania Evening Post became the first newspaper to print the extraordinary document.

The Declaration of Independence has become United States' most important symbol of liberty.

Although the signing of the Declaration was not completed until August, July 4th has been accepted as the official anniversary of United States independence. The first Independence Day celebration took place the following year - July 4 1777.

Sandra Villanueva

Updated

Today Mexico is celebrating Cinco De Mayo.

The 5th Of May.It commemorates the victory of the Mexicans over the French army at The Battle Of Puebla in 1862.

It's very important to mention and think why it's is a big victory for Mexico: because the Mexican army was weaker in many senses,comparing it with the French army/troops, Mexicans didn't have the weapons the French army had,nor the experience about fighting a fierce-long battle but the Mexican army exhibited great courage and determination to defend themselves against France,fighting a fierce battle and winning against all odds,showing how a small army with not so many options,nor sophisticated weapons can win with order and grouping as a solid army.That is why May 5th is a day of Mexican pride, unity and patriotism. 
 

Andador-Hall 5 de Mayo, Queretaro

Stem Cell Treatment Offers Hope For Osteoarthritis Patients

April 12th, 2008 11:40 a.m. EST

Nidhi Sharma - AHN News Writer

London, England (AHN) - British scientists have identified a type of stem cell treatment which offers hope to the patients of osteoarthritis. The technique, which uses a patient's own stem cells to replace lost cartilage, is already being tried out on goats and would soon be tested on humans as early as next year.

Sold...my home for almost 16 years was sold...it sounds plain and even it is a happy news,we will be receiving the money and it will be invested and spent in things we still need to do to my current home,besides buying a new van for me...
I know I should be happy,yes,I am,I can't say it doesn't make me happy knowing all of the above besides that the house won't be abandoned anymore...but I can't avoid feeling this pain in my heart,a pain caused by all those memories for all those years I lived there in that pink house in Tijuana,B.C.,in the Altabrisa neighborhood,with the number 14450...

If you could...If you were...

"You could be very pretty if you tried."...A dear friend of mine was talking in my favorite forum IS about this phrase that 'a good friend of her' told for her,this phrase was said not really with good intention,actually what person in the world who can be called friend can go and tell it to a very sweet and innocent girl who is younger than 20 and still in the process of developing her personality and her life?

I must say that as soon as I read those words and the way she was wounded,it came to my mind 'a collection' of bad memories from the past,in which that phrase and many other similar ones were said to me,not only from friends but from my own family...

Stem cells help mice with muscular dystrophy: Study

From: Yahoo News.

By Julie Steenhuysen
Sun Jan 20, 1:22 PM ET

A therapy using embryonic stem cells helped restore muscle function in mice with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, the most common form of muscular dystrophy in children, U.S. researchers said on Sunday.

They said the study is the first to show that transplanted embryonic stem cells can restore muscle in genetically engineered mice with the disease.

Stem cells are the body's master cells, acting as a source for the various cells and tissues in the body. Those taken from days-old embryos, called embryonic stem cells, can produce all of the body's cell types.

Nervous System Can Reorganize Itself and Use New Pathways to Restore Walking after Spinal Cord Injury

Newswise and UCLA-Health care

A UCLA study demonstrates that the nervous system can reorganize itself after spinal cord injury and use new pathways to restore the cellular communication required for walking. Published in the January edition of Nature Medicine, the discovery could lead to new therapies for the estimated 250,000 Americans who suffer from paralysis following traumatic spinal cord injuries.