Tuesday, March 27, 2007

True or False?

I know this is old news but I was shocked when I found out about this in an email from a friend of mine. I did some research on this and found like anything else there are two sides to every story. The question now is who is telling the truth? You decide for yourself.
ACLU say's No Crosses on Federal Property!
Have you seen or heard of this story in the news awhile back where the ACLU doesn't want any crosses on Federal property?
No Crosses on Federal Property? Let them try and remove these. What are these people thinking? Enough is Enough. This needs to stop. I really feel if there is any truth to this at all something is very wrong with our Government they have gone to far this time we have to draw a line and we the people should put a stop to it now before it is to late.
Separation of church and state, the result of a U.S. Supreme Court interpretation of the Constitution's First Amendment, has been a hotly contested issue for decades. How that separation should be interpreted and enforced has been at the heart of such issues as the Pledge of Allegiance in schools and the Ten Commandments in state courthouses. But does the separation mean that war dead buried in government owned cemeteries must be interred only with secular type headstones?
ACLU Says
Why does the ACLU want to remove crosses from federal cemeteries?
The ACLU is not pursuing, nor has it ever pursued, the removal of religious symbols from personal gravestones. Personal gravestones are the choice of the family members, not the choice of the government. The ACLU celebrates this freedom to choose the religious symbol of your choice. Read more about the ACLU's stance on religious freedom.
ACLU Upset At Marines
If you look closely at the picture above, you will note that all the Marines pictured are bowing their heads. That's because they're praying. The incident took place at a recent ceremony honoring the birthday of the corps, and it has the ACLU up in arms.
These are federal employees, says Lucius Traveler, a spokesman for the ACLU, on federal property and on federal time. For them to pray is clearly an establishment of religion, and we must nip this in the bud immediately. When asked about the ACLU's charges, Colonel Jack Fessender, speaking for the Commandant of the Corps said Screw the ACLU.
In an email response to queries concerning the above anecdote, the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) stated the following:
In regards to the latest urban legend that includes a picture of Marines praying and a quote from a supposed ACLU spokesperson, we have no knowledge of this event nor have we ever had a spokesperson by the name of Lucius Traveler. Nor, for that matter, does the Commandant of the Marine Corps have a spokesman named Colonel Jack Fessender. I couldn't find any evidence that the ACLU has ever taken a position against U.S. military personnel — or, indeed, federal employees in any branch of government engaging in prayer. This incident is a complete fabrication.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Niagara Falls

This very rare photo was taken in the year 1911 when it was said Niagara Falls was completely frozen.
Niagara Falls is a set of massive waterfalls located on the Niagara River in eastern North America, on the border between the United States and Canada. Niagara Falls (French: les Chutes du Niagara) comprises three separate waterfalls: the Horseshoe Falls (Canadian Falls), the American Falls, and the smaller, adjacent Bridal Veil Falls. The Falls are located 16 miles (26 km) away from the U.S. city of Buffalo and 43 miles (69 km) from the Canadian city of Toronto. The distance to downtown Toronto is 80 miles (123 km) when using roads.
The Falls formed after the receding of the glaciers of the most recent Ice Age, as water from the newly formed Great Lakes carved a path through the Niagara Escarpment enroute to the Atlantic Ocean. While not exceptionally high, Niagara Falls is very wide. With more than 6 million cubic feet (168,000 m³) of water falling over the crestline every minute in high flow, and almost 4 million cubic feet (110,000 m³) on average, it is the most powerful waterfall in North America. The Falls are a valuable source of hydroelectric power for both Ontario and New York. Preserving this natural wonder from commercial overdevelopment, while allowing for the needs of the area's people, has been a challenging project for environmental preservationists since the nineteenth century. A popular tourist site for over a century, the Falls are shared between the twin cities of Niagara Falls, Ontario and Niagara Falls, New York. The original Niagara Falls were near the sites of present-day Queenston, Ontario, Canada, and Lewiston, New York, but erosion of their crest has caused the waterfalls to retreat several kilometres southward. Just upstream from the Falls' current location, Goat Island splits the course of the Niagara River, resulting in the separation of the Canadian Horseshoe Falls to the west from the American and Bridal Veil Falls to the east. Although erosion and recession have been slowed in this century by engineering, the falls will eventually recede far enough to drain most of Lake Erie, the bottom of which is higher than the bottom of the falls. Engineers are working to reduce the rate of erosion to retard this event as long as possible.
The Canadian Horseshoe Falls drop about 170 feet (52 m), although the American Falls have a clear drop of only 70 feet (21 m) before reaching a jumble of fallen rocks which were deposited by a massive rock slide in 1954. The larger Canadian Horseshoe Falls are about 2,600 feet (792 m) wide, while the American Falls are 1,060 feet (323 m) wide. The volume of water approaching the Falls during peak flow season is 202,000 cubic feet per second (5,720 m³/s). During the summer months, when maximum diversion of water for hydroelectric power occurs, 100,000 ft³/s (2,832 m³/s) of water actually traverses the Falls, some 90% of which goes over the Horseshoe Falls. This volume is further halved at night, when most of the diversion to hydroelectric facilities occurs. This photo is the United States side of the falls. I got most of my info on this from Wikipedia. I also set up a link to the Niagara Falls web site Canada just click on the Title at the top of the post (Niagara Falls) Hope you all enjoy.