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I am still recovering from being at the festival from yesterday and am going to be updating the website very soon.  Actually that is my first priority.   I will hopefully will get some of the pictures I took up soon as well.

Everyone who stopped by, thank you and please come back again soon, there will be much more content in the very near future.

A quick post for today, I am actually at a festival this time at the Tennessee state fair. Nashville has an organisation that puts on festivals through out the year and this is the largest one. I will try to get pictures and interviews for later podcasts.

Living in the United States I can not help but write today’s post on the attacks of 2001.  I think anyone who has access to this blog would also be aware of what is now refereed to as 9/11 so see no need to go through explaining it.  Of course people will be remembering the event in their own ways many may simply be answering the question, “where were you?”.  President Obama called for a moment of silence at the moment the first plane hit and he will lay down a wreath at the Pentagon today as well.

While most people will be asking you to remember those that perished in the attacks, I would like to have you think a little more deeply about the fact that all types of people died, it was not only Americans or Christians it included people from all over the globe and from many different cultures. They included  Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Atheists, Mormons, Wiccans and many others I don’t even know the names of.  I would be surprised if you belong to a group who was not represented among those who where killed.

There have been atrocities that have been committed by different groups through out history, long before recorded history I am sad to believe.  We all belong to the human race and while we have differences we do share many things.  We should be celebrating our differences and not hate those who are different, imagine what an empty world it would be if we all where the same.  I hope you do remember those who died but also take a moment or two to also contemplate the beauty in all our differences and maybe try to be a little more understanding of others.

balloons being released in celebration of the nation day.

At just over 2.5 square miles Gibraltar is a small self governing British territory located on the southern tip of Spain.  Ceded to the British crown in 1713 it has stayed under their control since.  While in recent history there has been some bad blood between Gibraltar and Spain to the point of the border being closed for years this has become better recently.  In 1967 there was a referendum held to see if the citizens wished to go under Spanish rule or become a self governing area under Great Brittain and there was overwhelming support for self government.

With the country being so small the celebrations are all done in the same area, kicking off with a street party at the John Mackintosh Square with food stalls that have all the food provided by the government and manned by volunteers with the money going to charity.  The day ends with a fireworks display.

Links:

Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibraltar#Recent_history

Other: http://jimenapulse.wordpress.com/2009/09/07/gibraltar-national-day-events-and-programme/

Tajikistan, a nation in central Asia celebrates it’s independence day on September 9.  The country gained it’s freedom from the Soviet Union in 1991 but evidence indicates that the area has been inhabited since 4,000 B.C.

Similar to other independence celebrations food, parades and fireworks are all used to recognize the day.

Links:

Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tajikistan

Other: http://adrienne-is.com/blog/?p=100

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has designated September 8th as International Literacy Day.  Intended to raise awareness for the one in five adults who are not literate as well as the 75 million children who are not in school.

The day was designated in 1965 and celebrated for the first time the year after.  Many events are held though out the world in hopes that people will begin to see this as a real issue.  Literacy impacts peoples lives in so many ways and the lack of it can be a major factor in the quality of life a person leads.  Not only does the ability to read impact what a person is able to do for a living or what entertainment they may be able to enjoy but things such as medicine, directions from government or charity organizations and even laws.

There are even those who intentionally keep literacy from people, keeping them subject to authority they can not know how to oppose.  With two thirds of those lacking literacy being women, this subject has huge implications for the rights of women all around the world.

While those who are able to read this also have access to the vast resources of the internet and all the good it can bring it may seem unimaginable how crippling the inability to read can be.  It is we those who have this amazing power of literacy that must help those that it has been denied to because ironically the ones this day is set aside for are those who will not know.

Links:

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Literacy_Day

Other:

http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/literacy/

http://www.unesco.org/en/literacy/

September 3 of this year corresponds to the 15th day of the 7th month per the lunar calender making it the day of the Ghost Festival in China.  This is a day when ghost are free to walk the earth and many activities are provided for their benefit.  Monks will throw rice into the air to feed them, shops will close to keep the streets clear for the ghosts and even entertainment is provided for them in the form of concerts and plays.  While some people may think this is a scary time it is much more a reflection of the past and honoring ancestors.  People do things for the benefit of the spirits such as at the concerts the first row is left empty for the ghosts.

I know that it has been awhile since I have posted but I have not forgotten the blog or podcast and actually there have been two podcasts posted that just did not make it to the blog.  I am still working on my data base for holidays and looking ahead I am not find much to report on but how this will change soon.

I do have somethings in the works:

First off I am hoping to have a booth in a local festival, The Festival of Nations.  I am will be getting interviews and information to share with you all.

Second, I have been contacting both United Nations and Embassies in the United States looking for help and have had some responses so that is good.

With these two things going I hope to fully relaunch the blog and podcast fully soon.  Also expect a redesign sometime in the near future as I have a friend who will be working on my logo and (cross fingers) my website.  She is studying graphic design so I know will do an outstanding job.

My posts have been absent for awhile but I have been working behind the scences to make it better.  I am also working on reaching out to people to help me with having more and better information so will be back up and running soon with the blog and the podcast.

Happy Holiday!

Jeffrey