Theodore Roosevelt’s Thanksgiving Proclamation, October 29, 1902
By the President of the United States of America. A Proclamation
According to the yearly custom of our people, it falls upon the President at this season to appoint a day of festival and thanksgiving to God.
Over a century and a quarter has passed since this country took its place among the nations of the earth, and during that time we have had on the whole more to be thankful for than has fallen to the lot of any other people. Generation after generation has grown to manhood and passed away. Each has had to bear its peculiar burdens, each to face its special crises, and each has known years of grim trial, when the country was menaced by malice domestic or foreign levy, when the hand of the Lord was heavy upon it in drouth or flood or pestilence, when in bodily distress and anguish of soul it paid the penalty of folly and a froward heart. Nevertheless, decade by decade, we have struggled onward and upward; we now abundantly enjoy material well-being, and under the favor of the Most High we are striving earnestly to achieve moral and spiritual uplifting. The year that has just closed has been one of peace and of overflowing plenty. Rarely has any people enjoyed greater prosperity than we are now enjoying. For this we render heartfelt and solemn thanks to the Giver of Good; and we seek to praise Him not by words only but by deeds, by the way in which we do our duty to ourselves and to our fellow men.
Now, therefore, I, THEODORE ROOSEVELT, President of the United States, do hereby designate as a day of general thanksgiving Thursday, the twenty-seventh of the coming November, and do recommend that throughout the land the people cease from their ordinary occupations, and in their several homes and places of worship render thanks unto Almighty God for the manifold blessings of the past year.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington this 29th day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and two and of the independence of the United States the one hundred and twenty-seventh.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT
Grandpa Dragon’s New Home
Want to hug a dragon? Well, now you can. At long last, Grandpa Dragon has found a home, at the Wellington Zoo in New Zealand.
Here are a couple shots of his arrival:
After he was transported from his previous location, Grandpa had to have his two halves sealed properly. Here he is waiting for the “original recipe” to make him whole. Not very dignified, the poor chap.
Now, here he is, good as new, ready to greet visitors to the zoo. He won’t bite. Except for crumpets, maybe.
A hearty congratulations and kudos to Kim and Warren Beaton, for sharing their magnificent masterpiece with the world.
You can also say “hi” to Grandpa online, and he’ll respond! Click here for Grandpa’s Facebook page.
Click here to visit Kim Beaton Studios, where she’s developing a new super-sculpting material called “Pal Tiya” – named after Kim’s ancient American Indian ancestor. It means “the beautiful.”
Photos © 2013 Warren Beaton.
Green Onions, Anyone?
Let’s groove to a snazzy tune by Booker T. & the M.G.’s. From 1962, it’s Green Onions!
One Dark Lord Too Many
Del Rey editor Mike Braff has a message for all you submitters of fantasy lore: “I’ve identified several negative tropes that we see far too much in fantasy submissions.” They are:
The Prophetic Orphan
The Expository Sewer
A’pos’tropheus the De’stroy’er
He talks about them here.
Note the reaction of one respondent:
“If I come across one more Dark Lord, I will become one.”
We can’t have that, now, can we?
Are you exploited by Google?
One of the nice things about social media is that it allows widespread, rapid sharing of information. This came from a friend who relayed this message from someone named “Kim Komando,” which I have since verified for myself:
Stop Google from using you in ads
Google recently changed its privacy policy and terms of service. The result is that it now has permission to use your name and photo in ads, or Shared Endorsements, as it calls them.
While Google can only use the name and picture you’ve made public, and it only shows Shared Endorsements to your friends, many people still don’t like it.
Fortunately, Google has added a simple opt-out option. Just visit the Shared Endorsements page and sign in at:
https://plus.google.com/settings/endorsements?hl=en
Then scroll to the bottom and make sure the option is NOT checked. Then click the Save button.