CalcisCalcis, Alabama

Yes! The headline is true.

To read my latest postings visit this address:

http://stringcat.wordpress.com

also:

http://weavercat.wordpress.com

(This second link is one set-up for use with my laptop computer – which is used during stormy weather, as it has wireless access to the internet.)

These links help me to keep up to date with items I am researching

or weaving – depending on which ‘blog’ you view.

It just seemed more practical this way, setting-up FREE ‘blogs’

instead of trying to update the WordPress portion of my Calcis.net site.

If you are looking for photographs of my hand-woven

and Inkle-woven items — try this address:

http://catcrafted.wordpress.com

A BILL TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 16-15-370 SO AS TO MAKE IT UNLAWFUL TO COMMUNICATE PROFANITY IN A PUBLIC FORUM OR PLACE OF PUBLIC ACCOMMODATION; BY ADDING SECTION 16-15-430 SO AS TO CREATE THE OFFENSE OF DISSEMINATING PROFANITY TO A MINOR AND PROVIDE A PENALTY FOR THE OFFENSE; TO AMEND SECTION 16-15-305, RELATING TO DISSEMINATING OBSCENITY, SO AS TO SPECIFY BOTH ORAL AND WRITTEN PUBLICATIONS; AND TO AMEND SECTION 16-15-375, RELATING TO DEFINITIONS FOR PURPOSES OF MORALITY AND DECENCY OFFENSES AGAINST MINORS, SO AS TO INCLUDE THE OFFENSE OF DISSEMINATING PROFANITY TO A MINOR. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina: SECTION 1. Article 3, Chapter 15, Title 16 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding: “Section 16-15-370. (A) It is unlawful for a person in a public forum or place of public accommodation wilfully and knowingly to publish orally or in writing, exhibit, or otherwise make available material containing words, language, or actions of a profane, vulgar, lewd, lascivious, or indecent nature. (B) A person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than five thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.” [CLICK for the complete posting]

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Tis dangerous…could restrict FIRST Amendment rights of the US Constitution.

– CAA

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – The first people to migrate from Beringia to the Americas did so via two routes — one along the Pacific Coast and another by an inland path east of the Rocky Mountains, according to research appearing online today in Current Biology. A team of Italian and American researchers sequenced dozens of mitochondrial genomes from individuals belonging to two rare haplogroups. Based on their phylogenetic and phylogeographic analyses of these and other mitochondrial sequences, the researchers concluded that two groups of Paleo-Indians migrated from Beringia to the Americas roughly 15,000 to 17,000 years ago via different paths. And, they argue, that dual migration may shed light on everything from Native American linguistics to archeology.

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Tracing ancient migration patterns may shed light on language differences…

– CAA

Ricardo Montalban, the suave leading man who was one of the first Mexican-born actors to make it big in Hollywood and who was best known for his role as Mr. Roarke on TV’s “Fantasy Island,” has died. He was 88. Montalban died Wednesday morning at his Los Angeles home of complications related to old age, said his son-in-law, Gilbert Smith.

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We will miss you.

– CAA

Ashville votes to legalize charity bingo

Gary Hanner

12-31-2008

The Ashville City Council unanimously adopted an ordinance on Monday, Dec. 22, that will allow charity bingo to be played in the city and help ease the economic worries throughout the area.

The only member of the council not in attendance was Willie B. Turner. Wilson Coffman, president of Shooting Star Entertainment Group LLC, was at the meeting along with attorneys John Amari of Trussville and Matt Abbott of Pell City.

Amari represents Coffman, who is from the Huntsville area, represents a group of investors who are interested in building a facility to play bingo. “We looked at the amendment St. Clair County voters passed to allow charity bingo and found out they could operate one here that would be a mutual economic benefit for Ashville and the people of central Alabama,” Amari said.

“Although some counties have to go through state legislation for rules and regulations, St. Clair’s Constitution amendment allows any city or the county of St. Clair to pass a bingo ordinance or resolution that allows rules and regulations for the operation of bingo.”…

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Okay Etowah…you may have to “woo” the Bingo patrons, if your Bingo facility is built.

– Cathy Abernathy

Having a place in history: Curiosity drives business at Recollected Books
By Nick Cenegy
Staff Writer
01-04-2009
John Henricks displays items at his store, Recollected Books, on the square in Jacksonville. Photo: Trent Penny/The Anniston Star
JACKSONVILLE — On the south side of the square is a shop fueled by curiosity. There isn’t much new in Recollected Books, yet within the charming book-lined shop are symbols of the many ideas that shaped the last few centuries.
Still, customers — often “first timers” — tend to have one of two reactions, said owner John Henricks.
“One reaction is that they are in a sense overwhelmed by the number of books,” he said.
There are more books in the store than in most high school libraries.
The other reaction involves people walking into the store, smelling the air, wrinkling their nose and saying something to the effect of “mostly books.” That’s when they walk out, Henricks said….

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For the complete story visit the Anniston Star site, or pick a copy of the paper — you have to have subscription to read the complete  story online.

– Cathy

Train accident near Vincent under investigation

Posted by Malcomb Daniels — The Birmingham News

January 04, 2009 11:01 PM

Authorities late tonight said they were investigating a train accident near Alabama 25 and Justice Road near Vincent.

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office got the call just after 10 p.m., according to its Web site.

There were no injuries, said a dispatcher with the Alabama State Troopers, which also worked the accident. No other details would be available until Monday, the dispatcher said.

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Not good.

– Cathy A.

================

1:19 am UPDATE

Called Mom after 12 midnight – everything is okay there; but there are still lights and noise coming from the railroad; so Mom relayed while talking with me.

No one was injured; but an automobile went up the rails at the crossing in front of the store, about the time for the regular night train to come through.

Mom called 911, and they showed up in about 45 minutes, well after the wreck had happened…

“More details will be disclosed Monday.”

It will be interesting to see how the local media handle this one — since people have been complaining about the crossing for so long.

As for me and mine.. Mom’s okay, home’s okay, so I should not have any trouble resting tonight.

Will tell more when I know more.

– Cathy Abernathy

weavercat@gmail.com

Miami Herald Saturday, January 3, 2009;

Page A05 MIAMI, Jan. 2 —

Thousands of work boots, bath slippers, tennis sneakers, beach sandals and even roller skates all inexplicably materialized Friday morning on the Palmetto Expressway, disrupting traffic for hours, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

Lt. Pat Santangelo said he was not sure where the shoes came from. There were no signs of a crash, and no one claimed them.

A private contractor was hired to pick up the sea of soles and deposit them at an empty field, where a Nashville-based nonprofit group, Soles4Souls, is planning to pick them up Monday.

Soles4Souls, which has distributed millions of pairs of shoes around the world, will ship the massive batch of shoes by truck to a processing facility in Alabama. There the organization will decide where to distribute them.

Anniston train depot destroyed by fire
December 29, 2008 14:15 EST

ANNISTON, Ala. (AP) — A fire has destroyed a train depot in Anniston listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Anniston fire Capt. Chris Collins said firefighters received the call at 3 a.m. Sunday and arrived to find fire shooting through the roof from the largest part of the L & N train depot, which is more than a century old.

Collins said the building is a complete loss.

The fire had been burning for some time before the call came in. Firefighters battled the fire through the early morning hours and did not leave the scene until 11 a.m.
Collins said the fire’s cause was not immediately determined.
Jim and Ann Stephenson bought the passenger depot building in 1995 from architect Julian Jenkins, according to Anniston Star archives.
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Information from: The Anniston Star, http://www.annistonstar.com/

WASHINGTON (CNN) — In Sudan’s Darfur region, where violence and genocide are rampant, women risk their lives every day performing tasks as seemingly mundane as seeking out firewood.

Spencer Brodsky, 17, says he and his peers should work to fight global injustice. Spencer Brodsky, 17, says he and his peers should work to fight global injustice. But, from his suburban home, one Maryland teen has dedicated himself to making life a little safer for those women.

The United Nations estimates that 300,000 people have been slaughtered in the ongoing violence in the north African country. Countless others have been forced out of their homes and are living in refugee camps. People living in the camps are relatively safe, but there is danger for the women and young girls who leave the compounds in search of firewood to cook meals.

Firewood in the desert is scarce, and the women often have to walk up to seven hours to gather enough wood to bring back to their camps. Some women have been targeted, sexually assaulted and killed.

Spencer Brodsky, 17, learned about the violence and decided to raise money to purchase fuel-efficient stoves to send to Darfur. The stoves burn 75 percent less firewood.

Brodsky reasons that if he can do something to keep Sudanese women in the camps, this would decrease the likelihood of violence….

1 alleged robber killed, another injured by gunshots from local store owner From staff reports

12-24-2008

Sheriff Larry Amerson, far right, works the scene where a storeowner shot two alleged robbers, killing one and injuring the other at Fuller’s on U.S. 431.

Photo: Trent Penny/The Anniston Star

One man is dead and another was hospitalized Tuesday after they were shot by the owner of a service station they were allegedly trying to rob.

Calhoun County Sheriff Larry Amerson said that just before 6:30 Tuesday night, the two men entered Fuller’s Oil Co. on U.S. 431 north of Anniston, near the intersection with Old Gadsden Highway. Both carried handguns.

The owner pulled a handgun of his own when the men attempted to push his wheelchair out of the way to get behind the store’s counter, where the owner’s daughter was, the sheriff said….

Crews destroy last VX mine; nerve agent to be burned by tonight From staff reports Updated 1:33 p.m.

Munitions handler Luke Bohannon watches as the last VX-filled land mine moves down the conveyor for safe disposal. When the process was complete at 11:58 a.m. on Dec. 24, the entire Anniston nerve agent stockpile had been safely demilitarized.

Photo courtesy of Westinghouse Anniston.

The last nerve agent weapon stored in Anniston was destroyed just before noon today, leaving only far-less-lethal blister agent weapons to be disposed of from the stockpile here. Officials at the Anniston Chemical Disposal Facility said the last VX-armed land mine was destroyed at 11:58 this morning.

VX drained from that mine and others destroyed earlier is being stored temporarily in a large container, and is expected to be incinerated by midnight tonight, officials told The Star….

Well, I renewed my airtime minutes for the Tracfone yesterday, mailed 3 packages at the Post Office this morning, need to renew my “www.calcis.us” domain sometime TODAY — and really need to get Christmas cards ready to mail out, today — too.

There is a grocery ‘run’ planned for this afternoon, so if I want to get cards out, I had best get them addressed, signed and sealed.

But before I do anything else — I wanted to say that YES! we now have an Ebay Store!!!

http://stores.ebay.com/bluespringsbazaar

It will ease the cost of insert fees, and give our inventory a better chance of being seen by more customers.

What do we have? Click on through and view our stock…it will be growing rapidly.

I will ‘pen’ a bit more on my blog later today, stay tuned.

Thank you, for your time.

– Cathy A.

weavercat@gmail.com

Is everyone ready for Christmas?

Probably not, but I’m sure that we’re all wokring toward having things ready…does that count?

If you are curious as to what we have been ‘doing’ on eBay click on the botton included in the menu to the right of this post.

It will take you to our current “active sales” — maybe you’ll find an item that like.

If not…we will continue to post a wide variety of items; as we find them.

Oh, by the way…

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

HAPPY KWAANZA!

– Cathy A.

weavercat@gmail.com

To attain federal recognition, tribes must meet seven criteria that prove autonomy and connection to historic groups. The burden of proof falls on the tribes seeking federal acknowledgement.

Genocide, displacement, and destruction of records can make it tough to hit all seven points. The largest tribe in the Grand Rapids area, the Grand River Band of Ottawa Indians, is not currently recognized by the government, although a portion of its membership is recognized as the Littler River Band of Ottawa Indians. The Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi in Wayland was acknowledged in 1998.

Obtaining tribal affiliation presents similar challenges to individuals. Unlike many European American genealogies, Native families are often hard to trace. Genocide and displacement, followed by boarding schools and adoption initiatives, have left holes in many families. Some tribes require quarter blood or higher, proven on paper, which can prevent some parents from claiming membership for their children. Other tribes base eligibility on lineage rather than blood quantum.

“The genealogy is fascinating,” says Shustha, whose family has been researching its genealogy for 20 years.

Starting in the 1880s, the government and the Bureau of Indian Affairs ran residential schools intended to “kill the Indian, and save the man” by forcibly divorcing Native students from their culture and re-educating them for white society. The Indian Adoption Project displaced an estimated 68 percent of all Native American children between 1941 and 1978. “There is still a lot of naïveté about American history,” says Ben Williams. “It’s really sugar-coated. There’s no recognition of the genocide that took place here.”

Historians estimate one-third of the world’s Jewish population died in the Holocaust. Ninety percent of Native Americans were killed by war and disease. The father of a two-year-old daughter, Williams also cites the persistent Native American stereotypes seen in the names and practices of major sports teams. “People are desensitized to it. People sit in the stands making fun of our songs and our feathers. They don’t understand the effect that has on our children.”

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Very well written article.

– Cathy A.

weavercat@gmail.com