Posts Tagged ‘government’

Holidays And Holy Days

Thursday, April 7th, 2011

Congress and the president have designated ten days as federal holidays. Being ‘federal’, these holidays theoretically only pertain to federal employees and residents of the District of Columbia, although they are so widely observed that they can be thought of as national holidays.

Legally, it is up to each individual state to designate public holidays. If the holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the Friday before or the Monday after is given in lieu to make a long weekend.

New Year’s Day (January 1) – celebrating the New Year dates back to pre-Christian times, when rites were performed to attempt to ensure the return of Spring.

Martin Luther King Jnr. Day (third Monday in January) – before he was assassinated in 1968, Martin Luther King Jnr. was the foremost civil rights leader of the 1950’s and 1960’s. He was given the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. Congress set this day aside to commemorate his life and achievements in 1983.

Washington’s Birthday (third Monday in February) – originally it was commemorated on Washington’s real birthday, the 22nd of February, but it was moved in 1971 to make a long weekend. It is sometimes called Presidents’ Day, because it is near Lincoln’s birthday on the 12th February.

Memorial Day (last Monday in May) – also known as Decoration Day, it honours soldiers fallen in battle.It dates from the Civil War and is traditionally marked by parades and services.

Independence Day (4th July) – this, the most important US holiday, marks the 1776 signing of the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain. It was first commemorated in 1777 and is marked by fireworks, parades and speeches.

Labor Day (first Monday in September) – this, the suggestion of Peter J. McGuire, the president of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, was taken up in 1894 to celebrate American workers.

Columbus Day (second Monday in October) – Christopher Columbus and his crew landed in the Bahamas on Oct 12th 1492. It was first commemorated in 1792, although it was not officially recognized until 1909. It is a cause of special pride to Italian-Americans, who claim the Genoan voyager as their own.

Veterans Day (Nov 11th) – or Armistice Day commemorates the end of the First World War on Nov 11th 1918. It was made a legal holiday in 1938, but its name was changed in 1954 to honour all American veteran soldiers.

Thanksgiving Day (fourth Thursday in November) – it was first commemorated in Plymouth County, Massachusetts in 1621, the year in which the Pilgrims landed in the New World to give thanks for the new harvest and the new land they had colonized. President Lincoln proclaimed it a holiday in 1863.

Christmas Day (December 25th) – Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with Franklin Covey planner refillss If you have an interest in calendars, organizers or promotional calendars, please go over to our website now at Promotional Desk Calendars

Donate A Car to Charity

Friday, April 23rd, 2010

If you have plans of going into some charitable work, one thing that you can do is get involved with some car charity. This just means that your help would definitely reach far with the use of your car. But before you jump into such move, then you must be knowledgeable of the required steps first before you can donate a car properly.

First step is for you to select the right choice of charitable institution for you to donate a car to. This is highly essential since not all the charity groups can be eligible to get the car you plan to donate. You can make this task easier by simply searching all the possible sites all over the Internet. You can research and compare a lot of charitable institutions to support.

Next step is about checking out the total amount you will give to charity. This is a good way for you to know where you can avail your tax deduction. There are some figures that will be considered as proper contributions for charity which could result to various tax benefits all throughout the entire year.

Third, it is very important for you not to get help from middlemen. These middlemen are the ones at intermediary institutions that get donations from people through media. This is because they will not usually give the appropriate value of the donation to charity since they would keep up to 90% of the money from themselves instead of giving it to the charitable institutions.

Fourth, getting a tax deduction from donating a car is only possible if the institution is accredited or recognized by the IRS. With this, you may want to check the IRS website so you will know if the charitable institution is accredited or not.

If you want to steer away from spending lots of extra costs, then you may decide to just deliver your car to them on your own. This won’t just help you save money but also maximize much of the charitable work you plan to do; since if you would deliver it on your own, it would appear to be a lot more personalized instead of still renting a transport service.

And finally you have to make sure that the transfer of your car will be done with utmost care. You also have to transfer all the right documents to the charitable institution smoothly and the owner’s name should not be left blank as it should have the name of the charitable institution instead.

As you complete all these steps, you can easily donate a car without experiencing any hassles. With this, you can be able to do something for a good cause and give the proper value and amount of your car to charity without all the stress and financial troubles.

Why not donate a car to a charity business rather than selling it for a few hundred dollars? There are several car donation charity programs to choose from which provide a variety of benefits to the business as well as tax benefits for you.

The Ancient History of Barry, South Wales: Part Two

Friday, November 6th, 2009

In the Twelfth Century, William de Barri owned Barry Castle, but it was attacked and destroyed by Llewellyn Bren in 1316. It is said that the Cavaliers rebuilt it, but that it was subsequently destroyed again by the Roundheads, never to be rebuilt.

The Normans were hated by the locals and they had to build large mansions to protect themselves from the frequent attacks carried out on them from the people of the valleys and mountains. During the time of Henry III, there were 12 castles within six miles of Barry. In Glamorgan, there were 30 castles and in south Wales as a whole, 150.

Porthkerry and the church lying to its west is said to have taken its name from Ceri, who is said to have founded a port, ie ‘Port Ceri’. People say that Ceri ap Caid, the King of Essyllwg, resided in Porthkerry before the Christian era and that his bard, Corvinor, was the first to have built a ship with sails and a rudder for the race of Cymru. Some believe that Ceri was a nephew or grandson of Caractacus (Caradog) and that he assumed the leadership of the government in South Wales when Caractacus was sent to Rome.

John Wesley preached in the Porthkerry Church and sometimes outside in the churchyard too between 1741 and 1743. Today, there are two very old churches still in use in Barry: St. Cadocs Church in Cadoxton and Merthyr Dyfan Church in Merthyr Dyfan. One-hundred-and-fifty years ago, Cadoxton was the largest village in the Barry area: thus, in 1844 the Parliamentary register contained 25 names: 20 from Cadoxton and five from Barry. The one church was dedicated to St. Cadoc, who had been accustomed to spend Lent on Flat Holm and Barry Island. The village (Cadoc’s Town)took its name from the church, which was founded in 800 AD.

Merthyr Dyfan Church, which is situated in the north of Barry, was founded in 600 AD and the name means Dyfan The Martyr. There were two saints of this name. The one travelled to Barry to convert the local people to Christianity and the other lived in the sixth century. He was the son of a Welsh chieftain. His sister was also martyred and the town of Merthyr Tydfil is named in her memory.

The Christian faith grew very quickly in the Vale of Glamorgan and in the middle of the second century, the Prince of Siluria, Llewrwg, became the first king, of any country in the world in all history, to be baptized into the Christian faith. He sent to Rome for more Chritian teachers and was sent two monks named Dyfan and Fagan. Dyfan was martyred near the church and the Fagan was canonized. St. Fagan’s situated between Barry and Cardiff was named after him.

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