Humanities

1) Chinese Traditional Festivals - Dragon Boat Festival
Dragon Boat Festival is another traditional festival in China and commonly falls on the 5th, May of Chinese lunar month, therefore it has another name "Double Fifth Festival". The Original of Dragon Boat Festival Qu Yuan, a great poet in ancient China, was a loyal and upright minister in the kingdom of Chu located in Hunan and Hubei provinces today. He was esteemed for his wise advises that had brought... » read more

2) Chinese Traditional Festivals - Qing Ming
Qing Ming is also called Tomb-Sweeping Day, and as a festival it is a day for people to hold some activities to honor past ancestors. When this day coming, by custom, people will take flowers, food, wine and paper money, etc to mourn dead people and tidy up tombs, this is the reason why Qing Ming called Tomb-Sweeping Day. In fact, Qing Ming Festival is related with another festival, Hanshi or Cold Food... » read more

3) The Festivals in China Part - Two
Dragon Boat Festival It is also known as Double Fifth festival, because it falls on the 5th, May of the lunar month. Dragon boat festival commemorates of QuYuan who was a great poet in China’s earliest time, and took his own life in the Miluojiang on that day. People will hold Dragon-boat race and eating Zong-zi, a glutinous rice dumpling in memory of him when this day coming. International Children’s Day » read more

4) The Festivals in China - Part One
If you know some Chinese information, you will feel that there are variety festivals in people’s life. China is a country that has deep and extensive history, and Chinese cultural festival exposes a rich part of its cultural elements and servers as an important role in Chinese Culture. With open and communication to the world, some new festivals were also created by Chinese, and now let’s have a look on... » read more

5) The Customs in Traditional Chinese weddings
Chinese traditional wedding, as with all weddings, is filled with tradition and interesting customs that have been passed down through generations and developed over the centuries. Selecting an Auspicious Wedding Date Before wedding day, people would like to select an auspicious day for wedding. Auspicious days are subject to interpretation by fortune tellers that perform the analysis based on one’s... » read more

6) Catalonian Culture vs. Spanish Culture
It happened many years ago, that I met a man from Barcelona at a bar in England whom I asked if he considered himself to be Spanish or Catalonian. At first this man seemed surprised by my question till I explained to him that I had always heard that certain groups in Spain considered themselves to be more from a certain region then the country. For instance that some in the Basque country felt themselves... » read more

7) Why does time go faster as we get older?
by Philip Yaffe It is a widely accepted adage that, "The older you get, the faster time seems to go." But why should aging have this effect? After all, there is the parallel adage that, "Time flies when you are having fun." But as we age, time flies whether we are having fun or not. So what's going on? I have recently been trying to understand the phenomenon, because for the past several... » read more

8) Car Donation to Charity: A Wise Decision to Make – Unitedsoicetydonations.com
Is selling an old car too much of a problem for you? Then, you may want to consider a car donation to charity. A car donation will eliminate all your problems with selling your old car. This will mean no more advertisement, looking for buyers, entertaining endless of possible buyers and paperwork. If you haven’t tried other means of getting rid of an old car aside from selling, you will probably ask... » read more

9) Reduce Taxes with Car Donations – Unitedsoicetydonations.com
If you are looking for a way to get ride of an old vehicle, you may want to consider a car donation. To donate a car, you simply have to contact a car donation services and they take care of everything else. Thus, donating your car to charity rather than selling it is more convenient and fast. Moreover, you help those who are in need of assistance when you donate your car and benefit from it through tax... » read more

10) Auto Donation: The Most Convenient Car Disposal – Unitedsoicetydonations.com
Are you planning to buy a new car? But then you brush the idea away since it also means ditching your old car? We all know how daunting a task it can be to get rid of an old car, from advertising, refurbishing, and dealing with possible buyers… The list can almost seem endless. Luckily there is already a convenient and fast way of ditching an old car and this is through auto donation. Auto donation... » read more

11) Native American Drums And The History Of Native Americans
Native American drums are probably the most recognizable Native American instruments among American Indians and non Native people alike. Drums for generations have been at the center of Native lifestyle, forming what has become the foundation of religion and spirituality as well as social gatherings where a pow wow drum is center stage. Indian tribes in North America history have all used drums in... » read more

12) The Truth About Contrarian Couples
Last week United States health officials released the results of a survey of what some would call "reproductive behaviour", conducted in 2002. The National Survey of Family Growth revealed a striking decline in contraceptive use over the last decade, the New York Times reported. Among sexually active women who said they were not trying to get pregnant, the percentage not using contraception in 2001... » read more

13) Who Cares? The Crisis Facing An Ageing Society
The identification of this syndrome from among various symptoms of senile dementia, and its increasing incidence due to the ageing of the population, has made it a symbol of the (terrifying) burdens of old age. The report therefore focuses on this illness as it reflects in detail on the looming crisis of caregiving and the ethical challenges it poses. Crisis of caregiving Until now, family... » read more

14) What's Up With British Youth?
You have to admire the British, as represented by their current government and its intellectual constituency. They never stop trying to improve their society. What other country wants to keep schools open 10 hours a day and put every single child on a national database? Whether driven by a Marxist hangover or by ethics derived from Christianity, the commitment to a better Britain is tireless and... » read more

15) Three (hundred million) Cheers For America
There were two bombs in the news this week: North Korea's underground nuclear weapon test, and the population explosion - as some see it - that brought the number of people in the United States to the 300 million mark, and past it. It is hard to guess which caused more gloom in the office of Population Connection (formerly Zero Population Growth), which churned out a press release bemoaning the effects of... » read more

16) Los Angeles Synagogues: A Century Ago
The Breed Street Shul, which housed the Congregation Talmud Torah, has quite an interesting and significant history. Located at 247 North Breed Street in the Boyle Heights district on the Los Angeles River's east bank, he Breed Street Shul served a once thriving Jewish neighborhood in Boyle Heights that has since become predominately a Latino community. The property on Breed Street was purchased... » read more

17) Understanding Memory Lapses
Most people think that memory lapses are for the hopelessly disorganized. This is because some have systems. For instance, the keys go into the key jar. The point is, compulsive list makers never come home from the supermarket without the items they intend to buy. Imagine their annoyance when eventually they take three trips between two places before they remember why they went from one place to... » read more

18) Students Chip In To Help Katrina Victims
While most college students on spring break are busy sunning up and partying down in exotic locales such as Cancun, there are others who are content to sacrifice their spring break to help those less fortunate. The deadly hurricane Katrina caused irreparable damage to New Orleans and its surrounding areas, and many sympathetic college students stepped up to the plate to help those in need. Several... » read more

19) The Greatest Invention In The World
One of the most remarkable inventions ever in the history of the human race is the invention of the World Wide Web. In the middle of the 15th century Johannes Gutenberg a German goldsmith, invented the movable type printing in Europe. His technology replaced books that had to be created by hand . Knowledge spread like wildfire and the human race became more rational and less superstitious. The... » read more

20) Watada's Stand
A First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army has taken a stand. Ehren Watada, a 28-year-old Hawaii native, faces a court martial next month and up to 6 years in prison. He is the first commissioned officer in the U.S. to publicly refuse deployment to Iraq. Overy 100,000 people have commented on one of the blogs were this man's story and interview was published. Many of his peers call him a traitor and a coward.... » read more

21) The Astrology of the Jewish Kabbalah
Divination, Evocation and Vision are the preliminary techniques of Magic rituals in the kabbalah. There is considerable justification for their employment: when there is adequate understanding of their meaning and technical procedure. But these are preliminary methods only. They are but steps leading to the consummation of the supreme sacrament. The inevitable end of Magic is identical to that conceived of... » read more

22) One Million Visionaries Walking A Road Less Traveled
In todays rapidly changing world, we need visionaries. Visionary mothers, visionary educators, visionary leaders, visionary children--visionaries, period! Many think of visionaries being those who have a special "gift" for thinking big, thinking creatively, etc. But consider that a visionary is simply someone who chooses to walk his or her own heroic path in life, inspired by his or her own vision.... » read more

23) A Brief Background on Jewish Business in Los Angeles
The Los Angeles region of California is home to a Jewish population that is approximately 250,000 strong. Although this region is considered to be the most expensive and difficult area of California to undertake business activities, the vast Israeli Jewish population present here has more than overcome the regular barriers. They have made Los Angeles a thriving business hub, not just for the Jewish... » read more

24) How Can You Tell If Something Is Nonsense
How do we move beyond our prejudices to distinguish what is sensible and what is nonsensical? When Albert Einstein created the Special and General Theory of Relativity, initially it seemed like nonsense, because nobody had ever thought of things like that before, but both the logical consistency of his arguments and the proof that was later found made them sensible theories. Understanding the... » read more

25) Is Cultural Incompetence Putting up Walls Where You Work?
On Cultural Incompetence, Dr. Amaal V.E. Tokars states: "When you look around your place of employment, would you be surprised to see a wide variety of nationalities represented? Many would not. Today, most companies try to preserve some degree of cultural competence, accepting and understanding the value of cultural diversity in the work environment. Employers boasting policies of "equal opportunity"... » read more

26) The Spirituality of the Jewish Kabbalah
Kabbalah revolves the problems concerning the spiritual worlds. Therefore, the student attracts spiritual lights during the study of the Bible. Studying other parts of the Torah also awakens a certain spiritual illumination, but the intensity of the light during the study of Kabbalah is much stronger than when studying other writings. However, one must make sure one is studying in the right path of... » read more

27) Amish Quilting Was Once Thought Revolutionary
When you think of Amish people, you think of horse-drawn buggies, plain clothes, barn raisings, farms and quilts. However, the Amish came rather late to the quilt making. Long after their neighbors were piecing quilts the Amish still used the old German featherbeds and coverlets. There was a good reason for this. Amish communities were formed so that the members could remain apart from the temptations of... » read more

28) Unique Christmas Gift - For That Special Person In Your Life
Christmas is a very special time. This is a time when you would like to make people who are special to you know how much you love them. The best way to make this happen is by finding a unique Christmas gift for them. By definition, 'unique' means something that has no pair, no duplication anywhere else. Hence, this will not be an easy task, but let me tell you it has great rewards. How to Find A Unique... » read more

29) Why We Are Self-Destructive
On a cultural level, most social conditioning, focuses on either repressing desires or permitting only a certain strain of desires. All this results in distorted desires and completely maladaptive emotions like fear, shame, and guilt. As an organism advances in intelligence, so, too, does its desires. There are the basic desires of the body for food, clothing, shelter, sex, and social relationships. ... » read more

30) Traveling With The Moving Wall Of The Vietnam Veterans
Destination: Vermont Twenty-five years after the war ended--and often longer than that since a loved one died in it--they still come to The Wall. Eighteen years after The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Washington, 16 years after the first moving walls were built and began touring the country, they still come, oblivious to the differences in size or scope of the structure. They don't come for... » read more

31) Missing & Found: VVA's Rochester Honor Guard at The Wall
Ten years ago, a Prisoner of War / Missing In Action (POW/MIA) Marathon Team ran from Rochester, New York, to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the national Mall. VVA Chapter 20's Color Guard attended the race's beginning at the Rochester Vietnam Veterans Memorial. "And we thought," said Ray Melens, "'Wouldn't it be nice if we could meet them in D.C.?' So we did." In each of the intervening years, a... » read more