Saturday, December 12, 2015

USS Zumwalt Rescues Maine Fisherman on Maiden Voyage

SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The U.S. Navy's new stealth destroyer, the future USS Zumwalt, assisted in the rescue of a fisherman who had a medical emergency early Saturday off the Maine coast, officials said.
The 600-foot, 15,000-ton Zumwalt — the largest destroyer ever built for the Navy — was out for sea trials when Coast Guard officials received a distress call from the fishing boat Danny Boy around 3 a.m. The distress call said the Danny Boy's captain was suffering from chest pains about 40 miles southeast of Portland, according to officials.
A Jayhawk helicopter responded from Air Station Cape Cod, but the crew determined it would be too dangerous to hoist the fisherman up due to the configuration of the fishing boat's deck.
A crew and small boat from the Zumwalt transferred the man to the destroyer's deck, officials said. The helicopter crew then hoisted the patient on board and transported him to shore, where he was taken to a hospital.
"Our main concern with this type of medical emergency is to recover the patient safely and transport them to a higher level care as quickly as possible," said Lt. David Bourbeau, public affairs officer at Sector Northern New England. "Fortunately the Zumwalt was operating in the area and was able to provide valuable assistance."
The Zumwalt left Bath Iron Works for sea trials on Monday.
Bath Iron Works will be testing the ship's performance and making tweaks this winter. The goal is to deliver it to the Navy sometime next year.

Would you like to see video of the

USS Zumwalt's

amazing first rescue??

From WMTW Channel 8 News........

CLICK HERE:

http://www.wmtw.com/news/coast-guard-uss-zumwalt-rescue-fisherman/36931900?utm_source=Social&utm_medium=FBPAGE&utm_campaign=WMTW-TV&Content%20Type=Video

'Christmas inte mangalaashamsakal'.....Merry Chistmas from India~~ Christmas Around the World

'Christmas inte mangalaashamsakal'

Merry Christmas from India

Midnight mass is a very important service for Christians in India, especially Catholics. The whole family will walk to the mass and this will be followed by a massive feast of different delicacies, (mostly curries) and the giving and receiving of presents. Churches in India are decorated with Poinsettia flowers and candles for the holiday.

Compared to other religious festivals, Christmas is quite a small festival in India, due to the number of people who are Christians (about 2.3%) compared to people who belong to other religions. Having said this, the population of India is over 1 Billion, so there are over 25 million Christians in India!
One of the largest Indian Christian Communities in a city is in Mumbai. A lot of the Christians in Mumbai (previously known as Bombay) are Roman Catholics. In India's smallest state, Goa which is on the west of India, about 26% of people are Christians. Many of the Christians in Mumbai came from or have roots in Goa. The states of Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram (all on the very east of India) have high populations of Christians as well.
Many different languages are spoken in India. In Hindi Happy/Merry Christmas is 'Śubh krisamas' (शुभ क्रिसमस); Urdu it's 'krismas mubarak' (کرسمس); in Sanskrit it's 'Krismasasya shubhkaamnaa'; in Gujarati it's 'Anandi Natal' or 'Khushi Natal' (આનંદી નાતાલ); in Bengali 'shubho bôṛodin' (শুভ বড়দিন); in Tamil it's 'kiṟistumas vāḻttukkaḷ' (கிறிஸ்துமஸ் வாழ்த்துக்கள்); in Konkani it's 'Khushal Borit Natala'; in Kannada it's 'kris mas habbada shubhaashayagalu' (ಕ್ರಿಸ್ ಮಸ್ ಹಬ್ಬದ ಶುಭಾಷಯಗಳು); in Mizo it's 'Krismas Chibai'; in Marathi it's 'Śubh Nātāḷ' (शुभ नाताळ); in Punjabi it's 'karisama te nawāṃ sāla khušayāṃwālā hewe ' (ਕਰਿਸਮ ਤੇ ਨਵਾੰ ਸਾਲ ਖੁਸ਼ਿਯਾੰਵਾਲਾ ਹੋਵੇ); in Malayalam it's 'Christmas inte mangalaashamsakal' and in Telugu it's 'Christmas Subhakankshalu'.

Instead of having traditional Christmas Trees, a banana or mango tree is decorated (or whatever tree people can find to decorate!). Sometimes people use mango leaves to decorate their homes.
In Southern India, Christians often put small oil burning clay lamps on the flat roofs of their homes to show their neighbors that Jesus is the light of the world.

Christians in Goa love to celebrate Christmas! Goa has lots of 'western' customs as part of their Christmas as Goa has historical connections with Portugal. Most Christians in Goa are Catholics. People like to go carol singing around their neighbors for about a week before Christmas. Christmas Trees are also very popular as is a 'traditional' rich fruit Christmas Cake! Lots of local sweets are also eaten at Christmas in Goa. Favourite sweets include neureos (small pastries which are stuffed with dry fruit and coconut and fried) and dodol (like toffee that has coconut and cashew in it). These are other sweets are often part of 'consuada' when people make sweets before Christmas and give them to their friends and neighbors. Most Christian families also have a nativity scene with clay figures in it. On Christmas Eve Christians in Goa hang out giant paper lanterns, in the shape of stars, between the houses so that the stars float above you as you walk down the road.

The main Christmas meal is also eaten on Christmas Eve and is also 'western' with roast turkey or chicken being popular. After the meal, Christians head to Church for a Midnight mass service. After the service the church bells ring to announce that Christmas Day has arrived.
Christians in Mumbai use many Christmas traditions from Goa including the star lanterns and manger scenes (people like to make sure they have the best the nativity scene!).
In north-west India, the tribal Christians of the Bhil folk, go out night after night for a week at Christmas to sing their own carols the whole night through. They go to surrounding villages singing to people and telling the Christmas story.

In South West India, in the state of Kerala Were, 22% of the state's 33 Million population are Christians and Christmas is important festival. Traditional Catholics fast don't eat from 1st to 24th of December - until the midnight service. Every house will be decorated with a Christmas star. During the start of the Christmas season, almost all the stationary shops will be filled with new and variety Christmas stars. People make cribs in their homes and Churches.

In India, Father Christmas or Santa Claus delivers presents to children from a camel and cart. He's known as 'Christmas Baba' in Hindi, 'Baba Christmas' in Urdu (both of those mean Father Christmas); 'Christmas Thaathaa' in Tamil and 'Christmas Thatha' in Telugu (both of those mean Christmas old man); and 'Natal Bua' (Christmas Elder Man) in Marathi. In Kerla Were state, he's known as 'Christmas Papa'.

Christmas Dodol

Ingredients:

8 tbsp of wheat / millet flour
4 tbsp of rice flour
3 cans of coconut milk
14 oz of grated coconut / regular jaggery (approx 3 1/2 coconut jaggery squares. Add more if you like it sweeter)
1/2 cup of rough chopped cashews
2 tbsp of butter (optional)
pinch of salt

Directions:
Use a non stick pot and a wooden flat spoon if possible.
Mix the flours, 2 cans of coconut milk and salt in a pot and place on medium heat. Stir slowly till the mixtures thickens approx 15 minutes
Next add jaggery, cashews and the remaining can of coconut milk. Stir slowly on low medium heat for approx 1.15 hrs till the mixtures leave the side of the pan and does not stick to the wooden ladle. If the dodol does not let oil then add butter towards the end.
Pour into a 9″ round and smooth it with the wooden spoon to form a nice round. Cool and enjoy.
Leave it in a cool dry place or the refrigerator for a week or two.

Literary Advent Calendar....Day 12

Christmas in India

Publication history

First publication in the Pioneer on 24 December 1886, and in the Pioneer Mail on 29 December. In the Pioneer there was a column heading, “Latter-Day Carols”, covering this poem, signed “R.K.”, and “The Dyspeptic in India” signed “K.R.” written by E. Kay Robinson.
Robinson was Assistant Editor of the Pioneer at the time, and in the summer of 1886 was appointed Editor of the Civil and Military Gazette in Lahore, where he encouraged Kipling's creative writing; the two became good friends.

DIM dawn behind the tamarisks—the sky is saffron-yellow—

As the women in the village grind the corn,
And the parrots seek the riverside, each calling to his fellow

That the Day, the staring Eastern Day, is born.

Oh the white dust on the highway! Oh the stenches in the byway!

Oh the clammy fog that hovers over earth!

And at Home they’re making merry ’neath the white and scarlet berry—

What part have India’s exiles in their mirth?

Full day behind the tamarisks—the sky is blue and staring—

As the cattle crawl afield beneath the yoke,
And they bear One o’er the field-path, who is past all hope or caring,

To the ghat below the curling wreaths of smoke.

Call on Rama, going slowly, as ye bear a brother lowly—

Call on Rama—he may hear, perhaps, your voice!

With our hymn-books and our psalters we appeal to other altars,

And to-day we bid “good Christian men rejoice!”

High noon behind the tamarisks—the sun is hot above us—

As at Home the Christmas Day is breaking wan.
They will drink our healths at dinner—those who tell us how they love us,

And forget us till another year be gone!

Oh the toil that knows no breaking! Oh the Heimweh, ceaseless, aching!

Oh the black dividing Sea and alien Plain!

Youth was cheap—wherefore we sold it. Gold was good—we hoped to hold it,

And to-day we know the fulness of our gain.

Grey dusk behind the tamarisks—the parrots fly together—

As the sun is sinking slowly over Home;
And his last ray seems to mock us shackled in a lifelong tether.

That drags us back how’er so far we roam.

Hard her service, poor her payment—she in ancient, tattered raiment—

India, she the grim Stepmother of our kind.

If a year of life be lent her, if her temple’s shrine we enter,

The door is shut—we may not look behind.

Black night behind the tamarisks—the owls begin their chorus —

As the conches from the temple scream and bray.
With the fruitless years behind us, and the hopeless years before us,

Let us honour, O my brother, Christmas Day!

Call a truce, then, to our labours—let us feast with friends and neighbours,

And be merry as the custom of our caste;

For if “faint and forced the laughter,” and if sadness follow after,

We are richer by one mocking Christmas past.

Governor LePage and First Lady Attend Wreath Laying Ceremony in Arlington National Cemetery

Governor and First Lady Lay Wreaths to Remember, Honor and Teach

December 12, 2015
For Immediate Release: Saturday, December 12, 2015
Contact: Adrienne Bennett, Press Secretary, 207-592-3718
Wreaths Across America tribute draws thousands of volunteers to Arlington National Cemetery
ARLINGTON, VA – Today, joining more than 30,000 volunteers, Governor Paul R. LePage and First Lady Ann M. LePage participated in the annual Wreaths Across America remembrance ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. Paying tribute to the men and women who served our nation with dignity and honor, more than 230,000 remembrance wreaths were placed on their graves.
Since 1992, Morrill and Karen Worcester, founders of Worcester Wreath Company in Harrington, Maine have organized a group of volunteers to place wreaths in Arlington, Virginia.
The laying of the wreaths has become an annual tradition for the Governor and First Lady. For the past four years, First Lady LePage has traveled with the Wreaths Across America convoy – referred to as “The Arlington Project” – from Maine to Arlington National Cemetery, which began on Sunday, December 6 this year.
“Shortly after Paul took office, I adopted the Wreaths Across America mission statement as my driving force - to remember the fallen, honor those who serve and their families, and teach our children the value of freedom,” Mrs. LePage said. “The placing of the wreaths in Arlington, and really the whole trip, is such a powerful experience. I can’t thank Wreaths Across America enough for all they do to honor our veterans.”
For many years The Arlington Project had been the quiet mission of Morrill Worcester and his family. In 2006, internet stories fueled attention for his annual quest, and Worcester was contacted by the Patriot Guard Riders who generously offered their help with the project. Since then the Patriot Guard Riders have escorted the wreath trucks down the East Coast and taking several days to make the trip.
The week-long trip allows stops at schools, monuments, veterans’ homes and communities and gives the group an opportunity to promote their mission: Remember, Honor and Teach. This “parade” of truckers, supporters and well-wishers has become an annual event and teaching opportunity for Wreaths Across America and a valued part of the Arlington Project.
“The First Lady and I would like to say thank you to all of the professional drivers and the trucking companies that support this mission,” said Governor LePage. “This trip helps to show our nation what it means to be from Maine. This Maine-led commemorative convoy, now known as the world’s largest veteran’s parade, makes Ann and me proud to call Maine home.”
The placing of a wreath also occurred at the mast of the U.S.S. Maine with various members of Maine law enforcement. The mast was removed from the ship in 1905 shortly before the ship was taken out to sea and sunk with military honors. The mast was then installed above a memorial in Arlington National Cemetery in honor of those who lost their lives when the ship sank in Havana, Cuba, Harbor in 1898. This sinking was the event that started the Spanish-American War.

Friday, December 11, 2015

Town of Lebanon Seeks Residents Interested in Election Official Duties.

Residents of Lebanon
The Town of Lebanon is in need of

Election Officials

An Election Official is an appointed employee who attends Elections to work. The work performed can range from Registering People to Vote, Checking Residents into the voting place and helping to count election results. Election Officials should be enrolled in a qualified party (Democrat-Republican).

The work of Election Officials is extremely important and requires diligence as well as patience. These officials hold office for 2 years and may be asked to work any or all elections in that time period. Hours can range from a full election day to a shift of a few hours.

Lebanon has had a wonderful crew in the past and we hope to see some of those faces back however, there are vacant seats that need to be filled.

Interested parties are asked to submit a request for appointment to the Board of Selectmen or the Town Clerk on or before April 1st 2016. Our first Election of 2016 will be the Town Election with a Selectman seat up for grabs along with other vacancies. The Town will also vote on the School Budget that same day; May 10th from 6am-8pm.

Thank you for your important contribution to democracy.

Employer 2016 Unemployment Contribution Schedule to Drop to Lowest Rate Since 2009

Employer 2016 Unemployment Contribution Schedule to Drop to Lowest Rate Since 2009

Businesses will save $30 million in unemployment taxes next year

The Maine Department of Labor has released the 2016 Unemployment Insurance Tax Rate Schedule. Rates will drop to the Schedule B level, the lowest rate since 2009. This drop represents an approximate 21 percent decrease in unemployment taxes paid per employee.

The 2016 Rates per $1,000 paid an employee

Minimum rate will be 0.57 percent
The maximum rate is 5.40 percent
The average rate, which is also the new employer rate, will be 2.04 percent.

Examples:

Employers paying the minimum rate will see an annual decrease of $20.40 in taxes per employee paid at least $12,000 in wages.
Employers paying the average rate will see a decrease of $67.20 per employee.
Employers paying the maximum rate will see a decrease of $175.20 per employee.

Employers should receive their individual 2016 rate notices in mid-to-late December. Employers with questions about their 2015 or 2016 unemployment contributions should visit the department’s webpage on unemployment taxes at http://www.maine.gov/labor/unemployment/tax.html or call (207) 621-5120.

State Officials Continue to Warn About Phoney IRS Telephone Scams, and Give Pointers on How to Identify Telephone Scams!

State Officials Issue Warning about Phony IRS Calls, and Offer Free Anti-Scam Publications

12/09/2015 12:26 PM EST

Maine's Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection at the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation (www.maine.gov.pfr) is warning about a scam making its rounds again, just in time for the holiday season.

The Bureau has received multiple reports from consumers in Washington, Aroostook and Kennebec Counties about phony calls from scammers posing as IRS agents, demanding payment immediately to avoid arrest and jail time. The Bureau's Principal Examiner, David Leach, outlined several recent cases:

-- A Pittston man reported his household received a call from a man saying he was an IRS agent, stating his family was in danger of imminent arrest unless money was wired to him the same afternoon.

-- An Aroostook county woman reported a caller saying she was working for the IRS and there was a pending federal lawsuit against her, and the only way it could be stopped was for her to send money that day.

-- A Washington County man stated a neighbor had sent money to a caller purporting to be an IRS agent to settle a tax obligation and avoid a federal action, and later learned he had been scammed, and the money sent was lost.

"Governmental tax agencies will not call consumers and demand immediate payment of overdue taxes," Leach said. "Maine citizens are reporting the same approach by scammers. The calls were their first notice of owing supposedly overdue taxes, and in each case, because it was a scam, no monies were actually due. Legitimate authorities will start their communications with correspondence on agency letterhead, sent from an actual government office, while scammers do not operate in this manner."

Leach noted that scammers typically attempt to scare potential victims into writing funds immediately using such money transmission options such as Western Union, Money Gram or a Green Dot Card. Once the money is wired and received by crooks, it's generally gone for good. The Maine Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection offers the following guidelines:

-- Never send money for alleged overdue taxes in response to a single call from someone claiming to be working for a taxation authority. This is especially true when the caller threatens arrest unless funds are sent by money transmitters or prepaid cash cards.

-- Never disclose personal information such as Social Security number, date of birth, credit card or bank account numbers to unknown callers; this could lead to identity theft.

-- If the caller claims to be from a federal agency like the IRS, ask for the exact name of that agency, the agency's physical address, and the supervisor's direct dial (not an 800 number). If the caller claims to be in Washington DC, the number should have an area code of 202. When in doubt, locate the actual number of the tax authority and call to determine if you are the subject of an overdue tax bill.

-- Report suspicious activity to the Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection, 1-800-332-8529, or to an IRS office, or a federal law enforcement office in Maine or Boston.

Additional information about the Maine Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection and its resources, including its free (to Maine residents) anti-scam titled Gone Phishing, is available by calling the Bureau or online at www.Credit.Maine.gov.

Lebanon Maine Truth Seekers

I may not be perfect, but at least I'm not fake.