History of Graduation

The first Baccalaureate Ceremony commenced at Oxford University in 1432. At that time each student was required to deliver a sermon in Latin as part of his academic applications. The term of Graduation dates back to 1909 when Arnold van Gennep called it the "Rite of Passage". Gennep said that there had to be three things for the rite of passage to include. 1. Separation from Society 2. Inculcation Transformation 3. Return to Society in a New Status.

The elements like caps, gowns, and speeches in a graduation came from other culture traditions to signify a sort of higher importance and status in ones community. The Caps that are worn in a graduation signify the student's academic institution and degree. This custom is said to derive from Celtic groups who's Druid priest wore hoods to signify their superiority and intelligence. The tassel that is attached signifies the student's academic achievement. The color of the graduation gown prior to the 1950's was gray in the U.S., but in European countries color gowns were used back in the 1800s to signify the area of study. In the U.S. around the 1950's students began to ask for cap and gowns that represented their school colors which is now a custom in graduations these days. Speeches are usually given by a guest speaker who gives a few words to inspire the students to the "real world" and to remember what they have been taught in their education at the institution.

Graduation is used to symbolize the culmination of many years of hard work. It is a time for you, your family and friends to recognize and celebrate your success. This is a sense of reward for those who have spent many hours towards there studies and are now complete and are qualified in there area of study.

http://www.jacirae.com/graduation_day_celebration.html

Other Forms of Torture

http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2003/030403-interrogation01.htm

With many torture techniques being used in prisons like in Guantanamo Bay there is the big question what other ways are possible to get people who are thought to have information on a particular subject to tell authorities. In this article it says that the most simplest form of interrogation is the most effective method interrogators use is often the simplest, which is direct questioning. This is especially effective against prisoners that are taken captive at gunpoint and given shouted orders, often in a language they cannot understand, to submit to searching and confinement by an enemy they have been taught to fear, he said in the article. David Robinson a former instructor at Fort Huachuca said that torture does not give you information. torture gives you whatever people need to make the pain stop. This probably means that people who are tortured probably lie just to get out of what is being done to them as compare to a direct question interrogation method which gives you a better chance of getting more accurate information and prevents the use of torture

Margaret McDonald

Margaret McDonald was born in 1815and lived in Port Glasgow, Scotland during the beginning years of the Dispensationalist movement under John Nelson Darby. McDonald was fifteen years old in 1830 when she claimed to be a prophetess. She then not long after her revelation wrote down her account of everything and sent hand-written copies of it to a number of Christian leaders. Her writings were considered to be worng and was blamed for inventing the pre-tribulation rapture of the Church. Others said that she was amongst the company of false prophets who were causing disturbances in Edward Irving's church at the time. Some people wrote that Margaret and other so called prophets and visionaries spoke under the direction of a demonic power. She is very similar to Nostradamus.

http://intotruth.org/misc/rapture.html

The Jersey Devil

The Jersey Devil, the supposed mythical creature of the New Jersey Pinelands, has haunted New Jersey and the surrounding areas for the past 260 years. This entity has been seen by over 2,000 witnesses over this period. It has terrorized towns and caused factories and schools to close down, yet many people believe that the Jersey Devil is a legend. One of the most popular legends says a Mrs. Shrouds of Leeds Point, NJ made a wish that if she ever had another child, she want it to be a devil. Her next child who was born was misshapen and deformed. She sheltered it in the house, so the curious couldn't see him. On stormy night, the child flapped it's arms, which turned into wings, and escaped out the chimney and was never seen by the family again. The description of the Jersey Devil is that it was about three and a half feet tall, with a head like a dog and a face like a horse. It had a long neck, wings about two feet long, and its back legs were like those of a crane, and it had horse's hooves. It walked on its back legs and held up two short front legs with paws on them. It seems the devil is immortal and still lurking around the New Jersey Pinelands.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_Devil

Rochester Paranormal

The Rochester Paranormal research group perform their activities in western New York. These people research everything from aliens to big foot. In the website they show examples of each topic with pictures and audio feed to support their research. The website says that they take interest into their investigations of the paranormal and supernatural seriously which has lead to their members into some very interesting encounters with the unknown. The website gives a contact portion of the website in which people can type in their email and send a email to the director of the website to tell them of your discoveries or if you see or think something paranormal is going around you. There is a phone number given which gives you the ability to talk directly with a representative about any questions you may have. The number for the Rochester Paranormal is (585) 385-6396. The website is offering a Psychic development class starting November 7th for five weeks from 7pm to 9pm. The class apparently covers Mediumship, Pendulums, Tarot, various forms of Divination, Auras, and Chakras. The cost for the course is $50.

http://supernaturalparanormal.com/

The Cardiff Giant

In October 16, 1869 a ten foot giant stone man appeared out of the ground when some workers were digging a well behind the barn of William C. “Stub” Newell in Cardiff, New York. The news spread through out the country and many people traveled far distances to take a look at the giant stone man. The farm owner Stub Newell noticed the wide spread popularity of his discovery that he started charging people 50 cent to view the giant. The hoax of the stone man reached to great extent when a group of business men decided to buy move the stone man for 37,000 dollars to be examined in Syracuse. The examination lead to the scientist concluding that it was a fake statue because the chisel marks were still present and if it had spent adequate amount of time in the ground those marks would have gone away. The truth then came out that the statue was actually the creation of an enterprising New York tobacconist named George Hull. The idea of burying a stone giant in the ground occurred to him after he got into an argument with a Methodist Reverend about whether the Bible should be taken literally. Hull, an atheist, didn’t think it should. But the Reverend disagreed. The Reverend insisted that even the passage where it says ‘there were giants in the earth in those days’ should be read as a literal fact. According to Hull, after this discussion he immediately “thought of making a stone, and passing it off as a petrified man.” He figured he could not only use the fake giant to poke fun at Biblical literalists, but also make some money. This is considered to be one of the greatest hoaxes ever.

http://skepdic.com/cardiff.html

Mccarthyism

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAmccarthyism.htm

In June 29th 1940, an alien registration act was enforced in America. This act stated that it was illegal for anyone in the United States to teach the desirability of overthrowing the government. The main purpose of this bill was to prevent the American Communist party from gaining any support in or have their ideology spread in the US government. The hysteria of America being over thrown by communist caused a major hysteria in the country. Everyone was accusing other people of being a communist even though it was more than likely not true. The problem got out of hand when a committee named the House of Un-American Activities was made. They questioned 41 people from Hollywood who were accused of following the communist ways. 10 of the people questioned used the first amendment to not say anything and were found guilt and thrown into jail for months. The general public saw that the committee apparently did find communist, and caused people to be on the look out to see if they knew any communist in their communities. The committee's setup and the acts enforced by Joseph McCarthy, was the beginning of America's anti- communist hysteria.