3. Napolean III had multiple motives on May 5th
For the leader of France, Napolean III, the battle at Puebla was an attempt at not only spreading his empire but at conquering a key Mexican access point to the U.S., where he intended to lend support to the confederate army during the Civil War in an effort to keep the U.S. divided and consequently less powerful.

4. Abraham Lincoln sympathized with the Mexican cause but…
Abraham Lincoln sympathized with the Mexican cause during the French occupation but was unable to lend direct support to the nation due to the U.S. Civil War, which was taking place at the same time. When the Civil War finally ended, the U.S. forced France to withdraw its troops from Mexico and their empire collapsed.

5. Roosevelt helped popularize Cinco de Mayo in the U.S.
Cinco de Mayo became a popular holiday in the U.S. after President Franklin Roosevelt enacted the “Good Neighbor Policy” in 1933 to improve relations with Latin American countries.

For your CInco Celebration start with Riley's Spice of Life Dried Salsa!

(Make at least twice as much as you think you are going to need.)  http://rileyspice.com/salsa/

Announcing the 2014 Youth Preparedness CouncilFEMA is pleased to announce the members of the 2014-2015 FEMA National Youth Preparedness Council.

The FEMA Youth Preparedness Council was formed in 2012 to bring together youth leaders from across the country that are interested in advocating on behalf of youth preparedness and making a difference in their communities. Each Council member completes a self-selected legacy project during his or her term on the Council. Council members also participate in a Youth Preparedness Council Summit, where they share their ideas, opinions and questions about youth disaster preparedness with the leadership of national organizations working on this critical priority. Throughout their term, members meet with FEMA to provide input on strategies, initiatives and projects.

The distinguished members for 2014-2015 are as follows:

• Council Chairperson: Emily Rosenblum (Missouri) (returning)
• FEMA Region I: Bridget Smith (Connecticut)
• FEMA Region II: James Collins (New Jersey)
• FEMA Region II:  Sophie Friedfeld-Gebaide (New York) (returning)
• FEMA Region III: Sahara Duncan (Pennsylvania)
• FEMA Region IV: Jonathan Salazar (Florida)
• FEMA Region V: Isaiah Garcia (Michigan)
• FEMA Region V:  Daniel Wernsman (Wisconsin) (returning)
• FEMA Region VI: Obie Jones (Texas)
• FEMA Region VII: Austin Witt (Iowa)
• FEMA Region VIII: Weston Lee (Utah)
• FEMA Region VIII: Matthew Mayfield (Colorado)
• FEMA Region IX: Brittany Amano (Hawaii)
• FEMA Region IX: Navjot Hansra (California)
• FEMA Region X: Raylene Ensminger (Washington)

Check back throughout the year for updates on the Council’s progress!

About FEMA's Youth Preparedness CouncilFEMA’s Youth Preparedness Council was formed last year to bring together youth leaders from across the country that are highly interested and engaged in advocating youth preparedness and making a difference in their communities.  The Council supports FEMA’s commitment to involving youth in preparedness-related activities, and provides an avenue to engage youth population, taking into account their perspectives, feedback and opinions.  Council members will attend a Youth Preparedness Council Summit on youth disaster preparedness and will also complete a Council project with FEMA support.

In its second year, interest in the Youth Preparedness Council has increased based on the number of applications received this year for the five seats available.  The five newest members of the Council from across the country have been selected based on their dedication to public service, efforts in making a difference in their community, and their potential to expand their impact as a national advocate for youth preparedness.

KUALA LUMPUR, March 12 — Authorities’ decision to display what appears to be a combined image of the two Iranians who boarded missing

The photographs were displayed when Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar revealed the identity of one of the dubious passengers as 19-year-old Pouria Nour Mohammad Mehrdad. But closer scrutiny of the still image of Pouria taken from surveillance footage and handed out to the media showed that it was a combination of his upper torso stapled over the legs of a second Iranian identified yesterday by Interpol as Delavar Seyed Mohammad Reza, 29.

The discovery had led to allegations that the images were manipulated using photo editing suite Photoshop, but closer inspection suggests the superimposition was physical. It is unclear why authorities opted to combine parts of Pouria’s image with Delavar’s that were captured when both were passing through a security checkpoint at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on their way to board the still-missing MH370 flight.

 The use of a stolen Austrian passport by Pouria and an Italian’s by Delavar had earlier fuelled suspicion of foul play in the plane’s disappearance, but authorities are now leaning towards the conclusion that they were only trying to smuggle themselves into Europe.        

 Investigation over the missing Beijing-bound airliner with 239 onboard has been marred by repeated incidents of apparent contradictions from authorities. -

www.hub911.com

www.essentialnow.com

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

By Michael Meakin for Wendy Hicks

I Still Believe In Santa Claus

I was in the fifth grade, in Mrs. Clink’s class, when it was decided that the elementary school play would be “The Year Without A Santa Claus.” Auditions were held, and casting was done on the basis of student vote; I was “elected” to play Santa. The rehearsals were held during school hours, so no extemporaneous tim...e was required. The only interruption to our rehearsal schedule was a field trip. 

 There were two cousins in my class, Christie and Julie, whose mothers were part of a quint-sisterhood of which one might swear they were actually quintuplets. They were called “The North Girls” around town as their maiden name was North, and, regardless of their age differences, they really did look, walk, and talk quite alike. Christie and Julie sat on the opposite side of the bus from me, and one row forward, their mothers took up the seat across from them, which meant they were directly ahead of me.

Talk on the bus inevitably turned to the play, the progression of rehearsals and, as my parents had taught music and drama, the “North Girls” were interested in why I had been so easily elected Santa and joked of whether or not it was just because of my parents. Several kids spoke up and said things like: “Oh, no; Mike’s Santa was just the best one,” “He does the Ho, Ho, Ho, so well,” “You’d swear if you closed your eyes that he really was Santa,” “It’s amazing how he can sound like an old man!” Well, the North Girls wanted to hear some lines so I obliged them, they laughed aloud, were duly impressed, and the majority of the bus erupted into applause when I was finished. As the din died down, there were comments like: “See, we told you!” “That’s amazing!” “How do you change your voice like that?” “That was very good!” I always liked attention, and I am sure I even blushed a little as I felt my face flush.

 Suddenly, talk all around me began about when others had found out there was no Santa Claus… “Last year,” someone piped, “In third grade,” shot another, “My parents told me the truth when I caught them stuffing the stockings…” A feeling of utter despair came over me, as if someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over me, as if my heart had been ripped out, as if I had suddenly died and was now listening to the many conversations going on around me in an “out of body experience.” My mouth and throat went completely dry as Christie and Julie laughed and talked with their own mothers about when they had been told that there was no Santa Claus… They turned toward me and asked me when I had found out. I gagged, I felt sick; I could feel tears at the back of my eyes yearning to well up on my bottom lashes, but that were being held back by some deep-seeded disgust and disbelief. “I guess I just found out now…” Was all I could muster. A chorus of laughter erupted, the biggest and heartiest laughs came from the mothers of my classmates sitting in front of me; their faces were distorted, their mouths stuck open as far as they could; they howled, their eyes became slits, wrinkles appeared all over their faces.

My classmates passed it up and down the aisle: “Mike still believed in Santa!” “Mike didn’t know there was no Santa Claus!” When they caught their breath, the two North Girls saw my, now, very evident tears. “There, there,” and all that rot, “just talk to your Mom and Dad about it when you get home tonight.” I asked, “Why would they lie to me about it?” More laughter made me clam up quick.
All the way home I stared silently out the window, milling over and over in my mind how my own parents could have been so cruel all these years; how could they have not told me when all my friends seemed to know; why did they set me up for such an embarrassment? I did not discuss it with them; in fact, I went straight to my room after dinner and cried myself to sleep.

Because of this early bedtime, I woke very early and lie in bed; still feeling as if there were a knife in my heart. All of a sudden, a tremendous revelation came over me: all the things that I thought Santa brought me over the years were actually gifts from my parents… They had me prepare two Christmas lists; one for them which consisted of practical, affordable items; and one for Santa of fanciful, extravagant, and expensive items. I assumed this was because Santa’s Elves were somehow able to duplicate them, or recreate them by means of magical powers. I thought back over the items I had asked for from both my parents and from Santa Claus. About $100 on my list for my parents, and about $100 for the things I had written Santa about…

In my family, if you were good each day through Advent, one of Santa’s Elves would ride a single, saddled reindeer to your window and leave you a piece of candy or a Christmas tree ornament, or both if you had been extra good! They would also pick up and deliver letters to and from Santa. I knew my parents’ alarm clocks would soon be ringing to begin the school day, so I wrote a brief note detailing the cruel jest at my expense on the field trip, and asking if the terrible thing I had heard were true… Then, I laid awake under the covers, waiting for the bells and the buzzers down the hall. Within a minute of my Father’s alarm, my door opened silently; a long, thin stream of light from the hallway got wider and wider, the floor boards creaked as he crossed the room, I heard a couple of small sounds at the windowsill, and the door shut… My letter to Santa was gone and, in its place, were a piece of candy and a tree ornament. I lay there, the same feelings washing over me as the day before but then I realized my parents were paying for all those toys and surprises themselves; that they were filling that stocking (the biggest one on the block) for me, that they were making and leaving all those cookies, cinnamon buns, nuts and nutcrackers, gingerbread houses, toys and games, notes from Santa, candies and ornaments…

On Christmas morning, no matter how much we decorated the house ourselves during Advent, there were always twice as many decorations; twice as many presents, and a treasure trove of treats… My God, I wondered, what are they spending, and how can they do all that extra decorating and present wrapping in one night? Christmas morning was so magical; and, in our house, it began at the butt crack of dawn… How could they stay up all night and then cheerfully and gleefully work so hard to make my day so special and last so long? How could they afford to get every last thing I asked for? How could they sneak into my room and leave goodies every night for a month without my ever hearing or seeing them? What were they going to think of that letter I had written to Santa? What would they say to me? What would be their reply? What if Christmas, as I knew it, was over? I heard my Father go into the bathroom, heard him ripping the envelope open, then there was a long, deafening quiet. He came out of the bathroom, and knocked on my door… “Michael; it’s time to get up…” his usual school-morning greeting.


 I went to school, completely dejected, sick to my stomach, and ready for the continued jeering of my classmates… When, at last, the long day was done, I did much the same thing as I had the day before; I went to my room and stayed there all evening until I finally fell asleep. When I awoke the next morning, both my windowsills were completely covered with candy, ornaments, toy soldiers, and one giant, ominous-looking envelope decorated with a ribbon and a bow. I opened it very slowly, preparing myself for the inevitable; alas, I thought, this was the last morning on which I would find such a lovely surprise… Tears were already streaming down my face, and my eyes were so inflamed and full that the paper and the writing on it were blurry to me.

It read:
“Dearest Michael, your classmates were very wrong. I do exist! I exist in the hearts and minds of children everywhere, I exist in the love that your parents have for you, I exist in the love God had for the world when He sent His Son as a gift into it, I exist in the joy of giving and receiving gifts, I exist in every ‘Merry Christmas’ spoken, I exist in the history of peoples all over the world, I exist in the heart of every person who believes in me. Though your parents must help my work along, though you are growing up, though you may see and hear the things of childhood slipping away…you must remember what Jesus said: ‘whoever does not accept the Kingdom of God as a little child does will not enter in…’ All our love, Mom & Dad, and Santa.”


That Christmas, my eleventh on this earth, was the most magical I ever had and, at 43, with my Father dead 17 years, my Mother 4, and without a thing on my windowsill or stocking full of treats, I still believe; how could it be otherwise? There’s just too much proof…

by Kevin Hughes

'Twas the night before Christmas
And all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring
‘Cause the power was out.

How could this happen?
What trouble could be?
The house is all dark,
Even the lights on the tree.

The lineman's asleep
All cozy and warm,
His power apparently
Was spared by the storm.

Deep into slumber
But soon to awake,
'Cause a tree on the line
has caused it to break.

The calls swamp the office.
"MY POWER IS OUT!
Get them here quickly,
‘cause I carry clout."

The dispatcher calls
And with a hint of despair,
He informs the lineman
The need repair.



In three or four hours
The trouble is found.
You see, the road didn't pass
Where the tree' went down.

After walking through snow
And fighting the storm,
The line is now clear
And the power is on.

And now it's the morning
The kids shout with glee,
And their eyes shine as bright
As the lights on the tree.

The lineman goes home now
As tired as can be.
The storm just ignored
It was his Christmas Eve.

He's not asking for praise
Or for you to applaud,
‘Cause according to him
It's just part of the job.

But please just remember
As you pick up the horn
And you call to the office
He may be out in the storm.