i gave up superstitious mumbo jumbo for lent
The Six Flags family is among the best-known theme parks in the United States. While Disney only has five flagship theme parks, Six Flags has twenty in the U.S. and one each in Canada and Mexico. Presently headquartered in New York City and Oklahoma City, the company has been running amusement parks for 45 years.
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Some holidays are known around the world - Christmas, New Year’s Day, Easter. Some are strictly religious observances - Rosh Hashanah, Eid-ul-Fitr, Ascension Day. Others are specific to individual nations - Waitangi Day, Bastille Day, Australia Day. But in the United States, we have some unique Hallmark holidays that are not widely observed by anyone other than greeting card companies. Some are even acknowledged by the federal government as nationally proclaimed holidays, but this does not guarantee increased recognition by society.
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They have been called ugly, freaks, and weird - but the Sphynx cat is exactly like other cats, minus the fur. Those who claim the Sphynx is a freak have probably never met one.
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Note: Although there are no explicit details, this topic may disturb some readers.
During World War II, Hitler’s Germany established dozens of concentration camps around Europe. Some of these were solely for forced labor, but others were also extermination camps. Human beings sent to these camps were either selected for immediate death or forced to work at hard labor that all too often led to the same result.
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Since its earliest days, the Internet has been a great equalizer for disabled individuals. People who would not otherwise have the opportunity to communicate, do research, and contribute their own knowledge and opinions have been able to do all these things with the Internet. But disabled people don’t necessarily access the Internet the same way non-disabled people do - there is a wide variety of assistive technology available for disabled computer users.
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Since its first prescription in the 1930’s, dextroamphetamine has been used by a broad variety of people. Children and adults have been prescribed the drug for treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, but it has also been used recreationally as speed because it is part of the amphetamine family.
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Throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the best way to get across the Atlantic Ocean was by passenger liner. Many thousands of immigrants came to America on ships like the Rotterdam and the Carpathia (the latter would become famous for rescuing survivors from the Titanic). These ships were usually utilitarian, as it was not until the late 1960’s that cruising for pleasure became popular.
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In recent times, deafness has not been regarded as a barrier to learning, and deaf children attend mainstreamed schools and deaf schools across the country. But this was not always the case. In fact, prior to the early 19th century, deaf children received virtually no formal education. Certainly some were taught to read and write by family members, but many worked in jobs that valued physical skills over mental ones. The person who was instrumental in changing this situation would later lend his name to the world’s first liberal arts university for the deaf.
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Since the earliest days of roller coasters, the name Giant Dipper has been used for wooden coasters across North America. Between 1924 and 1930, five roller coasters opened under this name; today, only two are still operating, both in California.
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tikva pointed me to an excellent idea: NonFicWriMo. Not everyone can write fiction, so February 2006 is going to be a month of writing for the rest of us! There are two goal options – an essay a day or 25,000 words for the month (you can also choose to do both). I think I’m going to take the “do both” route and aim to produce a 900-word essay daily. Figuring out what to write about won’t be easy; I could take the sneaky way out and use things I’ve already written but I don’t think I want to do that. Instead maybe I will use a letter of the alphabet for a topic heading each day, although that leaves two days unsettled.