Mark's Notebook

All Articles - November 2006

Presidents, Well Known or Not, Will Have Their Day on a Dollar

New York Times

By Matthew Healey; Published November 20, 2006

The United States Mint is unveiling four designs for one-dollar coins today, featuring likenesses of the first four presidents. They begin a series that is to last a decade and portray every deceased president.

The first coin, displaying George Washington on one side and the Statue of Liberty on the other, will go into circulation in mid-February, in time for Presidents' Day. After that, coins with John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison will be issued at three-month intervals.

Four more will appear, in order of each president's service, every year until 2016. Designs are based on presidential medals made previously by the Mint and on portraits in the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, where today's unveiling takes place.

The size, color and metal content of the $1 coins will be identical to those of the current Sacagawea dollars, but their luster should last longer because of a new anti-tarnishing compound that will be applied to blank coins between the time they are annealed, or softened by heating, and struck with the design.

The date and some inscriptions will be stamped into the edge, airing out the designs.

The director of the Mint, Edmund C. Moy, said the number of each presidential dollar coin issued would depend on circulation demands forecast by the Federal Reserve, regardless of how well known a president was. "This could be a renaissance for some of our lesser-known presidents," Mr. Moy said in an interview.

There will also be four new designs for the penny in 2009, to commemorate the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth.

Hopes are that the new dollars will be as popular as the state quarters, many of which have been taken out of circulation by collectors. The government has earned $4 billion to $5 billion on the state-quarter series since 1999.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/20/us/20coin.html?th&emc=th

See also the US Mint web site:

http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/$1coin/

Christian charity bans Christmas themed children's gifts

Daily Mail

By Sam Greenhill

Christian charity Samaritan's Purse fears anything relating to Jesus may offend Muslims

Mark says: We have been putting together these shoeboxes for years. We are very surprised to hear this. We were never given such instructions; actually, we were asked to include tracts and Bibles in the boxes. Perhaps things are different in the UK than they are here in the US. Perhaps the boxes shipped from the UK go to different countries than those shipped from the US. More likely, some of the statements from Samaritan's Purse have been misinterpreted.

It is a Christian charity bringing Christmas cheer to needy children abroad.

So its decision to ban Jesus, God and anything else connected with its own faith has been greeted with little short of puzzlement.

Operation Christmas Child, run by the charity Samaritan's Purse, sends festive packages to deprived youngsters in countries ravaged by war and famine.

Donors are asked to pack shoeboxes with a cuddly toy, a toothbrush and toothpaste, soap and flannel, notepads, colouring books and crayons - but nothing to do with Christmas.

Stories from the Bible, images of Jesus and any other Christian literature are expressely forbidden - in case Muslims are offended.

Last Christmas, Britons filled 1.13 million shoeboxes for Samaritan's Purse to send to children abroad.

But Barbara Hill, who works at the worldwide charity's UK headquarters in Buckhurst Hill, Essex, said: "Anything we find in the boxes which has a religious nature will be removed.

"If a box was opened by a Muslim child in a Muslim country they may be offended so we try to avoid religious images."

Yesterday the policy was condemned as "bizarre". John Midgley, cofounder of the Campaign Against Political Correctness, said: "It seems extraordinary that a Christian charity is so concerned about political correctness that it is banning itself from its own core values.

The appeal sends shoe boxes from Britain to children in countries including Azerbaijan, Armenia, Romania, Serbia, Sudan and Mozambique.

Although no Christian literature is included in the boxes, the charity does separately distribute Christmas stories from the Bible and encourages Bible study in areas where it gives toys out.

A spokesman for Samaritan's Purse, which was introduced to Britain by evangelist Billy Graham and is run internationally by his son Franklin, said: "Christianity motivates many of our supporters to help children in need. We are a Christian charity and that's about helping people.

"But it's our policy not to put religious, political or military items in boxes which go to areas of different cultures.

"All shoeboxes are checked in the UK warehouses in case someone has ignored the instruction and put such an item into a shoebox and, if found, any such item is removed."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=4155
51&in_page_id=1770

Bible Saves Man's Life

First Coast News

By Ryan Duffy

A tiny Bible is being credited with saving a man's life.

A lot of people feel God's word will save their lives. And for Bill Henry it did.

He was taking trash to the dumpster when two men stepped out and fired two bullets in his direction.

Bill figured they missed him, but one round actually hit him square in the chest.

"We got to looking and that's when we noticed the two bibles in my shirt pocket were hit with a single round," says Henry.

The other bullet passed right through his hat.

The thing is, Henry doesn't usually carry a bible. But on this day, at this particular time, he was returning them to a friend.

"I know it was divine protection, can't think of any other reason for it."

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/news-article.aspx?storyid=68592

Church challenges festive stamps

BBC News

The Church of England has challenged the Royal Mail's move to issue festive stamps without a Christian theme.

Santa, a snowman and a reindeer are among the festive images on the Royal Mail's 40th set of Christmas stamps.

The church "regretted" Royal Mail's decision not to launch "Christian themed designs reminding people of the true meaning of Christmas".

The Royal Mail said it alternated its designs between religious and non-religious cards each year.

http:news.bbc.co.uk2hibusiness6120858.stm

Wal-Mart brings Christmas back into stores

Los Angeles Times

By Alana Semuels, Times Staff Writer; November 10, 2006

The holiday season may not yet have arrived, but Christmas is back at Wal-Mart.

After being vilified by conservative critics last year for switching its holiday message from "Merry Christmas" to "Happy Holidays," the world's largest retailer changed its mind again.

The chain said Thursday that 60% more of its merchandise will be labeled "Christmas" compared with last year. And customers will hear Christmas carols as they shop.

"We certainly got some feedback last year," spokesman Nick Agarwal said. "We're hoping this will be more in tune with what customers want."

Last year, activists lambasted Wal-Mart. The American Family Assn. and Liberty Counsel organized boycotts of stores with "holiday" campaigns. More than 700,000 supporters signed a petition asking Wal-Mart to use the word "Christmas."

"Wal-Mart has seen the light," said Mathew Staver, founder of Orlando, Fla.-based Liberty Counsel. "The American people are tired of having Christmas censored or secularized."

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-walmart10nov10,1,763467.story

The Christmas Wars Begin

USA Today

Wal-Mart wishes you a Merry Christmas

By Jayne O'Donnell, USA TODAY

Wal-Mart will put "Christmas" back into the holidays this year, the retailer plans to announce Thursday.

A year after religious and other groups boycotted retailers, including Wal-Mart, for downplaying Christmas, the world's largest retail chain will have an in-your-face Christmas theme this year.

"We, quite frankly, have learned a lesson from last year," says Wal-Mart spokeswoman Linda Blakley. "We're not afraid to use the term 'Merry Christmas.' We'll use it early, and we'll use it often."

John Fleming, Wal-Mart's executive vice president of marketing, says the retailer, which recently lowered prices on toys and electronics, will be pitching Christmas almost as much as "value" to holiday shoppers.

A TV ad trumpeting Christmas will air for the first time next week.

The name of the department with Christmas decorating needs will change from The Holiday Shop, which it was for the past several years, to The Christmas Shop.

Store signs will count down the days until Christmas, and Christmas carols will be piped throughout the season.

About 60% more merchandise will be labeled "Christmas" rather than "holiday" this year over last.

The Christmas spirit is spreading. Macy's, the largest U.S. department store chain, plans to have "Merry Christmas" signs in all departments. All of Macy's window displays will have Christmas themes. At New York's Herald Square, the theme will be "Oh, Christmas Tree."

"Our intention is to make every customer feel welcomed and appreciated, whether they celebrate Christmas or other holidays," spokesman Jim Sluzewski says.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2006-11-08-christmas-usat_x.htm

Slow Home Grants Stall Progress in New Orleans

New York Times

By Leslie Eaton; Published November 11, 2006

NEW ORLEANS — The $7.5 billion program to rebuild Louisiana by helping residents repair or replace their flooded homes has gotten off to a slow start, frustrating government officials and outraging many homeowners who say they are still in limbo 14 months after Hurricane Katrina hit.

Though nearly 79,000 families have applied to the program, called the Road Home, only 1,721 have been told how much grant money they will receive. And just 22 have received access to the cash, which was provided by federal taxpayers and is being distributed by the state.

“I don’t know of anyone who has actually received any money,” said Cassandra D. Wall, who is active in a group of homeowners from the eastern part of New Orleans. Ms. Wall said she planned to attend a protest Nov. 17 in Baton Rouge, the state capital, “to go public with the outrage and the outcry.”

The city’s mayor, C. Ray Nagin, is so dissatisfied with the pace of the program that on Nov. 1 he announced that the city was developing a plan to lend money to people waiting for their Road Home grants.

Officials announced on Nov. 6 that Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco had ordered the contractor managing the program to calculate 10,000 awards by the end of the month.

“It’s time to kick into high gear,” said Walter Leger, a lawyer and a member of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, which devised the federally financed Road Home program. “It’s time to forget the reasons and excuses” for the slow pace so far.

In some ways, the program’s low-speed beginning reflects an urgent need to avoid the kind of waste and fraud that plagued federal programs after the hurricane. The government, among other things, is demanding that applicants produce details of insurance policies and payouts, proof of title to a house, and, if possible, official assessments of a home’s prestorm value. Many New Orleans residents lost such paperwork in the flood, or never had it in the first place.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/11/us/11louisiana.html?th&emc=th

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