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The following is intended to he a beginning and the ending of an attempt at writing a story of fiction -- a segment from a tentatively recalled tale of easy human lies and one man's attempts at discovering and revealing the simple truths attendant upon his life choices.
An Improbable Account
Until I enlisted in the military at the age of eighteen I lived in various stages of poverty and did not realize it. Before I became a teenager and could earn my own money, I was a typical ragamuffin, although I did not know that ragamuffin was a noun meaning: a person, typically a child, in ragged, dirty clothes. And I did not know that I was considered by the average observer (my schoolteacher, pastor, and most of my classmates) to be an unfortunate urchin, a waif, a guttersnipe... you know, a street kid.
I have witnessed a great many varied and relatively minor incidents interspersed among the inconsequential years of a less than inspiring lifetime.
Below are some of them:
. . .
. . .
. . .
Now, in my old age, I find it curious and passing strange to realize that during the earliest period of my life while my parents were alive they never wanted to touch me.
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Did You Know . . .?
If you add up all the numbers from
1 to
100 consecutively (
1 + 2 + 3...) it totals
5050.
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HISTORICAL EVENT
On this day in 1793 Thomas Paine was arrested in France for treason. Though the charges against him were never detailed, he had been tried in absentia on December 26 and convicted. Before moving to France, Paine was an instrumental figure in the American Revolution as the author of Common Sense, writings used by George Washington to inspire the American troops. Paine moved to Paris to become involved with the French Revolution, but the chaotic political climate turned against him, and he was arrested and jailed for crimes against the country.
Paine's imprisonment in France caused a general uproar in America and future President James Monroe used all of his diplomatic connections to get Paine released in November 1794. Ironically, it wasn't long before Paine came to be despised in the United States, as well. After The Age of Reason was published, he was called anti-Christ and his reputation was ruined. Thomas Paine died a poor man in 1809 in New York.
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WORD FOR TODAY
poverty
noun
1. the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support.
2. deficiency of necessary or desirable ingredients, qualities, etc.:
poverty of the soil.
Poverty is scarcity, dearth, or the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution refers to the deprivation of basic human needs, which commonly includes food, water, sanitation, clothing, shelter, health care and education. Relative poverty is defined contextually as economic inequality in the location or society in which people live.
--
Wikipedia
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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
(born December 28, 1954)
Denzel Washington is an American actor, film director, and film producer. He has received much critical acclaim for his work in film since the 1990s, including for his portrayals of real-life figures such as Steve Biko, Malcolm X, Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, Melvin B. Tolson, Frank Lucas, and Herman Boone. Washington is a featured actor in the films produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and was a frequent collaborator of the late director Tony Scott.
Washington has received two Golden Globe awards and a Tony Award, and two Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor for
Glory (1989) and Best Actor for
Training Day (2001).
(born December 28, 1932)
Nichelle Nichols is an American actress, singer and voice artist. She sang with Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton before turning to acting. Nichols' most famous role is that of communications officer Lieutenant Uhura aboard the USS Enterprise in the popular Star Trek television series (1966-1969), as well as the succeeding motion pictures, where her character was eventually promoted in Starfleet to the rank of commander. Her Star Trek character was groundbreaking in U.S society at the time, and civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. personally praised her work on the show and asked her to remain when she was considering leaving the series.
(born December 28, 1922)
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, media producer, television host, actor, voice actor and former president and chairman of Marvel Comics.
In collaboration with several artists, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created
Spider-Man, the Hulk, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Thor, and many other fictional characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. Lee subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.
(born December 28, 1979)
Noomi Rapace is a Swedish actress. She achieved international fame with her portrayal of Lisbeth Salander in the Swedish/Danish film adaptations of the Millennium series: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest. She is also known for playing Leena in Beyond (2010), Anna in The Monitor (2011), Madame Simza Heron in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011), the lead role of Dr. Elizabeth Shaw in the Ridley Scott science fiction film Prometheus (2012), and Beatrice in Dead Man Down (2013).
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He is now rising from affluence to poverty.
--Mark Twain
NASA TV
