Free Republic

1,200-year-old scholar tree discovered in Tianjin Chinese archeologists have confirmed a 1,200-year-old scholar tree in the northern port city of Tianjin is probably the oldest in the entire north China region. Chinese archeologists have confirmed a 1,200-year-old scholar tree in the northern port city of Tianjin is probably the oldest in the entire north China region. The ancient tree is growing in a small courtyard in Xizui village of the centuries-old town of Yangliuqing. It is more than 20 meters tall and 1.5 meters in diameter. Archeologists believe the tree must have been planted in the Tang Dynasty (618 -...

Dec. 23, 2003 ? For 22 years, celebrating Christmas was a crime in Massachusetts, where observers of the holiday were subjected to fines and "mince smellers," individuals who were paid to patrol streets to sniff out those who might be baking traditional mincemeat pies around Dec. 25. America's mid-17th century inobservance of Christmas, which was also practiced in Pennsylvania and parts of the South, is described in "The Book of the Year ? A History of Our Holidays" by Colgate University professor Anthony Aveni. According to a recent Colgate press release, Aveni credits Protestant reformists for the 1659-1681 law against...

For an overwhelmingly Christian country which prides itself on freedom of expression, removing "offensive" Christmas trees and censoring school Santas may seem curious. Santas are fine as long as they do not proselytise in schools But as far as American public institutions are concerned, it is not Christmas but the "holiday season". Any school, public library, university or government building which at this time of year crosses the constitutional boundary between church and state - be it simply through singing Silent Night or erecting a nativity scene on the lawn - risks being the target of a lawsuit. The supporters...

SALT LAKE CITY - One woman's tree entered at a Christmas festival apparently had a little too much holiday cheer for organizers' tastes. That's why the original "Jingle Buds" -- a tree made entirely of emptied beer cans -- lasted about as long as a pint on nickel night."They called it camouflage, I call it censorship, but that was the compromise," said Carole Robinson, whose tree of 1,500 neatly organized Bud Light cans was ordered covered up with red ribbons. "I absolutely understand their concerns, but it doesn't have the pizzazz and wow that I wanted it to have."This year's...

The Jesse TreeRev. Johann G. Roten, SM Sometimes called the root of Jesse or radix Jesse in Latin, the Jesse tree is a visual representation of Jesus' genealogy which dates back to the father of David who was Jesse.  The biblical references used habitually to establish Christ's descent from David are the following: Isaiah 6,14; 11,1; 53,2 Num 24,17 Mat 1,1-16 Lk 3,23-38 Rev 22,16 In sacred art Mary is also depicted as part of Christ's family tree named after Jesse. The Fathers of the Church and Latin hymns refer to the tree of Jesse not only when speaking about...

ASHTABULA TOWNSHIP — Holding her child, she gazes off to her left, just past the office at Ridgeview Burial Park. An apparent image of the Virgin Mary holding the Christ child in the side of a tree has captivated a neighborhood often distracted by funeral processions, mourners, township workers and lawn mowers. But in the shade of the tree, where autumn leaves rest, there is calm and peace. For a few, there is faith. “It’s very hard to describe it, but I feel she’s there,” said Shirley Mauro of Ashtabula Township, who along with her husband, Pete, took photographs of...

<p>PASSAIC, New Jersey (Reuters) -- Believers are flocking to a rundown street in New Jersey to see a tree stump they say has the form of the Virgin Mary and is a divine sign of hope for the impoverished neighborhood.</p>

Workers at a South African animal shelter have been baffled after receiving a call from a man saying there were two crocodiles up a tree. One employee, who thought the call was a joke, told the caller: "We all know that crocodiles can't climb trees." However, when the animal protection officers arrived on the scene in a Johannesburg suburb they spotted the two young crocs perched among the branches. The animals were badly dehydrated and the pair died shortly afterwards, despite attempts to revive them with water. It remains unclear how the crocodiles ended up in the tree. Story filed:...

Portland activists have kicked off their protest against President Bush early. Three protesters shinnied up a pine tree and unfurled a banner on the University of Portland campus where President Bush is scheduled to visit on Thursday. Police arrested the trio and two bystanders who refused to obey police commands The protesters climbed the 80-foot tree early Tuesday, prompting police and firefighters with a ladder to come to the scene and order them down. The banner depicted an evergreen tree and said: "United Against Bush." Joe Keating, one of the protest organizers, said the incident was meant to bring attention...

July 15, 2003, 12:30PM Claudette chases off all but one tree protester By JEFFREY GILBERT Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle "There's a hurricane?" the sole remaining Memorial Park tree-sitter joked in the rain Tuesday morning, still perched atop a 110-foot tall pine tree. "Trust," as he refers to himself, is sticking it out through Hurricane Claudette, but he's the only one. His companion, "Bear", came down this morning. "We knew it was going to get rough," Trust said. "So we decided that only the most experienced person stay up here." Trust has survived wet and stormy weather for the past week,...

Tree squatters in Memorial Park 07/07/2003 From 11 News Staff Reports HOUSTON -- Two activitists from California have set up shop in some 110-foot pine trees in Houston's Memorial Park. They've been sitting near the top of the trees since Saturday night. They hung a huge banner to draw attention to their cause. The protesters say they'll stay in the Memorial Park trees as long as necessary. Two protesters set up shop in some 110-foot pine trees in Memorial Park. The tree squatters are here to protest logging practices by Maxxam Corporation which has its headquarters in Houston. The protesters...

<p>Clambering amid the foliage a hundred feet above the ground, lumber company climbers on Monday snapped a harness around a defiant anti-logging protester, cut through the metal sleeve binding her to the redwood's trunk, and lowered her to the forest floor.</p>

<p>Hoping to avoid another decade of haggling and litigation over the Sierra Nevada, state officials are urging the Bush administration to work with them on reducing fire dangers instead of weakening a 2-year-old plan aimed at restoring Sierra forests.</p> <p>Regional Forester Jack Blackwell is expected today to announce revisions to the Sierra Nevada Framework that he says will make it easier for the U.S. Forest Service to thin brush and trees that have fueled unnaturally large fires in the Sierra.</p>

PL tells Freshwater tree-sitters to get out By James Tressler The Times-Standard FRESHWATER -- Pacific Lumber Co. sent climbers up ancient redwood trees here Wednesday to deliver a message personally to tree-sitting activists. The message: It's time to come down. At least 18 activists sitting in PL-owned trees in the Freshwater area were served notice of a hearing scheduled Friday in Humboldt County Superior Court. The timber company is seeking a temporary restraining order which, if approved by Judge Dale Reinholtsen Friday, would order all of the tree-sitters to stay off the company's property. It also would order the activists...

Female cheetahs at New York's Bronx Zoo prefer men's cologne (Pic: S. Durant, WCS)  Female cheetahs at the Bronx Zoo just love Calvin Klein perfumes. But these New York cats don't dab it behind their ears - they just enjoy rubbing up against tree stumps sprayed with it. This is no New Age experiment in aromatherapy, but part of a program of the Wildlife Conservation Society, which operates New York City's zoos and aquariums, to keep animals healthy and happy. "We want to enrich the daily lives of the animals, both physically and psychologically," said Dr Diana Reiss, a...

<p>HANCOCK, N.Y. (AP) ''Wild Kingdom'' meets ''CSI'' as baffled wildlife experts and hunters try to figure out how a dead deer ended up in a tree 12 feet off the ground.</p> <p>A man hunting in a remote area of Delaware County stumbled upon the strange sight while lost in a snowstorm on opening day of deer season last month.</p>

<p>SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (AP) -- John Quigley, who has been keeping watch over a 400-year-old oak in an attempt to save the tree from a developer, said he will leave his perch in January and return to his teaching job.</p>

Just a reminder, for all you AL GORE fans here on FR - Al Gore is the host tonight, on SNL.

pink tie, loser

WASHINGTON -- Once upon a time, there was a narrowly defeated presidential nominee who, after licking his wounds over a long period, sat down and examined why he had lost. This former vice president decided he had done it wrong the first time around and vowed if he ran for president again he would profit from his mistakes. He would campaign in a different way, avoiding the errors that had denied him the White House. So says Al Gore now as he masquerades his active re-entry into presidential politics as a book tour. And in so saying, he is merely...