🇭🇰The Government of Hong Kong fully implemented the Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants (Amendment) Ordinance 2018 today (31st Dec).
The import, re-export, and commercial possession of elephant ivory have been banned. pic.twitter.com/vLh45xpCTG
(WatchDogReport.org) – SEAL Team 6 is one of the most elite teams in the US Navy. The members of the special forces group are best known for taking out Osama bin Laden, the terrorist leader who planned the September 11th attacks. On Christmas Day, the team suffered a major loss.
On December 25, the National Navy SEAL Museum announced the death of 81-year-old Richard Marcinko, the founder of SEAL Team 6. Marcinko, known as “Demo Dick” was the first commanding officer of the unit. He joined the Navy in 1958 and completed training in underwater demolition as an enlisted sailor in 1965. He deployed to Vietnam during the war with SEAL Team 2, where he made his mark leading his team to victory. Marcinko was so successful, the North Vietnamese Army offered money to anyone who could capture and murder him. The enemy failed to take him out.
Naval Operations Chief Admiral Thomas B. Hayward handpicked Marcinko to develop the new SEAL team in the wake of the 1980 failed attempt by the Pentagon to rescue American hostages in Iran. After leading the elite team for three years, the commander retired from the military in 1989 – more than three decades after enlisting.
After leaving the Navy, Marcinko wrote 20 books, including a number of best-sellers. He was also a motivational speaker. Jim DeFelice, who co-wrote six books with him, called him an “American hero” who was courageous and legendary, but also funny and generous.
#RIP Richard Marcinko who passed away on Saturday at the age of 81. A Vietnam veteran and the founding commander of Navy SEAL Team 6, the imposing Marcinko had a successful career as an author, motivational speaker, radio talk show host and military consultant. pic.twitter.com/LXTqwAaRvx
Questions arose Monday about which government agency organized charter flights filled with minors that landed at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport four times this month.
Jim Gallagher, president of Aviation Technologies Inc., the airport’s fixed-base operator, said Sunday the flights were listed as “ICE flights” by private charter companies.
“ICE” stands for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
However, ICE spokeswoman Mary Houtmann said Monday the agency did not organize flights that landed at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Dec. 11, 17 and 25.
“These are not our flights,” Houtmann wrote in an email.
The flights might have been organized by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement, she wrote.
Attempts to verify that with Health and Human Services on Monday were unsuccessful.
Gallagher stuck by his assertion that he was informed the flights were “ICE flights.”
“The airline that contacts us sends us paperwork,” Gallagher said. “The paper trail doesn’t lie.”
Gallagher said his company provided service for previous ICE flights, but prior to this month all of those flights involved prisoner transport.
The charter flights that originated in Texas and landed at the airport in December were filled with children who did not speak English, accompanied by adult chaperones and translators rather than guards, Gallagher said.
“We had never seen an ICE flight that wasn’t deporting people rather than bringing them further into the country,” he said.
Another wrinkle arose when a charter flight scheduled to land Dec. 30 that had originally been listed as an ICE flight was changed to a passenger charter service, Gallagher said.
A plane from the same company — World Atlantic Airlines — landed at the airport on Christmas Day and dropped off minors and chaperones who boarded buses bound for an undisclosed location, Gallagher said.
Some answers
Gallagher provided a partial answer to a question frequently asked as news of the charter flights spread via social media: Where were the children taken after boarding buses at the airport?
The flight on Dec. 11 landed at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after it was diverted from a New York airport, Gallagher said.
Passengers from that flight boarded buses bound for Brooklyn, New York, he said.
However, Gallagher said he did not know the final destination of passengers who landed on the Dec. 17 flight, or on two flights that landed Dec. 25.
After all of the charter flights, passengers disembarked and boarded buses, Gallagher said.
Gallagher disputed reports posted to social media that some passengers on the Christmas flights were adults.
Those flights were filled with teenagers accompanied by adult chaperones, Gallagher said.
The earlier flights, on Dec. 11 and Dec. 17, included younger children and chaperones, he said.
Airport board reaction
The airport is directed by a bi-county board that includes Lackawanna County commissioners Chris Chermak, Jerry Notarianni and Debi Domenick, as well as Luzerne County Council members Tim McGinley and LeeAnn McDermott and acting county Manager Romilda Crocamo.
McGinley, Crocamo, Notarianni and Chermak said they were not informed of the charter flights in advance.
The board does not normally get involved in day-to-day operations of the airport, Crocamo and McGinley said.
Notarianni called it “more of a federal issue than it is a local issue.”
Chermak said the federal government should have notified local officials of the flights and of where the passengers will ultimately end up.
“That’s not fair to the residents of our counties that they’re sneaking these people in,” Chermak said. “We don’t know who they are. We don’t know if they’re vaccinated (against COVID-19). We don’t know anything.”
Jeff Horvath, staff writer, contributed to this report.
BTW, it took rescue teams nearly eight hours to dig through the thousands of tons of debris, but they eventually pulled Tomasz Wiszniewski from the mess. They believe he was saved by staying in the forklift during the mayhem. pic.twitter.com/U7E8CEEffQ
Home › Dog Food Recalls › Woody’s Pet Food Deli Recalls Raw Food Due to Salmonella
December 23, 2021 — Woody’s Pet Food Deli of Minneapolis, MN is recalling Raw Cornish Hen pet food due to risk of Salmonella bacteria. The affected recipe contains a “With Supplements” sticker.
What’s Being Recalled?
The recalled products and identifying batch information are included below:
Where Was the Product Sold?
The recalled pet food was distributed in the company’s retail stores in Minneapolis, Saint Paul, and Woodbury, Minnesota.
Two (2) 5-pound tubs were sold in the company’s St Paul store. Twelve (12) 15-ounce containers were distributed through its 3 Twin Cities, MN retail stores.
About Salmonella in Humans
Salmonella can affect animals eating the product and there is risk to humans from handling contaminated products, especially if they have not thoroughly washed their hands after having contact with the products or any surfaces exposed to these products.
Healthy people infected with Salmonella should monitor themselves for some or all of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramping and fever.
Rarely, Salmonella can result in more serious ailments, including arterial infections, endocarditis, arthritis, muscle pain, eye irritation, and urinary tract symptoms.
Consumers exhibiting these signs after having contact with this product should contact their healthcare providers.
About Pets with Salmonella
Pets with Salmonella infections may be lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever, and vomiting.
Some pets will have only decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain.
Infected but otherwise healthy pets can be carriers and infect other animals or humans.
If your pet has consumed the recalled product and has these symptoms, please contact your veterinarian.
What Caused the Recall?
The recall is a result of FDA sampling due to a consumer complaint on another product, which testing revealed a sample of this product contains Salmonella.
Message from the Company
The company continues its investigation as to the source of the problem and will resume production when the problem is resolved.
For 13 years we have strived to provide quality pet food, and we believe taking this action is the right thing to do.
We are grateful for your support. We sincerely apologize for any inconveniences this may cause.
What to Do?
Consumers who have these products should discontinue use and may return the unused portion to the place of purchase for a full refund.
If you have recalled product in your home, clean refrigerators/freezers where the product was stored and clean and disinfect all bowls, utensils, food prep surfaces, pet bedding, toys, floors, and any other surfaces that the food or pet may have had contact with.
Because animals can shed the bacteria in their feces, it’s important to clean up the animal’s stools in yards or parks where people or other animals may become exposed, in addition to cleaning items in the home.
Consumers should thoroughly wash their hands after handling the affected product or cleaning up potentially contaminated items and surfaces.
Consumers with questions may contact our stores Tuesday through Saturday noon to 6 PM CST at 612-208-0335 (Minneapolis), 651-493-7269 (St Paul), and 651-340-8678 (Woodbury).
Stores are closed from December 25, 2021 to January 3, 2022. So, Woody’s Pet Food Deli is unable to answer phone calls during that time. Please contact the company by email at info@woodyspetdeli.com.
Reporting Pet Food Problems
U.S. citizens can report complaints about FDA-regulated pet food products by calling the consumer complaint coordinator in your area.
These low-energy X-rays don't harm humans, but they can make changes in Earth’s ionosphere that can disturb radio communications and the accuracy of GPS navigation systems. https://t.co/utJUyTmoch
Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign leading up to the 2020 election ran off the rails even before the first primary results were in. But after that disaster, Joe Biden picked her as his running mate, they took office, and since then, her greatest accomplishment has been the remodeling of the vice president’s office.
She was assigned to address the crisis that Biden created at our nation’s southern border, but she has ignored any action in addressing the crisis. This is according to the White House, not to mention millions of Americans.
Kamala has been accused of running her office on cruelty to staff members. She has been the butt of jokes for noting that when one plugs in an electric car to recharge, there’s no “sound or fume and she asks this question, “So how do I know it’s working?” But she has sung “Wheels on the Bus” for reporters.
Now we have an explanation from the vice president herself for why things haven’t tracked well for her. “It’s because she’s not White and not a Man,” she said.
Fox News reports she was “expressing discontent with the news coverage surrounding and her performance as the nation’s second-highest office holder, citing her race and gender.”
“According to a piece by The New York Times, Harris has been privately complaining to her allies that the media’s coverage of her would be better if she were any of her 48 white male predecessors, and has reportedly confided in them about the difficulties she’s facing with her assigned portfolio from the White,” Fox reported.
It said the Times focused on “Harris’ struggle to ‘define herself within the Biden White House, noted that she held no ‘headlining role’ when it came to some of the administration’s most difficult decisions and that she was caught betweencriticism that she wasn’t performing the job well and resentment from supporters that she was being ‘undercut’ by the West Wing.”
The Times explains, “Ms. Harris has privately told her allies that the news coverage of her would be different if she were any of her 48 predecessors, all of whom were white and male.”
She has, in fact, been unsuccessful on the two major issues that Biden assigned her: the southern border, which the report describes as the “root causes” of migration, and a Democrat plan to have the federal government take over all elections nationwide.
The facts are that the White House recently used a stunning camera move to exclude Harris from being on screen during a news conference, and there have been numerous “sourced” reports that Biden was even considering appointing her to a judicial post to open the VP’s office to someone else.
On her own, she’s blamed President Donald Trump for the crisis Biden created at the southern border, and now blames sexism and racism on her lack of success.
In the Wall Street Journal, however, columnist Gerard Baker had another assessment: “A heartbreak and a spine-chilling cackle away from the presidency, is another living rebuke to the idea that government is virtuous and wise. Vice President Kamala Harris has demonstrated, evidently to the alarm of much of her own staff, that she is simply another of Mr. Biden’s many mistakes, perhaps the biggest one yet. It is a dismaying state of affairs that we must all pray nightly for the continued health of an inept president to avert the calamity of a worse one.”
And the Western Journal documented that Harris, who has “made a name for herself as not only the first black, female, and black female vice president, but also the least popular vice president in history,” got heated during an interview.
She was asked “who the real president was, Joe Biden or West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin,” the report said.
“For Democrats, watching Biden’s agenda stalled, the question is embarrassing. And the vice president’s reaction was even more so. Harris visibly flushed, and one got the impression she was resisting the urge to take her earrings and rings off and lunge at the screen.
“C’mon, Charlamagne,’ she said. ‘It’s Joe Biden.’ When the host began to press her further, she started gesturing wildly, saying ‘No, no, no, no, it’s Joe Biden. It’s Joe Biden.’”
She started bouncing up and down, “And it’s Joe Biden, It’s Joe Biden and I’m vice president and my name is Kamala Harris,” she said.
Our appreciation to WND for content in this article.
9th Armored Division soldier receiving a kiss from a little French girl after France's liberation, Valentine's Day, France, 1945. 😘 Credit: Our Colorful History. pic.twitter.com/IC0QGKVqfQ
NOW – Biden departs to Delaware beach house after telling governors there is "no federal solution" on COVID and it should be "solved at the state level."pic.twitter.com/Ux9RtPmb8m
Congressman’s letter says 130 people in country illegally were flown to AVP
Barletta
Updated
PITTSTON TWP. — U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser and Republican candidate for governor Lou Barletta on Sunday were looking for answers on reports that four airplanes carrying undocumented immigrants have landed at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport over the past two weeks and were taken to destinations not yet confirmed.
Meuser, R-Dallas, and Barletta, a former Congressman from Hazleton, have sent letters to Gov. Tom Wolf and Attorney General Josh Shapiro asking them to confirm the reports and to provide details of where they planes originated and were the occupants thoroughly vetted regarding their backgrounds and COVID status.
James Gallagher, president of Aviation Technologies, which is based at the airport, confirmed the four flights arrived — Dec. 11, Dec. 17 and two on Dec. 25 — and he said a fifth flight is scheduled to arrive Dec. 30 at 5 p.m. Gallagher said at least two of the flights were diverted to AVP from other airports.
Gallagher said his company holds government contracts, including military contracts. He said his business and AVP are publicly funded and must accept the flights.
“We are just doing our job,” Gallagher said. “We have no way of knowing details about the passengers — where they came from or where they were taken.”
Gallagher said most were children and teenagers. He said their names were written on duct tape attached to their bags. He said most did not speak English and interpreters traveled with them.
“We don[‘t know their status,” Gallagher sad. “It seems that all of the vetting should take place at the border, but it appears that there isn’t much transparency there. More information needs to be provided. There needs to be more control.”
Gallagher said each plane carried between 100 and 120 passengers.
Meuser’s letter was sent to Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, and to Tae Johnson, acting director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
In his letter, Meuser expressed concern about recent reports that the federal government has flown undocumented immigrants to the Wilkes Barre-Scranton International Airport.
“It is my understanding that a total of 130 immigrants, 118 minors and 12 adults, arrived aboard an iAero charter flight on Friday, Dec. 17, and were subsequently transported on buses from a private hangar,” Meuser wrote. “This flight seems to have occurred without airport officials receiving notice or a passenger manifest.”
Meuser said Sunday that he has been told that two more flights arrived at the airport on Saturday.
“The lack of communication and transparency surrounding this process is unacceptable,” Meuser said. “Your agency failed to notify me or any other local officials of these activities, leaving us unable to answer the concerns of constituents in the communities we represent. Pennsylvanians deserve to know about these decisions affecting their community,”
Meuser then asked several questions of the two federal officials:
• How many undocumented immigrants were transported to the Wilkes Barre-Scranton area and under what conditions are they being released?
• Are undocumented immigrants arriving in Wilkes Barre for the sole purpose of traveling elsewhere, or is Wilkes Barre the final destination for any of these illegal immigrants?
• Are the minors on this plane being relocated to be reunited with a family member, to be held in another detention facility, or being transferred to the custody of another entity?
• Is your agency tracking every undocumented immigrant released to ensure they arrive at the appropriate destination?
• Is every undocumented immigrant tested for COVID-19 before being released?
• With the Omicron variant spreading rapidly throughout Pennsylvania and the nation, what is the protocol for an undocumented immigrant who tests positive for COVID-19?
• What is your protocol for informing local officials of the release of undocumented immigrants into their communities?
• Are you conducting criminal background checks, utilizing both the U.S. crime database and the equivalent in the individual’s country of origin, for every individual released?
• Are all released individuals expected to appear in court and what is the current estimated time-frame for Notices to Appear?
“I am calling on you and President Biden to immediately end this irresponsible practice in northeast Pennsylvania and throughout the country,” Meuser wrote. “The Biden Administration has failed to secure the southern border and encouraged the mass migration that has been occurring for months. It is unconscionable that such policies have proceeded amid a global pandemic, economic crisis, and epidemic drug abuse to which an open border certainly contributes. This mismanagement is now directly impacting the people I represent, and I expect you will provide me the answers I need to address my constituents’ concerns.”
Meuser said he was at the airport Sunday and spoke with several people who he said were protesting the arrival of the planes. He said the people he spoke with were concerned about the passengers and the need for the planes to arrive late at night.
Meuser said he is determined to confirm all the reports and to obtain all details on the passengers and where they were taken and if they were properly vetted.
Meuser said he was told one group was placed on a bus and taken to Brooklyn, N.Y.
The Times Leader has not been successful in confirming any of the information provided by Meuser. No response was given to questions asked via email of Gov. Tom Wolf’s office or Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s office. Officials at the airport have not responded, nor did the owner of Aviation Technologies, which reportedly handled the arrivals of the flights.
Meuser added that he was told most of the arriving passengers were children of varying ages and were not accompanied by adults, except for a few adult supervisors. He said he was told that some of the passengers had addresses written on their arms.
“My job is to do everything I can to assure they are vetted properly, that they are not criminals, and are not positive for COVID-19,” Meuser said.
Barletta letter
Barletta sent a letter to Wolf and Shapiro asking many of the same questions Meuser has raised.
In a news release issued Sunday afternoon, Barletta said two more chartered airplanes originating in El Paso, Texas, landed at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport on Christmas night, “adding to the evidence that illegal immigrants are being flown to Northeast Pennsylvania without citizens’ knowledge.”
Barletta said the two flights originated in El Paso, stopped in Cincinnati and landed in Pennsylvania at 6:48 p.m. and 8:47 p.m. on Dec. 25, according to FlightAware.com. Barletta said the air carrier was World Atlantic Airlines, which contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to transport undocumented immigrants.
Barletta, a former member of the House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security, demanded answers from Wolf and Shapiro in a letter last week, after similar flights allegedly took place on Dec. 17.
“I asked Gov. Wolf and Attorney General Shapiro a series of straightforward questions about these flights, and they haven’t provided any answers,” Barletta said. “Now we see evidence of more flights on Christmas night, and people want to know if illegal immigrants are being transported to our community, whether they’ve undergone background checks and health screenings, and why no one was notified that this was happening.”
Barletta said witnesses at the airport took photographs of one of the planes being met by a charter bus for ground transportation.
In Barletta’s letter to Wolf and Shapiro on Dec. 23, he noted that such flights would be “in line with the established policy of the Biden administration to transport illegal immigrants from the border to other locations within the country.” He said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has confirmed the existence of such flights to other states, and only quibbled about the time of day they were occurring. null
William O’BoyleBill O’Boyle is the Times Leader Media Group’s news columnist/staff writer. He has written for the Times Leader since April 2007, covering everything from municipal government issues, business, features, human interest, presidential races and local, state and national politics to breaking news. A Plymouth native now living in Plains Township, O’Boyle has been active in a range of community and sporting activities, including volunteering with Victory Sports for adults with mental and physical challenges.
I am not sure who told Chevrolet that what we really needed this Christmas was to ugly cry over an ad they produced for the holidays, but whoever it was needs to go sit in the corner and think about what they’ve done.
You may have seen the shortened version of this ad, titled “Holiday Ride,” on TV. But you don’t get the full emotional impact without seeing the extended four-minute version, which is a tear-jerker and hit me harder than listening to my child ask me why Mufasa wasn’t waking up.
All the jokes aside, this ad is possibly one of the most needed and uplifting messages of the Christmas season — a season in one of the toughest years Americans have faced. Still reeling from COVID-19 and an economic collapse, we have watched as division and partisanship grew, the negative media coverage got worse, people were unable to get back to work, and inflation and shortages have had families struggling.
And this is all on the heels of a divisive presidential election and a pandemic that has taken our family members and loved ones and kept us separated for (in some cases) over a year.
At a time when all this is going on, this Chevy commercial comes out. It is a message about remembering loved ones and spending the time we have with them. It is, at its heart, a secular but great reminder that this time of year is about our families.
Here, you have a man who appears to have recently lost his wife. In an old barn is her old convertible, covered in dust and clearly unused. It’s an emotional moment as the memories flood back. His daughter sees that he’s struggling, so she goes to their small town auto repair shop and asks for help. They sneak in one night, load up the car, and then restore it. The dad sees the restored car, gets emotional, and drives up to his daughter, who begins to cry as she says “It’s what mom would’ve wanted.”
And it’s at that point that you’ll feel that familiar tingle in your eye, if you haven’t already.
A man lovingly remembers his wife. A daughter sees a father struggling. A community comes together to help one of their own. And an emotional reunion. Also, a dog.
We are a little over week away from Christmas, and now more than ever, we need to stop and remember what’s most important. Yes, we have political battles to fight. But for a few moments, let’s also remember that our families need us for more than fighting those battles. They need us to just be there for and with them.
Our immune systems fail us without zinc in our bodies. Diana Kwon explains at Knowable magazine How zinc helps you fight off infections. Excerpts in italics with my bolds.
Our bodies require the vital mineral for the healthy functioning of the immune system
As researchers learn more about how our bodies use zinc, they’re finding that the element plays a surprisingly key role, particularly within the immune system. “We think zinc is a gatekeeper of immune function,” says Lothar Rink, an immunologist at RWTH Aachen University in Germany who recently coauthored an overview of zinc’s roles in the immune system in the 2021 Annual Review of Nutrition.
And, although scientists still struggle to find good ways to measure zinc levels in the body, it looks as though many people may indeed not have enough zinc in their diet for full immune function.
The man who went viral after telling President Joe Biden “Let’s Go Brandon,” on Christmas Eve is speaking out, telling a local newspaper that he has received threatening phone calls since the viral phone call.
What happened on Christmas Eve?
Jared Schmeck, a 35-year-old father of four who lives in Oregon,told the Oregonianthat his family calls into the NORAD Santa tracker every year. But this year he was shocked when he was told he would be speaking with first lady Jill Biden.
When the call connected, Schmeck spoke with both the first lady and the president, exchanging pleasantries with the first family and sharing what gifts his children wanted for Christmas. The call was being livestreamed, something Schmeck told the Oregonian he did not know.
“Well, I hope you have a wonderful Christmas,” Biden said at the end of the brief conversation.
World|A U.S. Navy combat ship is stranded in Guantánamo Bay with a virus outbreak.
Carol Rosenberg, Aishvarya Kavi 3 – 4 minutes
Dec. 25, 2021Updated 3:23 p.m. ET
A Navy combat ship deployed to intercept drug trafficking in the Caribbean and East Pacific is stuck in the port at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, with a coronavirus outbreak among its fully vaccinated crew.
Only some of those infected onboard the ship, the U.S.S. Milwaukee, were experiencing mild symptoms, said Commander Kate Meadows, a Navy spokeswoman. It was not clear how many infections involved the Omicron variant, which continues to gain dominance rapidly around the world.
The crew held an open-air Christmas service on the pier on Saturday, which allowed the sailors to remain socially distanced and to follow public health guidelines, according to Commander Meadows.
“They are using the open space and fresh air for as many safe activities as they can,” she said. “The chefs onboard are making a special Christmas meal today for everyone.”
The Milwaukee had more than 100 sailors plus a helicopter combat crew and Coast Guard law enforcement unit on board when it left its home port in Jacksonville, Fla., on Dec. 14 as part of the U.S. Southern Command’s efforts to fight drug trafficking. The ship made a refueling and resupply stop at Guantánamo Bay on Monday and extended its stay there because of the outbreak.
Commander Meadows added that the sailors had been confined to the pier and had not entered the base since arriving, sparing the small community at Guantánamo Bay the possibility of being exposed.
In a statement on Friday, the Navy said that “the ship is following an aggressive mitigation strategy” and that “the vaccine continues to demonstrate effectiveness against serious illness” among the crew.
Before the Milwaukee left Florida, Brian A. Forster, the ship’s commanding officer, said in a Navy news release that many of the crew members were on their first deployment and “eager to see the world and accomplish missions.”
In March 2020, one of the military’s first encounters with the virus occurred aboard the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt. The ship docked in Guam, in the South Pacific, and ended up stranded there for months after dozens of sailors were infected and one died. The ship’s commander at the time sent a letter to Navy officials pleading for help tackling the outbreak and criticizing the Navy’s failure to provide the proper resources. He was removed from command of the ship after the episode.
Active-duty troops in the Army and Navy were fired this month over their refusal to get vaccinated after President Biden mandated vaccination for the armed services in August. But there were only a small group of holdouts last week, with the Navy reporting that more than 98 percent of its members had been vaccinated.
Evelyn Quintero is an expert in making and arranging Christmas decorations. In fact, she has such excellent creative skills that she earned the grand prize on ABC’s “Great Christmas Light Fight.”
When Quintero lights up her “Peaceful Meadow,” it’s like seeing a scene straight out of a movie. Her residence in Atwater, California, is probably the brightest and merriest home in the whole state this holiday season.
Quintero’s decorations look so good that people from everywhere want to come over just to see it in person. And we’re sure that if they do, they won’t regret it.YouTube
“I think it will put Atwater on the map,” said neighbor Maria Vega of the display.
It took around 80,000 lights to complete the luminous display. It also includes other elements such as deer, mountains, and a waterfall.
One neighbor described it as a “work of art.” And it truly is.
Despite putting up such an incredible display, Quintero never expected to make it to the show, let alone with the top prize.YouTube
“I was in total shock. I just couldn’t believe that they chose me. I’m just a little old great-grandma on a corner here,” she said.
As it turns out, she’s had lots of practice. Before moving to Atwater to be closer to her family four years ago, Quintero and her husband lived in Vacaville, California. They were sort of local celebrities there because of their astonishing Christmas displays. When they moved to Atwater, that seems to be the case still.YouTube
The lot beside her Atwater home was specifically bought for her Christmas displays. She thought it would be great for the people walking on the sidewalk to view the decorations.
“I feel like I’m in a meadow and I feel like I’m out of this world. Like, amazed by these lights,” said a young girl named Kiley Stahlhut.
This display is truly a labor of love, as 90% of it is handmade. She uses a 3D pen to create the ducks, ladybugs, and birds in her decorations.
Quintero also painstakingly hand-painted all 8,000 flowers in the meadow, which are made of icicle lights. The beautiful sea of pink, which took her years to accumulate, is a tribute to her daughter who had passed away.YouTube
“We had a daughter who passed away several years ago and her favorite color was pink so yes, I do have more pink flowers in memory of her,” Quintero said. It’s her way of keeping Andrea’s memory alive.
She loves how people, especially kids, react to her decorations when they see them. As news of her display quickly spread across the country, two Atwater women brought their friend—who just came all the way from Texas—to visit Quintero’s now-famous house.
“I’m amazed at her skills and her imagination and that she even came up with the concept,” she said.YouTube
Quintero wasn’t seeking fame or recognition for this; she just wanted to share her talent and creativity.
“It was like showing your artwork at a New York gallery. That’s what I was thinking,” she said.
Check out the unveiling of Evelyn Quintero’s “Peaceful Meadow” in the video below.
There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true. —Soren Kierkegaard. "...truth is true even if nobody believes it, and falsehood is false even if everybody believes it. That is why truth does not yield to opinion, fashion, numbers, office, or sincerity--it is simply true and that is the end of it" - Os Guinness, Time for Truth, pg.39. “He that takes truth for his guide, and duty for his end, may safely trust to God’s providence to lead him aright.” - Blaise Pascal. "There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily" – George Washington letter to Edmund Randolph — 1795. We live in a “post-truth” world. According to the dictionary, “post-truth” means, “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” Simply put, we now live in a culture that seems to value experience and emotion more than truth. Truth will never go away no matter how hard one might wish. Going beyond the MSM idealogical opinion/bias and their low information tabloid reality show news with a distractional superficial focus on entertainment, sensationalism, emotionalism and activist reporting – this blogs goal is to, in some small way, put a plug in the broken dam of truth and save as many as possible from the consequences—temporal and eternal. "The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it." – George Orwell “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” ― Soren Kierkegaard
Following in the spirit of Britain's Queen Boudica, Queen of the Iceni. A boudica.us site. I am an opinionator, do your own research, verification. Reposts, reblogs do not neccessarily reflect our views.
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