The ESL Free Press

Don't Fall for Holiday Fraud

The FBI has these tips for people buying gifts online this year:

• Real delivery companies (like DHL and UPS) will not email you unless you have an account. If you get an email telling you to pick up a package, it is probably phishing (trying to get your personal information).
• Buy gift cards from the companies. Gift cards sold at auction sites or through ads may be fake.
• Don't give your financial information directly to sellers. Use a service like PayPal.

source

printable:Download Don't Fall for Holiday Fraud.pdf (18.4K)

Halloween Candy

Candy is a big part of Halloween in the U.S. and Canada. Adults buy lots of it, and give it to the children who come to their doors.

Every year, we hear warnings that Halloween candy may be poisoned. Parents are told not to let kids eat candy until they have taken it home and the parents look at it.

However, only one child has ever died from poisoned Halloween candy -- and it was his own father who poisoned it. The father did it to get his son's life insurance. (We told you earlier about a man who got life insurance on his dying brother, just to make money.)

Still, parents in North America are now expected to go with their children on Halloween night, and to look at the candy before the children eat it.

printable:Download Halloween Candy.pdf (18.2K)

Columbus Day Parade

U.S. sailors march in a Columbus Day parade in San Francisco.

U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Torrey W. Lee

Last Post Before Tuesday

We will not publish on Monday, October 11th. This is Thanksgiving Day in Canada (also Columbus Day in the U.S., as you can read below).

Here is another Thanksgiving picture, one that shows two important parts of the holiday: family and food.

 

 

Family at Table for Thanksgiving Feast

Photographic Print
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Columbus Day

On October 12th, 1492, Christopher Columbus (Cristobal Colon), landed on San Salvador Island in the Bahamas. He had sailed from Spain with three ships and a few men.

For a long time, Columbus was said to have discovered America. He was not the first European to get there. But, after his landing, people from Europe began to go to the Americas to live.

Some people feel this was not a good thing. It brought suffering to the native people.

However, Columbus Day is a U.S. federal holiday. Government offices close, though businesses and schools stay open. It is now on the Monday closest to the 12th, to give government workers a long weekend.

Spanish-speaking countries, including Spain itself, celebrate Dia de la Raza or Dia de la Hispanidad. This is a celebration of Spanish culture, which spread to the Americas after Columbus.

Columbus himself was Italian. It was Italian-Americans who got the government to make the day of his landing a holiday.

printable:Download Columbus Day.pdf (19.1K)

Canadian Thanksgiving: Cranberries

The Thanksgiving dinner in Canada (and the U.S.) is made up of foods native to North America. One is the cranberry.

Cranberries are dark red (when ripe) and sour. They can taste good when mixed with something sweet, like sugar or raspberries. They are very healthy and may prevent infections.

For Thanksgiving, cranberries are cooked in water and sugar. This makes cranberry sauce, which is really more like a jelly. It was first made as a sauce or relish for the turkey, and some people still eat it that way.

You can buy canned cranberry sauce, but it's easy to make your own. To learn how to make this and other Thanksgiving dishes, order our ebook, Thanksgiving for Beginners.

Lowbush Cranberries in the Yukon, Canada

Photographic Print
Norman, Nick
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Arrangement of Traditional Thanksgiving Foods on Table Photographic Print
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Canadian Thanksgiving 2010

Thanksgiving in Canada is October 11th this year. This holiday is celebrated on the second Monday in October.

It wasn't always at this time. From 1879 to 1957, November 6th was the official Canadian Thanksgiving Day. But this was too close to Remembrance Day on November 11th. Also, holding the holiday on a Monday gives most people a long weekend.

Though this is a day to give thanks to God, it does not belong to any one religion. Parliament recognized that most Canadians believed in God and felt they should thank him for the good things in their lives. How they do it -- or if they do it -- is up to them.

For people of all religions, Thanksgiving is "Turkey Day".

We are going to post articles about Canadian Thanksgiving for the next week. Many will be illustrated with pictures from old Thanksgiving greeting cards. However, nobody expects you to send a card for Thanksgiving! Some people just like to do it.

If you want to cook a Thanksgiving dinner, we have an ebooklet explaining how in simple English. You can buy it at this site.

 

Twins with Cooked Turkey Art Print
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Eid-ul-Fitr

The Muslim holy month of Ramadan ends today. The day is called Eid-ul-Fitr.

Ramadan is a month of repentance (being sorry for sins). Adult Muslims do not eat during the day for the whole month.

Eid-ul-Fitr is a time to eat and celebrate.

Fireworks on the Beach for the Beginning of Eid-Ul-Fitr

Photographic Print

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