Keeping the Halloween Spirit Alive

In the old days, when people actually knew their neighbors, costumed kids would roam the streets in groups with an older sibling or an adult and knock on doors. The idea was that good-humored adults would give out candy in exchange for a costume parade of cute kids (the treat) and perhaps a chance to spook them out when they come to the front door (the trick). Today, however, many neighborhoods and communities have become less involved. The fine art of trick or treating is slowly becoming a dying tradition.

Photo by: Paul Keleher on Flickr Creative Commons

“Haunted” neighbors’ houses are replaced by brightly lit shopping malls. Retail employees, who would undoubtedly rather be handing out goods from their homes with some friends and a few drinks, dump out packaged candy to kids in long lines. Homes are closed for private parties; churches and other community organizations host festivals to veer kids away from the streets; and some residents, worried about of being left with massive bags of tooth-decaying candy, just give up and hang signs on their door that read, “No candy here.”

Fortunately, there are still neighborhoods where the spirit of door-to-door trick or treating is very much alive. JR Lentini lives in a neighborhood near Washington, D.C. Each year, he carefully considers the trick-or-treaters on Halloween and goes all out with the treats.

“I make a point of having the best damn candy on the block: generally a dozen or so full-sized bars, a ‘handful rule’ for the poorly named ‘fun-size’ bars and usually a couple of gourmet chocolates for the adults tagging along,” Lentini said.

Lentini has seen a fluctuation of trick-or-treaters in the last few years and says it depends on where you live. “My former neighborhood always left me with piles of leftovers, but last year, our new neighborhood practically cleaned us [out],” Lentini said. “We had groups of kids coming and going for about two hours, not nearly as many as there seemed to be in my neighborhood when I was a kid, but still a respectable number.”

Photo by: Profstewartfk on Flickr Creative Commons

In smaller towns, the spirit of Halloween is still going strong. Amber Mckay-Glinski , a resident of New Boston, Mich., says while she has noticed fewer households participating in Halloween these days, it is still a huge event in her neighborhood, and there is definitely a community effort to spook it up and entertain the kids.

“In town, the fire station hands out cider, donuts and hot chocolate,” Mckay-Glinksi said. “There are many hayrides and party trains that always join in on the fun. Most folks go in large groups with their kids, and in town, it is like a reunion every year. We usually run into many folks from high school.”

From the evidence in party stores and costume shops, people still thrive on Halloween and look forward to celebrating the artistry and effort of little trick-or-treaters who knock on their front doors. These festive Halloween enthusiasts encourage kids by decorating their yards, dressing up in costumes and stocking their homes with enough sugar to hyper activate the dead. But what do these neighborly candy-giving patrons have to say about the Halloween spirit coming from the kids?

Cincinnati resident Jason Sparks is not impressed with recent trick-or-treaters that come to his front door.

“Whatever happened to the good costumes?” Sparks said. “Halloween is about witches and warlocks, ghosts and goblins. When did Britney Spears become Halloween? And I’m sorry, but a pillow case, ripped-up jeans, a white t-shirt and some facial makeup do not constitute a Halloween costume. Trick or treating is for kids, not teenagers who just want free candy.”

So, the spirit of Halloween goes both ways. It takes a good neighbor to perpetuate the haunt and provide candy, but it also takes genuine trick-or-treaters who actually put forth some solid effort into their costume. Traditionally, that’s the deal. The spirit of Halloween is, after all, a mutual effort between neighbors to bond the community through combined generosity and imagination. If it’s just the candy you are after, go buy a bag for yourself at the store.

Many people are disappointed that the Halloween tradition is being “sold out” to shopping malls and contained festivals. George Franks from Bethesda, Maryland agrees;

“Today it is more about parents and partying,” Franks said. “It is a big-dollar corporate business, and it is less about kids. When it is about kids, it is over-structured, over-sanitized and activity-driven, like everything else for kids today.”

Photo by: Uriel 1998 on Flickr Creative Commons

Dave Mason from Minneapolis, St. Paul says Halloween in his community is stifled by unusually strict rules and limitations. “When I was a kid, and my three children were of that age, we made our costumes, and that was a big part of the fun. There would be a Halloween party at school where the kids could wear their costumes and have fun. Now, we get a list of the things they can’t dress as, including ghost, witches, etc. [Is Halloween] gone? No. Changed? A lot”

Halloween is one holiday that brings out the kid in all of us. Adults and children alike can wear costumes and visit or create spooked-out homes for tricks and treats. Today, some feel that Halloween has lost that personal connection with the community, as the tradition is being gradually outsourced to commercialism. It takes a grassroots movement from each of us to keep the original spirit of Halloween alive.

What's the best way to combat prejudice against the Roma?

Prejudices and stereotypes against the Roma can only be overcome if we get to know who the Roma really are. Although they currently form a group of nearly 8.5 million people in Europe, while in Central and Eastern European countries they represent over 5 percent of the population, they remain the largest minority ethnic group that lives without the slightest form of social protection.

Most of the modern day problems that the Roma are facing derive from racial stereotyping and extreme discrimination against them. What most of us know about the Roma is that they are carefree nomads who like to dress with colorful clothes and put on lots of golden jewellery. They are great musicians, passionate dancers and skilled artists. They are excellent fortune-tellers, but if you don’t give them any money they can curse you for a lifetime. They normally beg because they don’t like going to school, they are illiterate, and they prefer living on welfare. They have more children than they can feed; they live in huge family groups sharing a room with a dozen of people; they are dirty and noisy; greedy and lazy; not trustworthy; prone to crime and drug dealing.

The Roma are widely regarded as a homogenous group with no individualities and often, those who do not happen to fit in that group are not perceived as Roma. But, there is not a single Roma who can meet all the stereotypes that have been created by the ‘civilized’ society about them.

In reality, there is great heterogeneity among the Roma and their individual differences are greater than their ethnic differences. The Roma are scattered over the world, speak different dialects, different languages, have local customs, follow different religions, have different cultural values, follow different social norms and their financial and education situation varies heavily. There are educated Roma; there are rich Roma; there are clean Roma; there are famous Roma. For instance, Charles Chaplin, Yul Brynner, and Pyotr Leshchenko are of Romani descent. In other words, the Roma are a multicultural ethnic group that shares common origins from India where they immigrated from to Europe. Other than that, they are different people as the non-Roma people are. Therefore, it makes really no sense to see all the Roma as a homogenous group. In contrast, it makes sense to see all the Roma as equal citizens with the same duties and rights within the large family of the European Union and around the world.

Besides, the Roma have a long preserved culture that is a rightful part of the cultural heritage of Europe. They have greatly contributed to the enrichment of European music and dance having influenced significant musicians such as Verdi, Liszt, Dvorák, Bartok, Brahms, and Rachmaninov. The Romani dances have, admittedly, left their mark on Spanish flamenco, Hungarian czardas and botolo tanc and Middle Eastern belly dance. For instance, the amazing contributions of Django Reinhardt, Gipsy Kings or Joaquin Cortés to music and dance cannot and should not be overlooked. On the contrary, they can help people who feel negative about the Roma overcome their prejudices.

Today, within the European Union, there are Roma who lead successful lives, but, normally they are lost in the crowd either because they are integrated, or because they hide in the fear of being discriminated against. Those people have the chance to contribute in their society, but they are deprived of a chance. They consider that their personal success will not make any difference for Roma people because the majority of them do not have the chance to do something better. And this is because of the prejudice and stereotyping against them.

Societies do not change in one day. Poor Roma and non-Roma populations share the same problems and live in the same difficult conditions. It doesn’t make too much difference what we had thought about the Roma until today. It will make great difference though if, starting tomorrow, we are able to see that a better life is a rightful right to everyone; even to a Roma.

Who are the Roma and where do they come from?

It is generally believed that Roma migrated from northwestern India to Europe in the 11th century, mainly originating from the Punjab and Rajasthan regions that are unquestionably considered the universal Roma homeland. However, the Roma presence in Europe is hardly evidenced before the early 15th century when they are traced in Spain. Therefore, there has been much debate in relation to their origins and early migration. Besides, although there are numerous legitimate Roma groups worldwide who speak Romani or other Gypsy languages and continue to maintain the Roma traditional values, the Roma people significantly lack a unified consciousness about their origins.

According to linguistic evidence that portrays similarities between Hindi, Panjabi and the Romani language, and anthropological evidence that presents proximities of blood group distributions, there is a definite consensus of opinion that Roma groups of Europe, Asia, Middle East and the Americas trace their roots in Northwestern India.

Since their early roots, the Roma were a mixed population, a blend of many different groups of people and throughout their history they have absorbed many outsiders. Their Eastern origin led Europeans to consider that the Roma were from Egypt. This explains why they were originally called Egyptians or ‘Gyptians’ which is were the word ‘Gypsy’ is derived from. The Egyptian identity accompanied the Roma until the 18th century, when European scholars gradually realized that the Romani language originated from India. Numbers, basic words, names for body parts were clearly Indian. Scholars continued their research and concluded that the Roma were indeed from India and that any association to Egypt was wrong.

The Romani language bears elements of Indian origin, but there is also a striking resemblance of a number of customs, similar technology of metal working, related social structure and so on. Besides, according to historical and linguistic evidence, the Roma belonged to the lower caste of Indian society which was divided into the Brahmana (priests), the Kshatriya (heads of state and soldiers), the Vaishya (farmers and shopkeepers), and the Shudra (servants and laborers). Belonging to the lower caste possibly explains why the Roma had to immigrate. One hypothesis is that they were driven out by famines or droughts or that they wanted to escape the strictness of the Indian caste system.

There are several reasons, or rather hypotheses, why the Roma left their homeland to immigrate to Europe through Iran to the Middle East and then the Mediterranean and the Balkans. Even their route is not agreed upon, although as the years go by it becomes clearer. However, the prevailing theory is that they had been pushed to the West while fighting against the Muslims.

In the early 11th century, the Muslim General Mahmud of Ghazni wanted to push Islam eastwards into India and eliminate Hinduism that was the dominant religion at that time. Before the Muslim attack, the Indian heads of state had been assembling troops to suppress the Muslim army, deliberately drawing their soldiers from populations who were not Aryan. The Aryans had migrated to India between 1700 BC and 1300 BC and had pushed the original population further south or they had absorbed them into their castes. Because the Aryans did not like risking their life in the war, Indian rulers assembled their armies to fight Mahmud of Ghazni from non-Aryan populations, namely Lohars, Gujjars, Tandas, Rajputs, and Siddhis. All these diverse ethnicities that had learned to coexist and live under the Indian ruling fought against the Muslim forces.

Based on linguistic and historical evidence, the Roma crossed the Himalayas, followed the Silk Road to the Caspian Sea, went along the foothills of the Caucasus range and entered the Byzantine Empire. They continued through Asia Minor and the Balkans, settled for quite some time in Greece, which explains the numerous Greek words in Romani language, and then advanced up the Danube valley to Central Europe. By the 15th century, the Roma were scattered all throughout Europe, including Scandinavia, England and Scotland. So, instead of Islam making it to the East, the battle progressed westwards into Europe. In that way, the Roma were brought further to that direction until they eventually crossed the southeastern European borders. As the Roma moved further away from their homeland, they slowly began to acquire a sense of ethnic identity and giving shape to the Romani language. The blend of people and cultures did not cease because as the armies were moving their way through Iran, Armenia and the Byzantine Empire they absorbed new members. This continued also in Europe.

The Roma migration to Europe was their first orientation with a new culture. Originally, in many European places, the Roma were welcomed for bringing new technologies such as working metals and iron, and new experiences from their long wandering. However, in other cases they found themselves persecuted and discriminated because their informal norms were not in harmony with the value system of the local populations.

Today, it is estimated that there are nearly 12-15 million Roma around the world with the largest number, nearly 8 million people, living in Europe, mainly in Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Fyrom, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary. However, the problem with estimates is that many Roma people do not self-identify themselves in the fear of being persecuted by local or national authorities.

Historians mention four Roma nations, namely the Churari, the Machavaya, the Kalderash and the Lovari. Other Roma groups include the Romungro, the Romanichal, the Sinti, the Luri, the Manush, the Ungaritza, the Gitanoes (Calé), the Boyash, the Xoraxai, the Rudari and the Bashaldé. European scholars described the Roma upon their arrival in Europe with dark skin and black hair. However, through integration and blending with the Europeans over the centuries, the Roma today can be with lighter skin and hair.

There is no universal Romani culture, but there are elements that are common to all Roma such as belief in God (Del) and in Devil (beng), loyalty to family, and belief in predestiny. Besides, all Roma have an extraordinary adaptability to altering conditions which facilitates their settling in different places. The customs and traditional values of the Romani culture are diverse around the globe and there is no ethnic group that can de identified as the true Roma.

Listen To The Rosary On Cd Now and Make a Difference in Your Life

Listen To The Rosary On Cd Tonite and Improve Your Outlook

Many people claim that they are overcome with a sense of calm when they recite or listen to the rosary on cd. It is not surprising because the rosary is a meditative prayer. So, if you are under a lot of stress, or worried about your finances or work, you might be able to feel better by either reciting the rosary or even if you justlisten to the rosary on cd. But how did the rosary get started?

The first version of the rosary came from the third and 4th centuries. At that point, most folk were unable to read or write but they were capable of memorizing and reciting a series of short prayers. However, while concentrating on these prayers, it was hard to keep count of how many prayers were being recited. So, people used knots or pebbles to represent each prayer so they could make it easier to keep track of the number of prayers they recited.

The rosary was given to the Church by St. Dominic in the 13 century. It was said that he received it from the Blessed Virgin as a means of converting sinners. The original rosary design was repeatedly changed thru the centuries. And, by the point of the Renaissance, it developed into the form that we know today.

The rosary makes reference to a group of prayers and meditations. A string of beads is used to keep track of the sequence of prayers. While saying each prayer, you should focus on the life of Jesus Christ and his mother, the Virgin Mary. The rosary is important to Roman Catholics, who consider it holy. Many Catholics use it as a method of meditation and reflection and as a daily and methodical approach towards prayer.

The rosary is composed of a succession of beads known as rosary beads. These beads are prepared in five sets of ten, called decades. On most rosary beads, a larger bead or a decorative bead separates each set. The beads end in a little pendant that typically contains an image of the Virgin Mary. This is followed by a short string of one bead, 3 beads and one bead placed at small intervals. At the end of this formation, there is usually a crucifix.

You can buy rosary beads from Catholic bookstores and through the internet. Some churches also sell them or give them away. And, you can also purchase audio cd's of the rosary. Rosary recordings make it very convenient to listen to the rosary on cd while commuting to work, traveling, exercising or in the comfort of your home.

The Dilemma of Children in Leadership and Crisis

In the world today, the most assaulted victims of conflicts are children. In the entire world, there is a clear indication that most natural and man-made disasters are greatly affecting children everywhere. Can you imagine children as well babies are amputated in most African wars like Sierra Leone where one of the high rates of mutilation has ever takes place. Some years ago there was a report of an earthquake in central Africa where majority of the victims were children. Through these atrocities, children are expected to die, and mostly some are separated from their parents. Children can be defenseless when their parents are not around, some time they become unaccompanied.

In a clear human perspective, there is a saying that “Children are the future leaders of tomorrow". I believe there is no strong fact about this saying because if the children are polluted at this stage with the negative effect of wars and partly natural disaster, definitely we don't expect any good leadership from our children in the future. That is why in the African continent today it is difficult to find young people in most ministerial or legislative positions. That is also the reason you will find lot of African leaders taken 20 to 30 years in power, failing to know that power is not meant for one individual but that it should be rotational.

In the past years of terror in Sierra Leone, there was a clear testimony that children were the major victims of all atrocities. When you think of mutilation, sexual abuses, killing, forcing them on drugs and also using them as killers, children have been greatly misused. With the above, I believe we will now have a clue that children are really open to lots of chaotic crises like war and natural disasters.

Let us have a look at some of these crises that affect children from becoming our future leaders.

TERRIFIED: In most war affected countries in the world like Congo, Sudan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Burma, Liberia and Sierra Leone, children have been used to fight on their behalf. If I can give you a sight testimony, I will like to take Sierra Leone as a case study.

In the past civil and terror war in Sierra Leone, children were fighting for both the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), and the Pro-government local militia, the Kamajors. It was difficult to know among the two groups which one had the large number of children because in the east and south of Sierra Leone, children were always initiated to become kamajors as well as rebels. When ever towns or villages were attacked, children were taken to train as fighters. Often after the RUF abducted the surviving children, many of whom have seen their parents been slaughtered were then taking to a special training camp where they were injected with different types of drugs. Those children who escaped often joined the Kamajors in order to retaliate against the rebels. In the past conflict in Burma about 50 years ago; this conflict was between the government and rebel ethnic minorities. During this conflict, there was a 15 year-old Zaw Tun who fought in the Burmese army. These are instances that child abuse is mostly committed in war affected countries.

If we can also take a case study of Burundi, we will realize that all the atrocities committed against children are the same with other war affected countries like Sierra Leone and Liberia. Let us take a case of about two brothers who fled from Burundi to Tanzania. Isidor the elder one was 8 years while Melchior was 6 years. These two children's parents were killed in front of them and unfortunately Isidor the elder brother had one leg. According to one UNICEF report, Isidor refused to speak to anyone who attempted to talk to him. I believe the reason was because they were traumatized. Can you imagine kids watching the death of their parents, which might lead to an acute trauma.

I will again emphasize here that, such stories of children in crisis are common in Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Liberia to name a few. It is also pathetic to know that all the atrocities are alike.

Irrespective of countries affected by war, there are also countries that are not at war but yet still you find children in crises, which have humanitarian problems, and who suffer from stress. So children are open to all out crisis no matter the condition or situation of the country.

ORPHANS: The Rwanda genocide which left an estimated 400,000 orphans. Odetta is one of them. She was 12 years old at the time and saw her parents and sister butchered in front of her. She herself was kidnapped and was attacked with a machete. Deeply traumatized, today she is cared for in an orphanage run by the sister of Calcutta.

Even though there is a blow of poverty in Rwanda, there are still families who are ready to foster children who were orphaned in the genocide.

ABDUCTION: In some of the cases of abduction, Sierra Leone can also be taking as a case study. Sometime in 2000, 72 children were confirmed abducted by the RUF rebels in Makeni, where there were 164 children in an interim care centre. Because of the rebel presence in the township, there was a cut off, because of this, 72 of the children were abducted while 88 were able to escape from the township because of the insecurity. The 88 children who were able to manipulate their way to Freetown were assisted by UNICEF under the protection officer of Roisin De Burga, who explained the plight of the children that their journey to Freetown was a hectic one. They went through lots of ordeal, and almost walked part of their journey on foot. As it was not an easy trip because Makeni to Freetown is about 110 miles.

The cases of abduction of children in most war affected countries are very common because the faction forces are using children to do series of operations and if they refuse or attempt to escape, they are tortured, mutilated or killed.

The choices facing children today in most war affected countries are to join the military, die or become street children. The impact of the conflict on children is devastating, depriving thousands of the young people anything approaching a normal childhood. As you know children hardly fight for themselves, except they are forced into the idea of fighting.

Let us see what the Convention on the Rights of the Child declared, whether the above treatments for children are right or not.

Article 37 states that " No child shall be subjected to torture, cruel treatment or punishment, unlawful arrest or deprivation of liberty. Both capital punishment and life imprisonment with possibility of release are prohibited for offences committed by persons below 18 years. Any child deprived of liberty shall be separated from adults unless it is considered in the child's best interest not to do so. A child who is detained shall have legal and other assistance as well as contact with the family".

However in most African countries today, the convention of the rights of the child are not regarded or recognized because we are still seeing rebel groups and faction forces continuing to abduct kids and join them into their fighting forces.

PROSTITUTION: Prostitution as it is, I believe is one of the easiest clubs or teams to be joined by female kids because they can be paid with hot money. In Guinea, in the region of Gueckedou where the high rate of refugees were settled, there were guest houses, hotels and clubs. I decided to take a stroll, where my first finding was that refugee kids were all over these places roaming over panting behind those that are with money who will take them for the night.

Most of these kids were extremely vulnerable to sexual predation once they reach puberty. In most war ravaged countries today, young girls are lead into prostitution, if they cannot find a home or are not taken in by a child welfare centre, they are almost certain to have to sell sex to survive. They may opt to join life with older prostitutes in their camps, where they are used as porters, or sex slaves.

In Congo there is also a story about a boy of 16 called Michael who disclosed to Refugee International that " My sister and I joined the army because our parents were dead, and we had no jobs.. I went to the front line many times, and my sister was sent to the enemy to be a spy. Girls were sent to be prostitutes and get information from the enemy. This is how my sister was used."

ENROLMENT: In Sierra Leone where majority of child combatant are found, their common and reasonable explanation is that, their enrolment was due to the poverty of their families, others was due to abduction, while others was because of the brutal killing of their parents or loved ones. It is believed that kids have no choice when it comes to what they can do with their lives.

In East Africa we can also see that there has been lots child abuse, in 1998 there was a camp called Dadaab camp in the Northeast Kenya where refugees were settled for safe haven but it was rather unfortunate that their camp was continuously being attacked by Somalia bandits. Women, more especially kids encountered rape and other sexual pervasion. The young mails were forced to join the rebel army or they were killed.

Dadaab is a camp that is regularly being attacked by Somalia bandits. Their main target was to rape assault and mostly abducts young girls when they left the camp to forage for fire wood. This act of the Somali bandits has caused a high rate of rape among the Somali young girls and women. Even in Kakuma camp near Kenya's border with southern Sudan, there was also used to be raiders or bandits attacks, whose target was to target young girls.

In Albania too, majority of the traumatized refugees are children, they remained to be worried about their safety others too were worried because of the brutal killing of their parents or loved ones.

Children have been the main victims of war. It is believed that their status can be risky because they are open to different types of danger. If we can also get some facts from Save the Children's report, it was clear that young girls in Refugee camps were sexually exploited in the West African Sub-region. UNICEF report is a basic fact because in most war ravaged countries today, prostitution is common no matter the age of the girls. Moreover young girls are using sex today as a quick way to get money.

Children are defenseless, in refugee camps, they are targeted by wealthy personnel or most likely some aid workers who are not tutored on their code of conduct. In the cities girls are not spared, some mothers because of hardship in the home, they might push their daughter on wealthy men on the street so that they can get something in the home.

Further factors that leads children on the street:

Humiliation and stress can cause teenagers to abscond from their parents and seek out for a free life which will later usher them into prostitution or become highway robbers.

Pornography can also misdirect the vision or good intention of children to prostitution or any other practice because what they have seen in magazine, books TV or the Internet, they too will put them to practice.

In a peaceful home where there is no parental care, there are all tendencies that some of the kids will become hookers, thieves or will join street gangs. The reason for this is because the parents fail to take their part in the home. I once told a father of 5 children that "a home without parents or caretaker, is dead", simply because there will be disorder.

In Article 9 in the convention on the right of the child, it states that:

1. States Parties shall ensure that a child shall not be separated from his or her parents against their will, except when competent authorities subject to judicial review determine, in accordance with applicable law and procedures, that such separation is necessary for the best interests of the child. Such determination may be necessary in a particular case such as one involving abuse or neglect of the child by the parents, or one where the parents are living separately and a decision must be made as to the child's place of residence.

Holi and Diwali--Important Indian Holidays

Many of the holidays we celebrate today all around the world, started out as small, regional affairs. Halloween, for instance, was once an Irish Gaelic harvest festival which, after being picked up in Great Britain, spread throughout the world. But every formerly-regional holiday like Halloween that we all have come to know and love, there are many more that too many people still have no clue about. Two of those are Holi and Diwali, both of them major Indian holidays.

Holi is a popular Indian springtime festival. It doesn’t have a concrete date, but instead is celebrated depending upon the full moon (much like Easter in Christianity). According to Hinduism, an egotistical king named Hiranyakshyap wanted all of his people to worship him, and, in his quest for power, his own daughter, named Holika, was burned alive. Thought it may not seem to make much sense to send Holi ecards in celebration of a girl’s death, the Hindu people look upon Holi as a symbolic triumph of faith; for Holika was though to be immune from fire, and after she entered into a secret pact with her father (turning against her own religion) her immunity vanished.

In fact, Holi is seen by the Indian people as an incredibly festive occasion, and is known popularly as the Festival of Colors. Literally, this is because Hindus believe that during Holi, many different colors, containing spiritual nourishment, travel throughout the universe. And during Holi festivals, people burn bonfires and squirt colored waters onto each other, to encourage these spiritual nourishment colors along. Many other Holi rituals exist, as well. One of the most famous involves people tossing colorful water balloons at each other. And in Barsana, an elaborate ritual is played out, in which men sing to women, who then (good-naturedly) attack their would-be suitors with sticks.

Another popular Indian festival is Diwali, a Festival of Lights that takes place in the autumn. Hindus believe that long ago, the sixth Guru of Sikhism finally returned to his people after a very long exile. The people felt that the Guru’s absence they have lived in spiritual darkness, and so his returning was seen as a great illumination. It’s another festive occasion, and perfect for sending Diwali ecards

On top of the story of the returning Guru, Hindus also celebrate Diwali as a time to reflect on one’s own inner light. Hinduism holds very tightly to the notion that outside of our physical bodies, there is a more powerful, spiritual body—an inner light, in other words.

What both of these holidays share is that they are both times for being to gather together, and celebrate joyously!

Identity Theft And Fraud: Is It Worse Online?

While computers and the internet have come to be an accepted part of our daily lives there are still many people who want no parts of them.

There are several complaints to go along with this. The perceived lack of privacy in the form of having to provide personal information and then believing rightly or not that their information is now ready to broadcast across the world wide web. Or just that Big Brother is watching you from the other side of your monitor has many people saying thanks but no thanks.

Still another one is identity theft. The same personal information you type in becomes a goldmine to identity thieves. Places like MySpace, Paypal and Ebay have been stung by these scammers but the real victims are the people using these services.

Also thieves have made the news by hacking their way into countless computer databases. The most recent one being Network Solutions. Over five hundred thousand people that bought something from the company website have had their credit card information stolen. Shortly before this incident the University of California at Berkeley reported a data breach that has put one hundred and sixty thousand students, alumni and staff at risk. It is no wonder that many people want to stay as far away from computers as possible.

Except being internet free is no comfort. According to the Better Business Bureau and Javelin Strategy & Research despite these occurrences the majority of identity theft is still occurring offline.

The most common is a wallet or purse that has been lost or stolen. But it does not stop there. Fifty percent of all identity theft victims know the person responsible for the theft. A relative for instance whom you trust so much that you give them carte blanche into your living space. They use that trust to snoop around your house and see if they can snag some of your personal information. Little things that are highly valuable but you would not necessarily miss right off.

Sometimes thieves just take what they need right out of your mailbox. Other times they simply take it right out of your trash can. Identity thieves know a lot of people are not necessarily careful about what they throw away. Going thru your trash (also known as dumpster diving) for a number of these thieves is the equivalent of hitting the lottery. Receipts, old financial statements that may have been torn up but not necessarily shredded and countless other goodies await the experienced criminal.

The irony according to the Better Business Bureau and Javelin is that people who monitor their financial information online are at less risk. They were also to discover any irregularities a lot faster than those offline who still rely exclusively on paper statements.

This is not to say that being online is completely risk free. It is not. No doubt as the technology gets more sophisticated the statistics of online identity theft will go up. But these concerns should not be an obstacle to jumping aboard the world wide web. If anything it just means you have to be careful in your dealings. Online or off.