Unseasonable Greetings

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We usually cover our gardens in the patio with leaves in Autumn, to give them a nice blanket for Winter.

Right now,in NYC there we have roses in December there are the bright green leaves of poppy plants, poking their heads out from under that brown blanket. Go back to sleep, go back to sleep, we want to say. But this month’s warm weather has made them think it’s Spring.

We cross our fingers and wonder how they’ll look in May, after the cold that’s coming freezes those tender shoots.

Welcome Winter Solstice

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Today, we officially welcome The Winter Solstice which marks our longest night if the year.

The winter solstice also means the shortest day of the year, which is Monday night. The solstice occurs at the same instant everywhere on Earth, according to www.earthsky.org

It officially happens tonight at 11:48 p.m. ET, 10:48 p.m. CT, 9:48 p.m. MT and 8:48 p.m. PT. Solstice marks the moment at which the Northern Hemisphere is tilted as far away from the sun as it will be all year.

Blessings and Glory

I thank you Lord for family, health, friendships, fantastic folks sharing joy and good will on earth. Some call me GB or UB, but its all about BG. blessings and glory.

My wife YIRIONG SOTO is an amazingly attractive woman. She is a wonderful friend and spouse, a dear daughter and devoted mom to Yiliang, our handsome and independent young man, who's managed good grades and stayed out of teenage troubles. As Chairman of The Board, she is my CEO, better half, loving partner, while professionally growing in the finance industry. She has and shares an endless number of talents from music up to and including multiple handicrafts. She is also my co-pilot and co-star in life.

My eldest and delightful daughter, NATASHA YUSTA appears to have an endless amount of energy, by running marathons, swimming with family, holding a household together. with a little help from her mom. They are constantly taking mu grandchildren children to multiple events and outings, loving my gorgeous and sweet Elena, Chloe, Sophia, Parker and Charlie, while performing the tasks of as a good wife, a professional sales manager, with outstanding results, in addition to being the capable administrator of a highly successful catering business and still managing the role of Super-Mom, Wife and Daughter, while still managing to look like a billion bucks.

My baby and equally delightful daughter, SABRINA SOTO gave birth to Olivia one month ago. Immediately, my healthy, gorgeous granddaughter was featured on a few popular websites. Sabrina and Steve have amazingly managed this major production, while they continue building a brand. Sabrina Soto has appeared on multiple TV programs, while updating media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and others as well as her own websites, with thousands of regular followers. http://www.sabrinasoto.com/

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Christmas Disappearing

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Wake up, before its too late, people. Christmas is the day the international community celebrates the birth of Jesus. What in the world is going on with humanity? Has the universe lost its way? Say it ain't so, Joe (Carpenter Joseph and Virgin Mary) ... Oh my GOD!

After 2,000 years, Christians in Gaza disappearing http://usat.ly/1YtJa83 via @usatoday

Christmas traditions dying out because we are too busy | via @Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/11294410/Christ…

“MADE IN NY” Media

Over thirty "Made in NY" television series/specials and films were honored with 67 nominations for five of the industry's most prestigious awards, including the Writers Guild of America, NAACP Image Awards, Producers Guild of America, Screen Actors Guild, and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association' Golden Globes. A full list of nominees is below.

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RIP Peter O'Toole, Lowell Thomas, AM Soto

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Many rememner Peter O'Toole as Lawrence of Arabia, the major motion picture role he perfected. The real person, Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, military officer, and diplomat. He was renowned for his liaison role during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign and the Arab.
Lawrence of Arabia (8/8) Movie CLIP - No Prisoners (1962) HD https://youtu.be/aARaYjgm_rA

Peter Seamus O'Toole died this week (2 August 1932 – 14 December 2013) He was a brilliant British-Irish stage and film actor, who studied at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Top Countries

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The United Nations lists Norway, Australia, Switzerland, Denmark and Netherlands as the top five counties to live. Not America, but Scandinavia’s reputation is still going strong.

Norway maintains the top spot of the Human Development Index rankings in a report released by the UN. The index was designed in 1990 to give a fuller picture of livability by combining income data with health and education statistics instead of ranking countries on economic achievement alone.

As noted, Australia and Switzerland took second and third place. The U.S. ranked number eight. The bottom five countries in rank order of HDI are: Niger, Central African Republic, Eritrea, Chad and Burundi. There is twice as wide a range in HDI values among the bottom five countries compared to the top five, which indicates that countries with the highest HDIs have similar human development while countries at the bottom vary much
more.

The Human Development Report is an editorially independent publication of the United Nations Development Program. For free downloads of the 2015 Human Development Report, plus additional reference materials on its indices and specific regional implications, please visit: http://hdr.undp.org

City Island Temporary Bridge?

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How do you get in and out of City Island? Hopefully, by crossing a temporary bridge, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there. We will also continue to report on this boondoggle which has experienced multiple problems.
The project has been on and off several times and by the looks of all the political buck passing, there's more.

City Island's temporary bridge now open | News 12 Bronx http://bronx.news12.com/news/city-island-s-temporary-bridge-now-open-1… via @News12BX

City Island Temporary Bridge Undergoes Load Test « CBS New York http://cbsloc.al/1UKYM6J

Santa Teresa

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My late and great father used to say that he loved and admired three women, my grandmother, my mom and Mother Teresa.

One of them will soon become a canonized saint. In Rome, Pope Francis signs off on the miracle needed to make Mother Teresa a saint at The Vatican, elevating a holy woman, who made the poor her life's mission one of the Roman Catholic Church's highest honors.

Mother Teresa is going to be canonized http://bit.ly/1PcLEqU

Mother Teresa is set to be canonised as a saint http://dailym.ai/1Rt3mb4

College Capping Course

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Another semester has ended and over a dozen of my MARIST College students presented their final projects to their colleagues and distinguished faculty members today.

The following senior class Capping Projects represent topics, which our students are personally interested in and are extremely passionate about. They have been told to submit them within a Total Running Time of 10 minutes.

This eclectic mix of multimedia projects include, an ode to mom, an assortment of social issues, video games, comedy skits and music videos, just to name a few.