Greetings to Folks around the world from Northern Nevada USA.

Any day now we will be waking up to frost on the pumpkins. While sitting out on my porch early this morning with my first cup of coffee it was mighty cold. Now, I did not have my glasses on, but I swear I saw the birds heading south with ear muffs on.
*******

Hope you all got to see the presidential debate last night between Senators John McCain and Barack Obama - and I hope it tied up and sealed some thoughts in your mind as to whom to vote for.

In 1940, Wilkie challenged FDR to a presidential debate, but Roosevelt refused. Debates went on about whether or not to debate until 1956, when Eleanor Roosevelt and Maryland Governor Theodore McKeldin endorsed a proposal to have presidential debates. Four years later we saw the first presidential debate between Kennedy and Nixon.

The first televised presidential debate was in 1960 between Senator John F. Kennedy and Vice President Richard M. Nixon and drummed up 80 million folks for it's audience. It was a historical moment, with Kennedy emerging as the winner and star of the debate.

Back in 1858, things ran a little differently. The famed series of seven debates in 1858 between Abraham Lincoln and Senator Stephen Douglas for U.S. Senate were true, face-to-face debates, with no moderator. The first candidate had one hour to open the debate with his speech. The second one had half an hour to rebut that then gave his own one hour speech, which the first candidate then had half an hour to rebut. Now, folks, that was three hours of listening to politics and seems to me that is just a bit too much. It did, however, seem to help people make their decisions - about whether or not standing out in the cold was worth it.

Now days, each guy gets one minute to answer a question posed to them and the other guy gets one minute to rebut and say his piece and they only have one hour to do all this. Now, I am no great mathematician, but seems to me that only gives each guy less than half an hour, what with time for the questions being asked and the moderator reminding them they have used up their minute! But, at least we get to sit in the comfort of our own homes to hear all this with a good cup of hot chocolate or whatever.
*******

Till next time, Folks, I hope your house is filled with laughter and it rings from floor to rafter.
Blessings and may you walk in harmony and peace.
Phyllis
*******

Here's the latest article from the Folklore site at BellaOnline.com.

Sarah's House Of Mystery
The Winchester Mystery House in full of oddities, spirits and the number 13. Built for the fallen victims of the Winchester rifle, this house is huge, confusing and haunted.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art13949.asp

Please visit folklore.bellaonline.com for even more great content about Folklore.

To participate in free, fun online discussions, this site has a community forum all about Folklore located here -

http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=131

I hope to hear from you sometime soon, either in the forum or in response to this email message. I thrive on your feedback!

Have fun passing this message along to family and friends, because we all love free knowledge!

Phyllis Doyle Burns, Folklore Editor
http://folklore.bellaonline.com

One of hundreds of sites at BellaOnline.com