The Hollywood Sign (formerly known as the Hollywoodland Sign) is located in Los Angeles, California.  It is situated on Mount Lee in the Hollywood Hills area of the Santa Monica Mountains.  The sign overlooks the Hollywood district of Los Angeles.  "HOLLYWOOD" is spelled out in 45-foot-tall (14 m) and 350-foot-long (110 m) white capital letters.  It was originally created as an advertisement for local real estate development in 1923, but it garnered increasing recognition after the sign was left up.  From the ground, the contours of the hills give the sign its "wavy" appearance.  When observed at a comparable altitude,  the letters appear nearly level.  See images at:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_Sign 

Hollywoodland Timeline by Steve Grant and Jay Teitzell  (extract)

1888 - A bucolic hillside area populated by citrus farmers is given the name "Hollywood" by Harvey Henderson Wilcox and his wife, Daeida, as part of a residential development.  It is Daeida who selects the name after she meets a lady on a train whose summer home is called Hollywood.  1903 - At an election held November 14, the residents of Hollywood vote to incorporate as an independent city.  1910 - Independence is short-lived. The community votes to annex to the growing city of Los Angeles in order to assure a reliable water supply. (To this day, Hollywood is a community within the City of Los Angeles.)  1911 - Albert Beach paves the way to the Hollywood Hills and names "Beachwood Drive" after himself.  1924 - The "Hollywoodland" sign is constructed at a cost of $21,000 atop Mt. Lee. Thirteen 50-foot letters and four thousand 20 watt light bulbs pronouncing, in classic advertising phonics, "Holly"... "wood"... "land"... Hollywoodland."  1949 - The Hollywoodland Sign, originally built to last only 18 months, is in total disrepair (and all the light bulbs have long-since been stolen).  The City begins removing it but is halted by a public outcry.  Instead, the sign is refurbished and shortened to "Hollywood."  See picture at:   http://www.beachwoodcanyon.org/HISTORY.htm 

Those who live in the upscale hillside homes of Beachwood Canyon and Hollywoodland have long grumbled about tourists making the pilgrimage up the hill, hoping for that perfect shot.  But in recent years, they say, the flow of visitors has grown intolerable.  The once-sleepy Hollywood tour bus business has become increasingly competitive.  Just a few years ago there were only a few operators offering Hollywood sign viewing tours.  Now, there are more than 40 tour companies running buses and vans in and out of the canyon.  Then, there are the technological advances.  Many tourists now use GPS devices on their cars and phones to map out the best views.  And the directions send them not just down the main roads but into narrow residential canyons.  Residents say they are bothered by the traffic but are most concerned about safety issues because the curving hillside roads were not designed for so many cars and pedestrians.  "We live in the middle of an area that is very attractive to people all over the globe," said Fran Reichenbach, president of the Beachwood Canyon Neighborhood Assn.  "We knew that when we moved here, but in the last few years it's really gotten out of hand."  Residents are demanding that the city keep roads clear for emergency vehicles and that park rangers beef up patrols along the hiking trails leading up to the sign.  Another suggestion involves new permit parking restrictions to prevent tourists from stopping on residential streets.  Residents say many of the canyon roads dead-end, and there have been accidents as tourists try to turn around.  "It's hard for us to manage our daily lives now," Reichenbach said.  Beachwood Canyon and Hollywoodland residents have been at odds in the past over how best to deal with the increased traffic ills "a waste of somebody's time. They're making fun of a serious issue."  Alex Chavez, president of the Hollywoodland Homeowners Assn., said:  "We don't condemn tourism.  We appreciate the tourism industry.  We enjoy this beautiful part of the city and feel that everybody should," he said.  "But it's a safety issue that we're trying to solve."  Bob Pool  http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-hollywood-sign-wars-20131009,0,3519441.story

What the Government Does with Americans' Data by Rachel Levinson-Waldman  Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School  Oct, 8, 2013  Data Retention By the Numbers: 

5 years:  How long the National Security Agency keeps “metadata” about all Americans’ domestic and international phone calls without suspicion of wrongdoing 
5 years:  How long the National Counterterrorism Center can keep and search databases of non-terrorism information about Americans 
5 to 20 years:  Retention periods for databases that store at least some information from border searches of Americans’ laptops, phones, hard drives, and more
6 years:  Time period, beginning with the start of surveillance, that the NSA can keep Americans’ incidentally gathered communications 
20 to 30 years:  Amount of time the FBI keeps information collected via assessments and National Security Letters, even when it is irrelevant to a current investigation 
30 years:  Time period that Suspicious Activity Reports with no nexus to terrorism are kept by the FBI 
1 Billion and growing:  Records in the FBI’s Investigative Data Warehouse
1,000,000 sq. ft.:  Size of National Security Agency’s data center (opening in 2014)
41 billion:  Communications records stored by NSA’s XKEYSCORE system every 30 days
Link to the entire report at:  http://www.brennancenter.org/publication/what-government-does-americans-data

Find 2013 Nobel prizes at:  http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/lists/year/?year=2013

“Pompion” is the common 16th and 17th century English word for what we now call squash and pumpkins.  Squash, the shortened, English version of the Narragansett Indian word asquutasquash, first appeared in print in 1643.  In New England, stewed pumpkin  was common, everyday fare – a “standing dish”-- particularly in the fall and winter.  The lyrics to a song traditionally attributed to 1630, reveals the colonists’ dependence on pumpkins:

For pottage, and puddings, and custards, and pies,
Our pumpkins, and parsnips are common supplies;
We have pumpkin at morning and pumpkin at noon,
If it was not for pumpkin we should be undone.

Find old and modern versions of New England standing dish at:  http://www.organic.org/articles/showarticle/article-148 

Not only is the mighty pumpkin delicious, but it is also quite the multi-tasker.  “Pumpkins are incredibly versatile.  They can be used in virtually any application,” says Chef Joseph Brown, culinary chair at The International Culinary School at The Art Institute of Raleigh – Durham, a campus of South University.  From sweet to savory, desserts to dinners, Chef Brown and Chef Arthur Inzinga, culinary instructor at The International Culinary School at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh, offer tips and ideas for making the most of your pumpkins.  Pumpkin can be added to a variety of dishes to provide textural elements as well as flavor.  “When pumpkin is cooked down it is very similar to mashed potatoes, but more sweet and flavorful,” says Chef Brown.  “It brings a sweetness to the table, which is its most unique aspect.”  He adds that anywhere a potato is being cut up and cooked, pumpkin would be a good addition and/or substitution.   Pureed pumpkin can be added to a variety of sauces and soups and, according to Chef Inzinga, “pumpkin is used a lot in conjunction with pasta.”  Adding the bold flavor of pumpkin to a variety of dishes can be achieved with some simple substitutions.  Pumpkin chili can be created by augmenting some of the stock and tomato with pureed pumpkin.  “This brings richness to the chili.  The pumpkin is going to be as much a textural component as it is a flavorful item,” says Chef Brown.  He adds that pumpkin and tomato go together beautifully.  Pumpkin also can take center stage in dishes such as pumpkin-based bread puddings, ice creams, and pumpkin butter. He also recommends pumpkin/apple smoothies made with pureed pumpkin, apple juice, and a bit of yogurt.  Enjoy the full flavor of the pumpkin by dicing and roasting with other root vegetables, sautéing to bring out its natural flavors, or even putting it on the grill.  Chef Brown says the slow heat of the grill brings out natural sugars, removes moisture, and condenses the flavor.  Don’t forget that the flesh isn’t the only part of the pumpkin that can be used. The seeds can be roasted and used as a garnish on breads, muffins, or on pumpkin soup.  They also can be added to homemade granola or pureed into sauces and pesto.  According to Chef Inzinga, the flower blossoms can be battered and fried or stuffed and baked.  Both chefs even recommend using hollowed-out pumpkins as bowls and tureens for chili or soup.  “It’s important for people to realize that when you go pumpkin picking, those pumpkins are grown for their size and shape, not necessarily flavor,” says Chef Brown.  The large pumpkins are less sweet.  He says there are hundreds of varieties of pumpkins,  and you can get more sweetness and flavor if you are more selective.  He recommends http://www.allaboutpumpkins.com/ as a reference for the characteristics of different types of pumpkins.  To roast a pumpkin, Chef Brown recommends roasting it at 350-375° for a medium length roasting time.  The flesh will brown a bit.  For a more concentrated flavor, roast at 300° for a longer period of time and bump the temperature up to 425° for the last 15-20 minutes.  Pumpkins are a lot like potatoes – you can tell if they are done by touch.  http://www.artinstitutes.edu/raleigh-durham/news-and-events/from-patch-to-table-the-many-uses-of-a-pumpkin-10972810.aspx 

The Vatican has been forced to withdraw commemorative medals commissioned to celebrate Pope Francis’ first year after misspelling Jesus.  The coins were created by the Italian State Mint.  See picture and short article at:  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/vatican-misspells-jesus-on-pope-francis-commemorative-coins-8873629.html