Although the word "carnival" still has its old meaning, it is often used to mean public entertainments of different kinds. Some towns have carnivals that have nothing to do with Lent and are at different times of year. Nowadays there are all sorts of different carnivals. Some of these carnivals, like the Notting Hill Carnival in London and the Melbourne Cup Racing Carnival in Australia are very famous.
The word "carnival" is now used for festivals, parades and competitions of all sorts. There are school sports carnivals, folk carnivals, multi-cultural carnivals, horse racing carnivals, wine and food carnivals and boating carnivals.
Fasting
Fasting is a kind of abstinence. It is when someone does not eat or drink for some specified period of time. It is only the case if the person does so of his or her own will. It may also be that the person only eats and drinks certain kinds of food. Most often, fasting is done for religious reasons. Depending on the tradition, fasting practices may forbid sexual intercourse, (or any sexual desire), masturbation, as well as refraining from eating certain types or groups of food (e.g. meat).
Fasting for religious and spiritual reasons has been a part of human custom since pre-history. It is mentioned in the Qur'an, in the Mahabharata, in the Upanishads, and in the Bible, in both the Old and New Testament. In Buddhism it is also taught as a way to getting Nirvana.
In almost all cases, there are exceptions for observing the fasting. These are made for the following groups of people
Fasting as a form of protest is called a hunger strike.
Timed fasting is known as Intermittent fasting.
There are different ways to time your fast. You can:
Walpurgis Night
Walpurgis Night ("Valborgsmässoafton" in Swedish, "Vappu" in Finnish, "Volbriöö" in Estonian, "Valpurģu nakts" or "Valpurģi" in Latvian, "Walpurgisnacht" in German), "Čarodějnice" in Czech is a holiday celebrated on April 30 or May 1, in Finland, Sweden, Bohemia (Czech Republic), Estonia, Latvia and Germany.
The festival is named after Saint Walburga (known in Scandinavia as "Valborg"; alternative forms are "Walpurgis", "Wealdburg", or "Valderburger"), born in Wessex in 710 a niece of Saint Boniface. According to legend, she was a daughter to the Saxon prince St. Richard. Together with her brothers she travelled to Württemberg, Germany where she became a nun and lived in the convent of Heidenheim, which was founded by her brother Wunibald. Walburga died on 25 February 779 and that day still carries her name in the Catholic calendar. However she was not made a saint until 1 May in the same year, and that day carries her name in the Swedish calendar.
Historically the Walpurgisnacht is derived from Pagan spring customs, where the arrival of spring was celebrated with bonfires at night. Viking fertility celebrations took place around April 30 and due to Walburga being declared a saint at that time of year, her name became associated with the celebrations. Walburga was worshipped in the same way that Vikings had celebrated spring and as they spread throughout Europe, the two dates became mixed together and created the Walpurgis Night celebration.
In Germany, Walpurgisnacht, the night from April 30 to May 1, is the night when allegedly the witches hold a large celebration on the Blocksberg and await the arrival of Spring. When the travel to that mountain is too far, they may also chose another hill in the region they live.
""Walpurgis Night (in German folklore) the night of April 30 (May Day's eve), when witches meet on the Brocken mountain and hold revels with their Gods...""
""Brocken the highest of the Harz Mountains of north central Germany. It is noted for the phenomenon of the Brocken spectre and for witches' revels which reputably took place there on Walpurgis night.
The Brocken Spectre is a magnified shadow of an observer, typically surrounded by rainbow-like bands, thrown onto a bank of cloud in high mountain areas when the sun is low. The phenomenon was first reported on the Brocken.""
—Taken from Oxford Phrase & Fable.
Bird flu
Bird flu (also called avian influenza, avian flu, bird influenza, or grippe of the birds), is an illness caused by a virus. The virus, called "influenza A" or "type A", usually lives in birds, but sometimes infects mammals, including humans. It is called influenza when it infects humans.
There are many types of influenza A, which was first found in a bird in Italy in 1878. Most types have weak symptoms, such as breathing problems, similar to the common cold.
But some types kill birds, and a few kill humans and other mammals. One type of bird flu, called "Spanish flu", killed 50 to 100 million people in 1918/1920. Another type, called "Asian Flu" killed one million in 1957, and another one, called "Hong Kong Flu", also killed one million people in 1968.
A subtype, called "H5N1", killed six people in Hong Kong in 1997, but did not kill again until 2003, this time in China. Until the middle of 2005, it was primarily found in southeast Asia but since then has spread to parts of Africa and Europe. It has killed tens of millions of birds and resulted in the slaughter of hundreds of millions of other birds to limit its spread. So far it is mostly a bird disease and rarely infects humans. The concern about H5N1 is that it is constantly evolving at a very fast rate and could create a human flu pandemic that could kill many millions of people. Governments around the world are spending billions of dollars to deal with this problem: studying H5N1, creating vaccines, conducting pandemic practice exercises, stockpiling useful flu medication, and many other important activities.
Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy
The "Jyllands-Posten" Muhammad cartoons controversy is a controversy about a series of cartoons. They were first published in a Danish newspaper. The publication led to an outcry, and sparked violent protests in the Islamic world, with many people dying.
The crisis began after cartoons depicting the Islamic prophet Muhammad were published in the Danish newspaper "Jyllands-Posten" on September 30, 2005. Danish Muslim organizations staged protests in response. As the controversy has grown, some or all of the cartoons have been reprinted in newspapers in more than fifty other countries. The protests got worse when fake cartoons were released.
One of the cartoons showed Muhammad with a bomb in his turban. Some people thought this was saying that all Muslims are terrorists. But other cartoons made fun of the Jyllands-Posten newspaper. One insulted the editors of the newspaper, by using the language Farsi.
Critics claims that the cartoons are culturally insulting, Islamophobic, blasphemous, and intended to humiliate a "marginalized" minority. However, supporters of the cartoons claim they illustrate an important issue and their publication exercises the right of free speech. They have also claimed that similar cartoons are made relative to other religions, arguing that Islam and its followers have not been targeted in a discriminatory way.
Blasphemy
Blasphemy is a word that means "speaking badly about a religion", or "insulting a god". Some religions see blasphemy as a religious crime. Many countries witha state religion have laws that make blasphemy a crime. For example, blasphemy can be punished with the death penalty in Saudi Arabia or Pakistan. In other countries, the punishment for the crime is a fine, or imprisonment.
Some countries do not have laws against blasphemy. For example, after the French Revolution, France made blasphemy legal to make sure people would have freedom of religion and the freedom of the press.
The United States, Canada, and many European countries, have laws to protect people who speak badly about religion. Sometimes people do this in a satirical way, like with a movie that makes fun of a religion. In these countries, profanity is often protected by freedom of speech as well.
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