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Last Modified: Thursday, May 16, 2013 11:29 AM

As the newspaper of news America Press - Beckham to retire from soccer at end of season . Of the latter, sources report that : LONDON (AP) — David Beckham is retiring from soccer, ending a career in which he became a global superstar who transcended the sport.

The 38-year-old Beckham, who recently won a league title in a fourth country with Paris Saint-Germain, said Thursday he will retire after the season.

"I'm thankful to PSG for giving me the opportunity to continue but I feel now is the right time to finish my career, playing at the highest level," the former England captain said in a statement.

Beckham, whose forays into fashion and marriage to a pop-star wife have made him a riveting international celebrity, has two more matches left at PSG. He has been giving his salary to a children's charity.

He started his career with Manchester United and also played for Real Madrid and the Los Angeles Galaxy, winning titles with all those clubs.

"If you had told me as a young boy I would have played for and won trophies with my boyhood club Manchester United, proudly captained and played for my country over one hundred times and lined up for some of the biggest clubs in the world, I would have told you it was a fantasy. I'm fortunate to have realized those dreams," Beckham said.

On the international stage, Beckham made 115 appearances for England's national team — a record for a player other than a goalkeeper.

"To this day, one of my proudest achievements is captaining my country," Beckham said. "I knew every time I wore the Three Lions shirt, I was not only following in a long line of great players, I was also representing every fan that cared passionately about their country. I'm honored to represent England both on and off the pitch."

With United between 1992 and 2003, Beckham won six Premier League titles, the Champions League, two FA Cups and the Intercontinental Cup. Beckham left United in 2003 shortly after manager Alex Ferguson accidentally struck Beckham's eye with a football boot.

Beckham spent four years in Madrid — winning the 2007 Spanish title before making the surprise move to Major League Soccer, where he won the title twice.

There were highs and lows in Beckham's international career. He was blamed for England's elimination from the 1998 World Cup for his petulant red card against Argentina, but scored the winning goal against the same team at the World Cup four years later.

Beckham responded to jeering at the 2000 European Championship with an obscene hand gesture to England fans, but was lauded by the same supporters a little more than a year later when his last-minute free kick against Greece secured a place at the 2002 World Cup.

Sources: American Press  

Easter Traditions in USA

Easter is a major religious festival of Christians that is celebrated in a grand manner with a big party time celebration. Every nation has its own way of celebrating a particular festivity. Every country has some peculiar traditions and customs. For example it is the tradition of America to conduct special Easter parades, where men and women flaunt their special costumes and colorful bonnets. The person who leads the parade can be spotted holding Easter candle or cross in his/her hand. It is interesting to explore facts about Easter traditions in USA. Read further to know about Easter celebration in America…

Here are some ideas about Easter customs and traditions in US: -

* In the New Orleans, it is a trend of conducting an annual Easter carnival called 'Mardi Gras', which features lot of fun activities like parade, jazz music bands and a bumper party.
* A must play Easter game for American kids is Easter egg roll.
* A special dish for Easter springtime in USA is baked ham, potatoes and vegetables. Another most demanding recipe is hot cross buns.
* It was in the early 1700's, when for the first time, eggs were dyed and the credit for starting this practice in America can be attributed to Pennsylvania Dutch (German) settlers.
* As a part of Easter traditions in the US, sunrise services are held and the prime motive is to include various Christian religious groups in this event.
* Painting the Easter eggs and then conducting Easter egg hunt games for the kids is what most American parents do on the Easter week.

Easter Traditions:

These have been derived primarily from Pagan traditions at Easter time:

	Hot Cross Buns: At the feast of Eostre, the Saxon fertility Goddess, an ox was sacrificed. The ox's horns became a symbol for the feast. They were carved into the ritual bread. Thus originated "hot cross buns". The word "buns" is derived from the Saxon word "boun" which means "sacred ox." Later, the symbol of a symmetrical cross was used to decorate the buns; the cross represented the moon, the heavenly body associated with the Goddess, and its four quarters.
	Easter Rabbit and Eggs: The symbols of the Norse Goddess Ostara were the hare and the egg. Both represented fertility. From these, we have inherited the customs and symbols of the Easter egg and Easter rabbit. Dyed eggs also formed part of the rituals of the ancient, pre-Christian Babylonian mystery religions. "The egg as a symbol of fertility and of renewed life goes back to the ancient Egyptians and Persians, who had also the custom of coloring and eating eggs during their spring festival." 2 "Like the Easter egg, the Easter hare came to Christianity from antiquity. The hare is associated with the moon in the legends of ancient Egypt and other peoples....Through the fact that the Egyptian word for hare, UM, means also "open" and "period," that hare came to be associated with the idea of periodicity, both lunar and human, and with the beginning of new life in both the young man and young woman, and so a symbol of fertility and of the renewal of life. As such, the hare became linked with Easter...eggs." 2 Christian tradition states that when Mary Magdalene visited Emperor Tiberias (14 - 37 CE), she gave him a red egg as a symbol of the Resurrection -- a symbol of new life. Some believe that the Christian tradition of giving eggs to each other at Easter time came from this event. 8
	Easter Lilies: "The so-called 'Easter lily' has long been revered by pagans of various lands as a holy symbol associated with the reproductive organs. It was considered a phallic symbol!"

 Families are often together and for the children Easter bunny hides eggs during the night, often filled with candy. Easter egg hunts are common in most communities. Many families go to church that for Easter Sunday and the days leading up to it.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/easter3.htm
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Does_the_US_celebrate_Easter

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is a tributary of the Ottawa River in eastern Ontario in Canada. It is 200 kilometres (120 mi) in length from its source in Upper Mazinaw Lake, has a drainage area of 4,450 square kilometres (1,720 sq mi), and has a mean discharge of 40 cubic metres per second (1,400 cu ft/s). There are more than 250 lakes in the watershed.

From its headwaters at Mazinaw Lake to its confluence at the Ottawa River near Fitzroy Harbour the river drops 323 metres in elevation. It begins on the rugged lands of the Canadian shield (mostly gneiss and marble), and then, after Carleton Place, flows through limestone and clay plains. At Carleton Place, there are rapids with limestone cliffs. This area supports the largest stand of hackberry trees in the region.

Communities along the river include the Village of Lanark, the towns of Carleton Place, Mississippi Mills (including former towns of Almonte and Pakenham), and Galetta. Here it enters the Ottawa River.

Most of the upper landscape is temperate deciduous forest dominated by sugar maple, american beech and red oak. At one time, the forests had much more hemlock, but this was logged out to produce bark for the tanning industry. Now, large hemlock stands are uncommon. Most forests are relatively young, that is, less than a century old.

The irregular terrain of the watershed was arises out of an old mountain chain which was once higher than the Himalayas. It has since been eroded to mostly gneiss and marble hills, with occasional outcrops of granite. Lower in the watershed, there are younger limestone rocks. Most of these are covered by clay deposited when this area was covered by the Champlain Sea.

Occasional large wetlands occur along the river. One of the largest is the Innisville Wetlands, a provincially significant wetland that is also designated and Area of Natural and Scientific Interest.Another large wetland is the Appleton Silver Maple Swamp. These wetlands depend upon the seasonal cycles of the river. High water periods in the spring flood large areas creating wetland soils, and large areas of marsh. As water levels slowly fall, conditions suitable for swamp forests occur. This natural seasonal alternation between high and lower water levels is essential for creating the natural diversity of wetlands along the river.

Downstream, where the Mississippi enters the Ottawa River, there are several important shorelines and wetlands, including the Mississippi Snye, which has a rich aquatic flora over marble bedrock, and has recorded observations for the musk turtle

Tributaries include the:

Clyde River
Indian River
Fall River
Bell's Creek

The river originally powered textile mills. Today, it provides hydroelectric power. Such power dams, however, have all but eliminated american eels from the river; these were once an abundant source of food for aboriginal populations, as well as providing a source of food for herons and otters, among other animals.The origin of the river's name is something of a mystery; although its current spelling may be derived from that of its much larger American cousin, it is most certainly a corruption of a different native name, as the translation 'great water' would not apply to a relatively minor tributary of the Ottawa, definitely the largest river in the area. Instead, the name may originate from "Mazinaai, Algonquian for ' image river', referring to the pictographs found on Mazinaw Lake, though this is by no means proven.

http://www.infoplease.com/us-states/mississippi.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi