Norfolk County Register of Deeds: Good Deeds - Holiday Trivia and Greetings

By: William P. O'Donnell, Norfolk County Register of Deeds

Good Deeds - Holiday Trivia and Greetings

The holidays are upon us, and for many individuals and families, traditions are a big part of what makes this time of year so special. Some readers may be familiar with our own Registry of Deeds tradition, which marks this time of year. I'll give you a hint: it deals with the home and the holidays.

All year long, the Norfolk County Registry of Deeds releases numbers and statistics that help readers get a picture of the real estate market. However, the air is thick with the spirit of the holidays, so the real estate numbers can wait for another day.

There have been many trivia challenges given to each of you in past "Good Deeds" articles. Trivia has involved history, such as naming the former Presidents of the United States who were born here in Norfolk County. In the past, you have been tasked with identifying notable residents of Norfolk County and their hometowns. However, I think many would agree there is nothing like a good movie about the holidays, and I must say the Christmas movie "Elf" is one of my favorite Christmas films. It is uplifting and funny.

So, sit back, relax, make a cup of eggnog or hot chocolate, and put your holiday movie knowledge to the test and see if you can answer the following questions. Some of these Christmas questions may be very obvious to some but that makes up for some other questions. I hope you will enjoy this trivia, and you might find it useful at a work holiday party or family gathering.

Trivia Questions:

# 1: In "Home Alone" Kevin plays a clip of the gangster movie "Angels With Filthy Souls" to scare the burglars Marv and Harry. Which of the following is true about the movie "Angels With Filthy Souls"?

1. The clip shown from the movie caused "Home Alone" to be rated PG-13.
2. The gritty gangster clip was created just for "Home Alone" and is not a real movie.
3. Was used as a nod to director Alex Michael Columbus, father of "Home Alone" director Chris Columbus.

# 2: What was the name that Marv coined for the "Home Alone" criminal duo and what was their calling card.

1. The Wet Bandits. Marv left the water running in each place they stole from.
2. The Slick Thieves. Marv left grease on all the stairs any time they broke in.
3. The Cat Burglars. Marv released a bag of cats in every home they robbed.

# 3: In the classic movie "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" how many sizes too small was the Grinch's heart.

1. Ten sizes too small.
2. Three sizes too small.
3. Two sizes too small.

# 4: What was the real name of the character Tim Allen plays in "The Santa Clause"?

1. Stephen Clawford.
2. Christopher K. Wrangle
3. Scott Calvin

# 5: In the movie "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" What did the other reindeer not let Rudolph do because of his shiny red nose?

1. Join in any reindeer games.
2. Learn how to fly.
3. Become a dentist.

# 6: What Christmas carol does the Peanuts gang sing at the end of "A Charlie Brown Christmas"?

1. "Jingle Bells"
2. "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing"
3. "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas"

# 7: What famous actor voiced five separate characters in the movie "The Polar Express"?

1. Liam Neeson.
2. Tim Allen
3. Tom Hanks

# 8: In "The Muppet Christmas Carol" what character does Kermit the Frog play?

1. Tiny Tim
2. Bob Cratchit
3. Ebenezer Scrooge

# 9: In the holiday classic "Miracle on 34th Street" what is the one present the little girl, Susan Walker, wished for that would make her believe Kris Kringle was the real Santa Claus?

1. Doll
2. Pony
3. House

# 10: What was the name of the fictional town in "It's a Wonderful Life"?

1. Bedford Falls
2. Rolling Hills
3. Seneca Falls

# 11: In the movie "Elf" Buddy the elf sticks to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns and ____.?

1. Candy apples
2. Cotton candy
3. Syrup

I cannot promise you a grand prize or that I can get you on the "Nice List" if you did well answering these trivia questions. However, I certainly hope Santa Claus is good to you. And Remember as Buddy the Elf says "The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear." So, from all of us here at the Norfolk Registry of Deeds a happy holiday season and a healthy and happy new year to all.

Answers: 1: B, 2: A, 3: C, 4: C, 5: A, 6: B, 7: C, 8: B, 9: C, 10: A, 11: C.

Final days to share your input to the Franklin Community News Survey

Final days to share your input to this survey. 

• Where do you get your Franklin News? 
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Survey closes on Sunday, Dec 16 at midnight

Franklin TV, Franklin Public Radio, and Franklin Matters are working together striving to advance the greater good, bringing us together as a community, so that our focus is not on what divides us, but what brings us together. To that end, we need your help with the following survey questions. 

Please fill out (online -> https://bit.ly/FCCA_NewsSurvey ) or via paper copy (and send to Franklin TV) so we can evaluate our services for the community and enhance as necessary. 

Your thoughts are important to us. 

Thank you!

Your input is requested for the Franklin MA Cable News Awareness Survey

Auchincloss Announces Guest For President Biden’s State Of The Union Address And Social Media Legislation

Auchincloss Announces Guest For President Biden’s State Of The Union Address

Congressman Jake Auchincloss (D, MA-04) is announcing Brookline's Myrieme Nadri-Churchill (M.Ed) as his guest for President Biden's State of the Union Address to Congress on Thursday, March 7th. Myrieme serves as Executive Director of Parents for Peace, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit empowering families, friends, and communities to prevent radicalization, violence, and extremism using a public health approach.

Parents for Peace began as a support group for other families who had lost loved ones to extremism and soon expanded to offer a confidential helpline to assist families grappling with new cases of extremism. 

With antisemitism rapidly increasing throughout the country, and specifically Massachusetts, the work Myrieme is doing is more crucial than ever. Nadri-Churchill's unusual combination of intervention and coaching experience shaped the unique methodology of the Parents for Peace helpline. She has helped hundreds of American families successfully intervene to rescue loved ones falling into extremism. 

In addition to announcing his guest, Auchincloss is introducing the Verifying Kids' Online Privacy Act. Most of the young individuals that Parents for Peace works with were radicalized by extremist groups through social media. Amid rising youth mental health challenges and continued negligence on the part of social media companies to serve the best interests of our children online, Congress must enact stronger protections to ensure social media companies are held accountable and that parents may have confidence in how their children use social media. 

The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which took effect in 2000, requires that a website operator have increased protections for children under 13, including verifying parental consent before collecting any personal information. Major social media companies have, by and large, decided that it is easier to not allow kids under 13 to use their services instead of complying with this "burdensome" requirement. However, companies often simply ask users to input their birthday when creating an account, which is easily faked. 

This legislation would take two major steps to address the gaps in COPPA's protections: 1) increasing the age of those protected from 13 to 16, and 2) requiring social media companies to develop privacy-protective methods of verifying the age of its users to ensure that COPPA's protections extend to all children on a platform. 

Requiring age verification would constitute a critical step in ensuring that companies uphold the protections included in COPPA. Importantly, this legislation would not require a specific age verification method, but would allow for companies to design a privacy-protective method that fits their platform, while still requiring those companies to submit these processes to the Federal Trade Commission to be considered for COPPA's existing safe harbor provisions. Companies would also be barred from selling, transferring, or otherwise using any data collected in the verification process for any purpose other than verification. 

Lastly, this legislation would establish a Children's Online Safety Fund to support Department of Education grants that support digital literacy programs to promote safe and healthy internet use for children. The Fund would be financed by civil penalties obtained by the federal government from violations of COPPA. 

"As the youngest parent in the Democratic caucus, I speak daily with parents who are stressed about their children's social media usage, and I speak with youth who are made increasingly lonely and anxious as a result of their social media habits. Meanwhile, trillion-dollar social media corporations continue to productize our children to sell ads. Congress must fight back on behalf of parents and children, who don't have the time or resources to outfox algorithms. My legislation directly holds social media corporations accountable for their negligent approach to our children's wellbeing," said Auchincloss. 

"The ease of access to manipulative ideological content has enabled the variety of radicalizations we see in our helpline work with families, from White Supremacy and ISIS to eco-terrorism and Antifa. The families come from a broad cross-section of American society, with children being radicalized as young as 12. Seeing the harsh realities of this every day, I urge our leaders to support policies that limit minors' access to social media platforms and increase parental supervision over their online activities," said Churchill, Executive Director of Parents for Peace.

To learn more about Congressman Jake Auchincloss, visit https://auchincloss.house.gov or connect with him on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or YouTube.

Have you tried the "Year in Review" Quiz on the News in the Town of Franklin for 2023?

Let's try something a little different as we approach the close out of 2023. 

How closely did you pay attention to the news during the year?

A Town of Franklin "Year in Review" news quiz. 

10 questions, and a bonus question. All worth 10 points each.

Submit a valid email at the beginning of the quiz, and at the end of the quiz, you can select to receive how you did on the quiz sent to that email.

We'll keep the quiz open until January 7 and share the overall results.

Take the quiz in the embedded form below or follow this link ->
https://forms.gle/RABScYHFy2mKLgiX7

Don’t miss this lineup of journalists who can help you find news you can trust

Register now for our free webinars!

We've lined up some terrific journalists for our free webinar series How to find news you can trust. You won't want to miss these fascinating and informative conversations! REGISTER HERE The series begins April 12 and runs for three consecutive Wednesdays, starting at 4 p.m. ET. Register once to access all three sessions! April 12: Session 1 | What is quality journalism? News outlets help us make informed decisions, but the process of creating news isn't always transparent. In this session, journalists Brandon Pope of WBEZ Chicago and Molly Parker of Lee Enterprises will discuss how they build credibility and trust with the public and will describe the standards that guide their newsgathering. This session will pull the curtain back on the practice of quality, ethical journalism and its mission to inform us accurately. Brandon is an award-winning and Emmy-nominated journalist, media critic and columnist, and host of the podcasts On The Block: Powered by Block Club Chicago on CW26 and the MAKING series from WBEZ and NPR. Molly, a ProPublica distinguished fellow, is an investigative reporter with Lee Enterprises' Public Service Team, where she works with regional reporters in 25 states to produce impactful, data-driven local journalism. April 19: Session 2 | Understanding news media bias People frequently perceive and allege bias in news coverage, but what does this really mean? What makes a piece of news biased, and who decides? Journalist Amethyst J. Davis, founder of the Harvey World Herald, a hyperlocal, independent newsroom in Illinois, and Stephanie Casanova of Signal Cleveland, a nonprofit newsroom that fuses community building with local news reporting, join us to discuss how the journalistic standards we learned about in Session 1 can be applied to confront and avoid news bias. This session will empower you to evaluate the fairness, accuracy and objectivity of news coverage. Amethyst oversees growth and development, including outlining editorial trajectory and content, at the Harvey World Herald. A member of the community advisory board for Chicago Public Media, she is a Casey Fellow with the National Association of Black Journalists Black News & Views. Stephanie is the criminal justice reporter with Signal Cleveland and formerly covered criminal justice and breaking news at the Chicago Tribune. April 26: Session 3 | How fact-checking works Fact-checking organizations are taking up the charge to combat the spread of misinformation, debunking some of the most viral content springing up on social media. Fact-checkers Dan Evon of the News Literacy Project and Rafael Olavarría of Factchequeado will talk about their work and share skills that you can use to check the accuracy of information. Dan debunks viral rumors for NLP's RumorGuard™ platform, which empowers the public to push back against misinformation. Prior to joining NLP in 2022, Dan worked as a reporter for Snopes, the internet's oldest fact-checking site. Rafael, a Venezuelan immigrant who fled political persecution, began his journalism career as a producer and writer for CNN and won 11 Southeast Emmy Awards as a multimedia journalist with Univisión. We look forward to seeing you April 12! REGISTER HERE For a future founded on facts, The News Literacy Project P.S. If you miss one of the sessions, don't worry, we'll share recordings of all three.

Visit us at newslit.org, checkology.org, newslitnation.org and rumorguard.org. The News Literacy Project, a nonpartisan education nonprofit, is building a national movement to advance the practice of news literacy throughout American society, creating better informed, more engaged and more empowered individuals — and ultimately a stronger democracy. The News Literacy Project 5335 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Suite 440, Washington, DC 20015

How to find news you can trust - 3 session webinar series in April, 2023

Save the date for our webinar series.

Hi Franklinites! You probably read, watch or listen to the news every day, and chances are you often do so online. How do you know whether news sources are credible? How do you know what to trust? The News Literacy Project is offering a free three-part webinar series to help you navigate the increasingly crowded and rapidly changing information environment. We'll meet at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT on April 12, 19 and 26 for about 45 minutes, and we'll invite journalists to join the discussions to help us understand how they think about trust and credibility as they report the news. April 12: Session 1 | What is quality journalism? News outlets help us make informed decisions, but the process of creating news isn't always transparent. This session will pull the curtain back on the practice of quality, ethical journalism and its mission to inform us accurately. April 19: Session 2 | Understanding news media bias People frequently perceive and allege bias in news coverage, but what does this really mean? What makes a piece of news biased, and who decides? This session will empower you to evaluate the fairness, accuracy and objectivity of news coverage. April 26: Session 3 | How fact-checking works With the deluge of digital information, it's getting harder to know what to trust. Fact-checking organizations are taking up the charge to combat the spread of misinformation, debunking some of the most viral content springing up social media. We'll learn about the work professional fact-checkers do and skills we can use to do our own fact-checking. You can find more information and register for the series here. We look forward to learning with you! If you have questions about this series, please respond to this email. For a future founded on facts, The News Literacy Project

Visit us at newslit.org, checkology.org, newslitnation.org and rumorguard.org. The News Literacy Project, a nonpartisan education nonprofit, is building a national movement to advance the practice of news literacy throughout American society, creating better informed, more engaged and more empowered individuals — and ultimately a stronger democracy. The News Literacy Project 5335 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Suite 440, Washington, DC 20015

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Good things take time...

"What dream of yours are you nurturing right now? 🌷

Making quick progress or getting fast results certainly sounds nice, and in our fast-paced world, it can seem like things must be completed in an instant.

But taking things step by step and making progress daily is what generates real results. So if a goal seems too large right now, the thing to do isn’t to speed up.

👉🏽Instead, embrace the power of slow and work towards your finish line with patience and discipline. Let all the good things you’ve been chasing come and catch you, and remember that no matter how small your efforts may feel, things will come together sooner than later."

Via The Good Life Project on Instagram ->  https://www.instagram.com/p/CdtQTngu10a/

Good things take time...

News literacy requires work on everyone's part, and that includes you

Via the News Literacy Project:

"2021 marked another year of rapidly spreading misinformation following breaking news events, from the Jan. 6 attacks on the U.S. Capitol to the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines to the Biden presidency. Get ready for 2022 by reviewing our news literacy takeaways from the past 12 months. You’ll be prepared to recognize and debunk falsehoods, conspiracy theories and hoaxes in 2022, and know what information to trust, share and act on.

Science misinformation

No, vaccines don’t magnetize you, increase the risk of infertility, contain tracking devices, or cause cancer and HIV. But misinformation surrounding vaccines — along with other science-based topics like climate change — continued to deluge social media feeds throughout the year.

News literacy takeaway: Turn to credible, authoritative sources to confirm or debunk science-related content, such as NLP’s COVID-19 resources page or reputable institutions like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And know that bad actors will even resort to cute cat videos as “engagement bait” to draw you to their sites and spread falsehoods."

Continue reading the article online

https://newslit.org/updates/2021-the-year-in-misinformation-news-literacy-takeaways/

Checkology is one of the resources available for news literacy awareness   https://get.checkology.org/

News literacy requires work on everyone's part

Good Deeds: Christmas Movie Trivia

GOOD DEEDS: CHRISTMAS MOVIE TRIVIA

By William P. O'Donnell, Norfolk County Register of Deeds

The Holidays are upon us and it is time for an article from the Registry of Deeds that builds upon the joys of our holiday season.  It is about time a writing that is light and not so serious is written in these "Good Deeds" articles.  There can always be more of that in our day to day lives.

One go to article theme readers of "Good Deeds" may have noticed over the years has been trivia.  There have been trivia questions about historical figures of Norfolk County such as the four Presidents of the United States born here in Norfolk County.  There have been trivia challenges involving naming one of the 28 communities making up Norfolk County as the answer to some notable person who hailed from that community.  

The Norfolk County Registry of Deeds has seen its share of Hollywood filming which has taken place in and around the beautiful Registry of Deeds Building.  There was an old television show "The Practice" starring actors Dylan McDermott and Michael Spada.  Four episodes of this show were filmed in and around Dedham.  "Ironman" Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duvall made use of the Norfolk Superior Court and the Registry of Deeds Building front pillars and steps in the film "The Judge".  Recently Rosamund Pike and Eiza Gonzalez used the books and beauty of the renovated Registry of Deeds Record Hall to film "I Care A Lot".  Rosamund Pike won a Golden Globe for her performance in this movie which can be seen on Netflix.

So I thought I would combine the Christmas Season, trivia and this link to movies to challenge the reader to some Christmas Movie Trivia.

 

Trivia Questions (answers located below)

#1 In Home Alone 2, what city does Kevin mistakenly get lost in?

 

#2 What was the real name of the character Tim Allen plays in The Santa Clause?

 

#3 Where does the Polar Express take the children?

 

#4 Finish this iconic line from It's a Wonderful Life: "Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his                                   ___."

 

#5 Buddy the elf sticks to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns and ____.

 

#6 Who was the bad guy Rudolph tried to avoid?

 

#7 Finish this line from How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  "It came without packages, boxes or ____"

 

#8 What did the other reindeer not let Rudolph do because of his shiny red nose?

 

#9 In the story of a Christmas Carol, what is Scrooge's first name?

 

#10 What Christmas carol does the Peanuts gang sing at the end of "A Charlie Brown Christmas"?

 

#11 "The best way to spread Christmas cheer is ____."-Elf

 

May all the songs and spirit of the Christmas Season bring you happiness and health.  There is no great prize being given out if you did well answering these trivia questions.  However, I certainly hope Santa Claus is good to you.  To everyone a joyful and happy holiday season.

 

 

Good News: Christmas Movie Trivia

Answers:
 
#1 New York City
 
#2 Scott Calvin (SC)
 
#3 North Pole
 
#4 Wings
 
#5 Syrup
 
#6 The Abominable Snowman
 
#7 Bags
 
#8 Join in any reindeer games
 
#9 Ebenezer
 
#10 Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
 
#11 Sing loud for all to hear