The Perseids of August - Meteors!!

Surely you remember our pals the Perseids, a meteor shower which comes this time every August.

What can we expect in a few days? The promise of wishing upon that falling "star" and knowing our dreams are heard - somewhere in the vastness of space/time. Yes I'm a romantic.

Here's a few seconds of an actual Perseid shower.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XTBrYWrey0

Peak viewing is from the 11th-12th to the 14th, under a moonless night sky would've been best (new moon on the 10th, full moon on the 24th). They'll appear to be coming directly toward you. It would help if you're not in a city. Pick the darkest space around you and just observe - you should have no trouble seeing a great light shooting across the sky at least every 20 minutes, with stragglers continually. Take pictures!!

Baby Stars Found in Center of Our Galaxy

Look at this infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope of an area in our Milky Way Galaxy. In the center you'll see 3 bustling little baby stars - the first to be discovered in this region - because all previous attempts met with too much dust at the core. Spitzer caught it because it uses sharp infrared eyes which can cut through dust like butter.

The center of our Galaxy is hectic - packed with starstuff, gas, dust - and we've always wondered how complex stars formed in such places. So we've known stars - like our star "Sol" - are born in such a nebula, but never able to see them actually forming - UNTIL NOW.
Eyes in space will be watching for a good while.More beauty: Two nebulae and a giant flare on Sol, the star keeping us in its orbit.

Glaciers Doing What All Life Does - Change

Researchers funded by NASA have been monitoring what you may've heard things about - Greenland's J-Isbrae glacier, and their latest report tells us a 7-square kilometer (that's 2.7 miles!) section has been broken to pieces as seen in above images.



We've been monitoring changes in the arctic glacial sheets for some time, and while this new one isn't unusual, the amount of ice lost is roughly 1/8th the size of Manhattan. Gives you a different outlook.

What makes this noteworthy is because it occurs on the heels of a warm winter which saw no ice forming. Also, it lends credence to the theory that the warming of the oceans is responsible for ice-loss. This is not unnatural for the planet as it's happened long before life got a foothold here. Heating and cooling, over and over. Complex life was billions of years in the future. But it exists now, so consider: When sheet ice from snow, or fresh water, mixes with salted sea water, ocean fish exposed to this mixture swell up and die.
Yet it's actually a good/bad condition. Some marine life will benefit for awhile from the thick pad of phytoplankton (food for whales among others) and animals from all over the globe feast on the salad bar. Yet it's out of natural order, which has handled the cycles of life and death in its perfect geological time for eons. Our marine life will be the first to be effected by the dangers of this imbalance in life and its food. Watching the seas is a wise predictor of what lies ahead for earth.

Life also exists because predators do. They exist because of prey, keeping herds healthy, numbers in balance. No life should have to starve because there's too many of them and not enough natural predation. Worse, when there is more life because of an over-abundance of a food source, a harmonious balance is disturbed. It will, of course, affect humans, for a very long time.

Somebody Bless America Damn It!!

The next time I find myself whining and whimpering about all the crapola that's wrong with this country, purposefully spelling it Amerika and poking jive remarks about immigration and who should be speaking English if they live here, and on and on...when that happens again, and it will, I'm going to kick myself. And that's not easy. But here's why:

Whether the 4th of July is the birth of Columbia as this land was first named, whether it's been stripped and straddled and broken and bruised, whether people come here for a free lunch or not, THIS IS AND ALWAYS WILL BE THE LAND OF MY BIRTH AND THAT'S GOT TO MEAN SOMETHING.

Every God Bless America, Land of the Potential in us All.

What Are You Watching?

All my life I've seen and experienced the big guy cheating the little guy, the bully crushing the weak, the rich getting richer off the poor. I've been that little weak poor guy many times, and found out one thing: If I don't try to change it, why should you?
To complain about "them" and what "they" do feels right, but isn't enough. Once, when I had youth and immortality, I acted. I put my body on the line, with many others of the Days of Rage, and so-called Peace and Love. Peace never came and love lasted a hot five minutes. Who the hell are we fooling anyway?

The only action that made a difference happened during the Days of Rage and unless you were willing to get arrested and beaten, nothing much happened - day after day. I don't see any changes on the horizon do you? But that's no reason to just lay down and watch TV.

Just take a second glance at my friends here and if all you can do is register your name, you've done more than you did yesterday. Thank you for caring about humanity.

The Flowers of St. Claire

"I am sorry Captain, but we sisters of the Convent of Sainte Claire do not recognize your authority - only that of God. I must ask that you take your soldiers and leave us in peace."

Even as she spoke, Sister Eva was shuddering in fear as she spoke into the ice blue eyes of the Nazi enemy.

"My men and I will take this place of refuge and use it against the Americans, who are but an hour away. This will be our ambush! Gather everyone and meet in the back gardens, so I can speak to your Sisters. We will find a place you can go, but you cannot stay here. My orders are final!"

This Captain did not rise in the ranks of his fascist party just to listen to some French nun.

As the frightened Sisters rushed into the garden, holding each others hands in fear, Sister Eva begged them to be brave.

"God will protect us. Pray, pray silently."

The Nazi Captain shouted for six of his men to follow him to the gardens. As they arrived, they stood in formation, silently awaiting orders.

Then he spoke: "You have all been found guilty of conspiracy against the leader of the Nazi party, our Fuhrer Adolph Hitler. The punishment for this is death."

When the guns were finally still, small bodies in white linen cloth were covered in blood, like the flowers that lay beneath them. The soldiers turned and without thought, continued about the further business of war.

These too, were soldiers.

NOBILITY OF SACRIFICE

What matters more than personal sacrifice? And what should matter least of all is whether or not a war is "good or evil" - ALL war is unjust and unworthy of claiming young, vibrant, noble lives. This has naught to do with patriotism or heroics. Few soldiers rush into battle thinking how wondrous to be a hero, then charge into the fire. No, this is about sacrifice. AND WE REMEMBER.