>Martin Luther King Day

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We celebrate !

Martin Luther King

Watching Dr. King give this speech, is an emotional experience. Dr. King was a great orator. He motivated people through his actions, his words, and his voice. Reading the speech is, for me, just as emotional.

The following is what has become to be known as Dr. King’s “I have a dream” speech. It is unedited and taken word for word from the film of his speech.

Dr. King:

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.”

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: “For Whites Only.” We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until “justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest — quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of “interposition” and “nullification” — one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; “and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day — this will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim’s pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

>Not So Light This Week

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>M94

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M94: A New Perspective
Image Credit & Copyright: R Jay Gabany (Blackbird Obs.)
Collaboration: I. Trujillo, I. Martinez-Valpuesta, D. Martinez-Delgado ( IAC); J. Penarrubia (IoA Cambridge); M. Pohlen (Cardiff)

Explanation: Beautiful island universe M94 lies a mere 15 million light-years distant in the northern constellation of the hunting dogs, Canes Venatici. A popular target for astronomers the brighter inner part of the face-on spiral galaxy is about 30,000 light-years across. Traditionally, deep images have been interpreted as showing M94’s inner spiral region surrounded by a faint, broad ring of stars. But a new multi-wavelength investigation has revealed previously undetected spiral arms sweeping across the outskirts of the galaxy’s disk, an outer disk actively engaged in star formation. At optical wavelengths, M94’s outer spiral arms are followed in this remarkable discovery image, processed to enhance the outer disk structure. Background galaxies are visible through the faint outer arms, while the three spiky foreground stars are in our own Milky Way galaxy.

>Just Two Views

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A Typical Neighborhood

Space Satellite Photo

>Effie and Brett – Heroes

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Pine City, Minn. — A Pine City dog may not have the energy of a puppy anymore, but she mustered up enough of her skills to lead her master straight to an unconscious man. Police believe the act saved the man’s life.

On Monday evening, Brett Grinde took his 15-year-old dog, Effie, out for their usual walk. But within a couple minutes, Effie started pulling on the leash — she was insisting on a different route.

“She basically started pulling to the right and 99 percent we go left,” Grinde said from his Pine City home on Tuesday.

Effie then took off running — causing Grinde to follow behind. Eventually, the 15-year-old German shorthair dog came to an abrupt stop in the driveway of a neighbor.

“So I’m running, and I cut the corner of the driveway and I look, and she’s standing by an older gentleman that’s laying face down,” Grinde said.

Effie started licking the man’s face and then turned to her master — who just happens to be a long-time investigator with the Pine County Sheriff’s Department.

“Twenty-eight years as a police officer, you know how to do the first response, the CPR, the abcs,” Grinde said.

Grinde was able to clear the 94-year-old man’s airway. Within seconds, that man started to groan and regain consciousness. All the while, Effie the dog just watched.

“She laid down on his other side and then came and knudged me on the elbows and just kind of stood over him,” Grinde said.

On Tuesday night, the man remained in serious condition at North Memorial Medical Center. Police believe he went out for the mail or to take out the garbage, slipped on the ice and may have been outside for hours. His family asked we not release his name.

But relatives did call Brett to thank him for what he did. Brett’s response? Thank my dog.

“I never thought in a million years something like this would happen, but it was meant to be. It was in God’s hands and somebody turned her that way,” he said.

Effie, by the way, also got a few bonus treats on Monday. Brett said she’s also likely due for a porkchop or plate of spaghetti — which she loves.

>9 Astronomy Milestones in 2009

>Those of you who read this blog (thank you) know that I regularly post Astronomy pictures, stories, and facts. That’s Science fact, not fiction. I believe that finding water on the Moon was probably the big story this year. Mr. Hsu also rates that story number one. The following story was written by Jeremy Hsu, a writer for Space.com. I copy it here in its entirety, because I agree with all his points.

By Jeremy Hsu
posted: 28 December 2009

This year provided plenty of cosmic eye-openers for astronomers and casual stargazers alike. Neighborhood planets such as Mercury and Jupiter received makeovers in both a scientific and literal sense. The discovery of water on the moon and Mars provided clues to the past, not to mention hints for the future of space exploration. A class of newly-detected “Super-Earth” planets around alien stars may ultimately prove more habitable than Earth. And a growing fleet of existing, new and revived space telescopes promises another stellar year ahead.

Here are the stories that stood out:

9. Oddball Objects

Earth had a front row seat to a multitude of space objects in 2009, with stunning meteor showers, wayward space rocks buzzing the planet and weird lights in the sky – both natural and man-made.

Annual light shows such as the Leonid meteor shower continued to dazzle, but some space rocks came a bit too close for comfort. An asteroid exploded over Indonesia with the force of several Hiroshima bombs on Oct. 8, 2009, and became the biggest space rock to take aim at Earth in more than a decade.

Weird and wonderful man-made lights also joined the natural light displays this year. NASA launched an experimental rocket that briefly recreated eerie night-shining clouds in September. But the strangest display of all came from a spiraling shape that appeared above Norway in December and sparked massive speculation about extraterrestrials or rogue meteors – before Russia’s defense ministry confirmed that a failed launch had sent a missile spiraling out of control.

8. Mercury, Unmasked

Planet Mercury received a major scientific makeover in 2009, when NASA’s MESSENGER probe completed a third and final flyby in September 2009 that should help guide the spacecraft into a Mercury orbit in 2011.

A third encounter with Mercury not only helped map up to 98 percent of the planet’s surface, but also showed that the surface contains high amounts of heavy metals such as iron and titanium. The surprise has forced scientists to rethink how the small planet evolved.

The latest close-up also revealed changing seasons on the planet closest to the sun. Such seasonal shifts take the form of varying chemical compositions in Mercury’s thin atmosphere.

7. The Most Massive Black Hole

There’s big, and then there’s galactic big. A supermassive black hole became the reigning heavyweight champ this year with 6.4 billion times the mass of the sun, after astrophysicists revised earlier estimates of the monster’s size by two or three times through computer modeling and telescope observations.

The behemoth sits at the heart of the giant galaxy M87, not unlike the massive black hole at the center of our own Milky Way galaxy. Other black holes in nearby large galaxies may now also get a second look, so don’t rule out a new black hole challenger in the coming years.

6. Year of the Space Telescope

A new generation of space telescopes launched in 2009, aimed at seeking out new worlds or unraveling long-standing mysteries of the cosmos. Perhaps none garnered more attention than NASA’s planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft, which can detect distant worlds based on the tell-tale dip in light created by a planet as it crosses in front of Earth’s view of the parent star.

Other notable newcomers include Europe’s Herschel and Planck space observatories, which took their first glimpses into the universe this year. Herschel represents the most powerful infrared space telescope ever launched into space, while Planck seeks to survey the “first light” from the universe that emerged shortly after the Big Bang.

Last but not least, NASA’s WISE spacecraft launched in December with the goal of scanning the infrared sky 1-1/2 times during its mission lifetime.

These next-gen telescopes join an older crowd that includes NASA’s Chandra and Europe’s XMM Newton X-ray observatories, which both celebrated their 10th anniversaries this year.

5. Water Ice on Mars

Making the case for a once-wet Mars has never looked better than in 2009. Space rocks lent a helping hand to science by gouging out craters in the Martian surface that revealed almost 99 percent pure water ice near the surface – possible remnants of buried ice sheets that may cover almost half the planet.

An extensive map of the valleys crisscrossing the red planet points to a possible ocean in the planet’s past, scientists say. NASA’s intrepid Opportunity rover has also continued to provide a close-up view of evidence that water may have helped shape the Martian surface.

One of the biggest lingering questions going forward into 2010 is whether liquid water can still exist on the Martian surface. A string of globules attached to the legs of NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander represents possible but controversial evidence for liquid Martian water, according to NASA scientists who reviewed the mission’s five-month stint from last year.

4. First Rocky Planet Around Alien Star

Two of the biggest exoplanet discoveries to date occurred in 2009, as planet hunters took first steps toward finding Earth-like planets outside our solar system. Both cases involved spotting distant worlds passing in front of their parent stars, rather than merely inferring the existence of planets based on the gravitational wobble that they cause in parent stars.

First, astronomers confirmed the first rocky world spotted in orbit around another star. Called CoRoT-7b, the planet represents the first known exoplanet with a density similar to that of Earth – even if the planetary surface seems less Earth-like with scorching temperatures soaring above 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1,000 degrees Celsius).

A second rocky, water-rich world, named GJ 1214b, also became the first “Super-Earth” to have a confirmed atmosphere.

The growing handful of Super-Earths, or planets with masses between that of Earth and Neptune, now stand out among the hundreds of Jupiter-like gas giants detected in orbit around other stars. Some scientists believe that such Super-Earths could ultimately prove better than Earth at fostering the existence of life.

3. Hubble Telescope Peers Deeper Into the Universe

NASA’s beloved Hubble Space Telescope survived deep-space surgery and emerged in better shape than ever in 2009. The 19-year-old telescope then celebrated its rebirth by spotting what might be the oldest, most distant galaxies ever discovered.

Hubble’s new Wide Field Camera 3 peered into the infrared wavelengths – about twice as long and “redder” than visible light – to spot galaxies that formed 600 million years after the theoretical Big Bang, or roughly 13.1 billion years ago. If confirmed, the find may replace the current titleholders for earliest known galaxies and most distant object in the universe.

Records aside, Hubble also found time to scope out an unexpected impact on Jupiter.

2. Jupiter Under Fire

What an amateur astronomer first reported as a new dark spot on Jupiter turned out to be a huge planetary bruise the size of the Pacific Ocean, left by a wayward asteroid or comet in the summer of 2009. The massive cosmic impact easily rivaled another from 15 years ago, when Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 walloped the king of the planets.

Astronomers estimated the culprit behind the impact as being no bigger than half a kilometer (0.3 miles) in size. Yet such a cosmic object would have contained thousands of times the energy of the Tunguska impact on Earth, which exploded over Siberia in 1908 and flattened an area as big as a city.

An impact of similar size on Earth would have likely proved catastrophic. But Earth observers can count their lucky stars this year and every year for Jupiter, which attracts dangerous space rocks with its massive size and gravitational pull.

1. Water on the Moon

Perhaps no other space science revelation this year proved as significant as the discovery of water on the moon. A moon long described as a barren, dry environment now dangles the tantalizing possibility of lunar colonies, not to mention a launching point for more distant space exploration.

Scientists first confirmed the traces of water in the uppermost layers of the lunar surface, based on detections of either water or a hydroxyl group (oxygen and hydrogen chemically bonded) made by India’s Chandrayaan-1, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft and NASA’s Deep Impact probe. But their findings, detailed in a paper that came out in the Sept. 25 issue of the journal Science, had only just scratched the surface.

Then NASA’s LCROSS probe slammed into the lunar south pole in October, and everything changed once more. The plume of debris thrown up by the probes impact revealed water ice, and lots of it. Such ice could either become drinking water for future astronauts and colonists, or could provide hydrogen for rocket fuel.

Knowing that water awaits humans on the moon provides a validation of sorts for NASA’s goal of putting boots back on the lunar surface. And it may also provide a much-needed boost for new generations of scientists and space explorers to continue pushing into the unknown for 2010 and beyond.

>Writers Block – Enjoy These

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>WAR

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In Desert Storm, we used the Powell doctrine-overwhelming force. It’s to bad the World did not want us to go and capture Saddam, or that President Bush just didn’t go do it with only American forces. We got Saddam out of Kuwait, killed many of his soldiers, and had very few losses. His son would see to it, that Saddam would be overthrown.

With the new American strategy of offensive attack, President Bush launched “Shock and Awe” and leveled the capitol of Iraq. Then following the Rumsfeld doctrine of “Leaner and Meaner” we spearheaded through Iraq untouched, leaving our enemy and their weapons behind us. A truly rookie mistake. The enemy gathered themselves, their weapons, and attacked; which started the loss of American lives.

There were no weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). That was verified by a two year physical search of Iraq by the U.S. Army. Then President Bush, Secretary Powell, and Secretary Rumsfeld, confirmed, there were no WMDs. Saddam was hanged, and 7 years later, we are still fighting and dying in Iraq. If you want to make a career out of the mistakes (or lies) made in Iraq, go ahead, you should have enough material for more than one book.

It should be clear by now, that whenever we leave Iraq, the evil forces will move back in. Stalin had elections, he won every election by an absurd majority. History is riddled with the attempts to conquer this barbaric part of the World. All have failed.

Of course this all started with the attack on America (New York) on 9/11. An attack headed by a terrorist named Osama Bin Laden. We sent our military to Afghanistan, routed the Taliban, and sent Bin Laden into the mountains. All attempts to capture, or kill him have failed.

This has all been built as the war on terror. Terror is a tactic, not a human enemy. Since terrorists are all over the World, I wonder why so much effort is placed in this part of the World. Saddam was a bad man and worthwhile getting rid of, but he had nothing to do with 9/11. Meanwhile, the terrorists who committed the 9/11 attack, took second place as our enemy.

Now Afghanistan has been reoccupied and we are sending 30,000 more troops to fight again for that territory. The terrorists have attacked Pakistan and are a real threat to Pakistan, a nuclear armed country. That is the danger. These terrorists getting a hold of atomic weapons.

Al Qaeda and other terrorists, are all over the World, yet we fight in two countries. The World seems unmoved to help in the fight, an attitude left over from the poor treatment they received by the Bush administration. In four years we were able to defeat the much larger armies of Germany and Japan, but it seems we do not yet, even have a handle on these terrorists.

History has the right to judge and lay blame. History has made its judgment about Bush’s decisions. The war on terror still goes on, and is only in its early stages. President Bush claimed he would eliminate evil from the World. A delusional statement if ever there was one. Evil has always and will always exist. Hitler was not the first, and will not be the last mass murder.

Are we prepared to add another 10% of our GNP to finance the military needed? Are we willing to reinstate the draft? Can we get the rest of the World to take up their arms? Can we get our former leaders to stop saying that the Democrats are our real enemy, not the terrorists. Are gays unfit to kill? Can we finance war, if we don’t collect the taxes to pay our bills? If we cannot do some of these things, we lose.

This is not the kind of enemy we can wait out. We will have to go after them. This is a war of covert actions, spies, and well trained specialists. The enemy will not take stand at one location waiting for us to bomb them. Yet, the manpower we have now, is insufficient. The general in charge is a press hound. That won’t help at all, and if I were President, I would have fired him. We need an intelligent SOB, who knows more than how to drive a tank company through a hostile town. At this point, the terrorists are winning.

Do you think we can bring the troops home from Afghanistan in a year, or two and that will be the end of it? Ron Paul thinks we should just come home, that would end the problem with terrorists. Good luck with that.

History also shows us that war time brings out the protesters, the irrational screamers, the peace nicks, the political fringe, and the detractors of the Commander (President). Different manifestations for different times and wars. Teabaggers, Birthers, Birchers, Hippies, Dixiecrats, McCarthyism, whatever, are all reactionary voices to their current times. All represent a minority and rarely affected the outcome, or decision of the majority. They are remembered for issues other than war, but their roots were an outcome of the war related issues.

Then there are the profiteers of war. The makers of the implements of death and destruction. During Vietnam, corporations like Honeywell were picketed daily to protest their part in war. The government, on our behalf, enrich them, protect them, keep their business dealings a secret, and declare them patriotic entities, that would mean the downfall of America without them.

Seems there is a myth going around that Democrats cannot handle the military defense of America, keep freedom around the World, or know how to wage war. Silly. WW I, President Wilson. WW II, FDR. Korea, Truman. Enough examples.

There have been VERY FEW years without war since I have been alive. I doubt there will be many years without war when I’m not alive. Ah war, where would we be without it? Who would we be without it? Different war, same death. Today Blackwater, yesterday Honeywell. Hippies scream. Teabaggers protest. Gold Star Mothers cry. Young men die. Sorry, today young women can die also.

>Halley’s Comet

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Comet Halley’s Nucleus: An Orbiting Iceberg
Credit & Copyright: Halley Multicolor Camera Team, Giotto Project, ESA

Explanation: What does a comet nucleus look like? Formed from the primordial stuff of the Solar System, comet nuclei were thought to resemble very dirty icebergs. But ground-based telescopes revealed only the surrounding cloud of gas and dust of active comets nearing the Sun, clearly resolving only the comet’s coma, and the characteristic cometary tails. In 1986, however, the European spacecraft Giotto became one of the first group of spacecraft ever to encounter and photograph the nucleus of a comet, passing and imaging Halley’s nucleus as it approached the sun. Data from Giotto’s camera was used to generate this enhanced image of the potato shaped nucleus that measures roughly 15 kilometers across. Some surface features on the dark nucleus are on the right, while gas and dust flowing into Halley’s coma are on the left. Every 76 years Comet Halley returns to the inner solar system and each time the nucleus sheds about a 6-meter deep layer of its ice and rock into space. This debris shed from Halley’s nucleus eventually disperses into an orbiting trail responsible for the Orionids meteor shower, in October of every year, and the Eta Aquariids meteor shower every May.

>Cut Government – RaiseTaxes – Pay the Debt

>So what’s the next issue for this new President and our country to tackle? There is no shortage of hard problems to tackle.

Interest rates will go up soon, and that should give incentive for bankers to start lending again. Provided you don’t mind paying the higher interest rates and can get approved. Hopefully banks have learned from their recent mistakes, which means loan approvals will not be as generous as in recent years.

Unemployment will go down to about 7-1/2%, which is not good enough, but will send the economy to the up side. “Shovel ready” (hate that term) projects are slated for this Summer, still getting their revenue from the bailout bill. These projects are necessary to rebuild infrastructure, but will add little to a poor employment outlook. Just the same, every little bit helps.

War and the need to use our troops will be on the rise. The need will be necessary, and thus, grudgingly accepted by the people. The cost of defense, will go up.

Housing, which lost a good chunk of value during the crash, will also see a rise, but no boom.

These and other problems are important, but the usual problems that hit a President’s desk. What issue should the President declare important enough to mount an offensive against, and motivate the people and the politicians to act on? I believe that issue should be the growth of social programs and cutting government. The President has stated a priority to do this, but health reform was his stated first priority.

I know, I know, he just started a new huge social program, health insurance reform. There is a difference between programs that are helpful to society, and the waste within those programs. We would not end our defense program just because we know there is ridiculous waste, and we should not end social programs that serve us well, because they have waste. The nature of bureaucracy, has waste.

We should means test all programs.

We can cut the number of government employees, if we are willing to use more technology. Living off the peoples money, is not lucrative, and should not be. Yet, for those who abuse the system, prosecutions and penalties should be enforced and strengthened. There are programs that are not necessary and should be discontinued.

We should make Social Security Insurance a true insurance program. Only those with a qualified claim should get paid. Everyone who pays in, will not automatically get a check. Social Security should not be some kind of retirement plan, but insurance against poverty. We should be committed to the idea that we do not want the elderly to be homeless and starving. A decision our ancestors made, that I agree with.

There needs to be a combination of efforts to balance the budget and cut our national debt. This should include a budget that makes a payment (more than just interest) to pay down the national debt.

This effort would include a lot of things like a freeze on government employees hiring, salaries, benefits, including politicians. Termination of programs, not based on politics, but on performance and need. This means hard decisions. I would end the Education department. Most taxes and spending decisions on education are at the local level. Questions of equality are handled by the courts, and this department is most abused by political gamesmanship and false importance.

The best decisions are non-political decisions, yet, this all happens within a political process. That means the president has to put his neck on the line, especially against the Congressional power of the Democrats. This is where guys like Lieberman could actually help. This is where the stated ideology of Republicans (cut cost and growth of government) is put to the test. Would Republicans support such government cutting ideas and make Obama even more popular?

I happen to believe that along with cutting government and streamlining programs, we need to raise taxes to pay off our debt. At the very least, to stop growing the debt. Just cutting taxes has proven to be a huge mistake. Just cutting government won’t realize enough savings to pay our debt. We need to do both.

Of course I don’t know what Obama has in mind. I only know he has orated about doing something about the cost and growth of government. I do know that the political game being played leaves an opportunity to actually do something about the problem. A majority of Americans would like to see government costs cut, so the President will have the people behind him.

We do know that the President is willing to compromise in order to be able to say it happened on his watch. His thirst for his own place in History, could be our opportunity to actually solve some problems and get that “change” we all claimed we wanted.

The Republicans will get some of what they claim they want, but will have to do it under a Democratic President. That will make the President look good, not them. Ask Newt about that.

Even in times of total partisanship, things can get done. We need to use those intractable positions each side holds, against them. Hold them to their ideologies. Give them what they claim they want, and compel them to make it law.

You want to cut government, fine, here are our choices of what to cut. Will you go against your ideology because we disagree on details? You want to raise taxes, fine, here are our choices on who to tax more and what that money will be used for. Will you say no because that money will not be used to enhance your political power?

Just a few thoughts. What are your thoughts?

>Blue Moon

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Blue Moon Eclipse

Credit & Copyright: Jean Paul Roux

Explanation: The International Year of Astronomy 2009 ended with a Blue Moon and a partial lunar eclipse, as the second Full Moon of December grazed the Earth’s shadow on December 31st. The New Year’s Eve Blue Moon eclipse was visible throughout Europe, Asia, Africa and parts of Alaska, captured in this two exposure composite in cloudy skies over Saint Bonnet de Mure, France. Playing across the Moon’s southern reaches, the edge of Earth’s umbra, or dark central shadow, appears on the right side along with the prominent ray crater Tycho. At maximum eclipse, the umbra covered only about 8 percent of the diameter of the lunar disk.

>Financial Addiction

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I am unusual. I never had a credit card, until I was 43. I did not need one then, except there were things I could not do, even if I paid cash – like rent a car.

I paid cash for my home, my truck, all my purchases, and of course, I had no credit rating, or credit report history. That became a problem. So I got 3 credit cards and made minor purchases on all of them. Then I took out a $5,000.00 loan, with my truck as collateral, just to have and build a credit rating.

It worked. Soon I had an American Express card, with no limit. I was getting all sorts of solicitation to sign up for more cards, and to take out new loans from different banks. That was the first blast of never ending offers to extend my credit and my debt. I must have ended up on every mailing list in the country.

I pay my balances off in full every month. I do not pay interest, or fees. I have been aware for decades that the average American is in deep debt. I astounded friends and family when I disclosed my buying habits, and even more when I told them I had no debt.

Since I was a kid, I had cash in my pocket, and if I did not have enough cash for a purchase I would go get more cash, or not buy. I only had a savings account. I opened a checking account just to pay by mail, my bills. I know, this sounds way to simple, to the point of being , not so smart. The older I got, the more cash I carried. Spontaneous purchases were limited to cash in pocket, which grew to a few hundred dollars.

Now that I’m sick, I am putting everything on the cards and paying only the minimum payments. The death insurance will pay the balances, after I’m gone. Except now the credit card companies have put limits on my accounts. Depending on how long I stick around, I will have to go back to cash, debit card, or check only.

The peoples addiction to buy now pay later, has the average family in credit card debt between 10-20 thousand dollars, that usually does not include a home mortgage, or car payment. We do the same with our federal spending habits. We charge everything, somehow expecting to pay later. Now, the debt is so big, we cannot pay it. We got used to just printing more money, but that won’t work anymore either. hyper inflation will be a whole lot less fun, than the mess we are in now.

It’s time to get back to cash. Balanced budgets only. Start paying off our debt, which means a percentage of income goes to the debt. Is this going to be hard? You bet it is! The pain is payback, for our greedy, lazy, dumb spending habits. To simple, or to hard?

>New Years Day – To The Future

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Stop waiting for the government to set the pace of progress.
Since when do Americans wait for the slow pokes?
Are we searching for new and better ways, or are we tied to the bought and paid for systems of those only interested in power and money?
Profit is a by-product of good and inventive ideas, that serve the public and progress the evolution of human life and intelligence.
The problem is not government. The problem is tying the progress of our people and businesses to our government.
Government is an annoying, but necessary part of society.
We have promoted government to be the leader of business and people, it should be just the opposite.
The question should not be more, or less government; but efficient, honest government that helps society grow and progress.
Why do we rely on government to decide which energy source we should use, or promote? Why would we continue to use a primitive energy source?
Why do we listen to idiot politicians who claim to cut our taxes, and watch our country go bankrupt?
Government has its place, and we need to put it back in its place.

>Happy New Year

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I’m taking a lesson from my Republican friends. They know how to forget reality ever happened.

I’m going to forget 2009 ever happened. For me, 2009 was (as the Queen would say) “annus horribilis.” Part of what happened in 2009, means I won’t be around long in 2010. Funny how life unfolds. Maybe not so funny, all the crazy ways people try to stop it from occurring. Certainly not so funny, how little people seem to cherish life, or how poorly they treat their fellow human beings.

I read in the Wall Street Journal yesterday, that there will be a one time, one year (2010) only ban on estate taxes. That could mean doubling the estate left to your family. So of course (as the article goes on) family members are trying to decide if they should pull the plug on Grandma, or Grandpa this year, instead of letting them remain peacefully in an unconscious state. Death and taxes? Please find more meaning in life, than that.

Some religious people, who believe in everlasting spirit, seem to want that to happen prematurely. I happen to believe in “Dust to Dust.” If I am wrong, I will find out. If I am wrong, will I be aware of my Earthly experience? I won’t be taking anyone with me, nor did I take anyone while I was here. The height of insanity, is to think I have a right, or duty to take someone out, as long as I’m going. It is totally correct to get them, before they get you.

If wrong, I had always envisioned a “Defending Your Life” type of process. Defeating fear, in all its forms, does improve the condition of the spirit of life. That of course, is only a reflection of the limitations of my human mental capabilities, but then so is God belief. When humans can believe that religious adherence is not necessary to achieve a higher level of a better human experience, maybe then killing in the name of religion will stop. I won’t hold my last breath.

I started blogging because that was one thing I could physically do. I found it engaging and enlightening. It certainly did reflect the human experience from good, to bad, and everything in between. Anonymity seems to give people the freedom to speak. Like a quiet, shy person opens up, with a little help from a mind altering substance. Express whatever your mind is comfortable with, but neglect to improve your mind.

Thanks to all those (even the bad) who laid that experience at my feet.

I wish you a Happy New Year, whatever that means to you.

>Henri Matisse

>Henri Matisse was born on December 31, 1869, in Le Cateau-Cambrésis, France. He grew up in Bohain-en-Vermandois and studied law in Paris from 1887 to 1888. By 1891 he had abandoned law and started to paint. In Paris Matisse studied art briefly at the Académie Julian and then at the cole des Beaux-Arts with Gustave Moreau.

In 1901 Matisse exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants in Paris and met another future leader of the Fauve movement, Maurice de Vlaminck. His first solo show took place at the Galerie Vollard in 1904. Both Leo and Gertrude Stein, as well as Etta and Claribel Cone, began to collect Matisse’s work at that time. Like many avant-garde artists in Paris, Matisse was receptive to a broad range of influences. He was one of the first painters to take an interest in “primitive” art. Matisse abandoned the palette of the Impressionists and established his characteristic style, with its flat, brilliant color and fluid line. His subjects were primarily women, interiors, and still lifes. In 1913 his work was included in the Armory Show in New York. By 1923 two Russians, Sergei Shchukin and Ivan Morozov, had purchased nearly 50 of his paintings.

From the early 1920s until 1939, Matisse divided his time primarily between the south of France and Paris. During this period, he worked on paintings, sculptures, lithographs, and etchings, as well as on murals for the Barnes Foundation, Merion, Pennsylvania, designs for tapestries, and set and costume designs for Léonide Massine’s ballet Rouge et noir. While recuperating from two major operations in 1941 and 1942, Matisse concentrated on a technique he had devised earlier: papiers découpés (paper cutouts). Jazz, written and illustrated by Matisse, was published in 1947; the plates are stencil reproductions of paper cutouts. In 1948 he began the design for the decoration of Chapelle du Rosaire in Vence, which was completed and consecrated in 1951. The same year a major retrospective of his work was presented at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and then traveled to Cleveland, Chicago, and San Francisco. In 1952 the Musée Matisse was inaugurated at the artist’s birthplace of Le Cateau–Cambrésis. Matisse continued to make large paper cutouts, the last of which was a design for the rose window at Union Church of Pocantico Hills, New York. He died on November 3, 1954, in Nice.

>Conservative Intelligence ?

>I have to wonder why Republicans, if they consider themselves intelligent, patriotic Americans; do not speak out louder against their own, who spew the false facts of people and issues just to get attention? In fact, high Republican leaders agree with and support these proven lies.

I’m talking about those who say our President is not a legal citizen. Is a Muslim, a Socialist, wants to destroy America, and worse. Statements like these are proven lies, yet, Republican Senators of the Congress voice their agreement. These are not issues that can be debated, they are fringe lunacy, that should not even be getting the air time they do.

These are supposed educated people who, even if they want to score some unworthy political points, don’t seem to care, or realize that they make themselves look bad. It’s no wonder the Republican party public approval ratings are so low.

Some fringe part of their party salts the Summer health care town hall meeting with agitators, and they claim that is America speaking. Bringing guns to public meetings, has not been the norm. Screaming down fellow Americans who just practice their right of free speech, has not been the norm. Yet, this is the behavior these Republican leaders call American?

Even on serious issues (like the economy) they continue to follow and push for policies, that are proven failures. Their supposed intelligent decisions, have brought this country to it’s knees. Their response is to blame the new President, who has been in office less than a year.

Their best efforts on health insurance reform was to produce a four page document with no figures and no plan. That does not show intelligent, or even serious thinking, to me. Their original TARP bill was only four pages long. These guys are not even practicing the American tradition of the minority political party checking the majority.

Just saying NO, is not a check of majority power. Better ideas are. Allowing media figures to control their agenda shows their lack of leadership and ideas. Being obstructionists as a strategy, is a losing position. Fostering hate to motivate the public, does not replace valid, well thought out political positions. They use fear against the American people, and they seem afraid to engage in the politics of today.

There are millions of Americans looking for a path different than the Democrats offer, but they are stuck with the nonsense of these Republican leaders. If the health care bill does not pass, then what? The Republicans have nothing to offer, to help solve a national problem. The little some Republicans have talked about, seem reasonable, but solve no problem.

My confusion remains as to why Republicans have so little to offer, or refuse to engage seriously, but Democrats move bills into law with their majority. Republican serious participation would be better for the country, but it is not needed. The process will go on without them.

>Picasso

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Born: 25 October 1881
Birthplace: Málaga, Spain
Died: 8 April 1973
Best Known As: The 20th century’s most famous artist

Pablo Ruiz y Picasso showed artistic ability at an early age, and when he began to study art seriously in Barcelona and Madrid, he was already a skilled painter. In the early 1900s he visited and eventually settled in Paris, where he was part of a vibrant artistic community that included Gertrude Stein. Although greatly influenced by other artists in Europe and beyond, Picasso was inventive and prolific, and early in his career earned a worldwide reputation as an innovator. Along with Henri Matisse, he is considered one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. His enormous body of work spans so many years that art experts generally separate his career into distinct phases, such as the Blue Period, the Rose Period and his most famous contribution to modern art, Cubism. Picasso, unlike so many before him, was an international celebrity as well as an important contributor to the world of art.

>Song Lyrics Are Just Poems

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Let Me Be

Please don’t mistake me or try to make me
The shadow of anybody else
I ain’t the him or her you think I am
I’m just trying hard to be myself
Oh, society’s goal is to be part of the whole
That may sound good to you, not to me

Let me be, let me be
To think like I want to
Let me be, let me be
That’s all I ask of you
I am what I am and that’s all I ever can be

Don’t try to plan me or understand me
I can’t stand to be understood
I could never give in to or ever live up to
Being like you think I should
I’ve got some inner need which I’m tryin’ to heed
I can’t take hand-me-down destiny

Let me be, let me be,
To think like I want to
Let me be, let me be
That’s all I ask of you
I am what I am and that’s all I ever can be

Don’t try to change me or rearrange me
To satisfy the selfishness of you
I’m not a piece of clay to mold to your moves each day
And I’m not a pawn to be told how to move
I’m sorry I’m not the fool you thought would play by your rules
But to-each-his-own philosophy

Let me be, let me be,
To think like I want to
Let me be, let me be
That’s all I ask of you
I am what I am and that’s all I ever can be

I said that’s all I ever can be
I said that’s all I ever can be
I said that’s all I ever can be

Written by P.F. Sloan
Recorded by The Turtles

The Balance

After he had journeyed,
And his feet were sore,
And he was tired,
He came upon an orange grove
And he rested
And he lay in the cool,
And while he rested, he took to himself an orange and tasted it,
And it was good.
And he felt the earth to his spine,
And he asked, and he saw the tree above him, and the stars,
And the veins in the leaf,
And the light, and the balance.
And he saw magnificent perfection,
Whereon he thought of himself in balance,
And he knew he was.

Just open your eyes,
And realize, the way it’s always been.
Just open your mind
And you will find
The way it’s always been.
Just open your heart
And that’s a start.

And he thought of those he angered,
For he was not a violent man,
And he thought of those he hurt
For he was not a cruel man
And he thought of those he frightened
For he was not an evil man,
And he understood.
He understood himself.

Upon this he saw that when he was of anger or knew hurt or felt fear,
It was because he was not understanding,
And he learned, compassion.

And with his eye of compassion.
He saw his enemies like unto himself,
And he learned love.
Then, he was answered.

Just open your eyes,
And realize, the way it’s always been.
Just open your mind
And you will find
The way it’s always been.
Just open your heart
And that’s a start.

The Moody Blues

>Out With The Old, In With The New

>Another Christmas has come and gone. I hope your Christmas was a good one. Thank you for your well wishes to me.

We got rain that froze to ice on top of our new 18″ of snow. The Sun is supposed to shine later today, and the temperatures are headed to below zero.

One year ending, another year beginning. I am making changes to this site. I have removed the classic car, calendar, and adopt a dog widgets. The comment section is now under moderation, thanks to angry right wingers attacking my blog. I have been posting more political articles than I intended to, when I started this blog back in July. The attacks seem to be generated because of my political comments at other blogs, not the posts I write here.

In these six months, I have lost patience with the irrationality of some bloggers, their comments based in anger not discussions on the issues, and anonymous comments whether well intentioned, or not, usually not. I have developed a rather tight delete policy. I am totally willing to have my thinking and opinions blasted. I am not willing to have hate messages posted under my congenial Holiday posts, or my posts that have nothing to do with politics. I agree with and operate under the idea, that if you want to criticize a person, an idea, or a policy, then state some rational reasoning, not just a diatribe of offensive, angry, irrational language.

Those of you who have been blogging for some time probably understand this position, and have heard it before, and have had to make your own decision on these issues. My thinking was reinforced Christmas day when it seemed only the angry, insulting people decided to get up early to type and spread their hate on such a day. Life is to short, especially mine. Hate is for losers. Good discussions, learning, enlightenment, and fostering better relations between people cannot happen with such hate present.

Now it’s onto a new year and new discoveries of all sorts, in all areas of life.

>CHRISTMAS DAY

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MERRY CHRISTMAS

I hope your Christmas is going well.

I’m in the middle of a blizzard, and I’m staying inside. It’s been snowing for two days, and is supposed to snow for another two days.

Not sure if I will get to blogging later today. I have posted a few articles (the next 7 posts) that I have written for Christmas over the last week, or so. I hope you enjoy them again.

If you are surfing and looking for something to read, try my labels, or archives.

I have only been blogging since July, and I want to thank all my new blog friends, for reading my posts. I have gotten into political posts more than I intended. Like a lot of people, I got caught up in the current events. I don’t like the new Senate health insurance bill, and I don’t like all the unfounded, false, and nasty attacks on President Obama. So, like the rest of you, I voice my opinion.

Hope you will keep reading.

Thank you
Happy Holidays
Tom