now the ditherer in chief decides to be blunt but only in regard to yesterday’s news.

yep..blame bush

i believe there was a little genocide going on in iraq a few years ago…

this is why i never listen to these speeches from our president..just makes me crazy !! why i tuned in this time i do not know !! ggrrrr!

hypocrite

ok..i’m still confused..actually even more confused..whats new

oh and its aj-da’-biya, even ignorant little old me learned to pronounce it a week ago

If you have not already seen it I would like to encourage you to watch it.  Even if you do not have school age children you probably will someday or you may have grandchildren in school now.

I was deeply moved though not at all surprised by the content.  As one who feels that I got an outstanding elementary education in  public school back in the 1950′s, I can, never the less, relate to the problems that arrived in the 70′s following the inception of the Department of Education(1979) and Teacher’s Union Collective Bargaining (1973).  I have two children that were in public school between 1975 and 1999.  During their school years I wondered why things had changed so much and why my children seemed not to have the same advantages that I did,  usually assuming that it was a geographical issue having moved from New York State to North Carolina.  Recent research enlightened me to the fact that this was the time period when the Federal Government & Teachers Unions became more involved.

The documentary was well in public view before the recent events in WI.  As I watched I could not help but see the irony between the two . Last night I watched part of a 60 Minutes segment with Katie Couric that addressed the same issue which also showed people with excellent ideas for constructive change, battling the same roadblocks.

I have no idea what I can do about this situation but feel compelled to look further to see what that might be and I am writing this to reach out to my small community of friends and family so that you might do the same.  This path of destruction we have set our kids on must change and change now.  There are some very enlightened people out there who are making serious attempts to make these changes, they have proven that their ideas will work and they need our fervent support.

At the very least I intend to find out where my elected officials stand on this issue and encourage them to work with the lay people in the field that have found real, working solutions so that they may be able to implement them with all due haste.

PS

There was much debate following the announcement of this years Oscar Nominations for Best Picture as to why “Waiting for Superman” did not receive one.  Now I see why. In my opinion it most definitely should have.  This film was brought to us by the same person who brought us the now infamous ” An Inconvenient Truth” documentary.  Seems  that Hollywood “darlings” are more important to some than America’s children.

Please.  Watch this movie.

“So may that other bright North Star,
Beaming with truth and freedom’s light,
Pierce with its cheering ray afar,
The shades of slavery’s gloomy night;
And may it never cease to be
The guard of truth and liberty.”

-from The North Star, by James Monroe Whitfield
for The North Star, a newspaper edited by a fugitive slave.

What is truth?

In a world where we are constantly bombarded with lies and half-truths, it’s no wonder that most of us have a hard time distinguishing between what is or isn’t true.

The mainstream media broadcasts gross inaccuracies, reporting as fact things we know are not true. Decisions about what is or isn’t news are made by biased producers and editors. We only see what they want us to see.

Politicians say one thing and do another. They tell us what they think we want to hear, and then the first chance they get they sell us out for their own self interest. They are always hiding something about themselves or their beliefs, pulling the proverbial wool over our eyes.

When they ask us for our opinion, do they really care what we say? Or do they twist our words to suit themselves by skewing polls and lying about the results?

Who do we trust? How do we judge what is true and what isn’t?

At the same time, did you ever just know when someone had nothing to hide? When what you see is utterly and completely what you get?

The first time I heard Sarah Palin speak, the day she was announced as John McCain’s VP, I got that feeling. The feeling that she had nothing to hide.

With every word I felt like I was getting a true idea of who this woman was and what she believed.

She is strong.

I watched as the frothing-at-the-mouth left attacked her daily, and yet somehow she handled those attacks with grace, poise, and strength of character.

She is honest.

She’s condemned for her candidness and honesty. She’s not afraid to speak out and “tell truth to power.” She never backed down, even when the attacks were relentlessly vicious, even when her family was victimized.

Why?

She loves America.

I love America. I forgot how much I loved America until Sarah Palin reminded me.

She reminds me all the time why I should be proud of America, of being an American.

When was the last time a politician made you feel proud of your country? I can’t remember.

She loves God.

I love God. I forgot how much I love God until Sarah Palin’s faith invigorated me. Because of her example my relationship with God is better now than it ever has been.

This strong, forthright America-loving woman derives her strength from God. Who could possibly have an issue with that?

Unfortunately, some do. The left hates her with every pore of their being, even the elite of her own party mock her. Why? Because she terrifies them.

As long as Governor Palin speaks out against their lies and continues to challenge those who put their own political or personal motives ahead of the wishes of the people, she will receive the full force of their venom.

Those who she chooses to expose attack her incessantly. She has endured the most ferocious attacks from the media and political figures and yet she thrives. Why?

Sarah Palin’s light is pure, and when it shines on corruption all is exposed. Those who are looking out for themselves and their buddies in special interest groups are shown to be who they really are, liars and opportunists who care nothing for the people who elected them.

Sarah’s honesty, strength, integrity, and ability to connect with the average American is a threat to all of what these corrupt politicians and their cronies hold dear.

In a time when we are inundated with deliberately inaccurate information, how do we know what is or isn’t true?

We need a guide, someone we trust and admire, someone we know has the same values and faith as us, and who lives those values every day.

In the same way ancient mariners trusted in the stars, we can trust in ours.

Our North Star, Sarah Palin.

When times are tough and the seas storm-tossed, it is to the North Stars in our lives we turn. They are the people we trust and admire, the ones we know won’t steer us wrong. The ones whose spirit reminds us of who we want to be.

I want to be honest.

I want to show strength and courage in the face of adversity.

I want to defeat my enemies with truth.

I want to have a better relationship with God.

I want to live a simple and honest life.

What politician out there can reflect those values and ideals back to me? Who can always remind me of who I am who and what I strive to be?

We all have someone who is a North Star in our lives. People who live their values. A historical figure like Ghandi or Martin Luther King. A grandmother. A parent. A friend. Their adherence to their values and faith guide us throughout our life’s journey. Their example inspires and encourages us.

Our North Stars are always there to guide us and to show us what is true and what is not. Just like the actual North Star, the North Stars in our lives are fixed points we depend on to always help us get our bearings and give us the confidence to move further. Their leadership inspires us to explore all of our possibilities, to reach for the stars.

And that is exactly why Sarah Palin is my North Star and America’s North Star.

It is no coincidence that Sarah Palin showed up when she did. The polar rising of this phenomenal woman is reflected in the flag of her state of Alaska. It shows us the Big Dipper with the North Star sitting as the highest star in the sky, a star that shines brightest and is there to bring us home.

Sarah is here to remind us of our past as a nation and our feelings about ourselves as a people.

She reminds us of the possibilities for us as individuals and as a nation.

She reminds us of our love of country, but most of all she reminds us of our love of God.

Sarah Palin is here to remind us of our great past and to guide us to our even greater future.

Sarah Palin is my North Star.

She is America’s North Star.

Long may she shine.

Comet Hartley - Close-up by Deep Impact Spacecraft

I love it when our latest technology gives us information never before proven.

This From S&T Blog:

“Of potentially greatest scientific interest, in fact a discovery that could turn current understanding of comets on its head, is the realization that the shower-head cascades of jets at both ends of Hartley 2 are not being driven by water vapor, as has long been thought. Instead, Sunshine says, “We now have unambiguous evidence that solar heating of subsurface frozen carbon dioxide — dry ice — is powering the many jets of material coming from the comet.”

Ever since 1950, when the late Fred Whipple likened cometary nuclei to “dirty snowballs,” cosmic chemists have believed water was the dominant volatile frozen into these icy bodies when they formed all those eons ago. Part of the problem has been an inability to detect CO₂ gas directly: its strongest emission, at 4.2 microns, is too far in the infrared to be seen from the ground, and Deep Impact was the first comet-bound spacecraft equipped with a spectrometer that extended far enough into the infrared to pick it up.”

I ♥ This Stuff

P.S. This is what a Comet looks like close-up – cool huh!

That said I am so glad I have given up flying, except in dire emergencies. I don’t think I could stand and maintain my composure while being naked scanned , or felt up by some stranger.  It seems rather ludicrous if you ask me.  I mean ya, ya, we have to be cautious, I get it , I really do but this is just plain ridiculous.  I’d bet a dollar for a doughnut that in a years time this effort will not have stopped one single terrorist.  Not only that but I’d bet the same dollar for the same doughnut that if we employed professional “profilers”-oh God, yes I said the dirty word- that they would stop plenty of terror plots just by watching people.

If I were an American citizen with characteristics that fit me into the profiler’s physical appearance to be wary of I do not believe for one minute that I would mind being singled out for a double check by a professional while traveling via air.  Inconvenient? Yes. Immoral? No.  Worth the inconvenience? Yes.  The people who are trained to do this sort of thing are just that, professionals, not the average gate attendant who wouldn’t have a clue even if he or she were checking out Osama bin Laden’s junk.

I’d even go out on a limb and say that if I were at an airport, intently watching people boarding a plane, that even I might just be able to spot a suspicious character.  If I were closer to a major airport I might just go hang around and see if I could, just for kicks.  Well not kicks but you get my drift. Seems like its usually the passengers that suspect the bad guys first, and it has been them that have had a hand in stopping the mayhem more than once.

That’s another reason I’m glad I don’t fly anymore.  I get to avoid the mayhem altogether. Oh, & the extra fees for baggage, and the delays, and the no more snacks, and heaven forbid if I ever had to sit on the tarmac for some ungodly amount of time; held like a prisoner in a tuna can.  Whew, I couldn’t take that; probably be the one who jettisoned the chute and  took off with the six-pack yelling “catch me if you can”.

Sorry for all of you who still use this miracle mode of transportation; to you I say, better keep your ears up and  if I ever hear that any of you help spot or take down a bad guy; know that I’ll be here  at my comfortable mayhem free home cheering  “Hear, Hear” or “Bravo” & “way to go”!

Safe trips, and happy landings.

Perseids Meteor Shower – Two Days to Amaze

The Perseids Meteor Shower, active since July 17th, will be even stronger this August. When I began studying meteor showers and writing about them in this blog, I thought that meteor showers were events solely witnessed at night. I’ve since come to realize that these events are far more difficult to predict and are in fact more likely “morning events”, best seen before dawn and after midnight.

This year the Perseids Meteor Shower will hopefully be one of the best meteor showers of 2010 due to a couple of facts; a stronger stream of meteoroids and minimal light in the sky from the Moon.

I’ve had a few questions on the site as I always do about the best time to view the Perseids this year. I always feel a little stressed over making promises about meteor showers because I don’t want anyone to miss the prime-time action. Since these events remain one of the most difficult astronomical occurrences to predict in science today, it is with guarded trepidation that I will state the best viewing times for this years Perseids Meteor Shower as follows:

The first “best” time to get out there and look will be between 12:01 AM and dawn on August 12th and the second time will be between August 12th 18:00 Universal Time and August 13th 07:00 Universal Time.

Perseids Meteor Shower Radiant

I find that the times leading up to the peak in the morning are always stronger. For some of you the peak times will occur when it is light outside, so my best advice is to look in the morning of August 12th, a few hours before dawn and then again in the evening of August 12th into the morning of August 13th. There are some good things going for viewing the Perseids Meteor Shower in the morning of August 12th. One in particular is that the Constellation Perseus (the radiant located in the northeast for most of us) will be at it’s highest in the sky just before dawn and the moon will be a small crescent shape. The best part about viewing in the morning of August 12th is that, if for some reason, you don’t see as many meteors as you would like, you’ll have a another chance later in the evening to have a second go round at viewing.

Believe it or not Perseids meteors are active and visible in the sky right now through August 24th. The meteor shower will be at it’s strongest between August 11th until August 13th, so these are the best times to view this shower. I’m hoping for a great display this year and I’m urging everyone to get out and view the Perseids in their glory! If you like this blog and you want to buy me a cup of coffee to keep me awake while watching meteors you can do so by using the “A Coffee for Meteor Mark” section on the site that is located on the right underneath the newsletter sign up box.

In the meantime, keep your head up!

- Meteor Mark
Perseids Meteor Shower August 2010