A compilation of information and links regarding assorted subjects: politics, religion, science, computers, health, movies, music... essentially whatever I'm reading about, working on or experiencing in life.
Well at least they did. Actually, this morning was the last chance to see them lined up with the Moon. But then planets themselves will continue to be lined up for a couple of weeks:
If you get up any morning for the next few weeks, you’ll be treated to the sight of all the planets except Saturn arrayed along the ecliptic, the path of the sun through the sky.
For the last two months, almost all the planets have been hiding behind the sun, but this week they all emerge and are arrayed in a grand line above the rising sun. Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter are visible, and you can add Uranus and Neptune to your count if you have binoculars or a small telescope.
[...]
While astrologers view planetary alignments as foretellers of disasters, modern amateur astronomers look forward to them as nothing more than grand photo ops.
If you go out any morning for the next four days, you’ll be treated to a view of the crescent moon and all but one of the naked eye planets.
Because the moon moves rapidly from one morning to the next, it will only be part of the lineup for the next four mornings, but the four naked-eye planets will be there for the next few weeks.
Venus is, as always, the brightest and most visible of the planets, and it can be your guide to spotting the others. About half way between Venus and the rising sun is Jupiter, the second brightest planet.
Mars will be a tiny speck just above Jupiter, and Mercury another tiny speck about half way between Jupiter and Venus. Uranus is slightly more than one binocular field above and to the right of Venus, and Neptune is much farther to the right, about 40 degrees away in Aquarius. The Moon will be just above Venus on Saturday morning, and just above Jupiter and Mars on Sunday morning. [...]
I read somewhere that ancient peoples thought it was a bad omen, because they believed the planets were gods. Ignorance believes all kinds of things.
The article also mentions that there will be no planetary lineup occurring in 2012, no matter what the New Age Dingbats claim. So enjoy it while you can ;-)
The latest offering, the movie "2012", is out now. Here's a trailer:
Well that's one way to end California's budget crisis. I have to admit, the special effects are great, really stunning. However, you have to wonder; with Hollywood adding to all the "end of the world" hype that the History Channel is also propagating, what is 2012 actually going to be like, with so many people being encouraged to think about it in such a negative, fearful way?
I keep hearing that the Mayan Calender "ends" in 2012. That is the premise for the movie, and much of the blathering on the History Channel. Yet I've also heard, from people who purport to know about such things, that the Mayan calendar runs in cycles, and that 2012 is merely the end of one cycle, and the beginning of another. You sure aren't hearing that from the folks flogging the "end of the world" scenario.
How much "science" is in all of this end of the world twaddle, anyway, where the earth turns on itself, the poles shift, etc.? None that I can see.
Now if you want to talk about HUMAN made problems, 2012 should be an interesting year. Many different sources I've read about the world's financial problems, are coincidentally all predicting a global economic depression and/or collapse, around 2012. And Iran, exporter of terrorism worldwide, should have it's nuclear weapons capability by 2012. And don't forget North Korea.
Unlike phony New Age threats, these are plausible real-world threats. And unlike the bad science of Hollywood movies, these threats can be averted, if we would only pay attention and do what's needed. What are the chances of that?
It seems we'd rather scare ourselves with alarmist New Age rubbish.
We had our neighbors over for lunch recently. The conversation eventually meandered onto the topic of children. One of our guests mentioned this song by Bucky Covington. Yesterday on the way home from work, I heard it on the radio for the first time. Here is the Music Video version on Youtube:
I love the lyrics; it reminds me a lot of a post I did a while back, called: Childhood, Past and Present. It was about the text of an email I got, a short essay that's been circulating around the internet, titled: "TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!".
Bucky doesn't even look old enough to have been a kid in the 70's, but he does a nice rendition of the song. The lyrics follow the essay somewhat; or vice versa, I'm not sure which came first. The lyrics to Bucky's song are listed here: A Different World Lyrics. If you compare them to the essay at the link above, you'll see that they are very similar; the essay just goes into more detail.
Anyhow, our neighbor mentioned the song, because we were talking about kids and how it's such a different world than the one we grew up in. She told us about the 3 year old grand daughter of one of her friends. While visiting her friend who was babysitting the grand daughter (I'll call the kid "Britney"), our neighbor told the child at one point that she was a "good girl". She was surprised when her friend the grandmother corrected her, and asked her not to say that to the child; she was informed that she should say, instead, "good job".
When asked why, it was explained to her that by telling the child she was a "good girl", she was also implying that the child had the potential to be called a "BAD girl". And that was unacceptable, because it could be damaging to the child's self esteem.
Talk about New Age Crap! But it doesn't end there. At another time, our friend was visiting Britney and her grandmother again. Grandma had to go out and get something from the car, and wanted the girl to stay in the house. Britney became impatient and decided she was going to go outside anyway. So our neighbor speaks up and reminds the three year old that she's supposed to wait; grandma will be right back. Britney just looks at her a moment, and then continues walking on out. So our neighbor, being the only adult in the room, says in a slightly more assertive voice, "Britney, NO."
This time the child looks back in shock, and starts screaming and crying! The grandmother comes running back inside, asking what's happened. Britney points accusingly at our neighbor, and sobs: "SHE told me NO!!!".
It would seem this child had never had an adult say "no" to her before. What kind of world is this kid's family raising her to live in? Not the real one, apparently.
I wish I could say this sort of story was unusual, but I seem to be hearing too many similar to it. And it's not even just the spoiling of children that bugs me. Even spoiled children can turn out o.k. What really bugs me is the weird assumptions and expectations about life that the kids are being taught.
For instance, I'm told that when a child has a birthday now, instead of the birthday child getting all the presents, every child in attendance is supposed to get a present, so they don't feel left out and -God forbid- damage their self esteem!
There are teachers who now are proudly asserting that they don't believe in grading and testing students, because that creates a competitive environment that is damaging to the children's self esteem. Some teacher's actually believe in "averaging out" grades, so that everyone in a class gets the same grade, all in the name of "fairness". What nonsense! Are teachers who believe in rewarding merit a dying breed?
Also at school, if a kid tries to beat up another kid, and the victim tries to defend him/herself and hit back, the victim is considered just as guilty as the aggressor! Both are punished! Why? Because the victim is supposed to run and tell the teacher! Yeah, right, like that has anything to do with reality.
I used to get bullied at school. The teachers couldn't do anything to stop it. I eventually followed my parent's advice, and started to hit the kids back - hard. Like magic, the bullying stopped.
Nowadays there is an epidemic of bullying in the schools. The aggressors and the victims who fight back are punished equally, yet the school authorities can't seem to get a handle on it or stop it. Gee, could it be the namby-pamby New Age Wussification Crap they force the kids to follow? Ya think?
What are they even teaching in the schools now anyway? Our neighbor said she saw on late night TV, I think it was Jay Leno, a poll they conducted on the street, asking passerbys the meaning of July 4th. We are celebrating our freedom; could they tell us what we were celebrating our freedom FROM?
I thought this was something EVERYONE knew; but apparently, not anymore. This whole family was asked, mother, father, son... nobody knew! They eventually called grandpa over. HE knew.
But hey, at least the kids self esteem wasn't damaged, and that's the most important thing, right? In fact, we shouldn't even ask the kids questions, because if they don't know the answer, think of what damage that would do to their self esteem!
This obsession with self esteem and children is creating a generation of self-indulgent monsters, who believe everything they want should be justified without question; who believe they must be protected from any kind of criticism; who feel it's a RIGHT to which they are actually entitled.
How can any real learning take place where there is no criticism? Our public schools are turning our American kids into a nation of spineless, ignorant and infantilized wusses, who can't take criticism, can't take care of themselves, and who will depend on the government to do everything for them. Too many "graduates" turn out to be unemployable; they whine and act like permanent victims, who need their every whim catered to... in other words, they become New Age Democrats.
Is it surprising that so many people around the world think we are a soft, weak nation that won't fight back? Is that because it's actually becoming the truth?
I know that things always change, and that each generation grows up in a different world to some extent. I can accept that. I just think we can do better than this.
