Catch Up on Posts 6 Dec 2009

From Denny: This week at least I loaded the stories I wanted to post about, then finally got the time this weekend to finish writing and post them!

Dennys Global Politics:

Assassins Security Recipe For Disaster: Obama State Dinner - Then the worst scenario of all: A well-trained or motivated assassin could have cleaned house on the top tier of our government - President, Vice President, Speaker of the House and Chief of Staff. That would have left us with Senator Pro-tem, Senator Byrd from West Virginia to run the country, an aging 90 years plus man in poor health.

Obamas Unwelcome Afghan Strategy, Reactions and a Lame Congress - Republicans complained about Obama not wanting to continue the war indefinitely while Democrats worry about the cost of a protracted war, circulating the lame idea of a war tax to fund the recent surge on an already burdened depressed economy.

Prez Obama Lays Out Bleak New Afghanistan Strategy - "And Karzai is a sorry excuse for what passes for good government. What started out with great promise years ago has become a farce. He now looks like a bejeweled weasel sitting on a pile of gold: American foreign aid money."

UKs Brown Overlooks Slain Soldiers: Again

Obama Family Lights National Christmas Tree of Hope

Obama Doing His Positive Affirmations: Hosts Jobs Summit

Pakistan Unknown Heroes Work to Defend Country Against Taliban

Iran Jails Irani-American Woman Protesting Elections - An Iranian-American female grad student went to Iran to study and document women's issues in Iran. That didn't sit well with the local government soon after she arrived and they threw her into jail.

Funny Miss Speak Known as Malapropisms

Latest Political Foibles - Editorial Cartoons 5 Dec 2009



Photo by Sister72 @ flickr

The Healing Waters

Good News: Soup Kitchen Chef Raises Standard of Giving

Good News: Building Low Cost Homes AND Reducing Trash Footprint

Funny Christmas and Santa Cartoons

Congress Overrides Bad Breast Cancer Guidelines in New Health Bill

Hunger in America Reminder This Holiday Season - America's dirty little secret.

Good News: Salvation Army Donation Bucket Literally Hits Gold This Holiday Season



The Social Poets:

Roundup of Sunday Funnies 30 Nov 2009

Catch Up on Funny Posts at Dennys Funny Quotes 1 Dec 2009

Funny Malapropisms - Cheeky Quote Day! 2 Dec 2009

Popular Posts 2009 and Thank You: The Social Poets

Life is About Everything - Libations Friday! 4 Dec 2009

Editorial Cartoons 5 Dec 2009

The Soul Calendar:

Mount Everest Glaciers Melting Worry Half a Billion People: Fresh Drinking Water

Melting Himalayan Ice Threatens Half a Billion in India, China and Southeast Asia

Check Out Cosmic Generator Producing Energy at Rate of 100K Suns

Slamming Low-Ride Satellite Maps Earths Magnetic Field

*** Thanks for visiting - and these Christmas holiday animations and clip art are FREE for use on your blogs or sites!

Check Out This Wonderful Poetry and Musings Blog From a Young Writer

From Denny: Today I found a delightful blog written by a young woman in India. She made me laugh when I read she was only 18 years old and already writing her memoirs. Somehow, you think that stuff is the realm of the elderly in their 90's. Of course, it's the kind of thing I did at that age too so it was easy for me to see the old soul in her.

She will definitely end up a popular writer in her own life time at the rate she is going while she is perfecting her writing craft. Here is a sample of some of her very good poetry as well. Be sure to pay her blog a visit! I also placed a link to her over at The Social Poets Fav Bloggers.

A Wanderer's Thoughts...

One of her poems: An Inner Revelation

Photos: Funny Food Flags From International Food Festival

From Denny: The International Food Festival held in Sydney, Australia this September 8th decided to create food flags for several countries. Thanks to toxel for posting these funnies.

You have to take a look at these creative offerings they are so clever and amusing! You will also leave hungry... :)



Brazil



Australia



France



Greece



Italy



India



Japan



Lebanon



South Korea



Spain



Switzerland



Vietnam

Millions Watch Solar Eclipse: Awe and Fear

Featured: Solar eclipse highlights, NASA video of eclipse time-lapse photography, article on religious and astrological significance from India.

Updated 23 July 2009: Great NBC video about the eclipse and culture

Darkness falls in Asia during total eclipse, luring masses

From Denny: Here are a few excerpts from CNN about the huge event of today's solar eclipse. CNN even has a science explainer page with a moving diagram that explains a solar eclipse, worth the view, and link is at the bottom of this post.


Story highlights:

Event is longest of 21st century, astronomers predict it would last over 6 minutes
People in parts of Pacific Ocean, China and India able to get full view
Chinese city of Shanghai touted as one of the best spots to watch the eclipse


(CNN) -- The longest solar eclipse of the century cast a wide shadow for several minutes over Asia and the Pacific Ocean Wednesday, luring throngs of people outside to watch the spectacle.

Day turned into night, temperatures turned cooler in cities and villages teemed with amateur stargazers.

India

The total eclipse started in India on Wednesday morning and moved eastward across Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Vietnam, China and parts of the Pacific. Millions cast their eyes towards the heavens to catch a rare view of the sun's corona.

Total eclipses occur about twice a year as the moon passes between the Earth and the sun on the same plane as Earth's orbit. Wednesday's event lasted up to more than six minutes in some places.

In India, where an eclipse pits science against superstition, thousands took a dip in the Ganges River in the Hindu holy city of Varanasi to cleanse their souls, said Ajay Kumar Upadhyay, the district's most senior official.

China

It was sunny skies in Hong Kong for the eclipse, where students, parents and the elderly flooded a primary school to watch in the southern Chinese enclave.

The local astronomy society gave a presentation on how an eclipse happens and children climbed up ladders to look through two large telescopes on the school roof -- packed with skygazers -- to catch a glimpse of the moon moving across the sun.

Others looked through binoculars covered with solar filter paper or through a large rectangular block labeled "Large Solar Filter," where they could take pictures of the moon moving over the sun.

Astronomy enthusiast Louis Chung, 13, brought his teacher to the school to witness the eclipse.

"City folks wouldn't usually be able to see this. Nature is wonderful. It is awesome to know that nature can provide such spectacular sights," said Chung, a member of the Hong Kong Astronomical Society.

Hawaii, USA

Richard Binzel, an astronomer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said the total eclipse will first be visible at sunrise in India and about four hours later just east of Hawaii. A partial eclipse will be visible as far south as northern Australia and as far north as Siberia, he said.

Cultural Traditions Surrounding Eclipse Events

In India, an eclipse is considered inauspicious. Women forbid pregnant daughters-in-law from going outside out of the belief that their children could be born with marks or birth defects. Some temples won't offer any prayers on the day of an eclipse -- such as the one next to the planetarium in Mumbai, which said it won't even light a stick of incense.

In Chinese tradition, there is a story about a heavenly dog eating the sun. As the story goes, people would make noise to scare off the dog and rescue the sun, said Bill Yeung, president of the Hong Kong Astronomical Society.

"In ancient China, we shared the same impression with our Indian friends that a solar eclipse was not a good thing," he told CNN.

Updated 23 July 2009 - Great NBC video about the eclipse and culture:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

From Denny: NASA's view of an eclipse time-lapse photography

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

From Denny: Here is an interesting article from the Hindu religious perspective from a writer in India.

Lunar Eclipse Explainer page at CNN :

Religious Significance and Astrological Effects: "This Solar Eclipse has special significance as the Solar Eclipse happening on 22 July, 2009 is the first Solar Eclipse in this new Hindu year and also falls in the holy month of Sravan. Eclipse time is also considered very auspicious for spiritual practices. Hindu Temples except some Shiva Temples remain closed during the Eclipse and open only after proper rituals are performed to get rid of the ill effects of the Surya Grahan."

Written by Anamika S @ HubPages


Photo from China TV


22 July 2009, China, India, lunar eclipse, Eclipse, Pacific Ocean, Hong Kong, Astronomy, Solar eclipse, China and India, Hawaii

Magic poem

Magicpoem

Magic Poem

By mohitmisra of India
Photo by Adan Garcia @ flickr

Friends poem

Friendspoem


Friends a poem, from the book: Ponder Awhile

By mohitmisra from India
Photo by StuSeeger @ flickr