by Frank R. Zindler

As astronomers reckon time, it happened over four and one-half eon ago. A cloud of cosmic proportions, composed of the dust and gases left over from the wreckage of early stars, condensed and coalesced to form a new star, with its retinue of planets, moons, and comets. That star was our sun, and one of those planets was the earth. As might be expected from a knowledge of its chaotic origin, the solar system that resulted from this reassembly of stardust intermixed with primal matter fell somewhat short of geometric perfection. When all the forces that shaped the early earth had been resolved, they left it spinning on an axis tilted 23.5 degrees away from the perpendicular. Although the points in space to which the north and south poles of that axis aim change slowly over a period of 26,000 years, Earth's orientation in space remains essentially unchanged as it completes any particular revolution about the sun. This means that as the earth orbits the sun (see Figure 1), there is a point where its north axial pole is tilted maximally toward the sun (around June 21) and a point where that pole is tilted maximally away from the sun (around December 21). There are also two points in the earth's path (around March 21 and September 23) where the axis is aimed neither toward nor away from the sun.

When the north pole is inclined toward the sun, the Northern Hemisphere experiences the warmth of summer. At the same time, however, the Southern Hemisphere feels the chilling winds of winter, since its pole is tilted away from the sun. Northern winter occurs when the Northern Hemisphere faces away from the sun, and less of its surface is warmed by solar rays. The seasons of spring and autumn occur when the two poles are angled neither toward nor away from the sun. Toward the end of the last Ice Age, people living in the Northern Hemisphere began to notice that at midday in summer the sun appeared to soar high above the southern horizon. In winter, it barely rose above the horizon. It was noted also that in the summer the days were longer, whereas nights were longer in the winter. How to account for these facts? Since the ancient watchers of the skies knew nothing of the sphericity of the earth - let alone that it spun on an axis out of plumb with the plane of its orbit - they developed mythological explanations. The sun was a god. After all, it appeared to move across the sky every day. Everyone "knew" that movement was the hallmark of life. The sun was alive - divinely alive.

When the sun was high in the midday sky, the god was healthy and vivifying. When the solar disk sank to its lowest point in the year (when the earth's north axial pole was tilted maximally away from the sun), its feeble rays could scarcely scatter winter's chill at midday: the god was dying. For a short while, the sun (sol in Latin) appeared to stand still (stitium, in Latin) before "reviving" and starting on its journey back north. And so this shortest day of the northern year (often falling on December 25 in the old Julian calendar, and on December 21 in our Gregorian calendar) was named the winter solstice. Six months later, on the longest day of the northern year, the sun once again appeared to stand still - now at its highest altitude in the midday sky - and that event was named the summer solstice. Midway between the winter and summer solstices, about March 21 and September 23, the length of the day equalled that of the night. These points in the calendar were termed the vernal (spring) and autumnal equinoxes (from the Latin æquinoctium, equality between day and night). For the ancients, these dates were the occasion for fertility and harvest festivals, respectively.

We now know that the solstices and equinoxes alike are an inheritance from the confusion in the natal nebula that engendered our earth and its siblings. Because the earth's axis is permanently bent away from the perpendicular, the lengths of day and night (except at the equator) change continuously as the planet moves in its orbit. At the winter solstice (see Figure 2-A) when the north pole is tipped 23.5 degrees away from the sun, an observer moving along with the Northern Hemisphere will spend more time in darkness than in light - for the simple reason that less than half of the Northern Hemisphere is illuminated. At the equinoxes (see Figure 2-B), when the earth's axes are tilted neither toward nor away from the sun, observers all over the planet spend the same amount of time in darkness and in daylight.

Even though the solstices and equinoxes do not mark the motions of a god travelling across the heavens, they do mark the progress of the space-ship we call Earth in its passage through the void. They note the natural pulse of life as it has been evolved, sustained, and carried along the same celestial path for time out of mind. As we pass these four milestones on our annual journey about the life-sustaining fusion-fires of the sun - the only star known that heats the blood of self-conscious beings - we reflect upon our astronomical uniqueness. We appear to be alone, in a universe devoid of plan or purpose. There is no cosmic intelligence that counts how many rides we complete on the merry-go-round whose axle is the sun. Only we can do the counting. We only have each other. For this reason, it is the custom for many as they mark the passage of the solstices and equinoxes to pause for celebration: to celebrate and cherish their fellow travelers, to celebrate the wondrous fact that they are part of the human species - the only species known that can understand and appreciate the implausibility of its own existence.

I would like Bratz dream zone tent,And Bratz rock angelz doll.I would also like American idol karoke with built in camera. I would like Full House movies.(you can getit at Target in the movie section)

                        Daddy, This is just some of the things I would like!

                                             I LOVE YOU DADDY!

Celebrating Christmas: Sources of Christmas Traditions, Modern and Ancient

Pre-Christian Roman Traditions:
Much of what people associate with Christmas, a holiday that is supposed to be about the birth of Jesus, actually pre-dates Christianity. Traditional Christianity celebrates the death of holy people, not their birth. In 274 CE, though, pagan emperor Aurelian proclaimed Decemer 25th Natalis Solis Invicti, the festival of the birth of the invincible sun. Saturnalia already occurred around this time along with many other celebrations. Christians took over this and other Roman festivals.

Pre-Christian German Traditions:
Germans of the north also held mid-winter festivals. Evergreen trees and holly were important because they held their green colors despite the harshest winters. Another Nordic tradition is the Yule Log - the origin of the word yule is disputed, but it may be related to the god Yolnir, Jol in Old Norse. In his name people celebrated a 12-day festival of eating, drinking, and merriment. One legend about Yolnir has him hanging himself on a tree and piercing himself with a spear.

Christian Traditions:
The most important Christian aspect of modern Christmas is Santa Claus. This character is traced to Saint Nicholas, a patron saint of children on whose day (December 6th) gifts were given to kids. Beyond the idea that that people are supposed celebrate the birth of Jesus on this day, this is all that Christianity has directly contributed. Many Christians acknowledge this and some denominations don't celebrate Christmas at all, regarding it as little more than a dressed-up pagan holiday.

Washington Irving and Santa Claus:
Santa Claus may have Christian origins, but modern notions of Santa Claus can be traced to the writings of Washington Irving - writings often meant as satire, yet which also often ended up being read as factual. His stories about New Amsterdam being dominated by a cult which celebrated the figure of Saint Nick were popular and he often returned to the figure of Saint Nicholas, even writing about "old fashioned" Christmas celebrations which he simply made up.

Charles Dickens and Christmas Feasts:
Charles Dickens' story A Christmas Carol has not been his only influence. He seemed obsessive about the holiday, and more than once he depicted lavish Christmas feasts rife with "old fashioned" traditions which were little more than literary creations. Nevertheless, people followed right along, enchanted with the atmosphere he created and wishing to capture it for themselves. As with Washington Irving, people accepted fiction as if it were true and thus allowed life to imitate art.

Queen Victoria, German Christmas, and Christmas Trees: Queen Victoria came from a German family and unlike English families, she celebrated Christmas with a small decorated indoor tree. Then, as today, people obsessed over royalty and they were particularly infatuated when their teenaged Queen ascended the throne. Then, as today, people wanted to be fashionable and adopt what their role models did - in this case, the tree tradition. It wasn't quite the Christmas tree we know today, but it was
romanticized and took on a life of its own.

Clement Moore, Christmas Eve, and a Secular Santa Claus:
Clement Moore is credited with writing the poem The Night Before Christmas which has almost singlehandedly created the modern American conception of who Santa Claus is, what he looks like, and what he does. It also firmly entrenched other Christmas ideas, like the hanging of stockings by the fireplace. At this point Santa Claus had been fully secularized. There is no reference to sainthood, to Christianity, or to Jesus. Instead, Santa has a pagan image - he is, after all, described as an elf.

Thomas Nast and Santa Claus:
Illustrator Thomas Nast is the one who gave America the physical pictures of Santa Claus, thus providing a common, shared vision of the primary symbol of an increasingly secular holiday. Nast also added numerous key details about his life which hadn¹t been used by others before: Nast's pictures showed Santa reading children¹s letters, watching their behavior, writing the naughty and nice lists, and living at the North Pole.

Francis Church and the Meaning of Christmas:
An editorial writer of the New York Sun, Francis Church wrote the famous response to Virginia O'Hanlon about Santa Claus. As Tom Flynn describes, Church united "strands of Christian mysticism, nineteenth-century
Transcendentalism and Romanticism, and general distrust of scientific skepticism." Church described a coherent vision of what Christmas was supposed to be, replacing a literal Santa that children believe in with a metaphorical Santa representing a spirit of generosity and love.

Christmas Shopping and Commercialization:
It was just after World War II that people complained about
over-commercialization of Christmas and started to try to "put Christ back into Christmas." But why at this point in history? Blame it on the war: during the conflict, people had to shop early in order to get Christmas gifts to the troops overseas in time. Merchants, of course, benefited from the early shopping and made a point of reminding people to shop early - even after the war ended.

The best gift ever would be able to do magic and fly!  It would be a good gift because you can do lot's of stuff you cant do now.  You could make things talk, come alive, and even redo your holl house if you wanted to! Being able to do magic would be a wonderful gift!!!  Being able to fly would be a great gift because you can go in trees and on top of lot's of stuff!  Do you ever get tired of walking?  Well forget about walking!  Why would walk if you can fly??  When my feet started to hert, all I haft to do is fly!  Being able to fly and do magic would be a wonderful gift!!!

Enjoy People!!

I heard an interview on Fresh Air regarding an interview with Bob Spitz, author of "The Beatles: The Biography".

Some fresh new information about the band. For example, John Lennon and George Harrison hated being around Paul McCartney because he was too controlling in the studio.  The author says that it was because of this situation that the band really broke up.  Supposedly, John was so tired of Paul and the clean image Paul promoted for the whole band that John used Yoko as a hand grenade to blow the band up.  I have attached the interview to this post.  It is about 13 mb in size.  If using a modem it may take about 10 minutes, but worth the wait. Anyway, follow the link if you want to look at the book: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316803529/qid=1133482937/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-6175271-6976619?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

I'd like to thank my mom for sending me the below quote from Rush Limbaugh.  I had previously heard that victims of the Oklahoma City bombing were wanting in on the same compensation package as the 911 victims.  The reasoning made sense, if the government is going to pay over a million dollars on average to victims of 911 then why shouldn't victims of the Oklahoma City bombing get paid?  Where does this sense of entitlement stop?  Would you want to get paid?  I would, but as a country we should probably oppose the starting of this trend.

Love him or loathe him, he nailed this one right on the head..........

By Rush Limbaugh: I think the vast differences in compensation between victims of the September 11 casualty and those who die serving our country in Uniform are profound. No one is really talking about it either, because you just don't criticize anything having to do with September 11. Well, I can't let the numbers pass by because it says something really disturbing about the
entitlement mentality of this country. If you lost a family member in the September 11 attack, you're going to get a n average of $1,185,000. The range is a minimum guarantee of $250,000, all the way up to $4.7 million.


If you are a surviving family member of an American soldier killed in action, the first check you get is a $6,000 direct death benefit, half of which is taxable.
Next, you get $1,750 for burial costs. If you are the surviving spouse, you get $833 a month until you remarry. And there's a payment of $211 per month for each child under 18. When the child hits 18, those payments come to a screeching halt.

Keep in mind that some of the people who are getting an average of $1.185 million up to $4.7 million are complaining that it's not enough. Their deaths were tragic, but for most, they were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Soldiers put themselves in harms way FOR ALL OF US, and they and their families know the dangers.

We also learned over the weekend that some of the victims from the Oklahoma City bombing have started an organization asking for the same deal that the September 11 families are getting. In addition to that, some of the families of those bombed in the embassies are now asking for compensation as well.

You see where this is going, don't you? Folks, this is part and parcel of over 50 years of entitlement politics in this country. It's just really sad. Every time a pay raise comes up for the military, they usually receive next to nothing of a raise. Now the green machine is in combat in the Middle Eastwhile their families have to survive on food stamps and live in low-rent housing. Make sense?

However, our own U.S. Congress voted themselves a raise. Many of you don't know that they only have to be in Congress one time to receive a pension that is more than $15,000 per month. And most are now equal to being millionaires plus. They do not receive Social Security on retirement because they didn't have to pay into the system.
If some of the military people stay in for 20 years and get out as an E-7, they may receive a pension of $1,000 per month, and the very people who placed them in harm's way receives a pension of $15,000 per month.
I would like to see our elected officials pick up a weapon and join ranks before they start cutting out benefits and lowering pay for our sons and daughters who are now fighting.