Fringy, science-stuff, maybe fact or fiction?

Venus, Jupiter, Moon Govern The Thanksgiving Sky

By Dee Chisamera
15:05, November 26th 2008

This week, stargazers are in for a spectacular display by Jupiter, Venus and a crescent Moon, as the celestial bodies prepare for a triple conjunction on the night of December 1st. Throughout this week, the bright Venus and almost just as bright Jupiter can be seen drawing closer together.

The phenomenon is even more remarkable as the distance between them seems to shrink at a fast pace. The planets will go from being 8 degrees apart on November 22nd to being 2 degrees apart on December 1st.

Astronomers confirmed the display will be visible with naked eye, with the two planets separated by just 2 degrees. The crescent Moon will be only 20 degrees to their lower right on Saturday night, when the two planets will be 2.4 degrees apart, Sky and Telescope Magazine informs.

“It’ll be a head-turner,” said Alan MacRobert, senior editor of Sky and Telescope, according to the Associated Press. “This certainly is an unusual coincidence for the crescent moon to be right there in the days when they are going to be closest together.”

The event is one not to miss because although such encounters take place from time to time, the celestial bodies are sometimes not visible due to being too close to the sun. Furthermore, stargazers should know that another event such as this one will take place again approximately four decades from now.

Image Credit: Sky and Telescope Magazine
© 2007 - 2008 - eFluxMedia

 

 

 

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 05:31 | link | comments (3)

Backyard Skywatchers Find Tool Bag Lost in Space By Jeanna Bryner Senior Writer posted: 25 November 2008 11:51 am ET

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 18:25 | link | comments (4)

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 02:04 | link | comments (5)

America’s forgotten freedoms

A survey by the First Amendment Center in the US has reached the shocking conclusion that most American citizens don’t know the five basic freedoms enshrined in the constitution.

The study found that no more than 3% of Americans remember “petition” among the First Amendment’s five basic freedoms.

However, freedom of speech was remembered by the majority of respondents - 56%.

The others freedoms enshrined in the constitution appeared to have made little impression: freedom of religion was named by 15%; the same percentage remembered press freedom as a constitutional right while just 14% knew they had a right to assembly.

The number of respondents who remembered freedom of speech was the lowest in the history of the survey, conducted each year for the past eleven years.

What makes this year’s results more shocking is that 4 out of 10 people questioned could not name any freedom at all.

Whatever freedoms the constitution of the country may guarantee, it does not matter much since these rights are neither remembered nor needed as such.

The findings indicate that modern Americans do not think along the same lines as the Founders of the U.S.

Nowadays, it would seem, many Americans do not consider their basic rights and freedoms inalienable and are ready to delegate them to state or federal officials.

More than two centuries ago it did not take long for the Founders of the United States of America to realize the necessity of preserving individual freedoms in a system of individual states with a strong federal governmental centre.

In 1791, just four years after the declaration in 1787 of the American Constitution, the states adopted the First Amendment together with the Bill of Rights to guarantee that the strong federal government would not trample on basic individual rights and freedoms.

 

Moreover, there are rights totally forgotten by the American society, meaning most Americans are not familiar with the freedoms guaranteed by the American Constitution.

Freedom of speech and religion are among the first but liberties introduced to the American Constitution by the Bill of Rights. Traditionally, most of the questioned Americans recalled them. But regarding freedom of the press, freedom to assemble and to petition - these seem to be lost in oblivion.

The annual State of the First Amendment survey, held by the First Amendment Center (www.firstamendmentcenter.org), questions adult Americans on their attitude towards the rights spelled out in the First Amendment. This year it found the following:

• 39% would extend to subscription cable and satellite television the government’s current authority to regulate content on over-the-air broadcast television.

• 54% would continue IRS regulations that bar religious leaders from openly endorsing political candidates from the pulpit without endangering the tax-exempt status of their organizations.

• 66% say the government should be able to require television broadcasters to offer an equal allotment of time to conservative and liberal broadcasters; 62% would apply that same requirement to newspapers, which never have had content regulated by the government.

• 38% would permit government to require broadcasters to report a specified amount of “positive news” in return for licenses to operate.

• 31% would not permit musicians to sing songs with lyrics that others might find offensive.

• 68% favor government restrictions on campaign contributions by private companies, and 55% favor such limits on amounts individuals can contribute to someone else’s campaign.



Thus, a large number of Americans concede that in specific cases the federal government can be involved or even control individual freedoms.

The most shocking conclusion of the survey was that most of Americans could not name the five basic freedoms enshrined in the constitution.

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 04:45 | link | comments (2)

Weird hole phenomenon in Japan

 

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 12:40 | link | comments (9)

Animated Aurora Borealis, from Orbit

 

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 02:04 | link | comments (8)

From: http://www.weird-encyclopedia.com/ Todd Frye's site.

Lincoln - Kennedy Coincidences

1) Lincoln was elected in 1860, Kennedy in 1960, 100 years apart.

2) Both men were deeply involved in civil rights for African Americans.

3) Both men were assassinated on a Friday, in the presence of their wives.

4) Each wife had lost a child while living at the White House.

5) Both men were killed by a bullet that entered the head from behind.

6) Lincoln was killed in Ford's Theater. Kennedy met his death while riding in a Lincoln convertible made by the Ford Motor Company.

7) Both men were succeeded by vice-presidents named Johnson who were Southern Democrats and former senators.

8) Andrew Johnson was born in 1808. Lyndon Johnson was born in 1908, exactly one hundred years later.

9) The first name of Lincoln's private secretary was John; the last name of Kennedy's private secretary was Lincoln.

10) John Wilkes Booth was born in 1839 [according to some sources]; Lee Harvey Oswald was born in 1939, one hundred years later.

11) Both assassins were Southerners who held extremist views.

12) Both assassins were murdered before they could be brought to trial.

13) Booth shot Lincoln in a theater and fled to a warehouse. Oswald shot Kennedy from a warehouse and fled to a theater.

14) LlNCOLN and KENNEDY each have 7 letters.

15) ANDREW JOHNSON and LYNDON JOHNSON each have 13 letters.

16) JOHN WlLKES BOOTH and LEE HARVEY OSWALD each has 15 letters.

17) A Licoln staffer Miss Kennedy told him not to go to the Theater. A Kennedy staffer, Miss Lincoln, told him not to go to Dallas.

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 06:20 | link | comments (1)

"What a predicament! (Pun intended.)"
"Wouldn't you think that a man from the country that invented the Chinese Finger Trap would have been able to figure out how to release his piece?"

Bench Press
2008 Honorable Mention
Confirmed True by Darwin

 

6 August 2008, Hong Kong) It's raining. You're lonely. Why not?

That was how 41-year-old Xian found himself face down on a bench, and calling for help in the middle of the night. The lonely man had noticed that the steel sit-up benches in LanTian Park had numerous ventilation holes, and thought it might be possible to use them for sexual gratification.

Enticing orifices.

Once Xian became aroused, he found he was stuck and could not remove himself from the hole in the bench. Quite understandably, he panicked. Police received a call from a disturbed man, and arrived to find poor Xian trapped face-down on the bench.

Doctors were summoned to the scene. They tried, but emergency workers had to cut the entire bench free and take him to the hospital.

Four painful hours later, doctors finally separated Xian from his bench. It is certainly possible that the lack of blood flow easily could have caused sufficient damage that doctors would have been forced to remove his penis.

This is a bad date that Xian will never forget.

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 04:48 | link | comments (3)

Kentucky Jokes

Kentucky: Five Million People; Fifteen Last Names

 

STATE OF KENTUCKY RESIDENCY APPLICATION
Name: ________________  (_) Billy-Bob
           (last)        (_) Billy-Joe
                         (_) Billy-Ray
                         (_) Billy-Sue
                         (_) Billy-Mae
                         (_) Billy-Jack
                         (Check appropriate box)

  Age: ____
  Sex: ____ M _____ F _____ N/A
  Shoe Size ____ Left ____ Right

 
Occupation:
  (_) Farmer
  (_) Mechanic
  (_) Hair Dresser
  (_) Un-employed

 
Spouse's Name: __________________________

  Relationship with spouse:
  (_) Sister
  (_) Brother
  (_) Aunt
  (_) Uncle
  (_) Cousin
  (_) Mother
  (_) Father
  (_) Son
  (_) Daughter
  (_) Pet

 
Number of children living in household: ___

Number that are yours: ___
 
Mother's Name: _______________________

Father's Name: _______________________ (If not sure, leave blank)

 
Education: 1 2 3 4 (Circle highest grade completed)

Do you (_)own or (_)rent your mobile home?  (Check appropriate box)

__ Total number of vehicles you own
__ Number of vehicles that still crank
__ Number of vehicles in front yard
__ Number of vehicles in back yard
__ Number of vehicles on cement blocks

 
Firearms you own and where you keep them:
  ____ truck
  ____ bedroom
  ____ bathroom
  ____ kitchen
  ____ shed

 
Model and year of your pickup: _____________ 194_

 
Do you have a gun rack?
  (_) Yes (_) No; please explain:

 
Newspapers/magazines you subscribe to:
  (_) The National Enquirer
  (_) The Globe
  (_) TV Guide
  (_) Soap Opera Digest
  (_) Rifle and Shotgun

 
___ Number of times you've seen a UFO
 
___ Number of times you've seen Elvis
 
___ Number of times you've seen Elvis in a UFO

 
How often do you bathe:
  (_)Weekly
  (_)Monthly
  (_)Not Applicable

 
Color of teeth:
  (_)Yellow
  (_)Brownish-Yellow
  (_)Brown
  (_)Black
  (_)N/A

 
Brand of chewing tobacco you prefer:
  (_)Red-Man

 
How far is your home from a paved road?
  (_)1 mile
  (_)2 miles
  (_)don't know

Dumb Kentucky Laws

Any person who appears on any highway, or upon the street of any city that has no police protection, when clothed only in ordinary bathing garb, shall be fined no less than five dollars nor more than twenty-five dollars." - KRS 436.140 (Passed in 1922; Repealed in 1974)

No person shall sell, exchange, offer to sell or exchange, display or possess living baby chicks, ducklings, or other fowl or rabbits which have been dyed or colored; nor dye or color any baby chicks, ducklings or other fowl or rabbits; nor sell, exchange, offer to sell or exchange or to give away baby chicks, ducklings or other fowl or rabbits, under two months of age in any quantity less than six, except that any rabbit weighing three pounds or more may be sold at an age of six weeks. Any person who violates this section shall be fined not less than $100 nor more than $500. -KRS 436.600 (Passed 1966 Ky. Acts ch. 215, sec. 5.)

No person owning or controlling a billiard or pool table shall permit, for compensation or reward, any minor under eighteen (18) years of age to play any game on the table, unless such minor shall have first displayed an identification card containing his name, age, photograph, and the signature of his parents or guardian. The minor shall keep such identification card on his person, and it shall be subject to inspection at any time by any peace officer. The person owning or controlling such billiard or pool table shall keep and maintain a registration book in which each minor shall sign. The person owning or controlling such billiard or pool table shall supply a blank identification card to each parent or guardian who makes request for same. Any person who violates this section shall be fined not less than ten ($10) nor more than one hundred dollars ($100) for each offense. -KRS 436.320 (Passed 1893; Amended in 1954, Ky. Acts ch. 232, sec. 1)

Any person who displays, handles or uses any kind of reptile in connection withany religious service or gathering shall be fined not less than fifty dollars ($50) nor more than one hundred dollars ($100). -KRS 437.060 (Passed 1942, from Ky. Stat. sec. 1267a-1.).

It is illegal to fish with a bow and arrow in Kentucky.

It's illegal to fish in the Ohio River in Kentucky without an Indiana Fishing License.

All bees entering Kentucky shall be accompanied by certificates of health, stating that the

apiary from which the bees came was free from contagious or infectious disease. -KRS 252.130 (Passed in 1922; Repealed in 1948)

Lexington

It is illegal to transport an ice cream cone in your pocket.

By law, anyone who has been drinking is "sober" until he or she "cannot hold onto the ground."

Owensboro

A woman may not buy a hat without her husband's permission.

---

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 23:07 | link | comments (4)

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 00:27 | link | comments (1)

Well, it is only fair:

Dumb Florida Laws

Women may be fined for falling asleep under a hair dryer, as can the salon owner.

A special law prohibits unmarried women from parachuting on Sunday or she shall risk arrest, fine, and/or jailing.

If an elephant is left tied to a parking meter, the parking fee has to be paid just as it would for a vehicle.

It is illegal to sing in a public place while attired in a swimsuit.

Men may not be seen publicly in any kind of strapless gown.

Having sexual relations with a porcupine is illegal.

It is illegal to skateboard without a license.

You may not fart in a public place after 6 P.M. on Thursdays.

It is considered an offense to shower naked.

You are not allowed to break more than three dishes per day, or chip the edges of more than four cups and/or saucers.

You may not kiss your wife's breasts.

Penalty for horse theft is death by hanging.

It is illegal to block any traveled wagon road.

Big Pine Key

It is illegal to molest a Key deer. If caught one will be fined or will have to go to jail.

Cape Coral

It is against the city ordinance to hang your clothes outside on a clothesline.

It it illegal to park a pick-up truck in your driveway or in front of your house on the street. This law is limited to only those who do not own the house. (Repealed 2000)

Daytona Beach

The molestation of trash cans is banned.

Sec. 10-56. While intoxicated, under influence of narcotics, prohibited. It shall be unlawful for any person to swim or bathe in that portion of the Atlantic Ocean within the corporate limits of the city when under the influence of intoxicating liquor or narcotic drugs to the extent that his or her normal faculties are impaired. (Code 1955, § 28-64)

Sec. 22-44. Storage, depositing prohibited. It shall be unlawful for any person, either as owner, occupant, lessee, agent, tenant, or otherwise, to store or deposit, or cause or permit to be stored or deposited, any abandoned, junked or discarded motor vehicle or motor vehicles upon any public or private property within the city. (Code 1955, § 20-11)

Sec. 18-2. Weeds, trash, etc., as a public nuisance; removal by property owner or by city at owner's expense; notice and hearing; lien for expenses. (a) The existence of weeds, trash, undergrowth, brush, filth, garbage or other refuse on any lot, tract or parcel of land within the city which has caused the property to become, or which may reasonably cause the property to become infested, or inhabited by rodents, vermin or wild animals, or may furnish a breeding place for mosquitoes or threatens the public health, safety or welfare, or may reasonably cause disease or adversely affects and impairs the economic welfare of the adjacent property, is declared to constitute a public nuisance and is hereby prohibited.

Hialeah

Ambling and strolling is a misdemeanor.

Jupiter Inlet Colony Inlet

Sec. 3-1. Bird sanctuary declared. (a) It is hereby declared that all territory embraced within the corporate limits of the municipality shall be a bird sanctuary. (b) It shall be unlawful for any person within the municipality to shoot, trap or in any manner kill, wound or maim any bird of any kind, or at any time to throw at any birds of any kind any missile with slingshots or any other weapon, or to disturb their eggs or their young or their nests. (Ord. No. 8-59, §§ 1, 2, 8-10-59)

Key West

Chickens are considered a 'protected species'.

Miami

It is illegal for men to be seen publicly in any kind of strapless gown.

Sec. 8-3. Bell or other warning device. No person shall operate a bicycle unless it is equipped with a bell or device capable of giving a signal audible for a distance of at least 100 feet, but no bicycle shall be equipped with, nor shall any person use upon a bicycle, any siren or whistle. (Code 1967, § 8-3; Code 1980, § 8-3)

Pensacola

Citizens may not be caught downtown without at least 10 dollars on their person.

It is illegal to roll a barrel on any street, fines go up according to the contents of the barrel.

A women can be fined (only after death), for being electrocuted in a bath-tub because of using self-beautification utensils.

Pinecrest

In order to operate a burglar alarm, a permit must be obtained. Sec. 12-23. Registration required; application; transferability; false statements. (a)All persons must complete and submit to the village an emergency contact registration form for their alarm if they operate or cause to be operated an alarm system in the village. A separate registration is required for each alarm system. Upon receipt of a completed registration form, the police department shall issue a numbered alarm sticker to the applicant to facilitate retrieval of registration information. (Ord. No. 97-17, § 1, 10-14-97)

Sanford

Stage nudity is banned, with the exception of "bona fide" theatrical performances. Violating this ordinance results in a $100 fine.

Sarasota

If you hit a pedestrian you are fined $78.00.

You may not catch crabs.

Tampa Bay

It is illegal to eat cottage cheese on Sunday after 6:00 P.M.

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 22:17 | link | comments (3)

Tennessee Jokes

Tennessee: The Educashun State

Dumb Tennessee Laws

You can't shoot any game other than whales from a moving automobile.

Hollow logs may not be sold.

Any person crippling, killing or in any way destroying a proud female dog that is running at large shall not be held liable for the damages due to such killing or destruction.

More than 8 women may not live in the same house because that would constitute a brothel.

It is illegal to use a lasso to catch a fish.

"Crimes against nature" are prohibited.

Stealing a horse is punishible by hanging.

Driving is not to be done while asleep.

The age of consent is 16, but 12 if the girl is a virgin.

It is legal to gather and consume roadkill.

Dyersburg

It is illegal for a woman to call a man for a date.

Fayette County

You may not have more than five inoperable vehicles on a piece of property.

Lenoir City

When you pull up to a stop sign you must fire a gun out the window to warn horse carriages that you are coming.

Lexington

No one may eat ice cream on the sidewalk.

Spitting on the sidewalk is prohibited.

Knoxville

In front of their buildings, all businesses must have a "hitching post."

Memphis

Illegal for a woman to drive a car unless there is a man either running or walking in front of it waving a red flag to warn approaching motorists and pedestrians.

It's illegal for frogs to croak after 11 PM.

Panhandlers must first obtain a $10 permit before begging on the streets of downtown Memphis. (Passed in 1996)

It is illegal to give any pie to fellow diners. It is also illegal to take unfinished pie home. All pie must be eaten on the premises. Oneida

An ordinance forbids anyone to sing the song "It Ain't Goin' To Rain No Mo'."

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 20:35 | link | comments (5)

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 02:32 | link | comments (1)

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 23:07 | link | comments

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 06:07 | link | comments (2)

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 01:15 | link | comments

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 08:45 | link | comments (4)

Imagine if the elections went the other way:

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 08:33 | link | comments (2)

Hawaiian Astronaut

Three young Hawaiian beachboys were discussing their plans for what they want to be when they grow up and one says he wants to be the first Hawaiian astronaut. And even better, he says, he wants to be the first astronaut to go to the SUN! His friends say, "U lolo or what? U ghun BURN UP!" He answers, "No, brah, leev' nitetime!"

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 08:24 | link | comments (6)

My father died this morning at 1:00 a.m.

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 13:48 | link | comments (15)

History

Caesar's British Landing Site Pinned Down

By Harvey Leifert, Natural History Magazine

posted: 01 November 2008 10:12 am ET

 

When Julius Caesar arrived off the coast of Britain with his hundred-ship force in August, 55 b.c., he was greeted by a host of defenders poised to hurl spears down on his invading army from the towering Dover cliffs. Seeking a better landing site, he sailed on a strong afternoon current and landed his troops at a beach seven miles away, according to his own account.

Caesar neglected to mention, however, whether he sailed southwest or northeast.

The only shoreline within seven miles of Dover that matches Caesar's description lies to the northeast, near present-day Deal. That would settle it, except that the current flowed southwest from Dover on the afternoons of August 26 and 27 — four days before the full moon, as Caesar obliquely reported the landing date. (It's unknown whether he counted the day of the full moon itself.) For centuries, the paradox has provoked debate among historians and astronomers.

Enter forensic astronomer Donald W. Olson of Texas State University in San Marcos. With a colleague and two honors students, Olson traveled to Britain in August 2007, when astronomical conditions almost exactly duplicated those of 55 b.c. They confirmed that on August 26 and 27, the afternoon current ran southwestward. But on the 22nd and 23rd, it flowed strongly northeastward, toward Deal.

So that's where, and when, Caesar landed.

Could the great warrior have erred by four days? Probably not, says Olson, but his original manuscript is long vanished, and only copies of copies, made centuries later, survive. At some point, Caesar's handwritten VII or VIII — indicating August 22 or 23, seven or eight days before the full Moon—was likely mistranscribed as IIII.

The research was detailed in Sky & Telescope.

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 17:02 | link | comments (1)

I really like these colors.

 

Genji monogatari - Sakaki
(The Tale of Genji: Sakaki)
(Kunichika; 1884)

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 09:29 | link | comments (9)