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Monday, October 31, 2011

Origins of Halloween.

Origins of Halloween a timeless tale of terror

October 30, 2011
DOTTI MILLER - Former Salem News lifestyle editor , Salem News
According to legend, a falling star means a witch has died. However, the stars don't dare descend to earth on Monday, Halloween night, for this is the night when witches are reputed to ride through the skies on their broomsticks as they reign over the earth mingling among the living.
Halloween is, according to legend, the darkest of nights, when the witches and other evil spirits, having sold themselves to the devil, collaborate with him to conjure up a night of vile, loathsome pranks. On Halloween, these witches were said to dance on the hilltops with goblins and imps while the devil himself played castanets made from dead men's bones.
Originally called Hallowmas or All Hallows Eve, Halloween has become one of the most celebrated holidays throughout America. Through the years it has been labeled a pagan festival, also a special time set aside for Christian celebrations, a time for mischievous tricks or treating and fun-filled parties.
When youngsters wear witches costumes or carry pumpkin lanterns and select black cats for their Halloween decorations, they are following ancient customs. Today's light-hearted Halloween observances are a mere "ghostly shadow" of the Celtic ritual, B.C., when spirits of the departed were thought to roam the earth on their way to the "other-world." They believed this was a "crack in time" when the dead could visit the living.
The Celts, who occupied northern and western Europe, were fearful that they might be possessed by wandering souls and disguised themselves in frightening costumes and lit huge bonfires to guide the spirits on their journey.
Druidism was the religion of the Celts and focused on two important feasts, Beltrane on May 1, and Samhain, the autumn festival on the last day of October. Coming after the harvests have been gathered, this holiday meant the end of summer and the beginning of winter. This new year began on Nov. 1 and our Halloween was their New Year's Eve. This autumn festival had supernatural tones as the Druid priests, who were nature worshippers, felt the need to appease the "Lord of Death." They believed that he allowed the spirits of those who died during the past year to spend a few hours at their homes on earth to warm themselves at the blazing hearth and once again savor the smell of food cooking in the open fireplace.
Another belief was that sinful souls of those who died during the past year had been relegated to the bodies of animals. Through gifts and sacrifices of the living, the sins of loved ones could be expiated and their souls freed to claim their heavenly reward. The main sacrificial offerings were black cats who were thought to be friends of the witches or even transformed into witches.
Another belief was that the "Lord of Death" called forth hosts of evil spirits. Fearful of this, the Druids lit great fires to ward off these evil spirits and also to rejuvenate the sun on this, the last evening of the year.
As the Celts celebrated the night around their massive bonfires, they talked of mysterious sights or weird sounds they had encountered. This practice is believed to be the forerunner of today's custom of sharing ghost stories on Halloween.
Through the years, Scottish folks who believed in witches and ghosts, lit fires in peat-type torches to carry through their orchards hoping to singe the witches and ghosts that might be hovering around. Farmers in north Wales also were known to set forkfuls of hay on fire and wave them in the air to frighten the witches and ghosts.
Another custom that has survived is the use of hollowed-out pumpkins carved to resemble grotesque faces and lit by candles.
Pumpkins weren't always the vegetable of choice for Halloween. Jack-o-Lanterns, which were first made in Ireland, were originally created of turnips. When the Irish came to America in the 1840s, they brought with them the beloved legend of the mischievous "Jack-O-Lantern" and replaced his turnip with the more abundant pumpkin found in America.
One tale of the Jack-o-Lantern is based on the story of a stingy, drunken Irishman named Jack. According to legend, Jack tricked the devil into climbing an apple tree to get a piece of its delicious fruit. Once the devil was in the tree Jack quickly carved the sign of the cross into the tree trunk. Jack then made the devil swear that he wouldn't ever come back for his soul. Upon dying and reaching the gates of heaven, Jack was turned away because of his bad habits while on earth. The only place left for Jack to turn to was the devil. However, he was not accepted into hell either for the devil, while in the apple tree, promised never to take Jack in. He was told to go back where he came from.
As a final gesture the devil threw a live coal to Jack, who was eating a turnip. Jack carved out his turnip and placed the coal inside it. According to legend, ever since then Jack has been traveling around the earth with his Jack-o-Lantern in search of a place to rest.
A story from rural England insists that long ago the men folk there would go to the annual fall fair and get too tipsy on hard cider to find their way home. Their women folk would make lanterns out of their pumpkins or "punkies" and set off in the night with these special lights to find them and lead them safely home.
The custom of going door to door begging for "goodies" goes way back to the pagan New Year's feast. The ghosts, believed to throng about the houses, were greeted with banquet tables overflowing with food. At the end of the feats the villagers, in masks and costumes to represent the souls of the dead, paraded to the outskirts of the town to "lead the ghosts away from the town."
Halloween today is a time for fun-filled house parties, youngsters to go out to ring doorbells and shout "Trick or Treat' which has stemmed from the old custom of poor folks going to homes of well-to-do neighbors and beg for a "soul cake" on All Souls Eve. Costume parades also are popular, as are family-oriented "Trunk or Treat" celebrations ...read more....http://www.salemnews.net/page/content.detail/id/547344/Origins-of-Halloween-a-timeless----.html

History

Pre-Christian influences

Historian Nicholas Rogers, exploring the origins of Halloween, notes that while "some folklorists have detected its origins in the Roman feast of Pomona, the goddess of fruits and seeds, or in the festival of the dead called Parentalia, it is more typically linked to the Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-an or sow-in)", derived from the Old Irish Samuin meaning "summer's end".[5] Samhain was the first and by far the most important of the four quarter days in the medieval Irish and Scottish[6] calendar[7][8] and, falling on the last day of Autumn, it was a time for stock-taking and preparation for the cold winter months ahead.[5] There was also a sense that this was the time of year when the physical and supernatural worlds were closest and magical things could happen.[7][8] To ward off these spirits, the Gaels built huge, symbolically regenerative bonfires and invoked the help of the gods through animal and perhaps even human sacrifice.[5]

Christian influences

Snap-Apple Night (1832) by Daniel Maclise.
Depicts apple bobbing and divination games at a Halloween party in Blarney, Ireland.
Halloween is also thought to have been heavily influenced by the Christian holy days of All Saints' Day (also known as Hallowmas, All Hallows, and Hallowtide) and All Souls' Day.[9] Falling on November 1st and 2nd respectively, collectively they were a time for honoring the Saints and praying for the recently departed who had yet to reach heaven. By the end of the 12th century they had become days of holy obligation across Europe and involved such traditions as ringing bells for the souls in purgatory and "souling", the custom of baking bread or soul cakes for "all crysten [ christened ] souls".[10] It was traditionally believed that the souls of the departed wandered the earth until All Saints Day, and All Hallow's Eve provided one last chance for the dead to gain vengeance on their enemies before moving onto the next world.[11] To avoid being recognised by a soul, Christians would wear masques and costumes to disguise themselves, following the lighted candles set by others to guide their travel for worship the next day.[11] Today, this practice has been perpetuated through trick-or-treating.[11]
In Britain the rituals of Hallowtide and Halloween came under attack during the Reformation as Protestants denounced purgatory as a "popish" doctrine incompatible with the notion of predestination.[9] In addition the increasing popularity of Guy Fawkes Night from 1605 on saw Halloween become eclipsed in Britain with the notable exception of Scotland.[12] There and in Ireland, they had been celebrating Samhain and Halloween since the early Middle Ages,[13] and it is believed the Kirk took a more pragmatic approach towards Halloween, viewing it as important to the life cycle and rites of passage of local communities and thus ensuring its survival in the country.[12]
North American almanacs of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century give no indication that Halloween was recognized as a holiday.[14] The Puritans of New England, for example, maintained strong opposition to the holiday[14] and it was not until the mass Irish and Scottish immigration during the 19th century that the holiday was introduced to the continent in earnest.[14] Initially confined to the immigrant communities during the mid-nineteenth century, it was gradually assimilated into mainstream society and by the first decade of the twentieth century it was being celebrated coast to coast by people of all social, racial and religious backgrounds.[15]

Etymology

The word Halloween is first attested in the 16th century and represents a Scottish variant of the fuller All-Hallows-Even ("evening"), that is, the night before All Hallows Day.[16] Although the phrase All Hallows is found in Old English (ealra hālgena mæssedæg, mass-day of all saints), All-Hallows-Even is itself not attested until 1556.[16]

Symbols

Jack-o'-lanterns in Kobe, Japan
Development of artifacts and symbols associated with Halloween formed over time. For instance, the carving of jack-o'-lanterns springs from the souling custom of carving turnips into lanterns as a way of remembering the souls held in purgatory.[17] The turnip has traditionally been used in Ireland and Scotland at Halloween,[18][19] but immigrants to North America used the native pumpkin, which are both readily available and much larger – making them easier to carve than turnips.[18] The American tradition of carving pumpkins is recorded in 1837[20] and was originally associated with harvest time in general, not becoming specifically associated with Halloween until the mid-to-late 19th century.[21]
The imagery of Halloween is derived from many sources, including national customs, works of Gothic and horror literature (such as the novels Frankenstein and Dracula), and classic horror films (such as Frankenstein and The Mummy).[22] Among the earliest works on the subject of Halloween is from Scottish poet John Mayne in 1780, who made note of pranks at Halloween; "What fearfu' pranks ensue!", as well as the supernatural associated with the night, "Bogies" (ghosts), influencing Robert Burns' Halloween 1785.[23] Elements of the autumn season, such as pumpkins, corn husks, and scarecrows, are also prevalent. Homes are often decorated with these types of symbols around Halloween.
Halloween imagery includes themes of death, evil, the occult, or mythical monsters.[24] Black and orange are the holiday's traditional colors.

Trick-or-treating and guising

Trick-or-treating in Sweden
Trick-or-treating is a customary celebration for children on Halloween. Children go in costume from house to house, asking for treats such as candy or sometimes money, with the question, "Trick or treat?" The word "trick" refers to a (mostly idle) "threat" to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given. In some parts of Scotland children still go guising. In this custom the child performs some sort of trick, i.e. sings a song or tells a ghost story, to earn their treats.
The practice of dressing up in costumes and begging door to door for treats on holidays dates back to the Middle Ages and includes Christmas wassailing. Trick-or-treating resembles the late medieval practice of souling, when poor folk would go door to door on Hallowmas (November 1), receiving food in return for prayers for the dead on All Souls' Day (November 2). It originated in Ireland and Britain,[10] although similar practices for the souls of the dead were found as far south as Italy.[25] Shakespeare mentions the practice in his comedy The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1593), when Speed accuses his master of "puling [whimpering or whining] like a beggar at Hallowmas."[26]
In Scotland and Ireland, Guising – children disguised in costume going from door to door for food or coins  – is a traditional Halloween custom, and is recorded in Scotland at Halloween in 1895 where masqueraders in disguise carrying lanterns made out of scooped out turnips, visit homes to be rewarded with cakes, fruit and money.[19] The practice of Guising at Halloween in North America is first recorded in 1911, where a newspaper in Kingston, Ontario reported children going "guising" around the neighborhood.[27]
American historian and author Ruth Edna Kelley of Massachusetts wrote the first book length history of the holiday in the U.S; The Book of Hallowe'en (1919), and references souling in the chapter "Hallowe'en in America";
The taste in Hallowe'en festivities now is to study old traditions, and hold a Scotch party, using Burn's poem Hallowe'en as a guide; or to go a-souling as the English used. In short, no custom that was once honored at Hallowe'en is out of fashion now.[28]
Halloween in Yonkers, New York, US
In her book, Kelley touches on customs that arrived from across the Atlantic; "Americans have fostered them, and are making this an occasion something like what it must have been in its best days overseas. All Hallowe'en customs in the United States are borrowed directly or adapted from those of other countries".[29]
While the first reference to "guising" in North America occurs in 1911, another reference to ritual begging on Halloween appears, place unknown, in 1915, with a third reference in Chicago in 1920.[30]
The earliest known use in print of the term "trick or treat" appears in 1927, from Blackie, Alberta, Canada:
Hallowe'en provided an opportunity for real strenuous fun. No real damage was done except to the temper of some who had to hunt for wagon wheels, gates, wagons, barrels, etc., much of which decorated the front street. The youthful tormentors were at back door and front demanding edible plunder by the word “trick or treat” to which the inmates gladly responded and sent the robbers away rejoicing.[31]
The thousands of Halloween postcards produced between the turn of the 20th century and the 1920s commonly show children but do not depict trick-or-treating.[32] The editor of a collection of over 3,000 vintage Halloween postcards writes, "There are cards which mention the custom [of trick-or-treating] or show children in costumes at the doors, but as far as we can tell they were printed later than the 1920s and more than likely even the 1930s. Tricksters of various sorts are shown on the early postcards, but not the means of appeasing them".[33] Trick-or-treating does not seem to have become a widespread practice until the 1930s, with the first U.S. appearances of the term in 1934,[34] and the first use in a national publication occurring in 1939.[35]
read more http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween

Indonesia Gets Hit By A 5.5 Quake Following A 5.6 Recorded Yesterday.


Within the past 30 minutes a 5.5 earthquake has hit...

SULAWESI, INDONESIA
...

69 km (42 miles) SSE of Gorontalo, Sulawesi, Indonesia
233 km (144 miles) SW of Manado, Sulawesi, Indonesia
977 km (607 miles) NNW of DILI, Timor-Leste
1636 km (1016 miles) S of MANILA, Philippines

................................................
By Agence France-Presse, Updated: 30/10/2011
5.6-magnitude quake rattles Indonesia

A 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck off the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Sunday, geologists said, although there were no immediate reports of damage or tsunami notices issued.

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The undersea quake hit at a depth of 39 kilometres (24 miles) at 6:52 pm (11:52 GMT) around 115 kilometres west of Bengkulu in Sumatra, the US Geological Survey said, revising down an initial 5.9-magnitude estimate.

There were no tsunami warnings or advisories in effect on the website of the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where the meeting of continental plates causes high seismic activity, and is frequently hit by earthquakes.

A powerful quake jolted the Indonesian resort island of Bali on October 13, injuring dozens of people and triggering panic as tourists fled from violently shaking buildings.

The 6.0-magnitude quake rocked the main tourist district of Kuta for several minutes, damaging ancient Hindu temples and sending concrete debris crashing down onto cars and pavements as walls and roofs collapsed.

6.0 Earthquake Hits China


Just within the past 30 minutes there was a 6.0 earthquake in China...

NORTHERN XINJIANG, CHINA

after a quake...

Monday, October 31, 2011 at 21:58:16 UTC
Tuesday, November 01, 2011 at 05:58:16 AM at epicenter

SICHUAN-GANSU BORDER REGION, CHINA
USGS
............................................

6.0-magnitude quake hits NW China's Xinjiang
English.news.cn 2011-11-01 08:59:18 FeedbackPrintRSS

BEIJING, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale jolted Kazak Autonomous Prefecture of Ili, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region at 8:21 a.m. Tuesday Beijing Time, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.

The epicenter, with a depth of 10 km, was monitored at about 43.6 degrees north latitude and 82.4 degrees east longitude, the center said in a statement.
Xinhuanet.com
................................................................................

Earthquake rattles northwest China

By the CNN Wire Staff
updated 9:10 PM EST, Mon October 31, 2011

(CNN) -- A magnitude 6.0 earthquake rattled northwestern China on Tuesday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
The quake struck at 8:21 a.m. (8:21 p.m. Monday ET), according to the USGS. It was centered in northern Xinjiang province at a depth of nearly 28 km (17 miles) below the surface, the agency reported.
The epicenter was 96 km from the city of Yining and about 130 km from China's border with Kazakhstan, the USGS said. There was no immediate report of damage or injuries.
CNN

Sunday, October 30, 2011

World Population Clock That Boasts To Be Most Accurate...How Accurate Is It Really?

World Population Clock
Sure, this clock boasts to be the most accurate.  However, this clock only moves if you mouseover the numbers.  Therefore, how accurate could it be?  Check for yourself....click on the link above or at the bottom of this post.

Countdown to 7 billion - why Worldometers clocks are the most accurate

The above world population clock and countdown counter are based on the estimates of the United Nations and will show the same number wherever you are in the world and whatever time you set on your PC.

Worldometers is the only website to present counters that are based on UN data and that do not follow the user's PC clock. Visitors around the world visiting a PC clock based counter, such as the the United Nations' one on http://7billionactions.org will see different numbers depending on where they are located, and will see the clock reaching 7 billion when each of their locally set PC cloks hits 4:21:10 AM on October 31, 2011. There are 39 timezones around the world.
Obviously the UN data is based on estimates and can't be 100% accurate, so in all honesty nobody can possibly say with any degree of certainty on which day world population will really hit 7 billion, let alone at what time. But once an estimate is done (based on the best data and analysis available), the world population clock should be showing the same number at any given time anywhere around the world.

World Population 7 billion (2011)

The United Nations released the "2010 Revision of the World Population Prospects" (May 3, 2011) in which they raised their previous global demographic projections and now estimate that world population will reach 7 Billion on October 31, 2011.
The US Census Bureau has a lower estimate, for which the 7 billion mark will only be reached in February 2012.

World Population 6 billion (1999)

World population had reached 6 billion in 1999.
According to the United Nations the 6 billions figure was reached on October 12, 1999 (celebrated as the Day of 6 Billion) . According to the U.S. Census Bureau instead, it was reached on July 22, 1999, at about 3:49 AM GMT. Yet, according to the U.S. Census web site, the date and time of when 6 billion was reached will probably change because the already uncertain estimates are constantly being updated.

What was the population of the world in the past?


The chart above clearly illustrates how world population has changed in history. The US Census Bureau has assembled a table with estimated population from 10000 BC to 1950 according to different sources.
At the dawn of agriculture, about 8000 B.C., the population of the world was approximately 5 million. Over the 8,000-year period up to 1 A.D. it grew to 200 million (some estimate 300 million or even 600, suggesting how imprecise population estimates of early historical periods can be), with a growth rate of under 0.05% per year.
A tremendous change occurred with the industrial revolution: whereas it had taken all of human history until around 1800 for world population to reach one billion, the second billion was achieved in only 130 years (1930), the third billion in less than 30 years (1959), the fourth billion in 15 years (1974), and the fifth billion in only 13 years (1987). During the 20th century alone, the population in the world has grown from 1.65 billion to 6 billion.
http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/

Bill Maher:LSD ‘will be the healthiest thing your kids eat all day'...Put Drugs In Your Halloween Candy

Bill Maher Calls for People to 'Put Drugs in the Halloween Candy'


Noel Sheppard's picture
For decades, parents have worried about drugs being put into the candy their children receive while Trick or Treating.
On Friday evening, HBO's Bill Maher actually called for people to "put drugs in the Halloween candy" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
BILL MAHER: New rule, this Halloween stop fretting that some stranger's going to put drugs in your kid's candy and put the drugs in there yourself. Come on, this is America. Acid will be the healthiest thing they eat all day. Do it, put drugs in the Halloween candy. Now I know what you're thinking: Bill Maher, what a thing to say. We all know that too much of any drug can cause permanent damage. Just look at Rush Limbaugh. You can't just decide to give a bunch of innocent, drug-free kids some sort of psychedelic. What if it interacts badly with their Wellbutrin, their Abilify, their Adderall, their Ritalin, and their monster energy drink?
The kids are on drugs, all right. The problem is they're on the wrong drugs. They're on a combination of processed sugar so they can be mini coke fiends and mind narrowing pharmaceutical crap like Ritalin that doesn't open up their minds. It levels and controls them. These drugs are all about keeping bratty children in check, or as we used to call it. parenting. Oh, see now you have to think about it.
Adderall is the drug of choice these days on campus. Oh, what fun. I don't know what I would enjoy more, the extremely focused parties or the highly detail oriented sex. But here's the thing, when Steve Jobs was young, the drug of choice was acid and Jobs told his biographer that dropping acid as a young man was one of the best things he ever did because when he took it with his girlfriend, the wheat field started playing Bach. Which is pretty unbelievable – a computer nerd had a girlfriend?
Now, maybe there's not a connection between LSD and genius, but it's something no great American ever said about a Kit-Kat bar. If it weren't for acid, you might not have an iPod and you definitely wouldn't have some of the best music in your iPod. Francis Crick discovered the structure of DNA while on acid. The Beatles made “Sergeant Pepper” while on acid. I made “D.C. Cab” while on acid, and the list goes on and on.
And it's not just anecdotal. In a study from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine last month, scientists found that a single dose of psilocybin, which is the drug in mushrooms, created a quote “long-term positive personality change in most patients.” People improved in the areas of sensitivity, imagination, and broad-minded tolerance of others. In pharmaceutical speak, psilocybin is known as an asshole inhibitor. And couldn’t we use a little more of that? Have you seen a Republican debate lately? If ever there was a group who could stand to take a sensitivity pill and employ broad-minded tolerance of others, it's these people. This nation faces enormous challenges and the biggest idea we've heard from them so far is let's build a fence that electrocutes Mexicans.
Steve Jobs literally learned to think different. And if he can get that, that insight from LSD or mushrooms or for that matter from licking a toad, then bring me Kermit the Frog and I'll stick my tongue right down his throat.

Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2011/10/29/bill-maher-calls-people-put-drugs-halloween-candy?utm_source=co2hog#ixzz1cK1dzDjd

Pig Maher: ‘Put Drugs in Halloween Candy’

BILL MAHER: New rule, this Halloween stop fretting that some stranger's going to put drugs in your kid's candy and put the drugs in there yourself. Come on, this is America. Acid will be the healthiest thing they eat all day. Do it, put drugs in the Halloween candy. Now I know what you're thinking: Bill Maher, what a thing to say. We all know that too much of any drug can cause permanent damage. Just look at Rush Limbaugh. You can't just decide to give a bunch of innocent, drug-free kids some sort of psychedelic. What if it interacts badly with their Wellbutrin, their Abilify, their Adderall, their Ritalin, and their monster energy drink?

The kids are on drugs, all right. The problem is they're on the wrong drugs. They're on a combination of processed sugar so they can be mini coke fiends and mind narrowing pharmaceutical crap like Ritalin that doesn't open up their minds. It levels and controls them. These drugs are all about keeping bratty children in check, or as we used to call it. parenting. Oh, see now you have to think about it.

Adderall is the drug of choice these days on campus. Oh, what fun. I don't know what I would enjoy more, the extremely focused parties or the highly detail oriented sex. But here's the thing, when Steve Jobs was young, the drug of choice was acid and Jobs told his biographer that dropping acid as a young man was one of the best things he ever did because when he took it with his girlfriend, the wheat field started playing Bach. Which is pretty unbelievable – a computer nerd had a girlfriend?

Now, maybe there's not a connection between LSD and genius, but it's something no great American ever said about a Kit-Kat bar. If it weren't for acid, you might not have an iPod and you definitely wouldn't have some of the best music in your iPod. Francis Crick discovered the structure of DNA while on acid. The Beatles made “Sergeant Pepper” while on acid. I made “D.C. Cab” while on acid, and the list goes on and on.

And it's not just anecdotal. In a study from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine last month, scientists found that a single dose of psilocybin, which is the drug in mushrooms, created a quote “long-term positive personality change in most patients.” People improved in the areas of sensitivity, imagination, and broad-minded tolerance of others. In pharmaceutical speak, psilocybin is known as an asshole inhibitor. And couldn’t we use a little more of that? Have you seen a Republican debate lately? If ever there was a group who could stand to take a sensitivity pill and employ broad-minded tolerance of others, it's these people. This nation faces enormous challenges and the biggest idea we've heard from them so far is let's build a fence that electrocutes Mexicans.

Steve Jobs literally learned to think different. And if he can get that, that insight from LSD or mushrooms or for that matter from licking a toad, then bring me Kermit the Frog and I'll stick my tongue right down his throat.
 http://nation.foxnews.com/bill-maher/2011/10/30/pig-maher-put-drugs-halloween-candy

Maher on Real Time: LSD ‘will be the healthiest thing your kids eat all day'

Bill Maher




In his "New Rules" on the Friday, Oct. 28 episode, host Bill Maher addressed the sheer number of drugs being prescribed to our children, and compared it to something you might be surprised about: acid, or LSD.

Maher was criticizing today's parents, some of whom, he added use prescription medications to “control their kids.” He was speaking about drugs such as Adderall and the like. Maher suggested that instead of medication, actual parenting might help. He said,
“This Halloween stop fretting that some stranger is going to put drugs in your kids candy. And put them in there yourself. C’mon, this is America. Acid will be the healthiest thing they eat all day. Do it! Put drugs in the Halloween candy
“We all know that too much of any drug can cause permanent damage. Just look at Rush Limbaugh. You can’t just decide to give a bunch of innocent, drug-free kids some sort of psychedelic. What if it interacts badly with their Wellbutrin, their Abilify, their Adderall, their Ritalin and their Monster Energy Drink.
"The kids are on drugs, all right, the problem is they are on the wrong drugs. ... These drugs are all about about keeping ratty children in check, or as we used to call it, parenting."
Maher also brought up the late Steve Jobs, considered a tech genius by many. Jobs was very open about his past drug use, including LSD. Maher went on to reminded viewers that some of the most creative people of the last few decades were drug users.
"When Steve Jobs was young, the drug of choice was acid, and Jobs told his biographer that dropping acid as a young man was one of the best things he ever did. Because when he took it with his girl friend, the wheat fields started playing Bach. Which is pretty unbelievable. A computer nerd had a girlfriend?
"Maybe there’s not a connection between LSD and genius, but it’s something no great American ever said about a Kit-Kat bar. If it weren’t for acid, you might not have an iPod, and you definitely wouldn’t have some of the best music in your iPod."
Watch the segment from the Oct. 28 Real Time, below.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Were You A Sky Watcher Last Night? What Was That Spectacular Sight?

AURORAS IN THE USA: A coronal mass ejection (CME) hit Earth on Oct. 24th at approximately 1800 UT (2:00 pm EDT). The impact strongly compressed Earth's magnetic field, directly exposing geosynchronous satellites to solar wind plasma, and sparked an intense geomagnetic storm. As night fell over North America, auroras spilled across the Canadian border into the contiguous United States. A US Department of Defense satellite photographed the crossing:
"This shows the auroras on Oct. 25th at 0140 GMT," says Paul McCrone of the Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center in Monterey, California. He created the image using visual and infrared data from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program's F18 polar orbiter. DMSP satellites carry low light cameras for nightime monitoring of moonlit clouds, city lights and auroras. Some of the auroras recorded by the F18 on Oct. 25th were as bright as the city lights underneath. 

This "big picture" from orbit makes sense of what happened next. The bright band swept south and, before the night was over, auroras were sighted in more than thirty US states: Alabama, Wisconsin, New Mexico, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, Nebraska, Kentucky, North Carolina, Indiana, Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa, Maryland, New York, Montana, Ohio, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Washington, Virginia, Texas, Arizona, Minnesota, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Oregon, Arkansas and California. 

Many observers, especially in the deep south, commented on the pure red color of the lights they saw. These rare all-red auroras sometimes appear at low latitudes during intense geomagnetic storms. They occur some 300 to 500 km above Earth's surface and are not yet fully understood.

October 25, 2011 2:33 PM
Unforgettable Northern Lights display recorded
By Tariq Malik
(Space.com)  A dazzling aurora light show amazed skywatchers across North America, from Canada to Arkansas, and other northern regions Monday night (Oct. 24), painting the sky with striking green and even rare red hues.
The aurora display, also known as the northern lights, was touched off by a wave charged particles unleashed by a massive sun storm on Saturday, which took two days to reach Earth, according to the Space Weather Prediction Center operated by the National Weather Service and NOAA.

"These were the most vibrant I've ever seen," Canadian skywatcher Colin Chatfield of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan told SPACE.com in an email. "I was also able to see red with the naked eye, which I've never seen before either. Simply put, they were amazing."

Canadian skywatcher Colin Chatfield caught this view of a stunning aurora display over his home in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on Oct. 24, 2011
(Credit: Colin Chatfield)
 
Auroras are caused when charged solar particles hit Earth's atmosphere, causing a glow as the particles collide. The particles are funneled down over Earth's poles causing the northern lights, or aurora borealis, in the north. Aurora displays over the South Pole are known as the Southern Lights, or aurora australis. 
Photographer Shawn Malone in Marquette, Mich., expected a good aurora light show, but was still surprised by the sheer brilliance of Monday night's northern light show.

"[I] had taken a few pics, went back to the car to change lenses, and when I looked up the sky was on fire," Malone said. "To the north there was this huge curtain that sent beams overhead to a corona in which I had to turn to the south to photograph. That's when I noticed the reds and pinks starting to happen. From there the lights were every which direction. It was hands down the best northern lights I've seen since the great storm of November 2004."
This spectacular photo of red, pink and green auroras on Oct. 24, 2011 was taken by photographer Shawn Malone of Marquette, Michigan, from the shore of Lake Superior
(Credit: Shawn Malone)
 
Space weather officials said the arrival of the solar particles Monday triggered a geomagnetic storm that amped up the aurora displays. The sun is currently in an active phase of its 11-year solar weather cycle.
"Couple that with the fact that large parts of the U.S. had very clear skies, and you've got some beautiful sightings of the aurora across the northern tier of the U.S.," Space Weather Prediction Center officials wrote in an update. Unfortunately for sky watchers, the geomagnetic storm appears to be in decline and no further significant space weather is expected at this time."
Skywatcher Samuel Hartman of State College, Pa., snapped this photo of the amazing Oct. 24, 2011 northern lights display. The aurora display was created from charged solar particles from an Oct. 22 sun storm that took two days to reach Earth.
(Credit: Samuel Hartman)
 
October's Spellbinding northern lights
Traditionally, only skywatchers in high-latitude locations can see aurora displays, but during strong solar weather events, they can be visible to observers at lower latitudes. A dark, clear sky away from city lights is vital to spot the displays.

Green auroras, caused by the ionization of atomic oxygen in the atmosphere, are the most common northern lights seen. Red aurora displays are rarer, and are caused by the ionization of molecular oxygen and nitrogen.
"I was surprised to find the auroras out so brightly," said Samuel Hartman, a skywatcher in State College, Pa., who sent photos to SPACE.com. "It was originally supposed to be cloudy all night, but the clouds cleared and the aurora was glowing bright. It made for an excellent show."
Astrophotographer Jeff Berkes took this photo of a dazzling aurora display from West Chester, Pa., on Oct. 24, 2011.
(Credit: Jeff Berkes)
 
Just outside Philadelphia, in West Chester, Pa., veteran astrophotographer Jeff Berkes also wasn't expecting an aurora display, especially right after the weekend peak of October's Orionid meteor shower.

"I ran outside and jumped in my car leaving the tripod inside. I used the top of my Xterra and a sweatshirt to create a make-shift tripod," Berkes told SPACE.com in an email. "The auroras only last a few minutes. But hey it was awesome! Haven't seen them here since September 2001."

 Monday night's auroras were seen as far south as Arkansas, where skywatcher and photographer Brian Emfinger caught the view from the city of Ozark.

"The auroras filled the sky in every direction - even to the south," Emfinger told the skywatching website Spaceweather.com, adding that it was the website's email alert that warned him of the stunning aurora show. "When I saw the alert, I ran outside and immediately saw red auroras. Within a few minutes the auroras went crazy! Unbelievable!"
Skywatcher Tom Pruzenski snapped this view of the Oct. 24, 2011 northern lights display while watching the rare red northern lights with his brother Chris on Oct. 24, 2011 from Hemlock, NY.
(Credit: Tom Pruzenski)
 
Unforgettable sight
In Hemlock, N.Y., first-time aurora photographer Tom Pruzenski expressed a similar sentiment.
"This outburst of red auroras happened around 9:30 p.m.," Pruzenski said. "My brother (and amateur astronomer) Chris Pruzenski noticed faint auroras two hours earlier, around 7:30 p.m. We waited and watched, and our patience paid off with this 5-10 minute display of red and green auroras."

Tom Dolaskie IV watched the northern lights dance over Lake Superior at Munising Bay in Michigan. The view, he said, was astounding and not one he will soon forget.

"Hands down the most amazing northern lights display that I have ever witnessed," Dolaskie said. "Frankly, a setting that a photograph simply cannot capture. My friends and I were lucky to have witnessed it."
Editor's note: If you snapped a great photo of Monday night's northern lights and would like to share the image and your comments with SPACE.com, please contact managing editor Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-20125354/unforgettable-northern-lights-display-recorded/

Sunday, October 23, 2011

The Earth It Is A Rumblin' - 7.2 EARTHQUAKE IN Turkey AND 7.4 EARTHQUAKE IN THE Kermadec Islands

7.2 EARTHQUAKE IN Turkey AND 7.4 EARTHQUAKE IN THE Kermadec Islands


October 23, 2011, 3:51 pm

In Turkey, Scenes From the Quake Zone

Video reports poured out of Turkey on Sunday after a powerful earthquake struck the country’s eastern region, collapsing buildings and causing widespread panic.


The video above, from Euro News, shows rescue workers and residents scrambling over toppled buildings in search of people buried in the debris.

CNN Turk reported that a hospital was so badly damaged in the the town of Ercis, near the quake’s epicenter, that people were being treated in the garden there and that a pile of dead bodies had been left outside.

From The Associated Press:
“The hospital has been badly damaged, so we can’t operate inside,” a nurse, Eda Ekizoglu, told CNN Turk by telephone from Ercis.

“We’re giving care in the hospital garden and at a nearby building with a generator,” she said.
As the death toll rose, President Obama issued a statement of support: “We stand shoulder to shoulder with our Turkish ally in this difficult time and are ready to assist the Turkish authorities.”

In Tabanli, also near the epicenter, some large buildings had partially collapsed, and videos and photographs showed dozens of people clambering across the now-concave roofs, searching for survivors.

This video, recorded near the city of Vans, captures the panic in the moments after the earthquake.

Esra Dogramaci, a member of Al Jazeera’s social media team, reported updates on Twitter:
Turkish Red crescent sending 1162 tents, 1000 heaters, 4250 blankets, 500 supply kits #deprem #Van #earthquakeSun Oct 23 14:58:28 via Twitter for iPhone
25-30 building reportedly collapsed including 1 student dormitory #Turkey #earthquake #depremSun Oct 23 15:00:50 via Twitter for iPhone
Several countries, including Greece and Israel, have offered to help.

Bloomberg News, citing a statement from Athens, reported that Foreign Minister Stavros Lambrinidis had spoken with his Turkish counterpart, Ahmet Davutoglu, extending condolences and assuring him that Greece was ready to help.


Israel, whose relations with Turkey have been strained over the Gaza blockade, would provide “any assistance required,” The Jerusalem Post quoted Defense Minister Ehud Barak as saying. The newspaper also reported that
Barak ordered the Defense Ministry’s head of the political-diplomatic bureau to transmit Israel’s offer of help to Turkey.
 Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz instructed the army to be prepared to aid Turkey in the aftermath of the earthquake. Gantz emphasized that an I.D.F. [Israeli Defense Force] delegation would set out for the site of the earthquake only after receiving approval from the political echelon.
Hours later, the Israeli defense minister reported that Turkey had declined the offer of aid, according to The A.P.

Reuters said the Turkish government had declined all offers of assistance so far.



http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/in-turkey-scenes-from-the-quake-zone/

7.2 earthquake kills 85 people in eastern Turkey, collapses dozens of buildings


ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Turkey on Sunday, killing at least 85 people and sparking widespread panic as it collapsed dozens of buildings into piles of twisted steel and chunks of concrete.

Tens of thousands of residents fled into the streets running, screaming and trying to reach relatives on cell phones. As the full extent of the damage became clear, desperate survivors dug into the rubble with their bare hands, trying to rescue the trapped and the injured.

Turkey's state-run television TRT said a group of inmates escaped from a prison after the earthquake struck. It gave no other detail and it was not immediately known how many had fled.

"My wife and child are inside! My 4-month-old baby is inside!" CNN-Turk television showed one young man sobbing outside a collapsed building in Van, the provincial capital.

TRT television reported that 59 people were killed and 150 injured in the eastern town of Ercis, 25 others died in Van and a child died in the nearby province of Bitlis.

Turkish scientists estimated that up to 1,000 people could already be dead, basing the calculation on low local housing standards and the size of the quake.

The hardest hit was Ercis, a city of 75,000 close to the Iranian border, which lies on the Ercis Fault in one of Turkey's most earthquake-prone zones. Van, about 55 miles (90 kilometers) to the south, also sustained substantial damage.

Up to 80 buildings collapsed in Ercis, including a dormitory, and 10 buildings collapsed in Van, the Turkish Red Crescent said. Some highways also caved in, CNN-Turk television reported.

Hundreds of injured people were treated at the state hospital in Ercis, NTV television said. Survivors in Ercis complained of a lack of heavy machinery to remove chunks of cement floors that pancaked onto each other.

"There are so many dead. Several buildings have collapsed. There is too much destruction," Ercis Mayor Zulfikar Arapoglu told NTV. "We need urgent aid. We need medics."

In Van, terrified residents spilled into the streets screaming. Rescue workers and residents scrambled, using only their hands and basic shovels, to save those who were trapped.

Residents sobbed outside the ruins of one flattened eight-story building, hoping that missing relatives would be rescued.

Witnesses said eight people were pulled from the rubble, but frequent aftershocks were hampering search efforts, CNN-Turk reported. One teenage girl was pulled out of the building by the late evening. Rescuers tied steel rods around large concrete slabs which they then lifted with heavy machinery, Dogan news agency video footage showed.

Residents in Van and Ercis lit camp fires, preparing to spend the night outdoors.

U.S. scientists recorded eight aftershocks within three hours of the quake, including two with a magnitude of 5.6.

Serious damage and casualties were also reported in the district of Celebibag, near Ercis.

"There are many people under the rubble," Veysel Keser, mayor of Celebibag, told NTV. "People are in agony, we can hear their screams for help. We need urgent help."

He said many buildings had collapsed, including student dormitories, hotels and gas stations.

Nazmi Gur, a legislator from Van, was at his nephew's funeral when the quake struck. The funeral ceremony was cut short and he rushed back to help with rescues.

"At least six buildings had collapsed. We managed to rescue a few people, but I saw at least five bodies," Gur told The Associated Press by telephone. "There is no coordinated rescue at the moment, everyone is doing what they can."

"It was such a powerful temblor. It lasted for such a long time," Gur said. "(Now) there is no electricity, there is no heating, everyone is outside in the cold."

Many residents fled Van to seek shelter with relatives in nearby villages.

"I am taking my family to our village, our house was fine but there were cracks in our office building," Sahabettin Ozer, 47, said by telephone as he drove to the village of Muradiye.

NTV said Van's airport was damaged and planes were being diverted to neighboring cities.

Authorities had no information yet on remote villages but the governor was touring the region by helicopter and the government sent in tents, field kitchens and blankets. Some in Ercis reported shortages of bread, Turkey's staple food, due to damages to bakeries.

Houses also collapsed in the province of Bitlis, where an 8-year-old girl was killed, authorities said, and the quake toppled the minarets of two mosques in the nearby province of Mus.

There was no immediate information about a recently restored 10th century Armenian church, Akdamar Church, which is perched on a rocky island in the nearby Lake Van.

Turkey lies in one of the world's most active seismic zones and is crossed by numerous fault lines. Lake Van, where Sunday's earthquake hit, is the country's most earthquake-prone region.

The Kandilli observatory, Turkey's main seismography center, said Sunday's quake was capable of killing many people.

"We are estimating a death toll between 500 and 1,000," Mustafa Erdik, head of the Kandilli observatory, told a televised news conference.

The earthquake also shook buildings in neighboring Armenia and Iran.

In the Armenian capital of Yerevan, 100 miles (160 kilometers) from Ercis, people rushed into the streets fearing buildings would collapse but no damage or injuries were immediately reported. Armenia was the site of a devastating earthquake in 1988 that killed 25,000 people.

Sunday's quake caused panic among residents in several Iranian towns close to the Turkish border, and cut phone links and caused cracks in buildings in the city of Chaldoran, Iranian state TV reported. The quake was also felt in the northeastern Iranian towns of Salmas, Maku, Khoi but no damage was immediately reported.

U.S. leaders conveyed their condolences to the families of the victims and offered assistance.

"We stand shoulder to shoulder with our Turkish ally in this difficult time, and are ready to assist the Turkish authorities," President Barack Obama said.

Israel also offered humanitarian assistance despite a rift in relations following an 2010 Israeli navy raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla that left nine Turks dead. In September, Turkey expelled the Israeli ambassador and suspended military ties because Israel has not apologized. Israel has sent rescue teams to Turkey for past earthquakes in times of closer ties.

Turkey sees frequent earthquakes. In 1999, two earthquakes with a magnitude of more than 7 struck northwestern Turkey, killing about 18,000 people.

More recently, a 6.0-magnitude quake in March 2010 killed 51 people in eastern Turkey, while in 2003, a 6.4-magnitude earthquake killed 177 people in the southeastern city of Bingol.

Turkey's worst earthquake in the last century came in 1939 in the eastern city of Erzincan, causing an estimated 160,000 deaths.

Istanbul, Turkey's largest city with more than 12 million people, lies in northwestern Turkey near a major fault line. Authorities say Istanbul is ill-prepared for a major earthquake and experts have warned that overcrowding and faulty construction could lead to the deaths of more than 40,000 people if a major earthquake struck the city.
 http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sns-ap-eu-turkey-quake,0,3119450,full.story

Strong quake jolts remote N.Zealand island. no damage

  • A powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake jolted New Zealand's Kermadec Islands region …
A powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake jolted New Zealand's remote and largely uninhabited Kermadec Islands region early Saturday, seismologists said, but there was no damage or threat of a tsunami.

The US Geological Survey said the quake was centered 180 kilometers (112 miles) east of Raoul Island in the South Pacific at a depth of about 24 miles. The islands lie about 800 miles (1,200 kilometers) north of the North Island.

The New Zealand ministry of civil defence said it briefly mobilised after the quake but soon dropped guard as it did not trigger any immediate tsunami alert or damage reports.

"The New Zealand Tsunami Experts Panel has convened and advises that there is no threat to New Zealand from this event," the ministry said in a statement.

But the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center warned that some coastal areas in the region may experience small non-destructive sea level changes lasting up to several hours.

New Zealand, currently hosting the Rugby World Cup, lies on the Pacific "ring of fire", a zone of frequent seismic activity, and is prone to earthquakes.

The second largest city, Christchurch, was devastated by a 6.3-magnitude quake in February which killed 181 people, after many of its buildings were weakened by a previous earthquake in September 2010.