Posts Roundup at Dennys Blogs - 22 Aug 2010

*** Check out news, political opinion, political humor and funny cartoons, recipes, science news, poetry, funny posts, photography, spiritual thoughts and great quotes.





From Denny: I tell ya, this summer heat index of 116 degrees Fahrenheit, along with the WikiLeaks nutjob child who thinks he's stalking me on this blog, you know it's a full moon out tonight. This poor kid has scrambled eggs for brains, taking a second and third run at me.

Guess it's time to go ahead and do another WikiLeaks post to explain to him and his silly little friends living in some gaming fantasy world in their heads that real life is not a computer game. It's much more serious because the people who are stalking them are out for a lot more than winning their props as a gamer.

As far as posts go I did manage to find some interesting health and science news and had some fun with some photo posts too. Take a look.



The Social Poets:


BP Screws Over Gulf Residents With New Claims Restrictions - BP continues to play the shell game of moving the pea with misdirection and sleight of hand, with the definition of "legitimate claims" an elusive target to hit for residents.

Economy, Afghan War, America, World Politics Cartoons - 21 Aug 2010 - This week's political opinion delivered through the national cartoonists.

Obama Family Photos and New Michelle Obama Portrait Unveiled - Enjoy the new First Lady portrait and a few other well done photographs of the First Family.

Scumbag WikiLeaks Founder Assange Charged With Rape in Sweden - Sweden charges WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, with rape and molestation.

Poetess Defies, Shocks Saudi Arabia - A brave woman in the Middle East dares to criticize her religion and her culture - through a live TV national poetry competition, the Arab world version of American Idol.

Funny Back to School Quotes and Cartoons - Cheeky Quote Day 18 Aug 2010 - Get a grin at some great cartoons and funny quotes about parents' favorite time of the year: when the kids go back to school.

Funny Video: Truth Is Bush Tax Cuts Are 30 Percent Of Our Deficit

Roundup of Late Night Funnies - 16 Aug 2010 - Check out this week's funny late night jokes and latest cartoons lampooning politics to American culture, with a funny side dish of funny video clips thrown in to keep you grinning.

Funny Video: Newt Gingrich Mocked by Colbert For Lack of Morals - Check out Colbert as he mocks the amoral Gingrich trying to make a political comeback for President.




The Healing Waters:


Lonely people: Under More Pressure Have Higher Blood Pressure - Be aware of how loneliness can impact your daily health.

How Can You Predict The Strength of Your Relationship? - Check out the latest study and new test devised to help you predict the strength of your relationship.





The Soul Calendar:


Check Out NASA Images of Devastating Pakistan Floods - These aerial view flood images of the entire country of Pakistan are mind-boggling in their scope of how the monsoon flooding is affecting the lives of millions.

New Tomb Uncovered in Egypt With Colorful Art - The fun side of archaeology is what you find in pristine condition after thousands of years.





Dennys Funny Quotes:

Funny Odd Hunh?! Cartoons - 21 Aug 2010 - Check out this week's grinners to soothe your work week stress.

25 Ridiculously Funny Celebrity Duck Face Photos - Laugh at celebrities posing for the camera, mocking sexy.





Dennys Food and Recipes:


4 Casseroles 4 School Night Dinners: Chicken, Tex Mex, Tamale, Shepherds Pie - Check out some family favorites, easy and quick to cook - and nutritious.

Muffin Monday: 5 Yummy Breakfast Muffins - Skip the coffee shop muffin, make your own, save some money and save a whole lot of calories too.





Beautiful Illustrated Quotations:

7 Quotes: Defining Joy in Our Lives - 7 quotes to consider about how we live our joy.





Visual Insights:


Raucous Tea Party Republicans Cartoons - 21 Aug 2010 - Check out what the cartoonists are lampooning about the Tea Party and the Republican idea of politics this time!

Dennys Photo Gallery: Beautiful Yummy Artichokes and 11 Recipes

Arts: Whimsical Fiber Artist Ed Bing Lee - This fiber artist has a sense of the whimsy while he explores new ways to use simple knotting techniques to develop his art.




*** Coffee cup from Brazil photo by Quoquo at flickr


*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!

*** Come by for a visit and check out my other blogs:

The Social Poets - news, politics
The Soul Calendar - science, astronomy, psychology
Visual Insights - photos, art, music
Beautiful Illustrated Quotations - spiritual quotes, philosophy
Poems From A Spiritual Heart - poetry
The Healing Waters - health news
Dennys People Watching - people in the news
Dennys Food and Recipes
Dennys Funny Quotes - humor

Check Out NASA Images of Devastating Pakistan Floods

*** These aerial view flood images of the entire country of Pakistan are mind-boggling in their scope of how the monsoon flooding is affecting the lives of millions.





From Denny: The monsoon rains this summer have caused so much flooding that 20 percent of Pakistan's population is adversely affected. The figures are that up to 13 million are affected and about six million are so devastated they are homeless.

Over a billion dollars in aid has been rushed to Pakistan from the world community. America has already given $90 million in aid and has soldiers on the ground delivering aid from the air along with the Pakistani military. An additional amount, up to $150 million in aid, has been increased by President Obama this week.

Tens of thousands of villages in Pakistan are affected by this late July flooding of the monsoon season. It has resulted in thousands of deaths because of unsafe drinking water and the diseases that follow large natural disasters.

Pakistan's floods were brought about by 16 inches of rain that caused the Indus and Kabul rivers to overflow. The overflow has been rushing downstream for weeks, displacing millions of people.




This image is from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument on NASA's Terra spacecraft. It was taken over the city of Sukkur, Pakistan, this week along the Indus River. The Indus River is Pakistan's longest river. It snakes vertically from north to south. This river also provides the world's largest canal-based irrigation system.

*** Photo by NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team





Enter an unusually large monsoon season into the north. Those floods would move downstream along the Indus and Kabul rivers, rushing toward the only outlet at the Arabian Sea.

The first image here was taken more than a year ago on 31 July 2009, depicting the normal state of the Indus River. The second image is from the Landsat-5 satellite and shows the huge flood waters from this past week.

*** Photo by NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC.





This aerial view is from a U.S. Navy MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopter. It depicts extensive flooding in Pakistan's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province this week. This squadron of helicopters in involved in humanitarian flood relief efforts: Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron 15.

*** Photo by U.S. Marine Corps photo by Capt. Paul Duncan





This photo is what is called a false color image and comes from the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument aboard NASA's Terra spacecraft. The areas of farmland and vegetation affected by the flooding are shown in red.

The top image was taken over a year ago, on 8 August 2009. Here the Indus River is flowing through the Sindh Province of Pakistan. Normally, when not a flood season, this river is only about one kilometer wide. The second image was taken on 11 August 2010 and depicts how the river has swollen to an astonishing 23 kilometers wise, even more in some spots.

*** Photo by NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, MISR Team






The top image is from Landsat-5 satellite, taken over a year ago on 9 August 2009. The second image, taken in mid-August 2010, we can clearly see how the flood waters from northern Pakistan traveled downstream to flood out thousands of acres, down to the city of Khewali in southern Pakistan.

*** Photo by Robert Simmon, based on Landsat 5 data from the USGS Global Visualization Viewer.





With all the news footage we see every day on our TV news, it's hard to remember that the rain began falling in Pakistan on 28 July 2010. That's when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on NASA's Aqua spacecraft flew over Pakistan for this image. Those thunderstorm clouds ended up dropping more than 16 inches of rain over the region on July 28 and 29. Two days of rain triggered the massive flooding of the Indus and Kabul rivers.

So what's that blue vertical line across this photo? It represents the path of CloudSat at the time the MODIS image was recorded. It was CloudSat that captured the 3D vertical structure of a large thunderstorm cell in the northern section of the country to reveal the heavy precipitation. CloudSat also measured the height of the clouds to be about 15 kilometers.

What's the faint red line represent on the photo? It represents the topography of the area being photographed. The ground echo and CloudSat's signal were severely affected and diminished by the heavy rains and thick clouds. On this image the red line practically disappears until the satellite moves out of the thickest part of the storm and heaviest rains.

*** Photo by NASA/JPL/The Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA), Colorado State University



*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!

*** Come by for a visit and check out my other blogs:

The Social Poets - news, politics
The Soul Calendar - science, astronomy, psychology
Visual Insights - photos, art, music
Beautiful Illustrated Quotations - spiritual quotes, philosophy
Poems From A Spiritual Heart - poetry
The Healing Waters - health news
Dennys People Watching - people in the news
Dennys Food and Recipes
Dennys Funny Quotes - humor

New Tomb Uncovered in Egypt With Colorful Art

*** The fun side of archaeology is what you find in pristine condition after thousands of years.





From Denny: 4,200 years ago the Head of the Royal Scribes, Shendwas, father of Khonsu, died and was entombed in Egypt. His tomb was recently uncovered and what was astonishing was the artwork. It looks almost as if it were painted only recently for that's how vivid the colors are after thousands of years buried under the sand.

"The tomb includes two false doors with colorful paintings depicting the two people buried there, a father and a son who served as heads of the royal scribes," said Abdel-Hakim Karar, a top archaeologist at Saqqara.





Inscribed on the father's false door: the name of Pharaoh Pepi II, whose 90-year reign is believed to be the longest of the pharaohs. That dates the double tomb to the 6th dynasty. That time period was the beginning of the decline of the Old Kingdom. It was also known as the Age of Pyramids.

Egypt's antiquities chief, Zahi Hawass, said "the new finds were the most distinguished tombs ever found from the Old Kingdom because of their amazing colors. If the area is excavated it could unveil the largest cemetery of ancient Egypt."





Shendwas and Khonsu were identified as royal scribes and the "supervisors of the mission." That meant they were in charge of delegations overseeing the supply of materials used for pyramids construction. Who knew writers and historians had so much authority in the ancient world? :)

From the past three years of digging, there have been found six tombs dating back to the Old Kingdom. This double tomb was unearthed six weeks ago. The area in which they are digging is a large burial ground. There are tombs from Egypt's earliest history up through Roman times. Check it out.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

*** Photo by AP/Nasser Nasser


*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!

*** Come by for a visit and check out my other blogs:

The Social Poets - news, politics
The Soul Calendar - science, astronomy, psychology
Visual Insights - photos, art, music
Beautiful Illustrated Quotations - spiritual quotes, philosophy
Poems From A Spiritual Heart - poetry
The Healing Waters - health news
Dennys People Watching - people in the news
Dennys Food and Recipes
Dennys Funny Quotes - humor

Posts Roundup at Dennys Blogs - 15 Aug 2010

*** Check out news, political opinion - serious and funny cartoons, recipes, science news, health news, poetry, funny posts, photography, spiritual thoughts and great quotes.





From Denny: These are all the posts I managed to get out this week while suffering through all this crazy summer heat and humidity. This summer Louisiana didn't have the usual whiners' bragging rights about the summer heat. The rest of America got to "share" - and a lot of the world too! :)

One bit of good news: Prez Obama is thinking of lifting the oil moratorium here on the Gulf coast. Uh, yeah, put 300,000 people back to work would be helpful for this economy - not to mention the rest of America would appreciate not having their fuel prices skyrocket this winter from a low supply.

Earth to White House: It sure would be great if you would lift this moratorium immediately - and gift it to Congressman Charlie Melancon to announce it. Lifting the moratorium would help Melancon win in November against Whore House Vitter, a complete embarrassment as a senator from Louisiana. Louisiana is all a twitter and excited about getting back to work - so make it happen, Mr. Prez, and it would be much appreciated.

And to my StumbleUpon friends: Now isn't one silly email a whole lot less annoying than a bunch of "shares"? :)


The Social Poets:


Obama Blasted for Saying Religious Tolerance OK in America - Republicans try to turn the Constitution into an issue for the November elections - now they are against religious freedom for anyone not Christian.

America and World Politics Cartoons - 14 Aug 2010 - Check out the latest opinions on the economy, the November elections, the building of a mosque on Ground Zero in New York City and education in America now that budget cuts have arrived.

Obama Sends Thousands More Jobs Out of America: Mexico - Prez Obama tricked by GM to send thousands of jobs out of America and to Mexico.

Doctor Says Kids Suffer More From Gulf Oil Spill - Check out the long term impact this BP oil spill has on America's children in the Gulf region.

How Male Journalists Fight: Whiz All Over Each Other - American male journalists in the Democratic Party and the White House fuss and fight each other while the public is frustrated about the economy.

Earth to White House: Why You Are Getting Criticized - The White House is complaining it is not appreciated enough for what it has done. Here's why fellow Democrats are angry with the President.

Funny Video: Colbert Reveals Master Plan to Ruin Gay Marriage

Funny Video: Jon Stewart Comments on Gay Marriage - Californigaytion

Posts Roundup at Dennys Blogs - 8 Aug 2010 - Check out news, political opinion - serious and funny cartoons, recipes, science news, poetry, funny posts, photography, spiritual thoughts and great quotes.





The Soul Calendar:


BP Oil Spill and Global Warming Cartoons - 14 Aug 2010 - The BP oil spill continues in the news as they try to squirm out of paying for the error of their arrogant ways.

Check Out Spectacular August Perseid Meteor Showers - Look up in the middle of the night to see as many as 100 shooting stars above your head for a spectacular show brought to you by the Universe!





Beautiful Illustrated Quotations:


How Is Your Aim In Life? - How high - or how limited - are your goals in Life?

Friendship Quote: When Friends First Meet and Connect - How friendships begin and can last a life time.





The Healing Waters:


Want Others To Think You Sexy? Wear Red - How the color of red figures into our sexual preferences.

How Funny: Your Belly Button Key to Athletic Success - Check out your body type to know which sport is easier for you to excel.






Dennys Funny Quotes:


Hunh?! Cartoons - 14 Aug 2010 - Check out this week's great cartoonists and how funny everyday life can be.

Palin Memory Fails, Writes on Her Hand: Again - Strange Sarah Palin does it again and again: writes on her hand like it's an 8th grade math test for answers to cheat the test.

Weird News: Oregon Authorities Shut Down Girls Lemonade Stand - Local Oregon government looked like jerks shutting down the all American lemonade stand because the little girl didn't own a food handler's license that only adults can purchase.

Weird News: Woman Smashes McDonalds For Not Having Her Order - Check out this weird news of the day - what happens when McDonald's doesn't have what an enraged customer wants on the breakfast menu.

Funny News: 100 Year Old Scotch Whiskey Thaws Out to Drink - Strange but true: check out this funny news of the day.






Dennys People Watching:


Meet New Baby Elephant at Vienna Zoo: Big Ears - The naming process is in full swing for this one week old baby elephant born to a Vienna, Austria zoo. Vote online for your choice.






Dennys Food and Recipes:


Chef Recipe: Seared Grouper with Crawfish, Bacon Risotto, Softshell Crab - Louisiana chefs celebrate fabulous new recipes in local food and wine competition.

Easy Slow Cooker Recipe: Macaroni Chili Cheese Casserole - For back to school busy try this simple recipe for a slow cooker the whole family is sure to enjoy.

Cake Tuesday: Buttermilk Fudge Cake With Chocolate Gloss Icing - Make a stunning tasty chocolate cake to entertain your sweet tooth.

4 Easy Summer Dishes When Its Just Too Hot to Cook - Try some easy and quick summer recipes to beat the crazy heat - and avoiding cooking with any heat.






Visual Insights:


Tea Party, Republican, Gay Marriage Cartoons - 14 Aug 2010 - Check out the usual amusing rantings from the far-right-gone-over-the-edge-crazy.



*** Coffee photo by Quoquo @ flickr



*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!

*** Come by for a visit and check out my other blogs:

The Social Poets - news, politics
The Soul Calendar - science, astronomy, psychology
Visual Insights - photos, art, music
Beautiful Illustrated Quotations - spiritual quotes, philosophy
Poems From A Spiritual Heart - poetry
The Healing Waters - health news
Dennys People Watching - people in the news
Dennys Food and Recipes
Dennys Funny Quotes - humor

BP Oil Spill and Global Warming Cartoons - 14 Aug 2010

*** The BP oil spill continues in the news as they try to squirm out of paying for the error of their arrogant ways.





From Denny: Already the government and Big Business have joined hands to declare the seafood is safe to eat from the Gulf of Mexico's waters - without testing. Still no word from the White House about when BP will fund the claims fund for the billions of dollars of claims from thousands of people and businesses all across the Gulf coast that were thrown out of work when the oil spill happened.

About 300,000 people were immediately affected by this oil spill and a seafood and tourism industry impacted during the height of the summer season. Already the home foreclosures have shot up in this region for the last quarter with no end in sight. Bankruptcies are next for these businesses without BP paying their fair share of restitution.





























*** Also from this week of cartoonists sure to make you laugh:

America and World Politics Cartoons - 14 Aug 2010 - Check out the latest opinions on the economy, the November elections, the building of a mosque on Ground Zero in New York City and education in America now that budget cuts have arrived.

Hunh?! Cartoons - 14 Aug 2010 - Check out this week's great cartoonists and how funny everyday life can be.

Tea Party, Republican, Gay Marriage Cartoons - 14 Aug 2010 - Check out the usual amusing rantings from the far-right-gone-over-the-edge-crazy.




*** Bozo Sapien Award photo by I'm Fantastic @ flickr


*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!

*** Come by for a visit and check out my other blogs:

The Social Poets - news, politics
The Soul Calendar - science, astronomy, psychology
Visual Insights - photos, art, music
Beautiful Illustrated Quotations - spiritual quotes, philosophy
Poems From A Spiritual Heart - poetry
The Healing Waters - health news
Dennys People Watching - people in the news
Dennys Food and Recipes
Dennys Funny Quotes - humor

Check Out Spectacular August Perseid Meteor Showers

*** Look up in the middle of the night to see as many as 100 shooting stars above your head for a spectacular show brought to you by the Universe!





From Denny: Every August we night sky watchers get to enjoy the Perseid meteor showers. This year it's supposed to be spectacular with hundreds whizzing by in the sky for our enjoyment. It peaks from midnight to dawn. In my area there will probably be cloud cover like most years but I'm still getting up in the middle of the night hoping to catch a glimpse. Hot and humid Louisiana is not exactly the best viewing of astronomical events. :)

Meteor showers are made up of what?

This famous meteor shower is actually the exhaust plume of the comet called 109/Swift-Tuttle. We really have to work on getting scientists to employ a Romance era English professor - who secretly writes modern day romance novels on the side for outrageous income - to come up with some better and more creative names.

So here's what happens as this ST comet enters the inner solar system. As it whips around the sun it starts heating up. The ice pockets on the comet melt, pretty much skip the liquid stage just for fun, and turn into gas. Those ice pockets also spew out dust and rock chunks as the ice is coming loose. Like any good drama queen exiting the stage, as this comet exits the inner solar system, there is still the long train of a debris trail that remains for our Earth to pass through. And we on Earth find this process terribly romantic as we gaze up toward the heavens.

Planet Earth started its move into Swift-Tuttle’s stream of dust by the middle of July. "The debris is a very old stream that has been building for a long time and is a very dense concentration of dust," says Peter Jenniskens, a meteor researcher at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif.

"Indeed, if you look back at records from the Middle Ages, you can see that people in the Middle Ages were seeing the Perseid meteor shower," he says. This year the Perseid shower is trumpeted to be above average.

How much will you see?

Under the best of conditions this meteor shower may generate up to 100 meteors an hour. It all depends upon just how dark your skies are going to be so you have to know your area. If you are in an area where you can hike up to the top of a mountain you can expect to see up to 108 meteors an hour. The peak viewing hours are from 3 AM to 4 AM Eastern Standard Time. And the official word is too that our night sky will be having a double feature: a waning-gibbous moon. Read that as it's a new moon so the Perseid shower won't have to compete with a lot of moonlight.

"Earth will be passing through a denser patch of Swift-Tuttle's dust stream than usual," according to William Cooke, who heads NASA's Meteroid Environment Office at the Marshall Spaceflight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. "The main dust stream got a slight stir from Saturn, and we're also running into a patch of material the comet off-loaded in 1479," Cooke explains.







Why called the Perseid shower?

The meteors appear to be emerging from the area of the night sky that contains the constellation Perseus. For some good advice of how to photograph this event and some more detailed viewing tips check out the American Meteor Society's website.

Check out the "Fluxtimator." You can check out what is likely to happen in your area for meteor showers besides this August show of the Perseid. The graph will automatically adjust itself to give you the best viewing times for your location when you select which meteor shower, your nearest major urban area, your viewing conditions and the date. It will even tell you how many of those famous shooting stars you are likely to see.

If your alarm clock fails to rouse you tonight, don't worry. You still have a chance the next morning at about the same times.

History of the Swift-Tuttle comet

This comet was discovered as far back in history as 1862 by two astronomers: Lewis Swift and Horace Tuttle. They both saw this comet within days of each other. I guess they agreed to both claim bragging rights - so the astronomy community decided to split the difference and name the comet after both of them.

This comet swings around our sun once in every 133.28 years. The last time we saw it was back in 1992 and it will return again in 2126, assuming we all survive the Mayan predictions of 2012. Astronomers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory are pretty excited about the next visit. They say it should be spectacular because the comet will pass so close to Earth, by a distance of only 14 million miles.

The Oort cloud is where the Swift-Tuttle comet originated. The Oort cloud is this huge spherically shaped cloud made up of frozen leftovers from when the solar system was formed, about 4.6 billion years ago. The word is that when the ST comet was passing through the inner solar system that planet Jupiter took an interest and captured it. After that event about 160,000 years ago the comet's orbit around the sun shrank.

While Jupiter was successful at rounding up this comet into the zone Jupiter's gravity was not able to reel in this comet to become part of the short-period comets stable. Those guys reappear about every 20 years or even in less time. This ST comet proved difficult to tame and joined the ranks of comets like Halley's Comet, having an orbital period that could range from 20 to 200 years.

Every time the ST comet tours through the inner solar system it makes a teasing pass across Jupiter's orbit. Yet it manages to remain just out of reach of grasping Jupiter so the ST comet's travel plans and path are never significantly altered. This is one crafty stealthy comet determined to remain free to do as it will. One thing is for sure is that every time the ST comet passes by it slowly thickens that famous dust stream it leaves behind for us all on Earth to admire.

The best place to view this comet will be in the Northern Hemisphere. Yeah, since I live in south Louisiana on the Gulf of Mexico I only get to view about 30 to 40 meteors an hour - and that's at the peak. It's still worth the spectacular view in the wee hours of the morning.






To enjoy your night out watching the sky for free from the University of Texas's McDonald Observatory:

* Try to drive out to a safe and secure dark spot outside your city or town where you can reduce the light pollution that will interfere with your viewing. Be sure to arrive early enough to allow for your eyes to adjust to the dark. Here in Louisiana we do have a small observatory in a large park setting where city residents go for these events.

* Make sure you have a low horizon to the northeast. This is where the constellation Perseus will rise.

* Either lay on a blanket or a chaise lounge you've brought just for this purpose (you plan-ahead person, you) and position yourself so the horizon is just within your peripheral vision. Since Perseus moves across the night sky, be ready to tweak your viewing position as it does so.

* As the folks at the observatory say: "Treat meteor watching like you would the 4th of July fireworks. Pack comfortable chairs, bug spray, food and drinks, blankets, plus a red-filtered flashlight for reading maps and charts without ruining your night vision. Binoculars are not necessary. Your eyes will do just fine."

* If you need a quick red filter for your flashlight, try picking up a tail-light repair kit from your local auto-parts store. The red plastic works well and is fairly easy to cut.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Astronomers and the night sky Photo by Peter Petrov


*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!

*** Come by for a visit and check out my other blogs:

The Social Poets - news, politics
The Soul Calendar - science, astronomy, psychology
Visual Insights - photos, art, music
Beautiful Illustrated Quotations - spiritual quotes, philosophy
Poems From A Spiritual Heart - poetry
The Healing Waters - health news
Dennys People Watching - people in the news
Dennys Food and Recipes
Dennys Funny Quotes - humor

Posts Roundup at Dennys Blogs - 8 Aug 2010

*** Check out news, political opinion - serious and funny cartoons, recipes, science news, poetry, funny posts, photography, spiritual thoughts and great quotes.





From Denny: This week I was forced "off the grid" on two different days. Monday and to noon Tuesday my server was off line - which is rare - but when it happens on a Monday I always figure there was an obnoxious computer virus attack. Then again on Thursday we had some seriously severe thunderstorms in our area for the day, lots of intense lightning which we never used to see until this year. Even my outdoor cats made a run for inside the house with a "Make way, lady, we're running in full speed: incoming!"

Well, I made good use of the "snail time" and read some "snail books" - quite the treat when normally I'm fast paced and hard-charging. I might try this "off the grid" vacation a bit more often as it was enjoyable! Anyway, I wasn't able to publish all that I wanted to this week and will see what I can do to get caught up for you. Thanks for your continued support, much appreciated! :)


The Social Poets:


Cartoons: American Economy, Immigration, Iraq and Afghan Wars - 7 Aug 2010 - Check out what the cartoonists think this week about the smoke and mirrors going on in politics and the Afghan and Iraq Wars.

Vision of The Gardener Prophet poem - Libations Friday 6 Aug 2010 - 2012 begins early. Check out a poem of prophecy warning humanity.

What Is Prez Obama Really Thinking? Watch His Hands As He Talks - Our body language reveals much about our thoughts, telegraphing it to others if only we learn the language and how to read it.

Is The Oil Spill Really Gone in the Gulf, More Smoke And Mirrors From BP? - *** More bizarre reports from the BP and government corners trying to end the the politics about the Gulf oil spill, when all they did was stir up a hornet's nest of criticism and anger.

Speaker Pelosi Champions Unemployed, Orders House Back From Vacation - *** Speaker Pelosi relentlessly drives hard to pass two important bills: keep teachers in the classrooms and hire the unemployed out of work for two years.

Roundup of Late Night Funnies - 2 Aug 2010 - *** Check out jokes from the late night comedians about American society, funny videos from Colbert and Stewart and a few of the newest political cartoons.

Funny Video: Jon Stewart Mocks Media For Sorry WikiLeaks Reaction - *** Check out Jon Stewart as he rips to shreds, in fine mocking style, the not so stealthy WikiLeaks leaker.

Funny Video: Colberts Live Tony Hayward Cam Tracking His Slow Resignation - *** Check out Colbert's reaction to BP finally - OK, temporarily - plugging the Gulf oil leak. The best news yet is the slow motion firing of BP CEO Tony Hayward.

Posts Roundup at Dennys Blogs - 1 Aug 2010 - ** Check out news, political opinion - serious and funny cartoons, recipes, science and health news, poetry, funny posts, photography, spiritual thoughts and great quotes.






The Soul Calendar:

BP Oil Spill and WikiLeaks Spill Cartoons - 7 Aug 2010 - Check out what the cartoonists were lampooning this week, skewering BP for the Gulf oil spill and the WikiLeaks documents spill.

How Northern Lights Are Created By Sun Flares - Check out 3 video clips of the solar flares and magnetic filament in action as they create the Northern Lights on Earth.





Beautiful Illustrated Quotations:

2012: What Will Happen to Earth and Us? - What you can do to ensure your safety and survival as geologic time rapidly changes - and the resulting paradigm shift of humanity - is in the process of occurring.





Dennys Funny Quotes:


Hunh?! Just Plain Bizarre Funny Cartoons - 7 Aug 2010

Funny Video: BP Creates Rich Fish in Gulf Oil Spill - Mocking BP: An idiot public relations BP talking head points out the up side to the oil leak: the fish are rich!

Murphys 15 Laws About Sex - Yet another funny list joke making the rounds.

Funny Legal News Story: The Case of a Contraceptives Miss-taken Use - Laugh at this funny use for a contraceptive that exemplifies the kind of humorous cases found in our court systems every day sure to amuse us!

Funny Video: Colberts Sound Advice on How to Get a Job - Bad economy? No problem. Comic Stephen Colbert to the employment rescue to help you land that all important life-changing job.

Funny Video: Surfing Group Known as The Radical Rodents - Laugh at these funny talented rodents surfing the waves in Australia.




Dennys People Watching:

Ethics Investigations in Congress Cartoons - 7 Aug 2010 - Check out what the cartoonists had to say this week about political corruption and the Speaker's promise to drain The Swamp. Washington, D.C. sits on a literal swamp so it's natural to get a few rats running around the place.




Dennys Food and Recipes:

Chef Bergeron Appetizer: Zucchini Cakes With Unusual Garlic Dill Sour Cream Mayo Sauce - Check out a simple veggie recipe that can be an appetizer or served as an entree, your choice. And what an unusual outstanding yummy sauce.

Cake Tuesday: Italian Cream Cake - One of my favorite cakes to order a slice for dessert when we dine out - and also an easy cake to make at home!

Muffin Monday: Coconut Muffins - Check out this simple easy recipe and enjoy a sweet breakfast or afternoon snack.




Visual Insights:


Gay Marriage and Society Cartoons - 7 Aug 2010 - The more things change, the more they remain the same. As gays battle for their right to marry, soon they discover the same marital experiences as everyone else. Check out the cartoonists this week.

Funny Photos: How Your Brain Can Be Fooled - Funny photos that prove how easy it is to fool your brain into interpreting a photo to mean something other than is actually true.




*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!

*** Come by for a visit and check out my other blogs:

The Social Poets - news, politics
The Soul Calendar - science, astronomy, psychology
Visual Insights - photos, art, music
Beautiful Illustrated Quotations - spiritual quotes, philosophy
Poems From A Spiritual Heart - poetry
The Healing Waters - health news
Dennys People Watching - people in the news
Dennys Food and Recipes
Dennys Funny Quotes - humor

BP Oil Spill and WikiLeaks Spill Cartoons - 7 Aug 2010

*** Check out what the cartoonists were lampooning this week, skewering BP for the Gulf oil spill and the WikiLeaks documents spill.





Yet another clever idea from BP on how to disperse the Gulf oil spill politically...




Oil Spill:













Since I live in Louisiana this cartoon is a personal favorite, considering all the garbage BP has put everyone through here - and still continues lying and giving hollow promises they never plan to keep:





















































The President's low popularity after the oil spill mess:







Blackened Gulf of Mexico Red Snapper on the menu:







... and climate legislation filibustered like every other legislation that makes common sense and is needed by the American public but not wanted by Big Business interests:







WikiLeaks, another kind of "spill":

















*** And for more fun from the cartoonists this week check out:

Hunh?! Just Plain Bizarre Funny Cartoons - 7 Aug 2010

Gay Marriage and Society Cartoons - 7 Aug 2010

Ethics Investigations in Congress Cartoons - 7 Aug 2010

BP Oil Spill and WikiLeaks Spill Cartoons - 7 Aug 2010

Cartoons: American Economy, Immigration, Iraq and Afghan Wars - 7 Aug 2010


*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!

*** Come by for a visit and check out my other blogs:

The Social Poets - news, politics
The Soul Calendar - science, astronomy, psychology
Visual Insights - photos, art, music
Beautiful Illustrated Quotations - spiritual quotes, philosophy
Poems From A Spiritual Heart - poetry
The Healing Waters - health news
Dennys People Watching - people in the news
Dennys Food and Recipes
Dennys Funny Quotes - humor

How Northern Lights Are Created By Sun Flares

*** Check out 3 video clips of the solar flares and magnetic filament in action as they create the Northern Lights on Earth.





From Denny: The Northern Lights are quite the spectacular celestial show. Right about now I wished I lived back up in Maine or along the Canadian border to be able to view this month's show in the night sky. The past few days our sun has been busy throwing off sun flares and magnetic filament to create the Northern Lights phenomenon.

The three clips feature just how spectacular the sun looks right now while space expert James Oberg explains how this celestial show can affect us here on Earth. With sun flares there are often satellite issues and that involves bank transactions like when you go to pump gas and your credit card won't scan or record the transaction because of the magnetic interference from the heavens. Oh, well, stuff your pockets full of cash if you want to travel or sit back and just enjoy the show in the night sky.







Space expert James Oberg explains what's behind the Northern Lights show:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Spectacular video of the sun in this news clip:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Check out NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory capturing sun flares which create the wonderful Northern Lights phenomenon:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

*** Update 5 Aug 2010: Missed Tuesday's northern lights show? Another is on its way.

For folks along the northern rim of the US, a second chance to see the northern lights will come when another solar outburst hits Earth Wednesday or Thursday.

Aurora-forecast page


*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!

*** Come by for a visit and check out my other blogs:

The Social Poets - news, politics
The Soul Calendar - science, astronomy, psychology
Visual Insights - photos, art, music
Beautiful Illustrated Quotations - spiritual quotes, philosophy
Poems From A Spiritual Heart - poetry
The Healing Waters - health news
Dennys People Watching - people in the news
Dennys Food and Recipes
Dennys Funny Quotes - humor

Posts Roundup at Dennys Blogs - 1 Aug 2010

*** Check out news, political opinion - serious and funny cartoons, recipes, science and health news, poetry, funny posts, photography, spiritual thoughts and great quotes.







The Social Poets:


WikiLeaks, America, Tea Party, World Politics Cartoons - 31 July 2010

Walk The World poem - Libations Friday 30 July 2010 - A poem about sharing our life with others - when we are both in need - to receive the greatest gift.

Is The Middle Class Almost Extinct in America?

Funny Brain Quotes - Cheeky Quote Day - 28 July 2010

How Devastating Are Those 92,000 Wikileaks Leaked Afghan War Docs?

Monday Morning Brain Owners Manual

Roundup of Late Night Funnies - 26 July 2010

Funny Video: Colbert On The Environment - Run! Animals!

Funny Video: Colbert Cleans Up the Gulf

Funny Video: Sarah Palins Geography Song 50 Nifty States

Funny Video: Colbert On The Environment - Awww, Animals!

Monday Morning Brain Owners Manual

Posts Roundup of Dennys Blogs - 25 July 2010





The Healing Waters:


Easy Steps You Can Take For Computer Eye Strain

Can Child Abuse Cause Heart Attacks Later in Life?

Celebrities Who Fought Postpartum Depression





Beautiful Illustrated Quotations:


17 Short Beautiful Love Poems

What Do You Feel About Love?




The Soul Calendar:


BP Oil Spill Cartoons - 31 July 2010

Giant Asteroid Threatens Earth In 170 Years





Dennys Food and Recipes:


Cake Tuesday: Chef Bobby Flays Throwdown Competition Carrot Cake, Coconut Cake

Chef Spike Monday: Fun Recipes For Pizza, Burger and Salads

Chocolate Bread Pudding in a Slow Cooker





Dennys Funny Quotes:


Funny Hunh?! Cartoons - 31 July 2010

Funny Video: Colbert On The Environment - Wimpy Treehuggers, Dirty Hippies

Funny Video: Kimmel Says Palin Is Like The Eskimo Don King





Visual Insights:


Music: Paul McCartney Honored at Obama White House

Music News - A Song Of Longing: Harmony to My Heartbeat

Dennys Photo Gallery: Summer Heat Wave




*** Photo by heliosphan @ flickr


*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!

*** Come by for a visit and check out my other blogs:

The Social Poets - news, politics
The Soul Calendar - science, astronomy, psychology
Visual Insights - photos, art, music
Beautiful Illustrated Quotations - spiritual quotes, philosophy
Poems From A Spiritual Heart - poetry
The Healing Waters - health news
Dennys People Watching - people in the news
Dennys Food and Recipes
Dennys Funny Quotes - humor