Try, by Pink. Thanks Peter.

Take a moment to listen, really listen to this song by Pink.  We all have to get up.  We all have to "Try."

Spring has Sprung...Check Out the Lineup...

2013 Equinox, Solstice & Cross-Quarter Moments TIME TABLES FOR: 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Other Zone Offsets Eastern Europe UT +2 hrs. Moscow UT +3 hrs. Middle East UT +3 hrs. Afghanistan UT +4.5 hrs. Pakistan UT +5 hrs. India UT +5.5 hrs. China UT +8 hrs. Japan UT +9 hrs. EVENT Hawaiian Standard Alaskan Pacific Mountain Central Eastern Atlantic Newf'lnd UT Western Europe Central Europe Perth Darwin Sydney New Zealand Imbolc February 3 August 7* 05:57 06:57 07:57 08:57 09:57 10:57 11:57 12:27 15:57 15:57 16:57 16:21 17:51 18:21 20:21 Vernal Equinox March 20 September 23 01:02 03:02 04:02 05:02 06:02 07:02 08:02 08:32 11:02 11:02 12:02 04:44 06:14 06:44 08:44 Beltaine 5/4 May 5 November 7 22:05 00:05 01:05 02:05 03:05 04:05 05:05 05:35 08:05 09:05 10:05 14:07 15:37* 16:07* 19:07 Summer Solstice June 20 June 21 December 22 19:04 21:04 22:04 23:04 00:04 01:04 02:04 02:34 05:04 06:04 07:04 01:11 02:41* 03:11* 06:11 Lughnasad 8/6 August 7 2/3 February 4 22:21 00:21 01:21 02:21 03:21 04:21 05:21 05:51 08:21 09:21 10:21 23:57 01:27* 01:57* 04:57 Autumnal Equinox September 22 March 20 3/21 10:44 12:44 13:44 14:44 15:44 16:44 17:44 18:14 20:44 21:44 22:44 19:02 20:32* 21:02* 00:02 Samhain November 6 November 7 May 5 20:07 21:07 22:07 23:07 00:07 01:07 02:07 02:37 06:07 06:07 07:07 16:05 17:35 18:05 20:05 Winter Solstice December 21 June 21 07:11 08:11 09:11 10:11 11:11 12:11 13:11 13:41 17:11 17:11 18:11 13:04 14:34 15:04 17:04 foot notes Equinox and Solstice data from the U.S. Naval Observatory, Washington DC. Cross-Quarter moments are interpolated as the midway points between the Solstices and Equinoxes measured in degrees along the ecliptic. Former NASA scientist Rollin Gillespie uses this spatial method rather than simply splitting in half the time interval between a Solstice and an Equinox. * Southern Hemisphere seasons are opposite those north of the Equator.

Apple Credits ©2013 TransVision

10 Wonders Of The Universe - a Must Watch!

Check out this great MSN video - 10 Wonders Of The Universe

As Posted by a Vet - It's Time to Clean House

Someone Give Me an Amen....just for fun

Someone Give Me an Amen...New Pope, New Hope

While I am not Catholic, I do follow the news.  With that, I must state this:  Someone give me an Amen.  They chose a down-to-earth, truly in love with life and this world, individual.  One that will force the reality of religion down the throats of all, just by being himself.
****************

First for breaking news and analysis: Compelling world news stories from NBC News journalists. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Trading in the bus for a butler: The new pope's new lifestyle

After distancing himself from the traditional pomp and privilege of his new title, Pope Francis – known for his sincerity and frugality – has shown every indication that he plans to remain an educator and a pastor in addition to all of his other responsibilities. NBC's Anne Thompson reports.

By Jeff Black and Tracy Connor, NBC News

The Mercedes popemobile. The 10-room penthouse apartment. The Swiss Guards.
The worldly trappings of the papacy will be a big adjustment for a former prince of the church who tried to live like a pauper.

Slideshow: Pope Francis: His life before the papacy

© Reuters Photographer / Reuters / REUTERS

Pope Francis was known for his common touch when he was cardinal of Argentina.

Launch slideshow

Before he was Pope Francis, Argentinian archbishop Jorge Bergoglio was known for shunning the perks of the job -- the palace, the chauffeur, the red vestments -- for a simpler life befitting a Jesuit priest.
Now that he's leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, the man who took a vow of poverty at age 22 will have to get off the bus and get used to having a butler.
Or maybe it's the Vatican that's in for a change. Within minutes of being named pontiff, the new boss was already putting a stamp of simplicity on papal life.

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He did not sit on the papal throne to receive the cardinals, he didn't don a red cloak over his white cassock, and he declined to take an official car back to the hotel, opting to take the bus with the rest of the group, a Vatican spokesman said Thursday.
In Buenos Aires, Bergoglio walked to his office and often used buses -- likened by one travel writer to "old men in a bar – loud, smoky, rough around the edges" -- to get around town.

Osservatore Romano / Reuters file

He used to take the bus, but this is Pope Francis' new ride.

Just Shake It....

If life were simpler, shakin' it wouldn't toss the dice to our demise.  Hell, shake it anyways.  You never know what you might come up with.

Our Lives Revealed?

We've all grown with the knowledge of God.  Myself, I've always believed in a higher power - not necessarily the God we know from the Bible.  I am a science-minded individual, and believe that what we are, where we are, how we came to be here, and what happens next is entirely related to the power of the universe.

******************************

Physicists claim they have found a Higgs boson

5 hr ago By John Heilprin of Associated Press

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The long-sought subatomic particle, also known as the "God particle," was considered a missing cornerstone of physics.

GENEVA — The search is all but over for a subatomic particle that is a crucial building block of the universe.
Physicists announced Thursday they believe they have discovered the subatomic particle predicted nearly a half-century ago, which will go a long way toward explaining what gives electrons and all matter in the universe size and shape.
Related: Will the confirmation of the Higgs boson particle validate Doomsday for mankind?
The elusive particle, called a Higgs boson, was predicted in 1964 to help fill in our understanding of the creation of the universe, which many theorize occurred in a massive explosion known as the Big Bang. The particle was named for Peter Higgs, one of the physicists who proposed its existence, but it later became popularly known as the "God particle."
The discovery would be a strong contender for the Nobel Prize. Last July, scientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, announced finding a particle they described as Higgs-like, but they stopped short of saying conclusively that it was the same particle or was some version of it.
Scientists have now finished going through the entire set of data.
"The preliminary results with the full 2012 data set are magnificent and to me it is clear that we are dealing with a Higgs boson, though we still have a long way to go to know what kind of Higgs boson it is," said Joe Incandela, a physicist who heads one of the two main teams at CERN, each involving several thousand scientists.
Whether or not it is a Higgs boson is demonstrated by how it interacts with other particles and its quantum properties, CERN said in the statement. After checking, scientists said the data "strongly indicates that it is a Higgs boson."
The results were announced in a statement by the Geneva-based CERN and released at a physics conference in the Italian Alps.
CERN's atom smasher, the $10 billion Large Hadron Collider that lies beneath the Swiss-French border, has been creating high-energy collisions of protons to investigate how the universe came to be the way it is.
The particle's existence helps confirm the theory that objects gain their size and shape when particles interact in an energy field with a key particle, the Higgs boson. The more they attract, so the theory goes, the bigger their mass will be.
___
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For the Children: Mine and Yours

We can save this world for them.  It just takes courage and strength.  Please, let's let them dance.

Parental Alienation: There is Hope

If you or someone you know is involved in an ongoing battle over the custody of children, please read the following article extracted from breakthroughparenting.com.  There is light at the end of the tunnel.  So, never give up hope.

******************************

Parents Who Have Successfully Fought Parental Alienation Syndrome by Jayne A. Major, Ph.D. Nothing stirs up passions more than the controversy generated when parents are at war over the custody of a child.      A controversy is an issue where evidence on both sides can make a compelling case. It is never black and white, but when people have their emotions aroused, an issue can quickly turn into two polar opposites.       Fear takes over reason, incomplete facts become evidence, and court calendars become jammed with repeat visits to a judge to try to bring sanity to what is unlikely to ever be sane. On top of this, social movements are promoting one side over another in their clamor for justice. Politicians are lobbied to pass laws to bring order to chaos. Gender wars are fueled and lives are destroyed.       My exposure to custody wars came from the mothers and fathers attending my Breakthrough Parenting® classes at The Parent Connection, Inc., an agency that I founded in Los Angeles in 1983.      Many of the parents in my classes were litigating over child custody. Most said that they wanted to settle the case, but none of them would settle by giving up all access to their child, which seemed to be the only other alternative open to them.      It was disturbing to see that in many of these cases, the child was behaving outrageously, to the point of cursing one of their parents, and kicking, spitting, and calling them stupid, mean and horrible.        What can you do when one parent is intractable and vitriolic? What can you do when the child becomes caught up in the fight and starts taking sides? I came to realize that this level of conflict in custody disputes was a fallout from sweeping societal changes. What has changed?       In the 1960's and the 1970's, feminists told fathers that they should take a more active role in raising their children. Women were going to work, going back to college and pursuing careers as never before.       A shift then began, and fathers became more involved in the day-to-day care of their children than was true in previous generations.       As rigidity about parental roles began to fall away, the tender years doctrine was still in place. This doctrine presumed that by virtue of the fact that a woman was the mother of a child, that she must be the superior parent. In the early 1970's several states passed "no-fault" divorce laws, where anyone who wanted out of a marriage was free to leave. Some have called it the "no guilt laws." There was a proliferation of divorce that was historically unprecedented.       After a family breakup, many fathers wanted to continue to be involved with the care of their children. Suddenly, they found that they had no legal right to have custody of their children unless the mother agreed to it.  Due to the lobbying efforts of James Cook, founder of the Joint Custody Association, who was caught up in this problem himself, the California legislature successfully passed the first joint custody laws.  Joint custody was widely seen as a better way of handling the evolving problem of how to share child custody. It was believed that it would lead to fewer fights over the custody of children because it was more equal. Other states also passed joint custody laws. These laws helped to level the playing field for fathers.       The majority of mothers and fathers welcomed joint custody. Others did not. As with any trend, there was a backlash. Child custody became a highly political gender-specific issue. Thus, the ramping up of high-level disputes also began in the 70's.

How the United States Government Really Works

House  of Cards

I just recently started watching this incredible Netflix original series, and so should you if you'd like to know how our government really works.  If you think they're looking out for OUR best interests, think again.

Oysters: If You Believe this One, I've Got a Bridge to Sell You

While the following excerpt taken from the Gulf Coast Initiative's website reads as though our oyster population came through the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster with flying colors, note the closing paragraph where it indicates that the data may be skewed due to the timing of the research study, and the "possible" lack of exposure to oil.   Well, isn't that the goal of the research?  To determine the direct effects of the crude oil AND Corexit on the food chain?

As oysters are filter-feeders, and, are part of Mother Nature's water purification system, additional, continuing research needs to be conducted.

Nearly three years post oil disaster, some of the most horrific ramifications to the Gulf of Mexico and its inhabitants are just now becoming apparent.  If the oyster population hasn't been harmed by the spill and the Corexit, then why is Apalachicola Bay a dead zone - its oyster population nearly extinct?

I guess my point is this:  Take everything you read with a grain of salt.  Just because it is "written," doesn't mean it's true! Especially where research was made possible by "big oil" funding.

AND CONSIDER THIS... perhaps there is no discernable difference pre and post the BP oil spill, because crude oil has been leeching into the Gulf for a much longer period of time than the oil companies, and the government will admit to.

*********************************

Studies Indicate that Oyster Tissue and Shell were Similar in Pre- and Post- Oil Spill Conditions

– February 11, 2013

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(Click to enlarge) Oysters C. virginica from Louisiana. (Photo credit: Phil DeVries)

Separate groups of scientists studying the Deepwater Horizon oil spill impacts on oysters along the Gulf coast recently published their findings in two journals: the November 2012 issue of Environmental Science and Technology: Assimilation of oil-derived elements by oysters due to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill; and the December 2011 issue of Journal of Shellfish Research: Chemical and physiological measures on oysters Crassostrea virginica from oil-exposed sites in Louisiana.

Drs. Ruth Carmichael and Thomas Soniat led studies using the eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, as an indicator for potential oil spill effects on local food webs along Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama coasts. Oysters are a species of choice for ecosystem studies because they are economically and ecologically valuable to the Gulf region and because their tissue and shell act like powerful recorders of their environment.

The Soniat team looked for biological responses, such as increased susceptibility to disease and reduced reproductive capability, to hydrocarbon contaminants in oyster tissue. Researchers recorded oyster health, sex, and gonadal condition; analyzed tissue for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs); and measured environmental conditions of temperature, salinity, and oxygen. The Carmichael team looked for consumption of oil-derived organic material, including six trace elements most likely to

(Click to enlarge) Oysters collected at one of the sampling sites off the Louisiana coast. (Photo credit: Thomas Soniat)

indicate exposure to oil hydrocarbons, in new shell growth of oysters as well as in their tissue. Researchers analyzed stable isotopes in oysters and in suspended particulate matter available as food and compared them with weathered and fresh oil. Neither study found evidence of oil-related contamination at levels above prior background or pre-spill conditions.  Soniat’s results found that PAH levels, environmental conditions and reproductive capacity in oyster samples were similar in oiled and unoiled areas six months after the capping of the wellhead. Carmichael’s results found that oil-derived elements did not have a statistically significant influence on the stable isotope composition of oyster samples.

Soniat cautioned that his group’s results not be over applied because of the study’s spatial and temporal limitations. Carmichael suggested that her group’s findings have alternate possibilities including the oysters not consuming oil materials during their period of study or oyster samples consuming  too little to detect. Both studies point to complexities in interpreting and isolating potential effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

(Click to enlarge) Oyster sampling sites along the Gulf coast for studies led by Dr. Thomas Soniat and by Dr. Ruth Carmichael.

The study authors are:
Ruth H. Carmichael, Amanda L. Jones, Heather K. Patterson, William C. Walton, Alberto Perez-Huerta, Edward B. Overton, Meghan Dailey, and Kristine L. Willett (Environmental Science & Technology 2012 46 (23), 12787-12795); and Thomas. M. Soniat, Matthew A. Tarr, and Megan A. Thorne (Journal of Shellfish Research 2011 30, (3) 713-717).

This research was made possible in part by Grants from BP/The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) through the Alabama Marine Environmental Science Consortium and the Northern Gulf Institute . The GoMRI is a 10-year, $500 million independent research program established by an agreement between BP and the Gulf of Mexico Alliance to study the effects of the Deepwater Horizon incident and the potential associated impact of this and similar incidents on the environment and public health.