Magazine Posts

I cannot sleep.
I want to deride,
The crazy thoughts,
In my head.
Thoughts so inane,
Mustn't be read,
For they're private.
I'll fib instead.
I see hurt,
Something I dread.
I want not,
Tears to shed.
I will now
Return to bed.

Why are the children in this land
in pain and hunger? I don't understand,
why the politicians, look away
and forgo a relief bill on this day.
The loss of jobs, the loss of life,
has come to this prosperous land.
Is this "Making America Great Again?"
Where is our leader? It's his command,
yet he disappears. A cowardly chump.
Come on Donald or Don John Trump.
Your are weak, of this we see.
A failure now in our history.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Clouds of glowing hydrogen gas fill this colorful skyscape in the faint but fanciful constellation Monoceros, the Unicorn. A star forming region cataloged as NGC 2264, the complex jumble of cosmic gas and dust is about 2,700 light-years distant and mixes reddish emission nebulae excited by energetic light from newborn stars with dark interstellar dust clouds. Where the otherwise obscuring dust clouds lie close to the hot, young stars they also reflect starlight, forming blue reflection nebulae. The telescopic image spans about 1.5 degrees or 3 full moons, covering nearly 80 light-years at the distance of NGC 2264. Its cast of cosmic characters includes the the Fox Fur Nebula, whose dusty, convoluted pelt lies left of center, bright variable star S Monocerotis immersed in the blue-tinted haze near center, and the Cone Nebula pointing in from the right side of the frame. Of course, the stars of NGC 2264 are also known as the Christmas Tree star cluster. The triangular tree shape is seen on its side here. Traced by brighter stars it has its apex at the Cone Nebula. The tree's broader base is centered near S Monocerotis.

Photo by Miguel Claro

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Orion always seems to come up sideways on northern winter evenings. Those familiar stars of the constellation of the Hunter are caught above the trees in this colorful night skyscape. Not a star at all but still visible to eye, the Great Nebula of Orion shines below the Hunter's belt stars. The camera's exposure reveals the stellar nursery's faint pinkish glow. Betelgeuse, giant star at Orion's shoulder, has the color of warm and cozy terrestrial lighting, but so does another familiar stellar giant, Aldebaran. Alpha star of the constellation Taurus the Bull, Aldebaran anchors the recognizable V-shape traced by the Hyades Cluster toward the top of the starry frame.

Photo by Adam Block

Merry Christmas, merry Christmas to all
We have managed this year
Thank goodness to you all.
A hard year, it was indeed,
When so many of our citizens
Have been left with a great need.
Here is my wish for all of you,
Peace be upon thee
For all which you do.
The merriest of Christmas to you.

Write not the words,
your thoughts or your deeds,
for no one in Government
seems to care about your needs.
A Co-vid relief check
in March it was sent.
I didn't choose to leave work.
You shut down our employers.
The responsibility you shirk,
while you argue in Congress therein
when both parties behave like a jerk.
What you do to the citizens is a sin.
Now, get back to work during
the governments failure, in the din
and help all the citizens recover,
a way which was lost,
Provide the needed relief,
no matter the cost.

I don't believe you are ignorant.
I don't believe you are dumb.
I do believe it was Flim Flam,
to which you did succumb.
You did not use facts or reason,
to find holes in his presentation,
as his glibness, his promises,
confused many in our great nation.

I am not a poet,
I am not a bard,
for many of my writings
are actually quite hard.
So difficult to write,
not many but a few.
I will write for myself,
but do write for you.

I have no time. No time to be free.
I'm sorry my darling, for you
Take the life out of me.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Big, beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 1055 is a dominant member of a small galaxy group a mere 60 million light-years away toward the aquatically intimidating constellation Cetus. Seen edge-on, the island universe spans over 100,000 light-years, a little larger than our own Milky Way galaxy. The colorful, spiky stars decorating this cosmic portrait of NGC 1055 are in the foreground, well within the Milky Way. But the telltale pinkish star forming regions are scattered through winding dust lanes along the distant galaxy's thin disk. With a smattering of even more distant background galaxies, the deep image also reveals a boxy halo that extends far above and below the central bluge and disk of NGC 1055. The halo itself is laced with faint, narrow structures, and could represent the mixed and spread out debris from a satellite galaxy disrupted by the larger spiral some 10 billion years ago.

Photo by Martin Pugh

"A symbolic moment of peace, grace, and humility amidst one of humanity’s most violent and disgraceful events".
"In December of 1914, a series of grassroots, unofficial ceasefires took hold of the Western Front in the heat of WWI. On Christmas, soldiers from an estimated 100,000 British and German troops began to exchange seasonal greetings and sing songs across the trenches",........ Continue Reading

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

It was time for their close-up. Two days ago Jupiter and Saturn passed a tenth of a degree from each other in what is known a Great Conjunction. Although the two planets pass each other on the sky every 20 years, this was the closest pass in nearly four centuries. Taken early in day of the Great Conjunction, the featured multiple-exposure combination captures not only both giant planets in a single frame, but also Jupiter's four largest moons (left to right) Callisto, Ganymede, Io, and Europa -- and Saturn's largest moon Titan. If you look very closely, the clear Chilescope image even captures Jupiter's Great Red Spot. The now-separating planets can still be seen remarkably close -- within about a degree -- as they set just after the Sun, toward the west, each night for the remainder of the year. Gallery: Notable images of the Great Conjunction submitted to APOD

Photo by Damian Peach