Poll: Obama's First 100 Days

This is the poll I have on my LiveJournal blog. Thought I'd share it here so you could grade in the Comments area and discuss.

clipped from seshen.livejournal.com Poll #1392156 The first 100 days Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All How would you grade President Obama's first 100 days? A: He's done an excellent job so far. Very impressive. B: It's been a reasonably good 100 days. I'm feeling optimistic. C: Fair job, but I was expecting more. D: He's down near the bottom rung of Presidential successes. F: OMG. We are SO doomed.

Druid symbol on veterans' headstones

clipped from paganwiccan.about.com To date I have not received any new letters from vets stating their desire to have the ‘Awen’ symbol on their headstones, nor any copies of letters to next of kin or clergy stating the same. It will be very hard to proceed with this cause as a religious freedom issue unless we can show that there are Druid vets out there who want the symbol. The campaign is at a critical point once again and we really need those letters. Can you please alert your members? It is a good idea to get letters from Druid vets and Druids on active duty in the US military who state that they have the Awen symbol as their emblem of belief and that they want it added to the Va’s list of emblems of belief that can be included on gravestones it issues for deceased veterans. Their letters should state that after death, they would like the Awen included on their VA-issued grave marker which will be ordered by next of kin.

Vernal Equinox - Busting the Myth of Balancing Eggs

clipped from www.universetoday.com Spring officially arrives for everyone, including astronomers on March 20. The word "Equinox" literally means "equal night". It's all about the balance of light - not the myth of balancing eggs. On the universal date (UTC) of Friday, March 20, 2009 at 11:44 (am) both the day and night are the same length. But what's so special about it? It's a date that most of us recognize as symbolic of changing href="http://www.universetoday.com/guide-to-space/earth/why-earth-has-seasons/" rel=external>seasons. North of href="http://www.universetoday.com/guide-to-space/earth/" rel=external>Earth's equator we welcome Spring, while people south of the equator are gearing up for the cooler temperatures of Autumn. So where did the urban myth of balance eggs on vernal equinox come from? It may very well have been the good folks in China who orginally began the myth by patiently practicing standing eggs on end during vernal equinox to symbolize the restoration of balance to the world after a season of darkness. If this symbol of fertility could be balanced on such a day of significance, then surely nature was in harmony!

Spirituality, not religion, makes kids happy

clipped from www.msnbc.msn.com The link between spirituality and happiness is pretty well-established for teens and adults. More spirituality brings more happiness. Now a study has reached into the younger set, finding the same link in "tweens" and in kids in middle childhood. Specifically, the study shows that children who feel that their lives have meaning and value and who develop deep, quality relationships — both measures of spirituality, the researchers claim — are happier.  Personal aspects of spirituality (meaning and value in one's own life) and communal aspects (quality and depth of inter-personal relationships) were both strong predictors of children's happiness, However, religious practices were found to have little effect on children's happiness, Holder said. The relationship between spirituality and happiness remained strong However, counterintuitively, religious practices — including attending church, praying and meditating — had little effect on a child's happiness.

checking in, ya'll....

I haven't really used this blog much, but since Blogspot seems to be popular, might as well drop by now and again. ;) So look for more posts here in the future.

Check out my web sites! I have a new personal site up, as well as a web portal for the San Antonio pagan community.

Fortunetelling Ban Tossed

clipped from www.2theadvocate.com A Livingston Parish Council ordinance outlawing fortunetelling and soothsaying is unconstitutional, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. A Wiccan minister, Cliff Eakin, sued the parish over the ordinance, asserting inspiration from the divine transmitted by a Wiccan minister should be treated legally the same way as a message from God transmitted to a congregation by a Christian minister. Under the First Amendment, the government can’t prohibit the expression of an idea just because society finds the idea disagreeable, according to the opinion by U.S. District Judge James J. Brady of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District. Eakin said that a Wiccan who accepts a donation for telling fortunes, for instance, shouldn’t be treated any differently from ministers or churches accepting  tithes for passing on instructions on what they believe is God’s will.

Video shows Palin in anti-witchcraft prayer

Here's the video; a number of interesting quotes, but the prayer comes near the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkViRp6W5oE

clipped from www.guardian.co.uk A video has emerged showing Sarah Palin playing a central role in a church service in Alaska in which witchcraft is denounced. Thomas Muthee, a Kenyan who is a regular preacher at Palin's local Pentecostal church in Wasilla, made a passionate plea to defeat witchcraft and other supposed enemies of Palin during a sermon three years ago. The role of the witchfinder in the life of the vice-presidential candidate running mate raises new questions about how much his team investigated her background before naming her as John McCain's running mate. The video, available on YouTube, shows Palin standing in front of him at the service, head bowed, her hands held by two members of the congregation. He spoke about the hindrances she faced from her enemies. "In the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus, every form of witchcraft is what you rebuke. In the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus, father make away now," Muthee said.