Do Not Lose Your Head on Halloween

 

Headless Horseman by Jurei Chan

 

What fearful shapes and shadows beset his path, 

amidst the dim and ghastly glare of a snowy night! 

With what wistful look did he eye every trembling ray of

light streaming across the waste fields from some distant window! 

How often was he appalled by some shrub covered with snow, 

which, like a sheeted spectre, beset his very path! 

How often did he shrink with curdling awe

at the sound of his own steps on the 
frosty crust beneath his feet;

and dread to look over his shoulder, 

lest he should behold some uncouth being
tramping close behind him! and how often was 
he thrown into complete dismay by some rushing blast,
howling among the trees, in the idea that it was 
the Galloping Hessian on one of his nightly scourings!

Washington Irving  
The Legend of Sleep Hollow

Toxic Algae Turning Florida Rivers Green

Think of Florida and what comes to mind? White sand, blue water and temperate climate. However, many of the crystal blue waters of rivers, springs and Gulf that make Florida such a tourist attraction are becoming green and choked with toxic algae.

Microcystis bloom on Goodby's Creek, Jacksonville, FL.

Pollution--caused by inadequately treated nitrogen and phosphorus in sewage, manure and fertilizer-- is the cause of this change to the waterways.  This type of pollution is preventable.

Do not drink, swim, fish or even breathe around this algae.

The algae, which kills fish, makes the water bright green and smell like raw sewage is highly toxic. Health authorities say you should not touch, drink it or swim in it. The algae in the water can give you rashes, respiratory problems, and even kill you.

Dona Nobis Pacem (Grant Us Peace)

Greater minds than mine have grappled with the concept of peace and what it means to us. Now, we are finding ourselves at war the same countries over and over.

Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than we know about peace, more about killing than we know about living. We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount.
General Omar N. Bradley (1893-1981), American military leader.

Please visit with peacebloggers on FaceBook, Twitter, Mimi Writes and many of sites around the world. By 11/4, I will have a different peace globe on each of my blogs.

• blog.TexasRVTravel.com
• Advertising-for-Success.blogspot.com
• CoolAdzine.blogspot.com
• EndangeredSpaces.blogspot.com

I am a peacenik from way back. I have been promoting peace for 30 years and blogging for peace for 5 years. I love to make the globes. It is great fun and Mimi (peace lady) keeps the globes on line for everyone to enjoy.

Why do I blog for peace? If I can cause one mind to doubt, to study further, to ask questions, then I have done something that would not have been done if I had not tried. Try, won't you?

Find everything you need to know:  http://mimiwrites.blogspot.com/p/blogblast-for-peace-2011-how-to-get.html


Tags: blog blast for peace, peace bloggers, peace globes, mimiwrites, november 4

Hallowmas : Samhain : All Saints Day

Celtic Woman by Hastings

The holiday we call Halloween is actually three celebrations: eve of All Saints, All Saints Day and All Souls Day.

Over 2,000 years ago, the Celtics (Druids) believed that Samhain (October 31), marked the end of the summer harvest and and the beginning of the dark, cold winter. On Samhain, Druids built huge bonfires and wore costumes of animal heads and skins to keep the dead away. Soothsaying and sacrifices were the main activities of this night. When the morning of November 1 dawned, the villagers lit their hearth fires from the central bonfire to celebrate the beginning of a new year.

Under Roman rule two celebrations–Feralia, commemorating the passing of the dead, and Pomona, for the Roman goddess of fruit and trees–were added to the celebration of Samhain.

In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 as All Saints Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-Hallowmas. Samhain began to be known as All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween.

In 1000 A.D., the church declared November 2 as All Souls Day, a day to honor the dead. The three celebrations–the eve of All Saints, All Saints Day and All Souls Day–became known as Hallowmas.

While the origin of Halloween is surrounded in myth and legend, Halloween remains, at least in the USA, a time of carnivals, trick or treat, costumes, pumpkins and mischief.  Trick or Treat!!

Tags: Samhain, Celtic celebration, Feralia, Pomona, eve of All Saints Day, Halloween

No Such Thing as Clean Coal

Clean coal does not jive with what I know about mines: safety issues, mountaintop removal, acid rain, black lung, lung cancer, asthma, mercury contamination, and, of course, global warming. And yet the phrase clean coal now routinely turns up in political discourse, almost as if it were a reality.

See E360 for detailed information bu Richard Conniff,

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Action Needed: Save the Delaware River

The Delaware River is an icon of American history and the source of drinking water for 15,600,000 people.

Currently, there is a moratorium on drilling and fracking in the Delaware River Basin. On October 21 at 8 am, that could all change. The Delaware River Basin Commission, meeting in Trenton, NJ, will decide to end or continue the moratorium.

Meanwhile, gas companies have bought up 200,000 acres of land on either side of the Delaware River. Their plan is to add 20,000 gas wells in the Delaware River Basin. 
 
Action needed:  Please call the governors of New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania and President Obama and tell them, "No fracking or drilling in the Delaware River Basin."  

Below are the numbers to call.  Please, do it today.

 

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It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment. 
~ Ansel Adams