Happy Holidays!

 The dogs are still sleeping,.  I didn't tell them they're getting presents, so they're going to  be very, very surprised.

I hope your holidays are filled with happiness.  May your beliefs give you comfort.

As I was making coffee this morning, I started thinking about the Earth, how since the moment this planet began forming all of those billions of years ago, not once has it ever stopped changing.  There have been many dominant species over those eons, mankind being the most current.  No matter what people may desperately want to believe, this planet is not going to stop changing.  We will change, too.  When I look up at the night sky I see stars, and galaxies, and solar systems with planets, and I know there are many rooms waiting for us on those planets.

Bite this

Well, I actually did sleep in this morning.
Both dogs have colds.  Seig showed symptoms first (sneezing & runny nose).  His has just about run it's course, but Lily's is kicking in.  The only problem is having them sneeze in your face.  They're dogs... they don't know any better.  There's a lot of... spray.  I'm so glad I'm not one of those hyper-sensitive types.
I saw that even after calls from her own party to resign, that bimbolina Candice Keller from Ohio has refused.  She's saying she a conservative and this is what a conservative believes... of course, we all know conservatives haven't a spare modicum of intelligence.  She said she's going to let her constituents decided: retire her ass fast.  Put her out in that conservative pasture where she can drop her cow flops with other conservatives.
And the Idiot Jerk in the White House is going to Toledo... (wait a minute...) he means Dayton (he stands corrected) and El Paso today.  I'm sure they will do their damndest to keep protesters away.  His sycophants are desperately trying to keep his ego safe.
I went to see "Hobbs & Shaw" last evening.  It was really entertaining.  This was definitely a work of testosterone inspired fantasy.  And for those who are wondering... yes, Dwayne takes off his shirt.  In fact, at one point he's dressed as a Samoan warrior.  The supporting cast is great.  Ryan Reynolds!  and he is funny.  Actually, this movie is almost a comedy, what with all the tit for tatting going on between Dwayne and Jason.  Sadly, Jason does keep his clothing  on - no skin.  I mean, nothing that you could really sink you teeth into.
And finally.  I thought this was interesting.  From time immemoriam  we've been told that the Milky Way is a flat, disc shaped galaxy.  Well, that's wrong.  We've got curves.  That's right, our galaxy is a little... bent, if you know what I mean.

Pringle shaped is what they're saying.  That's right!  It's like a tasty potato snack made from stars and planets and gas clouds rather than itsby bitsy potato parts.  If you click on the link there's an animation where you get to see the Milky Way move.  Tasty, huh?

Gargantuan

So, here it is Saturday.  We're supposed to be getting heavy thunderstorms this afternoon, complete with hail.  Yippee!
I rode a bit over 10 miles this AM - a new route - Fallonica, where ever that is.  Instead of changing gears to make the climbs easier, I made myself work on the climbs.  Boy did I sweat, almost as bad as Trey Gowdy caught wearing only a towel in the Continental Baths.  I actually had to wipe down the bike since I don't want sweat ruining that nice, oxblood finish.
And I guess there's a bit of a religious upheaval happening down in DC.  Ryan did what the Evangelicals wanted and fired the Catholic Chaplain for the House of Representatives.  Some are saying he was ousted for political reasons, that he was too Liberal.  Me?  I think it was because he was a Catholic.  For those who don't know, Evangelicals really despise Catholics.  I work with an Evangelical who says Catholics are "false Christians."  He sees them as really bad people.  Phonies.  And it seems as though the Evangelicals are calling the shots when it comes to the House of Representatives.  Having a "false Christian" as Chaplain would really be a splinter under their fingernails.  Instead of being honest, they're using the Liberal gambit.  I doubt if it will work.  By now most people are beginning to realize that Evangelicals are really nothing more than hypocrites from Hell.
Which leads me to this picture of the Milky Way.  When I saw this I thought "that is freaking amazing!"

Are galaxy is really large... no, the galaxy is bigger than big... no, that's still not right.  The Milky Way is Gargantuan.  The Sol System is somewhere near the edge.  I find it rather pathetic that the same minds which want to evict the Catholic Chaplain from the House will probably never look at this picture.  Those that do will shrug and quickly move on.  For these people nothing really exists beyond the edge of our stratosphere.  The 'stars in the heavens" will never be anything more than pinpoints of light.  To be anything more than that might lead to unpopular questions.  They are much happier to simply suck on the opiate of the people.  These people will always choose stupidity because it makes them feel safe.  Unfortunately for us, they want everybody to suck on this drug.  Like the dinosaurs, they will die off.  The galaxy awaits.

Out There

This morning while I was scanning through the Internet I came across this photo of our Universe.  This is, albeit a small section, still it does make one wonder.  For centuries, when mankind looked up, he thought he was seeing only stars and nothing more.  The idea that all of this was out there was totally inconceivable.  The Earth was flat and was the center of the universe and everything revolved around us.  We were chosen.  Religious debate did not even take into consideration we might actually be a very, very small part of something greater.  Had they known this, one can only wonder what Christianity, and Islam, and Buddhism would have looked liked today.  You'll notice I don't include Hinduism because there are certain sections in their Holy Books where there seems to be some sort of awareness.  I don't know if it's Shiva or Vishnu, but one of them claims to be the Destroyer of Worlds.  Many of us find it almost amusing to think of Galileo being jailed for blasphemy for daring to suggest we were not the center.  Of course he recanted and was later proven correct and still nothing changed.

It's filled with galaxies

Even today, with new planets being discovered almost weekly orbiting distant suns, the subject of our being infinitesimally small is never brought up by the devoted.  Their main concern, as always, seems to be to proselytize.  They can't question.  They need to rely on blind faith.  I know people who are extremely religious and if you mention "the Goldilocks Zone" they look at you incomprehensibly, and then they smile because in their minds they've decided that you're a little out there.  They can't concern themselves with the idea that there we are a small planet on the outskirts of the Milky Way Galaxy.  The fact that with all those millions of stars circled by millions of planets means there is the good possibility of life out there might get you a smirk.  As a result, I suspect someday, maybe sooner then later, something is going to happen and they're going to find themselves blind sighted.  They may find themselves horrifically challenged simply because they never took the time to think there might be something else  out there.