Is Galileo Laughing or Crying?

400 years after the Catholic Church murdered one of the most famous people in history, it has conceded it was...wrong.

The Pope's Chief Astronomer has admitted that other intelligent beings could exist in outer space. Wow. At least they admit there is an outer space! That's more than it could when they executed poor Galileo for inventing the telescope and "trying to make God look bad."

This is the latest in a bizarre series of news articles over the last few years where potential alien beings have been called "our brothers" and have been, we think, actively sought out by Vatican astronomers. Do they believe, now, that Jesus is an alien?

Should we be astonished to find out that the Catholic Church has invested billions of dollars into a modern observatory with it's own state of the art website that is proud to admit that it is one of the oldest astronomical observatories in the world instead of actually using that money to fund orphanages or feed people? When we think of what Jesus would do, it usually doesn't involve building celestial observatories.

The Vatican just concluded a five day conference on astrobiology. A few dozen scientists, including astronomers, physicists and biologists were invited to help study the possibility of life elsewhere in the Universe.

The consensus is that the Vatican thinks we are only 10 years away from "contact." On which side we don't know. Is it 10 years until we are contacted or 10 years until we discover them?

The Vatican also states, correctly so, that there is a huge difference between finding microbial life vs. sentient life. However, their wording intrigues us. They state that basically "it would be a different strategy" (dealing with sentient life). They have strategies for dealing with aliens?

We'd love to see the Vatican playbook on "Take me to you leader, 101".

And we'd love to know what Galileo would think of all this.

The Vatican Observatory
News Link

Update: The Pope released his CD today. Proceeds from the album will help fund musical education for underprivileged children around the world. We like that, but think the kids would appreciate food, clean water, shelter or clothes first. Or better yet, sell the damn observatory and use the money for a free music academy on every continent for every child.

Archeology Site of the Month - Nov. 2009

Angkor Wat

Deep in the lush jungles of Cambodia lie the ruins of Angkor Wat. The art and architecture of the temples and galleries are almost overwhelming and altogether magnificent.

Dedicated to the Hindu Deity, Vishnu, the enormous temple complex is amazingly carved in intricate bas-relief. The Hindu epic based bas-reliefs have been called the "greatest known linear arrangement of stone carving."

Satellite imagery has redefined the borders of Angkor. It is currently considered to be the world's largest single standing religious monument. It is GRAND. There are a total of 1,000 cataloged temples as of 2009.

Angkor was built in the 12the century and was the largest pre-industrial city on Earth. At 1,000 kilometers it dwarfed the 2nd largest pre-industrial city, the Mayan city of Tikal which measured over 100 kilometers.

The Angkor Khmer population was over one million between the years 900 and 1200 AD. It served as the capital city of Khmer Empire before falling into abandonment and ruin and being lost to history.

One of the coolest things about the ruins today are the way the trees have draped themselves and taken over the stone temples.

The Angkor complex is surrounded by gigantic constructed moat. There is super-high technology at work here if you look for it. The grounds are expansive and vast. The archeo-astronomical alignments may be related to the constellation Draco.

It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992 and receives over 500,000 visitors a year.

Ankor Temple Deity Face

The trees that took over...

Happy Thanksgiving Day 2009

Food Network Thanksgiving Page

Salvation Army News and Updates

Paranormal Article of the Month - Nov. 2009

SASQUATCH

Does Bigfoot exist? Reports of a giant bipedal apelike creature or wild man come from all over the globe. Most famously in the Himalayas as The Yeti or in North America as Sasquatch (Canada), Bigfoot (California), Grassman (Ohio) or Skunk Ape (Florida).

North American sighting locations fed into a computer reveal that the "creatures" seem to prefer mountain ridges. Coincidentally, a lot of native American Indian names for Bigfoot are also the names of these mountain trails and passes. They could be using the Sierras, Rockies and The Appalachian Trail as their "highways".

The most famous Bigfoot is the iconic image from the Patterson Film. Was it a hoax? Here's The Omni Report view - Although claimed to be a hoax, we've long noted (as others have) that the Patterson film creature has huge pendulous breasts. NO WAY is a guy going to wear a fake costume with big giant tits on it like that. Sorry. It just seems like a deal breaker for us. So these two guys haul an ape costume out in to the woods and to make it real looking they use a female costume with huge floppy knockers. Laughable.

To continue - The limping gait, albeit a fast walk, seems real. The way it moves it's entire upper body to glance over at the 2 men and their horses, is consistent with the movement of other great apes, notably the mountain gorillas in Rwanda. Detailed analysis of the footage reveals an injury above it's knee, visually consistent with bursitis, which would explain the funny walk and the "inability" to run the hell away. It looks as if it wanted to run but couldn't and instead walked as fast it it could to get the hell out of there.

We think the Patterson Film stands.

Striking evidence regarding the giant footprints, which led to the creatures being called Bigfoot, include casts made that show deformities such as hammer toe. Who would fake that? Also, definitive dermal ridges have been cast indicating a real bare foot.

How could a Bigfoot exist today without being seen? The great Pacific Wilderness is vast and deep. Who knows what is really out there. There are huge jumbo aircraft that have never been found. North Cascades National Park encompasses thousands of acres of pristine wilderness in which some areas only see seasonal hikers.

If so many people throughout time have reported a Bigfoot, why haven't we ever found one? Is it because maybe they bury their dead? Why not? Or do the bones just scatter as natural in the wild? Bears exist, yet it is rare to find a dead or dying one or even it's bones.

In this world as we now know it, does the idea of an unclassified bipedal creature really seem that outlandish? Sure,it would be the greatest discovery of all time, but would we really be surprised by it anymore?

Examples of recently discovered large mammals include:

The Mountain Gorilla - 1902 Africa
The Okapi- 1901 Congo
The Giant Forest Hog - 1904 Africa
Mountain Nyala- 1910 Africa
Ox - 1937 Cambodia
Ox - 1992 Vietnam.

And since 2000, 25 species of primate have been found including 16 types of lemur and 9 separate types of monkey.

This is just a matter of time before this "mystery" is figured out. We are really starting to catalogue the planet now and with thermal imagery techniques, even the vast Pacific wilderness will have to offer up some clues eventually.

The Patterson Film enhanced

R.I.P - Pablo Amaringo (1943 - 11/16/2009)

The world lost an inspiring Shaman and visionary artist this week. Pablo Amaringo, a Peruvian Amazon Indian, became a Shaman and used his exceptional talent to bring to "life" the images he saw under the influence of the hallucinogenic Shamanic drink, Ayahuasca. His work is simply amazing.

Mr. Amaringo was awarded the prestigious Global 500 Peace Prize from the United Nations Environmental program in 1992.

Having just read, Supernatural, By Graham Hancock, which focuses on the Ayahuasca Shamanic experience, this timing is extraordinary to us.

Mr. Amaringo gave up the Shamanic life after many decades and dedicated the rest of his time and life to teaching people to paint - for free. He will be missed.

http://www.pabloamaringo.com/

We find his work breathtakingly beautiful...

"Spiritual Temples"

"Toucans"

"Spiritual Geode"

"Movement and Spiritual Sound"


"La Madre Tapir"


"Decent of the Holy Spirits"

"Birds and Red Sun"

"Wisdom of the Puma"

Writer of the Month - November 2009

GRAHAM HANCOCK

We count Graham Hancock as one of our favorite iconoclasts OF ALL TIME.

His detailed work in his non-fiction books: Fingerprints of the Gods, Underworld, The Mars Mystery, Keeper of Genesis, The Sign and the Seal, Talisman, Heaven's Mirror and his newest Supernatural (2007) are page-turning, thought-provoking, eye-opening, ground-breaking, life-changing, sometimes earth-shattering, and above all - compelling, unique, epic, captivating, enthralling, absorbing, penetrating and awesome.

Fingerprints of the Gods, his masterpiece, is a revolutionary piece of antedeluvian detective work. Spanning the globe, Hancock presents his view of prehistory, piecing together fascinating bits of evidence to prove that a mysterious civilization, existing before the last ice age, populated Earth building the megalithic structures that so baffle us to this day. His logical approach and scientific evidence lay the groundwork to re-write our concept of linear history.

His life's work and legacy is to quest for the truth to mankind's history and a "mother culture" we have forgotten about like "a species with amnesia" as he would say.

His book, The Sign and the Seal, is an earlier work, well worth the re-read. Indiana Jones has nothing on this grail quest that ends up in a church in Ethiopia.

The Mars Mystery is a compelling look to our neighboring planet - it's current state, how it got there and what it might mean for Earth. It touches on the Cydonia mystery as well. Logical, intelligent and a great read. Much better than anything King or Crichton could make up because it's real!

His current book, Supernatural, is a phenomenon. Truly, on the level of nothing we have read before (quite the feat!), it is an intriguing work into the supernatural realm, through the Shaman who experience it. Exhaustive research went into this book, including Hancock's own journey of discovery, as he drinks the "Vine of the Soul" and encounters his own supernatural visions. What is it about the Shamanic experience that is common to all continents, religions, and cultures? How could an Australian Aborigine with no outside contact (Internet, phones, etc..) describe the same exact thing that an African Shaman or Amazonian Shaman can? Are they seeing the same things? Are they really just a "vision" or is there something more real to the experience? There is an argument here for an invisible dimension filled with very real beings that have been guiding mankind for thousands of years.

This the stuff iconoclasts are made of.
We recommend him for some great archeological reading. Start with his masterpiece, Fingerprints of the Gods.

World Cup Update

Major upsets this week in World Cup 2010 Qualifiers

Slovakia BEAT Russia and Algeria BEAT Egypt to both qualify for next years World Cup. Hundreds of Algerians in North London took to the streets to celebrate the first qualification in 24 years. Egypt is Algeria's arch rival, so the emotional intensity was super-high.

In Slovenia yesterday, thousands rallied in the streets, streaming from homes and bars in every city and town, in what is called a "euphoric victory" and what the Slovak coach said "it is a dream coming true, a fairy tale ending from a Hollywood movie." Russian President Medvedev said "luck was on the Slovenian side." But we would like to add - yeah, and your team sucked, too! Go Slovenia!

In Ireland, tempers are flaring over a handball by Thierry Henry in the Ireland vs. France match, which cost Ireland a place at the Cup. Papers are being filed, protests are happening as we speak, and France admits it was an uncalled rule violation. Another case of bad refereeing. Even the French feel badly, citing that it is not an honest victory. Irish fans are still in tears, saying they "feel cheated and robbed."

Global Standings:
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/africa/standings/index.html

The Gettysburg Address - 11/19/1863

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate...we can not consecrate...we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

The People's Temple Massacre

We remember the victims of the People's Temple today, when back in 1978, 918 people either killed themselves or were deliberately murdered in one day.

Long considered to be the largest mass suicide, we now know from survivor statements that the vast majority of the 909 people at Jonestown didn't actually kill themselves willingly. Parents took the kool aid themselves after seeing their children poisoned and others were forcefully injected or made to swallow the poison.

At least one elderly lady hid under her bed for a day, coming out to view the worst site anyone can imagine.

Several people were lost in the jungle for days trying to escape.

This was not a suicide pact, embraced wholeheartedly by naive masses of delusional people. The People's Temple was a rainbow coalition of all races, filled with people with genuine love for humanity in their hearts. Once lured to Guyana under false pretenses, they were enslaved in a very real way by Reverend Jones and made to suffer and die horrifically.

The expression "to drink the kool aid", meaning to naively believe what's offered, is a sin. Forced to drink the poison at gunpoint is not what we consider being naive. This is a fallacy perpetrated by ignorance. It's just easier to think of them as crazy occultists from L.A., deluded into thinking they can make a difference whilst living in the jungles of South America, instead of hard working, idealistic people wanting to live freely without prejudice.

It's a shame what happened to Jim Jones. When you watch the documentaries you can see he wanted real change. Ostracized for being the first family in Indiana to adopt a black child, he DID make a difference for the better, at least in the very very beginning. It all spiraled out of control and you wonder, was he always mentally ill? Was it a plan from the beginning to deceive everyone? Or was it a slow slide down a progressive mountain of mental illness? There is no doubt, he wasn't purely evil - he was beyond fucking mental.

We were also struck by his eldest biological son, Stephen. He is spellbinding, eloquent and handsome. If he is anything like his father, we can SEE and HEAR why people were attracted to Jones and his message. However, unlike his father, who clearly spiraled into mental illness, he is trying to be normal and just raise his family.

There is so much to this story. We haven't even mentioned Congressman Ryan or the poor people gunned down in cold blood trying to flee the area by airplane. The events leading up to the 11/18 massacre are to say the least...disturbing.

For more info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonestown
http://www.rickross.com/groups/jonestown.html

The Art Gallery - Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986)

Apple Blossoms

From the Lake

Papaya Tree Ioa Valley - 1939


White Rose Larkspur - 1927

Cottonwood - 1944

Hawass Strikes Again...

Mr. Zahi Hawass, Egypt's Last Great Pharaoh, has done it again. You have to admit this guy has a knack for PR that would make Paris Hilton jealous. He cannot stay out the news, whether it's rampaging against foreign governments trying to recoup stolen artifacts or this week's kicker...Calling Beyonce Stupid. This. Is. Classic.

Excerpt from article on bikyamasr.com
"...during Hawass’ self-guided tour, he said “I showed her the Sphinx and I gave her a book on King Tutankhamen,” but then his anger and frustration made its way to the forefront.

“Then he stopped being diplomatic and said in anger, ’she’s a stupid person and she doesn’t understand a thing and she doesn’t want to understand’,” wrote Gamal."

And you know what? Zahi's semi-right again! Beyonce probably IS stupid. However, doesn't he know he's not dealing with a Rhodes Scholar there to study history and master Egyptology in one visit? Does she ever look interested in anything other than herself? Was he fooled into thinking she actually cares about history? She was there for publicity and for the living room wall picture she'll now have of herself standing in front of the Sphinx.

He's puts the "ASS" in Hawass.

"I am mightier than the Sphinx!"
Zahi's Living Room Sphinx pic

Will post the links later...

Conspiracy Theory of the Month

The Shakespeare Authorship Debate

Did William Shakespeare, uneducated peasant from Stratford-upon-Avon, write the astounding literary works attributed to his name?

What? Why is this even in doubt? Did you know that this was a raging controversy that has been debated for hundreds of years?

There are basically two camps: The Stratfordians who believe that William Shakespeare was William Shakespeare and all the stories/poems/sonnets are his and the Anti-Stratfordians who believe otherwise.

Writing between 1589 and 1613, over 150 sonnets, several poems and 38 plays are attributed to William Shakespeare. He is considered the greatest English language writer ever. His plays have been translated into every language on Earth are the most performed of any playwright. He is beyond doubt the most famous writer that ever lived.

But did the man, William Shakespeare, actor and owner of a theater company write the thought-provoking, intelligent works that only a literate man well versed in language, literature, politics, law, medicine, astronomy and foreign languages and culture could have?

The Facts:
* Everything published as William Shakespeare was done so years after W.S. had died.
* The first published writings were attributed to the "Swan of Avon", not Will.
* Six of W.S.'s signatures have been found and not one spells or matches the word Shakespeare.
* The hypenated version of the signature - Shakes-Peare - is a clue that it may have been authored by more than one person, as it was common for a hyphen to mean so in those days.
* The bible contains over 6,000 different words. The works of Shakespeare contain over 29,000. An astounding, astounding fact, in which, scholars have been pouring over for the last 400 years. Only a man of higher learning could have access to such a diverse and expansive lexicon.
* His will mentions nothing of books, plays, the written word, nor his shares in the Theatres he partly owned.
* He owned NOT ONE book at the time of his death. NOT ONE.
* No correspondence written by him has ever been found. Not one note or letter.
* He was a glove maker's son and no one to this day can explain how he would have such intimate knowledge of gentry or nobility or the higher classes. Not to mention geographical knowledge of like, say, Venice?
* It was common in those days (the Elizabethan Period) for nobility to write under assumed names.
* It was never proven that W.S. had any education at all (this was the 1600's) and nothing whatsoever to prove he had a higher education. In fact, his wife and daughter were illiterate as women of this time era and place were afforded no education (and in fact were treated brutally and had no rights).

Debates over the authorship question started 150 years after his death (1616) and continue to this day. There are the Baconians who firmly believe that Sir Francis Bacon is the author. The Oxfordians who believe it was the Earl of Oxford. The Marlovians are behind Christopher Marlow, whose great play, Dr. Faustus, was produced in London. There is another candidate (amongst others) named Fulke Greville, an Elizabethan contemporary.

Any one of the above candidates is a good choice. Each in his own way, had the money, knowledge and wherewithal, to compose the Shakespearean works. Very good arguments have been made on behalf of the above. Numerous books have been written arguing for any and all of them. Several notable people throughout history have been on the bandwagon. Namely Walt Whitman amongst others.

Fact Check Update:
An astute Omni Report reader has correctly pointed out that indeed at least 2 plays if not more of his work WERE in fact, published during the period attributed to W.S's lifetime. That is, plays and poems were in print before the 1616 date of his death. We stand corrected.

Karen Silkwood

Karen Silkwood was murdered this day in 1974. No doubt about it. Cold. Blooded. Murder.

Karen was a whistle blower at the Kerr-McGee energy production plant in Oklahoma. She had joined the Union shortly after employment at the plant and was immediately involved in a strike there. After that was resolved, she was assigned to investigate health and safety issues. She testified to the Atomic Energy Commission about numerous health and safely violations at the plant. Hardcore stuff. The stuff that makes employers squirm and consider murder. Improper production, handling and storage of nuclear fuel rods, falsified inspection records, health and safety violations including employees faulty respiratory masks, productions speed-ups that increased employee safety hazards, you-name-it.

She was put through hell before being killed, as persons unknown to this day contaminated her and her house with radiation, leading to several "scrub showers" at the plant. Naked and hosed down like a prison inmate and scrubbed with brushes like wire to rid her skin of contamination. It was horrendous. For 2 or 3 days whenever she tested at the plant she came up positive for plutonium contamination. Sometimes these levels tested over 400 times the legal limit. You know someone did that to her. It's not like she poked her hand into some nuclear fuel rods for fun and then drove home with it.

Then the real horror began. Karen was scheduled to meet with a NY Times journalist to go public with the story. On her drive there, she was forcefully run off the road and killed. All of the documents she had for the reporter were missing when her car and body were eventually found.

Her death prompted a federal investigation which led to the Kerr-McGee plant closing in 1975. The grounds were still being decontaminated over 25 years later!

Her estate sued on behalf of her 3 children and it had to go before the Supreme Court before a victory was won. But it was won.

The movie, Silkwood, with Meryl Streep as Karen Silkwood adequately expresses the shock, horror and utter humiliation of her contamination. It is a great film and won Streep one of her Best Actress Oscars.

We will always remember Karen Silkwood for her brave efforts to fight "The Man" and trying to protect herself and her fellow workers from cost-cutting corporate scumbags who kill to protect profit.

Goodnight, Marat...

It's over. Marat Safin is hanging up his tennis racket following his last career match ever. He lost against giant Juan Del Potro in the Paris Masters today. There was a great ceremony beforehand that celebrated his career and 3 tournament wins there in the past, but now it is over.

Marat did weigh in on the Andre Agassi crystal meth admission the other day, telling Andre that he "is stupid" and "should shut the hell up." Marat also said that Andre should give back his winnings and titles as he is undeserving as he was a meth addict at that time. Marat isn't known for holding back. As far as we know, he is the only tennis player to come forward and berate Andre for poor behavior. Pot...Meet...Kettle.

We will miss every single thing there was about Marat Safin. His gorgeous looks, his great game, the sound of his serves booming around the stadiums, his rants and raves, his breakdowns and Russian cursing. And did we mention his looks? He's been the cover boy for Euro GQ and other mags for years.

Everything changes, so we look forward to the next generation of players. Hopefully, they'll have the same spark as our old faves: Becker, Conner, McEnroe,Lendl....and Safin.

Veteran's Day 2009

We don't believe in war but we believe in and support our Veteran's.
Thank you for all you've done for U.S.

20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Wall

We remember those days in November of 1989 with tearful heartwarming nostalgia. What times! It was so awesome to see the German people partying on top of the wall, marching through the gates and chipping parts of that obscene monolith away. For a long long minute it seemed the world was on the brink of world peace. It was for us, so much better than what stupid Woodstock had been about...this was change. Real change! And it was happening right in front of us! To see the joy of the German people was overwhelming. We'll never forget that day and the feelings of love and humanity that swept over everyone at that time. It was magic!

The Scorpions came out with the song "The Winds of Change" in 1990 that really captured what was happening in the world. The last vestiges of WWII communism were finally fading away! That year, the wall fell, Gorbachev went to China for the first time in 60 years, Poland elected a Prime Minister that wasn't communist for the first time in 42 years, Hungary removed border restrictions with Poland and in fact became democratic that year! There was Cold War shit happening everywhere but it finally coming to an end.

"OPEN THE GATE!"

Shortly after 11 p.m., Harald Jaeger gave the order, "Open the gate," making the checkpoint at Bornholmer Strasse the very first one to let a couple thousand East Berliners through into West Berlin.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/BerlinWall/man-opened-berlin-wall/Story?id=8880273&page=1

Person of the Month - November 2009

Marie Curie

Marie Sklodowska Curie was one of the greatest, most brilliant scientists of all time. She was born this day, November 7th in 1867 in Warsaw, Poland, the daughter of a mathematician who also taught her physics.

In 1891 Marie began studying at the prestigious Sorbonne in Paris, France in multiple disciplines: physics, chemistry and mathematics. She earned her physics degree in 1893 and her math degree in 1894.

That was the year she met Pierre Curie, her true love. Also a physicist, they shared a love of science and worked together for years until his untimely death in 1906.

They published a paper together in 1898 detailing the discovery of a new element, Polonium, that Marie named after her country of birth, Poland. That year they announced another discovery - the element radium. Marie coined the term radioactivity. They shared the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics for their research into "the radiation phenomenon." Marie Curie became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize.

She did it again and thus became the first woman to ever win 2 Nobel prizes and in two different disciplines!

The 1911 prize in Chemistry was awarded to Marie in recognition for the elements radium and polonium and her work in radioactivity.

Standards of the day paled (okay, they were non-existent) to modern protocol and Marie often carried around radioactive isotopes "in her pocket." This directly contributed to her death in 1934.

Her lab and materials - her kitchen cookbook! - are all super-contaminated to this day. Her lab notes, materials, everything is kept in lead lined containers and can only be opened under special circumstances with haz mat suits.

Marie Curie's contribution to modern science is incalculable. The barriers she faced as a woman and overcame are incredible. Do you know how many women were earning masters degrees in physics in the 1800's? You can count them on one hand!

She was the first female professor at the University of Paris. She is and will always be an icon to the scientific community and to women everywhere. She is the most famous and celebrated female scientist that ever lived. Just this year, 2009, Marie Curie was voted as "The Most Inspirational Woman in Science." YGG!

Marie and Pierre are now interred at the Paris Pantheon, and of course, she is the first and only woman to be buried there.

The Curie (symbol Ci), a unit of radioactivity, is named in her and/or Pierre's honour.
Three radioactive minerals are named after the Curies.
Skłodowska-Curie's likeness appeared on the Polish late-1980s 20,000banknote.
Her likeness has also appeared on stamps and coins, and on the last French 500 franc note.
Marie Curie was voted the "Most inspirational woman in science" in a 2009 poll carried out by New Scientist magazine on behalf of the UNESCO 'For Women In Science' programme.

Polish institutions named after Maria Skłodowska–Curie include:
Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, founded in 1944;
Maria Skłodowska–Curie Institute of Oncology, in Warsaw.

French institutions named after Maria Skłodowska–Curie include:
Pierre and Marie Curie University, the largest science, technology and medicine university in France.
The Curie Institute and Curie Museum, in Paris.
In 2007, the Pierre Curie Metro station was renamed the "Pierre et Marie Curie" station.

End Note:
Unbelievably, not only did Marie and Pierre win the Nobel Prizes but their daughter Irene won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935 and Irene's husband won as well.

Holiday Movies Preview 2009

Most of your favorite stars have movies coming out in the next 2 months for the holiday season, including all of the following:

Jim Carrey, Viggo Mortensen, John Cusak, Gary Oldman, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Sandra Bullock, John Cleese, Robert De Niro, George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Val Kilmer, Justin Long, Kate Beckinsale, Robin Williams, Nicolas Cage, John Travolta, Jake Gyllenhall, Natalie Portman, Tobey McGuire, Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law, Mark Wahlberg, Matt Damon, Steve Martin, Sam Elliot, Sigourney Weaver, Rachel Weisz, Ewan McGregor, Keven Spacey, Chow Yun-Fat, Laurence Fishbourne, our favorite Dude - Jeff Bridges and more!

Three highly anticipated films are due soon:

Nov. 25th - "The Road" based on a Pulitzer prize winning novel, stars Viggo Mortensen, Charlize Theron and Robert Duvall in an apocalyptic depressing - Oscar will love it - drama. Oscar buzz is, in fact, so strong about this movie insiders are already giving Viggo the nod for another nomination for Best Actor. Let's hope that Daniel Day-Lewis doesn't have a movie coming out between now and the Oscar Nominations. Go Viggo!

http://theroad-movie.com/

Dec. 18th - "Avatar" opens to mega-hype over James Cameron's ground breaking super CGI laden, special effects bonanza. Promising to change the way movies are made, the jury is still out on this one. Sigourney Weaver is in it and maybe they can use some of that "Galaxy Quest" CGI on her boobs again. Wow-wee!

http://www.avatarmovie.com/

Dec 25th - "Holmes" starring Robert Downey, Jr as Sherlock Holmes and Jude Law as Dr. Watson storms into theaters already under much hype. Downey is still in the middle of his "comeback" and this is his first major role since Tropic Thunder where he scored an Oscar nom for Best Supporting Actor. And damn! He looks great. Downey makes Johhny Depp look like homeless bag of s***. We're just hoping that Jude Law actually "shows up" and tries to act.

http://sherlock-holmes-movie.warnerbros.com/

There are 3 animated movies for the kids - Planet 51, Alvin and the Chipmunks and The Princess and the Frog, all due out before Christmas.

The horror movie "The Fourth Kind" looks exciting and promising unlike "Paranormal Inactivity" as we are calling it. Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day is FINALLY out and the word isn't good. 10 years in the making and it could never live up to the original in which Willem DaFoe should have gotten an Oscar nom.

Twilight fans are salivating over "New Moon" due Nov. 20th - we're old school on that and prefer the new vampire movie on DVD called "Let the Right One in." Wowza! Completely re-invents the vampire genre much like 30 Days of Night, only weirder and better.

"The Wolfman" trailer is out and Benecio Del Toro was pretty much born for it- it looks awesome, but not out until February 2010.

And finally, Heath Ledger's final movie is out Christmas Day. Director Terry Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus" - Strange director, strange title, dead lead...hmmm....we're not sure about this one. At all.

Causes

Action Links to Charities and Causes

Help People:
Donate to The Salvation Army.

Help Children:
Donate to the Salvation Army Coats for Kids program.

Help Animals:
Help the kitties of the world and give generously to: Alley Cat Allies

Help the Planet:
Re-vist Greenpeace. They are still doing great things for the environment.

"The good we do for ourselves, dies with us.
The good we do for others, is and will always be immortal."