Monday December 15th

Even among all of the crap that we are witnessing these days there are some amazing things that are happening around us if we remember to just look. This is what I found just today…

No. 1
Today the Electoral College met and officially elected Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America. Now, the final formality of the election, Congress has to ratify the Colleges election and then we can proceed to the party of 2009. I am very much looking forward to seeing what has been planned for us to witness.

Gumprechts Green Pit Viper
No. 2
In the past decade there have been 1068 new species identified in the Greater Mekong Region of Southeast Asia. Including the Huntsman spider that is as big as a plate and the Loatian rat that was thought to have been extinct 11 million years ago. The new species highlighted in the report include 519 plants, 279 fish, 88 frogs, 88 spiders, 46 lizards, 22 snakes, 15 mammals, four birds, four turtles, two salamanders and a toad -- an average of two previously undiscovered species a week for the past 10 years.

Bill of Rights
Today in 1791 the first 10 Amendments of the US Constitution, know as the Bill of Rights was ratified.

* First Amendment – Establishment Clause, Free Exercise Clause; freedom of speech, of the press, and of assembly; right to petition
* Second Amendment – Right to keep and bear arms.
* Third Amendment – Protection from quartering of troops.
* Fourth Amendment – Protection from unreasonable search and seizure.
* Fifth Amendment – due process, double jeopardy, self-incrimination, eminent domain.
* Sixth Amendment – Trial by jury and rights of the accused; Confrontation Clause, speedy trial, public trial, right to counsel
* Seventh Amendment – Civil trial by jury.
* Eighth Amendment – Prohibition of excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishment.
* Ninth Amendment – Protection of rights not specifically enumerated in the Bill of Rights.
* Tenth Amendment – Powers of states and people.

Voyager 1
No 3
We continue to look to the heavens to discover and fill our minds with wonder. We are taking the time to fix the most amazing view to the heavens that we have the Hubble telescope has open up the universe beyond what all could have ever hoped for and we continue to look.

Make sure you look at the NASA site, the Hubble site & the Cassini site...each is an excellent look at what we as a species are capable of.

Golden Record on Voyager
On September 5, 1977, Voyager 1 was launched from Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida. It has reached the edge of our galaxy, has entered the Heliosphere and it continuing it’s lonely journey ever outward. Contained on the spacecraft is a Golden Record, our greeting to the Universe to let anyone out there know what and who we are.

(Just think, in 1977 all we were capable of was recording a record yet still this craft has reached the edge of our galaxy. Well Done NASA!)

We are an amazing species, capable of great wonder and great cruelty. Let’s choose to guide our world towards wonder and let’s ditch the latter shall we? Just think about everything that we can accomplish and every thing that we have right at this moment that holds such promise.