Daily Archives: April 24, 2010

The Winter Solstice: It’s Not Just For Pagans Anymore

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****a post I rescued from the great Google cache *****

Apparently, the Winter Solstice is not just for pagans anymore. It’s fun for the entire family.

A quick roundup of winter solstice events:

In Madison, Wisconsin there is a plethora of Winter Solstice activities for the whole family.
Little Rock, Arkansas, has a Winter Solstice display at the State Capitol.

Via North Jersey.com:

“For me, Winter Solstice or Yule is celebrated in the traditional Pagan way,” said Trish Reynolds, author and high priestess. “We mark the moment of Solstice with a candle – this year at 12:47 p.m. on Monday Dec. 21, then settle in to keep vigil all night by throwing a party with family and friends. We decorate with evergreens, feast with traditional pagan foods like turkey and ham and goose when you can get it!

“We exchange gifts, tell jokes and stories and sing songs waiting for the sun to rise. The vigil aspect is important for me, because Solstice Night is the longest night of the year, and our ancestors were never really sure that the sun would come back, especially in the far northern regions. It made sense to stay awake and keep the Yule Fire burning to encourage an infant Sun to rise again in the morning. The iconology of a divine child of light is quite apt at this time, especially since both Mithra, a popular Romano-Persian Sun God, Saturn, Hercules and Jesus are all given honor at this special time as bring divine children-light bringers.”

If you are in San Francisco you can attend the East Bay “Sing Up The Sun”:

Join us again in the East Bay hills to greet the sun on Solstice morning! Wear layers and bring drums, shakers, tambourines, flutes, tubas, etc. and maybe a thermos of hot beverage. If you have a favorite sun-song, bring lyrics to share, and we usually do a spiral dance just after dawn.

Be sure to keep your winter solstice celebration simple. And a sample suggestion:

Honor the new solar year with light. Do a Solstice Eve ritual in which you meditate in darkness and then welcome the birth of the sun by lighting candles and singing chants and Pagan carols. If you have a indoor fireplace or an outdoor fire circle, burn an oak log as a Yule log and save a bit to start next year’s fire. Decorate the inside and/or outside of your home with electric colored lights. Because of the popularity of five pointed stars as holiday symbols, this is a good time to display a pentagram of blue or white lights.

The weird thing is I don’t recall a bunch of summer solstice events. I wonder why?

Anyhow, to all the Wicca, Druids and Democrats… Happy Winter Solstice!

26 New Coal Power Plants In Germany

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****a post I rescued from the great Google cache *****

According to an (as in one) Australian scientist, we need to stop building coal power plants and shut all of them down by 2020. Via the Sydney Morning Herald:

A CSIRO scientist has told a Senate inquiry it is imperative to begin phasing out coal burning in order to avoid dangerous climate change.

No coal-fired power plants should be built, and existing plants must shut within 20 years, if the world is to keep atmospheric carbon dioxide at a less dangerous level, the climatologist James Risbey said.

The ironic fact is that the Europeans, who started this whole push to build wind mills and solar panels in an effort to ’stop climate change’ (or global warming, they keep changing the problem) are not exactly living up to their public proclamations.

The Germany government is one of the biggest proponents of ‘green energy’ . However, they are currently planning to construct 26 new coal power plants. Via Spiegle.de:

The Vattenfall project in Berlin is only one example of a larger trend. Utility companies want to set up a total of 26 new coal-fired power plants in Germany during the coming years.

In the long term, the power plants will replace older, dirtier plants. But that doesn’t alter the fact that the plans are a direct contradiction of the climate goals formulated by Merkel.

Why would Germany want to construct more more coal plants?

But the new plants are a big business opportunity for Germany’s four major energy providers, Vattenfall, RWE, E.on and EnBW. Coal imports from South Africa or Poland are relatively cheap and can be used to produce electricity and heat at a high profit. In this way, the companies intend to secure their dominant position on the German market for decades to come.

And German politicians are explicitly encouraging them to do so. Both Merkel and Gabriel have an interest in the power plant construction boom.

For Merkel, the case is clear-cut: New power plants will secure thousands of jobs in Germany. The projects resemble a giant program for the stimulation of the economy. The power plant operators plan to invest more than €30 billion ($40 billion) in construction and infrastructure.

Yep, you got it. The Europeans will tell you publicly that they are for ‘Green Energy’ but, when push comes to shove, they will do what’s best for their economy and their people.