Free Republic

Rare blood-moon events already have happened three times in the last year or so, and on Sept. 28, there will be a fourth – the final appearance in what is an even more rare tetrad sequence. Because of how close it will be to earth, this final blood moon will appear both larger and brighter than usual, giving it a special significance. Such a series of events would be noteworthy at any time, but reports of looming economic turmoil and geopolitical instability are leading some observers to speculate this “super blood moon” heralds a dramatic change in world events. Maybe...

Over 900 songwriters or singers have written or sung about weather, the most common being Bob Dylan, followed by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, according to British researchers, writing in the journal Weather. Sixteen percent, or 48, of The Beatles' 308 songs are weather-related. Weather plays a powerful role in our lives so it should be no surprise that the theme is played out in the music songwriters and singers produce, researchers said. "I think they simply wrote about aspects of the world that they enjoyed or inspired them. They have lots of good catchy music tunes, so that helps...

The names of the tech workers in this story have been changed.Ten thousand miles from Silicon Valley, in a room near the Black Sea, Yegor Karpenchekov dreams of money. At night, while the rest of Odessa sleeps and cocaine smugglers drift in and out of the port under cover of darkness, Yegor logs onto FaceTime and talks to a 70-year-old woman in San Francisco. Her name is Sally Faubion, and five months ago she recruited Yegor from the freelancer marketplace UpWork to code her apps. She believes "divine intervention" brought them together; for Yegor, it was likely $20 per hour...

#Aries: “HOLD MY BEER. I'M GONNA TRY SOMETHING!” [usually followed by an ambulance trip] #Taurus: “Because I don’t want to.” #Gemini: “I love you. I hate you.” #Cancer: “Nobody understands me.” #Leo: “LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME!” #Virgo: “Nevermind, I’ll do it myself.” #Libra: “But on the other hand...” #Scorpio: “No, I didn’t.” #Sagittarius: “DON’T WORRY, I GOT THIS!” #Capricorn: “There are two ways of doing things: my way and the wrong way.” #Aquarius: “I need my space.” #Pisces: “Stop it! JUST STOP IT!!” [because they tend to get drawn into other people's drama]

I’m a Southern boy (that’s Southern, with a capital ‘S’). My parents are Southern by birth. So were my grandparents. I was born in the South, I live in the South. My blood probably resembles gravy more than it does blood and I’m quite sure my breath smells like fried chicken. I’ll be the first to admit the ‘South’ is different. We’re not the Mid-West, Eastern Seaboard or the West Coast. We’re another country. For that matter, we’re another world. The best example I can think of to demonstrate this fact is the horoscope. Every newspaper in the country publishes...

Via Brendan Nyhan, there’s no better way to celebrate a day of national unity like Washington’s birthday than by sneering at the ignorance of our political opponents.Okay, fine. Relative ignorance.Why the disparity? One possibility is education. Follow the last link and scroll down to Table 7 and you’ll see, as expected, that the more educated you are, the less likely you are to see astrology as scientific. According to the very first polls taken on the tea party movement in 2010, TPers are better educated (and wealthier) than the population on average. That probably explains why “conservative Republican” is at...

The word “pseudoscience” is used to describe something that is portrayed as scientific but fails to meet scientific criteria. This misrepresentation occurs because actual science has creditability (which is to say it works), and pseudoscience attempts to ride on the back of this credibility without subjecting itself to the hard intellectual scrutiny that real science demands. A good example of pseudoscience is homoeopathy, which presents the façade of a science-based medical practice but fails to adhere to scientific methodology. Other things typically branded pseudoscience include astrology, young-Earth creationism, iridology, neuro-linguistic programming and water divining, to name but a few.

Rebooting Carl Sagan's seminal "Cosmos" miniseries three decades later is almost impossible — unless you happen to be renowned astrophysicist and science educator Neil deGrasse Tyson. For those who may have missed the original back in 1980, "Cosmos: A Personal Voyage" was a documentary series on PBS that explored the universe as well as the history of scientific discovery. Sagan's topics of discussion ranged from Japanese folklore to debunking astrology to the ultimate fate of the stars and galaxies that surround us. Now Tyson is hosting a new version of the TV series called "Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey," with the...

Before taking the extreme step, he told his mother who, after consulting an astrologer, said that praying at a temple would help. But the youth was not convinced. Anand V H was all of 23, and an engineering graduate to boot. But he was superstitious too — so superstitious that he ended his life on Thursday, all because a crow perched itself on his head -- twice -- the previous day. Anand committed suicide allegedly by consuming poison at his rented accommodation on 3rd Cross, 5th Main, Manjunath Nagar in Rajajinagar. The incident came to light Thursday morning after his...

AFP - A stock market slide, escalated conflict between Japan and China and more Gangnam-styled success for South Korean singer Psy will shape the incoming Year of the Snake, say Asian soothsayers. Those who make predictions according to the study of feng shui -- or literally "wind-water" -- are influential in many parts of Asia, where people adjust their lives or renovate houses and offices based on the advice. As they bid farewell to the Year of the Dragon, the fortune tellers warn that the "black water snake" that emerges to replace it on February 10 -- the first day...

Some South Koreans are easing the "Dog Days of Summer" by embracing a tradition of eating dog meat to help survive a heat wave gripping the country. Animal rights activists, meanwhile, packed themselves into wire cages to protest the eating of dogs. Tuesday is the day South Koreans traditionally eat dog meat and other foods that they believe will help ease the heat by increasing their stamina.

A Louisiana fortune teller feels vindicated after a federal judge struck down a city ordinance that banned fortunetelling, palm reading and astrology within the city limits of Alexandria. A Louisiana fortune teller feels vindicated after a federal judge struck down a city ordinance that banned fortunetelling, palm reading and astrology within the city limits of Alexandria. U.S. District Judge Dee Drell’s ruling Wednesday coincides with a magistrate’s findings that Alexandria’s city ordinance prohibiting such practices was unconstitutional in that it infringed on the First Amendment right to free speech. The ordinance itself not only prohibited psychic or Tarot reading for...

Notice how the DUmmies have started mocking religious beliefs with increasing fervor recently in response to the Catholic Church resistance to ObamaCare mandating abortion services? Well, time now to look at the belief system of many DUmmies, namely the fervent devotion to astrology (and other hocus pocus) that many of them devoutly believe in. An example is this DUmmie THREAD, with the laughable title of "Let's collect and report our Neptune/Chiron/Pisces experiences this week here." Yes, such a collection of nonsense fits right in with the DUmmie belief system. And what have you got against Uranus? Never mind. You...

THE HINDU THEORY OF WORLD CYCLES In the Light of Modern Science Traditional Hindu scriptures view history as cyclical in character, with vast repeating series of ages. Each age has its own particular qualities. Interestingly, this system seems to be taken literally by modern Yoga masters such as Swami Muktananda, Baba Hari Dass, Swami Vishnu Tirtha, and so on. As a Western devotee, I found myself wondering exactly what the full system of Hindu cycles is, and how it relates to the findings of modern science. Following is my attempt to explain what I found out. Traditional Puranic Model...

Astrology 934. What does the Church teach concerning belief in astrology? That it is superstitious nonsense, and that it is sinful to place any serious reliance upon it. 935. How much is harmless, and how much dangerous? None of it is really harmless, for even if one were to indulge in astrology jocosely there would always be a danger of beginning to take oneself seriously. Real danger commences the moment one begins to entertain the thought that "there might be something in it." And there are many gullible and easily impressed people who do this. The end of the road...

WASHINGTON: All your horoscope predictions for the year 2011 are bound to be wrong. Why? Because the stars are not aligned as your astrologer thinks they are. All zodiac signs – Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius or Pisces – were originally based on the constellation the sun was in the day you were born. However, there is a major phenomenon that will disregard all this – the Earth wobbles, a phenomenon called precession. Over the 2,500 years or so since the zodiac was established, your sign has moved about a month relative to the...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 April 9 The Snake Nebula from CFHT Credit & Copyright: Jean-Charles Cuillandre (CFHT), Hawaiian Starlight, CFHT Explanation: What slithers overhead? The dark winding lanes visible in part of the constellation of Ophiuchus belong to the Snake Nebula. Also known as Barnard 72, the Snake Nebula is a series of dark absorption clouds made up of molecular gas and interstellar dust. Interstellar dust grains - composed predominantly of...

Better check your horoscope – according to astronomers, your sign might not actually be your sign. Scientific star-gazers say the 12 Zodiac signs we have come to memorize as handily as our own birthdays are actually out of date by a few thousand years. In fact, there should actually be a 13th sign called Ophiuchus between Scorpio and Sagittarius, changing the dates of the other signs as well. “Precession has shifted our view of the stars significantly over a few thousand years, so the sun is no longer situated in front of certain star groupings on the astrologically appointed dates,”...

A Minnesota astronomer confirms what many have suspected: Your horoscope is quite possibly wrong. Earth's shifts on its axis over the past 3,000 years have changed the 12 zodiac signs. > Here's your new sign below: Capricorn: Jan. 20-Feb. 16 Aquarius: Feb. 16-March 11 Pisces: March 11-April 18 Aries: April 18-May 13 Taurus: May 13-June 21 Gemini: June 21-July 20 Cancer: July 20-Aug. 10 Leo: Aug. 10-Sept. 16 Virgo: Sept. 16-Oct. 30 Libra: Oct. 30-Nov. 23 Scorpio: Nov. 23-Nov. 29 Ophiuchus: Nov. 29-Dec. 17 Sagittarius: Dec. 17-Jan. 20 >

asheller writes "The Star Tribune tells us the zodiac signs have shifted. Earth's wobble has shifted the signs, a new one's been added and many of us have changed signs. Formally a Cancer, I've apparently been upgraded to Gemini and am now married to an Ophiuchus, a new sign. What's yor sign? The new Zodiac Chart is pretty interesting." Here are some priceless reactions to this celestial development. As long as the Chinese Zodiac is unaffected, I'll still be able to accurately judge people based on when they were born, so please indicate in comments your (new) sign and birth...