I am so MAD right now! I do not even know

how this could happen, but it did!

These children in California, the Montebello

High School, were allowed to take down the

American Flag, put up a Mexican Flag and

then put the "AMERICAN" Flag back up, under

the Mexican Flag... UPSIDE DOWN!!!

HOW UNAMERICAN CAN THIS BE!!!

I have posted the rest of the pictures in my

albums... please take a look... I hope it makes

every AMERICAN MAD, because it should!!!

Write into your government and complain!

Hey Everyone! Well yesterday afternoon and through half the night, there were major storms in Virginia... it is all over the news, internet and tv. I took a few shots over the house as the storm passed over us! Fortunately for us, the storm was not in Virginia Beach. The tornadoes hit a couple of towns very close to us! All is well today though... just major clean up!

Hello Everyone! Help keep the "Earth" clean!  Do all you can in your own area to save what is left of the Earth! I am going to the shore to pick up trash... Pass the word along of what day it is!

Guess how I know the poison  Ivy is out?!  Thats right I caught it already!!! First let me tell you, that I got this stuff last year and I sprayed the area about a month ago and I thought the poison Ivy was dead... all dried up, etc... so I thought, there is no harm in planting in the area, especially if I wear gloves! Wrong! I caught it anyway... it was still "venomous!" So learn a lesson from me, dried poison ivy is just as bad and never be around if you burn it... very poisonous to your lungs... could be deadly if you are allergic to the stuff... Anyway, poison ivy can grow anywhere and everywhere. The main thing is, if you know you have it, no matter what... DO NOT SCRATCH IT! This will totally make things worse! So be on the look out for this crazy vine!!!

About Easter: Bonnets & Bunnies, The Origins of Easter

Easter, like Christmas, is a blend of paganism and Christianity. The word Easter is derived from Eostre (also known as Ostara), an ancient Anglo-Saxon Goddess. She symbolized the rebirth of the day at dawn and the rebirth of life in the spring. The arrival of spring was celebrated all over the world long before the religious meaning became associated with Easter. Now Easter celebrates the rebirth of Christ.

In fact, Easter is an important Christian holiday. It is the culmination of events during Holy Week beginning with Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday reflects the return of Jesus to Jerusalem. Maundy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper of Christ and Good Friday honors the crucifixion of Jesus. Finally, Easter Sunday celebrates the resurrection after his death.

Easter falls on the first Sunday on or following the spring Equinox after the full moon. The date has been calculated in this way since 325 AD.

Lambs, chicks and baby creatures of all kinds are all associated with spring, symbolizing the birth of new life.

Since ancient times many cultures have associated eggs with the universe. They've been dyed, decorated and painted by the Romans, Gaul's, Persians and the Chinese. They were used in ancient spring festivals to represent the rebirth of life. As Christianity took hold the egg began to symbolize the rebirth of man rather than nature.

During the 4th century consuming eggs during Lent became taboo. However, spring is the peak egg-laying time for hens, so people began to cook eggs in their shells to preserve them. Eventually people began decorating and hiding them for children to find during Easter, which gave birth to the Easter Egg Hunt. Other egg-related games also evolved like egg tossing and egg rolling.

A Polish folktale tells of the Virgin Mary giving eggs to soldiers at the cross while she pleaded with them to be merciful. As her tears dropped they spattered droplets on the eggs mottling them with a myriad of colors.

The Faberge egg is the best known of all the decorated eggs. Peter Faberge made intricate, delicately decorated eggs. In 1883, the Russian Czar commissioned Faberge to make a special egg for his wife.

The Easter Bunny is a cute little rabbit that hides eggs for us to find on Easter. But where did he come from? Well, the origin is not certain. In the rites of spring the rabbit symbolized fertility. In a German book published in 1682, a tale is told of a bunny laying eggs and hiding them in the garden.

The Easter bonnet and new clothes on Easter symbolizes the end of the dreary winter and the beginning of the fresh, new spring. At the turn of the century it was popular for families to stroll to church and home again to show off their "Sunday best".

The Easter Basket shows roots in a Catholic custom. Baskets filled with breads, cheeses, hams and other foods for Easter dinner were taken to mass Easter morning to be blessed. This evolved in time to baskets filled with chocolate eggs, jellybeans, toys and stuffed bunnies for children left behind by the Easter Bunny.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- The white killer whale spotted in Alaska's Aleutian Islands sent researchers and the ship's crew scrambling for their cameras.

A rare white killer whale was spotted by federal scientists in late February off Alaska.

The nearly mythic creature was real after all.

"I had heard about this whale, but we had never been able to find it," said Holly Fearnbach, a research biologist with the National Marine Mammal Laboratory in Seattle who photographed the rarity. "It was quite neat to find it."

The whale was spotted last month while scientists aboard the Oscar Dyson, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research ship, were conducting an acoustic survey of pollock near Steller sea lion haulout sites.

It had been spotted once in the Aleutians years ago but had eluded researchers since, even though they had seen many of the more classic black and white whales over the years.

Fearnbach said the white whale stood out.

"When you first looked at it, it was very white," she said Thursday.

Further observation showed that while the whale's saddle area was white, other parts of its body had a subtle yellowish or brownish color.

It likely is not a true albino given the coloration, said John Durban, a research biologist at NOAA's Alaska Fisheries Science Center in Seattle. That's probably a good thing -- true albinos usually don't live long and can have health problems.

Durban said white killer whales have been spotted elsewhere in the area twice before: in 1993 in the northern Bering Sea around St. Lawrence Island and in 2001 near Adak in the central Aleutians. There have also been sightings along the Russian coast.

While Alaska researchers have documented thousands of black and white killer whales in the Bering Sea and the Aleutians during summer surveys, this was something new and exciting, Durban said.

"This is the first time we came across a white killer whale," he said.

The scientists observed several pods over a two-week period. The white whale was in a family group of 12 on a day when the seas were fairly rough. It was spotted about 2 miles off Kanaga Volcano on February 23.

The ship stayed with the whale for about 30 minutes.

"Everybody actually came out and was taking pictures," Fearnbach said. "It was a neat sighting for everybody."

South Africa to resume elephant culling

Although the separation will vary slightly with the observer's position on Earth, for most of us the bright, yellowish visage of Saturn will be less than 3 degrees away from the Moon's northern limb. For those of you who enjoy photographing the night sky, this will be a tremendous opportunity to both capture an astronomy event and a conjunction at the same time! This type of event - when things interestingly align in the sky is also sometimes called an "appulse". For all we know, we could even be experiencing a syzygy!

Regardless of what word you want to put on it, it's definitely going to be a sight worth seeing. Let's take a look at where the action is happening!

For viewer on Eastern Standard Time the eclipse will enter the partial phase on February 20 at 08:43 pm; for Central Standard Time, 07:43 pm; for Mountain Standard Time, 06:43 pm; and Pacific Standard Time at 05:43 pm - before sunset. For viewers in Europe and Africa, the action begins at the beginning of a new day - on February 21 at 01:43 am GMT. (Sorry, to the good folks down under and in the Far East… no eclipse will be visible.) Totality will begin at 10:01 pm EAST, 09:01 pm CST, 08:01 pm, MST, 07:01 pm PST, and 03:01 am GMT and end precisely 50 minutes later. Then, you have 1 hour and 18 minutes left as the Moon slowly slides out of the Earth's shadow once again.

For a significant portion of "Universe Today" readers, the entire eclipse will be visible and it's time to enjoy the last we'll see for a couple of years. For those experiencing the eclipse as the Moon sets… Don't despair. You'll enjoy one of the darkest eclipses you'll ever see while viewers on the west coast of the Americas will see the eclipse in progress as the Moon rises. Don't wait until the last minute to prepare your observing area or your cameras. For those with camcorders, you have a great opportunity to video the entire event! Don't forget that cell phones take great images and even the most common camera can take a great shot of the eclipsed Moon when held to the eyepiece of a telescope. If you're timing the event, have your notes ready, and most of all… Have a good time!

Christmas as we know it today is a Victorian invention of the 1860s. Probably the most celebrated holiday in the world, our modern Christmas is a product of hundreds of years of both secular and religious traditions from around the globe. Click around this map to learn about traditions from different regions and, along the way, learn about the history of this most cherished of holidays.

Sweden

'God Jul!'

Most people in Scandinavian countries honor St. Lucia (also known as St. Lucy) each year on December 13. The celebration of St. Lucia Day began in Sweden, but had spread to Denmark and Finland by the mid-19th century.

In these countries, the holiday is considered the beginning of the Christmas season and, as such, is sometimes referred to as "little Yule." Traditionally, the oldest daughter in each family rises early and wakes each of her family members, dressed in a long, white gown with a red sash, and wearing a crown made of twigs with nine lighted candles. For the day, she is called "Lussi" or "Lussibruden (Lucy bride)." The family then eats breakfast in a room lighted with candles.

Any shooting or fishing done on St. Lucia Day was done by torchlight, and people brightly illuminated their homes. At night, men, women, and children would carry torches in a parade. The night would end when everyone threw their torches onto a large pile of straw, creating a huge bonfire. In Finland today, one girl is chosen to serve as the national Lucia and she is honored in a parade in which she is surrounded by torchbearers.

Light is a main theme of St. Lucia Day, as her name, which is derived from the Latin word lux, means light. Her feast day is celebrated near the shortest day of the year, when the sun's light again begins to strengthen. Lucia lived in Syracuse during the fourth century when persecution of Christians was common. Unfortunately, most of her story has been lost over the years. According to one common legend, Lucia lost her eyes while being tortured by a Diocletian for her Christian beliefs. Others say she may have plucked her own eyes out to protest the poor treatment of Christians. Lucia is the patron saint of the blind.

Finland

'Hyvää Joulua!'

Many Finns visit the sauna on Christmas Eve. Families gather and listen to the national "Peace of Christmas" radio broadcast. It is customary to visit the gravesites of departed family members.

Norway

'Gledelig Jul!'

Norway is the birthplace of the Yule log. The ancient Norse used the Yule log in their celebration of the return of the sun at winter solstice. "Yule" came from the Norse word hweol, meaning wheel. The Norse believed that the sun was a great wheel of fire that rolled towards and then away from the earth. Ever wonder why the family fireplace is such a central part of the typical Christmas scene? This tradition dates back to the Norse Yule log. It is probably also responsible for the popularity of log-shaped cheese, cakes, and desserts during the holidays.

Jamestown, Virginia

According to reports by Captain John Smith, the first eggnog made in the United States was consumed in his 1607 Jamestown settlement. Nog comes from the word grog, which refers to any drink made with rum.

Germany

'Froehliche Weihnachten!'

Decorating evergreen trees had always been a part of the German winter solstice tradition. The first "Christmas trees" explicitly decorated and named after the Christian holiday, appeared in Strasbourg, in Alsace in the beginning of the 17th century. After 1750, Christmas trees began showing up in other parts of Germany, and even more so after 1771, when Johann Wolfgang von Goethe visited Strasbourg and promptly included a Christmas tree is his novel, The Suffering of Young Werther. In the 1820s, the first German immigrants decorated Christmas trees in Pennsylvania. After Germany's Prince Albert married Queen Victoria, he introduced the Christmas tree tradition to England. In 1848, the first American newspaper carried a picture of a Christmas tree and the custom spread to nearly every home in just a few years.

Mexico

'Feliz Navidad!'

In 1828, the American minister to Mexico, Joel R. Poinsett, brought a red-and-green plant from Mexico to America. As its coloring seemed perfect for the new holiday, the plants, which were called poinsettias after Poinsett, began appearing in greenhouses as early as 1830. In 1870, New York stores began to sell them at Christmas. By 1900, they were a universal symbol of the holiday.

In Mexico, paper mache sculptures called pinatas are filled with candy and coins and hung from the ceiling. Children then take turns hitting the pinata until it breaks, sending a shower of treats to the floor. Children race to gather as much of of the loot as they can.

England

'Merry Christmas!'

An Englishman named John Calcott Horsley helped to popularize the tradition of sending Christmas greeting cards when he began producing small cards featuring festive scenes and a pre-written holiday greeting in the late 1830s. Newly efficient post offices in England and the United States made the cards nearly overnight sensations. At about the same time, similar cards were being made by R.H. Pease, the first American card maker, in Albany, New York, and Louis Prang, a German who immigrated to America in 1850.

Celtic and Teutonic peoples had long considered mistletoe to have magic powers. It was said to have the ability to heal wounds and increase fertility. Celts hung mistletoe in their homes in order to bring themselves good luck and ward off evil spirits. During holidays in the Victorian era, the English would hang sprigs of mistletoe from ceilings and in doorways. If someone was found standing under the mistletoe, they would be kissed by someone else in the room, behavior not usually demonstrated in Victorian society.

Plum pudding is an English dish dating back to the Middle Ages. Suet, flour, sugar, raisins, nuts, and spices are tied loosely in cloth and boiled until the ingredients are "plum," meaning they have enlarged enough to fill the cloth. It is then unwrapped, sliced like cake, and topped with cream.

Caroling also began in England. Wandering musicians would travel from town to town visiting castles and homes of the rich. In return for their performance, the musicians hoped to receive a hot meal or money.

In the United States and England, children hang stockings on their bedpost or near a fireplace on Christmas Eve, hoping that it will be filled with treats while they sleep. In Scandinavia, similar-minded children leave their shoes on the hearth. This tradition can be traced to legends about Saint Nicholas. One legend tells of three poor sisters who could not marry because they had no money for a dowry. To save them from being sold by their father, St. Nick left each of the three sisters gifts of gold coins. One went down the chimney and landed in a pair of shoes that had been left on the hearth. Another went into a window and into a pair of stockings left hanging by the fire to dry.

France

'Joyeux Noël!'

In France, Christmas is called Noel. This comes from the French phrase les bonnes nouvelles, which means "the good news" and refers to the gospel.

In southern France, some people burn a log in their homes from Christmas Eve until New Year's Day. This stems from an ancient tradition in which farmers would use part of the log to ensure good luck for the next year's harvest.

Italy

'Buone Natale!'

Italians call Chrismas Il Natale, meaning "the birthday."

Australia

In Australia, the holiday comes in the middle of summer and it's not unusual for some parts of Australia to hit 100 degrees Farenheit on Christmas day.

During the warm and sunny Australian Christmas season, beach time and outdoor barbecues are common. Traditional Christmas day celebrations include family gatherings, exchanging gifts and either a hot meal with ham, turkey, pork or seafood or barbeques.

Ukraine

'Srozhdestvom Kristovym!'

Ukrainians prepare a traditional twelve-course meal. A family's youngest child watches through the window for the evening star to appear, a signal that the feast can begin.

Canada

Most Canadian Christmas traditions are very similar to those practiced in the United States. In the far north of the country, the Eskimos celebrate a winter festival called sinck tuck, which features parties with dancing and the exchanging of gifts.

Greece

'Kala Christouyenna!'

In Greece, many people believe in kallikantzeri, goblins that appear to cause mischief during the 12 days of Christmas. Gifts are usually exchanged on January 1, St. Basil's Day.

Central America

A manger scene is the primary decoration in most southern European, Central American, and South American nations. St. Francis of Assisi created the first living nativity in 1224 to help explain the birth of Jesus to his followers.