Some (like me) say ‘Mabon’, others say ‘Autumnal Equinox’, most of you will just say, ‘first day of fall’. Here in Texas we also all say, ‘Thank God! Only one more week of Hurricane Season!’. IT’s going to be a while yet before it starts feeling like fall here in Texas though we are loosing a lot of the oppressive humidity which makes things easier and our nights have started dropping into the 70’s which gives out A/C units and our wallets a break.

Well you need to start reading and I need to get going to my hand doctor’s appointment. I should learn today if/when I’ll be having some outpatient surgery on it. You know its strange but I can’t shake the feeling I’ve heard of this doctor someplace before. I don’t know what it is but the name Dr. Frank N. Furter just rings a bell with me.

Autumnal equinox (Mabon)

Vernal point and autumnal point are the points on the celestial sphere where the Sun is located on the vernal equinox and autumnal equinox respectively. Usually this terminology is fixed for the Northern hemisphere. These classical names are direct derivatives of Latin (ver = spring and autumnus = autumn). These names are based on the seasons, and can be ambiguous since seasons of the northern hemisphere and southern hemisphere are opposites, and the vernal equinox of one hemisphere is the autumnal equinox of the other.

On the day of the equinox, the center of the Sun spends a roughly equal amount of time above and below the horizon at every location on the Earth, so night and day are about the same length. The word equinox derives from the Latin words aequus (equal) and nox (night). In reality, the day is longer than the night at an equinox. Day is usually defined as the period when sunlight reaches the ground in the absence of local obstacles. From the Earth, the Sun appears as a disc rather than a point of light, so when the center of the Sun is below the horizon, its upper edge is visible.

In the half-year centered on the June solstice, the Sun rises north of east and sets north of west, which means longer days with shorter nights for the northern hemisphere and shorter days with longer nights for the southern hemisphere. In the half-year centered on the December solstice, the Sun rises south of east and sets south of west and the durations of day and night are reversed.

Also on the day of an equinox, the Sun rises everywhere on Earth (except at the poles) at about 06:00 and sets at about 18:00 (local time).

Boy he’s one of my best hires ever too!
Got tossed from MMA Fighting for ‘Excessive Roughness’

Forfeiture 101: When can law enforcement seize your assets?

By Staff, Moneytips.com  Posted: 09/14/15, 3:47 PM EDT | Updated: 1 day ago

Civil asset forfeiture is a powerful tool for law enforcement. Forfeiture laws are designed to keep criminals from profiting on their ventures — a premise few people would disagree with. However, it is possible that the civil forfeiture process can be used to take your property even if you have not been formally charged with a crime. Since law enforcement agencies can keep significant amounts of the proceeds, potential conflicts of interest arise.

There are actually three types of federal forfeiture: administrative, civil, and criminal. Let’s take a brief look at each one.

Administrative

Administrative forfeitures are generally uncontested. The seizing law enforcement agency processes the seizure, since without a challenge, the courts are not at all involved. However, administrative claims are limited to $500,000 or less and cannot include real property (homes or business real estate). The agency must have probable cause that a crime is involved, but over 200 different crimes can be subject to forfeiture of proceeds from the crime and/or property used in the commission of the crime.

The agency must get a warrant based on probable cause and notify the owner of the assets of the seizure procedure. If it is uncontested within a set timeframe, the agency claims the property. Otherwise, they must proceed with either criminal or civil forfeiture.

Criminal

Criminal forfeiture requires being found guilty of the crime relevant to the forfeiture. The trial takes place in a criminal phase and a forfeiture phase, as the standards of guilt are different between the two phases. The criminal phase requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt, and the forfeiture phase requires a preponderance of evidence (more likely than not).

Civil

While there must still be an underlying suspected crime, civil forfeiture involves only property. With the lower standard of a preponderance of evidence, it is often used by law enforcement when they are not sure they can prove the crime, but have enough evidence to pass the lower standard.

Most people still would not care if all of these procedures were followed. However, a significant number of civil forfeitures are proceeding without a warrant, sometimes putting innocent citizens in the position of being presumed guilty until proven otherwise.

Furthermore, states also have forfeiture laws, and often multiple agencies lay claim to part of the seized property through sharing agreements, even if they were not directly involved in the forfeiture.

Some forfeitures, particularly at state level, can be executed without a warrant. Examples according to the People’s Law Library of Maryland, using Maryland law, include materials found during a search warrant or an administrative warrant (e.g. building codes), and probable cause that the property is dangerous to health or safety.

Another possibility is the “cold consent” primarily used at airports, bus, and train stations. Typically used by the DEA, agents stop and ask for consent to search for forfeitable assets if they fit a drug courier profile or have reason to believe there is an underlying crime such as money laundering. Unsuspecting travelers, believing they have nothing to hide, can find their assets seized on questionable premises. Probable cause has been stretched extremely thin at times, and has led to counter-charges such as racial profiling.

Civil asset forfeitures have risen dramatically over the last seven years. 2012 saw a massive increase, with $4.6 billion in assets seized by civil forfeiture. According to the Washington Post, since 2001, approximately $2.5 billion in cash alone was seized from individuals that were never charged with a crime. This makes for a group of odd political bedfellows seeking to reform civil forfeiture — liberals who see racial profiling and other discrimination in the search targets, and more libertarian conservatives alarmed at government overreach and the concept of law enforcement having financial incentive to increase civil forfeiture.

The takeaway: do not allow a cold consent, regardless of whether you have nothing to hide. The agent may think differently on that topic.

Even though it is legal, carrying large quantities of cash around is not a good idea, either, especially when driving long distances. Do not be a tempting target for an overzealous enforcement agency.

Hey Impish! Here’s a little more pizza for you that arrived late

Sorry, I didn’t quite catch the name of this one when the guy said it. I think it was Virgin something or other with all White Meat.

Got you a couple slices of the Virgin pizza with Pepperoni too cause I know you like to spice it up a bit.

I figured since she was the delivery girl I’d stick her going away view in too in case you were interested. Not sure what your position on ham or Canadian bacon on a pizza is.

Not if you’d keep your mouth shut Impish!

Mabon, (pronounced MAY-bun, MAY-bone, MAH-boon, or MAH-bawn) is the Autumn Equinox. The Autumn Equinox divides the day and night equally, and we all take a moment to pay our respects to the impending dark. We also give thanks to the waning sunlight, as we store our harvest of this year’s crops.

The Druids call this celebration, Mea’n Fo’mhair, and honor the The Green Man, the God of the Forest, by offering libations to trees. Offerings of ciders, wines, herbs and fertilizer are appropriate at this time. Wiccans celebrate the aging Goddess as she passes from Mother to Crone, and her consort the God as he prepares for death and re-birth.

Various other names for this Lesser Wiccan Sabbat are The Second Harvest Festival, Wine Harvest, Feast of Avalon, Equinozio di Autunno (Strega), Alben Elfed (Caledonii), or Cornucopia. The Teutonic name, Winter Finding, spans a period of time from the Sabbat to Oct. 15th, Winter’s Night, which is the Norse New Year.

At this festival it is appropriate to wear all of your finery and dine and celebrate in a lavish setting. It is the drawing to and of family as we prepare for the winding down of the year at Samhain. It is a time to finish old business as we ready for a period of rest, relaxation, and reflection.

The holiday of the autumnal equinox, is  ritual of thanksgiving for the fruits of the earth and a recognition of the need to share them to secure the blessings of the Goddess and the God during the coming winter months. The name Mabon is a reference to Mabon ap Modron, a character from Welsh mythology.

Mabon is a harvest festival, the second of three among the sabbats, preceded by Lammas / Lughnasadh and followed by Samhain., that encourages pagans to “reap what they sow,” both literally and figuratively. It is the time when night and day stand equal in duration; thus is it a time to express gratitude, complete projects and honor a moment of balance.

Mabon is considered a time of the Mysteries. It is a time to honor Aging Deities and the Spirit World. This is the time to look back not just on the past year, but also your life, and to plan for the future. Considered a time of balance, it is when we stop and relax and enjoy the fruits of our personal harvests, whether they be from toiling in our gardens, working at our jobs, raising our families, or just coping with the hussle-bussle of everyday life.

May your Mabon be memorable, and your hearts and spirits be filled to overflowing!

The Top 5 Most Popular North Korean TV Shows

The BBC announced that they will start airing shows to viewers in North Korea.
Does this mean the BBC will have to try some “alternative” programming?

5.) How I Imprisoned And Brainwashed Your Mother

4.) Curb Your Bourgeois, Traitorous Enthusiasm

3.) The Price is Whatever Our Supreme Commander Who Descended From Heaven Says It Is. Any Problems with That?

2.) Survivor: Here

And the Number One Most Popular North Korean TV Show…

1. Crazy-As-F**k Dynasty

Earl Thomas Conley – Turn This Bus Around

Don’t make me turn that atomic bus around Impish!

That’s precisely why Impish and I comment on Current Events and Politics always plenty of those things going on!

The Celtic feast Mean Fomhair, also known as Herfest or Alban Elfed, is celebrated in the period of the autumnal equinox. During this period, people give thanks to the Sun, the elves and especially the god of the forest – Green Man. They thank them for an abundant harvest and help with growth and cultivation. As a sign of respect and gratitude, people give gifts in the form of the most beautiful flowers and crops of the best quality on the altar. Other offerings, for example wine, cider, herbs and fertilizer are spilled or scattered on the harvested fields and gardens. The horn of plenty is the ancient symbol of the rich harvest.

A Green Man is a sculpture, drawing, or other representation of a face surrounded by or made from leaves. Branches or vines may sprout from the nose, mouth, nostrils or other parts of the face and these shoots may bear flowers or fruit. Commonly used as a decorative architectural ornament, Green Men are frequently found in carvings on both secular and ecclesiastical buildings. “The Green Man” is also a popular name for English public houses and various interpretations of the name appear on inn signs, which sometimes show a full figure rather than just the head.

The Green Man motif has many variations. Found in many cultures from many ages around the world, the Green Man is often related to natural vegetative deities. It is primarily interpreted as a symbol of rebirth, representing the cycle of growth each spring. Some speculate that the mythology of the Green Man developed independently in the traditions of separate ancient cultures and evolved into the wide variety of examples found throughout history.

This, one of the finest interpretations of the Green Man I have ever seen was made out of the trunk of a standing Dead oak and is all hand carved.

English Lesson  

The most interesting English lesson I have had to date.

Did you know “listen” and “silent” use the same letters?
Do you know that the words “race car” spelled backwards still spells “race car”?
And that “eat” is the only word that if you take the first letter and move it to the last, it spells its past tense “ate”?

And have you noticed that if you rearrange the letters in “illegal immigrants,” and add just a few more letters, it spells: “Go home you free-loading, benefit-grabbing, resource-sucking, baby-making, non-English-speaking assholes and take those other hairy-faced, sandal-wearing, bomb-making, camel-riding, goat-loving, raggedy-ass shitheads with you.”

How weird is that?

Parting Shot

Just because I usually have to agree to disagree with someone, dislike what they stand for or think they have a deficit of talent doesn’t mean I cannot admire them for their good deeds and I suppose the reverse also then holds true.  This is particular true of Jon Stewart. I think if we ever met we’d have ground for many spirited and enjoyable debates over a pint. While he looks at things through somewhat liberal colored glasses, he too is not afraid to throw the BS flag  on either side of the aisle, or upon many occasion as we have done here on the entirety of Congress and we won’t even go into his assault on FOX News and the rest of the talking head pundits.

Jon gets my tip of the hat/nod/salute/begrudging respect not for his views when they happen to agree with mine or his political BS flag throwing. He gets it for the same reason Gary Sinise, Joe Mantegna and Steve Buscemi do, for his unwavering support support of our troops, those still dealing with the aftermath of September 11, 2001 in terms of both physical and mental health issues as well as their families. This is another guy who never got so full of himself that he forgot his roots or where he came from.

Now, if we could only get him to blog for us.

Jon Stewart lobbies on Capitol Hill for permanent health care for 9/11 first responders

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) – Jon Stewart had a warning for the men and women who have descended on Capitol Hill to lobby for a measure that would provide benefits to 9/11 first responders.

“Today, on the Hill, you will be exposed to possibly toxic levels of bull$@!& and arrogance,” Stewart said during a Wednesday morning rally in Washington, D.C. “You’re strong men and women, but these are conditions you may never have faced before.”

It was a characteristic zinger from Stewart, but the former “Daily Show” host struck a mostly serious tone throughout the event.

Surrounded by firefighters, union officials and a bipartisan contingent of New York lawmakers that included Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Stewart was in the nation’s capital to campaign for the renewal of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act.

The law, enacted in 2010, provides health care benefits to first responders afflicted with illness as a result of the attack. It is named for Zadroga, a New York City police officer who died of a respiratory disease in 2006 that was linked to his work at Ground Zero.

The law is set to expire at month’s end. Failure to renew the bill could affect more than “33,000 responders and survivors who have at least one injury or illness caused by the attacks,” according to the Citizens for the Extension of the James Zadroga Act.

Sporting a navy New York City Fire Department T-shirt — and a grayish beard he’s grown in the month since stepping down as host of “The Daily Show” — Stewart lamented that the measure faced any opposition at all.

“I’m embarrassed. I’m embarrassed for my country. I’m embarrassed for New York,” Stewart said. “Nobody had to lobby you to rush to those towers on that day.”

“So, I am sorry, and I apologize,” he added. “And hopefully we’ll never have to do this again.”