Headlines:

DC Pagan Community Center Launch (Source: FireFlyAcadamy)

Environment:

Moss Has Cloned Itself for 50,000 Years, Study Says
A moss spreading throughout the Hawaiian Islands (map) appears to be an ancient clone that has copied itself for some 50,000 years—and may be one of the oldest multicellular organisms on Earth, a new study suggests.

The peat moss Sphagnum palustre is found throughout the Northern Hemisphere, but the moss living in Hawaii appears to reproduce only through cloning, without the need for sex or production of spores. Read full story from nationalgeographic.com

News:

ACLU sues library for blocking Wiccan websites
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Eastern Missouri sued a local public library on Tuesday for allegedly blocking websites related to Wicca, a modern pagan religion.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Eastern Missouri sued a local public library on Tuesday for allegedly blocking websites related to Wicca, a modern pagan religion.

According to the ACLU, the software labeled the sites as “occult” and “criminal.”  Read full story from thehill.com

Happy Gay Year
In a piece of shameless propaganda, two female sailors were photographed kissing on a dock in front of a U.S. Navy Ship. The headlines read, “Two women share historic kiss at US Navy ship’s return. For the first time since the repeal of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ a same sex couple takes part in a traditional public embrace. A Navy tradition caught up with the repeal of the US military’s ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ rule on Wednesday when two women sailors became the first to share the coveted ‘first kiss’ on the pier after one of them returned from 80 days at sea.”

Having served eight years in the Navy myself, I immediately asked: what Navy tradition is that? The Navy I served in never did any such thing.

American servicemen and women are not just being asked to tolerate this behavior, but are being subjected to “sensitivity training” where they are required to embrace homosexuality or abandon their careers. Meanwhile, homosexuals, transsexuals, and other perverts are being recruited in an effort to drive Christians from service. This abomination has been extended to the rest of government with executive order #13583, directing that homosexuals be given preference for government jobs and contracts. Read full story from rigthsidenews.com

Paranormal:

Reports of “strange lights” & “UFOs” flood in as 2012 hysteria arrives
On a daily basis WeatherWatch.co.nz receives around a handful of eyewitness reports of meteors and other lights in the sky, from nations all over the world.  Some busy days we might get 10 eyewitness reports.  However in the past 24 hours we’ve had almost 80 reports and they are still flooding in at about 10 an hour.

From New Zealand’s Otago Peninsula, to Cape Town, Venezuela to the UK, Australia to North America those ringing in the New Year have seen flashing lights, “floating orbs” and “UFOS”.

WeatherWatch.co.nz weather analyst Philip Duncan puts the dramatic increase in sightings down to a few things.  “Many people around the world have been outside celebrating the New Year.  In the US, where most of the sightings came from, conditions were fairly mild and dry in many areas – so more people were outside to see things.  Finally, it’s 2012, the year the world is supposed to end according to the Mayans and it seems many are already worrying “.Read full story from WeatherWatch.co.nz

Science:

Twin Moon Probes Start New Year by Entering Lunar Orbit
A pair of NASA spacecraft are ringing in the new year in grand style, with both now successfully circling the moon after journeying through space for more than three months.

The Grail-B probe entered lunar orbit today (Jan. 1) after firing its main engine at 5:05 p.m. EST (2205 GMT) in a 40-minute-long orbital-insertion burn, NASA officials said. It joins its twin spacecraft, Grail-A, which arrived at the moon yesterday evening (Dec. 31) after completing a similar maneuver.

The two probes are on a mission to study Earth’s nearest neighbor from crust to core. After gradually circling down to super-low orbits, the pair will zip around the moon in tandem, working together to map the lunar gravity field in unprecedented detail, researchers said. Read full story from scientificamerican.com

Blogspot:

• Confessions of a Pagan Soccer Mom – January 2012 Magical Correspondences
• The Deepest Well – Dark Days of The Soul
• Inciting A Riot – A Good Pagan Film (Spoiler alert: B.S. Abounds)
• One Witche’s Way – The Pagan Blog Project
• Open Salon - Why I Stopped Believing in God
• The Pagan Household – Getting Started with Native Gardening
• Pantheon – Super Secret Project Revealed and Last Fundraiser Post
• Patti Wigington – Pagan Decorating
• The Secret Life of the American Working Witch – Not a Rant: Mdd or Depression
• The Wild Hunt - 2012 Predictions: The Year of Oya

Feel free to leave comments regarding the articles posted.

If you’re interested in guest blogging or would like to submit an article or event, contact me at pagansworld.org@gmail.com.

Thanks for stopping by! Well wishes to you all, have a great day!

Lisa