Originally called the Arch Ward Memorial Award, since 1962, the Major League Baseball All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award has been presented each season to the player who is deemed to have demonstrated the most exceptional prowess during the All-Star Game – also known as the Midsummer Classic – which is usually played on the second Tuesday in July as a symbolic marker of the Major League Baseball season’s halfway point (although mathematically this usually actually occurs one week prior to the All-Star Game). The host stadium for the All-Star Game alternates between the two leagues each year, with its specific location being determined by a Major League Baseball selection committee. Fans, along with fellow players, coaches, and managers all place votes to determine which players will make up each league’s team each year. No regular season games are scheduled for the day before or the day after – making those two days the only days of the entire year during which no regular season or preseason games are played within any of the United States’ major professional sports leagues including basketball, baseball, football, and hockey.

During the early 1930’s the Major League Baseball All-Star game had been the idea of Arch Ward – hence the original name of the game’s Most Valuable Player award – who at the time was a sports editor for The Chicago Tribune. The idea was for the best players from each league, regardless of their actual teams, would compete together as a team on behalf of their respective leagues against one another. The first all-star game was held in Chicago, Illinois in 1933, as part of the World’s Fair, and had at the time been meant to take place as a one-time competition. However, the game was so well-received in its inaugural year that it became an annual event between chosen players from the National League against chosen players of the American League, in teams now chosen by a combination of coaches, managers, fellow players, and baseball fans. Although the All-Star Game was introduced in 1933, the Most Valuable Player Award was not presented for the first time until 1962.

In 1970, the name of the sports award was changed to the Commissioner’s Trophy, but reverted to its original name in 1985 when the World Series Trophy took on the Commissioner’s Trophy name instead. In 2002, the trophy yet again took on a new name: the Ted Williams Most Valuable Player Award, in memory of the Boston Rex Sox player who had passed away from cardiac arrest earlier in the year. The 2002 All-Star Game ended in a tie, and no MVP award was distributed that year, although a Fox newscaster had noted that Damian Miller would have received the honor if the National League had been victorious, and Paul Konerko would have been the recipient if the American League had won. Since 2002’s tie left that year’s award open, however, in 2003, outfielder Garret Anderson of the Anaheim Angels became the first recipient of the newly named award.

When you start dating someone seriously you may or may not be sure if they are the right person for you. A great way to check if they are is to look at your star sign compatibility. People possessing different star signs will sometimes be surprised to find that they or more or less compatible with their partner due to their respective star signs.

While Aries is generally seen as quite an outgoing horoscope sign, it can sometimes lead to jealousy as often the people who are an Aries can appear to be quite flirty when in actual fact they are just being friendly, making their partners jealous in the process.

When looking at Taurus for zodiac sign compatibility, you will find that sometimes, they can become possessive, which in extreme cases can ruin relationships, but when properly managed will help you show your partner how much you care about them.

Libras are lucky when it comes to the dating world. Their horoscope sign is highly romantic which is of great help when it comes to relationships. An important aspect of being a Libra is the ability to find someone who loves you as much as you love them. Often having a Libra star sign can be a curse as you end up being quite romantic, but finding a person who loves you just as much as you love them can be a nightmare.

Scorpio is an interesting personality as it is quite sexually aggressive but also a little controlling. Having this zodiac sign may be good in the initial stages of a relationship as you will be exciting and will always want to be around your partner but soon you may find your partner getting a little irritated with your controlling ways.

There is no universal agreement about the basic design of nautical star tattoos. But most people agree that the sailors are the inventor of nautical star tattoos. Today the basic design differs according to the belief. Majority of designs are classified according to the points of the star. There are 4, 5,6,7,8 and more points in nautical star tattoos. Following are some of the common beliefs attached with the various nautical star designs that have different points or tips of star.

With four tips

The Nautical star tattoos with four points or tips are supposed to be developed by sailors and marine related people. They argue that it is the representation of compass. Compass shows east, west, north and south directions. So, the design of this type of tattoos must have four points. This argument also leads to the eight pointed designs, since modern compass also points to another four directions like southwest, northeast, southeast and northwest totaling eight directions.

With five tips

Majority of people believes that nautical star tattoos must have five points or tips. This type of design is very popular. If you ask someone to draw a star then they will draw the five pointed star, since it is the first design we learned as a child. You can draw it without lifting your pencil. Five doted star is also known as pentagram. Pentagram represents powerful but often misconceived meaning.

With six tips

Many religious people claim that the true nautical star has six points. Their argument is based on the belief that the Star of David has six points. Pagan God Remphan is also symbolizes with six pointed designs.

With seven tips

There are many fairy tales that has drawings of stars with seven points. It is also believed to represent the childhood or innocence. Some thinks that nautical star tattoos with seven points are a symbol of whimsical mind.

With eight tips

Apart from the sailor’s point of view, there is one religious point of view also. According to some, the eight pointed designs represent the cross of St. John. Some people see the Knight of Malta’s emblem in this type of drawings. Knight of Malta was the most powerful religious organization of Middle East in olden days.

With more than eight tips

Abstract artists of today have created many nautical star tattoos with more than eight points. There are no specific meanings attached to it but individual and some groups attached their own meaning to it.

Reverse pentagon designs

Generally it is believed that the common pentagon has one point upwards. But if the design of pentagon is reversed making the upward point look downward then it is also believed that this type of reverse pentagon design represents witchcraft and Satanism. Some believes that tattooing the upside down pentagon in their body symbolizes their belief to rule over the spirits of others.

When deciding to ink any type of nautical star tattoo, it is advisable to see as much new sketches of nautical star tattoos as possible. It is worthwhile to become member of a good website that offers unique sketches of nautical star tattoos to their members only.

Introduced as a cheerful, anthropomorphic black mouse with red shorts, yellow shoes, and white gloves, Mickey Mouse is probably one of the most recognizable animal characters that have been featured in comic books, movies, television series, and other merchandise by the Walt Disney Company. Due to the popularity of Mickey Mouse, his character has been featured in many video games, hands-on game products, and interactive toys, among others.

The Disney rock star mickey is simply rocktastic! The toy is adorable with sweet facial expression on the toy’s fabric-covered face. Fisher Price made the toy’s guitar and shoes from hard plastic components so the Disney rock star mickey is likely to hold up amazingly well with average play by a toddler. The toy is well constructed. You can see it from the way the doll is built. You are likely to find no loose, small parts that could pose choking hazards. Even teenagers and adult Disney fans would love having the Disney rock star mickey to add their collection.

Children ages 2 years & up would love to listen and watch Mickey kicks across the floor. Mickey will be happy to teach you new moves as well as classic ones to get you a step ahead to your dream of being a rock star! You can bob your head down while Mickey is singing his new tunes and sometimes dropping into a Mickety-Split.

Classic Rock Tunes with a Single Push

Unlike many other plush Mickey toys, that only work as objects of affection of our little ones, this Disney rock star mickey mechanic plush toy works to get the children off the couch and listen to Mickey’s new tunes. You can press his right foot and mickey would perform his classic rock tune, “You Really Got Me.” Simply press the right foot once more to see how mickey sings “M to the I Rock Star Remix.” Get the children to watch it jamming on the floor, kicking out his best moves, delivering an energetic performance of genuine rock star while humming clever, mouse-style lyrics.

Learn How to Move Like Mickey

What if the song were finished before you can learn all his entire moves? Relax, you can press his nose to learn how Mickey kicks or bop his head. It enables children, teenagers, and adult to learn how to move like Mickey by pressing his nose. In total, Mickey introduces four moves that would get you on your feet. The Head-Bop and the Kick-Step might be the easiest moves, while the Mickety-Split might require more practice from you! Mickey can even play guitar using his snout! To learn his moves, all you need to do is push the nose and follow the steps.

Rock Band Duet

Now you can be a rock star too! You can buy the Rock Guitar which is sold separately, play the guitar, and start a rock duet with mickey. Have you learnt how to tune a guitar? Mickey can teach you how by pressing his nose. When every string has been tuned up, Mickey would be off rocking the world once again, playing cool music, saying phrases, and jamming on his string equipment. Mickey has taught you about how to do classic rock n’ roll moves in style, and it is your turn to show him your moves, and how to do it right!

In the box

You can find Disney Rock Star Mickey along with plastic, non-removable sunglasses, a guitar, four AA batteries, and instructions for use. Recommended Ages for 2 Years & Up

Product Features:

• A couple of classic rock tunes You Really Got Me and M to the I Rock Star Remix

• Easy moves to follow

• Four moves: Head-Bop, the Kick-Step, the Mickety-Split

• Interactive Disney rock star mickey

• Mickey plays the guitar with his nose

• Simple mechanism; press right foot and Mickey sings, press nose and Mickey teaches you his moves

• You can start a band using separate Rock Star Guitar, which is sold separately

• dimensions 8.5 x 7 x 13.2 inches; 2 pounds

• Requires four A3 batteries, which is included. Phillips-head screwdriver to replace batteries

This week I hired a publicist. This may not seem like all that uncommon of a thing to do, but for me it was profound. The truth is that my book, “Testimony,” is not doing as well as it could be. I have been told that I need more “Star Power.” Sure, I have a loyal following of people, like yourself, who read my articles, subscribe to my newsletter, or follow me on Facebook. Nevertheless, today that is not enough. Today, you have to have star power or celebrity status to really get your voice heard. Our culture tells us that it does not matter what you say, what really matters is who you are when you say it.

Don’t get me wrong: I am not bitter about this, really I’m not (truly). I am, however, in all honesty, frightened by it. We will form our opinions and take advice from anyone as long as they are celebrity. Reality TV stars become experts in social science, movie stars become equivalent to PhD’s in the field of environmental science, and cable newscasters and entertainers get to tell us what our political and economic beliefs should be. Meanwhile, there is a real voice of reason, expertise, and experience sitting on the sidelines saying “If only I were famous enough, my ideas could change the world.” Instead, we learn our history from Pawn Stars, our science from Myth Busters, business management from The Apprentice, and world news and politics from The Daily Show.

There are a lot of people out there smarter and even more educated than I am, but I believe in my message. I know that my writings come from a sincere heart and a love for truth and honesty. For this reason, I am willing to do whatever it takes to help my message be heard. I don’t claim to have all the answers; however, I also don’t claim to write or speak about anything that I don’t understand. I am the first to admit when I don’t know something and I am always eager to learn. But this is really not about me (I know that’s not the best thing to say for one trying to gain a little more star power). This is about a realization that I was hit with this week, a realization that truth is being ignored or replaced by… I don’t know what. I am frightened by the fact that sincerity and honesty is outweighed by celebrity egos who can’t admit where their expertise ends or begins. I am frightened by the fact that star power commentary holds more weight than real knowledge and understanding. Mostly, I am frightened for a future in which a world looks to entertainment for facts while questioning or ignoring real insight.

People used to buy books based on the content in them and even well-known authors could enjoy a life of anonymity, focused solely on providing well-thought-out, meaningful content that could empower and impassion their readers. This allowed authors the freedom to continually learn and grow and, in turn, their books helped others do the same. Today, authors are not allowed this freedom. Their time is spent gaining star power instead of knowledge. More books are being sold than ever before. Information is everywhere, but what of the content of the books? People choose known faces over expertise, passion, and even truth.

Just in case you did not catch it, the point is that we need to reevaluate how we ascertain quality, truth, and information. Mass media has transformed the way that people learn, grow, and experience life. This is an amazing thing, but we must learn to recognize the difference between entertainment and knowledge. This is not to say that gaining new insights can’t be entertaining, but there is a huge difference between knowledge presented in an entertaining way versus entertainment presented as knowledge. We must learn to recognize the difference and challenge ourselves to look deeper than the celebrity status or star power of those tasked with shaping our minds, thoughts, and opinions.

You just may be surprised to find that the unknown authors, bloggers, and instructors are the ones that can bring real value to the table. After all, they did not set out to be a celebrity; they simply have a story, knowledge, or information to share. The work holds no secondary agenda; they don’t write just to be heard, they write because they have something worth listening too.

Are You Having Trouble Removing Your Star Highspeed From The Quick Coupler?

First Let’s Get it Off the Quick Coupler:

• Take A Flat Bladed Screwdriver And Insert it Between The End Of The Star 430 Handpiece & The Hose Coupling.
• Gently Turn The Screw Driver. Make Sure Contact Remains Between The Coupling and The Backend of the Handpiece. Do Not let it slip or damage may occur.
• With a little bit of Pressure, you will Feel the Handpiece Slip Past the O-ring.
• At this point, remove the screwdriver, set it down and Simply pull the Handpiece Off The Quick Connect as you normally would.

Now Let’s fix the Source of The Problem. Take a Q-tip and moisten it with WD-40 and clean the backend of the Star 430 Handpiece by wiping it across the surfaces of the O-ring Grooves inside the inner housing. Repeat as necessary until there is no visible color change of the WD-40 on the Q-tip. Take a dry Q-tip and remove as much of the WD-40 as possible. It does not hurt to follow this up by blowing a little dry air from your syringe inside, forcing any remaining residue out. We don’t want the WD-40 getting into the bearings. It’s time to Check the O-rings on the Quick Connect for the Star 430. Look for Cracking, Brittleness, or actual breakage. If any of these conditions exist, replace the O-rings. They are relatively inexpensive and it’s a good practice to always have a couple of sets on hand. Lubricate the new O-rings if replaced or the old ones if not replaced, with a drop of Handpiece Oil. It’s also a good idea to replace the O-rings at least every 12 months, even if they look fine The O-rings on the Quick Connect Should Be Lubricated Weekly, As per Manufacturers Specifications. The Lubrication Extends the lifespan of the O-rings, provides ease of connect and disconnect of the Handpieces, and it also helps keep the backend free of debris that could cause the Handpiece to get stuck again.

Tech Tip: I have answered several Service Calls where the Star 430 Handpiece Quick Connect cannot be removed from the supply tubing. To keep this from happening and incurring the expense of a Service Call, the Quick Connect should be removed from the Hose connection periodically, and the threads lubricated with a drop of oil or Handpiece Grease to keep it from being frozen in place. Once a Month or so should keep this part of the Operation relatively Trouble-Free.

Zi Wei Dou Shu Destiny Study is another main branch of Chinese Astrology alongside with Bazi or Four Pillars that the ancient Chinese used to unveil their predestined affinities by applying its techniques to enhance their general well-being be it on a personal, business advantage, and daily level. In short, Zi Wei Astrology enables us to better comprehend and optimize our lives at each phase or episode during their journey of success and trepidation.

Zi Wei Astrology is different from fortune-telling, such I-Ching and Bazi. Zi Wei Astrology has been widely practised in ancient China especially during the Song and Miing Dynasties. Zi Wei can be translated to mean “Purple Star” or “Emperor Star” and Astrology means “Interpretation using esoteric techniques”.

The main focus of Zi Wei Astrology is to study a person’s destiny based on the movement of various stars and the location of Zi Wei Star within the twelve different palaces or houses or quadrants.

The variation in methodology in calculating the person’s destiny is different from school to school. For example, there are northern and southern schools in addition to different techniques variation adopted for calculation and interpretation.

Zi Wei Astrology uses calculations of a person’s year, month, date and time of birth to allocate the stars inside the twelve different palaces. The chart that is constructed forms the person’s personalised Destiny Chart and this chart corresponds to the person’s entire life’s “ups” and “downs” as they unfolds over the course of their life.

The next step after constructed the personalised Destiny Chart is to understand the meaning of the twelve palaces. And then to go on to understand the broad and narrow definition of stars besides seeking a further understanding of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches in each respective palaces, houses or quadrants.

The five elements with its generating and controlling cycle principles cannot be overemphasized when it is used in the mix of interpretation of a probable event or projected outcome either on a personal or business level. For it can cause one to be in a pathetic or triumphant state of mind.

Another interesting factor is the time of birth. By knowing it, one can already deduce one’s orientation in life and what holds closely to their heart and mind. Thus, knowing which double-hour one is born can provide an indicative perspective of the person’s “general mindset”.

In this system of Zi Wei Astrology, the palaces can shift or rotate around but the stars within each palace or house or quadrant remain. It is similar in analogy to taking a train ride. When one starts a journey as in since birth, it moves from “one station to another station” in life as it progresses, the views outside the train window changes while one remains on the moving train until it reaches the final destination which means here end of one’s journey or life.

Thus, the 12 standard stations or stages are: Fate Palace where the starting luck cycle varies for each person, thus there is pre-fate palace where one begins life. Next is Sibling palace, if any to begin interaction with them and this can include one’s peers as well. Third comes spouse palace which is based on old Chinese tradition, one gets settled down first before greater responsibilities befall on them. Fourth, according to ancient tradition, having children is the next first responsibility and obligation of the married couple to carry on the descendant tree.

Fifth, one will have to feed the family where it is represented by Wealth palace. Sixth is health palace where health is paramount to all especially one has to find ways to bring in more wealth for the family. This can take a toll on one’s healthy being. This is what it means by mid-life crisis by modern interpretation.

Seventh, is travelling or relocation palace, where one has to make frequent trips away from home to seek new opportunities as the demand for better living justifies its means. Eighth, is friends palace where one will seek unity and socializing to build strategic bridges or alliances in order to gain bigger advantage in life. Ninth, one will be at career palace where building up one business fortune or empire takes its full extent. Tenth, one’s property will be enhanced and can be in fixed asset related matters including buying a second property or renew the current property to accommodate growing population at home. Eleventh, this is the retirement phase or the happiness stage or some interpretation labels it as Karmic palace. Though one goes into retirement eventually, whether one is in happy or melancholic or charitable state of mind will very much depend on how one lives during the last ten palaces of the person’s life. Final stage,Parents/Ancestors/Seniors Palace where one returns into the embrace of the source for protection, support and care. Thus, to be forewarned is to foretell, which is what one can influence, depending one’s action and approach to life, the likely final outcome to be.

One of the important tenets of interpretation with high accuracy is the understanding of the meaning of the stars appearing in different palaces. Though there are many stars to consider, experience tells us that fourteen major stars and its supplementary stars will be sufficient without bringing into the mix the auxiliary stars for generally correct interpretation. Unless finer aspects are required, then auxiliary stars could be added on to bring out “more flavours” to the dish. An analogy would be: there are Major Stars and Co-Stars in the movie and they can jointly bring up the plots and theme of the show or story when they are in different scene or “palace”. Auxiliary stars are like extras or stunt-artists, where appropriate inclusion into the mix, to add more flavours or spice up the excitement. And the person is the Producer and Director of their own movie.

This is simply amazing especially when one is able to take a peek into their own future and to know early in their life how it can evolve over time. This is synonymous to allowing one to make the “right” decision under different circumstances so that one will be able to achieve optimal prosperity and harmony at different stages of one’s life.

May Success, Prosperity and Harmony Be Contagious in your Life.

Garrett Lee

Founder

Ancient Feng Shui

Nautical Star tattoo art was the earliest amongst all that was used. It was used as a symbol of hope thus used to guide people to get back home, especially the sailors from their voyage after several days. The men who lived in the dangerous water combined the idea of Compass star and North Star and bring forward the concept of Nautical Star tattoos. Nautical Star Tattoos where also very common among the people of United States. Since, it was used to serve the people who fought for their country in the borders and to get back home safely after the war.

This Star Tattoo Design has a unique meaning for its designs according to the place where it was used. It was used as a method of identifying lesbians and gays in the 1940s. This was a period, when homosexuality was completely unacceptable. The tattoo design was inked often inside the wrist or arm. In the last two decades, the people wore the nautical start tattoos on their wrists, elbows and back of their calves; to represent their individualism. The people of Ireland believe that this tattoo as a symbol for good health.

The Nautical Star Tattoo art comes in various colors, shades and sizes with significant meaning for every design. Through the years, nautical star tattoos have emerged in 3-D forms. It’s a line splitting the five points, cutting each point into half. Alternating colors are used to fill up the triangular half of each point. Red and Black colors or black and white were the color combination that was used in the early days.

Nautical Star Tattoo comes from the broad category of Star tattoos which holds a unique meaning for every style and type of star. Sometimes, the meanings even depend upon; how many points the star holds. You could also relate the tattoo to the goals and aspiration that each person has in his life. The main Importance and Significance of this Tattoo is that, its used as a guidance for the people and portrays the good health and the individualism of every human beings by categorizing and uniting similar cultures and practices.

The first passion I ever had in my life was Star Trek. That show with the silly costumes and the weird aliens contained so much intelligence that people were able to go beyond the 60’s hairstyles and the flashy uniforms to get to the message. It helped me when my parents were fighting, gave me an escape from being an isolated teen, you name it. Star Trek taught me about ethics, tolerance, etc… Many fans can relate. Star Trek fans, in fact, were my first “family”. They took me in and accepted me, therefore reducing my own social alienation and I met my first Vegetarian and Vegan friends. That was the early 90s.

Thirty years later, I am a passionate and relentless Vegan. It is my lifestyle, my raison d’etre. I consider Veganism the path humans have to take to evolve spiritually, physically, mentally. It is the only sustainable way we will be continuing on this planet. So how does Star Trek fit into this?

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Star Trek: The Next Generation, i felt compelled to revisit my old favorites and see how my perception has changed (or not and realize, geez i am older!). It is fair to say that a Vegan’s vision of the world is not as clouded by the persistent lies of the food industry, pharmaceutical industry, corporate bought politicians and their cohorts and the general conditioning in all of society as most non-Vegans’ is. Even liberals, with their progressive ideas about the environment, health care, women’s rights, etc.., fail, for the most part, to see the connection between what is on their plates and the movements they fight for.

I felt compelled to revisit Star Trek after many years and was stunned to discover that the very first season of ST:TNG contains this line from First Officer William Riker (played by Jonathan Frakes): “We no longer enslave animals for food purposes“. How did I ever miss this line? Last time I saw that episode (“Lonely Among Us” Season 1), I was still a well conditioned meat eater and had no clue about animal cruelty, the environment or the cost of junk food. The original title of this blog was in fact “Why we don’t connect the dots when we have the facts” which I may still write. But I felt more inclined to go over the mythology of Star Trek and how his creator Gene Roddenberry influenced his two creations (Original Trek and Next Gen). What I realized is how much of his philosophy got washed down by his successors. I am not attacking Rick Berman who co-produced the Next Generation and co-created Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Enterprise, but something along the way got lost or put to the side.

Gene Roddenberry created Mr. Spock and allowed actor Leonard Nimoy to help him develop the personality and culture of his creation. The Vulcans went on to evolve into this elegant, sober and logical civilization which is still the most beloved one by the fans. However, on Star Trek: Enterprise, a clear effort was made to tarnish their ethics which really bothered a lot of fans including myself and served no purpose (but that is a long story). According to the original show, Vulcans are Vegans (or at least Vegetarians, it is never stated clearly in the original show although T’Pol (Enterprise) is known as a Vegetarian) and they are also not driven by their emotions. It is interesting to note that the eating of meat is associated with aggression and violence. Therefore it makes perfect sense that Vulcans, who are peace lovers and diplomats, would be Vegans or Vegetarians. Gene Roddenberry was a Buddhist AND a Vegetarian and that is definitely reflected in how the Vulcans were created. They follow a code of logic which seeks to embrace all life forms but they look at everything with detachment and peace. This is not dissimilar to Buddhism’s ideals of peace and commitment to include animals as well. It falls then that Gene was a visionary. Fans called Gene Roddenberry “The Great Bird of The Galaxy” (Bird is fitting).

He embraced women’s rights as well. In the very first pilot of Star Trek, “The Cage”, (with Jeffrey Hunter, pilot rejected by the network as being too “cerebral”), women were wearing pants, not mini-skirts. Captain Pike’s (Jeffrey Hunter) first officer was a woman (Majel Barrett). The original pilot was more visionary than its second pilot with Kirk. The mini-skirts and silly hairstyles showed up on Pilot #2 (with Shatner) but Gene managed to keep a woman on the bridge (and an African one!) however restricted he was by 60’s conventions and the television network. He had liberal ideas and included also a (then Communist) Russian on his bridge in season two (Chekov played by Walter Koenig). This was also the first TV show to be clearly multiracial and inclusive, although still sexist. The only two times animals are mentioned as (potential) food in the show are when a supernatural teenager transforms fake turkeys into real ones (according to the cook) to piss off Captain Kirk and the Tribbles (remember the cute furry breading nightmare?) invade Kirk’s chicken sandwich which had just been created by the replicator machine (and therefore no animal was ever killed for his meal). On the show, the food looks more like small pieces of starches or plastic than anything else. It doesn’t look very appetizing but it is clearly cruelty free!

The enduring effect of the original show is linked to its progressive, visionaries and inclusive ideas which in fact didn’t make the show a success on its first run as it was probably too ahead of its time (still is in some ways if you ignore the look of the show and its pre-women’s lib inherent sexism). It is like being given a secret message, fall asleep with it, only to wake up a few years later and realize what it meant.

Let’s fast forward a century later. On Star Trek:The Next Generation, Gene got to create more of his vision. Women finally become active participants, not just second to the men, more species are represented. We still see mini-skirts on crew members but some men also wear them (that, I thought, was a cool reversal slap). However, exit the Vulcans who become secondary characters or cameos and enter a more serene and enlightened human race.. or is it? Yes, we know and it is established from the start that 24th century humans don’t enslave animals for food anymore. But have they resolved their superiority complex over the animal kingdom? the answer is no. Gene Roddenberry became sick in the early 90s (around the 2nd or 3rd season of the show – he died in 1991) and this is apparent that, even though he retained his status as creator and executive producer, he was too sick already to keep it going with season one’s ideology and co-producer Rick Berman was clearly more in charge as heir apparent. As soon as the show enters season two, we see Riker cook eggs (alien eggs but still eggs) which are not computer generated (he says so) but from real animals. Surely, I thought, these were computer created eggs not real, but no, alas, they were real. Worse, in yet another episode, the Enterprise rescues colonists who returned to a “simpler” time and are raising farm animals (reminiscent of the so-called humane farmers of today). The poor frightened pigs (attached to cords), chickens and geeze (who are in cages) arrive on board the ship (questions of animal cruelty on the set were apparently not the producers’ problem) and once again we see that humans have not learned to live without animal exploitation. I am not suggesting, by the way, that Rick Berman allowed these changes to happen as there are so many people involved on these shows but he was one of the main producers and obviously not concerned about ethical animal issues.

What happened to not exploiting animals for food? Oh, sorry, it was only confinement which would mean they got rid of the CAFOs but not of the idea of exploiting animals to a certain degree (humane or not). In another episode of season two, we see Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) riding a horse (reminiscent of his horse ride with Captain Kirk in Generations) and both he and Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) refer to the (holographic) horse as just a thing (not once do they address the animal as a sentient being, even if he is holographic) pretty much during the entire conversation. Picard admits he needs companionship and that the horse he is about to ride is it. Troi even says: “I never thought of you as an animal person”. Is the 24th century still not clear on whether animals are more than just pets or food? If the show didn’t have so many great stories, I don’t think I could pass on that and keep watching as I did in my disconnected days. The beauty of Star Trek: The next Generation is the character’s drive to evolve, grow and learn. And they do rather well (by 21st century standard) but could have done so much more. Did the ship’s doctor forget to mention to Riker how bad Eggs are for his cholesterol? How about the white bread sandwiches that Picard feeds to Wesley Crusher (Will Weaton)? Haven’t they learned about diet? (ok, it’s a TV show, I keep forgetting, 24th century with a 20th century mindset, bla bla bla).

In this technology advanced 24th century society, i guess they found a pill to cure a cholesterol that is too high which, just like now, doesn’t entice people to improve their diets. But it must be better though. If, as they say on the show, humans are no longer starving, meat consumption HAD to be reduced and Confined Animal Factories eliminated. There is no way around it. But it is never mentioned, so I am just speculating based on the facts that we know today. Case in point is that I have never seen a fat human or alien (unless it was a villain, which brings up the idea of stereotypes in a bad way). One tendency of Star Trek is to be secular (and I’m not against it). Not one God is revered except the God of science. As Dr. Will Tuttle pointed out in the World Peace Diet, science and religion are the two bickering brothers who at their core are also behind animal exploitation. Fortunately, the writers of the show often put into questions the dehumanizing of a tech obsessed society. They do however put emphasis on the respect of sentient life forms and forget the life forms from our own planet. Speciesims in our own backyard: planet Earth, but tolerance for others: aliens. By the way, I am not attacking ST:TNG particularly, I just happen to watch the show again at the moment, so these scenes are fresh on my mind. I actually think that Deep Space Nine goes more in the bad direction with their Ferengi capitalism, Klingon violence and, even worse, the fact that the Federation gets corrupted! But it’s a long story.

Sometimes, though, a great line slips in and reminds us that Gene Roddenberry’s ghost still wanders over the show. On Star Trek: Enterprise’s pilot, T’Pol (finally a female Vulcan and played remarquably well by Jolene Blalock) says to Captain Archer (Scott Bakula): “Humans claim to be an enlightened species, yet they still consume the flesh of animals”. I went “hurray!” until she got verbally slapped on her Vegan face by the stupid human response from Trip Tucker (Connor Trineer):” Never judge a species by what it eats”. (facepalms). It is like the creators of the show wanted to make sure to acknowledge that Vulcans are Vegetarians but that it didn’t matter in the end. However, in a later episode, a new effort is clearly made in that direction. The Enterprise encounters a ship of renegate Vulcans who embrace emotions and eat meat in front of a clearly upset T’Pol. The writers of that episode, however, have understood the Vulcan ethic and by the end of the episode it is revealed that these emotional Vulcans (however liked they are by the humans on Enterprise) are also emotionally violent. Captain Archer is forced to admit that T’Pol and other logical Vulcans “have a point” and confess to her that he never understood her before, but that he now finally does. We clearly see that strong emotions can lead to violence and that aggressive people love animal flesh. There is a glimpse of understanding that is a precursor to what was done by Gene Roddenberry in the 60’s. Too bad they didn’t pursue it. I guess this crew is less evolved as the show is supposed to be in the 22nd century and therefore before Kirk and Spock. But come on! We could hope to have evolved then unless, like a lot of the show history reveals, we have a third World War and a post apocalyptic Earth.

Sometimes, I wonder if violence is the only thing that the human race actually understands. The latest massacre (Aurora) is a reminder that cultivating hate, drugging kids, promoting violence with weapons (constitutional or not – America needs to evolve beyond that), force feeding kids animal carcasses and therefore teaching them that life is cheap (children are not born with the desire to kill and eat other animals or they would kill house cats and dogs, they are born Vegan but taught to become addicted to flesh and dairy) with the help of a violent media and competition will get us nowhere as a civilization. However, cultivating in them compassion, care, respect, inclusion (including and foremost the inclusion of other sentient beings), life education (which includes diet, proper sexual education as opposed to the idiotic abstinence education and life skills) and cooperation to turn them into intelligent adults is what makes Gene Roddenberry’s vision just a dream and not a possible reality for our future. Then I am reminded that there is a potential in all of us to grow and learn to be better people just like Picard and Co. That is the legacy of Gene Roddenberry and Star Trek: the potential for growth and learning. Now I wonder if a Vegan will one day come up with a great science-fiction show with a real Vegan perspective. Imagine what it could be: Vibrant Earth, no more animal exploitation and animals living theirs lives as nature intended, humans not dying of preventable diseases or preventable starvation, cities filled with trees, plants, gardens, farmers’ markets as the norm, pollution free cars and other methods of transportation, people walking, taking the time to live, looking healthy and content, REAL art everywhere, no advertising… Oh, I’m sorry, that is called Utopia.

If that world is to be created, we, as Vegans, need to be the example for others. We can’t preach to others, we can only educate them. A study recently revealed that when an opinion reaches a 10% approval in the population, a shift happens which makes it a lot more acceptable to the entire population. We have 7.5 million Vegans in the US alone. It is about 2% of the population I believe. Let’s keep growing this number until that shift happens. If that number can double in only 3 years, there is not reason it can’t quadruple, etc… By the way, we don’t need replicators to replace animal flesh, we have Torfurkey! To a Vegan future!

Our spiral Milky Way Galaxy is a hazy band of light when seen in Earth’s clear, dark night-time sky. This glowing band of nebulous light, stretching from horizon to horizon, is formed from a host of fiery stars that cannot be seen individually with the unaided human eye. Our 4.56 billion-year-old Sun is one of billions of other brilliant stars that perform their fantastic, joyful dance within this large Galaxy that is our home. Our Star is situated in our Milky Way’s far suburbs, in one of its whirling spiral arms. But, the ancient history of the star-birth, that occurred deep within our Galaxy’s heart, has remained a long-standing mystery. In December 2019, astronomers at the Max Planck Institute-Gesellschaft in Germany, released their findings proposing that there were two intense bursts of activity that led to the birth of stars in the center of our Milky Way.

The new observations indicate that star-birth peaked in our Galaxy’s heart around eight billion years ago. However, the observations also suggest that there was a second round of stellar birth that occurred about one billion years ago. Many astronomers had previously proposed that the stars inhabiting our Milky Way’s relatively small central disk had been born continuously. This scenario will inspire new theoretical work explaining the origin and properties of the bar-shaped feature within our Galaxy’s disk.

According to the new observations, more than 90% of the disk stars formed during the first round of star-birth at least eight billion years ago. However, the second round of stellar-birth, that was responsible for the formation of approximately 5% of the disk stars, occurred much later–within a relatively brief span of time only about one billion years ago. Between the two episodes of intense stellar birth, there was a long period of celestial peace and quiet, when hardly any bright new baby stars were born.

The stars observed in this study populate a dense, disk-shaped region of our Galaxy, termed the nuclear disk. This disk encircles the Milky Way’s innermost cluster of stars and its central, resident supermassive black hole, dubbed Sagittarius A* (pronounced Sagittarius-a-star). Our Galaxy’s central black hole is a relative light-weight– at least as far as supermassive black holes go–and weighs in at mere millions of times solar-mass, as opposed to the billions of times solar-mass sported by many others of its bizarre kind.

With their observations of two intense episodes of star-birth, the astronomers have suggested a revision of part of our Galaxy’s mysterious ancient history. Many astronomers have assumed that the stars populating the heart of our Milky Way were born gradually over the past millions of years. However, the new findings suggest that there may be a different timeline. If so, this could have consequences for a number of other astronomical phenomena.

The new scenario is also particularly interesting because it sheds new light on the growth of Sagitarrius A*. Gas floating into the mysterious heart of our Galaxy results both in star-birth and an increase of our resident supermassive black hole’s hefty mass. This newly proposed revision of our Milky Way’s star-formation history suggests that Sagittarius A* probably attained most of its present mass before eight billion years ago.

A Brief History Of Our Galaxy

Our starlit, barred-spiral Milky Way is just one of billions of other galaxies inhabiting the observable Universe. Before 1920, astronomers thought that our Galaxy was unique–and that it was the entire Universe.

Our Milky Way has an impressive diameter that is between 150,000 and 200,000 light-years, and it is estimated to be the home of 100-200 billion stars–as well as more than 100 billion planets. Our Solar System is situated at a radius of approximately 27,000 light-years from the Galactic center, on the inner edge of the Orion Arm, which is one of the spiral-shaped concentrations of gas and dust that make our Milky Way look like a twirling gigantic starlit pin-wheel in the vastness of Spacetime. The fiery, brilliant stars situated within the innermost 10,000 light-years form a bulge and one or more bars that radiate from the bulge.

Brilliant stars and clouds of gas, located at a wide range of distances from our Galaxy’s heart, all circle at approximately 220 kilometers per second. This constant speed of rotation contradicts the laws of Keplerian dynamics and indicates that about 90% of the mass of our Galaxy is invisible to our telescopes–and that it neither emits nor absorbs electromagnetic radiation. This invisible, ghostly material has been called the dark matter, and it is thought to be composed of exotic non-atomic particles. The mysterious dark matter plays the important role of the gravitational “glue” that holds galaxies together, and its existence explains why objects at varying distances all rotate at a constant speed around the Galactic center, thus defying Keplerian dynamics.

Our Milky Way, as a whole, is soaring through Spacetime at a velocity of approximately 600 kilometers per second with respect to extragalactic frames of reference. The most ancient stars inhabiting our Galaxy are almost as old as the 13.8 billion-year-old Universe itself, and therefore likely formed shortly after the cosmological dark ages following the Big Bang. The cosmological dark ages refer to a very ancient era before the birth of the first generation of stars.

When we use the term “Milky Way”, we are referring only to the band of glowing light that we see stretching from horizon to horizon in our sky at night. The dark areas within this nebulous and gently luminous band, such as the Great Rift and the Coalsack, are actually regions where interstellar dust is blocking the light emanating from distant stars. The part of the night sky that our Galaxy obscures is referred to as the Zone of Avoidance.

Our Milky Way has a low surface brightness, and its visibility can be signficantly reduced by background light flowing out from light pollution or moonlight. Our Galaxy is difficult to see from brightly lit cities, but it shows itself off very well when observed from rural areas when Earth’s Moon is below the horizon. Indeed, one third of the human population cannot see the Milky Way from their homes because of this background light.

Our Galaxy is the second largest galaxy inhabiting the Local Group. The slightly larger spiral galaxy, named Andromeda, is the largest. Our Milky Way is also circled by several small satellite galaxies, such as the amorphous Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. As a member of the Local Group, our Galaxy and its satellites form part of the Virgo Supercluster, which is itself a component of the Laniakea Sypercluster.

Two Brilliant Blasts Of Baby Star-Birth

The intense, but short-lived, episode of baby star birth one billion years ago, is believed to be one of the most energetic events in our Galaxy’s history. Hundreds of thousands of newly formed massive stars probably exploded as supernovae within a span of only a few million years.

Because of these new observations, astronomers will go on to study an important feature of our Milky Way. Our Galaxy is a barred spiral. This means that it sports an elongated region calculated to be somewhere between 2,000 and 15,000 light-years in length, binding together the inner ends of its two main spiral arms. These galactic bar structures are believed to be quite efficient when funneling gas into a galaxy’s central region. This would result in the birth of fiery new baby stars.

Astronomers will likely come up with new scenarios to explain the quiet billions of years that were barren of baby star birth in the nuclear Galactic disk. During those many peaceful years, gas was evidently not funneled into the Galactic center in sufficient quantities to form new stars. Dr. Francisco Nogueras Lara, lead author of the paper describing this research, noted in a December 16, 2019 Max Planck (MPIA) Press Release that “Either the Galactic bar has come into existence only recently, or such bars are not as efficient in funneling gas as is commonly assumed. In the latter case, some event–like a close encounter with a dwarf galaxy–must have triggered the gas flow towards the Galactic center about one billion years ago.” Dr. Lara was formerly at the Astrofisica de Andalucia, and is currently a post-doctoral researcher at MPIA.

This proposed reconstruction of the history of the nuclear Galactic disk is based on certain known properties of star formation. Stars can only “live” on the hydrogen-burning main sequence for a set span of time. For example, our almost 5 billion year old Sun has a “life” span of 10 billion years, and it is still in mid-life. The “life” span of a particular star is based on its mass and chemical composition.

Whenever a large number of stars have been born at the same time–which is common in the Cosmos–astronomers can observe the ensemble, plot stellar brightness against the reddishness of color, and go on to determine how long ago the stellar siblings were born. One indicator of stellar age is referred to as the red clump. The red clump stars have started to fuse helium in their cores–which means that they have already fused their necessary supply of hydrogen into helium. By determining the average brightness of stars in that clump, astronomers can deduce the age of that group of stars.

However, there is a “catch”. All of those techniques demand that astroomers study separate stars. For our Galaxy’s central regions, that presents quite a challenge. This is because, when observed from Earth, the Galactic center is hidden behind enormous clouds of obscuring dust, thus requiring infrared observations in order to peer through these blanketing dust clouds.

Also, such studies are bound to observe too many stars in our Milky Way’s center. The Galactic disk is very dense, packed with between a thousand and a hundred thousand stars in a cube with a side-length of one light-year. When astronomers observe very dense star fields of this type, those stellar disks will overlap in the telescope image. Separating such fields into individual stars is extremely difficult–but necessary if an observer wants to reconstruct the formation history of the Galactic center.

Taking all of those challenges into consideration, Dr. Rainer Schodel (Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia, PI of the Galactic Nucleus Survey), MPIA’s Dr. Nadine Neumayer, and their colleagues started to plan how to tackle the problem. The astronomers realized that they would have to find the right instrument for this difficult task. As Dr. Neumayer explained in the December 16, 2019 MPIA Press Release “We needed a near-infrared instrument with a large field of view, able to observe the Milky Way’s central region which is in the Southern Sky.” The European Southern Observatory’s (ESO’s) HAWK proved to be an ideal instrument for them to use for their survey. HAWK is an infrared camera at the Very Large Telescope (VLT) at the Paranal Observatory of the ESO in Chile.

For their Galactic Nucleus Survey, the astronomers observed our Milky Way’s central region using HAWK-1 for 16 nights. By doing this, they managed to obtain accurate photometry of more than three million stars. Using a special technique termed holographic imaging, the astronomers were able to distinguish between stars that were a mere 0.2 arc seconds apart. With this high degree of accuracy, it is possible to distinguish two separate pennies when viewed from a distance of more than 8 kilometers. A duo of clearly visible red clumps in the resulting color-magnitude diagram enabled the astronomers to reconstruct the formation history of the Galactic nuclear disk.

The astronomers are currently studying the influence of dust on their observations (extinction and reddening). Taking into account the effects of dust will help them make even more precise reconstructions of the history of our Milky Way’s central regions in the future.