Testing a selfie stick.

Testing a selfie stick.

Most pianists play K 380 too fast, IMHO. This is near perfect.

Most pianists play K 380 too fast, IMHO. This is near perfect.

https://youtu.be/4-5yWDliZZw

Shortest distance from A to B, given a unit cube.

Shortest distance from A to B, given a unit cube.

Epic rant at the end.

Title

Trying the Google PhotoScan app. Picture of my Dad, 1983. He was a "timber feller".

Trying the Google PhotoScan app. Picture of my Dad, 1983. He was a "timber feller".

A number of years ago my wife and I enrolled our daughter in a martial arts school. After watching for a few weeks, we decided to join up as well -- "What the heck -- seems like a good way to get exercise..." Fifteen years later she no longer goes, but we have progressed to the point where we teach at that same school.

A number of years ago my wife and I enrolled our daughter in a martial arts school. After watching for a few weeks, we decided to join up as well -- "What the heck -- seems like a good way to get exercise..." Fifteen years later she no longer goes, but we have progressed to the point where we teach at that same school.

It's a very kid-friendly place. There are periodic half-day "kids camp" events where a couple of hours are spent teaching martial arts, and a couple of hours are spent playing "ninja games" where they can run and scream and roll around to their hearts content. Parents love these events, because they are usually held near holidays, and it's cheap daycare.

Recently I was eating a sandwich during the lunch break following a bout of ninja games, looking over 50 kids in random happy groups spread across the mat eating, lunch boxes, paper bags, insulated sacks, soda cans, water bottles, juice boxes, conversation and giggles all over the place. All kinds of crumbs, as well -- we have to quickly clean the whole mat before activities can resume.

Sitting there, I'm thinking about how remarkably well all these kids get along, when it suddenly occurs to me that this is a totally integrated scene -- asian, black, latino, middle eastern, white, and undetermined in roughly equal portions. It was beautiful, and for a brief moment I could be proud to be human.

Originally shared by Joel Carlson

Originally shared by Joel Carlson

http://www.ecowatch.com/noam-chomsky-trump-2093271018.html
http://www.ecowatch.com/noam-chomsky-trump-2093271018.html

Originally shared by Trey Harris

Originally shared by Trey Harris

A must-read from Masha Gessen on how to live under autocratic rule

For a decade now, Masha has consistently been one of my favorite reporters and thinkers. From the time of her return to Russia from the US after the wall fell, she fearlessly reported on what her birth country was turning into under Vladimir Putin, even as free media outlets were being shut down. She continued, even as other reporters were being murdered and "disappeared", until she became so worried about the situation for LGBTQ Russians that she consulted a lawyer about how to ensure that her own teenage son wouldn't be taken away from her simply for her being lesbian, and his answer was, "you have American citizenship; your answer is at the airport". She left.

She's just an extremely cool person with principles and intelligence, and I'm an unabashed Masha fanboy. (She also writes the dialog for the Russian actors in The Americans, which is awesome.)

She now sees what's happening in this country, which is also her country, and her insight and experience is something we all need to pay attention to.

Today, President-elect Trump, in his first day of official transition business, did at least four things that were unprecedented for a president-elect:

1. He did not allow a press corps to follow and report on him (all footage we've seen today of him came from reporters invited by the White House, Speaker Ryan, or the Congressional press corps).

2. His spokespeople lied to the press pool about where he'd be spending the night and he gave them the slip for several hours until he showed up at Trump Tower—causing for the first time in 40 years a situation where the American people did not know where their president and president-elect was (even if "the American people" was notionally represented only by a small "tight pool" sworn to secrecy for national security reasons).

3. He tweeted. He has his phone back, ironically on the very day that he gained unlimited security clearance and was politely asked by the Director of National Intelligence to cease using an unsecured phone as Bush and Obama had done at this point in the transition—a request he refused. (I suppose that's two unprecedented things, but I meant the refusing to follow security protocols, not tweeting.)

4. That tweet was to complain that spontaneous protests around the country were actually "professional protesters incited by the media". (And that's actually such a ball of unprecedented things that I can't untangle them all and will pretend like it's just one.) If you've never visited the alt-right corners of the web, you may be unaware of the concept of "crisis actors", but he's claiming that they've been mobilized against him. (Oddly, "crisis actors" up till now have always been in the Obama administration's payroll, but I guess "the media" has decided to take them over as part of the peaceful transition of power?)

This is happening, folks. If you'd hoped he was going to make that presidential pivot; if you thought that last week, when his phone was stolen from him by his own advisors and he was convinced to just sit back and let the Comey letter do its job—"easy, Donald, play it smooth"—and everyone applauded him for managing to get through eight whole days without a scandal (so presidential!), if you thought that was a preview of his presidency, today put the lie to that.

Prepare yourself. Masha's advice will help.
http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2016/11/10/trump-election-autocracy-rules-for-survival/

Ruins of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi

Ruins of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi

Lovely lady behind the counter in the Gioras Wood Bakery, on Mykonos. The bakery has been in continuous operation since medieval times.

Lovely lady behind the counter in the Gioras Wood Bakery, on Mykonos. The bakery has been in continuous operation since medieval times.

I think this picture does well on a large monitor...

I think this picture does well on a large monitor...

Ferry wake.

Ferry wake.

Nailed it.

Nailed it.

Originally shared by Daniel Keys Moran

Idiot on another page posted: "Hillary Clinton and the Democratic party are, will continue to be and always have been, completely sold out."

Me: Completely sold out compared to what? Some platonic ideal that's never existed in the history of the world? The Democratic Party is:

1. Pro-gay rights & gay marriage
2. Pro-choice. Pro-woman.
3. Obamacare
4. Against global warming -- hell, recognizes that global warming is real.
5. Pro-union
6. Pro-minimum wage increase
7. Pro-balanced budget
8. Pro-taxing the rich
9. Pro infrastructure.

10. Pro "Black Lives Matter"

11. Pro clean energy & renewables
12. Pro science
13. Pro banking legislation
14. Pro immigrant
15. Pro-disabled people
16. Pro campaign finance reform -- do you know who "Citizen's United" was ABOUT? Hillary Clinton, kids.
17. Free college for working class kids
18. Anti-fucking-NRA
19. Pro-veteran

20. Pro all the many many people-who-aren't-rich-white-and-straight-and-male.

SOLD OUT. Jesus, you stupid people.

A good blend of entertainment and knowledge :-)

A good blend of entertainment and knowledge :-)

Originally shared by Marcel Gagne

Someone asked me recently about Google's Fuchsia, which this video is not about by the way. He asked what was more important to me, that a device run Linux or that the product be open source and open standards. I stood on the side of open source and open standards. On that note, welcome to the Sacrilege episode of Cooking With Linux. Pull up a chair, enjoy some wine, and enjoy this treat from my open source kitchen.
https://www.youtube.com/attribution_link?a=rgVEcy3FY7M&u=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DbAo2wnUqVBE%26feature%3Dshare

Originally shared by Buddhini Samarasinghe

Originally shared by Buddhini Samarasinghe

Me too

My head is reeling from the information overload over the past 24 hours. By now many of you would have seen the linked article, calling out an abuser in our community. I'm writing this to say, I believe the authors, I believe the other victims who have come forward, because he did this to me too. I blocked him about 3 years ago and I thought it was just me he did this to but I am heartbroken to see that there are others he similarly abused. It's terrifying to read that article and see the same thing he did to me done to others. I can't even begin to explain what that it feels like.

Scott and I worked a lot on Google Hangouts back in 2012/2013. He was a really good friend at first, and as we got close he talked a lot about his problems. I felt really sorry for him. Now I realise how I was manipulated, I feel sick. I even invited this guy to my wedding - ugh.

Towards the end of 2013, as I was unemployed and living off savings while waiting for immigration paperwork to join my husband in the UK, Scott told me how he can't pay rent and how he doesn't have any money for food. I offered to lend him some money but he refused, but kept talking about how worried he is. Eventually he said yes and I lent him $1500 from my savings. A few weeks later he needed more money for something else (textbooks I think) so I again lent him another $1500. He said he would pay me back in a month or so when his student loans came in.

Meanwhile because I was so bored waiting in Sri Lanka for my immigration paperwork, I started writing more and more science posts. Scott invited me to partner on his website Know the Cosmos and I happily agreed, expecting us to be equal partners. But it turns out I ended up doing the bulk of the writing for free while he didn't really contribute much. It stopped feeling like a partnership and we fought a lot. Eventually I successfully pitched my Hallmarks of Cancer series to Scientific American and he was livid. That's when the emotional abuse really started. Constant arguments and put downs. He would say things like how naive and stupid I was for giving away my writing for free to Scientific American, how this is not the way to do it etc. It's partly why I wrote this post (https://goo.gl/jJwu7q) to address him and anyone else who questioned my decision to write it for free.

Things just reached a point where we could no longer work together. I remember the last Google Hangout we did together where just before we were supposed to go on air, he yelled at me about something I had done wrong. I was on the verge of tears that whole time, it was awful. But by that time I had moved back to the UK and thanks to a stronger support network around me, I was able to remove him from my life. Before that I sent him several emails asking for my loan back, but he never replied. I gave him a week and then I blocked him on all social media, considering the $3,000 as the price I had to pay to have him out of my life.

I am horrified that there are so many other victims. Chad Haney  has a post here (https://goo.gl/UqISLJ) listing some of the others who have come forward. Please share this out, and please warn others. I had no idea he kept doing this after me, and I wish I had said something sooner rather than waiting until now.

I'm going to leave comments open while I am around but lock comments when I am away because I don't want derails from Scott-apologists.

H/T to Pamela L. Gay and Rugger Ducky for bringing this to my attention.
https://medium.com/@SLabusehelp/scott-lewis-what-lies-beneath-77648aa65ec4

Originally shared by Betsy McCall

Originally shared by Betsy McCall
https://theintercept.com/2016/09/19/why-obama-should-pardon-all-leakers-and-whistleblowers-not-just-edward-snowden/

Originally shared by Kent Crispin

Originally shared by Kent Crispin

I am oddly happy with this little video -- it's an Anise Swallowtail butterfly, on a windy day.

I am oddly happy with this little video -- it's an Anise Swallowtail butterfly, on a windy day.

I am oddly happy with this little video -- it's an Anise Swallowtail butterfly, on a windy day.

Nice rug!

Nice rug!

Originally shared by Katie H.

Holy cow!

Originally shared by Susan Stone

Originally shared by Susan Stone
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/no-certainty-debates-will-happen-at-all

What goes on in that little brain???

What goes on in that little brain???

Originally shared by Ernie Conger (we n' de ya ho)
http://www.politico.eu/article/donald-trump-to-look-at-recognizing-crimea-as-russian-territory-lifting-sanctions-putin/

Just had to share...

Just had to share...

Originally shared by StonedZar “StonedZarSG”
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/3616930.html?_utm_source=1-2-2

Originally shared by Bobby Seale

Originally shared by Bobby Seale

First of all, my original Black Panther Party and the Black Lives Matter Movement do NOT assassinate police. Secondly, we of the original BPP, founded in 1966, do NOT have anything to do with the so-called NEW back panthers. I, Bobby Seale, support President Barack Obama and David Brown of the Dallas Police department protecting the rights of the Black Lives Matter Movement in developing better community police relations which is truly the right thing to do. In the case of Dallas, Texas, the five police officers who were murdered and those wounded by some deranged person, who had nothing to do with the true Black Lives Matter nonviolent protest movement, I, Bobby Seale stand with and support the progressive politics by the Dallas Chief of Police who advocates and who, we have discovered, has taken the lead in building positive community trust relationships with the people of his city.

Therefore I re-post my December 14th 2014 statement on why my original BPP and the BLM are not and do not, nor never will be a part of any murderous assassination of policemen and how in my own 1973 mayoral campaign in Oakland, California, I was on the right road to doing what the Dallas police chief did evolve in his city when I developed relationships with policemen who became friends who voted for me for mayor and later, police friends in Philadelphia, PA with numerous policemen who became real close friends and who supported me in the 1980’s during my community organizing efforts there. The first paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence, which was drawn up in Philadelphia, I paraphrased as part of my original founding documentation of my original Black Panther Party’s ten point program in October 1966.

=

December 26, 2014

We Do Not Assassinate Policemen.

Real peoples’ constitutional democratic civil-human rights revolution is not about a need for violence. Grass roots, middle working, poor and low income peoples revolution is about evolving and re-evolving more progressive politics, i.e., better economic parity, greater environmental ecological standards and practices, and broad social justice empowerments into the hands of the people via legislative policies and practical economic jobs programs that make humane sense. That is what peoples empowerment revolution is about.
 
The fact that some mentally deranged young person who shot his girlfriend, left Baltimore for New York and then stupidly shot and killed two police officers and himself has little or nothing to do with the peaceful protester's right to demand and call for justice and indictments of specific policemen or others involved in the killings of the unarmed Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, and others including black killings in Cleveland Ohio, Milwaukee Wisconsin and many cities across our USA. Nor should the killer of the two police officers in New York be any reason for that small group of protest chanters to call for cops to be killed. They are dead wrong to chant that. Such a chant begins to confuse the real social justice goal objective of the Black Lives Matter protest movement.
 
Months before the beginning of my Black Panther Party for Self Defense in October 1966, I remember meeting at Merritt College a Black Police officer, Sargent Williams who was recruiting young black and brown male students for the Oakland Police Department. Conversationally befriending him, I remember he gave us information about the thirty five percent white racist policemen in the Oakland P.D., how most other policemen were just doing their jobs. {Read my book SEIZE THE TIME]
 
Later, when we went out to “legally” observe the Oakland, SF, Richmond, and Berkeley, California police, because of the unchecked rampant police brutality and murder of Black People in those communities, not to mention their brutality on peaceful protesters, our patrolling of police was our BPP tactic. A tactic to capture the imagination of the people to better organize their electoral voting power bringing the community together. I never thought in terms of just running out and killing policemen. Never. Not me. In fact our Black Panther policy was that we will take the arrest if a policeman formally demanded it. We were not scared of the court. The courts would be a forum for us as I demonstrated in the Great Chicago Seven Conspiracy trial in 1969 of which I was the eighth defendant. And later we defendants won that case.
 
After the last big shootout on December 8th 1969 in Los Angeles which we won in the courts with nationwide public support, there was a young white Berkeley policeman who stole the POLICE-FBI plans to attack out Berkeley, CA BPP headquarters and gave the plans to our Lawyer, Charles R. Garry. The young policemen lost his job, but it gave us an edge when we printed these POLICE-FBI planned attacks that later was fed into the US Senate investigation against the FBI’s COINTELPRO fascist tactics. This political move stopped all the racist Fascist attacks on our BPP offices across the USA. Actually of all the Black Panther Party members who went to trial, we actually won ninety-five percent of all our court room trials.
 
Over the years I have become friends with many policemen beginning with some thirty odd policemen who supported and voted for me when I ran for Mayor of Oakland, CA in 1974. These were the days after the 1969 year of cross country police-FBI attacks on our BPP offices where we did defend ourselves when we were literally attacked. After my BPP era, and living in Philadelphia, PA, I became friends with some eight different police and state troopers in Philadelphia while organizing socially responsible programs at Temple University and running, yet again, youth Jobs programs (my real original forte’) in the Germantown community in Philadelphia in the 1980’s.
 
Today I have a Black Panther Party person who is an Honorary Deputy Sheriff complete with his badge. We, you and I, the peace loving people protesting for justice, do NOT stoop to the level of the racist mentality of indiscriminate killings and murder. And we find and support those policemen who help us get the justice we demand.
 
All Power to All the People
Bobby Seale: 1966 Founding Chairman &
National Organizer of the original Black Panther Party
 
http://bobbyseale.com

==

#blackpanthers #blackhistory #blackpantherparty #bobbyseale
  #blacklivesmatter

Looks like a miniature wasp, but I think it's actually a fly...

Looks like a miniature wasp, but I think it's actually a fly...

Originally shared by Glenn Jerome Everette

Originally shared by Glenn Jerome Everette

Yet, another police execution.
#blacklivesmatter  
http://heavy.com/news/2016/07/philando-castile-falcon-heights-minnesota-police-shooting-facebook-live-video-watch-uncensored-you-tube-police-shooting-man-shot-lavish-reynolds/

Originally shared by NASA Goddard

Originally shared by NASA Goddard

NASA's Hubble Captures the Beating Heart of the Crab Nebula

Peering deep into the core of the Crab Nebula, this close-up image reveals the beating heart of one of the most historic and intensively studied remnants of a supernova, an exploding star. The inner region sends out clock-like pulses of radiation and tsunamis of charged particles embedded in magnetic fields.

The neutron star at the very center of the Crab Nebula has about the same mass as the sun but compressed into an incredibly dense sphere that is only a few miles across. Spinning 30 times a second, the neutron star shoots out detectable beams of energy that make it look like it's pulsating.

The NASA Hubble Space Telescope snapshot is centered on the region around the neutron star (the rightmost of the two bright stars near the center of this image) and the expanding, tattered, filamentary debris surrounding it. Hubble's sharp view captures the intricate details of glowing gas, shown in red, that forms a swirling medley of cavities and filaments. Inside this shell is a ghostly blue glow that is radiation given off by electrons spiraling at nearly the speed of light in the powerful magnetic field around the crushed stellar core.

The neutron star is a showcase for extreme physical processes and unimaginable cosmic violence. Bright wisps are moving outward from the neutron star at half the speed of light to form an expanding ring. It is thought that these wisps originate from a shock wave that turns the high-speed wind from the neutron star into extremely energetic particles.

When this "heartbeat" radiation signature was first discovered in 1968, astronomers realized they had discovered a new type of astronomical object. Now astronomers know it's the archetype of a class of supernova remnants called pulsars - or rapidly spinning neutron stars. These interstellar "lighthouse beacons" are invaluable for doing observational experiments on a variety of astronomical phenomena, including measuring gravity waves.

Observations of the Crab supernova were recorded by Chinese astronomers in 1054 A.D. The nebula, bright enough to be visible in amateur telescopes, is located 6,500 light-years away in the constellation Taurus.

Credits: NASA and ESA, Acknowledgment: J. Hester (ASU) and M. Weisskopf (NASA/MSFC)

Gullfoss

Kind of a moody shot.

Kind of a moody shot.

Siglufj[o]r[th]ur, in Northern Iceland (don't have an Icelandic keyboard).

Siglufj[o]r[th]ur, in Northern Iceland (don't have an Icelandic keyboard).

Originally shared by Kent Crispin

Originally shared by Kent Crispin

Iceland

Driving around Iceland.

Driving around Iceland.

Iceland

Iceland

I would like to have a miniature version on my desk.

I would like to have a miniature version on my desk.

Originally shared by 송민호 (Song Min-ho)

Shadow_Mind - Kim Se-il (Sculptor)

Originally shared by Corina Marinescu

Originally shared by Corina Marinescu

Strokkur Geyser - Iceland
A geyser is the result of high-temperature steam rising up from cooling magma beneath, which causes an eruption of water.

Eruptions usually occur with intervals of between 5-10 minutes and involve a single burst reaching a height of up to 30 meters, although occasionally up to 5 bursts in relatively quick succession are observed. Prior to eruptions, the pool is full and gently pulsates up and down. The eruption commences when a pulse of steam rising from below pushes the water in the pool upwards forming a large dome (or bubble) of water through which the steam bursts and expels much of the water in the pool skywards.

Reference:
http://www.photovolcanica.com/VolcanoInfo/StrokkurGeyser/StrokkurGeyser.html

#naturalphenomena   #StrokkurGeyser

Guitar Moves with Keith Richards: "There's Two Sides to Every Story"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceWWMfhAvD4

Originally shared by Tina Vigilante

Originally shared by Tina Vigilante

Originally shared by Anthony Russo

Originally shared by Anthony Russo

"The Horsehead Nebula in Infrared from Hubble " is NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap160608.html
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap160608.html

Originally shared by Jani Westman

Originally shared by Jani Westman

Exciting weather



#LandscapePhotography Landscape Photography Margaret Tompkins Dave Gaylord Eric Drumm Jeff Beddow David D Bill Wood Tim Newton Chandler L. Walker Ronald Varley Hamid Dastmalchi Sylvia Ting AJ Lim Krzysztof Felczak

#hqsplandscape HQSP Landscape curated by Peter Marbaise Leo Schubert Mike Hankey Hans-Juergen Werner Shannan Crow Mohamed Hakem Alexander Tarasenkov and Albert Vuvu Konde

#PhotoManiaScandinavia Photo Mania Scandinavia ,
curated by Walli Veeser , Ronny Årbekk , Robert Walter , Jakob Schüssler , Sebastian T. and Chandro Ji

Originally shared by Tom Carlos

Originally shared by Tom Carlos

View From Grant Ranch - This Inkscape drawing is of the surrounding hills circling Grant Ranch Park. It is the largest county park in Santa Clara County, California. Also known as Joseph D. Grant County Park, it is situated in the Diablo Range foothills of the eastern Santa Clara Valley. It's a beautiful area and a sanctuary for many animals such as bobcats, wild pigs, and mountain lions.

Originally shared by António Vaz

Originally shared by António Vaz

once upon a time

Rio Vez, Portugal.

Originally shared by Exposing Political Corruption In America

Originally shared by Exposing Political Corruption In America

Originally shared by Brian Koberlein

Originally shared by Brian Koberlein

The Fading Truth

By some estimates the rogue world has been cold for about 100 billion years. What atmosphere it once had was long gone, and for most of its life the world sailed between the starry sea of the supergalaxy. But for the first few billion years of its existence it had orbited a star. Under the warmth of a sun, life arose. Remnants of life on the world are faint, but unmistakable. And then there is the beacon.

The beacon was designed to be found. The region around the beacon contained an abundance of elements strikingly different from the surrounding regions. The beacon itself was clearly designed to survive billions of years. Whatever else this species was, they were amazing engineers. They used those skills to create a vast archive of their civilization. A beacon that declared their existence to the cosmos.

Much of the archive is still confusing. They were a collection of individual organisms that seemed to communicate through gestures and the creation of vibrations in their atmosphere. Social interactions between organisms were clearly important, but their behavior as a social collective was often contradictory. Their scientific data has proved much more tractable.

It’s not too surprising, given that they were curious creatures. Their understanding of chemistry is as expected, as well as most of their physics. From the archive it is clear they were based upon carbon and nitrogen. Their records indicate an atmosphere comprised mainly of nitrogen and oxygen, and their world orbited a yellow star within its temperate zone. Water played a central role in the organisms.

But within their scientific records is a perplexing tale of the origin of the universe.

The present universe consists of the supergalaxy, a great cluster of perhaps 50 billion stars. Beyond the supergalaxy is the great abyss, cold and dark where nothing exists but empty space. How this universe came to be remains a mystery, but the dominant view is that of an ageless cosmos. While stars form within great clouds of gas and dust, and die when they have consumed too much hydrogen in their core, new stars can arise from the old. The ageless universe model does have some difficulties with things like thermodynamics, but a steady state cosmos is the most reasonable model given the appearance of the universe.

But the archive tells a different tale. The Universe, it says, began as a very dense, very hot state. Over time it expanded and cooled, creating a mixture of hydrogen and helium. Eventually the hydrogen and helium coalesced under gravity to form not a single galaxy, but billions upon billions of galaxies. Some as large as the supergalaxy, others much smaller. Stars formed within these galaxies, fusing hydrogen and helium into the heavier elements such as carbon and iron. Heavier elements such as gold were formed from the collisions of neutron stars. In this tale the First Density formed space and time itself, with only hydrogen and helium as the first elements. It is the tale of a finite cosmos, in stark contrast to the steady state model.

If it were true, the early abundances of the elements would have been dominated by a specific ratio of hydrogen and helium. But over billions and billions of years that ratio has long been scrubbed by the fusion of hydrogen in stellar cores.

If it were true, there should be a thermal remnant of the event. A cosmic background of radiation that echoes the hot dense past. But over time any such background has faded to the point that it is invisible against the thermal noise of gas and dust within the supergalaxy.

Even with those clues long faded, there still should be evidence of other galaxies. Even if the galaxies were billions upon billions of light years away, their light should still be seen, perhaps faintly. But the tale makes even other galaxies invisible. The universe has not only expanded from the First Density, but has expanded at an ever increasing rate. Over a hundred billion years, other galaxies have raced away faster than light. Because of this accelerated expansion all other galaxies have passed beyond the veil of darkness. They are out there, the tale declares, but now forever invisible.

It is a truly perplexing tale.If the tale is true, then this species could have seen a sea of galaxies among a cosmic background. The cosmic story it presents does agree with the present universe, but there is now no way to test it or refute it. Its truth rests entirely on whether this ancient species is to be trusted. Did these creatures rely upon testable observations? Did they adopt scientific models even when they were perplexing or troubling, trusting the evidence to lead the way? Or did they create a convenient truth as a way to impose a beginning upon an endless universe. Like stars, these creatures were born, lived for a time, and died. Did they impose their finite life upon the universe to assuage some social need?

The tale presents two paths: either rely upon the evidence of present observation, or rely upon past evidence of a fading truth. Neither path seems entirely satisfactory.

Paper: Lawrence M. Krauss, Robert J. Scherrer. The return of a static universe and the end of cosmology. General Relativity and Gravitation, Volume 39, Issue 10, pp 1545–1550 (2007) DOI: 10.1007/s10714-007-0472-9

https://briankoberlein.com/2016/06/02/the-fading-truth/

Originally shared by Dins Barnett

Originally shared by Dins Barnett

A reconstruction of Hallucigenia's walking gait, created by Lars Fields.

Hallucigenia were tiny marine worms — commonly just 15 millimeters in length — that lived in the Cambrian period, when complex, multicellular life was starting to populate the Earth.

After decades, researchers have confirmed which side of Hallucigenia was the head, and found its circular "grinning" mouth lined with teeth, according to a new study. This toothy ring may be the link that connects creatures as diverse as spiders, nematode worms and teeny-tiny tardigrades — the cute and nearly indestructible micro animals also known as water bears.

#science #paleontology #evolution #nature

Will be appealed, of course, but this is great news!

Will be appealed, of course, but this is great news!

Originally shared by Craig Froehle

[happy dance]
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/05/google-wins-trial-against-oracle-as-jury-finds-android-is-fair-use/

Title

So, the other day in the locker room at the gym this guy I know vaguely started going off about goddamn fucking communist Bernie Sanders, and goddamn fucking criminal Hillary Clinton, and goddamn fucking parasite bastard kids these days who want everything for free. Whattyagonnado, I said, studiously arranging my stuff in my locker.

Mostly I wear earbuds, and I don't hear the lighthearted banter that goes on around the weight machines, but my wife doesn't wear them, and she tells me that it's a hot bed of Trump supporters. I just notice the enormous beefy guys with torn sweats and heavy work gloves, and another guy strutting around with a tee shirt with a picture of an AR-15 and something written in Arabic. I avoid all eye contact with them. Occasionally I exchange glances with some of the others in the over-60 crowd, though. We tend to keep a low profile.

And in the bathroom, I'm sitting there when some guy enters the stall next to me, sits down, and starts raving on and on in a really LOUD voice about the fucking establishment and how corrupt the system is and the injustice of it all. He's really fond of the word "corrupt" and says it several times in a row. I think he's a homeless person that sneaked in past the gym staff to use the toilet.

I sat there quietly until he was gone. Sometimes that's what you have to do.

"All right, We'll call it a draw."

"All right, We'll call it a draw."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKhEw7nD9C4

Originally shared by Corina Marinescu

Originally shared by Corina Marinescu

The Value of Science
Richard Feynman included a poem in his address to the National Academy of Sciences:

I stand at the seashore, alone, and start to think.

There are the rushing waves
mountains of molecules
each stupidly minding its own business
trillions apart
yet forming white surf in unison

Ages on ages
before any eyes could see
year after year
thunderously pounding the shore as now.
For whom, for what?
On a dead planet
with no life to entertain.

Never at rest
tortured by energy
wasted prodigiously by the Sun
poured into space.
A mite makes the sea roar.

Deep in the sea
all molecules repeat
the patterns of one another
till complex new ones are formed.
They make others like themselves
and a new dance starts.
Growing in size and complexity
living things
masses of atoms
DNA, protein
dancing a pattern ever more intricate.

Out of the cradle
onto dry land
here it is
standing:
atoms with consciousness;
matter with curiosity.

Stands at the sea,
wonders at wondering: I
a universe of atoms
an atom in the Universe

Source:
http://www.math.ucla.edu/~mwilliams/pdf/feynman.pdf

Photo source:
http://www.basicfeynman.com/gallery.html#

#physics   #feynman   #history

Originally shared by Kymberlyn Reed

Originally shared by Kymberlyn Reed

#morethan28days #mayisformelanin #stufftheynevertaughtinschool

Roland Hayes, the brilliant tenor who became the first African-American man to earn international fame as a concert vocalist, photographed by Addison Scurlock in 1940. Born to former slaves in Curryville, Georgia in 1887, he attended Fisk University and briefly toured with the Fisk Jubilee Singers. Early in his career, he was turned down by talent managers because he was Black so, he invested in himself: He raised money and arranged and financed his own concert performances,which included Negro spirituals, lieder and arias by Schubert, Tchaikovsky, and Mozart. In 1942, Mr. Hayes’s wife, Helen and daughter, Afrika, sat in a whites-only area of a shoe store and were thrown out of the store. When Mr. Hayes defended his family, he was beaten and he and his wife were arrested - and the governor of Georgia was absolutely fine with it. The incident inspired Langston Hughes to compose the poem, Roland Hayes Beaten. Mr. Hayes would later teach at Boston University and would go on to celebrate more than 50 years on the concert stage before his death in 1977.

#vintageblackglamour

A striking representation...

A striking representation...

Originally shared by Joel Carlson

"It's not reality TV"

"It's not reality TV"

Originally shared by Daniel Keys Moran

Five Presidents, from two parties. Not one supporting Donald Trump for President. But what would they know about what the job takes?

Originally shared by Laura Brodbeck

Originally shared by Laura Brodbeck

"It is not correct to call [him isolationist], since Mr Trump has also proposed some foreign adventures, including the occupation of Iraq and seizure of its oilfields. Rather it is a Roman vision of foreign policy, in which the rest of the world’s role is to send tribute to the capital and be grateful for the garrisons."
http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21698251-donald-trumps-victory-disaster-republicans-and-america-trumps-triumph?cid1=cust/ednew/n/bl/n/2016055n/owned/n/n/nwl/n/n/n/n

Originally shared by The Register

Originally shared by The Register
http://dlvr.it/LB1Ntb

Another miracle...

Another miracle...
http://thegoodlordabove.com/articles/details/143

Interesting analysis of rhetorical techniques.

Interesting analysis of rhetorical techniques.

Originally shared by Cindy Brown

I think this sums it up well for me, too. Remember, I don't watch his speeches. I read transcripts or follow CC if it's supplied and not too wonky. So if there's a fired up crowd or charisma or whatever, I'm not getting that. And this IS what I see:

This [standard Sanders] stump speech uses three rhetorical techniques that I find particularly frustrating in politics in general:

1) Binary thinking
2) Fear-based language
3) Unilateral change independent of legislative, executive, and judicial branches

While all campaigns utilize binary thinking or fear-based arguments at times, Sanders has based his entire campaign around them, and framed himself as the only person (along with his followers) who can effectively save the country from these threats.

The enemies he highlights – corruption in large corporations, centralization of wealth, and the disproportionate influence of lobbies – are all completely legitimate problems. I am frustrated, however, with the simplistic approach he uses to discuss the problems associated with economic inequality.

I like him. I like that he's bringing up issues we absolutely need to talk about. I like that he's pulled the discourse further left after so much rightward swing that a moderate centrist like Obama is considered a raging socialist.

But I want to see him move past this framework into some real discussion. And he hasn't done that yet. And I'm not sure what kind of presidency he'd have as a result. One like Jimmy Carter? (and again, I admire Carter & even what he managed to do while in office, not just after, but there were distinct shortcomings there too).
http://www.dailynewsbin.com/opinion/empty-rhetoric-and-the-bernie-sanders-revolution/24442/

Originally shared by ****

Originally shared by ****

Hillary Clinton's new 404 page is BRILLIANT!
https://www.hillaryclinton.com/404

Originally shared by Fred “Seattle” O

Originally shared by Fred “Seattle” O

“The president has said that [Hillary Clinton] comes into this race with more experience than any other non-vice president in recent campaign history,” said White House spokesman Eric Schultz.
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/275513-white-house-clinton-qualified-to-be-president

Originally shared by Eli Fennell

Originally shared by Eli Fennell

I've hesitated to post anything along the lines of why Hillary Clinton is the candidate I support and have generally kept clear of posting anything about supporting or opposing any candidate because I have quickly wearied of partisan politics on both sides of the aisle.

This, however, is exactly the kind of thing I've wanted to explain but haven't come up with the right words. Look, I respect Bernie Sanders in a lot of ways, and even on the Republican side the only guy I truly despise is Trump, and only because he clearly despises most people who aren't named Trump and isn't hiding it. I feel America as I know it could likely survive any non Trump Presidency, albeit perhaps with some difficulty in some cases.

But I'm ready for Hillary. I'm not rah rah angry at this-or-that ready. I'm not 'We are the ones we've been waiting for!' ready. I'm not 'Revolution!' ready. I'm ready the way a patient is ready for the diagnosis from a respected physician who won't mince words or give you false hope ready, who will tell you exactly the problem and exactly what she can and probably can't do ready. I'm not angry, I'm hopeful, and my hope doesn't demand heads roll or that reality as-is yield to my hopefulness.

Fair warning: I am not using this Post to attack any other candidate or their supporters, therefore I will carefully moderate comments and zealously delete those that do. Feel the Bern if you must, don't try to burn me with it. We are already divided enough as a nation without the endless enemy-making.

#Election2016 #ReadyForHillary #ImWithHer
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/at-rallies-hillary-clintons-supporters-are-looking-for-logic/2016/04/02/4098c502-f73f-11e5-a3ce-f06b5ba21f33_story.html

Originally shared by Loredena Frisealach

Originally shared by Loredena Frisealach

The tone is decidedly snarky, but the questions are fair. I have many of the same questions and concerns about Sanders history. His stance on guns has always been one of my larger sticking points.
http://www.thepeoplesview.net/main/2016/3/31/berning-questions-15-key-concerns-of-the-american-people-that-bernie-sanders-needs-to-address#.VwBAv5PY2g0.google_plusone_share

Originally shared by Daniel Schwabe

Originally shared by Daniel Schwabe

Early morning colors at Navajo Point, Grand Canyon
This beautiful morning light highlights the variety of colors and texture of the Grand Canyon.

Exceptional ISS photo...

Exceptional ISS photo...

Originally shared by Pierre Markuse

Earth from Space: Fishing boats near Vietnam

In this image you can see Vietnam and numerous fishing boats with green lighting to attract fish and squid, taken by ESA astronaut Tim Peake (https://goo.gl/4HAAIV) from aboard the International Space Station (ISS). 

The bright city at the top of the image is Bangkok in Thailand, the city at the bottom is Cam Ranh in Vietnam.

Tim Peake is aboard the ISS at the moment (Expedition 47, https://goo.gl/G6v4Ns) and is posting pictures from space on his Twitter, follow him here: https://twitter.com/astro_timpeake

Read more about his Principia mission aboard the ISS here:
https://principia.org.uk/

Image credit: Vietnam and fishing boats ESA/NASA/Tim Peake https://goo.gl/EYHvL8 / Edited by Pierre Markuse 

#science #vietnam #thailand #bangkok  #iss #principia #internationalspacestation #timpeake #photography #nightphotography

Originally shared by Kent Crispin

Originally shared by Kent Crispin

Live long and prosper, Chomksy...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btJfkPBLULg

Originally shared by Kent Crispin

Originally shared by Kent Crispin

Live long and prosper, Chomksy...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btJfkPBLULg

Live long and prosper, Chomksy...

Live long and prosper, Chomksy...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btJfkPBLULg

John Oliver nails it again...

John Oliver nails it again...

Originally shared by Manoj Kasichainula

In before my security friends post it. An impressively accurate description of the Apple encryption brouhaha.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsjZ2r9Ygzw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsjZ2r9Ygzw

15. Lucky guesses, probably

15.  Lucky guesses, probably
http://www.playbuzz.com/candiceward10/only-1-in-50-people-can-identify-all-of-these-iconic-females

"Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be..."

"Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be..."

Originally shared by Tina Vigilante

Originally shared by Rabid Feminist

Originally shared by Rabid Feminist

Male white privilege:
http://buff.ly/21TO1GG

Originally shared by shogun x

Originally shared by shogun x
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/worldnews/3538914/Venice-under-five-feet-of-water-as-the-city-suffers-its-worst-floods-in-22-years.html

If I did the math correctly, that's 6,839,821 Democratic voters vs 8,805,513 Republican voters.

If I did the math correctly, that's 6,839,821 Democratic voters vs 8,805,513 Republican voters.

Originally shared by Tina Vigilante

In 2013, the average White family had a net worth of $134,000; the average Black family had $11,000, and the average Latino family had $13,900. This disparity is a result of pervasive systemic racism -- it can't be explained by purely economic factors. Ensconced in tiny Vermont, Sanders has been completely focused on economic determinism, while Clinton deeply understands that the problem of racism exists on its own. This is substantiated by the following quote from the linked article:

In 2013, the average White family had a net worth of $134,000; the average Black family had $11,000, and the average Latino family had $13,900. This disparity is a result of pervasive systemic racism -- it can't be explained  by purely economic factors.  Ensconced in tiny Vermont, Sanders has been completely focused on economic determinism, while Clinton deeply understands that the problem of racism exists on its own.  This is substantiated by the following quote from the linked article:

"Under Bill Clinton, median household income grew by 25 per cent in African-American households, at double the speed as it did for households nationwide. Unemployment among African Americans fell by six points, against a three-point drop among the population as a whole. It was the first time in American history that the fruits of economic boom were truly felt in black households."

That is, Clinton comes from a background that actually delivered for minority households, while Sanders offers talk.  The important takeaway from all this is that Black support for Clinton is based on calm rationality, and not HRC's ability to shine them on.

Originally shared by Steve S

"""
And then there’s the supporter problem. Throughout the race, there has been an attitude among some Sanders supporters that either condescends or ignores black voters. That emails to say that of course, black voters might not be going for Sanders just yet, but as soon as they “listen to his message” they will be won over. That says, effectively, that Clintonism is a state of sin from which black voters will shortly be uplifted. Or, writes, as the Guardian did, that “the Clinton machine” has “a hold” on African-American voters, who didn’t vote for Clinton in 2008 and are no more in “the hold” of a “machine” as white liberal graduates – who have voted for Sanders at every election he has fought since 1991 – are for Sanders. That describes Clinton as the candidate of “corporate America” and ignores the fact that she is also the candidate of black America.  That describes Sanders as the “candidate of the future”, when the future of the Democratic Party increasingly rests on the same demographics that are least friendly towards Sanders.
"""
http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/elections/2016/03/you-asked-us-why-do-black-voters-support-hillary-clinton

Originally shared by Dariusz Piotrowski

Originally shared by Dariusz Piotrowski

Columns on the hellenistic stoa of the Acropolis of Lindos,
Rhodes, Greece 2012

Sanders's plans make Republicans look serious

http://fareedzakaria.com/2016/02/18/sanderss-plans-make-republicans-look-serious/

Originally shared by Colm Buckley

Originally shared by Colm Buckley

This is what it looks like when a woman stops smiling.

This is incredible.
http://sadydoyle.tumblr.com/post/138860699828/progressive

Heavy symbolism -- we were on our way to Costco.

Heavy symbolism -- we were on our way to Costco.

Thinking about government-mandated backdoors into an encryption technology. The keys and techniques to exploit the backdoor comprise a secret kept by the authorities and the companies involved, and that secret is essentially maintained by a conspiracy of all those individuals. One might ask what is the probability of that secret leaking out of control?

Thinking about  government-mandated backdoors into an encryption technology.  The keys and techniques to exploit the backdoor comprise a secret kept by the authorities and the companies involved, and that secret is essentially maintained by a conspiracy of all those individuals.  One might ask what is the probability of that secret leaking out of control?

The recent paper by David Robert Grimes, "On the Viability of Conspiratorial Beliefs" (http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0147905) provides valuable insight.  (This paper is also discussed by Yonatan Zunger  at http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0147905 )  The upshot is "Conspiracies are made of people, and people are kind of incompetent."

The model Grimes develops doesn't quite fit this case (this is a conspiracy almost all elements of which are public, and the secret great intrinsic value to a number of people), and is highly dependent on a number of parameters.  It seems to me it could be adapted to  deal with our special case very easily. 
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0147905

Always good to see things from the other guys perspective...

Always good to see things from the other guys perspective...

Originally shared by ****

Haha ..

Another striking campaign photo of HRC

Another striking campaign photo of HRC 

Originally shared by Diane Raucher (broderick)
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1686546668284912&set=a.1412054012400847.1073741832.100007887846307&type=3&theater

Originally shared by Jamez Frondeskias

Originally shared by Jamez Frondeskias

You'll be fine ... children aren't a threat to you. Who would recruit children to fight in a war anyway. Right?

Ever heard of child soldiers?

4.6 GPA

4.6 GPA

Originally shared by NBC Bay Area

Noeli Zarate answered every question correctly on her Advanced Placement Spanish exam, becoming one of only 55 students in the world to do so, district officials said. http://nbcbay.com/juIaiPO

"I was surprised by the results considering the complexity of the exam," Zarate admitted.
http://nbcbay.com/juIaiPO

"Sanders is really talking about what kind of country the US should be, not what it should do"

"Sanders is really talking about what kind of country the US should be, not what it should do"
http://www.vox.com/2016/2/9/10939640/bernie-sanders-foreign-policy

Originally shared by NARAL Pro-Choice America

Originally shared by NARAL Pro-Choice America

"She is the most qualified candidate to be president, and I think she'd make a great one.”
http://nar.al/4ni

Originally shared by Rabid Feminist

Originally shared by Rabid Feminist

Well mostly anyway. Congressional Progressive Caucus Abandons Bernie | GO BLINDLY
http://buff.ly/1KGJ5wJ

A brilliant speech...

A brilliant speech...

Originally shared by Kris Nelson

Fab!
https://www.youtube.com/attribution_link?a=aIShMlHdYoA&u=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DMmvfDE5a8Vg%26feature%3Dplayer_embedded

Santa Cruz beach - an unexpectedly nice day.

Santa Cruz beach - an unexpectedly nice day.

Originally shared by Shelenn Ayres

Originally shared by Shelenn Ayres

State parties run their own primaries and caucuses. When there is a dispute, they consult both the caucus goers and the DNC when necessary. All candidates know the rules for each state up front and plan their strategies accordingly. All candidates agree to the authority of the state and national parties. While the popular vote does factor in, the delegates are what matters for the nomination. Now that the results for IA are in, let's examine them:

IA gets 44 national pledged delegates and 8 national unpledged delegates.

IDP Rules on State Delegate Math:

First each precinct has a viability number to be awarded delegates

Caucuses that elect 1 delegate -> majority rule

Caucuses that elect 2 delegates -> eligible attendees times 0.25 and round up

Caucuses that elect 3 delegates -> eligible attendees divided by 6 and round up

Caucuses that elect 4 or more delegates -> eligible attendees times 0.15 and round up

Second, except for single delegate precincts, a formula is applied to each viable candidate group to award state delegates

(group members times delegates available)/attendees = delegates group elects


The official state delegate results are:

Clinton Caucus: 700.59  state delegate equivalents
Sanders Caucus: 696.82 state delegate equivalents
O’Malley Caucus: 7.61 state delegate equivalents
Uncommitted Caucus: 0.46 state delegate equivalents

15% minimum per DNC rules is required for pledged national delegates to be awarded and pledged national delegates are awarded proportionally. The official results as of Feb 2, 2016 are:

Clinton: 23
Sanders: 21

For the unpledged delegates, the current standing is:

Clinton: 7
Sanders: 0
Uncommitted: 1

Combined delegate count for IA's 52 convention delegates:

Clinton:30
Sanders: 21
Uncommitted: 1

Final analysis:

Clinton won the popular vote
Clinton won the state delegate vote
Clinton won the pledged delegate vote
Clinton won the unpledged delegate vote
Clinton won the combined delegate vote

Clinton won Iowa
http://iowademocrats.org/statement-from-idp-chair-on-tonights-historically-close-caucus-results/

To the inevitable claims of a conspiracy involving the Clintons, the NYT, AP, and the "corporate media" in general, I offer this quote: "The fact is, conspiracies are made of people, and people are kind of incompetent." ( https://medium.com/@yonatanzunger/the-conspiracy-conspiracy-92b744226448#.u6c3c2aoc)

To the inevitable claims of a conspiracy involving the Clintons, the NYT, AP, and the "corporate media" in general, I offer this quote: "The fact is, conspiracies are made of people, and people are kind of incompetent." ( https://medium.com/@yonatanzunger/the-conspiracy-conspiracy-92b744226448#.u6c3c2aoc)

Originally shared by The New York Times

Hillary Clinton Has Won Iowa Caucuses, Associated Press Says

#hillaryclinton   #iowacaucus  #berniesanders 

http://nyti.ms/23Hkzlz
http://nyti.ms/23Hkzlz

It just occurs to me that, regardless of policies, it would be tremendously boring to have yet another straight white male president.

I've been under the impression for some time that Sanders supporters produce more negative material about Hillary Clinton than vice versa. In an attempt to quantify this, I looked at the first 100 posts in the Bernie Sanders for President 2016 community and the first 100 posts in the Hillary Clinton for President 2016 community, and counted the negative posts about the competitor.

I've been under the impression for some time that Sanders supporters produce more negative material about Hillary Clinton than vice versa.  In an attempt to quantify this, I looked at the first 100 posts in the  Bernie Sanders for President 2016 community and the first 100 posts in the Hillary Clinton for President 2016 community, and counted the negative posts about the competitor.

The Sanders group had 13 posts that cast Clinton in a definite negative light; the Clinton group had 4 posts that cast Sanders in a negative light.  In general, the Clinton group seldom mentioned Sanders, and mostly posts positive messages about their candidate -- new endorsements and so on.  The Sanders group, in contrast, had, in addition to negative posts about Clinton,  negative posts about the "establishment", the "mainstream press", and "political conspiracies against Sanders".  Posts mentioning Clinton, in general, are much more common in the Sanders group than posts mentioning Sanders in the Clinton group.

There is nothing scientific about this -- the posts in both groups change frequently, and I was just using my own interpretation of what was negative.  The relative mentions of the competing candidate are pretty objective, though.

Originally shared by Betsy McCall

Originally shared by Betsy McCall
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/01/new-science-tells-us-men-politics-are-blowhards

Originally shared by Pierre Markuse

Originally shared by Pierre Markuse

Perspective view in Noctis Labyrinthus

In this image taken on 15 July 2015 by the High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) aboard ESA's Mars Express you can see a perspective view in Noctis Labyrinthus on Mars. Visible are details of landslides in the steep-sided walls of the flat-topped graben (https://goo.gl/Rma96b) in the foreground, and in the valley walls in the background. Image resolution is about 16 meters per pixel.

Read more on Noctis Labyrinthus:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noctis_Labyrinthus
http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2016/01/Perspective_view_in_Noctis_Labyrinthus

More on the Mars Express orbiter and the High Resolution Stereo Camera:
http://sci.esa.int/mars-express/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Express
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Resolution_Stereo_Camera

Image credit: Title Perspective view in Noctis Labyrinthus ESA/DLR/FU Berlin http://goo.gl/AN7tsu CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO https://goo.gl/YgMSmb

#science  #mars #marsexpress #esa  #NoctisLabyrinthus #hrsc #space   #spacetechnology   #spaceexploration

Originally shared by Kris Nelson

Originally shared by Kris Nelson

This is an xcellent article...



https://medium.com/@MichaelSLinden/the-four-policy-reasons-why-i-support-hillary-clinton-in-the-democratic-primary-71a3a7a0f3a7#.48wq7gujg

Fascinating to see the top donors by industry to the various candidates.

Fascinating to see the top donors by industry to the various candidates.

Jeb Bush:
http://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/indus.php?cycle=2016&id=N00037006&type=f
1 Securities & Investment $32,044,014
2 Real Estate $9,907,167
3 Oil & Gas $9,864,210
4 Retired $8,807,205
5 Misc Finance $6,346,820

Hillary Clinton:
http://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/indus.php?cycle=2016&id=N00000019&type=f
1 Retired $7,658,300
2 Lawyers/Law Firms $7,290,958
3 TV/Movies/Music $6,557,750
4 Securities & Investment $5,591,095
5 Non-Profit Institutions $3,475,080

Ted Cruz:
http://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/indus.php?cycle=2016&id=N00033085&type=f
1 Real Estate $25,742,655
2 Retired $3,117,865
3 Securities & Investment $761,305
4 Oil & Gas $709,493
5 Lawyers/Law Firms $650,659

Bernie Sanders:
http://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/indus.php?cycle=2016&id=N00000528&type=f
1 Retired $870,161
2 Education $404,375
3 Health Professionals $232,564
4 Lawyers/Law Firms $230,233
5 Misc Business $213,778

Donald Trump:
http://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/indus.php?cycle=2016&id=N00023864&type=f
1 Retired $259,989
2 Health Professionals $45,942
3 Misc Business $38,153
4 Real Estate $28,814
5 Misc Finance $16,972

Wonderful picture.

Wonderful picture.

Originally shared by Diane Raucher (broderick)
http://bluenationreview.com/bernie-is-the-establishment-hillary-and-planned-parenthood-are-the-anti-establishment/

Sarah Palin as poet.  It's scary how good it is.

FLASH!! It's not even close! The latest Smart Politics Poll of conveniently available sentient beings shows Clinton over Sanders 7 to 1.

FLASH!! It's not even close! The latest Smart Politics Poll of conveniently available sentient beings shows Clinton over Sanders 7 to 1.

Originally shared by Kris Nelson

Originally shared by Kris Nelson

This is not an article bashing Bernie but asks really good questions

http://www.vox.com/2016/1/17/10784528/bernie-sanders-single-payer-health-care
http://www.vox.com/2016/1/17/10784528/bernie-sanders-single-payer-health-care

Steampunk paradise...

Steampunk paradise...
https://goo.gl/photos/kk3q83hAYEv7QMHw9

Congratulations to Taiwan!

Congratulations to Taiwan!

Originally shared by Frederick Wilson II
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/01/taiwan-elects-female-president-tsai-ing-wen-160116111223613.html

Originally shared by Rabid Feminist

Originally shared by Rabid Feminist

Listen to Ruth

Originally shared by Steve S

Originally shared by Steve S

From a comment to https://plus.google.com/u/0/+AlexanderWaitZaranek/posts/7uZeutNwpND by Lewis Yingling:

This is the reason I consider myself a "Radical Moderate." I am radically opposed to extremists on both sides of the spectrum. Having passionate ideals is wonderful, however, when it comes down to it the real world is a complex and complicated place with complex and complicated problems that require complex and complicated solutions. In my mind, Hillary has a much better grasp of the worlds complexity. Her record and her words show her to be more conservative then me on some issues and more liberal on others. To me, that is the way it should be.  

  The arguments in the comments section beneath the above Planned Parenthood post sadden me. It is obvious that Hillary has been fighting hard for women's issues her entire life. I think it is obvious that Bernie has a good record as well. There are many people far more liberal then me and I can respect that they want to vote for Bernie in the Primary, but to argue that they will not vote Democratic in the general election is insanity. A total insult to their own Progressive values.

  There is no doubt in my mind that President George W Bush was appointed and not elected. The 2000 Florida election was as horrific as it gets; tens of thousands of Florida voters were disenfranchised an the election should not even have been close. Having said that, I will point out that the "official" result in Florida had "W" winning by 534 votes out of some 6 million.  As I recall, there were some 30,000 votes or more for Ralph Nader in Florida in 2000. Hey, everyone is allowed to vote for who they want, and Nader was good on environmental issues, but there was absolutely no way Nader was going to win the Presidency. So those Nader voters are responsible for doing damage to our environment in my mind because instead of voting for the most viable candidate that was good on environmental issues, they felt it was more important to "make a statement."

  Come on people. There is a vast expanse between the Democratic and Republican candidates in this election. Yes, Hillary is more moderate then Bernie, but she is a radical progressive compared to the Republicans. If you are more radically progressive then I, if you are passionate about your progressive values and feel the need to vote for Bernie during the Primary, great. Do that. We need debate and discussion within our Party. That is what America is all about; a discussion, a conversation. I will be glad to discuss why I prefer Hillary to Bernie and I will listen to you.

  In the end though. In the General, lets join together and defeat which ever nut the Republicans run. We can not let this Country go backward!

  Lew

Originally shared by Rugger Ducky

Originally shared by Rugger Ducky

Mr. Trump’s virulent combination of ignorance, emotional instability, demagogy, solipsism and vindictiveness would do more than result in a failed presidency; it could very well lead to national catastrophe. The prospect of Donald Trump as commander in chief should send a chill down the spine of every American.

HT Jon C​
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/01/14/opinion/campaign-stops/why-i-will-never-vote-for-donald-trump.html?smid=go-share&_r=0&referer=http://plus.url.google.com/url?q=http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/14/opinion/campaign-stops/why-i-will-never-vote-for-donald-trump.html

Originally shared by Eli Fennell

Originally shared by Eli Fennell

Zen Trust Fund

#Inheritance #Zen

Surfer at Sunset Beach, North Shore Oahu

Surfer at Sunset Beach, North Shore Oahu

Originally shared by Alexandre Keledjian

Originally shared by Alexandre Keledjian

I really don't know what to think about that...
http://www.wired.com/2016/01/david-chaum-father-of-online-anonymity-plan-to-end-the-crypto-wars/

This is not satire -- it's just framing things differently.

This is not satire -- it's just framing things differently.

Originally shared by Shava Nerad

Slate: If it happened there, Oregon edition
what if we were reporting on Bundygate as an overseas insurgency?

Must read.

via Bill Moyers on Twitter

OMG. Too true. Frame it in gold. Apparently this is a series Slate is doing. I'm going to have to subscribe and look for the others.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/01/05/how_the_u_s_media_would_cover_the_oregon_siege_if_it_happened_in_another.html
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/01/05/how_the_u_s_media_would_cover_the_oregon_siege_if_it_happened_in_another.html

Practical, common-sense steps. Eg:

Practical, common-sense steps.  Eg:

"Educate yourself on your city’s police conduct review process."

Originally shared by God Emperor Lionel Lauer

Practical things we white people can do to help prevent black people from being murdered by cops.
#blacklivesmatter  
http://www.ravishly.com/2015/04/10/what-you-can-do-right-now-about-police-brutality