It has nothing to do with how much money a person has, nor does it relate to a person’s position in society. You cannot purchase it … you either have it, or you don’t. Barack and Michelle Obama both have it in spades. Donald and Melania Trump do not. What is it, you ask? It is a thing called ‘class’.
U.S. House Representative Ilhan Omar has this thing called class. Ms. Omar has been the target of some of the most vicious racist and Islamophobic threats and verbal attacks imaginable. Why? Because she is a Muslim, because the ‘man’ who is masquerading as president of this nation has instilled a fear of ‘other’ into some 40% of our population and has, in fact, launched a personal attack against Ms. Ilhan.
And yet through it all, she has retained her grace and dignity.
Every so often a song takes root in the belly, germinating melodic sinews in my core. Inexplicably raised spirits announce I’m hopelessly infected. Such was the case this afternoon when a co-worker played One Trick Ponies by Kurt Vile.
Sometimes all it takes is a Kurt Vile to soothe our ragged edges.
Ponder Cybertruck – electric powered truck unveiled this week by Tesla bobble-head Elon Musk. Take a moment, rattled brains are temporary. Once you realize this isn’t a Mad Max or Starship Trooper movie prop, it’s okay to laugh out loud. No, that isn’t a wheelchair ramp – Tesla thoughtfully created Cyberquad, companion ATV for environmentally aware off-road electric vehicle enthusiasts. WTF!!!!
Clearly Tesla took a collective acid trip, nothing else explains the absurdity of Cybertruck.
Adrien Mauduit of Night Lights Films effortlessly sprinkles corners of imagination with stardust. Ponder Orbem Terrae ( Latin, loosely translated as orbiting Earth or the whole world). Mauduit’s unique artistry hums arias of wonder. Wrap yourself in Orbem Terrae-
“All the modern films taken at night usually capture this celestial course from a fixed point of the Earth. Thus you will most likely watch the moon or the milky way make their way across the firmament. In the Northern Hemisphere, it seems to move from left to right, and the opposite in the Southern Hemisphere. Nonetheless have you ever seen a film where the night sky is fixed and the Earth moves instead? Well, now you have!That was the whole point of this short time-lapse film that I dubbed ‘Orbem Terræ’, or orbiting Earth in latin. The goal is to bring a whole new perspective on how we actually move against the background sky! In this manner, some of the clips give a very cool effect where you almost feel like you’re on the International Space Station lokking down at the Earth. This ‘floating’ effect is admittedly unsettling though, as if we will fall into the abyss of the universe. However only now can you appreciate the true movement of rotation of our planet in the solar system. Some of the clips are also tilted, reversed and rotated on purpose to accentuate the effect, so much that sometimes, you have no clue what is up and what is down! It’s especially true for the scenes featuring water reflection!
To achieve this particular effect, it actually not rocket science. There exist simple devices that, if set in the right way, can follow and track a particular point of the sky by compensation for the rotation of the Earth. By mountain your camera on top of those ‘tracker’, you can now have a fixed sky, a rotating Earth effect, and some advantages as the cherry on top: more details in the night sky objects!
This short film is actually a compilation of all the best tracked shots I have acquired during the past 4 years. After all my different movies, I’ve been asked a number of times to put together this compilation, so here you go! They were taken all over the globe from Europe to South America, Africa to North America. It features some of the most detailed astrophotography sequences on the market for this quality output, including some never-seen-before ones! “ – Adrien Mauduit
Periodically, I write a post that begs for the title “Tears of Shame”, or some variation of that. Since 2016, there have been eight such posts … tonight makes nine.
Healthy debate, civil discourse … I’m all for both of those. If I make a statement, you have an opposing point of view, then fine … let’s each present our views and see if we can find a middle ground. Even if we cannot find that middle ground, we will have each gained a better understanding of why we think the way we do. This is good for a friendship, it is good for opposing factions within a nation, and it is good for international relations – much better than lobbing bombs. This is how civilized society remains civilized.
However, when two people disagree and one of those people has neither facts nor sound basis for his views, then his…
On January 1, 2019 NASA darling New Horizons made the farthest close approach fly-by of a cosmic object in human history. Tiny 2014 MU69, a Kuiper Belt object far beyond Pluto was dubbed Ultima Thule shortly before the historic encounter. Ancient geographers used the term ultima Thule in reference to distant territory or destination, northernmost region of the habitable world, remotes goals or ideals. Ultima Thule suited the apple of New Horizons eye. Beyond limits of the known world, a fitting moniker until Nazi propaganda compelled Ultima Thule to become Arrokoth.
2014 MU69 – Arrokoth (Sky, in the Powhatan and Algonquian languages)
Long before a Newsweek reporter mentioned Nazi party use of Ultima Thule in reference to a mythical homeland for Aryan people, NASA pondered implication by association, including its legal team in naming 2014 MU69. Ultima Thule was a fine name, but for media buzz over Nazi propaganda I never would have known neo-Nazis and far right extremists claimed it for their cause. Nor would I known a Swedish skinhead band named Ultima Thule attained three top twenty hits in their homeland.
Imperatives to rename Ultima Thule had little to do with common public knowledge of Nazi propaganda, everything to do with alt-right association and use of Ultima Thule in their cause.
From my husband at https://www.flickr.com/photos/15574096@N00/ All photos captured in Mexico City, Dia de los Muertos 2019. Notes on the first image – she was sniffing glue when we approached, she turned, dropped to her knees and began licking the doors.
Ms. Omar has been the target of some of the most vicious racist and Islamophobic threats and verbal attacks imaginable. Why? Because she is a Muslim, because the ‘man’ who is masquerading as president of this nation has instilled a fear of ‘other’ into some 40% of our population and has, in fact, launched a personal attack against Ms. Ilhan.
notestoponder 