Domestic tranquillity

 

And a dash of nearly-nudity.

Lovely model Alexis Bumgarner gives us a glimpse of a lifestyle that most of us can only wish would happen to us once.

Five photos of the Olympics

 

I still want to do one commentary on the Olympics, and maybe more than one.  Time is everything and it doesn't seem like I have as much time as I used to have.  Weird.

So here are five photographs from the Olympics that I found compelling.  Certainly there were many other moments.  But these seemed to capture an elemental flavor of sport for me.

Along with a bit of humor.

This way to the next galaxy

 

One of the out-there theories on black holes is that if it were possible to dive into one and survive (which is pretty darned unlikely), then the diver would end up somewhere else in the Universe -- i.e., a black hole is the doorway to a wormhole through some higher dimensions that ends a long way (lots of light years) from the starting point.

It's unlikely, REALLY REALLY unlikely.  But if you'd care to give it a try, here's a place you could start.  (But it is 7800 light years away, so you'd better get going.)

The blue rings are seen as X-ray emitters from ionized dust clouds spinning around a black hole.  Read more about that here:

Chandra X-ray Observatory Photo Album: V404 Cygni: Huge Rings Around a Black Hole   

"On June 5, 2015, Swift [the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory] discovered a burst of X-rays from V404 Cygni. The burst created the high-energy rings from a phenomenon known as light echoes. Instead of sound waves bouncing off a canyon wall, the light echoes around V404 Cygni were produced when a burst of X-rays from the black hole system bounced off of dust clouds between V404 Cygni and Earth. Cosmic dust is not like household dust but is more like smoke, and consists of tiny, solid particles.

In this composite image, X-rays from Chandra (light blue) were combined with optical data from the Pan-STARRS telescope in Hawaii that show the stars in the field of view. The image contains eight separate concentric rings. Each ring is created by X-rays from V404 Cygni flares observed in 2015 that reflect off different dust clouds. (An artist's illustration explains how the rings seen by Chandra and Swift were produced. To simplify the graphic, the illustration shows only four rings instead of eight.)"

See you on the other side!

So if E=mc^2, this ought to work

 

How to make matter out of pure energy;  it turns out it's pretty simple to do.

Collisions of Light Produce Matter/Antimatter from Pure Energy

"The primary finding is that pairs of electrons and positrons—particles of matter and antimatter—can be created directly by colliding very energetic photons, which are quantum “packets” of light. This conversion of energetic light into matter is a direct consequence of Einstein’s famous E=mc2 equation, which states that energy and matter (or mass) are interchangeable. Nuclear reactions in the sun and at nuclear power plants regularly convert matter into energy. Now scientists have converted light energy directly into matter in a single step."

So, all it takes is enough energy.  Just accelerate gold ions to 99.995% of the speed of light and aim them at each other.

Simple!

News from Florida

Extracted from the Washington Post, in their live coronavirus updates section:

"The battle waged by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) against mask and vaccine mandates is facing challenges on multiple fronts.

His ban on vaccine passports was temporarily blocked by a federal judge late Sunday: Norwegian Cruise Line was cleared to require coronavirus vaccines for guests and crew members after U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams granted the company a preliminary injunction, blocking a Florida law championed by DeSantis that would have fined the cruise company for requiring vaccines. DeSantis’s office said Monday he will appeal.

“A prohibition on vaccine passports does not even implicate, let alone violate, anyone’s speech rights, and it furthers the substantial, local interest of preventing discrimination among customers based on private health information,” his office said in a statement.

Coronavirus protocols in schools are also in the spotlight as the head of the country’s second-largest teachers union on Sunday shifted course to signal support for vaccine mandates for teachers to protect students, especially those under 12 who are not old enough to be inoculated.

A group of parents of disabled children in Florida sued Friday to block the state’s ban on mask mandates in schools. Florida education officials moved the same day to give students access to a state voucher program that helps pay for private tuition if their public schools require masks — an acknowledgment that some schools in the state are moving ahead with mask mandates despite the law."

Well, we'll see what Governor DeathSantis comes up with this week, as his state's population suffers from his Neronic lack of leadership.

Lighthouse of the Week, August 8-14, 2021: Old Dungeness Light, Kent, UK

 

Some time has passed since I featured a UK lighthouse, so I'm headed back to jolly old England.  This week's lighthouse is the Old Dungeness Light, which is very prominent and large and tall, but had to be replaced with a newer light when a nuclear power plant was built nearby, partly obscuring where the light was shining. You can see it in one of the pictures here. That's a shame, because according to the Lighthouse Directory, it has a 1st-order Fresnel lens (which visitors can still see at the top).  It was also repainted all black;  I'll grab a lot of text from the Directory to explain.

It also has a Web site:  The Old Lighthouse, Dungeness, Kent  Some neat trivia there:  it's a "Historic Grade 11 Building", and it took over three million bricks to make it.  That's a lot of bricks.

So where is it?  It's pretty easy to find. Just drive south down the coast from Dover and Folkestone.

The text from the Directory:

    "1904. Inactive since 1961. 43.5 m (143 ft) round brick tower with lantern and gallery. Tower painted black with white trim; lantern and gallery painted white. Original 1st order Fresnel lens. Circular 2-story Coast Guard quarters and detached 1-story keeper's house.
    Originally painted with a white horizontal band, as seen in Huelse's postcard view, the tower was repainted all black to prevent confusion with its replacement. Privately owned by the Stanners family, it became a very popular tourist attraction. In 2005 the family offered the lighthouse for sale; no price was specified. Probably it was sold, because it appears to be under new management."   

And on to the pictures.

Highway 41 Streetview trek: Last looks at the Appleton, WI area

 

This is the Arla Foods Hollandtown Dairy, one of the biggest producers of domestic Havarti cheese in the USA.

So now we'll take a look at downtown Kaukauna on Crooks Avenue, then get back on Highway 41. Crooks Avenue becomes Lawe Street (not the same one as in Appleton), and crosses the Fox River again.

Just downriver is a natural area called the 1000 Islands, though I don't think there are nearly that many.

So after that extended tour, the trek rejoins with Highway 41. You can pan around and see the Kaukauna water tower and be sure that's where we visited.  When we went around Appleton, we had this same view.



Highway 41 is going to head northeast for awhile paralleling the river, but it won't be visible. The next major stop is Green Bay. Better get packing.

Too true

 

An op-ed column by Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post.

Too many Republicans are taking covid-19’s side in the fight against the pandemic

    "But they [Gov. DeathSantis of Florida, Gov. Abbothole of Texas] are not exhorting their constituents that they have a “personal responsibility” to get vaccinated, wear masks or take other precautions. Rather, DeSantis and Abbott frame covid-prevention measures in terms of personal freedom. Their basic message: Your body, your choice, nobody else’s business.

    But that’s not true. Those who make the “personal choice” not to be vaccinated or not to mask up in appropriate settings are also making a choice to put others at risk. They can spread the coronavirus not just to other unvaccinated individuals, but also to those who can’t get vaccinated; those for whom the vaccines are less effective; and vaccinated people who might themselves not get seriously ill but could potentially pass the virus to more vulnerable members of their households."

Sadly, this is the state of the hardcore GOP in the USA right now.  All for none, and nothing for anyone else except for themselves. 

This, however, constitutes very GOOD news

 

Hopefully this trend, and these polls, continue in the direction they're headed.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis trails behind Democratic challenger Charlie Crist in new poll after his standing takes a hit amid state's COVID surge

    "However, he [DeathSantis] is under fresh pressure as cases of COVID-19 hit record levels in the state at the weekend.
    Florida is recording almost 20,000 new cases each day, according the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - the highest of any state.
    DeSantis has not backed away from his laissez faire attitude, banning schools from issuing mask mandates and businesses from insisting staff be vaccinated.
    In contrast Crist this week demanded that state employees be vaccinated.
    'The way to stamp out the virus, and protect our public health, economy and our jobs, is to get everyone vaccinated,' he said.
    The poll suggests Crist is more in line with voters on COVID-19."

Also, more voters disapprove of the job DeathSantis is doing than approve.

The good news just keeps on comin'. 

Really, truly, no doubt, this is not good

 

You don't ever want to read a headline like this.  Unfortunately, I think more will be in the offing in the next decades.

Virtually all emperor penguin colonies doomed for extinction by 2100 as climate change looms, study finds

“There is a sea ice ‘Goldilocks’ zone,” said Stephanie Jenouvrier, a seabird ecologist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and a lead author of the study, in a statement. “If there is too little sea ice, chicks can drown when sea ice breaks up early; if there is too much sea ice, foraging trips become too long and more arduous, and the chicks may starve.”

In parts of the Antarctic Peninsula, according to the researchers, sea ice cover has shrunk by over 60 percent in three decades and one emperor penguin colony has already “virtually disappeared.”

Who would vote for him?

 

Maybe I shouldn't ask that question -- but when I saw that criminally corrupt politician Rod Blagojevich, who was pardoned and let out of jail by criminally corrupt former President Trump, was seeking to become eligible to run for elected office again -- the question that leads off this post is that first thing that came to mind.

Ex-Illinois governor Blagojevich, granted clemency by Trump, sues for right to seek elected office again 

"Following his arrest in 2008, Blagojevich was near-unanimously impeached, then removed from his governorship. (The Illinois House voted 114-1 to impeach, while the state Senate voted 59-0 to remove him from office.) The state Senate subsequently passed a resolution banning him from running for state and local office in Illinois."

Sorry, I wouldn't vote for him if he was running for a seat on the sewer committee.  Wait ... actually, since that might be where he lives now (with the rest of the rats), I might have to consider it.  And I might also think him suitable for the Board of Corrections, since he has so much experience in that department. 

Lighthouse of the Week, August 1-7, 2021: Jōtōmyō-dai Light, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan

 

It's not hard to figure out where I got the idea for this one;  as the Tokyo Olympics wind down (I may say more about this later), I thought I'd pick a lighthouse in Tokyo.  This one is very, very historic, even though it's not a working lighthouse.

It's the Jōtōmyō-dai Light, in the Chiyoda ward of central Tokyo. That's located here. It's not exactly close to the water.  I'm not sure if it ever was.  Here's what the Lighthouse Directory can tell us.

"1871. Inactive as a navigational aid for many years but a white decorative light is displayed. Approx. 12 m (39 ft) 2-stage rubblestone tower with lantern and double gallery. The lower half of the tower is square and tapered, while the upper half is octagonal cylindrical. ... This lighthouse was built shortly after the Meiji Restoration (1866-69) restored the power of the Emperor and ushered in the start of the modernization of Japan. In other words, this is one of the first lighthouses built by Japanese in the modern era. According the Japanese text accompanying the photos each stone is inscribed with the name of the feudal clan that contributed that stone. The lighthouse was relocated a short distance across Yasukuni Street in 1930 as the area was developed. Today it is called Jōtōmyō-dai, "High Lantern." "

I told you it was historic, didn't I?  Since it says it was relocated, I guess back then (before it was moved), it was closer to the water.

Pictures?  Of course I have pictures.  Plus, here's a link to a high-quality picture that didn't render here very well.

Another argument for improved gun control laws in the USA

 

"OK, I'll pay with debit!"

Burger King employee pulls a GUN on drive thru customers in dispute over payment

Highway 41 Streetview trek: The college on College Avenue

 As we take a side trip into Appleton, Wisconsin on the Streetview trek, here's why the main street of College Avenue is called College Avenue.

It goes through the campus of Lawrence University (used to be a college). The white chapel like building is actually the Lawrence Memorial Chapel. Through the trees the top of the dome of Main Hall can be seen. Very typical Midwesterny liberal artsy.



A couple of dorms visible at this intersection.



Down by the Fox River on the Lawe Street Bridge. A couple of campus buildings can be seen on the shore.



Back on College Avenue, this is crossing the Fox River on the College Avenue Bridge.



View of where Lawrence University's football team plays, the "Banta Bowl".



Intersection with Crooks Avenue, which goes to Kaukauna. But first, one more stop down College Avenue.



There will be cheese!

The COVID-19 battle of the masses

 

Two interesting items from the Washington Post;  one an article, one an op-ed.

1. Vaccinated people are ready for normalcy — and angry at the unvaccinated getting in their way

    "An unwelcome resurgence of the coronavirus has caused a groundswell of impatience, frustration and even rage from Americans who got their shots months ago toward those whose resistance won’t budge. States are reimplementing mask requirements, corporations are delaying their returns to the office and support is building for more coercive ways to tamp down the virus’s spread, including vaccine mandates. 

    Watching it all, the vaccinated are emphasizing that it didn’t have to be this way. Some officials are sending a similar message.
    “It’s time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks,” Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) said this month. “It’s the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down.” "

2.  Will the delta variant turn Americans against one another?

    "The approximately 50 percent of Americans who have stepped up to the plate and been fully vaccinated, thus drastically reducing the infection rates (for a while), are fed up. The delta variant is quickly overtaking what progress was made by the willing and is swiftly moving through populations of the unvaccinated. The fear among experts is that as delta spreads, infected people will surround and overwhelm vaccinated people through “spillover infection,” while continuing to retard herd immunity."

Over the past few days, and as I write this, there has been an upswing in the vaccination rate in some states and places where the rate has been low.  Will it be enough?  I think the truest words I've read were also in the WP, in an online headline, that said, basically, it's going to get worse before it gets better.

Thank you so much, merchants of misinformation.

Black and white, variations on a theme

 

You'll get where I'm going with this, with these pictures of VERY lovely women.

Heather Monique

Leanna Bartlett

Anton Robert Photography

Alexis Ren