Tuppence earns the two

 

If you aren't aware, there's about to be a Downton Abbey movie sequel, which is a sequel to a sequel, because the first movie was a sequel to the television series.  So look for that in theaters, as we are going back to theaters again. For awhile, anyway.

So, considering that Downton Abbey is in England, and so is the Daily Mail, then it's natural that the tabloid would have covered the premiere parties.

And it did.  And highly visible in the party line-up was the blossoming baby belly of one Tuppence Middleton, who is a young and talented actress that I have commented on before.   That linked article preceded another one, the latter discussing the recent (at the time) break-up of Miss Middleton with a paramour.

Well, amour being what it is, apparently Tuppence found someone else to be both amorous and fertile with.  According to the article, she has not named the noble gent who lent his masculine aspect to the progenitic cause.  I sincerely hope he distinguished himself in the ecstatic effort.

But, back to the baby-to-be, shown in elegant black evening wear.

Tuppence Middleton is pregnant! Actress unveils her blossoming bump in a gorgeous black gown as she attends the Downton Abbey: A New Era premiere with Måns Mårlind

(The article indicates there may be a connection with a "Tobias Gremmler", who is a creative musician.  More on that if it becomes available.)

It's tough to think about, though I won't be here to see it

 

A very sobering, troubling, and disturbing report about the oceans and their future fate came out a few days ago.

Ocean animals face a mass extinction from climate change, study finds

"If humanity’s greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase, according to a study released Thursday, roughly a third of all marine animals could vanish within 300 years.

The findings, published in the journal Science, reveal a potential mass extinction looming beneath the waves. The oceans have absorbed a third of the carbon and 90 percent of the excess heat created by humans, but their vast expanse and forbidding depths mean scientists are just beginning to understand what creatures face there."

As some have noted, there's an escape route, as it were.  Because it says "If humanity's greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase ..."

Which means that if somehow that trajectory can be diverted (and I think it can be, and the main solution is spelled N-U-C-L-E-A-R    E-N-E-R-G-Y), then this dire consequence might be at least diminished. 

Here's another part of the article:

"Though the danger to animals — and the humans who depend on them — is undeniably dire, Pinsky, the Rutgers biologist, urged against giving in to despair.

In an analysis for Science that accompanied Penn and Deutsch’s report, he and Rutgers ecologist Alexa Fredston compared marine animals to canaries in a coal mine, alerting humanity to invisible forces — such as dangerous carbon dioxide accumulation and ocean oxygen loss — that also threaten our ability to survive. If people can take action to preserve ocean wildlife, we will wind up saving ourselves."

So what can we do?

What we need to do is everything we can, starting now.  

Which means putting solar panels over parking lots -- everywhere. And then building the nuclear power generating plant equivalent of the Model-T Ford, as many as possible, as quickly as possible.  And while we're doing that, get nuclear fusion working.

Then we -- and the oceans -- might have a chance.

Highway 41 end-to-end Streetview trek: This Is The End

 

It's over.

The final views are below.  Which means that the Highway 41 end-to-end Streetview trek, which commenced in Miami years ago, has gone the distance, all the way to Copper Harbor, Michigan.

But still -- I am going to put together some longer state-by-state posts with all the end-to-end Streetview posts for that state, to make it easier to navigate and find views along the trek.

So let's finish strong.

Sort of the entrance to Fort Wilkins State Historic Park. The bridge is over a very short water connection between Lake Fanny Hooe and Lake Superior named Garden Brook.



If there was a break in the trees here, you could probably see the Copper Harbor Lighthouse.

But... this is it. This is THE END of the highway, and the end of the StreetView trek. Unlike in Miami at the other end, there's a sign here.

Here's a better picture of the sign.



And here's a really good image of the sign.

So that's it.  Now somebody should do it on a bicycle.

Watch your step (all the way across)

 

The world's longest suspension footbridge just opened, in the Czech Republic (which now can officially be called Czechia, too).  It's 721 meters long.

You go first.

Queasy does it! The longest suspension footbridge in the world opens next month, spanning 2,365ft across a valley in the Czech Republic

No, Biden is not going to send their sustenance away

 

Took me a few seconds to figure out what the Daily Mail was trying to say in this headline.

Lighthouse of the Week, April 24-30, 2022: Tungenes Lighthouse, Norway

 

Weirdly enough, for some reason I conjured up the name "Stavanger".  I knew I had heard it before, and did a quick map locator, and found it in Norway, near the coast.  Not surprising at all.  So I searched to see if there were lighthouses nearby, and there were.  And this one was one of the more interesting ones.

It's no longer a working lighthouse, but it still has a 4th-order Fresnel lens.  Figure that out.

Web site: Tungenes Lighthouse

Information from the Web site:

"The lighthouse was established in 1828 and closed in 1984. The lighthouse master's house is from 1938, his assistant's house from 1957-58. There is an annex, machinery shed and boathouse. Tungenes Lighthouse is protected and restored to its 1930s appearance.

The lighthouse now serves as a fine arts and cultural centre. Concerts with both Norwegian and international artists are regularly arranged here. The café serves good coffee food with a view on the purchase, and on the second floor above the café is the Oskar Sørreime collection. There is also a lighthouse museum and maritime museum on site."

And now from the Lighthouse Directory:

"1828. Inactive since 1984. Approx. 12 m (39 ft) square cylindrical tower rising from the seaward side of a 1-1/2 story keeper's house. 4th order Fresnel lens mounted in the lantern. Lighthouse painted white; lantern roof is red. Other station buildings include a 2-story principal keeper's house (1938) and a 1-1/2 story assistant keeper's house (1958).

The lighthouse was deactivated in favor of the Bragen light (next entry) offshore. The station has been fully restored to its 1930s appearance; it serves as a fine arts center and lighthouse and maritime museum. One of the buildings houses a café.

The lighthouse marked the cape at the south side of the entrance to Stavanger harbor. Located at the end of the Tungenesveien on the west side of Randaberg."  (If you click on that link, you'll see a broader scale view to put its location in Scandinavian context.)

Below are the pictures; it's fairly well-photographed.

It may not handle all of the climate denier clowns

 

Good news, to a point.  The less misnformation that's out in the wild, the better. 

Twitter bans climate change propaganda ads as deniers target platforms

"A 2021 report by the liberal-leaning advocacy group Avaaz found that between April 6, 2021, and Nov. 15, 2021, the top five climate change misinformers managed to rack up more than 60 million views on posts containing climate falsehoods — most of which were not labeled by Facebook as false."

From my own personal experience, the worst offenders are the ones who purport that their denialism is scientific, when it stands in opposition to so much strongly-supported scientific knowledge.

Is NOT potato

 

If you don't watch Stephen Colbert monologues on late night TV, you might not get that.  In any case, this is not about a potato, it's about the Martian moon Phobos, which is frequently described as potato-shaped.  

The Perseverance rover recently captured the best-ever video of Phobos passing in front of the Sun from the viewpoint of the Martian surface.  Here's a still from the video, followed by a link to the article featuring the video.

NASA's Perseverance Rover Captures Video of Solar Eclipse on Mars

McConnell, McCarthy, and miscalculation

 

Interesting Washington Post article here, on recent events:

New details lay bare GOP’s post-Jan. 6 cravenness — and miscalculation

"The crux of the [New York Times] report, which previews their upcoming book, is that both McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) appeared to genuinely believe this was their opportunity to rid themselves of the meddlesome Trump. McCarthy reportedly said he would push for Trump to resign — McCarthy’s office has offered a not-totally ironclad denial — while McConnell believed Congress could and would take care of things."

But wait, there's some more information on this:

Audio contradicts McCarthy’s claim that he didn’t push for Trump to resign

"The 1½-minute audio clip from Jan. 10, 2021, was published after McCarthy disputed a report earlier Thursday that he and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) had privately pledged to push Trump out of politics following the Capitol attack by a pro-Trump mob.

During the call, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) asked whether there was any chance Trump would resign. McCarthy said he was doubtful but noted, “I’m seriously thinking of having that conversation with him tonight.”

Wow, McCarthy caught lying.  This is NEVER a surprise.

The Highway 41 end-to-end Streetview trek is almost to the end

 

The trek will not quite get there this time, but there is very little distance left to go.  So here's a couple more views before the Final View.

Highway 41 looks like this a lot up here (in summer)

Passing by Lake Medora.

This intersection is at Copper Harbor, Michigan.

Basically, next time is the last time, but I am going to create a guide to the Streetview trek with all the posts from each state, which will take a bit of time to compile.  But after doing all this effort, it's worth making it easier to follow along.

Lighthouse of the Week, April 17-23, 2022: Turkey Point Lighthouse, Maryland, USA

 

Going back to the Free State for this lighthouse, which sits high on a bluff on the upper stretches of the Chesapeake Bay.   

So first, let's zero in on where it is.  The larger population centers are north of this map (Wilmington, Delaware) or south (Baltimore), so the local Maryland domiciles of note are Havre de Grace, North East, and Elkton.

So now let's find out about it.   First of all, it has it's own Web site:  Turkey Point Light Station  This site informs that the bluff is about 100 feet above the Chesapeake Bay waters, but it doesn't have actual stats on the lighthouse itself.

For that, let's go to the reliable Lighthouse Directory.

"1833 (John Donahoo). Reactivated (inactive 2000-2002, now privately maintained); focal plane 129 ft (39 m); white flash every 6 s. 38 ft (11.5 m) round old-style brick tower with lantern and gallery. Tower painted white, lantern black."

There's more, including plans to raise more money for more building restoration.

So let's do pictures, and a video.

Sharapova set to beget

 

Just read that tennis champion Maria Sharapova has found herself pregnant (how does that keep happening), courtesy of her relations and relationship with fiance Alexander Gilkes.

Maria Sharapova announces she's expecting first child with fiance Alexander Gilkes in 35th birthday post: 'Precious beginnings!'

Despite some lower-level controversy, I always admired Sharapova as a player and as a woman, so this goes into the plus column for me.  Too bad she's Russian.

They're not elite

 

Crystal Palace played Chelsea in the FA Cup semifinal match on Sunday.  It was a credit to Palace that they got this far;  they seem to do well in the FA Cup.  They actually took Manchester United to extra time in the FA Cup final a few years ago.  (I hadn't realized that one of the big FA Cup surprises was Wigan Athletic defeating Manchester City 1-0 about a decade ago.  So it can happen. Doesn't happen very often, though. I checked on the history of this;  Wigan won the FA Cup and got relegated out of the Premier League during the same season.  Ouch.  And they've been on a downhill slide since. )

Not this time.  They were well outplayed by Chelsea, and it seemed that they were playing to get to the shootout.  That didn't work, and they lost 2-0.   So the final will be between two Premier League elites, Chelsea and Liverpool.

Game action:

Hoping Princess Charlene is better

 

Princess Charlene of Monaco has gone through a very rough patch in the past six to eight months.  She had to stay in South Africa, apparently had some pretty bad health problems (according to reports, a really  bad sinus infection), and also appeared to be struggling, sadly, with her mental health (referred to in the article as "emotional exhaustion").  The severity of that is hard to judge, but she clearly wasn't up to doing the basic royal things expected of the Princess of Monaco.

This article showed her back in public, looking better.  Let's hope that keeps up.

Prince Albert and Princess Charlene of Monaco share touching Easter photo with their twins in first appearance together since November – and just three days after he tested positive for COVID for a second time

Beautiful, unique, in trouble

 

This is a good, and troubling, article about one of Florida's lesser-known but remarkable features -- its freshwater springs.  I have been to a couple of them, and they are beautiful.  And it troubles me that they are in trouble;  and like many environmental challenges that the world is facing, there are not easy answers to reverse course.

Descending Into Florida's Underwater Caves

(It's illustrated, so I recommend reading it.)

Three excerpts:

One: "Over the last several decades, a combination of development, population growth, climate change, overpumping of the aquifer and pollution from agriculture and sewage have wreaked havoc on Florida’s springs. Many springs show significantly reduced water flow. Others have stopped flowing entirely."

Two: "The State of Florida officially recognized that most of Florida’s springs were in trouble more than two decades ago, when, in 2001, Jeb Bush, then the governor, signed legislation creating the Florida Springs Initiative. The program provided the first of several subsequent pools of money for research, monitoring, education and landowner assistance to reduce the flow of sewage and fertilizer into springs and address declining spring flows. ... Data collected as a result of the initiative have allowed scientists to track the inexorable decline of Florida’s springs in excruciating detail. Importantly, these data show that efforts to protect springs have so far been ineffective, as nutrient pollution has continued to increase."

Three: "Over the last six years, the community organization Save Crystal River and the aquatic restoration company Sea & Shoreline have used a combination of state and federal funding to remove more than a quarter billion pounds of algae and nutrient-rich muck from the bottom of Crystal River and plant more than 350,000 eelgrass plants. ... As the replanted eelgrass beds have expanded, they’ve improved visibility and now even support a year-round population of Florida’s most famous vegetarians: manatees."

So there's hope.  Fixing this problem will require effort.  And investment.  And maybe a few less Floridians.

Highway 41 trek visits Eagle River

 

Though it's quite near the end of the road, truly, this Highway 41 trek segment will take a short side trip, to see the big lake.

Michigan 26 is also Highway 41; and all the views up here are from 2008. This small domicile is Mohawk.



Just off Highway 41 is the Cliff Drive Lookout.


This is Phoenix. We'll briefly go off on Michigan 26 to the Lake Superior lakeshore at Eagle River.

Eagle River Inn on the lakeshore.

Off the highway, this is a pond on the "Monk Trails" -- and a recent view.



Not much further to go now.

Want to buy a lighthouse?

 

Since I feature lighthouses weekly on this blog, I thought this article would be of interest to the rare readers who are interested in lighthouses and who come to my blog to find out more about them.

Terrible Tilly, Oregon’s Legendary Lighthouse, Is for Sale

" ... the lighthouse known in local legend as Terrible Tilly is being prepared for its next owners.

But first, they will need $6.5 million, a unique vision and a way to get there.

The island is a craggy basalt rock that juts up from water so rough that boats cannot dock. It can be reached only by helicopter, and even those sometimes have to circle until the sea lions have shuffled off the landing pad, said Mimi Morissette, director of Eternity at Sea, the Oregon-based company that owns and is selling the lighthouse."

To put it mildly, if you read the rest of the article, the place is a mess.  So I don't know who might bite and buy, and if they do, what they'll do with it.

(And don't mention the occasional rogue waves.)

What comes after Q? R, of course

 

Seems to me that Q-Anon was worried (and may still be) about a child sex-slave and pedophile ring that didn't involve their side of the political spectrum.  

Guess they need to point the finger in the right direction.

Former Republican staffer sentenced to 12 years in prison for operating child pornography ring

"On Thursday, the Department of Justice announced Ruben Verastigui has been sentenced to 151 months in prison on a federal charge of receipt of child pornography.

A Washington, D.C., resident, 29-year-old Ruben Verastigui has spent his entire career in conservative circles, including as an aide to the Trump re-election campaign and stints as a digital strategist for the Senate Republican Conference and the Republican National Committee."

I'm not sure why Senator Ted Cruz wanted to draw attention this former RNC staffer and his illicit interests, but he did.

Avast! A sonnet!

 

I haven't done this for awhile, but I'm getting my feeling back.

Sonnet - flying at night

In valiant dreams I sailed toward distant shores,
adventuring without a map or plan --
my shipmates told their tales of swords and wars
each one of them far braver than the man

who spoke the words. The stories were of wench-
es and of battles (sometimes both), of nights
with clinging fog and islands reeked with stench
of barnacle and clam; the vicious frights

of storms lit with green sparks on rig and rail --
'tis funny that my dreams were on the ship,
and only heard the telling of the tale
instead of dreaming it, as if my grip

on sanity might be too far involved
if dangered dreams were not by night resolved.

The minority is right, though they lean left

 

Of course the right-wing majority on the Supreme Court overruled a lower court ruling and reinstated an environmentally damaging Trump administration rule potentially allowing more pollution in rivers and streams.

What was newsworthy was how they did it -- using the so-called "shadow docket" to make the decision, which means there isn't any legal reasoning provided with it.

And the Chief Justice didn't like them doing that.

Roberts joins liberals in criticizing ‘shadow docket’ pollution ruling

"The majority’s order “renders the Court’s emergency docket not for emergencies at all,” Kagan wrote. “The docket becomes only another place for merits determinations — except made without full briefing and argument.”

Kagan said the applicants had waited months to bring the request and provided no evidence that they would suffer irreparable harm if the Supreme Court did not intervene, which is one of the essential elements necessary for putting on hold a lower court’s order."

And there's this:

"Stephen Vladeck, a University of Texas law professor who has documented the court’s use of the shadow docket, said Wednesday’s order was significant for what it says about the chief justice’s role on the court.

“This is the ninth time that Chief Justice Roberts has publicly been on the short side of a 5-4 ruling since Justice Barrett’s confirmation,” Vladeck said. “Seven of the nine have been from shadow docket rulings. This is the first time, though, that he’s endorsed criticism of the shadow docket itself.”

That's great.  As if the right-wing controlling the direction of law in this country will stop doing what they're doing. 

 

Lighthouse of the Week, April 10-16, 2022: Point Cabrillo Light Station, California, USA

 

I've featured several lighthouses in California in the "Lighthouse of the Week" attraction on my blog, and this one may be the most isolated.  This is the Point Cabrillo Light Station, well up the coast north of San Francisco, and if you could point on a map of the state to the nearest notable town, Mendocino, without looking it up first, I'd be impressed with your knowledge of geography.  This is basically the land of coast and redwoods.

Point Cabrillo has its own Web site:  Point Cabrillo Light Station - California State Historic Park

Because it is very isolated, there are several dwelling places located next to it, where (presumably) light station staff could live.  

Let's find out more about it.

Here's what is located there, according to the Web site above:

'The Light Station includes:

- our Lighthouse, which is an active duty Aid to Navigation, containing the original Chance Brothers classic 3rd order Fresnel lens;
- three restored Lightkeeper homes; the first house is a period museum of a lightkeeper’s house in the 1930s; the other two houses are comfortable vacation rental homes;
- the restored Blacksmith and Carpentry Shop, which houses the Marine Science Exhibit with its 240 gallon saltwater aquarium;
- three restored storage buildings behind the residences; two of these have been converted to lovely vacation rental cottages, the other is a public restroom."

Location, location, location:  you'll have to zoom out a bit to find San Francisco. 

Now, to find out more historically, I'll turn to the Lighthouse Directory.

"1909. Active; focal plane 84 ft (25.5 m); white flash every 10 s. 47 ft (14.5 m) octagonal cylindrical wood tower on a 1-story wood fog signal building. The original 3rd order Fresnel lens was restored to use in 1999. Original 1-1/2 story wood keeper's house. This is a complete light station, including two assistant keeper's houses (1908), oil house (1912), and other buildings." ...

In 2014 the Coast Guard proposed to deactivate the light and remove the lens but after discussions it dropped these plans. Located on a spectacular headland nearly surrounded by the ocean, at the end of Lighthouse Road, off CA 1 about 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Caspar and 4 mi (6.5 km) north of Mendocino."

So below, pictures, and a video borrowed from the Web site.

Decorated tastefully for Christmas.

Video:

Women in Bikinis Week is next week

 

On this blog.

Just thought you'd want to know.

Preview of coming distractions:

Republicans in Congress want diabetics to keep paying high prices for insulin

 

One has to wonder which party the health insurance companies are giving the most donations to.

House PASSES bill to cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month: 12 Republicans join Democrats to push through legislation which the GOP has compared to 'government price fixing'

Let's point out that this vote means 193 Republican congresspersons voted against the insulin price cap.

Let's also point out that it hasn't made it through the damn Senate.

The article finishes thusly:

"The plan to lower prescription drug prices was originally included in President Biden's Build Back Better plan, but was separated out after that bill stalled in the Senate.

The average cost for a vial of insulin in the U.S. is $98.70. The closest any country came to what the U.S. pays was Chile, where a vial of insulin costs $21.48."

Highway 41 Streetview trek - copper and Calumet

Hope you enjoyed that last pasty. Now, moving on toward Copper Harbor. 

Quincy Mine at the Keweenaw National Historical Park. 

Highway 41 proceeds to go through the Paavola Wetlands Nature Area, which is a swamp. We'll skip that and instead show a really impressive picture of nearby Hungarian Falls.

https://goo.gl/maps/88nJLiCij9RDf2oc7

Here's another picture of it.

The next location on the trek is Calumet, Michigan, once the center of the booming Upper Peninsula mining enterprises. In case you're wondering, the main thing the miners went after here was copper. Iron was further south. According to the map, and the sign, these buildings are associated with the Keweenaw National Historical Park, too. There's also a big piece of copper (with a green patina) next to the sign.



Highway 41 bypasses downtown Calumet, and so has Streetview, as the views there date back to 2008.

Past Calumet, the Highway 41 end-to-end Streetview trek is truly in the home stretch. Measuring quickly, there are only 35 miles to the end of the road.

Outside Allouez, Michigan. 

Convenient

 

I'll just let you (those of you who are numbered in my extremely low population legion of fans)  read the article, if you are so inclined.

Estonian yoga teacher, 33, has taught herself to ORGASM without ANY kind of stimulation - and scientists say her 'intense' experiences are genuine

There is a link to a more scientific treatment (the actual paper):

A Case of Female Orgasm Without Genital Stimulation

(includes link to video of the experiment)

(really, I'm serious)

(update -- the video is no longer available on YouTube, but if you go to her Web site, under "Orgasm Without Genital Stimulation - Is It Real?", the video is still there.)

Meg Ryan -- you did darned good.

Virginia has been here before

 

Virginia's legislature can't agree on a two-year budget.

Again.  This is not a new thing for them.

And it's usually because a governor of one party and a legislature with at least one house controlled by the other party don't agree on how much money they can get and how much money they can spend.

Again.

Youngkin sends lawmakers back to work for day to pass unlikely budget

"But Youngkin [that's the governor] did not wait for a deal before calling them back and launching television ads meant to gin up support for the tax cuts he wants the budget to include. Eleven days after legislators wrapped up their regular session, the governor announced April 4 as the date for the special session, catching Democrats and at least some Republicans off guard."

Va. General Assembly makes brief return to Capitol amid budget impasse

“This is what happens when you’re called into special session via TV commercial rather than phone calls to the leadership in both parties,” Sen. Adam P. Ebbin (D-Alexandria) said, referring to an ad campaign that Youngkin launched to try to whip up support for the tax cuts that are the main sticking point in negotiations."

I guess it would also help of the governor of one party wasn't such a jerk.

Lighthouse of the Week, April 3-9, 2022: St. Mary's Light, UK

 

So, this lighthouse has a lot of history, and has a LOT of art devoted to it, photographic, painting, and models, too.   

Here's where it is.  (Click on that.)  Note, if you zoom in, that the map doesn't indicate that the causeway allowing walks to the lighthouse is only exposed at low tides.  It's basically on the coast north of Newcastle.

So it's touristy. 

Before we get to the Lighthouse Directory info, I'll have to share the early history from Wikipedia. 

"The first light here was in the priory - an 11th-century monastic chapel, whose monks maintained a lantern on the tower to warn passing ships of the danger of the rocks. A lighthouse was built here in 1664 using stone from the priory."   

Next, they demolished that structure and built the current lighthouse. 

"1888. Inactive since 1984. 46 m (150 ft) brick tower with lantern and gallery, painted white. The original Fresnel lens was sent to the lighthouse museum in Penzance (now closed), and the current lens was transferred from Withernsea Light (see Eastern England). A complete light station, with keeper's houses and other buildings. ... Trinity House built this lighthouse to replace a 17th century tower at Tynemouth Castle. The light station is located on a rocky reef linked to the mainland at low tide by a walkway. After deactivation it was transferred to the local government as a tourist attraction. In July 2007 the North Tyneside Council announced £130,000 in repairs and repainting for the lighthouse. A master plan for the future of the island and light station was being prepared. The original Fresnel lens will be returned from Penzance to be displayed in the base of the tower [Wikipedia says that has happened]. ...  Located on a rocky point north of Whitley Bay, about 5 km (3 mi) north of North Shields. Accessible by road, parking provided. Site open; tower open to guided tours on days when the time of low tide permits."

Below are some of the many pictures, and a model.

 

Longest bridge in the world - of one kind, anyway

 

Turkey recently opened a bridge across the Dardanelles Strait, which is located at the southwestern end of the Sea of Marmara.  The Sea of Marmara is the relatively small body of water between the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea.  The northeastern connection to the Black Sea is the famous Bosporus.

So, Turkey decided that connecting the west end of the country to the much larger eastern portion, and bypassing Istanbul was a good idea.  For one thing, the traffic around Istanbul is probably fierce.  For another, the only way to cross the Dardanelles before the bridge was a ferry that could take awhile.  (Hours, apparently.)

So, at the cost of a couple billion Euro plus, the bridge got built.  It's now the world's longest suspension bridge.  I point that out because there are other, longer, "causeway" type bridges, such as the one at the head of Hangzhou Bay in China, which is about 22 miles long, and makes it a lot easier to get from Ningbo to Shanghai.

This article from Popular Science gets into all the details:

At 15,118 feet across, this new suspension bridge is the longest in the world

The article discusses the notable dimensions of the bridge that have symbolic meaning. The name of the bridge, 1915 Çanakkale, commemorates a WWI battle near there.

A brass sextant for only 23 bucks?

 

Yeah, but the instructions will cost you $99.00.

Not really, but somebody will have to teach you how to use it.

Looks good, certainly.

Essex Brass:  Vintage Brass Sextant

Holy gob, Manchin

 

This article from Daily Kos really show the depths of Joe Manchin's devotion to doing the right thing -- for himself.  He's got a pretty good con going on the citizen of West Virginia.

Now, I'm still grateful Manchin calls himself a Democrat, and he is going to vote to confirm Biden's Supreme Court nominee, which earn him one accolade.  Given all the demerits he's accumulated, he's going to need about a thousand accolades to compensate.

Joe Manchin may be smaller and more corrupt than we even realized

Excerpting freely (I was going to say liberally, but that ain't Joe):

"In 1988, while he was helping the [Grant Town] power plant with the permits it needed, he set up his own business to provide that power plant with waste coal—garbage of bituminous, or gob. In 1989, the power plant got its permits and became the one customer of Manchin’s waste coal business."

After the Grant Town power plant opened, it was one of three plants in West Virginia burning gob. Manchin, as a state legislator, successfully pushed a tax break for power plants that burn gob. Again, not illegal … but notably corrupt."

"But there’s a reason more power plants don’t burn waste coal. It’s not just dirtier, it’s more expensive. “It contains more non-coal material, lowering the energy output and increasing the amount of ash,” as Mark Sumner has explained. “It also contains more sulfur and heavy metals, creating toxins that either go up the smokestack or into the coal slurry at the plant.”

”Since 2016, Grant Town has cost Mon [Monongahela] Power $117 million more than it would have spent to buy that power from other sources, according to documents filed last year with the Public Service Commission,” the [New York] Times reports. “The utility had little choice but to buy the electricity; its contract with Grant Town doesn’t expire until 2036.” So the Grant Town power plant is causing pollution above the average coal-burning plant. It’s costing West Virginia utility customers extra money. But it’s funneling $500,000 a year into Joe Manchin’s pockets."

What a servant of the people!

Like I said, he's going to need a lot of accolades, and I don't know where he's going to get them. He won't get many more from me, I'm sure.