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csziggy
csziggy's Journal
csziggy's Journal
July 31, 2018
Despite federal ruling, Jacksonville college campuses won't have early voting this year
Despite federal ruling, Jacksonville college campuses won’t have early voting this year
By Andrew Pantazi
Posted Jul 27, 2018 at 2:46 PM
Duval County Supervisor of Elections Mike Hogan closed the door on the possibility of opening early voting sites on college campuses for the 2018 elections.
This week, a federal judge ruled that the state could not bar elections supervisors from hosting early voting on college campuses. Already, supervisors in other counties have said they plan to open early voting sites in time for November.
Alachua and Hillsborough county’s elections supervisors have already said they intend to host early voting at the University of Florida and the University of South Florida, and Leon County’s supervisor said he wasn’t ruling the possibility out at Tallahassee’s colleges.
But Hogan said there are no plans to open up early voting at the University of North Florida or Florida State College at Jacksonville.
http://www.jacksonville.com/news/20180727/despite-federal-ruling-jacksonville-college-campuses-wont-have-early-voting-this-year
By Andrew Pantazi
Posted Jul 27, 2018 at 2:46 PM
Duval County Supervisor of Elections Mike Hogan closed the door on the possibility of opening early voting sites on college campuses for the 2018 elections.
This week, a federal judge ruled that the state could not bar elections supervisors from hosting early voting on college campuses. Already, supervisors in other counties have said they plan to open early voting sites in time for November.
Alachua and Hillsborough county’s elections supervisors have already said they intend to host early voting at the University of Florida and the University of South Florida, and Leon County’s supervisor said he wasn’t ruling the possibility out at Tallahassee’s colleges.
But Hogan said there are no plans to open up early voting at the University of North Florida or Florida State College at Jacksonville.
http://www.jacksonville.com/news/20180727/despite-federal-ruling-jacksonville-college-campuses-wont-have-early-voting-this-year
July 29, 2018
Trans Women Say the State Department Is Retroactively Revoking Their Passports
Trans Women Say the State Department Is Retroactively Revoking Their Passports
By Mary Emily O'Hara
July 27, 2018
Since she transitioned in 1998, at the age of 16, all of Danni Askini’s identity documents have read “female.” But last month, when Askini went to renew her passport, her request was denied. Askini says the U.S. Passport Office told her she had “failed to disclose” that she was transgender and needed to provide proof of gender transition — after 20 years of having a passport that says she’s female.
“Make no mistake, this was an intentional action by the State Department to withhold recognizing my gender,” says Askini, who was eventually granted a temporary two-year passport that allowed her to travel from her Seattle home to Sweden. The activist and executive director of Gender Justice League needed to leave Seattle, she says, after a series of death threats posted on the anti-trans website Kiwi Farms, as well as threats from local alt-right groups in the Pacific Northwest. She’d had her most recent passport for 10 years, but it was up for renewal.
<SNIP>
Askini bhttps://www.democraticunderground.com/122858544elieves the only reason she was eventually granted a temporary passport is because Seattle-based congresswoman Rep. Pramila Jayapal’s office put direct pressure on the passport agency on the well-known activist’s behalf.
“I believe that the Trump Administration or someone in the Seattle Passport Office has targeted me politically and politicized the process for obtaining passports,” says Askini. “Their actions and statements are NOT consistent with the actual letter of the code related to trans people.”
Morehttps://www.them.us/story/trans-women-state-department-passports
By Mary Emily O'Hara
July 27, 2018
Since she transitioned in 1998, at the age of 16, all of Danni Askini’s identity documents have read “female.” But last month, when Askini went to renew her passport, her request was denied. Askini says the U.S. Passport Office told her she had “failed to disclose” that she was transgender and needed to provide proof of gender transition — after 20 years of having a passport that says she’s female.
“Make no mistake, this was an intentional action by the State Department to withhold recognizing my gender,” says Askini, who was eventually granted a temporary two-year passport that allowed her to travel from her Seattle home to Sweden. The activist and executive director of Gender Justice League needed to leave Seattle, she says, after a series of death threats posted on the anti-trans website Kiwi Farms, as well as threats from local alt-right groups in the Pacific Northwest. She’d had her most recent passport for 10 years, but it was up for renewal.
<SNIP>
Askini bhttps://www.democraticunderground.com/122858544elieves the only reason she was eventually granted a temporary passport is because Seattle-based congresswoman Rep. Pramila Jayapal’s office put direct pressure on the passport agency on the well-known activist’s behalf.
“I believe that the Trump Administration or someone in the Seattle Passport Office has targeted me politically and politicized the process for obtaining passports,” says Askini. “Their actions and statements are NOT consistent with the actual letter of the code related to trans people.”
Morehttps://www.them.us/story/trans-women-state-department-passports
July 23, 2018
Here's Why This Mama Merganser Has More Than 50 Ducklings
I can't post the picture here - but it is worth going to the Audubon page to see it!
Here's Why This Mama Merganser Has More Than 50 Ducklings
By Jillian Mock
July 13, 2018
Update July 17: According to the photographer of the first image, the mother merganser has since been spotted with another two dozen ducklings, bringing her total up to 76 .
Choppy waves bounced Brent Cizek’s small plastic boat as he headed for the shore of Lake Bemidji in Minnesota, hoping to beat a fast approaching summer storm. An amateur wildlife photographer, Cizek had decided to brave the late-afternoon winds to scope out the lakeshore for future shoots. He’d only brought one lens, thinking he might get a shot of a mallard he’d seen the day before, but wasn’t expecting to photograph anything special.
Then, as he motored toward the boat slip, Cizek saw something remarkable: a female Common Merganser surrounded by more than 50 little ducklings. While Cizek watched, the little mergansers formed a long, orderly line behind their mom and began swimming away. The scene was too good to pass up.
“I probably shot 50 pictures, and I was just praying that one was going to turn out sharp because the waves were so strong it was nearly impossible to even keep them in the frame,” Cizek says. To further complicate things, he had to alternate between maneuvering his little trolling motor and quickly snapping pictures. “Luckily enough, just one picture turned out.”
https://www.audubon.org/news/heres-why-mama-merganser-has-more-50-ducklings
By Jillian Mock
July 13, 2018
Update July 17: According to the photographer of the first image, the mother merganser has since been spotted with another two dozen ducklings, bringing her total up to 76 .
Choppy waves bounced Brent Cizek’s small plastic boat as he headed for the shore of Lake Bemidji in Minnesota, hoping to beat a fast approaching summer storm. An amateur wildlife photographer, Cizek had decided to brave the late-afternoon winds to scope out the lakeshore for future shoots. He’d only brought one lens, thinking he might get a shot of a mallard he’d seen the day before, but wasn’t expecting to photograph anything special.
Then, as he motored toward the boat slip, Cizek saw something remarkable: a female Common Merganser surrounded by more than 50 little ducklings. While Cizek watched, the little mergansers formed a long, orderly line behind their mom and began swimming away. The scene was too good to pass up.
“I probably shot 50 pictures, and I was just praying that one was going to turn out sharp because the waves were so strong it was nearly impossible to even keep them in the frame,” Cizek says. To further complicate things, he had to alternate between maneuvering his little trolling motor and quickly snapping pictures. “Luckily enough, just one picture turned out.”
https://www.audubon.org/news/heres-why-mama-merganser-has-more-50-ducklings
July 23, 2018
Bluetooth mouse not working
Yesterday I switched out one of my hard drives - a 6TB for an old 3TB - no problems at the time. I partitoned and formatted the new drive, then copied the contents of one partition off the old drive,no problem.
I wanted to wait until the evening was over to copy the other two partitons, but suddenly the bluetooth mouse stopped working. I got out the bluetooth mouse for my laptop - nothing. I've uninstalled the mouse and the software, rebooted the computer to let it reinstall (which it did), nothing. I checked the bluetooth service (which was off), restarted it, nothing.
I've back and forth between the two different bluetooth mice, one a Microsoft the other a Logitech, at each step, nothing.
Any suggestions? When I go into town today I'll pick up a wired mouse but at this point I'm concerned that won't work either! Using Win 7 with a non-touch screen is pretty much a PITA without a mouse.
HELP!
July 20, 2018
ETA - this the the same guy that posted "The Smallest Bird you have ever seen" video about hatching a tiny egg and raising the chick that came out! His YouTube channel is A Chick Called Albert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBjh-uGy5RcclATnFpQBobw
The Rarest Ducklings on earth
ETA - this the the same guy that posted "The Smallest Bird you have ever seen" video about hatching a tiny egg and raising the chick that came out! His YouTube channel is A Chick Called Albert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBjh-uGy5RcclATnFpQBobw
July 19, 2018
The dioramas at the Bell are renowned for their natural depictions of the varied habitats of Minnesota. The specimens are put into settings that emulate their native areas. Those dioramas were the hardest part about moving the museum since the curators wanted to preserve not only the specimens but the murals that provided the background for each scene.
There is an hour and a half long video about moving the dioramas - I haven't watched it yet since my husband just told me about it today. he got home at four this morning so we are still catching up on his time in Minnesota. But I found it on YouTube:
The Bell Museum at the University of Minnesota
Was just rededicated in a new building this past weekend. My husband and his brothers, plus one of our nieces and her family attended - because my husband's great grandfather, Dr. Thomas Sadler Roberts was the first Director of the Bell Museum.
Dr.Roberts grew up in Minneapolis and in his teens he worked as a surveyor and explored much of the state of Minnesota. Even as he continued his education to be a physician, he kept his love of the wilderness and of birds. He was as much an ornithologist as a medical doctor, writing The Birds of Minnesota, a massive two volume compendium that exhaustively covered the birds of his home state.
One of his patients was James Ford Bell, the founder of General Mills and a dedicated conservationist. Bell donated the money to found the museum and enlisted his friend, T. S. Roberts, to organize it. As T.S Roberts traveled the state of Minnesota to collect specimens, he was upset to realize how much the environment had changed since he first explored the land. He had to go to other states to collect samples of some of the species.
The dioramas at the Bell are renowned for their natural depictions of the varied habitats of Minnesota. The specimens are put into settings that emulate their native areas. Those dioramas were the hardest part about moving the museum since the curators wanted to preserve not only the specimens but the murals that provided the background for each scene.
There is an hour and a half long video about moving the dioramas - I haven't watched it yet since my husband just told me about it today. he got home at four this morning so we are still catching up on his time in Minnesota. But I found it on YouTube:
July 17, 2018
So how are we going to protect our country from Russian cyber attacks?
Two months ago the WH Eliminated Cybersecurity Coordinator
White House Eliminates Cybersecurity Coordinator Role
By Nicole Perlroth and David E. Sanger
May 15, 2018
The White House eliminated the position of cybersecurity coordinator on the National Security Council on Tuesday, doing away with a post central to developing policy to defend against increasingly sophisticated digital attacks and the use of offensive cyber weapons.
A memorandum circulated by an aide to the new national security adviser, John R. Bolton, said the post was no longer considered necessary because lower-level officials had already made cybersecurity issues a “core function” of the president’s national security team.
Cybersecurity experts and members of Congress said they were mystified by the move, though some suggested Mr. Bolton did not want any competitive power centers emerging inside the national security apparatus.
The decision was criticized by Mark R. Warner, a senator from Virginia and the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. “I don’t see how getting rid of the top cyber official in the White House does anything to make our country safer from cyber threats,” he wrote on Twitter.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/15/technology/white-house-cybersecurity.html
By Nicole Perlroth and David E. Sanger
May 15, 2018
The White House eliminated the position of cybersecurity coordinator on the National Security Council on Tuesday, doing away with a post central to developing policy to defend against increasingly sophisticated digital attacks and the use of offensive cyber weapons.
A memorandum circulated by an aide to the new national security adviser, John R. Bolton, said the post was no longer considered necessary because lower-level officials had already made cybersecurity issues a “core function” of the president’s national security team.
Cybersecurity experts and members of Congress said they were mystified by the move, though some suggested Mr. Bolton did not want any competitive power centers emerging inside the national security apparatus.
The decision was criticized by Mark R. Warner, a senator from Virginia and the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. “I don’t see how getting rid of the top cyber official in the White House does anything to make our country safer from cyber threats,” he wrote on Twitter.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/15/technology/white-house-cybersecurity.html
So how are we going to protect our country from Russian cyber attacks?
July 14, 2018
This is needle felting, which I have seen done, but never this beautifully. The artistry is amazing.
Making a cat portrait with felt
This is needle felting, which I have seen done, but never this beautifully. The artistry is amazing.
July 3, 2018
My Mom worked with Canter Brown, Jr. when he was working on "None Could Have Richer Memories: Polk County Since 1940" and while she was editor of the Polk County Historical Quarterly. She helped him locate documents and photographs for the book.
A Newly Excavated Settlement Highlights Florida's History as a Haven for Escaped Slaves
"The archaeological findings, eyewitness historical reports and Brown’s history established the existence of a maroon settlement in east Bradenton from 1812 to 1821." Wonderful new information about a settlement of "black Seminoles in what is now Bradenton, Florida!A Newly Excavated Settlement Highlights Florida’s History as a Haven for Escaped Slaves
Called one of the most significant historical sites in Florida and perhaps the U.S. by Florida historian Canter Brown Jr., Angola is a story of struggle, tragedy and, ultimately, survival in the quest for freedom.
By Isaac Eger 6/27/2018 at 4:35pm Published in the July 2018 issue of Sarasota Magazine
Buried under three feet and two centuries of earth near the banks of the Manatee River, a cylinder of white clay no bigger than a cigarette butt was found in 2009 during an archaeological dig at Manatee Mineral Spring in east Bradenton. Nearly mistaken for debris and tossed by a volunteer, this fragment—the stem of a British clay pipe—revealed the shadow of Angola, a community of up to 750 escaped slaves who briefly made this region a haven of freedom before being destroyed in 1821.
Called one of the most significant historical sites in Florida and perhaps the U.S. by Florida historian Canter Brown Jr., Angola is a story of struggle, tragedy and ultimately, survival in the quest for freedom. Angola also reveals Florida’s important role as a sanctuary for escaped slaves who established settlements, farmed, traded and traveled.
This month, descendants of these escaped slaves—many of whom live in the Bahamas where their ancestors found refuge—are returning to the Manatee Mineral Spring site for the first Back to Angola Festival. In September, the National Park Service is meeting to determine if Angola qualifies as part of the Underground Railroad Network of Freedom. “From what I know now, this is one of the largest Florida settlements of resisters to enslavement,” says Sheri Jackson, southeast regional manager of the program.
Today it’s difficult to imagine that an important part of American history occurred on these shores. There’s no museum dedicated to the site’s history, no illustrated exhibits or descriptions on big signs. The freshwater spring called Manatee Mineral Spring is sealed and covered with a slab of cement. The field is patchy mowed crab grass. The Manatee River peeks through the pines to the north, and old Florida homes with children’s toys scattered across front yards surround the perimeter. A solitary plaque mentions Angola and the people who lived there.
More: https://www.sarasotamagazine.com/articles/2018/6/27/a-newly-excavated-settlement-highlights-florida-s-history-as-a-haven-for-escaped-slaves
Called one of the most significant historical sites in Florida and perhaps the U.S. by Florida historian Canter Brown Jr., Angola is a story of struggle, tragedy and, ultimately, survival in the quest for freedom.
By Isaac Eger 6/27/2018 at 4:35pm Published in the July 2018 issue of Sarasota Magazine
Buried under three feet and two centuries of earth near the banks of the Manatee River, a cylinder of white clay no bigger than a cigarette butt was found in 2009 during an archaeological dig at Manatee Mineral Spring in east Bradenton. Nearly mistaken for debris and tossed by a volunteer, this fragment—the stem of a British clay pipe—revealed the shadow of Angola, a community of up to 750 escaped slaves who briefly made this region a haven of freedom before being destroyed in 1821.
Called one of the most significant historical sites in Florida and perhaps the U.S. by Florida historian Canter Brown Jr., Angola is a story of struggle, tragedy and ultimately, survival in the quest for freedom. Angola also reveals Florida’s important role as a sanctuary for escaped slaves who established settlements, farmed, traded and traveled.
This month, descendants of these escaped slaves—many of whom live in the Bahamas where their ancestors found refuge—are returning to the Manatee Mineral Spring site for the first Back to Angola Festival. In September, the National Park Service is meeting to determine if Angola qualifies as part of the Underground Railroad Network of Freedom. “From what I know now, this is one of the largest Florida settlements of resisters to enslavement,” says Sheri Jackson, southeast regional manager of the program.
Today it’s difficult to imagine that an important part of American history occurred on these shores. There’s no museum dedicated to the site’s history, no illustrated exhibits or descriptions on big signs. The freshwater spring called Manatee Mineral Spring is sealed and covered with a slab of cement. The field is patchy mowed crab grass. The Manatee River peeks through the pines to the north, and old Florida homes with children’s toys scattered across front yards surround the perimeter. A solitary plaque mentions Angola and the people who lived there.
More: https://www.sarasotamagazine.com/articles/2018/6/27/a-newly-excavated-settlement-highlights-florida-s-history-as-a-haven-for-escaped-slaves
My Mom worked with Canter Brown, Jr. when he was working on "None Could Have Richer Memories: Polk County Since 1940" and while she was editor of the Polk County Historical Quarterly. She helped him locate documents and photographs for the book.
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Gender: Do not displayHometown: Leon County, Florida
Member since: Tue Feb 12, 2008, 10:18 PM
Number of posts: 34,136
