May 30, 2022

The Mule-Ear Daisies have popped open. Posting for Memorial Day.

These are Wyethia Elata (Hall's) or Wyethia helianthoides.

I am waiting for a bunch that's in the shade to open.
They have curly petals, which would make them the Elata.


It's like a miniature world in there.
Pretty awesome for a wild flower.

This is about 1/10 the size of the original, so I cropped a bit of the original to show the fantastic detail inside. (below)

May 29, 2022

More to come. That's only part 1.

The fun part is going to be the perversion (nice choice of words) of religion.
You might look at "The Enchantments of Mammon" by Eugene McCarraher
There are others. Too much to read, so I skim.

I came up with this triumvirate of
Quack so-called Christians,
politicians, and
oligarchs,
tied together with racism as the engine, and that series in DKos kind of confirmed that. It's a historical pattern.
Some references here. This is all so complex, so I try to boil things down for clarity.
https://democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=16739451

I really don't want to expand beyond this, for the TLDR factor.
The Daily Kos link is also here:
https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2021/8/6/2044226/-America-2021-The-Good-the-Bad-the-Ugly
“Democracy in Crisis: We’ve Been Headed Here for Decades.” Part 1of 8
Read all 8 to get the pattern in detail.

I should aim for one "accusation is a confession" a day, since I have been taking notes for a while.
This replacement theory was the core of nazi-ism, and still is.
There are references. I save stuff, but I do want to streamline things, as people go off in all directions here, and diversion is the #1 enemy tactic.

May 29, 2022

Every Accusation is a confession. Part 1

Accusing others of "advantage" when they were deliberately held back, vilified, demonized, enslaved, and murdered for the sin of being different is a confession.

He that smelt it dealt it.

May 27, 2022

They also serve who only stand and wait. John Milton

?itok=ber5mJtb

May 25, 2022

I've been posting this. I hope it helps.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=16725945


From the epilogue of "Stamped From the Beginning", by Ibram X Kendi. (Substitute the evil of your choice for racism)

Protesting against racist power and succeeding can never be mistaken for seizing power. Any effective solution to eradicating American racism must involve Americans committed to antiracist policies seizing and maintaining power over institutions, neighborhoods, counties, states, nations—the world. It makes no sense to sit back and put the future in the hands of people committed to racist policies, or people who regularly sail with the wind of self-interest, toward racism today, toward antiracism tomorrow. An antiracist America can only be guaranteed if principled antiracists are in power, and then antiracist policies become the law of the land, and then antiracist ideas become the common sense of the people, and then the antiracist common sense of the people holds those antiracist leaders and policies accountable.

-----

My comprehensive GOTV page,
https://democraticunderground.com/100216380145

My Ukraine Relief page,
https://democraticunderground.com/100216497648


Let me time-shift Winston Churchill's rhetoric. Very few words changed.

We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I can say: It is to wage war, by local, state and national elections, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim?

I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival. Let that be realized; no survival for the the United States, no survival for all that the United States has stood for, no survival for the urge and impulse of the ages, that mankind will move forward towards equality, respect for all, and fairness to all. But I take up my task with buoyancy and hope. I feel sure that our cause will not be suffered to fail among all of us. At this time I feel entitled to claim the aid of all, and I say, “come then, let us go forward together with our united strength.”

May 25, 2022

This nonprofit will use big data to fight voter suppression in the midterm elections

https://www.fastcompany.com/90754430/this-nonprofit-will-use-big-data-to-fight-voter-suppression-in-the-midterm-elections

Using smartphone location data, the nonprofit can see where voters are waiting in long lines—and alert voting rights organizations, who can advocate for changes.

After the presidential election in 2020, when Georgia launched runoff elections for the state’s two Senate seats, officials in Cobb County on the outskirts of Atlanta announced that they were going to shut down several early voting sites in diverse neighborhoods. But a recently launched nonprofit stepped in, using anonymized cell phone data to show the impact that the change would have on voters.

“We were able to use the data we had already collected to show how shutting down those specific polling locations would disproportionately impact voters of color,” says Daniel Wein, cofounder and head of partnerships at the nonprofit, called the Center for New Data. “And in two days, that information was published and was circulated in the community. Stacey Abrams tweeted about it. And Cobb County reversed several of the poll closures.”

The Center for New Data plans to share information with multiple nonpartisan voting rights organizations in the 2022 midterm elections. In many cases, the data can be used while the election is still happening. If the early vote period lasts for three weeks, for example, the team can identify which polling locations are underserved in time for potential changes to be made. “Our data produces the evidence that can be taken to a county or an other election administration body,” says Steven Davenport, cofounder and executive director of the Center for New Data. And we’ve seen that they do actually have time to open locations or change the way they’re administering the election in time for it to make a difference and actually expand voting opportunities.”

That information is critical, says Valencia Richardson, who focuses on local election compliance issues in the South at the nonprofit Campaign Legal Center and will use the data in the midterm elections. “Their data will serve to help us identify problem areas, so that we can advocate for better resource allocation,” she says.

In states where voting is already difficult—like Alabama, where there is no early voting and few people are allowed to vote by mail—the length of lines at polls can mean the difference between whether someone votes or not. That is particularly true for marginalized voters, many of whom find it difficult to take time off of work to vote when the wait time is two hours.

“This is a methodology for using mobility data to monitor and measure voting access that had been sitting out in the policy ecosystem for a couple of years,” says Wein. “But what we wanted to do was take this data and actually make it accessible to the voting rights organizations that are doing work on the ground, so that they can learn from and respond to voting access issues in their local communities.”

May 21, 2022

It's Mariposa Lily time.

Beautiful wild flowers on very long, slender stalks.


It was windy today. One broke, so I put it in a Baccarat bud vase (nothing else seemed appropriate)


Most are white, but some are pink or even purple


The other day, I found one, and then another, and then a third.
The next day, about 20 of them!!!

These are reduced from originals about 14 megabytes each.
I have been, shall we say, extremely busy lately with these flowers. Each one lasts only a couple of days. They seem to spring out of nowhere, since they resemble the local weed stalks, until they don't. Being lilies, they have bulbs, though they make seeds. The first photo shows the typical habitat here.

More coming. With greater detail.
Best viewed with monitor at full brightness.
Enjoy!

May 20, 2022

The latest Team Joe Newsletter in case you are not on the e-mailing list.

This one focuses on bread and butter issues.
This is not the complete list of issues. Thanks in advance for not flaming.
To sign up for all the newsletters go here: https://democrats.org/


BEGIN
The Biden-Harris team has ushered in the fastest economic recovery in history -- lowering the unemployment rate down to 3.6% and bringing the percentage of people receiving unemployment insurance below 1 percent for the first time since 1969. But that’s not all.

President Biden and congressional Democrats have a plan to tackle inflation by:

✅ Fighting Putin’s price hike at the pump

✅ Lowering the costs of health care, internet access, and more that are critical for families

✅ Holding huge corporations that have been taking advantage of American consumers accountable

Meanwhile, ultra-MAGA Republicans like Senator Rick Scott are making plans that include:

❌ Raising taxes on half of all Americans, including working families

❌ Putting programs like Social Security and Medicare on the chopping block

❌ Pushing ultra-MAGA positions instead of focusing on the economy

Democrats have been hard at work fighting for families everywhere. Read on to learn more about our work from the past week ?


President Biden’s plan to get more infant formula into stores
Following a nationwide recall, the Biden-Harris administration has been working urgently with manufacturers and retailers to ensure infant formula is safe and available for families across the country. This week, President Biden invoked the Defense Production Act to boost domestic formula production and took action to speed up imports.
For resources on how you can access infant formula, head to hhs.gov/formula.

Supporting American farmers
President Biden visited a family farm in Illinois to announce new actions his administration is taking to give farmers the tools and resources they need to boost production, lower food prices, and feed the world.

Order your COVID-19 tests today
Protecting the American people from COVID-19 relies on affordable and accessible resources like vaccines, treatments, tests, and high-quality masks.
Every home in the U.S. is eligible to order eight at-home COVID-19 rapid tests, completely free of charge -- including households that have already ordered previous rounds of free tests. Head to covid.gov/tests to claim your tests now.

NEW: Pride Month Merch at the Official Democratic Store

May 16, 2022

Moonshot. Air seemed turbulent, but I gave it a try.

Totality? 8 second exposure.
I hope others had better luck.

May 13, 2022

Great Grey Owl Lands on Wildlife Photographer's Camera

Crazy!!
https://petapixel.com/2022/05/11/huge-grey-owl-lands-on-wildlife-photographers-camera/
Cross-posted to Photography.
Birdseed on her cap?

Presumably, a while ago, though who knows, snow in May? It's Canada, eh?

Photographer Anaïs Trépanier ventured into the wilds with the hopes of capturing memorable photos but instead ended up as the subject of one when a giant grey owl swooped down and perched on her camera.

Trépanier had ventured out on a photo expedition with fellow photographer Thomas Pham-Van and other photographer friends to the Côte-de-Beaupré area north of Quebec City, Canada. She says she spotted the giant grey owl sitting on a fence and while she stopped to take a few photos, it suddenly flew over to her position.

One of several neat photos: