April 22, 2022

This group has gone to the birds. (YES!)

Found this one basking in the sun.

Taken with a Nikon Coolpix P510, effective focal length 1000mm.

It is pleasing that both the white feathers and the darker ones come out nicely. Couldn't ask for better lighting. And nice for such a tiny sensor, about 1/6 of full frame.

I would have missed this but the bird kept calling attention to itself.

Thanks!

April 13, 2022

What Ukraine Needs ASAP TO WIN THE WAR

Christmas in April for Ukraine. Easter gift if you can act real fast.


EDIT. See below,
U.S. gives Ukraine $800 million more in military aid, adds heavy weapons


https://saveualist.com/

1. Heavy Artillery

1.1. Artillery cannons (caliber 155mm)
Amount? At least 100 units + shells.
1.2. Artillery shells (caliber 152mm, soviet type)
Amount? As much as possible.
1.3. MLRS (Multiple rocket launch systems: Grad, Tornado, Smerch or M142 HIMARS)
Amount? At least 100 units + shells.

2. Heavy Armor

2.1. Armored Vehicles (Soviet type: armored personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles, etc.)
Amount? 600 vehicles.
2.2. Tanks (T-72, or USA Abrams, German Leopards)
Amount? 300 units.

3. Air-Defense Systems

3.1. S-300, BUK (or other modern western AA systems)
Amount? At least a few dozen of each.

4. Military Aircrafts

4.1. Su-24
Amount? 30 units.

5. Anti-ship missiles (30 km or more impact range)

5.1. Harpoon or RBS 15 anti-ship missile
Amount? 300 units

6. Light Vehicles

6.1. Pickups and/or trucks
Amount? At least 2000 units

Disclaimer:

We are a group of Ukrainian patriots (volunteers, entrepreneurs, and military experts).

We would like to convey the actual situation of what is happening on the ground in Ukraine.

So that the US public knows exactly what challenges Ukrainian troops face and what they need to succeed against the Russian invaders.

FAQ's at the site linked above.

EDIT: This just came in!
U.S. gives Ukraine $800 million more in military aid, adds heavy weapons
https://news.yahoo.com/u-announces-additional-800-million-181027459.html

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden's administration on Wednesday announced an additional $800 million in military assistance to Ukraine, expanding the scope of the systems provided ahead of a wider Russian assault expected in eastern Ukraine.

The latest package, which brings the total military aid tally since Russian forces invaded in February to more than $2.5 billion, includes artillery systems, artillery rounds and armored personnel carriers, Biden said in a statement after a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Biden said he had also approved the transfer of additional helicopters, saying equipment provided to Ukraine "has been critical" as it confronts the invasion.

"We cannot rest now. As I assured President Zelenskyy, the American people will continue to stand with the brave Ukrainian people in their fight for freedom," Biden said.

The new security assistance package, according to the Pentagon, includes 11 Mi-17 helicopters that had been earmarked for Afghanistan before the U.S.-backed government collapsed and 18 155mm Howitzers, along with counter-artillery radars and 200 armored personnel carriers. This was the first time Howitzers have been provided to Ukraine by the United States.

April 13, 2022

Mathematical model offers clear-cut answers to how morals will change over time

https://phys.org/news/2022-04-mathematical-clear-cut-morals.html

Summary: The liberal trend continues

My Opinion: The GOP assault on reality, with us since the days of Nixon and John Birch, continues, hopefully having reached a peak with the assault on the Capitol. IF WE HOLD TOGETHER THIS YEAR, we can beat all the last-gasp obstacles.

snippet

Researchers at the Institute for Futures Studies in Stockholm, Sweden, have created a mathematical model to predict changes in moral opinion. It predicts that values about corporal punishment of children, abortion-rights and how parental leave should be shared between parents, will all move in liberal directions in the U.S. Results from a first test of the model using data from large opinion surveys continuously conducted in the U.S. are promising.

Corporal punishment of children, such as spanking or paddling, is still widely accepted in the U.S. But public opinion is changing rapidly, and in the United States and elsewhere around the world, this norm will soon become a marginal position. The right to abortion is currently being threatened through a series of court cases—but though change is slow, the view of abortion as a right will eventually come to dominate. A majority of Americans today reject the claim that parental leave should be equally shared between parents, but within 15 years, public opinion will flip, and a majority will support an equal division.

Almost all moral issues are moving in the liberal direction.

Paper here: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.211068
PDF download: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.211068?download=true

A BLUE WAVE IF WE WORK HARD AND GOTV
My recommendations:
https://democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=16589262
Elections seem to be won "at the edge"

SO MESSAGE THIS!
DNC Chairman Harrison emphasizes the opposition's
Fraud
Fear
Fascism, and I'll throw in (thanks to others on DU)
"Every accusation is a confession."

April 13, 2022

Apple unveils the best photos from the Shot on iPhone Macro Challenge

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2022/04/apple-unveils-the-best-photos-from-the-shot-on-iphone-macro-challenge/

Apple has posted winners of its contest for iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max.

Visit the site for the 10 top photos. "You be the judge"

I use "camera" cameras for close-ups and a clip-on lens for the iPhone 8, so just some caveats here.

Despite both the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Mini having an ultra-wide lens, macro mode is not available on those phones. Only the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max have the specific lens to use this feature.

These models switch from the "wide" lens to the "ultra wide" lens automatically (you can change this) when you are closer than 5.5 inches (14 cm) to a subject.

The lens will focus as close as 2 cm. to the subject. Since the ultra-wide lens is very short focus, you may have to get this close in order to photograph a really small subject, and light becomes a problem (namely, you are blocking it)

This is why regular camera macro lenses are 55 mm. or more on 35mm "full frame" formats, about 30 mm. on DX/APS-C cameras. Some prefer 100mm. or even 200mm. lenses for macro work, so there's more distance between camera and subject for light to get in.

April 13, 2022

Elections seem to be won "at the edge"

by those mysterious "undecided" or "swayable" voters, something I could never understand.

Here are some issues I reposted yesterday in another thread. Hopefully, THEY can SWAY.

2. MESSAGING. Short and sweet. Many of us have bitched about lack of a "message" while RW's are on the offensive and we seem to have been only reacting.

2A DNC Chair Jaime Harrison has cone up with a message we can use. Simple is beautiful. This is accurate AND punchy.

From DailyKos:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/4/6/2090427/-Democratic-Party-chair-nails-the-GOP-It-is-a-party-built-on-fraud-fear-and-fascism
Kerry Eleveld
Daily Kos Staff
Wednesday April 06, 2022 · 10:41 AM PDT

Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison on Wednesday offered a particularly apt summation of Republicans on MSNBC's Morning Joe.

“It is a party built on fraud, fear and fascism," Harrison said. "They don’t deserve to be in power.”

The three Fs—Fraud, Fear, and Fascism—are a perfect alliteration for the GOP. The fact that it could fit on a bumper sticker is also a notable advancement for Democratic messaging.

---------- snip

More here, and at the DKos link.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100216571510

2B. More specifically to the complete obsession with sex, IT IS ENTIRELY "PROJECTION". Yardwork stated it very clearly in a post.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=16580495

"Every accusation is a confession."
We could start saying that to anybody who complains about Biden, stolen elections, brainwashing children in schools, killing babies, etc.

It's short and to the point. It doesn't use any bad words. It can be said in a mild tone of voice. I think it's right on point.

AND THAT'S IT!
Fraud
Fear
Fascism, and
"Every accusation is a confession."

April 7, 2022

Finally, a sticky slogan for the GOP: 'Fraud, fear and fascism'

From DailyKos:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/4/6/2090427/-Democratic-Party-chair-nails-the-GOP-It-is-a-party-built-on-fraud-fear-and-fascism
Kerry Eleveld
Daily Kos Staff
Wednesday April 06, 2022 · 10:41 AM PDT

Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison on Wednesday offered a particularly apt summation of Republicans on MSNBC's Morning Joe.

“It is a party built on fraud, fear and fascism," Harrison said. "They don’t deserve to be in power.”

The three Fs—Fraud, Fear, and Fascism—are a perfect alliteration for the GOP. The fact that it could fit on a bumper sticker is also a notable advancement for Democratic messaging.

Culling Republicans down to a sticky umbrella message about the pervasive corruption pulsing through the GOP would be super helpful for Democrats.

Every time Republicans say the 2020 election was stolen, the response can be, "There they go again."

Every time they claim their efforts to suppress votes and rig election outcomes are legitimate attempts to curb fraud, the response can be, "There they go again."

Every time they blanket Democrats with repulsive smears like "pedophiles" or "groomers," the response can be, "There they go again."

But let's linger for a minute on the latest trope Republicans are rolling out to smear Democrats and anyone else who dares to disagree with them: the notion that they are pedophiles who are grooming children for sexual abuse. On one level, it's a preposterous charge—the whole pedophile ring thing is so 2016. But the coked-up party of orgies does have a recurring obsession with lobbing sexual smears at their political opponents.

The "groomer" charge is just so on brand and perfectly repugnant for the GOP, catering to QAnon cultists steeped in the notion of a global cabal of sex traffickers run by Democrats and their allies.

Moderate Republicans who still exist in this world get it. As Never Trumper and The Bulwark publisher Sarah Longwell says of the messaging, "When your team tries a coup, you gotta think hard about what’s worse than that. Hence, the 'groomer' discourse."

But The Bulwark's Jonathan V. Last absolutely nails the political strategy Republicans are employing and the choice they are making in the process.

"The modern Republican party has found a way to integrate voters who believe in a bizarre internet cult," Last writes. "But it has no desire to integrate voters who maintain that Joe Biden won the 2020 election fair and square."

That indeed is the modern Republican Party in a nutshell. And frankly, it represents an opportunity for Democrats: a critical slice of those reality-based Republicans are gettable for Democrats if they are continually reminded of exactly what the GOP has become.

OPINION:
This is excellent. We have needed a message to deliver, and this seems to be the hammer that hits the nail on the head, in lieu of fancier things we might want, such as "projection" and so on, but it is accurate, punchy and will help us
GET THE JOB DONE.

The Biden/Harris agenda is ABOUT PROGRESS -- the GOP agenda is ABOUT NOTHING.
/OPINION

"54 or more"

April 3, 2022

Finally, Wispy Sierra Nevada SUNSET.

Two days after the wispy sunrise.



For a very short period, the light was such that the neat wisps were visible.
20mm. lens, f/5 at 1/250 ISO 100
For you old "film and light meter" folks, that's 2.5 stops down from the proverbial "average subjects in bright sun" setting.
Translation: lucky!
Okay, persistent, too.

April 1, 2022

Bookend to yesterday's wispy sunrise. A not so wispy sunset.

20mm. f/5 1/100 ISO 100

This is from the OTHER side of the ridge.
Had to post, in fairness to the same day's sunrise photo.

March 25, 2022

The best, the ONLY cure to WhiteChristianNationalism, race baiting, mysogyny, etc. is WINNING

If you're tired of hearing it from me, this is from the epilogue of "Stamped From the Beginning", by Ibram X Kendi.
This is of course, about racism, but racism is the engine of the Repugnant party.
Emphasis mine:

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.

And that day is sure to come. No power lasts forever. There will come a time when Americans will realize that the only thing wrong with Black people is that they think something is wrong with Black people. There will come a time when racist ideas will no longer obstruct us from seeing the complete and utter abnormality of racial disparities. There will come a time when we will love humanity, when we will gain the courage to fight for an equitable society for our beloved humanity, knowing , intelligently, that when we fight for humanity, we are fighting for ourselves. There will come a time. Maybe, just maybe, that time is now.

In short (you saw this coming) DON'T KVETCH, KICK BUTT!

Any time spent griping about things you and I can't control or influence takes away from things you CAN influence, namely ELECTIONS. That's the purpose of disinformation: to disempower you by focusing on people, and things you can't possibly control or even influence. And when that happens, they have won.

PLEASE focus your energy on winning. Lots of great ideas here.
https://democraticunderground.com/100216380145

It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.
Unless you're in a gas station.
(so cross the street)
THANK YOU!

March 23, 2022

Tired of the clown show and sicko RWNJ's? Disgusted? FIVE LITTLE WORDS

G
O
T
F
V

https://democraticunderground.com/10113235
The biggest GOTV resource page on DU.

I also recommend the Ukraine Humanitarian Relief page.
https://democraticunderground.com/100216497648

Once again, from the great Guy Kawasaki:
Don't kvetch, KICK BUTT

For Duty and Humanity!