Magazine Posts

Donald Trump's August 3 2020 Tweet:

"In an illegal late night coup, Nevada’s clubhouse Governor made it impossible for Republicans to win the state. Post Office could never handle the Traffic of Mail-In Votes without preparation. Using Covid to steal the state. See you in Court!"

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Did the Earth part to show us this comet? Of course not, even if this image makes it seem that way. Pictured far in the background is Comet NEOWISE as it appeared about two weeks ago over northern Greece. Above the comet are many stars including the bright stars of the Big Dipper (also the Sorcerer, in Aztec mythology), an asterism that many people around the world used to find the naked-eye comet as it hovered in the northern sky over the past month. In the foreground is Vikos Gorge, the deepest gorge on Earth, relative to its width. The gorge was slowly created by erosion from the Voidomatis River over the past few million years. Capturing this image took a lot of planning, waiting, luck, braving high winds, and avoiding local wolves. Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) continues to fade and is now best visible through binoculars as it coasts back to the outer Solar System. Notable Comet NEOWISE Images: July 31 30, 29, 28, 27, 26, 25, 24

Photo by Constantine Emmanouilidi

Today's most important story comes from Dr. Deborah Birx, the doctor advising the White House on the coronavirus. She warns that we are entering a “new phase” of the pandemic, when the virus is everywhere and is spreading at such a pace that we could see more than 300,000 deaths by the end of the year. On Saturday, the national daily death toll from Covid-19 reached 1,198, exceeding 1000 for the sixth day in a row.........Continue reading

My head is a blender,
whirling words all about.
I tread lightly so my anger
doesn't appear and come out.

Perhaps this life will have to do.
I am certain I won't find another you.
A friend in this long, long life,
The special person, my beloved wife.
We have been through thick and thin,
Now fighting a battle we can't win.

There is so much futility;
You don't have the ability
Nor the tool for tranquility
And all become a liability,
Charging to an old utility,
Bringing you back to reality,
Resulting in the end. Finality

Anesthesiologist Claire Rezba started tracking lost health workers almost instinctively. Researchers and industry professionals say the lack of good official data on these deaths is “scandalous” and is putting lives in danger........Read More

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

How different does sunset appear from Mars than from Earth? For comparison, two images of our common star were taken at sunset, one from Earth and one from Mars. These images were scaled to have same angular width and featured here side-by-side. A quick inspection will reveal that the Sun appears slightly smaller from Mars than from Earth. This makes sense since Mars is 50% further from the Sun than Earth. More striking, perhaps, is that the Martian sunset is noticeably bluer near the Sun than the typically orange colors near the setting Sun from Earth. The reason for the blue hues from Mars is not fully understood, but thought to be related to forward scattering properties of Martian dust. The terrestrial sunset was taken in 2012 March from Marseille, France, while the Martian sunset was captured in 2015 by NASA's robotic Curiosity rover from Gale crater on Mars. Last week a new rover and a helicopter -- onboard Mars 2020 -- launched for Mars.

Photo by Damia Bouic Right Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, MSSS; Digital processing: Damia Bouic

Shared by Heather Cox Richardson from Letters from an American with this message:

 "There are many things I would like to write about, but they will have to wait. There were too many nights lately that ended up as mornings, and I cannot hold my eyes open.
I will leave you with a photo that Buddy took this week while my day was ending and his starting. I love what I do, but there is no doubt that he has the nicer office.

What is there to say?
What is there to do,
For each and every day
I lose more of you.

I fear not of death on this day,
for it would mean I've gone away.
I would no longer miss my friends
nor hear the words and Amen.