“What do you want us to do?”

Photo illustration by Sagmeister & Walsh. Set painters: Colossal Media.

The Atlantic has an article up about what congressional rethugs think about the whole Trump/Russia business. Turns out, they don’t much care. I’m sure we’re all veddy surprised. This little bit stood out though:

Like many of his colleagues, the aide expressed profound annoyance when I asked him if there would ever come a time when Republicans turn on Trump. “What does that even mean? What do you expect us to do?” he replied. “I hear this with every little Tweet [from Trump]: ‘Oh, when are Republicans going to put an end to this?’ What do you want us to do, seize his Twitter account?”

No, you silly twit. I’d like for you to do your fucking job, and impeach this illegal, traitorous idiot. That’s what I want. Now that you know, perhaps you could all do your job?

Full story at The Atlantic.

Conservation Lab: Glass Flowers.

Scott Fulton working on a model of an Emperor Alexander apple affected by apple scab disease: Malus pumila (Model 813).

Luffa cylindrica (Model 272), Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka, 1892. The Archives of Rudolf and Leopold Blaschka and The Ware Collection of Blaschka Glass Models of Plants, Harvard University © President and Fellows of Harvard College.

You can read all about this fascinating restoration at The Creators Project.

Word Wednesday.

Charlantry

Noun.

Charlatan, noun.

  1. Quack.

  2. One making usually showing pretenses to knowledge or ability: Fraud, Faker.

– Charlatanism, noun.

– Charlantry, noun.

[Origin: Italian ciarlatano, alteration of cerretano, literally, inhabitant of Cerreto, from Cerreto, Italy.]

(1618)

That certainly makes me wonder about the inhabitants of Cerreto in the 15th century. Many thanks to rq for the recommend, Uprooted is a splendid story.

“I put my hands on it, and then I said abruptly, “What does it summon? A demon?” “No, don’t be absurd,” the Dragon said, impatiently. “Calling spirits is nothing but charlantry. It’s very easy to claim you’ve summoned something that’s invisible and incorporeal.” – Uprooted, Naomi Novik.

Water Dance.

Yeah, I know, water on the brain. That happens when the skies are dry. Water is a great subject, and a long time fave. When I first moved from a point ‘n’ shoot to a D80, I was very intimidated, and didn’t want to use it. One day, I decided to set up where I could just play with settings. I set a sprinkler on low, and stuck it under a bunch of flowers, then I just started playing with various shutter speeds and apertures, and ended up with results which were overall delightful. You can’t really fuck up water shots, either, so that’s a bonus. If you don’t want to mess about outside with sprinkler, or go find a river or something, the tap in your house provides opportunities. Photograph the running water, photograph it spilling into a pretty dish, or slowly dripping, and capture those splashes. If you want to go for the dramatic splash, set up a tall clip with a sandwich bag full of water, your receptacle and background set, then poke a pinhole in the bag. Water is fun, and it’s a grand displacement activity too, which can also be restful and relaxing. So, water, from a sprinkler, at wildly varying speeds and ap settings. I do prefer underexposing when shooting water from a sprinkler, but that’s a matter of personal preference. No shopping whatsoever, just resizing to 1500 x. Click for full size!

And just a taste of tomorrow – Waterscopes! :D

© C. Ford.

Oh There’s Crazy Alright.

Donny Trump: “The Senate must go to a 51 vote majority instead of current 60 votes. Even parts of full Repeal need 60. 8 Dems control Senate. Crazy!”

The only thing crazy here is just how utterly ignorant the Tiny Idiot Tyrant happens to be. The Senate doesn’t work that way. The Murica Excuse for Healthcare crashed and burned, in large part due to some republicans getting a half ounce of sense, and fearing for their careers in the face of constituent anger. Not that there’s reason to be happy here, there isn’t. Yes, action by people forced this travesty to be trashed, but there won’t be any replacement which is remotely workable, which is not what the rethugs ever wanted anyway. They’re simply appalled by the idea of healthcare, and don’t want there to be any at all, and that’s exactly what they are going to do, repeal, make some noises about replace later, and drop it like a radioactive potato.

Some reading:

Trump reacts to Trumpcare failure by revealing he has no clue about Senate rules.

Repeal and delay is back, and even worse than Trumpcare: The CBO estimates that if Congress repeals Obamacare, 18 million would lose coverage next year alone.

Trump vows to let ACA fail.

The Twitterati respond to Trump’s most impressive failure.

Romancing The Gibbet.

For those who prefer their tourism a bit on the grisly side of history, There’s Romancing The Gibbet, a new app.

Academics from Bristol in southwest England have developed a mobile phone app that alerts walkers when they pass some of the goriest sites from the region’s history.

As part of a project called “Romancing the Gibbet”, the University of the West of England has funded a series of audioguides that play excerpts of 250-year-old ballads and court proceedings as listeners pass the scenes of notorious crimes.

“The extraordinary 18th century practice of hanging and sometimes gibbeting selected felons – exhibiting their bodies to public view in iron cages – at the scene of their crime was intended to leave an indelible and exemplary impression on disorderly villages and small towns,” the university said.

There’s more at Reuters, including some of the specific murders and murderers who are part of the touring app.

Vietato Lamentarsi.

Courtesy Vatican Insider-La Stampa.

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – If anyone had any doubts how Pope Francis feels about people who always complain, the answer is now tacked to the door of his frugal suite in a Vatican residence: “No Whining”.

Under the explicit warning, the red-and-white Italian language sign goes on to say that “violators are subject to a syndrome of always feeling like a victim and the consequent reduction of your sense of humor and capacity to solve problems”.

A picture of the sign was posted on the Vatican Insider website and its presence on the pope’s door confirmed to Reuters by its editor-in-chief Andrea Tornielli, an author who is close to Francis and has interviewed him several times.

The sign is adorned with the international symbol for ‘no’ – a backslash in a circle.

It adds: “The penalty is doubled if the violation take place in the presence of children. To get the best out of yourself, concentrate on your potential and not on your limitations.”

I’d like to see those signs plastered all over the place. Reuters has the full story.