Along the Volga River

Many areas were flooded to become part of the Moscow Canal and Volga-Baltic Waterway. The remainder of this church is underwater.

A beautiful church on the banks of the Volga River

Private residence on the Volga River

Another beautiful church, built in the traditional Russian style, along the Volga River

Link to previous post –The Moscow Canal

The Humble Potato Blooming

The humble potato does have pretty flowery, albeit a little small.

Only after I downloaded the picture into my PC have I noticed the hiding Colorado potato beetle. Damn. I have thought I nabbed them all. Time to go out with a jar with a few drops of acetone again. Unfortunately I doubt the beetles will listen to reason, it is either them or me.

Oh and btw, if you ever heard or read that in former Soviet bloc the propaganda was saying that the CIA was intentionally dropping the beetles from airplanes on crops in order to starve us, it is true. It was taught in schools until the end of the cold war. We were told this as late as in 1980’s. Until today when someone says the colloqual term “americký brouk” (american beetle), most people will know what the talk is about.

Jack’s Walk

Jack and I were out in the country this morning looking for wildflowers and we found trilliums. They grow in wooded areas all over the province and are protected by law, so no digging up plants to bring home. They’re one of my favorite flowers and a real treat to find because the flowers come and go so quickly. Usually they come in sequence with red trilliums first and white trilliums last, but this year they’re up and blooming together. In fact, all the wildflowers are up and blooming together this year. In the space of one week of warm weather all the leaves have arrived and the flowers are blooming. It’s like spring has exploded this year.

Red Trillium

White Trillium

Anatomy Atlas Part 5 – Skull Base

Skull base is really more interesting than the shell that covers our bulbous brain lobes. This is where our brain stem resides, the evolutionarily oldest structures in our central nervous system that could be called “brain”. That means that here are the exits of most of the brain nerves and, of course, the spinal cord. Here also enter and exit all the blood vessels supplying the brain with oxygen.

Profesor Kos has put a great emphasis on the fact that here is the position of the brain stem, because any damage to the brainstem is most likely to be lethal. And what he constantly warned about was the danger of hemorrhaging in this region, which can occur after even superficially mild concussion. He mentioned the absurdity of movies and media in general portraying hitting someone in the head as a routine way to knock someone out. But it is extremely dangerous, especially hits delivered on the top of the head. A hit on the top of the head transfers most of the force right down to the base of the skull and if it causes there a damage to even a small blood vessel, it can mean game ever.

Bagged.

Sancta Dei Genitrix.

Sancta Dei Genitrix (Holy Mother of God). William T. Horton, A Book of Images.

Tīw’s Day Mood.

Stella Splendens – Serpentyne. (Llibre Vermell de Montserrat)

Taking the Sting Out of A Slapp.

Dr. Richard Carrier is suing us for reporting on his well-known allegations of misconduct. These allegations were widely reported on throughout the community, including by third-parties critical and sympathetic to him who are not themselves defendants.

This lawsuit has all the hallmarks of a SLAPP suit — a lawsuit filed to stifle legitimate criticism and commentary. The named defendants are Skepticon, The Orbit, and Freethought Blogs – as well as individuals Lauren Lane, the lead organizer of Skepticon; Stephanie Zvan, a blogger for The Orbit; PZ Myers, a blogger for Freethought Blogs; and Amy Frank-Skiba, who publicly posted her first-hand allegations against Carrier.

We need your help to keep our voices alive. All the defendants are represented by the same attorney, First Amendment lawyer Marc Randazza. Randazza is providing his services at a significant discount, but we are not asking him to work for free. Plus, there are thousands of dollars in “costs” for the case that don’t include legal bills, and there is no way to discount those. In order to continue fighting this lawsuit, we, the defendants of this case, have put together this campaign to raise money to defray our costs, some of which is outstanding. Donations will be used only for this case. In the event that the funds raised exceed our legal bills, they will be donated to Planned Parenthood .

If you can help to defray these costs, please do. No amount is insignificant. If you’re unable to donate, please help to amplify the signal. Our thanks.