Kimiko Sugiura has a stunning photographic body of work, all walls. As I’ve been posting recently, I have a great love of photographing the mundane, the unseen things of the world. So much is walked past every day, but never looked at by most. When you do stop and pay attention, it’s always worth it, or so I have found. Sugiura seems to feel the same way.
Ashio.
Momodani.
Imaike.
There are 6 wonderful pages of walls, take a look.
On July 20, 2015, NASA released to the world the first image of the sunlit side of Earth captured by the space agency’s EPIC camera on NOAA’s DSCOVR satellite. The camera has now recorded a full year of life on Earth from its orbit at Lagrange point 1, approximately 1 million miles from Earth, where it is balanced between the gravity of our home planet and the sun.
EPIC takes a new picture every two hours, revealing how the planet would look to human eyes, capturing the ever-changing motion of clouds and weather systems and the fixed features of Earth such as deserts, forests and the distinct blues of different seas. EPIC will allow scientists to monitor ozone and aerosol levels in Earth’s atmosphere, cloud height, vegetation properties and the ultraviolet reflectivity of Earth.
The full story is here, and a full transcript is available.
Youngstown Municipal Court Judge Robert Milich (Photo: Screen capture from WKBN)
Youngstown Municipal Court Judge Robert Milich took attorney Andrea Burton into custody for contempt of court after she refused to remove a Black Lives Matter pin while in his courtroom when he asked.
Judge Milich sentenced Burton to five days in jail, but she was released on a stay because the decision is on appeal. She’ll stay out of prison while she works her way through the appeals process and abides by Milich’s rule not to wear items that make a political statement in his court.
Milich told WKBN his opinions on the Black Lives Matter movement are irrelevant when it comes to his anti-pin policy.
“A judge doesn’t support either side,” he said. “A judge is objective and tries to make sure everyone has an opportunity to have a fair hearing, and it was a situation where it was just in violation of the law.”
A judge wasn’t wearing the pin. An attorney was wearing it. So much for that bit of ‘logic’. It’s not a violation of any law to wear a pin, or any other piece of self decoration. So much for that bit of ‘logic’. This is obviously not the work of anyone being objective, now is it, Judge Milich? No, what we see operating here is bias. It’s right there, out in the open, plopped out for everyone to see. Would you try to force someone to remove an Amerikkan flag pin? A Christian cross?
Oh, here we go…
The judge said his ruling is based on Supreme Court case law in which a judge can prohibit symbolic political expression in courtrooms, even if it’s not disruptive.
“There’s a difference between a flag, a pin from your church or the Eagles and having a pin that’s on a political issue,” Milich said.
So, Black Lives Matter is a political expression, but a Flag pin isn’t. Hmmm. And a church pin? That’s not political, it’s perfectly okay to be sporting that type of open discrimination in your objective court? Right.
Full story at WKBN, video at the link.
There it is, folks, in all its tacky glory, the vessel of preborn Jesus. Not a woman, not a mythological goddess, just this human-shaped fetus vase. This over-sized, schlocky ornament (3 ft high / 1 meter, $1,995.) gilds the deep, poisonous roots of religious misogyny. As we all know, women aren’t truly important, outside their status as fetus incubators. This status is further highlighted by that awful rosary which forms the outer boundary of Mama Mary’s uterus. I can’t help but note that uterus is riding really high. This is more Alien chest burster than human fetus. I suppose they didn’t want it allied too closely with that pesky crotch region which gets all those poor men into trouble all the time. Not supposed to think about that, no. Preborn Jesus is looking a tad over-baked as well.
Then, while praying the Angelus during a Holy Hour in church, Conklin said, “The image came in my mind’s eye of the umbilical cord around Jesus, the physical lifeline between mother and child. Slowly, the umbilical cord turned into the Rosary. The Rosary is the spiritual umbilical cord of prayer, which is the spiritual lifeline in the battle between Mary and the evil one.”
From James’ initial sketch, Lea Ravotti completed a watercolor called Vessel of the Preborn Jesus. Conklin said the Archdiocese of St. Louis Respect Life Apostolate used it for its pro-life ministry. This image has been used by pregnancy care centers, and it appears on prayer cards from PrebornJesus.com.
“This is about a devotion to Jesus in the womb of Mary, an aspect of his life we haven’t contemplated enough,” Conklin said. “It helps us realize so many truths about the sanctity of life and Mary’s role in God’s plan.”
Devotion to Jesus in the uterus. Right. What’s to contemplate? We already know the role of Mary, a young girl, who was chosen by a psychopathic god to be, at the very least, symbolically raped. Oh, I suppose we could get into that whole still a virgin after giving birth business, because next to being an incubator, Mary’s most important quality was being a perpetual and inviolate virgin. If you ever wondered where that whole Madonna/Whore thing came from, look no further.
Via NCRegister.
Via Out.
I have a thing for the mundane, things so mundane they are invisible. All the things that no one sees. I drive Rick a tad spare when we go walkabout, because I’ll be hanging way back there, staring at a chain link fence. I enjoy all the invisible things just the way they are, and I enjoy playing with them too. This little bit of ordinary is chain link fence (part one). Click for full size.
© C. Ford. All rights reserved.
:D From Kengi. Click for full size.
© Kengi. All rights reserved.
A large pile of wire. Copper wire. Most of this will probably end up being recycled, but I’ll be using a fair amount of it for an art piece or two.
River de Grace and Rémy de River. Click for full size.
© C. Ford. All rights reserved.
A beautiful Mourning Dove. I am so happy they are back. They contribute to my serenity a great deal. Click for full size.
© C. Ford. All rights reserved.
While the Republican National Convention is busy demonizing LGBT people in Cleveland, the Human Rights Campaign is trying to change the conversation.
The latest volley in that effort hit the web Wednesday, when the nation’s largest LGBT advocacy group released a new educational video featuring the fathers of four transgender children — including Wayne Maines, whose daughter Nicole won a landmark legal victory in 2014 after a years-long battle to have her Maine school district recognize her as the girl she is.
In the video, dads of a diverse group of trans youth discuss their experiences in raising and supporting their children, and get candid about the unique challenges presented by parenting a transgender child.
I’m all sniffy now. Great dads all! Via The Advocate.
Twitter.
Whether you’ve lived under a rock for the past year or snapped from too much election coverage, fear not. Hillary Clinton is going to remind you just how many people Donald Trump has offended during his campaign—and, well, his life.
The Democratic nominee’s online team has created a website, trumpyourself.org, that if you allow access to your Facebook, will pair your profile picture with Trump’s worst quotes on women’s rights, LGBT rights, and undocumented immigrants.
[…]
The goal is to convince any social media friends who support Trump (if you have any left) that this is not the candidate to unite Americans.
If I was on FB, I would do this in a second.
Via Out.
NBA/Flickr.
Charlotte just lost millions in tourism and entertainment dollars after the National Basketball Association announced Thursday the group is pulling next year’s All-Star Game from the city.
The NBA had warned North Carolina and Gov. Pat McCrory that the city might lose hosting the game if the state did not make changes to HB2, the notorious anti-transgender law that prevents transgender people from using restrooms and changing facilities matching their gender identity.
“The NBA and the Charlotte Hornets have been working diligently to foster constructive dialogue and try to effect positive change,” the NBA said in a statement. “While we recognize that the NBA cannot choose the law in every city, state, and country in which we do business, we do not believe we can successfully host our All-Star festivities in Charlotte in the climate created by HB2.”
McCrory released a statement following the decision warning North Carolinians that “the sports and entertainment elite,” among others, “are imposing their political will on communities in which they do business, thus bypassing the democratic and legal process.”
I, uh, mmmph, :stifles scream: Just what in the fuckety fuck fuck do you think you’re doing, McCrory? Does it resemble “imposing your bigotry, fear, and hatred via the political process of legislation”? Any recognition there, you flaming fuckweasel? You certainly have zero basis to talk about bypassing the democratic and legal process. So, businesses aren’t allowed to decide where and when they wish to do business anymore? Interesting. Perhaps you should get out and talk to all your constituents who are Hornets fans. Maybe they have something to say about it all, given your determination to run your state into the ground. :spits:
Full story at Out.