WEDNESDAY #2082

NEWSY BITS...

Long exposure photo of our atmosphere from ISS...

The orange and green arcs are layers of glowing gas are called airglow. Each layer glows at a specific wavelength or band of wavelengths. The broad orange layer at the top is due to atomic oxygen from ~250 km altitude. The narrow green layer is also atomic oxygen and that originates from near 96 km altitude. Just below that is another orange layer due to atomic sodium from meteors burning up in the upper atmosphere at ~90 km altitude. Maybe a contribution in that layer by hydroxyl from 87km also. This images was taken from the space station (ISS) during the night portion of it’s orbit. The earth’s surface shows cloud lit by moonlight.

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The epidemic of the hemorrhagic disease, which can kill up to 90 percent of those it infects, is ravaging the three small West African states of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, and also has a toehold in Nigeria, Africa's biggest economy.

Liberia has put troops on their border with orders to "shoot on sight" anyone trying to cross.

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The 1-ton Curiosity rover had been heading for Mount Sharp — a 3.4-mile-high (5.5 kilometers) mountain in the center of Mars' Gale Crater — via "Hidden Valley," a sandy swale that's about the length of a football field. But Curiosity turned back shortly after entering the valley's northeastern end earlier this month, finding the sand surprisingly slippery, NASA officials said.

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Of all the arguments arising from the Ferguson mess, the stupidest is that the police force's racial makeup doesn't match that of the community.
It's the same argument about there not being enough black judges even though blacks make up about 20% of the population of America. But that is ignoring the low number of blacks that even graduate high school, much less graduate from law school.
The truth is, there simply isn't enough qualified black candidates for the positions. We could argue over why this is the case, but just demanding that 20% of all positions must be filled by blacks misses the point.

Point 2: Every police force has a map color coded to the amount of crime in each area of their city. They use this map in assigning patrol routes for the officers. It makes no sense to patrol an area that has had little or no crime in the last few years. The patrols should be and are concentrated in high crime areas. These areas are disturbingly easy to pinpoint and you all know exactly where they are. Even if you don't live in a large city, you know what areas you would steer clear of if you visit...and why. So if the police are justified to have a large presence in high crime areas, should it be surprising that statistically more citizens from those areas get arrested?
Do the people who live in those high crime areas get harassed more than people in other areas...of course. But think about how bad those areas would be WITHOUT a high police presence.
Of course there are abuses. Cops are people too. But nobody is talking about the dead guy in Ferguson being a violent felon. I know the cop didn't know that at the time, but that doesn't erase the fact that the youth was a predator in his own neighborhood.

The way it works is that people who own a 3d printer can log in and download one 4" chunk of a sculpture, 3d print it, and mail it back to Baltimore where they're all getting glued together...

While showering, I fill my mouth with water and let it drip out like blood while pretending to die violently.

Am I the only one who has no idea when to stop chalking a pool cue?

But then there are these...

The center drill bit drills a round hole, then the pointed corner bits scraps it into a perfect square hole.
I've seen these in action, and the trick is to take the bit in a little bit, then raise it and lower it again, over and over.

How is the porn industry making profit? I don't think I've ever paid for it.

 Or hang a chain.

The ancients knew that a parabola was the strongest shape for a kiln to fire pottery. They invented, and we still use a chain hung in such a way that the points at the top are the exact distance apart as you allow it to droop to the bottom. 
The way I did it was to use a square piece of plywood, then place the chain in the top left corner. Then you keep adjusting the chain until the bottom just touches the bottom with the other end of the chain precisely in the upper right corner.
Then you trace that shape, cut it out and turn it over as your form for laying your brick.

It's hard to hide this level of smugness...

Imagine a female having to buy a porn movie, I can't imagine the smug look the person behind the counter would have. "ohhh someone's going to be having some alone time" damn, I'd be mortified, thank god for the internet.

Two magnificent bastards...

When in a discussion, never repeat yourself. That is wasting your own time and the other participants will assume that you don’t value your own time.

Photography...

Beauty, like contact lenses, is in the eye of the beholder.

I called my cable company just to tell them everything's great. Not surprisingly, they were stunned.

Early razor blade sharpener...

Am I the only one who really wants a double-decker couch?

This dog seems to understand the problem.....almost...

Sculptor at the university who told me he used to hold his little sister down and put a roach in her nose and hold it closed until it crawled up into her sinuses.

The best laid plans...

I thought this was done very well...especially licking the joint...

Stonehenge…all the effort it took to dismantle it. There had to be a whole lot of hate involved with that.

Please...just don't do it...

1,117 pound lift...

“A college degree doesn’t make you an intelligent person,” is only uttered by people without a college degree.

Very clever busstop...

Why I don't want to see Niagara Fall...

 I hate crowds.

I watched as my wife ordered a bra online. When it came to size, she wrote "Long". 

One Of My Very Own...

Put up a fucking fight against what you know is wrong!

Six (6) balls scratched in one clip...

Trees in the city...I think it's a good thing...

We may have to settle for mediocracy, but so-so “love” shouldn’t be one of them.

Mom of the year...

More people of Walmart...

I said YOUNG MAN...

Even after all these years, I’m STILL writing stories in my head.

My bet is that he was grabbing her ass.

Why the fuck didn't we get outraged 12 years ago when the Patriot Act started all this shit to begin with. And remember, only 3000 people were killed in the 9/11 attack. More people than that die each year from dog attacks.

Got a minute or two for one of the most amazing stories I've ever read? Here's the link...I was only fascinated by the first one AND the video is a must...

http://www.cracked.com/article_20355_5-real-life-stories-twins-creepier-than-any-horror-movie.html#ixzz3Abps0KCq

AND THEN THERE'S THIS...

Art school at the university level is about much more than tweaking your technique so you can paint better. Most of it involves critiquing paintings...assessing their good points as well as their bad points. When I look at any work of art, these formal critical skills are my foundation for my appraisal. It really doesn't matter that I like or dislike the work. It does matter if it fails to meet basic design considerations. 

The same principal’s of design apply to photography, architecture, sculpture and even industrial design such as automobiles and airplanes. But the fundamental flaw of triteness is inexcusable. Doing the same thing in the same way over and over again is….unforgivable. For instance, posting yet another picture of a cute cat will never get you taken seriously as a photographer.

Besides that, one must consider if one can read the artist's motivation....why do you think he/she painted this? When I find the answer to that question to be banal, I just can't accept the work. 

I only painted a handful of my many hundreds of murals for free, so my motivation was to house and feed my family. No harm there, but I never claimed that my murals were fine art. Fine art is a whole different ballgame.

Sorry.

Oh, but murals was not the only art that I created. The real art was done in my studio. Murals just paid the rent...or the house payment as it were.