Updated Welcome to Saturday ...

open thread.jpg

Updated to add this, "I Love Faces."

"Edward come back to us. Where R. you Murrow?"

~~~

California Bloom ~ USDI

The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah ~ John Martin, 1852

~~

Lot and his Daughters ~ Lucas van Leyden's, 1520

~

The Narrative of the United States Expedition of the River Jordan and the Dead Sea. ~ William Francis Lynch, 1849
~~~

If there be nothing new, but that which is
Hath been before, how are our brains beguiled,
Which, labouring for invention, bear amiss
The second burden of a former child!
O, that record could with a backward look,
Even of five hundred courses of the sun,
Show me your image in some antique book,
Since mind at first in character was done!
That I might see what the old world could say
To this composed wonder of your frame;
Whether we are mended, or whether better they,
Or whether revolution be the same.
O, sure I am, the wits of former days
To subjects worse have given admiring praise.

Sonnet LIX ~ William Shakespeare

~~~

~

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smiley7's picture

New names of today's art

1) The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah ~ John Martin, 1852 or Junior's Revenge; Billy Graham and Jerry Falwell's Porn

2} Lot and his Daughters ~ Lucas van Leyden's, 1520 or Trump Family Camping Out

3) The Narrative of the United States Expedition of the River Jordan and the Dead Sea. ~ William Francis Lynch, 1849 or What were you thinking Mr. Lynch, Manifest Missions?

Back in a few...

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12 users have voted.
wendy davis's picture

@smiley7

names; fine art and poetry. but the 'closing time' painting you'd featured last week still chimes in my mind, and i thank you for it.

make it as good a day as you're able in these fraught times, smiley.

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smiley7's picture

@wendy davis

Glad you enjoyed Closing Time, Shakespeare's jesting sonnet got me out of a dark mood when putting this together Thursday and at first i struggled over renaming the pieces as to not cast dispersion upon the artist's marvelous works, and compromised in the end by putting the new names in a comment allowing the viewer, i hope to have first impressions untarnished.

The California Super-bloom reminded me of the virus, nature's power to bring beauty and pain.

Anyways, thanks for the kind words in hopes you and family are well and stay safe.

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11 users have voted.
Lookout's picture

in 1867...

A natural skeptic, Twain was not taken by the splendor of the Holy Land. He wrote irreverently about the country’s legendary sites. The Sea of Galilee was, “a solemn, sailless, tintless lake, as unpoetical as any bath-tub on earth.” The Church of the Nativity was “tricked out in the usual tasteless style observable in all the holy places of Palestine.”

...and speaking of Twain, I'm concerned about Mark from Queens. I sent him a pm a couple of weeks ago and have not heard back. Queens has been an epicenter. We've not seen many infections here ... yet. People are not being very careful. Heard the local state park looked like Disney world last weekend.

Well thanks for the art and OT. Hope all is well with all of you.

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22 users have voted.

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

mimi's picture

@Lookout
almost three months and am worried a lot. I hope, if he is well enough and able to communicate, he will do so. I miss him a lot.

I have a hard time to accept the shutdown. My son believes we will not see each other ever again in person. That is too much for me. It was not easy to make a living in the US before, now it is FUBAR.

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smiley7's picture

@Lookout

There has been only one Christian. They caught him and crucified him--early. ~ Twain, 1898

Same here, friends who live in the nearby wilderness tell me they want their quiet back as every pull-off on the forest roads are packed with rolling campers. Haven't been out and fishing, so i haven't witnessed the scene, but most folks out and about around here have no masks and seem to be carrying on as nothing's happening.

Thanks for checking on Mark, he may be depressed about Bernie, know i am, hope he and family are well and safe; please do let us know if you hear news.

A beautiful clear-sky day, but cold wind may keep folks more inside. Find myself having longer phone conversations than usual, this room gets small at times.

Not sure whether to laugh, cry or get angry watching the greatest American swindle of all time in living tubular color daily, and am resigning myself to, pretty-much, letting it go as there's little if anything i can do. The piggy banks open and the shameless take.

Be safe out there.

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Lookout's picture

@smiley7
a dystopian novel. I've been expecting a collapse for a number of years, but now that it is here, bigger and badder than I imagined, it seems unreal...or maybe surreal.

surreal.jpg

All we can do is move forward and work toward a better world when this pandemic passes.

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17 users have voted.

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

smiley7's picture

@Lookout
proving, little's changed, in fact, i think the xtians are back-sliding.

The so-called Christian nations are the most enlightened and progressive...but in spite of their religion, not because of it. The Church has opposed every innovation and discovery from the day of Galileo down to our own time, when the use of anesthetic in childbirth was regarded as a sin because it avoided the biblical curse pronounced against Eve. And every step in astronomy and geology ever taken has been opposed by bigotry and superstition. The Greeks surpassed us in artistic culture and in architecture five hundred years before Christian religion was born.
Twain, a Biography

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enhydra lutris's picture

@smiley7

scientific evil perpetrated by those theoascists and their fucking dogma.

The Church has opposed every innovation and discovery from the day of Galileo down to our own time

They didn't merely oppose, they attempted, pretty successfully, to repeal, outlaw, eliminate and overwrite information and science long known. Example: Eratosthenes of Cyrene, 276 BCE to 194 BCE, quite accurately determined the circumference of the earth, measured the degree of obliquity of the ecliptic, and wrote a treatise on the eight-year lunar-solar cycle. He also computed the distance between the earth and the moon and between the earth and the sun. That's all before that itinerant preacher the church worshipped was born.

Also, Thales of Miletus, 623 BCE to 543 BCE. Per da wiki, just as to astronomy,

According to Herodotus, Thales predicted the solar eclipse of May 28, 585 BC.[7] Thales also described the position of Ursa Minor, and he thought the constellation might be useful as a guide for navigation at sea. He calculated the duration of the year and the timings of the equinoxes and solstices. He is additionally attributed with the first observation of the Hyades and with calculating the position of the Pleiades

The pre-socratics, en mass, were anathema to the church, but were far ahead of its feeble dogmas, even those who bought into or gave lip service to the mythology of their day.

be well and have a good one.

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10 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

TheOtherMaven's picture

@enhydra lutris

so he was more prophetic than he knew. (The whole constellation straddled the pole, and in about another 900 years, Polaris started inching into position. It was recognizably pole-ish by about 400 ad.)

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4 users have voted.

There is no justice. There can be no peace.

@Lookout NYC schools are shut down until September---At The Earliest.

There will be no returning to normalcy anytime soon. Ever? IDK.

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12 users have voted.

NYCVG

Granma's picture

@Lookout we are worried about Mark from Queens. If he gave contact info for the member list, could you please attempt to contact him to see if he is ok.

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QMS's picture

@Granma

Granma ~
sorry, but he did not sign on to the contact list

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10 users have voted.

question everything

Granma's picture

@QMS We'll have to hold good thoughts for him and his family. He has young children, may just be very busy with them.

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Dawn's Meta's picture

@Granma list of people we haven't heard from. Also anyone heard from Hecate?

Thanks to everyone for continuing to write. We are having more than our share of challenges Homesteading here in SW Burgundy. It's been a rough year and we are no spring chickens. Had a plan, and it was working until we got a house full of mold. More on that later when I can write more clearly.

Big Canvas tent arrived yesterday. Pitching it next week. House not ready, and mold load still over the limit. So we will be living in a
https://www.canvascamp.com/en/sibley-600-protech-double-door
With a pre tent kitchen. Bathroom in the house is working. Debating on fridge and freezer. Really need them for healthy eating.

Thanks to everyone and the value I place on each opinion, in depth investigation, report, analysis, work of art and beauty, gardening and appreciation of nature.

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A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.

Consider helping by donating using the button in the upper left hand corner. Thank you.

I thought you might enjoy some John Prine song-storytelling artistry. He was awesome and just passed away so RIP John Prine. Many loved him. His songs could make us cry, but they could also make us laugh. He could laugh at himself and helped the rest of us laugh at ourselves. Sending love to John Prine wherever he is.

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smiley7's picture

@randtntx

"blame it on the old crazy bone." Smiling from ear to ear, cheers for the lift.

Be safe, good friend.

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14 users have voted.

@smiley7 being the fisherman that you are. Who knew all the fish came here for the weekend.

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smiley7's picture

@randtntx
fished in the great lakes of Arkansas. here's a tribute to John

His set-up for this poetry reminded me of working as a doorman in the first huge discotheque in the city, The Big Apple, on the East side near the UN.

Prine on autoplay makes for a great morning, thinking, crying and smiling, thank you.

Just saw this: "i love people's faces:"

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12 users have voted.

@smiley7 'people's faces' TY
I didn't thank you for your kind words last Saturday, I didn't see them till way late but I did finally see them... so a belated thank you very much.

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smiley7's picture

@randtntx

are you working from home? And do you have time to garden?

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9 users have voted.

@smiley7 and at the same time as well!!!
I'm doing a little gardening but not working from home, it's not possible for me. Mother Nature has been kinda weird lately. We've had a few late-in-the-season cold spells and then some sizzling hot and next week the forecast is for more cold. I keep hesitating about what I should do and what would be best to go into the soil. My tomatoes are already tall with a few flowers but I've been battling bug infestation on other plants. I've been waiting for consistently warm enough soil for some seeds. I've been coaxing along the few plants I do have and suspect I will be replacing those that fail. It's OK though, it's a process and I am enjoying the variability in the weather, at least it's not boring Smile

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smiley7's picture

@randtntx

winters, summers unusually dry and a lot hotter around a months shift in season's arrival times as well. Glad you've a garden underway. And again, please be safe when out and about.

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7 users have voted.

Celebrate the return of greatness to the US of A. We no longer need to be eclipsed by any other nation on Earth: today America takes its rightful lead in not only the number of people infected by COVID19 but also in the number of people killed by it---in your face Italy! April 11th 2020: another "date that will live in infamy". Our mentally-deranged dotard, his MAGAt party lackeys and their fratricidal followers are beside themselves with glee over this historic achievement. Don't get mad, get even!

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smiley7's picture

@MinuteMan @MinuteMan

where they can't be found. Happy day and be safe out there.

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@MinuteMan @MinuteMan
we cannot declare America Great Again until our Covid-19 cases/deaths surpass those of the entire rest of the world.

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The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.

CB's picture

"We are #1 in the world. There's no one in the entire world that has done more than my administration under my strong leadership in fighting the coronavirus - no one. I was the first in the world to stop Chinese coming into this country. The first one. Before we even knew how bad it was I stopped the Chinese from coming. And I told you I would do great things by Easter and if you look around our great country you can see that I have kept my promise. We are right on track. We only need to tidy up a few loose ends by Thanksgiving Day, if the do-nothing Democrats in the house help us instead of getting in the way. Right in time for what will be the wonderfullest election in the history of our great nation. We will continue to test, millions and millions of tests. Nobody in the world does more tests - millions of tests. And ventilators. We will have thousands and thousands of ventilators. More ventilators than we can use. Our great American companies like GE and GM have promised they will have them before the end of the month. They said they couldn't do it. But I made them do it so we are gonna have lots and lots of ventilators. So much of this equipment we will be helping all the nations in the world who are calling out for America's great leadership."

https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/total-cases-covid-19?time=1..81&count...

Confirmed COVID-19 cases.png @MinuteMan

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smiley7's picture

@CB

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CB's picture

@smiley7
They started testing within days of China's Wuhan lock-down and used the universal health care ID in combination with cell phones to track positive cases/contacts and ensure strict adherence to quarantine.

If the US tried this there would be an insurrection - an insurrection backed by firearms. The US, with 4% of the world's population has 46% of the world's privately owned guns. The first thing a large number of Americans do at any sign of national crisis is to go out and buy weapons and ammunition. (This is a national trait that can also be seen running amuck in Washington since WWII.)

Trump likes to talk about his bazillions of tests being done in the country. He is too single simple minded to understand that it is not the gross number but the number per capita as well as when testing was started relative to the time of first detection that matters. Trump thinks only in terms of size - not quality or timeliness. Maybe he is compensating for his **** size? Stormy did say she wasn't impressed. Trump is basically insecure and he needs to get his overinflated ego constantly assuaged. Because HE is the President of the United States we can also see him constantly inflating the country's, some times questionable, accomplishments to get an ego boost by proxy (like some parents do with their children.)

The US is #43 out of approx. 200 for testing per million population. You can also compare other coronavirus data on the following link. Keep in mind when you view this data is the US has the most expensive health care system in the world but is also one the lessor egalitarian nations when it comes to applying it.

Confirmed Cases and Deaths by Country, Territory, or Conveyance
(gives complete info including tests per million)

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smiley7's picture

@CB

against testing; presently as i understand it, the feds are only using one testing platform, and trump's not moving a muscle to mass produce the tests we need. Should be of highest priority. And the damn lame democrats sit on the sidelines offering platitudes.

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Granma's picture

@CB

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CB's picture

@Granma
Now there's fucking orange crap all over my keyboard, hands and face!

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Pluto's Republic's picture

@CB

,,, uncoordinated public health care system and tens of millions of Americans who cannot afford to go to a doctor, and a price-gouging private health insurance system that costs the nation twice what other nations pay for world-class medical care, bankrupting 600,000 American families yearly, and killing 50,000 per year with medical neglect —

The whole thing covered with parasitic corporations and NGOs, like ticks, sucking the blood out of it — no President of any flavor could have acted without faltering. The US public health care "system" is nothing more than a shitshow.

At one time, having a Democratic president in place during a crisis like this would have been an opportunity to highlight the catastrophic self-injury that afflicts the nation when citizens are denied Human Rights — particularly the right to life and necessary health care.

But I doubt that such Democrats exist anymore now that Citizens United owns the legislators and can control Federal spending and debt creation to fulfill their endless greed.

The Largest and most destructive wealth transfer in world history — from the poor to the super wealthy — is taking place in the US right under our noses. The poor will be left with the nation's monumental debt to pay with their labor. The Epidemic is just stage decorations and a grand distraction.

Besides, it was all engineered. While 4,000 US soldiers were wandering about Wuhan in November 2019 to participate in the military olympics, the DIR and Special Intelligence (according to ABC News) were warning the White House in November 2019 that there were signs that a viral epidemic was about to break out there. The Chinese claim to have evidence that the Coronavirus was planted by the US in Wuhan (and Iran and Italy) that November. Meanwhile, the US is trying as hard as it can to blame the Virus on China, first. But China seems to have better hackers for gathering evidence. US Intelligence, Military, Executive, Legislative — all of them have rogue sections that operate independently.

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ggersh's picture

@MinuteMan https://www.politicalflare.com/2020/04/trump-demands-everyone-be-tested-...

Trump Demands Everyone Be Tested Before they See Him — But Will Open the Country Without Full Testing

While the foodlines grow

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/11/food-a11.html

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13 users have voted.

I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

discussed Jesus's endorsement of Sodom and Gomorrah, came here and voila!... you post the painting.

Love the California bloom!

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14 users have voted.

"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin

smiley7's picture

@Fishtroller 02

Minds on the same plane Smile

Wonder if without pressure from aisle carrying collectors frowning down on parishiners, donations to churches are off this weekend, i hear the sale of baskets and fine bonnets are way down. And where will all those colored little peeps go this weekend?

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13 users have voted.

@smiley7
to promote Christianity today. There were 6 sermons printed in the Community forum section and a link so you could watch a virtual service from the giant megachurch Southeast Christian... because there was no other news to print of course.

Ridiculous!

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4 users have voted.

"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin

@Fishtroller 02 "he didn't need this shit" Smile Here it is in full context;

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enhydra lutris's picture

wont to change but Metallica I hardly knew ye. We're about to mask up and venture out to the farmers' market, being low on shrooms, assorted other veggies, fresh caught pacific salmon (livin' the life of luxury here) and overpriced organic cage free eggs.

be well and have a good one.

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11 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

smiley7's picture

@enhydra lutris

stumbled onto several of those metallica renderings, here's another one:

best with a toke and later in the day, however Smile

Be safe at the market.

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7 users have voted.
enhydra lutris's picture

@smiley7

bloom, a very good one. which also coincided with our spring desert run that year. I saw that very scene in that picture, or one substantially identical on the road home, somewhere up around Lake Elsinore iirc. Thanks for warming up my day and mood with it.

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6 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

smiley7's picture

@enhydra lutris

thanks for adding to the xtian history in another comment. Were i in control, fist move would be in taking away non-profit status to all religions, christians first. Then i would close down their private schools. And maybe put a few in yoks on the public square, and of course, sell off all their golden calves and give the resources to the poor in this world.

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Not Henry Kissinger's picture

Leave it to the Aussies to turn 'bin night' into a national coping event.

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15 users have voted.

The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

smiley7's picture

@Not Henry Kissinger

needs him

be safe out there.

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15 users have voted.

@smiley7 that was really funny. I laughed.

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Anja Geitz's picture

@smiley7

When the first thought that went through my mind watching this video was that I wasn't making the most out of self isolation creatively speaking?

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12 users have voted.

There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

studentofearth's picture

Glad the stay at home orders did not happen when living in some of those an apartments. It was the walks to the parks, window shopping and friendly gatherings creating the environment for an exciting place to be.

Today my walk is amongst painters, poets and musicians residing in this community.

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12 users have voted.

Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

@studentofearth
microapartments we all started hearing about a few years ago. As a society, "we" decided that this was "reasonable", because those young "knowledge workers" and "creatives" spent all their time out and about at the coffee shops and business incubators. So ... what now?

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18 users have voted.

The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.

Anja Geitz's picture

@UntimelyRippd

And recalled how horrified my Brother-in-Law was when he and my Sister first visited me in New York. I kept telling him that as New Yorkers what you paid in rents was to be able to play in the city, not sit home in your apartment. And my studio in Chelsea, by NYC standards was large. He still couldn't believe what I paid.

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10 users have voted.

There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

smiley7's picture

@studentofearth

Beautiful Oregon, was discussing on the phone the other day with a fishing buddy an article i read about getting heavy viral dosage from living in apartments that shared ventilating heating and cooling, a China report, not good. I'm concerned because i share a small closed hallway which has a bathroom in the middle the flatmate has to come out of his room to use and i must walk through the hall to get to stairwell; he works delivering drugs and spends his days in drug stores with lots of outside contacts, noticed he's not wearing a mask, bothers me. Although i only go down to check the mail, but still with vaporization ...

Can't overdo the worry on the other hand, it's just the little things, potential for transmissions, that's worrisome.

Be safe out there.

PS: Thanks for the breathing videos and exercises, great stuff, practice some of the same techniques, often, since drama school.

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studentofearth's picture

@smiley7 if the hallway short enough you could deliver a long speech (oration?) on the way to and from the mailbox. Catch a major breath at the mailbox. Very theatrical to wear a cloak over regular clothes.

The more mundane way is if you have supplemental oxygen, use it for the walk. Air from a tank would not be contaminated. Persons with allergies will use this technique when moving through an area with a high allergen load.

Best to you.

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9 users have voted.

Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

smiley7's picture

@studentofearth @studentofearth
one breath.

as to costume, i often go down to the street in sleep-wear like in the Village in NY in the old days, freaks the locals out. Thankfully, i've a portable O2 machine.

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7 users have voted.
janis b's picture

@studentofearth

of looking at things, and especially good advice.

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Anja Geitz's picture

@studentofearth

Living in Manhattan, I survived 911 and Superstorm Sandy. Don't know how I would be doing right now if I didn't have my California garden.

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9 users have voted.

There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

QMS's picture

One of the good things about wearing masks
you get to look at people in the eyes
mirror of the souls, some sparks there
we need each other more now

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVhA01J0Zsg]

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9 users have voted.

question everything

Jen's picture

@QMS If only I could read eyes. With masks, I'll never know when someone is talking to me even when they're looking straight at me. Not being able to hear was isolating before, now that there's no lips to read and it's even worse.

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QMS's picture

@Jen
the communication in the eyes
takes an open glance to get around
the fear and mistrust people focus with
maybe just seeing it in the expression
of those not tuned into the tube
but it is there
people want to be seen
in other's kinder eyes
looking for recognition

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7 users have voted.

question everything

smiley7's picture

Hugs and close looks into the eyes taken for granted before, good food for thought; thank you for the Hello in there, too.

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7 users have voted.
Anja Geitz's picture

How the soul speaks to other souls. Thank you, Smiley.

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8 users have voted.

There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

smiley7's picture

@Anja Geitz

as i write; chicken seared rendering fat from skin, adding celery and onions then a cornbread stuffing mixture with cornbread, croutons from leftover bread, chicken stock, sage, nutmeg, hot pepper flakes, thyme: cover chicken pieces and bake or in Dutch pot on stovetop.

Yummy.

Always remember my little cottage and tiny backyard with lemon tree up the hill in Sherman Oaks when you mention your lovely garden.

Be safe out there.

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Anja Geitz's picture

@smiley7

In a physical sense instead of just a virtual one. Would sit with you under the persimmon tree, where I would feed you something special that I made. We'd enjoy some wine, feel the sun warm our bones, and laugh about our adventures in New York.

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7 users have voted.

There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

smiley7's picture

@Anja Geitz

persimmon pudding for you. We'd probably have non-stop conversation and lots of laughs.

We can dream, can't we, it a good thing.

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7 users have voted.
Anja Geitz's picture

@smiley7

It’s how I was always able to cope through the worst of things.

Sending you hugs and love, my friend.

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4 users have voted.

There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

magiamma's picture

Thanks for the Saturday entertainment, all.

We are all virtual now. Virtual reality. Had our Bernie meeting last night, virtually. Decided to work on down ballot campaigns and local issues. Mostly a debriefing and bitching session and mostly boring to me. Got a lot if work done as I sat there.

One of the young organizers broke down. She worked hard on both campaigns. Got this text from her afterwards. Byedone will never be president.

I can't vote for imperialism, I can't vote for climate apocalypse, I can't vote for someone who got on the ballot by cheating, and I can't vote for a sexual predator.

Yep.

Things are happening fast now. Never say never cause you never can tell.

Thanks smiley. Be well and stay safe everyone

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14 users have voted.

Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation

Hot Air Website, Twitter, Facebook

smiley7's picture

@magiamma

Bernie blogs and twitter sites i frequent. Byedone won't do; maybe a miracle comes by, doubt it with chumpchange in charge, staying alive may be our most pressing problem.

Anyways, good to have our community, it helps.

Enjoy the day and be safe.

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10 users have voted.
mhagle's picture

I got up early this morning to plant the remaining seeds and plants. Over an inch of rain is in the forecast for today (it has already started) so I wanted to have everything in place before the rain.

A bit of weirdness seed and plant wise this year. Fortunately, I had many seeds leftover from last year so I luckily successfully started 144 tomato plants in January. I gave many away to friends (probably half of them) and planted the rest.

Odd though, when I placed an order with Baker Creek (rareseeds.com) for a few more, it took about a month to get them. Usually, it is days. And the other place I buy seeds from - seedwarehouse.com - I still have not received those seeds. And usually, I receive them within the week. So I was wondering if folks were hoarding seeds, but when I went to Tractor Supply, they still had gobs of seeds.

I have a terrible time trying to start pepper plants from seeds. It takes a month for them to germinate. Ugh. So I went to town (with my mask on) to try to find pepper plants. I went to three different stores, and they all had Bonnies' Plants and they were all the same plants. Plus, they did not have any 6 packs. They were all the one plant for $4 (3.98) kind. I broke down and bought some, plus some herbs and a couple of cherry tomatoes and it cost me $42. Ugh.

It didn't look like anyone was buying plants? I had checked out Tractor Supply several days ago and it all looked the same. I was trying to find poblano peppers - my favorite. No one had them. I planted some seeds directly in the ground this morning and hopefully, they will do something.

So, are people planting victory gardens and only buying their seeds online?

Are the Bonnie's Plants people trying to make a big profit by only selling expensive plants?

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8 users have voted.

Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

QMS's picture

@mhagle

kinda strange about the seed drought
like healthcare only different
we live with plants
and die by insurance

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5 users have voted.

question everything

smiley7's picture

mail is 30 percent down in delivery time and projected to grow to fifty percent behind in a few weeks. poor folks working on the front-line and to add insult to injury Trump is against bailing the post office out; only peeps from democrats on this issue, money for the service runs out in a couple of months, i think.

Yea to all those tomato plants. Did around 200 one year when gardening on the old homeplace site. Can't have enough tomatoes and so many great varieties providing special tastes.

Familiar with the $4 size Bonnie ripoff, reluctantly purchased some for the window last year. Haven't started my little windowsill yet. Need some new soil.

Hope that rain comes gently and soaks your plantings good. Be safe out there.

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6 users have voted.
Unabashed Liberal's picture

@smiley7

to the Postal Service as part of a so-called "Grand Bargain," I doubt that they'll do anything, except, perhaps, to offer a bit of lip service. Aside from slashing entitlements, the so-called Grand Bargain included a proposal to slash Post Office funding. That proposed cut was one of the hardest to swallow (for me).

This is from Bai's expose,

It’s a remarkable snapshot of the moment, not for the points of contention it exposes, but rather because it illustrates how much agreement Obama and Boehner had actually managed to find.

They ('O' and Boehner) had agreed to reduce discretionary spending — meaning both the defense budget and money used to finance the rest of the government — by about $1.2 trillion over 10 years; it would be up to Congress to figure out how. They also agreed to a list of programs from which they could cut at least $200 billion more in the coming decade. These included an estimated $44 billion from pensions for civilian and military employees of the government; $30 billion from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; $33 billion from farm subsidies and conservation programs; and $16 billion from reforming the Postal Service.

If it's further privatized, or allowed to fold, don't know what millions and millions of rural folks will do.

Mollie

THANK YOU America's Physicians & Nurses, All Medical Personnel, First Responders, To Include Medical (EMT/Paramedics/Ambulance), Pharmacy Personnel, Fire Depts, Police Depts, Retailers/Grocers--Especially, To Marginally-Paid Frontline Retail Cashiers & Clerks.

Last, but not least,

THANKS to America's Truckers/Delivery Persons, Especially, To Over-The-Road/Long Haul Truckers Who Obviously Have The Capacity To Shut Down The Entire Country, If They Were To Choose To Sit Out The Current Public Health Crisis, In Order To Protect Their Own.

You are all truly heroes.

Godspeed. Give rose

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7 users have voted.

Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

mhagle's picture

@smiley7

. . .to provide banking services, as has been proposed. One of my very best friends . . . her husband is a tech dude at the post office in Dallas. He is my friend too.

This is one of the most essential services in this country!! We need to protect it.

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8 users have voted.

Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

smiley7's picture

@mhagle

Bernie's been all over this for years as you know. It would make the service solvent and help protect poor people from the sharks.

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7 users have voted.
Unabashed Liberal's picture

this photo of Golden Retriever "Scout," (Weather Tech).

I do so in memory of your beloved Jackson, and all the dear Goldens who've, sadly, and very prematurely, lost their lives to cancer.

Screenshot - Scout McNeil (Weather Tech Golden Retriever) wtscout @ Instagram.jpg

Here's a link to his story, and attribution to the Instagram photo, above.

A very good boy': Cancer survivor dog will promote animal health in $6 million Super Bowl ad

"There's so many companies selling this snack or this beer," the dog's owner said. "What can I do that's a really good thing to do to help ... animals?"

A bit under the weather, today, with a truckload to do on two projects. Very much appreciate the lovely OT--can't imagine where you find such gorgeous portraits, week after week, but, grateful that you do so.

We're preparing to conduct a local poll to ferret out general understanding of the Original/Traditonal Medicare program. Will probably post some of the results in sig line, once it's been conducted. Our hope is that it will help our Group establish a knowledge baseline, when we conduct the healthcare workshops/forums this summer--if circumstances allow, that is. Smile

Take good care, and stay well. Pleasantry

Mollie

THANK YOU America's Physicians & Nurses, All Medical Personnel, First Responders, To Include Medical (EMT/Paramedics/Ambulance), Pharmacy Personnel, Fire Depts, Police Depts, Retailers/Grocers--Especially, To Marginally-Paid Frontline Retail Cashiers & Clerks.

Last, but not least,

THANKS to America's Truckers/Delivery Persons, Especially, To Over-The-Road/Long Haul Truckers Who Obviously Have The Capacity To Shut Down The Entire Country, If They Were To Choose To Sit Out The Current Public Health Crisis, In Order To Protect Their Own.

You are all truly heroes.

Godspeed. Give rose

FYI

From the website Concierge Medicine Today,

Concierge Care for Congress: Attending Physician of the United States Congress

July 15, 2014

OAP provides members of Congress with physicals and routine examinations, on-site X-rays and lab work, physical therapy and referrals to medical specialists from military hospitals and private medical practices. When specialists are needed, they are brought to the Capitol, often at no charge to members of Congress.[4]

Members of Congress do not pay for the individual services they receive at the OAP, nor do they submit claims through their federal employee health insurance policies. Instead, as of 2009, members pay a flat, annual fee of $503 for all the care they receive. The rest of the cost of their care is paid for by federal funding, from the U.S. Navy budget. The annual fee has not changed significantly since 1992.[4]

and,

Yearly Fee

One aspect of the office’s operations which remains unclear is just how the annual $503 fee is determined.

Until 1992, OAP services were free to members of Congress. But after former Sen. Harris Wofford of Pennsylvania angered members by introducing a bill to make Congress members pay market rate prices for using the OAP, a compromise was reached.

Instead of charging for each service, Wofford said, members of the House and Senate agreed to hire independent consultants to determine the average value of the services offered and to use that amount to determine an annual fee.
“We thought of the pricing much like an HMO,” Wofford said of the compromise pricing model. “The attending physician at the time told me he had no interest in handling insurance or billing for each service available.”

But Wofford said the House and Senate committees tasked with determining the fee each insisted on hiring their own consultants, leading to a split pricing system. According to press accounts from 1992, the Senate set the fee at $520; the House fee was set at $263 for the same care. At some point, sources say, the separate rates were scrapped and replaced with the single fee, now set at $503.

The Office of the Attending Physician refused to comment on the fee or why it has not changed significantly in 17 years, despite rampant inflation in all other areas of health care costs.

Anderson refused repeated requests for the Committee on House Administration to provide details of how the rate is determined or who determines it.

“Members pay an annual fee determined by an independent actuary for use of the OAP services,” Anderson responded each time he was asked about the pricing model.

Gotta put an end to this Congressional Perk, if we hope to ever have a decent healthcare program.

IOW, our lawmakers' current excellent OAP healthcare program allows them to be exempt from any austerity/managed care tools that they seek to impose on the masses, as evidenced by several Dem Party MFA/public option proposals.

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4 users have voted.

Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

smiley7's picture

to copy or download a photo of Jackson in the frost, his last photo, but son sent it on google email in google photo and i'll be damned if i can figure out to get it to this place.

Anyways, sorry you're not feeling well, hope you heal soon.

Big thanks for your continued work on Medicare, always depend upon your research and knowledge, joe's new 60 age idea is crap for the neolibs; gonna have a fight on our hands one day, probably sooner than expected, so all the more we have your good work.

Cheers for the Gold and be safe out there.

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6 users have voted.
Unabashed Liberal's picture

@smiley7

a bad headache.

Hey, if you do manage to download it, would love to see Jackson's photo. (Maybe, sometime, you can re-post the one of him in the water--if I understand it, correctly, that it was him, not another Golden.) It's hard for me to figure out how to download a lot of stuff. I do quite a few screenshots, which seem to be easier to post (for me).

Always thinking of you, hoping that you're able to continue taking all the health precautions necessary to stay well. It's great that you have the proper equipment (N95). Take good care.

Pleasantry

Mollie

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5 users have voted.

Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

smiley7's picture

A federal judge has ruled Kentucky’s largest city cannot halt a drive-in church service planned for Easter. From the Associated Press:

On Fire Christian Church had sued Louisville mayor Greg Fischer and the city after Fischer announced drive-in style religious gatherings were not allowed on Easter.

US district judge Justin Walker sided with the church.

“On Holy Thursday, an American mayor criminalized the communal celebration of Easter,” Walker wrote in his sternly worded 20-page opinion. “That sentence is one that this Court never expected to see outside the pages of a dystopian novel, or perhaps the pages of The Onion.”

Walker added that “The mayor’s decision is stunning. And it is, ‘beyond all reason,’ unconstitutional.”

Fischer had argued that drive-in church services weren’t “practical or safe” for the community. However, Walker noted that drive-thru restaurants and liquor stores were still allowed to operate.

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4 users have voted.
dystopian's picture

Coming soon to a hillside near you: spring wildflower shows. Great pic there S7. Those California spring blooms are hard to beat, but lots of the desert southwest is equally stunning given the right conditions (like AZ). I grew up spending lots of time camping and saw lots of mind-boggling spring wildflower shows. They are hard to beat. Texas can have some pretty impressive shows as well. It is almost that time.

That Golden Salt duo was great, cool stuff man. Thanks!

Have a goodun'

edit - removed an extra letter

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6 users have voted.

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein

smiley7's picture

@dystopian

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2 users have voted.
smiley7's picture

@dystopian @dystopian

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1 user has voted.

I recently had my home's interior painted. In that process, two tile got broken in one of my bathrooms. I scoured every closet, didn't find any extras.
Of course, that tile is discontinued. I now must re-tile the room.
And my yard guy finally got on the tractor to mow my pasture. He says he ran over numerous rat's nests. He says the rats all ran toward my house.
So, I have rat poison. I do not have any aluminum plates or trays to set it out.
sigh...

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4 users have voted.

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

smiley7's picture

@on the cusp

around the house. Because, long-long time ago, i was stepping from the very large living room to the kitchen just as one of the 'roommy's' brought a breakfast cereal box down from a kitchen cabinet and a NY size rat jumped from the box onto the floor of our waking eyes.

Needless to say, the home was on a hillside with meadow on the mountainside.

Haven't had time to give your good piece justice today, went over early, but been talking up a storm here and elsewhere. So good to have friends.

Saving it.

How you doing?

The pressure you opened your essay with, i know well.

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4 users have voted.
smiley7's picture

@smiley7

first walkin' it. Fawns hiding, maybe as many as six to an acre.

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3 users have voted.

@smiley7 I didn't move my dogfood to the barn. I didn't scour the kitchen as thoroughly as I should have.
I returned to a home overrun by rats. It took several weeks before I cleared them out of here.
I had visited a 3rd world country, then returned to a 3rd world home!
I spend a solid day cleaning my kitchen before I grab my bag and head for the airport.
Most of my lawyer pals are wondering where future paying clients will come from. They are all married, I am single. I have some alternatives, but each of them has a downside.
I will adjust. I have no choice.
I look forward to your comments in my essay. You always have thought provoking ideas.

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4 users have voted.

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

CB's picture

@on the cusp
is they can die in crawl spaces and other even more inaccessible locations. If you have never smelled a rat rotting in wall/floor cavities consider yourself lucky. And, no, Warfarin doesn't "dry up" rats so they don't rot. The poisoned rats can also kill other animals.

Try to bait and trap them. The inter-nets have dozens of interesting methods you can experiment with. Consider it an existential challenge. Can you think like a rat? Is your brain superior?

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3 users have voted.

@CB No horses, either.
Killing rats is very tough for me. I am aware they die in the very worst places.
I am traumatized by the sight of a dead animal. I can't kill a poisonous snake, and just knowing I am killing damn rats before they kill me, is still extremely difficult.
I wish I could negotiate with them!
I tried to remove a rat that I had caught in a trap, and it wasn't dead.
I had to call my handyman to deal with it. I was almost hysterical.
I will never do that again.

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3 users have voted.

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

janis b's picture

nothing like a harmonious mixing of comedy and tragedy, creatively melded with humour and seriousness.

Your barbed humour, with the addition of the tearful and profound ‘I Love Faces’, made my day more full and enjoyable.

And thanks all for making it so lively.

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3 users have voted.