Devil's Knob

spaceplasma: C/2012 S1 (ISON) is a sungrazing comet discovered...

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 02:11:07 -0400

C/2012 S1 (ISON) is a sungrazing comet discovered on 21 September 2012 by Vitali Nevski and Artyom Novichonok. The comet will come to perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) on 28 November 2013 at a distance of 0.012 AU (1,800,000 km; 1,100,000 mi) from the center point of the Sun.

Between 5 June and 29 August 2013, comet ISON will have an elongation less than 30 degrees from the Sun. The Spitzer Space Telescope may observe the comet on June 13 and help estimate carbon dioxide production. Around September 2013, it should become bright enough to be visible through small telescopes or binoculars. But the comet is not expected to reach the naked eye magnitude of 6 until November.Assuming it survives perihelion passage, it should be visible to the naked eye until early January 2014.

In October, the comet will pass through the constellation Leo, passing near Leo’s brightest star Regulus and then passing near Mars in the night sky, and these brighter objects might make the comet easier to locate. STEREO should be able to view ISON around 10 October. In November, when the comet is brighter, it will sweep past another bright star in our sky, Spica in the constellation Virgo, and another planet, Saturn. SOHO will be able to view ISON starting 27 November. Around the time the comet reaches its perihelion on 28 November, it may become extremely bright if it remains intact, probably reaching a negative magnitude. It may briefly become brighter than the full Moon.

It is expected to be brightest around the time it is closest to the Sun; however, it may be less than 1° from the Sun at its closest, making it difficult to see against the Sun’s glare. In December, the comet will be growing dimmer, but, assuming that it remains intact, it will be visible from both hemispheres of Earth, possibly with a long tail.

eman-violence: cosmicquake: elvishprincess: thegirlwiththedrag...

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 19:38:19 -0400

eman-violence:

cosmicquake:

elvishprincess:

thegirlwiththedragonairtattoo:

boycourt:

bashi-bazouk:

opposition-rising:

Police Officer Kicks Pregnant Woman In The Stomach For Questioning Them

An officer with the DeKalb (GA) County Police Department stands accused of kicking a woman in the stomach several months ago — a woman who happened to be nearly nine months pregnant at the time.

Jerad Wheeler had responded to a call about a domestic dispute over child custody involving Raven Dozier’s brother. When the situation became heated, Wheeler fired his Taser at the man. Dozier says she then became upset and started crying, at which point Wheeler allegedly kicked her in the stomach.

He also charged her with obstruction of a police officer, though that charge was later dropped.

According to the officer, Dozier was being aggressive, and the kick was a regulation “front push-kick to the abdomen” that “he was taught to do at the academy.” Also, he says it was dark and she was wearing clothes that obscured the fact that she was pregnant.

Five of Wheeler’s supervising officers OK’d the use of force, and no formal investigation took place. [x]

This is actually one of the most disgusting thing I’ve read/watched in my life.

Fuck Cops

You have got to be fucking kidding me

agreed with fuck cops statement

it doesn’t matter who you are, anyone can be a victim of police brutality. anyone.
just think about it, if you work in customer service, how many times have you wanted to punch a rude customer in the face, or shout at the person who isn’t controlling their children? probably several times, but you (usually) don’t act on these impulses because a) you’re not a psychopath b) you don’t want to lose your job.
with cops, they experience the same thing. the ‘rude customer they want to punch in the face’ just because they angered them, or maybe they’re just having a bad day. the difference in this scenario is that cops can EASILY get away with it, without anyone thinking twice. Then the power goes to their heads and things like this happen.
STOP POLICE BRUTALITY.

Kill cops not kids.

After a Killing in the Bronx, a Sentence to Wait

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 17:27:43 -0400

After a Killing in the Bronx, a Sentence to Wait:

sinidentidades:

They brought him into the Bronx courtroom late on that first day of the trial, his prisoner’s chains jingling.

But Chad Hooks, 23 years old and charged with murder, was used to waiting. He had been waiting for three years, seven months and three days at Rikers Island for a trial that never seemed to come.

“I hear the same excuse every time: ‘Not ready,’ or, ‘We’re doing something that’s more important,’ ” he had said at the jail. “I feel like I’ll die here.”

Melissa Lawyer had waited, too. Mr. Hooks was charged with shooting to death her 21-year-old son, Jevon, in a hallway on Southern Boulevard near Hunts Point Avenue in the Bronx. For nearly four years, her hopes for justice had been choked by gnawing worry.

She had had nightmares in which Mr. Hooks was chasing her. She said it meant he would get away with murder.

This little-noticed case at the Bronx County Hall of Justice became a parable of the way delays infect trials with murkiness, mocking the very idea that courts do their best, when it matters most, to find out what really happened.

As the years passed, memories turned hazy. Detectives retired. One witness recanted. Two were lost and then found again. By the time the prosecutors said they were ready for trial on a September day in 2012, a fourth witness — the star witness — had been shot to death in the Bronx. What were left were contradicting claims and missing answers.

The defense said Mr. Hooks was an innocent man who had been tormented to the point of ruin by his wait for justice. The prosecution suggested he was a wily killer using the passage of time to silence the witnesses against him.

In other parts of the country, this case might be old enough to raise questions about whether the Constitution’s promise of a speedy trial had any meaning at all. But this was far from the oldest case in the Bronx, where court delays have compounded for decades, mounting a crisis severe enough to challenge the basic notion of justice.

But now, finally, in that courtroom on 161st Street, the assistant district attorney, April Cohen, rose. There was an expectant rustle in the mostly empty courtroom.

Chad Hooks’s mother listened on one side. Jevon Lawyer’s mother on the other.

The prosecutor’s first words, however, were not about the killing of Mr. Lawyer. They were a request for days off. She had three scheduled. And then she would need a day when her nephew was born and then a day to celebrate the birth.

The judge said he was confused about why a trial had to be put off because someone else was having a baby. “Maybe I’m missing something?” he asked, though eventually the prosecutor ended up getting the time off.

That first day of the trial was the 1,311th day of waiting for Mr. Hooks’s day in court.

fuckyeahmarxismleninism: Family at Mandela’s bedside Family...

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 04:22:12 -0400

fuckyeahmarxismleninism:

Family at Mandela’s bedside

Family members of former South African president Nelson Mandela spent yesterday at his hospital bedside while a watching public waited anxiously for updates on the state of the Nobel Peace Prize winner’s health.

Mr Mandela, who will be 95 on July 18th next, was admitted to hospital in Pretoria at 1.30am on Saturday with a recurrence of a lung infection that has landed him in hospital four times since December.

A short statement released by the South African presidency on Saturday morning regarding Mr Mandela’s state of health described him as “stable” but in a serious condition.

Presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj said later in the day that doctors were doing everything they could to make Mr Mandela “better and comfortable”.

South Africa’s first democratic elected president has a long history of lung problems that date back to his time as a prisoner on Robben Island.

“What I am told by doctors is that he is breathing on his own and I think that is a positive sign,” Mr Maharaj said. “Madiba [Mr Mandela’s clan name] is a fighter and, at his age, as long as he is fighting he will be fine.”

Mr Mandela’s family members were seen coming and going from a military hospital in Pretoria where he is thought to be staying. His wife, Graca Machel, remains at his bedside.

deafmuslimpunx: Huicholes: The Last Peyote Guardians (in...

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 02:11:09 -0400

deafmuslimpunx:

Huicholes: The Last Peyote Guardians (in Spanish with English sutbtitles)

a documentary from Mexico about the Huicholes, an Indigenous nation that still continues its traditions and way of life despite Spanish colonization of Mexico. Located in Wirikuta, central Mexico, the Huichol people are fighting back to save their sacred land from mining companies.

quincourier: Andrew Wyeth Floating Leaves 1958 watercolor Ice...

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 21:49:18 -0400

quincourier:

Andrew Wyeth

Floating Leaves 1958 watercolor

Ice Pool 1969 Watercolor

Week Schedule: June 10th - June 16th

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 19:48:12 -0400

active-rva:

Active-RVA just obtained a donation button. Click here to see what projects we’re planning that require funds.

Ongoing

June is Adopt a Shelter Cat Month: 50% off the adoption fee on adult cats at the SPCA.

The Wayside Center for Popular Education is seeking a car to use in organizing work.

The Rag & Bones Bicycle Cooperative is seeking female bicycle mechanics, or women who want to be bicycle mechanics.

Supporting Prisoners and Acting for Radical Change is looking for insured Richmond residents over 25 to rent vehicles.

The Richmond Reproductive Freedom Project is seeking a location for its staff retreat.

Active-RVA is trying to make contact with the San Francisco Collective that runs Safe2Pee (the Bathroom Liberation Front / Genderqueer Hackers)

Monday 6/10

6-7:30pm: Bridging Cultures: Muslim Journeys at North Avenue Library

6-9pm: Richmond City Council Formal Meeting

6:30-8:30pm: Postpartum 101, from Richmond Doulas

7-9pm: SPARC Membership Development Course #3: Black Nationalism

7-9pm: WMMT’s Calls from Home for Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee Inmates

Tuesday 6/11

On this day in 1971, the United States forcibly removed the last Native occupiers of Alcatraz Island, ending the 19 month occupation.

3:30-7pm: Byrd Farmer’s Market

6:30-8:30pm: LGBTQ Youth Support Group

Wednesday 6/12

12-1pm: “A Look at the Science Museum of Virginia in 2017”: Lunch Break Science

10-11pm: Women-Only Bike Ride

Thursday 6/13

1:40pm: Solidarity with Latin@ Students at Huguenot High School

6:30-8pm: Positive Friends and Allies: HIV+ Discussion Group

6:30-8pm: Transgender Youth Support Group

Friday 6/14

Day 1 of the Elegba Folklore Society’s Juneteenth Celebration

7pm: P.I.C. (Prison Industrial Complex), a play by the Conciliation Project

Saturday 6/15

Day 2 of the Elegba Folklore Society’s Juneteenth Celebration

9-11am: Richmond Clinic Defense

10am-12pm: Community Meeting to Oppose a Stadium in Shockoe Bottom

11am-3pm: Bumblebee Jamboree at Maymont, Celebrating Pollinators

12-6pm: Vegetarian Festival

2pm: Showing of the documentary “Jane: An Abortion Service”

3-5pm: Yoga and a Dialog on Race with Jonathan Miles

5-7:30pm: Peer Support with the Mindful Liberation Project

7pm: P.I.C. (Prison Industrial Complex), a play by the Conciliation Project

Sunday 6/16

12:30-5pm: Richmond Food Not Bombs

Rag & Bones Bicycle Cooperative seeks female mechanics, or women who wish to become mechanics.

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 17:27:42 -0400

Rag & Bones Bicycle Cooperative seeks female mechanics, or women who wish to become mechanics.:

active-rva:

A message from the Rag & Bones Bike Co-op:

“Wishing we had another day of open hours? We are actively seeking female mechanics (trained or willing to learn) to help run a ladies’/queer night on Sundays or Thursdays. If interested please come by the shop during our regular hours, or call or message us!”

whatwhiteswillneverknow: acureforbrainwork: muddypetticoats: w...

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 04:22:06 -0400

whatwhiteswillneverknow:

acureforbrainwork:

muddypetticoats:

whatwhiteswillneverknow:

How to use your white privilege

If the “passing privilege” person is looking at this blog, this is one thing you can do, if you’re up to it.

Reblogging for excellence.

I have really mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I want to say “YES, I absolutely want to use my privilege to call out racist assholes when I can.”

On the other hand, as a queer person, I *know* I don’t need anyone to stand up for me. I don’t need a straight person to swoop in and save the day when I’m perfectly capable of saving myself. But then again, I’d probably appreciate the backup if it was being done with the person’s heart in the right place.

So I don’t know, because I don’t know if someone was being racist and I called them out on it, if the person who was being oppressed would be glad I stepped in, or angry that I fought a battle that wasn’t mine.

As the person who posted this up, I have mixed feelings about this as well, for I am capable of standing up for myself. But sometimes, if the person is trying to avoid a battle, then it at least say something.

If you see a problem and clearly, it’s from a place where there’s an inequality issue, stepping in can help. You may not want to “take charge” of it and sometimes, you don’t need to. Sometimes, standing there and asking “Why” can spark a different conversation, which will enable the “victim” to finally have a stronghold and then place a counter punch (so to speak).

Are you going to always want to do this? No. But by seeing a problem and breaking it up, you can give the victim enough time to turn it around without them looking bad because now, they have a fighting chance.

Body language is key. If the victim starts to get angry, stepping in and saying “what the problem is?” might be enough to defuse the victim’s anger.

So, use judgement. Some of us are capable of pulling things off without assistance, but if you stand there and be like “yeah, that’s not right”, it gives them more power because it’s now “just not them” seeing the problem.

(via Floyd, a Street Cyclists Can Call their Own | Bacon’s...

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 15:16:52 -0400

(via Floyd, a Street Cyclists Can Call their Own | Bacon’s Rebellion)

Photo

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 13:05:49 -0400

noreason2gohome: The Sum of All Evil by The Chapman Brothers

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 10:54:47 -0400

noreason2gohome:

The Sum of All Evil by The Chapman Brothers

Capitalism: Teach a man to fish, but the fish he catches aren't his. They belong to the person paying him to fish, and if he's lucky, he might get paid enough to buy a few fish for himself.

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 08:43:48 -0400

Capitalism: Teach a man to fish, but the fish he catches aren't his. They belong to the person paying him to fish, and if he's lucky, he might get paid enough to buy a few fish for himself.

infoneer-pulse: Girls Dominate Google’s Science Fair With...

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 06:32:47 -0400

infoneer-pulse:

Girls Dominate Google’s Science Fair With Projects On Cancer And Asthma Treatment

Girls dominated the intellectual battleground of Google’s online science fair, which amassed impressive contributions from 10,000 young prodigies in 91 countries. Of the 15 brainiacs flown to Google headquarters to be personally judged by an all-star panel of scientists, three girls, from age groups 13 to 18, took home a coveted trove of scholarships and Lego-based trophies for their contributions to cancer treatment and asthma reduction.

Competition was stiff. These adorably cheery gladiators rose above competitors with everything from brain-controlled prosthetics to natural language computer coding for robots. The grand prize winner, Shree Bose, will be whisked away for an all-expense paid trip to the Galapagos Islands to study marine life at the very footprint of Charles Darwin’s own inspirations over 150 years ago.

» via Fast Company

"Capitalism is a system of relationships, which go from inside to out, from outside to in, from above..."

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 04:22:10 -0400

“Capitalism is a system of relationships, which go from inside to out, from outside to in, from above to below, and from below to above. Everything is relative, everything is in chains. Capitalism is a condition both of the world and of the soul.”

- Franz Kafka

(via pizzavanguard)

Active-RVA now has a donation button.

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 02:11:10 -0400

active-rva:

Active-RVA now has a PayPal donation button. We can accept donations through PayPal or by most major credit cards. To access the button, click on the hyperlink at the top of this post which says active-rva: when you do so, you’ll be taken to the blog proper, and the donation button will be on the left menu.

Donations will be used for the following projects:

1. Subscription to a mass text service, to allow Active-RVA to send text alerts to people who sign up to receive news of events directly to their phones.

2. Business cards.

3. Stickers, fliers, and other advertisement materials, to expand readership.

Combined, these projects should cost, at absolute most, $390 per year.

I- Kat- do the majority of the work on this blog: I compile almost all events, update the blog and Facebook page, update the calendar, put together the weekly schedule, and send out e-mails. All of this must be done, at minimum, every week.

All told, I spend around ten hours a week on this project, every week, just as a baseline- additional side projects, like the citywide accessibility survey or the Active-RVA ice pop stand for abortion access (as part of the National Abortion Access Bowl-a-thon) take more time. I’m very happy to put in the work, because I think that this is a helpful endeavor, but I unfortunately can’t fund it all out of pocket.

That’s where you come in. None of these projects will be very expensive to institute, though the costs will be reoccurring, so it should be simple to fund all projects through small denomination donations. This blog has a combined readership of around 800 people, between Tumblr subscribers, Facebook subscribers, and e-mail list. $1 per person will be more than enough.

aadnesen: this is awesome. Inside outside blurs completely...

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 21:49:33 -0400

aadnesen:

this is awesome. Inside outside blurs completely except for the bedroom box. Could picture this in many different countries.

I have seen similar in japan where the off street parking doubles as a living area.

photos from http://www.dezeen.com/2013/06/01/the-nest-by-a21studio/

"The seven degrees of human happiness: First, to die fighting for liberty; second, love and..."

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 19:38:33 -0400

“The seven degrees of human happiness: First, to die fighting for liberty; second, love and friendship; third, art and science; fourth, smoking; fifth, drinking; sixth, eating; seventh, sleeping.”

- Mikhail Bakunin

I’ve never agreed with Bakunin more

(via marxvx)

did-you-kno: Source

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 17:27:40 -0400

did-you-kno:

Source

Balsamic Roasted Potatoes

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 15:16:35 -0400

werunfree7:

Since it’s the middle of exam season for me, I’ve been living off of take-out, sandwiches, and nachos for awhile now. I decided that an actual meal sounded fantastic, and this recipe is perfect because there is basically no prep time and I got some studying done while the potatoes were in the oven! Fried up some tofu, steamed some broccoli, and I had a lovely meal cooked and eaten in less than an hour!

Ingredients:

Baby new potatoes [yellow or red]

Garlic [Minced]

Olive oil

1 tablespoon Rosemary

1 tablespoon Basil

1 teaspoon Paprika

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

Salt & Pepper

Read More