I’m not procrastinating.
I’m practicing strategic patience.
#procrastination #professor #ProfessorLife #academia #AcademicMastodon @academicchatter

Sometimes you get a #sunset that just keeps giving. Tonight’s ended up being one of the most colourful sunsets I’ve ever seen.

This is the Salish Sea in Victoria, BC, (Canada) looking toward Port Angeles, Washington.

(this was January, 2023, so I have muted notifications on this post -- but I'm thrilled people love it.)

#photography #nature #colour #ocean #pacific #pnw #bc

#Introduction

I'm a physics professor at Duke University. I study particle physics and cosmology. I'm a long time member of the Super-Kamiokande neutrino experiment in Japan and now focus on trying to understand the nature of Dark Energy with the @VRubinObs.

I am also a member of the Rubin Observatory commissioning team. I took this photo working in Chile. It shows how far along the observatory already is. Look at the cars to get a sense of scale!

#astronomy #physics #cosmology #astrodon

Avila Beach Pier

Just off oh Highway 101 where the highway meets the central coast of California is a little town of Avila. There's not much to the little town but what is there is cute and well worth the visit.
The fog that had blanketed Pismo Beach had tried to extend it's reach into Avila. This made for some interesting light as the sun was just starting it's retreat over the nearby cliffs.
See the full image here: https://fineartamerica.com/featured/avila-beach-pier-bill-gallagher.html #aYearForArt #BillGallagherPhotography #AvilaBeach

ART🌻 HANG IT, WEAR IT, SIT ON IT, GIFT IT

#GiveArtNotCandy ❤️ Give Them The Gift Of Art!

Soooo much water in California and the west coast. Thinking of you and hoping the best....

"RIVER DEEP MOUNTAIN HIGH"

See It Here : https://lynnie-lang.pixels.com/featured/river-deep-mountain-high-abstract-yellow-blue-white-water-lynnie-lang.html

Hope I #MadeYouSmile

#ArtMatters - Please share art with the world

#AYearForArt #MastoArt #mastodon #art #artistsonmastodon #artist #abstract #abstractart #painting #fediart #prints #floods #river #storm

I'll admit to experiencing schadenfreude watching Kevin McCarthy fail over and over again. It's like he's channeling the Bill Murray character in Groundhog Day, except in this case the "girl" he's trying to get is the House speakership. But as enjoyable as this has been to watch, McCarthy's folly has resulted in an extra special bonus. Because there is no speaker, the House has not been able to conduct any regular business. And that means that as of this moment, George Santos is still not officially a member of Congress.

#McCarthy #Santos #Politics

@setha45 @QasimRashid Great point.

@QasimRashid You need to prove intent to do harm, or at least that they knew harm was a likely result of their actions. That's not the same thing as proving they knew they had antiquated computer systems (which they obviously did). It's a tough hurdle to leap over, and it's why these sorts of cases almost always end up in civil court.

@heffa @QasimRashid Here's the legal standard for criminal gross negligence: "Gross negligence may be punishable by criminal law if the negligence committed is also found to be reckless."

So it would come down to proving "recklessness." To do that, you'd have to prove that Southwest knew that their actions would likely cause significant harm to others, and proceeded anyway. That gets into proving state of mind, which in a situation like this would be difficult.

@QasimRashid I doubt any prosecutor would file charges. Fraud requires intent, and to prove intent here you'd have to prove that Southwest knew for a fact that their systems would be overwhelmed by the combination of near-unprecedented weather and a crush of holiday travelers, and that significant harm to their customers would be the result. That would be a hard case to make.

For the SF Chronicle, I wrote about getting canceled from #twitter (& switching to Mastodon):

It’s an honor to get canceled by Musk, who is welcoming neo-Nazis back to Twitter while banning reporters. Still, it’s admittedly terrifying to see him cross the bright red line of declaring outright war against freedom of the press.

Twitter has become a virtual simulation of authoritarian rule.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/elon-musk-twitter-ban-censorship-17680044.php

@QasimRashid This is probably an unpopular opinion, but if running your business poorly were a crime, no one would ever start a business. But you can bet the Southwest debacle will be addressed in civil court through one or more massive lawsuits. And many customers will take their business elsewhere. Add in likely government action, and this will be a hugely expensive holiday season for Southwest.

A full rotation of the Moon in high resolution created from photos captured by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft.

Source: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200719.html

Credit: LRO/ASU/NASA

@lifeinneon It seems there was an ironic meaning to "Full Self-Driving" that Elon never considered.

#ElonMusk #Tesla

@juddlegum He lied about having *two* degrees from two different schools. That takes some real hutzpah.

@Joaquincastrotx Congress doesn't have to expel him -- it could just refuse to seat him in January. But the odds of the new Republican majority doing that are slim to none.

#Politics

Big Journalism is still largely unwilling to call things what they are. Today's example is the Washington Post's use of "vaccine hesitancy" to describe a movement that is based on rejecting science and evidence in favor of dangerous and, increasingly, politically motivated lies.

The people who reject vaccines are attacking their communities. They spread disease and death. We should recognize this, and say it out loud.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/12/26/vaccine-hesitancy-measles-chickenpox-polio-flu/

I spent six years living in a falling apart hunting shack in northern Wisconsin with a living room window that overlooked Lake Superior.

One of my favorite things about being there was watching storms roll in across the lake.

Extremely lucky to get this shot by waiting for the lightning to start and repeatedly mashing the shutter button.

#photography #storm #lightning #longexposure #lakesuperior #wisconsin

@SpockResists It's disturbing to think that people will still be gifting ugly Christmas sweaters in the 23rd Century.

@bluerootsradio Thanks for your original post!