Today’s another big political day here in the US — lots of primaries, including some that look like they’ll be pretty close. So have a thread to talk politics. Feel free to keep discussing Der Trump in the Trump threads, or here, it’s all good. And feel free to discuss non-US politics here as well. But please, no one use the phrase “Feel the Bern.”
@ EJ
Taking advantage of this being an open thread to ask if you saw the most recent “The Sky At Night”?
They chose their favourite top five space photos. One was a rather nice panorama of the Gale Crater on Mars. They’re got an artist to put it together and work very hard because the chief priority was to accurately reproduce “what it would look like if you actually stood there“.
Maggie Pocock agreed that that was the most important factor in space photography.
Couldn’t help but think of you. 🙂
So what do others here think about Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court? The BBC has a profile of his history as a judge that’s worth reading.
Republicans will probably fight to appoint another judge that is just as heinous as Scalia.
katz: Loved the blog piece on the inherent sexism of so much of the crap that gets hurled at Clinton. I do have one question, though:
I’m aware of Bernie’s gun-control positions, and the problems with them. But is he really to the right of Hillary on women’s rights? I did some checking, and he’s getting 100% on his voting record from feminist groups, and I’m not finding anything that would give me pause, there. He’s definitely as far to the left as I think it’s possible to be on the abortion/contraception issue, specifically, and has been a staunch supporter of VAWA. He even has backed an updated ERA.
(Note: This isn’t to say that Hillary wouldn’t be a more vocal advocate for the feminist position. I think it’s likely that she would, simply because Bernie is hyperfocused on his pet cause of economic justice. And that’s a fair critique [which can be applied to many of his followers as well, sadly]. But I don’t see him signing a bill on these issues that Hillary would veto, for instance, or appointing a SCOTUS justice who would allow further erosion of Roe v. Wade.)
@Alan:
I didn’t see it, no. That sounds amazing. I don’t really get the chance to watch any TV nowadays. Dr Aderin-Pocock is such a badass figure and I love her to pieces.
If I may, I’d like to canvas the opinions of the commenters on the matter of visible-light versus false-colour images. Please feel free to weigh in even if you don’t know anything about astro – your opinion is, if anything, even more useful.
This is the Horsehead Nebula, as seen from Chile.
http://cdn.spacetelescope.org/archives/images/screen/heic1307b.jpg
(Picture courtesy of European Space Agency.)
To the right is the visible-light image of the nebula, how it would look “if you were there.” It’s been ‘shopped to enhance the visibility, otherwise it would be a black shape against a not-quite-black background, but is otherwise human-eyeball-vision.
To the left is a false-colour image of the same nebula. We’ve coloured it in order to make the interesting bits visible: by looking at the colour you can see how hot the different parts are and what they’re made of. This is not how anyone, except possibly robots, would see it.
Which of the two is a cooler image?
Glad you guys liked my post. And that list is only the double standards that specifically have to do with her being untrustworthy. I didn’t even mention any of the other double standards, like her being too old, shouting or not smiling, the splaining and delegitimizing of her mostly-female supporters, the constant harassment of her on social media, the torturing of language, logic, and facts to say she’s a conservative/Reagan Republican/has the same positions as Trump so she can be excluded from the progressive treehouse…I could go on pretty much ad infinitum.
It depends on how you look at politics, but I consider someone more active on an issue to be more progressive than someone who isn’t. So Bernie has voted for women’s rights when it comes up, but Hillary spearheaded the Women in Public Service Project, as just one example. So I’d count Bernie as not being against women’s rights, while I’d count Hillary as being actively for women’s rights.
In cases like Roe v. Wade, it would wash out the same. But when it comes to making further progress, it might make a huge difference.
(But yes, that’s much more subjective than some of the issues where they’ve consistently stated different positions.)
True color always. True color until the day I die.
@ EJ
I thought it would be impossible to replace Patrick Moore; but she’s amazing. That combination of super intelligence, enthusiasm and other wordly eccentricity. She’s also an actual rocket scientist (if you count MOD missile research, which I do).
The programme is on iPlayer. I highly recommend it. Your point cropped up in relation to an amazing picture of the Saturnian system. That too was ‘real life’ but the chap explained how sometimes they tweak them for research purposes. They also had a picture of the sun in far UV and demonstrated how taking pics at different wavelengths helps better understand “space weather”.
As to your survey, I actually like the pic on the right because it looks more like a horse.
(Of course Asimov fans will know the nebula is named for its discoverer, Horace Hedd)
@ Katz
Have you seen any of that “The People vs OJ Simpson” thing? The fourth episode deals with the feedback Marsha Clarke got about her ‘image’ (“optics” is a theme they keep coming back to) and it reminded me a lot of the crap Hilary gets.
Except they ran out of clay before they got to the important parts. Like the parts that help you move.
@EJ
I always like it when they show both versions, but I typically find the false-color images more interesting. It depends on what we’re looking at, though.
Also, since this is an open thread, did everyone hear that the guy who set up the phishing scam that captured the celeb info that was used to steal nudes has pleaded guilty? http://variety.com/2016/digital/news/jennifer-lawrence-nude-photo-hacker-guilty-plea-1201731487/
I like both, EJ, especially since the ‘enhanced’ version is based on something specific (temperature), which is something that can be included in the caption. If forced to pick one, I’d go with true color, but the other is definitely not without merit.
@ kupo
I did. My only thought is: good. I’m glad he’s going to prison.
@ Alan
Speaking of Clark, you might like this essay she wrote for Vox: “I prosecuted O.J. Simpson. Here’s what I learned about race and justice in America.”
Vox has had good recaps and analysis of the show. As has Vulture and Complex. But Vanity Fair has probably done the best research about what’s truth and what’s fiction. VF not only explores the themes very well, like the sexism addressed in episode 6, they’ve made Dominick Dunne’s trial coverage available to read again. Also, the Hollywood Reporter has had several interesting interviews with cast and crew members, like John Singleton, and people who were involved in the spectacle originally.
I’m a little obsessed with the show at the moment, yes.
Also, I’m curious. What do you think of the show? I remember what the experience of watching the trial was like as a kid here in America back in 1993. But, as an outsider to American culture, what’s your take on the show?
kupo: It’s good that he’s going to jail, though I wish it was for longer. My remaining disappointments in the case:
If person A steals the photos, and then later those photos are being widely disseminated, doesn’t that make a pretty solid case that he shared or uploaded them to someone?
On a related note:
I really, really wish that they’d gone after Imgur (which I think is owned by Conde Nast) with criminal charges for trafficking in stolen property. (For those who missed this part, the photos, collectively referred to as “The Fappening”, because of course the were, were up on Imgur and other sites for days, long after they’d been leaked, and Imgur benefited greatly from the increased traffic.) Even if they’d gotten a mild slap on the wrist, it still would’ve established the idea of accountability for hosts of this sort of shit.
@Tragedy of the Commas
I was a little disappointed by the pick when I first heard about it, because I was hoping for someone younger and more liberal. I’ve warmed considerably to it in the last few hours though and I think it’s a smart move to pick someone so centrist an undeniably qualified if he is sure the Senate will block him no matter what.
Save the young, liberal candidates for Clinton to nominate when she wins.
Also, even if the senate does confirm Garland, replacing Scalia with a true centrist is still a step in the right direction. It’s steady progress, like a move-the-chains play in (American) football.
I respect Obama so, so, so much for attempting to govern no matter how difficult Congress makes it. They’ve said they won’t even consider anyone and he’s nevertheless trying to pick a compromise candidate everyone can agree on.
I’d be happier with someone a lot more liberal, obviously, but I’m a big fan of “thoughtful and qualified.”
@ TOTC
I think I may have mentioned that the show works so well because it’s a pantomime about a really serious subject; as was the trial itself.
I’m fascinated by the show (and I’m not a huge fan of TV generally) as I was fascinated by the trial. I’m not a complete outsider to US culture, and especially not to US legal culture but it was/is still interesting to compare and contrast with English legal culture.
Of course, the Simpson trial was not of itself particularly representative of even US legal culture. It was that bizarre intersection of Race and Celebrity that took it out of the norm.
The thing that stuck in my mind, and I think the show is picking up on, is that Darden and Shenk were the only ‘normal’ lawyers, in the sense that they were the only ones who actually seemed to be trying the case in the standard forensic way (i.e. by presenting the evidence to the jury and arguing based on that). All the other lawyers seemed just to be showboating. But of course, that’s maybe what was needed to win the case.
As it happens I think the verdict was the correct one based on the evidence. It was the prosecution that lost that case though rather than the defence winning it. It was a classic example of ‘over prosecuting’ (with perhaps an element of ‘never try to frame a guilty man’ thrown in) and getting distracted from the real issues.
It’s axiomatic in criminal law that 95% of cases ‘try themselves’. That is to say you merely have to get the evidence in front of the jury and the result is obvious. In a tiny proportion of cases (less than 1%) a brilliant lawyer may be able to turn a losing case into a winning one by skillful advocacy, but it’s far more common for a lawyer to actively lose a case.
The prosecution allowed what could have been a slam dunk DV/murder case to become a referendum on racist policing. They fought the defence on an issue of the defence’s own choosing. They were bound to lose that fight and also in doing so they lost sight of the actual issue of proving Simpson’s guilt.
My favourite ever advocacy tutor (who was an American judge) gave what I think is the best advice any lawyer can receive:
“Never miss an opportunity to shut the fuck up”
The Simpson prosecutorial team forgot that and handed the case on a plate to the defence.
@EJ (the other one)
seeing how the republicans are still in control of the legislature after trying to stop any thing from happening, I highly doubt Trump getting the nomination would stop the republicans from being in control of the legislature
@Vetanarnias
nobody is supporting Clinton solely because she’s a woman. If the general American electorate really were as tired of neoliberalism as you are claiming, we would be looking at a totally different political landscape–it’s laughable to claim that voters are tired of the policies of the candidate that’s winning. Also, at the rate at which the republican party is attacking women rights complaining that “yeah, she’s feminist, but she’s a privileged feminist” is just making the perfect the enemy of the good, like good for you that you have time to worry about that but the rest of us don’t
EJ (The Other One): I prefer the visible light variant, but that’s possibly because it is the version I’ve seen ever since I was a kid interested in astronomy, and the infrared variant is new.
However, Trifid Nebula > all other nebulas.
Discuss.
@Kayx and zyvlan
the “issues where she’s left of Sanders (women’s rights) are ignored” especially stood out to me because I’ve seen Sanders supporters try to make the argument that Sanders is a better feminist/stronger on women’s rights than Clinton because he addresses income inequality (which apparently is a women’s rights issue) and all Clinton has going for her is being a woman
Also, thank you for pointing out the smear campaign–a lot of people I know have convinced themselves that she’s the media darling on the basis that she was projected to win from the beginning of the race completely forgetting how nasty the media was to her and Chelsea when Bill was president and how that smear campaign in some ways never ended (I’ve been beating my head against the wall trying to get people to remember that)
I don’t agree that Garland is only a disappointing compromise. Nominations shouldn’t be judged solely through an ideological purity, Bush the First nominated David Souter based on his strength as a jurist and uncontroversial history, a sort of anti-Bork, and he was a superb addition. Souter was great counterpoint to Scalia’s originalism, which, post-retirement, he scathingly described as “only having a tenuous connection to reality”. I was happy with Obama’s more controversial pick of Sotomayor as well, but Garland could be a fine addition if Senate Republicans should to unexpectedly decide to take an interest in governing this country.
Trifid Nebula? Is that a nebula that looks like a giant venomous plant?
@Skiriki:
I have to hang my head and admit to not knowing the Trifid Nebula until you referenced it. That’s gorgeous. I can see why you like it. It doesn’t edge out the Crab as my all-time favourite but it definitely comes right up there.