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Review: Morning After the Revolution

NASA has shared an image of a truly bizarre-looking galaxy, believed to be surrounded by a "halo" of dark matter. The image – taken by the aging but still extremely useful Hubble Space Telescope – shows lenticular galaxy NGC 4753, part of the Virgo II Cloud of around 100 galaxies and galaxy clusters. Lenticular galaxies are unusual in themselves, appearing to have the central bulge of spiral arm galaxies (like the Milky Way) but without their distinctive arms. There are a few theories about how these galaxies evolved, including that they are older spiral galaxies whose spiral arms have simply faded over time, and that they form during mergers of spiral galaxies.NGC 4753 is particularly twisted, but part of this comes from our viewing angle. Modeling the galaxy, one team found that from "above", it would take on a much more familiar shape."If the twisted disk is viewed nearly face-on, then the galaxy may be misidentified as a barred or grand-design spiral," the team wrote in a 1992 paper. "Since approximately half of all viewing orientations produce spiral or bar-like features, we wonder whether some galaxies which have experienced accretion events have been misclassified as 'normal' spirals."Looking closer at the galaxy, the team determined that the galaxy likely got its shape from an accretion event – attracting more nearby matter through the galaxy's gravitational pull. "This galaxy is likely the result of a galactic merger with a nearby dwarf galaxy roughly 1.3 billion years ago," NASA explains, alongside the latest image of the galaxy. "NGC 4753’s distinct dust lanes around its nucleus probably accreted from this merger event."Studying the visible matter was not enough to explain the galaxy's shape, however. For the galaxy to take its shape, dark matter is likely involved.Dark matter is invisible matter that doesn't emit, reflect, or absorb light, and only interacts with normal matter through gravity. We have never detected it directly, but physicists are very confident of its existence due to precise measurements of the movements and shape of galaxies and galaxy clusters. In fact, physicists believe that there is about five times as much of it in the observable universe than regular matter which makes up the stars, planets, dust, and everything else we enjoy (e.g. Danny DeVito).In this case, astronomers believe that most of the galaxy's mass is in a slightly flattened, spherical halo of dark matter, twisting it – along with visible matter – into the strange and beautiful shape captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. 

An interesting event unfolded in the night skies over Europe as a massive fireball exploded. On May 18th, residents of Spain and Portugal were treated to a rare celestial display when a bright cosmic object entered Earth’s atmosphere at around midnight. This phenomenon, which scientists believe to be a fragment of an unknown comet, blazed through the sky at an astonishing speed of approximately 160,000 km/h. The European Space Agency (ESA) reported that the fireball’s explosion, which occurred about 55 km above the Earth’s surface, produced a stunning blue-green light. ?? | ÚLTIMA HORA Un meteorito iluminó el cielo nocturno sobre Portugal. pic.twitter.com/osYYbzukyR — UHN PLUS (@UHN_Plus) May 19, 2024 Thousands of people witnessed the event, and by the next day, social media was flooded with videos capturing the incident. Here's another view of a meteor that lit up Portugal's sky moments ago.pic.twitter.com/Mz87Soe2ib — Travolax | Travel & Destinations ? (@travolax) May 19, 2024 Such fireballs typically occur when asteroid fragments enter the Earth’s atmosphere, heating up and exploding due to friction. However, the object’s unusual trajectory suggested it was a comet fragment, composed of ice and rock from the early solar system. These fragments often break off as comets approach the sun, leaving a trail of debris that Earth occasionally intersects, resulting in meteor showers. Fireball’s exact origins are still under investigation. The ESA aims to identify the parent comet responsible for this spectacular event. The post Enormous mysterious green fireball explodes over Europe appeared first on Anomalien.com.

A video opens with a heartwarming yet sad scene, introducing a stray dog mother and her four puppies. Living on the streets, their struggle for survival is evident. The camera captures their daily routine, highlighting the mother’s constant search for food and shelter to keep her little ones safe. Each day is a battle against... The post Rescuer goes to save stray dog mama and puppies but then realizes they’re ‘not all puppies’ appeared first on Animal Channel.

God is not a minimalist. Our planet contains over 2 million species of life. On its own, this fact is staggering enough, but rarely do we contemplate its even more staggering implication: Somebody had to go out and find a sample of each and every one. Known as the “father of mammalogy,” zoologist Clinton Hart Merriam took to nature at a young age, collecting specimens of birds with a rifle and preserving them with taxidermy picked up from the retired army surgeon next door. His impressive collection earned him a spot on the 1872 Hayden Survey of the Rocky Mountain West at age 16. Studies in natural history, anatomy, and medicine followed. After a few successful years as a practicing physician, Merriam returned to science, serving as a surgeon on the Arctic exploration vessel the SS Proteus while collecting marine mammals. The relatively new field of mammalogy soon became his primary interest. By the time he was 30 he had more than 7,000 specimens, more than most public collections. Even as his collection grew to encompass more exotic animals, Merriam never lost the sense of wonder instilled by his earliest encounters with creation. Looking through the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology's collection of Merriam's papers, archivist Greg Borman was surprised to discover an ode to the humble squirrel: MVZ Archives Later in his career, Merriam's indefatigable curiosity took him in an unexpected direction. Having long depended on the knowledge of the indigenous locals during his specimen-finding trips to the West, Merriam realized their populations were rapidly diminishing. He abandoned mammalogy and dedicated himself to recording and preserving their languages and cultures. His lack of formal training in anthropological field work proved to be an asset; Merriam's then-unconventional approach of actually conversing with his subjects revealed far more diversity among the Native Americans of California than anyone had previously thought. Merrick's dogged attention to detail and respect for subtle differences did much to advance the cause of America's original inhabitants.

My federal criminal case already had First Amendment implications when the Justice Department decided to charge me in March with four misdemeanors stemming from my reporting at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Now the case may endanger two more basic rights: the right to self-defense and the right to travel.A federal judge on Tuesday denied a motion by my attorneys to have those restrictions removed.My next hearing before Judge Cooper is scheduled for June 3. This one should be interesting.The government absurdly contends that “travel to the District of Columbia is not a ‘right,’ particularly for someone who does not reside in or nearby the District, while on pretrial release.” To be clear, I’m not restricted from traveling to the nation’s capital, but I am required to notify my court-assigned pretrial services officer when I am on my way to the District.District Judge Christopher R. Cooper issued a minute order denying both this contention and our request for the restoration of my Second Amendment right to carry a gun for personal protection. Cooper’s ruling is unusual. By issuing a minute order, rather than responding directly to our legal arguments — case precedents, listed statutes, etc. — Cooper leaves us no choice but to seek an expedited appeal. In simple terms, we have to go over his head.Not a danger or a flight riskThe dispute stems from a motion my attorneys submitted last month objecting to two pretrial restrictions the court imposed on me: that I relinquish my firearms and report all my travel to my pretrial services officer in North Carolina.Because I’m only charged with nonviolent misdemeanors, the government did not ask the court to hold me in pretrial detention. That’s typically been the case with other misdemeanor January 6 defendants. I’m also required to notify my PSO of any interactions I have with law enforcement. Prosecutors made a notable adjustment in my case, however. The standard language reads: “The defendant must report as soon as possible, to the pretrial services or supervising officer, every contact with law enforcement personnel, including arrests, questioning, or traffic stops.”As written, that would have required me to report my meetings, phone calls, and private messages with the many Capitol Police and D.C. Metropolitan Police officers I’ve developed as named and unnamed sources in my reporting. Fortunately, the Justice Department amicably agreed to reword this restriction to exclude those law enforcement interactions.I’m also barred from texting FBI Special Agent Craig Noyes, the lead investigator in my case. That’s probably just as well.The other pretrial restrictions are predicated on two premises — which the government must prove — that I am a “flight risk” and a “danger to society.” The Justice Department obviously doesn’t consider me a flight risk. I’m free to travel internationally if I want. As for any “danger” I might pose to society, I have no criminal history whatsoever. There seems to be no rational or legal justification for taking away my Second Amendment right to self-defense, though the government argues that my North Carolina PSO could be placed in some imagined danger if and when he makes unannounced visits to my residence.In fact, my PSO has told me directly that he does not consider me a risk. The problem is apparently coming from the D.C.-based PSO, who is simply reciting to the judge — by rote — “this is how we always do it.” But that is not always the case. Other January 6 misdemeanor defendants have had their firearms rights restored pretrial, precisely for the same reasons we are arguing in my case.Our objection to the firearms restriction is fairly straightforward: I’ve received numerous threats online, and in two instances, actual stalkers have flown halfway across the country to confront me in person about stories I’ve refused to cover.Our challenge to the notification requirement for when I travel to D.C. is more complex. My legal team believes this presents a “separation of powers” problem because I meet with Congress members, their staff, and various committees’ investigators. We do not believe it is legally appropriate to notify either the Justice Department (executive branch) or the court (judicial branch) of my meetings with members or staff of the legislative branch.A misunderstanding with the judgeHere I should emphasize that my travel restrictions are practically nonexistent. All other J6 defendants are not allowed to visit Washington, D.C., except for court hearings and their trials. The Justice Department did not ask for that restriction on me. The only caveat is the notification requirement. Our objection to it caused an unfortunate misunderstanding with Judge Cooper.I had my first phone chat in April with my North Carolina pretrial services officer, a few days after a Zoom appearance before a Washington, D.C., magistrate that was largely a repeat of my March 1 arraignment in Dallas, minus the leg irons and belly chain. He’s a friendly, amicable fellow who was taken aback at my unique case and my laxer travel restrictions. During that call, I unwittingly told him we’d soon be filing motions to amend my pretrial restrictions.My North Carolina PSO then notified my D.C. PSO of that conversation, and somehow, either by unintended miscommunication or deliberate misrepresentation, the D.C. PSO notified the court that I had “no intention” of following my pretrial restrictions. This resulted in Cooper issuing a publicly posted minute order admonishing me to adhere to all my pretrial restrictions immediately, or suffer the consequences.The absurdity, of course, is that I was adhering to all restrictions that I’d agreed to in my first two court hearings. The only one of those restrictions I’d not yet had the opportunity to fulfill was the transfer of my firearms outside of my residence because I was still in Texas and had not yet returned to North Carolina to empty my gun safe and deliver those weapons to a friend’s safe at his home.My first encounter with Judge Cooper occurred during my April 3 arraignment hearing, during which he needlessly reprimanded me for not complying with my pretrial restrictions. Although I wanted to hit the “privacy” button for a quick consultation with my attorneys to object to this unnecessary directive from the judge, I bit my lip. I uncharacteristically replied, “Yes, your Honor.”To be perfectly transparent, my attorneys had hoped prosecutors would seek a travel ban, considering how much of my investigative work takes me to D.C. That was a much more straightforward constitutional question.I can only surmise that prosecutors had already war-gamed this scenario during the two-and-a-half-month reprieve before my March 1 surrender and decided it wasn’t a public relations black eye they needed.My attorney, William Shipley, highlighted the absurdity of the government’s response on X and then in the motion the judge denied on Tuesday. “This opposition is some of the weakest legal work I've seen come out of DOJ over the past 30+ months,” he wrote. Shipley was a federal prosecutor for more than 20 years.My response was more pointed. — (@) In his motion, Shipley noted: “The fact that neither the Opposition’s author nor any supervisor in the Department of Justice saw reason to question the inclusion of this sentence [“Travel to the District of Columbia is not a ‘right’] reflects the near comedic level of legal “analysis” reflected in the Opposition.”“The constitutional right to travel from one State to another … occupies a position fundamental to the concept of our Federal Union,” Shipley wrote. He continued:It is a right that has been firmly established and repeatedly recognized. In Crandall v. Nevada, invalidating a Nevada tax on every person leaving the State by common carrier, the Court took as its guide the statement of Chief Justice Taney in the Passenger Cases: “For all the great purposes for which the Federal government was formed, we are one people, with one common country. We are all citizens of the United States; and, as members of the same community, must have the right to pass and repass through every part of it without interruption, as freely as in our own States.”Our arguments ignoredJudge Cooper’s latest minute order reveals something far more troubling. After the first one, in which I bit my lip at his admonishment for something I was not doing, I assumed the D.C. PSO had mistakenly informed Cooper of my alleged “non-compliance” with existing pretrial restrictions. This second minute order shows that this PSO is not being entirely forthright with my judge.The first thing Cooper said in the order seems to validate my assumption: “Pretrial Services has informed the Court that it objects to this late-breaking request, citing safety concerns …”Cooper makes it clear that rather than addressing our motion’s legal arguments, he is instead responding directly to the PSO’s assertions. But it’s the next statement in the order that really upset me: “These safety concerns are heightened because of Mr. Baker’s alleged threatening statements directed at specific public officials during the riot on January 6, 2021.”I made no threatening statements before, on, or after January 6, much less any directed at “specific public officials.” This is a falsehood, apparently delivered to Cooper from the PSO. The judge then dropped another one on me: “Second, requiring Mr. Baker to provide Pretrial Service notice prior to entering the District is appropriate given the gravity of his purported misconduct inside the Capitol on January 6, which was allegedly targeted at high-ranking federal lawmakers.”First, there was no misconduct while at the Capitol. None. Second, my jokingly calling Nancy Pelosi a “bitch” happened on video while sharing adult beverages at a hotel in Virginia after I’d left the Capitol. Is this a new legal precedent with which I’m not familiar? Is using non-threatening pejoratives when referring to “high-ranking” lawmakers over drinks now grounds for establishing that someone is a threat to society? If so, the courts should never allow any non-residents to visit our nation’s capital. Who among us is not guilty of referring to lawmakers with all manner of disparaging remarks?My next hearing before Judge Cooper is scheduled for June 3. This one should be interesting. My attorneys intend to address these minute orders prior to that hearing while at the same time preparing the expedited appeal. I may still have to bite my own lip, but I fully expect a spirited demonstration from my legal team. We’re also awaiting a response to House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan’s scathing letter to Matthew Graves, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, outlining “serious concerns” about the Justice Department’s "selective prosecution” of yours truly. Jordan (R-Ohio) demanded a response from Graves by March 26. Jordan has received no response as of publication.

Last week, we heard loud and clear who the Spirit of the Age believes its enemies are.Thanks to Joe Biden’s Department of Justice, we learned ministering to young women seeking to kill their children would be viewed as a high crime, when pro-life activist Lauren Handy was sentenced to nearly five years in prison after she and others blockaded a Washington, D.C., late-term baby-murder facility in 2020.Maybe we should pay better attention to what signals we are receiving this time than we did during COVID.Then we watched tens of thousands of people sign a petition to have Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker fired for saying Catholic things at the Catholic commencement ceremony for the Catholic Benedictine College in Kansas, followed by a letter of disavowal from the NFL itself.Butker clearly would have been better off visiting massage parlors like the Cleveland Browns DeShaun Watson or New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. Or maybe flee the scene of an accident he caused while driving erratically like his teammate Rashee Rice. Or assaulting his pregnant baby mama like Buffalo Bills linebacker Von Miller. Or being charged with assault via strangulation like Tennessee Titans' running back Hasan Haskins.Because there are no petitions to be seen there. That only happens when you uphold the dignity of life, marriage, family, and men and women like Butker did. Yes, the NFL will support the thug life over the good, the true, and the beautiful any day of the week now and twice on Sundays.Maybe we should pay better attention to what signals we are receiving this time than we did during COVID. Maybe we should not let the rogue justice system and the NFL get away with what the National Institutes of Health is doing now, as its representatives admit in broad daylight before Congress what myself and others were censored, shunned, and threatened for looking at data, pointing it out, and sharing it with people like you.We were told Francis Collins, who led the NIH during COVID and only recently retired, was a Christian. We were told he was one of us. If there was ever a time to have a spirit-led, spirit-filled believer who understood that science and faith don't have to be at war, COVID was it.But when it was time for the former head of the Human Genome Project to display the fruit of the spirit during a time when we needed Collins’ leadership the most, we were fed a host of lies and oppression in the form of lockdowns, masks, and poisonous jabs while churches were literally shut down and pastors, in some cases, were made enemies of the state.One of the most frightening verses in the entire Bible is when Jesus says in Matthew 7:21-23, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’"I think that applies to Francis Collins, and I think it will also apply to all of those in power who now fail to read the signs of the times and let pro-life heroes or Kansas City Chiefs kickers be sacrificed to the gods of wickedness and destruction.The shepherds of the flock with the power to do something are without excuse. Everyone must put their C.S. Lewis sorting caps on and decide whether they want to be counted with the Lord or among the liars or the lunatics.To that end, Pope Francis said in an interview over the weekend that conservative Christians are people who “cling to something and do not want to see beyond that. It is a suicidal attitude.”Well, with a hot take like that from anyone claiming to be a Christian leader, pro-lifers can expect to rot in jail whether or not they actually show up to protest at a baby-killing clinic, and it won’t only be commencement speakers who are canceled but entire Christian universities as well.The American Babylon is right around the corner because of the fecklessness and cowardice of our Christian leadership, if we aren’t in fact already living there.

About 4% of people suffer from a disorder called "amusia," which keeps them from recognizing and perceiving melodies and rhythms. As a result, they have no emotional or spiritual connection to music. What does it mean when a person doesn't like music? The sensei of self-promotion also admires the alliterative braggadocio of Eminem. Game recognize game? On the August 29, 2019, episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience," magician and author Penn Jillette described the unique power of music in connecting people. He quoted jazz legend Thelonius Monk, "A genius is the one most like himself." Jillette was a contestant on "Celebrity Apprentice" in 2012 and 2013 and got to know pre-White House Donald Trump. Jillette told Rogan that in all the time he spent around Trump, he never saw him "show any joy or understanding of music." Street Fighting Man Curiously, our 45th president has portrayed himself as an ardent defender of the auditory arts from a tender age. In his 1987 memoir and master class "Trump: The Art of the Deal," the sensei of self-promotion brags about punching his second-grade teacher in the face "because I didn't think he knew anything about music." His 2004 follow-up, "Trump: Think Like a Billionaire: Everything You Need to Know About Success, Real Estate, and Life," doubles down on the title colons — and the claims of musicophilia: “In Trump Tower, we play a variety of music — anything from renditions of 'Moon River' to versions of Rachmaninov's famous piano concertos. Some people call it cheesy, but others love it, and so do I.” Other artists Trump admits to enjoying include Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett. Also Elton John, whose 1972 hit inspired the "Rocket Man" honorific Trump bestowed upon North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The sensei of self-promotion also admires the alliterative braggadocio of Eminem. Game recognize game? Hardly: The artist also known as Marshall Mathers reportedly hates Trump's guts. I and I Still, it's all "one love" for dubmaster Donald, who's been known to relax to the soothing, spliff-burning vibes of reggae. When not blasting "Legend" on repeat like a University of Vermont sophomore on the first real day of hacky-sack weather, the Queens native grooves to the downtown tape-loop experiments of avant-garde composer Steve Reich. Trump's first presidential bid gave him a chance to share his eclectic taste with his fans. At rally after rally he strutted his stuff to a veritable MAGA mix tape of bangers, including tracks by Rihanna, R.E.M., Adele, Guns N' Roses, Queen, and many other artists who requested he cease using their work. Neil Young's "Keep On Rockin' in the Free World" proved especially resonant with Trump's apocalyptic "prophet without honor" persona: "There's a warning sign on the road ahead / There's a lot of people saying we'd be better off dead / Don't feel like Satan, but I am to them / So I try to forget it any way I can." Sadly, the grungy Bernie bro failed to appreciate the synchronicity. Exile on Main Street "You Can't Always Get What You Want" let Trump playfully troll his haters — until the Rolling Stones pitched a fit. Trump's response was that of a true fan: "I have no problem with that. I like Mick Jagger." Her majesty (as Keith Richards nicknamed his preening bandmate) may have abandoned Trump, but the King of Pop always had his back. During their decades-long friendship, Michael Jackson helped the Trump kids stack Legos to make tiny yellow Trump Towers and attended young Ivanka Trump’s ballet recital (a Christmas performance of “The Nutcracker”). The pair got along so well that day that Michael Jackson invited Trump to tag along as Jackson paid his condolences to the family of Ryan White, an Indiana teenager who died of AIDs in 1990. And when Jackson hid out with Elvis Presley’s daughter in the days before their 1994 nuptials, it was at Trump Tower. Can't Stop the Music When Trump lost the White House in 2020, the music didn't stop. Instead, the indefatigable 70-something hit the road for what's becone a Dylan-esque never-ending tour, pumping up the adoring crowds with “Simply the Best” by Tina Turner and the Village People's “Macho Man” and “Y.M.C.A.” If Bill Clinton was our first "black" president, as novelist Toni Morrison famously quipped, perhaps Trump was our first "gay" one. His flair for drama and mastery of camp certainly added life to the moribund Grand Old Party. It's 3 a.m. in America. We've run out of beer and chips. The uptight neighbors have called the cops. We can either choose to pull the plug on the tunes ... or crank them up. I think we all know what the former party rocker in chief would do. Want to get this country back on its feet? It's time to put Donald Trump back on aux.

"It's a mad house! A mad house!" It's been more than 50 years since Charlton Heston's anguished cry in the original "Planet of the Apes" movie, and our mania for America's longest-running sci-fi franchise shows no signs of abating. After a middling remake in 2001, 20th Century Fox gave the series a gritty, CGI-enhanced reboot with 2011's "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," winning over a new generation. Two critically and commercially acclaimed sequels followed, "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" (2014) and "War for the Planet of the Apes."Disney's 2019 purchase of Fox (subsequently renamed 20th Century Studios) left many fans worried that the flailing mouse house would monkey with the property's chest-beating swagger. They can breath a sigh of relief. The new "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes" continues the legacy of quality storytelling and challenging themes that began back in 1968. "Kingdom" picks up decades after the last film in the saga, "War for the Planet of the Apes," which ended the death of Ape leader Caesar (Andy Serkis). The new film follows Noa (Owen Teague), a young ape who lives in a small but peaceful village far removed from the wars that allowed Apes to become the dominant species. Their tranquility is shattered when a ruthless group of apes, led by Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand), pillage Noa’s village, taking the inhabitants captive and killing those who resist, including Noa's father. Fueled by revenge, Noa sets off on a journey to find his family and restore his home. Along the way, Noa befriends the orangutan Raka (Peter Macon) and a human girl, Mae (Freya Allan). Together, they will rediscover Caesar's long-forgotten past, learn shocking truths about their present, and take actions that will shape the future of their planet. "Kingdom" makes it a point to honor both the original film and the more recent trilogy. Although Serkis is absent from this installment, his presence looms large as the characters grapple with Caesar's legacy and how subsequent leaders have twisted it to serve their own selfish purposes. We see this play out in the characters' conflicting visions for the future. Noa emerges as an unlikely champion of Caesar's dream of human-ape coexistence while on either side, Proximus and Mae push for their own species to dominate.Director Wes Ball delivers a sprawling, gorgeous film with big set pieces and stunning cinematography and effects (the motion capture for the ape characters remains top notch). Ball also pays subtle homage to "Star Wars: A New Hope." Noa, a young hero forged by unexpected tragedy and empowered by a dying, ancient religion, is clearly this story’s Luke Skywalker. Raka and Proximus embody the yin and yang of Caesar's teaching, just as Obi Wan-Kenobi and Darth Vader represent the light and dark sides of the Force. By borrowing the structural DNA and thematic resonance of "Star Wars," Ball creates a world that is pleasingly familiar but different enough to stand on its own. Like George Lucas, who created the original trilogy, Bell gets that winking at the audience or playing things tongue-in-cheek spoils the fun. And it gives me great pleasure to say that "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes" is a lot of fun. Pure cinematic, world-building, thematically-rich, adventure-filled science-fiction fun. It’s a rare movie these days that lets you check your apprehensions at the door and leave completely satisfied — especially a Disney movie. But Ball, screenwriter Josh Friedman, and the cast and crew have pulled it off. Let's hope they keep their stinkin' paws on these damn dirty apes for years to come.