I’ve got some brewing thoughts about what comes next, in line with and in some cases following what the other front-pagers, made of stronger stuff and able to drag words out rage and despair more quickly than I, have already written.
But Balloon-Juicers do not live by politics alone, however much we may have to over the next months and years. So here’s advance warning of a little bit of wonder, ours for the having:
But this month’s Supermoon is special. The eccentricity above is calculated based upon the Earth-Moon system, but other celestial bodies also influence the Moon’s orbit through gravity. The Sun plays the largest role, but so too does Jupiter and even some of the smaller planets. When factoring in these other influences, the eccentricity of the Moon’s orbit can actually vary by as little as 0.026 and as much as 0.077.
A more eccentric lunar orbit brings the perigee [its closest approach] nearer the Earth, and when this perigee occurs during a full Moon, we get an extra-Supermoon. That is what will happen on Nov. 14, when the Moon will come to within just 356,509km of Earth, which is the Moon’s closest approach since Jan. 26, 1948. The Solar System won’t line up this well again for a lunar approach until Nov. 25, 2034.
That sucker is going to be big, really big. A “normal” Supermoon is 14 % larger and 30% brighter than a full moon at apogee, the point on an elliptical orbit farthest away from the focal body. It’s actually hard to perceive the effect as a casual observer, but it is naked-eye detectable. The absolute peak of the phenomenon comes at 8:25 a.m. ET this coming Monday, but if you’re up early and/or catch the rising moon Monday evening, you’ll get a fine approximation. As they say: check local listings.
One of the consolations/delights I take from nature is the sense of connection to something larger than myself. That’s the same feeling I get from the acts we take to make the world better, from the kindness we show to one person at a time to the actions we’re stumbling to figure out right now, here on this blog and at every turn.
I’m going to stare at that moon Monday (sky permitting) and think of the world I want the next time this particular geometry rolls around, eighteeen years from now. My son will be thirty four then. If I’m fortunate enough to be here with him, I’ll be seventy six. It will be a better world then, if we make it so.
And if it makes me a lunatic to think so, I’ll take that label gladly. Beats the alternative.
Image: Joseph Wright of Derby, A view of Vesuvius from Posillipo, Naples, between 1788 and 1790.
Baud
Nice post title and content. A+
bystander
Nice try at the distraction. “Look up there. No, not that way. Up there, you idiot.”
WTF
We are all lunatics now.
schrodinger's cat
@Baud: How are you this afternoon?
gogol's wife
One of my faves in the Yale BAC.
gogol's wife
@gogol’s wife:
Why is it telling me it’s in Australia? It’s in New Haven, dammit!
Taylor
OT but perhaps relevant to earlier threads: The Mortal Storm is coming on shortly (4:15pm ET) on TCM.
This is the one that got MGM films banned in Nazi Germany.
Baud
@schrodinger’s cat: As well as can be expected. Still too focused on our national tragedy to do some life things I need to do.
You?
seaboogie
I am a moon child (astrological sign Cancer) living in The Valley of the Moon in Sonoma. Will definitely enjoy observing this phenomenon.
3Jane Tessier-Ashpool (a/k/a Lorinda Pike)
@Taylor: Don’t have time to watch it, but thanks for the info. I’ve plugged it in to watch later.
And I’m looking forward to the moon. I think I’d like to be there right about now, but that might not be far enough. Mars, maybe…I’m an Aries.
schrodinger's cat
@Baud: Better than I have been last few days. Yesterday I met with my writing buddies, who are equally devastated at a coffee shop. Almost everyone there was talking about the elections and was horrified at the results. Feels a bit better to know that you are not alone.
Here is a distraction for you:
Malang Malang featuring Aamir Khan and Katrina Kaif, Hindi movie meets Cirque de Soliel, the vocal interlude at 3.40 is awesome.
Litlebritdifrnt
It’s being reported that Trump doesn’t want to live in the Whitehouse full time. He really is like the dog that caught the car, now he’s got it he has no idea what to do with it.
Baud
@schrodinger’s cat: Agree. I don’t like people, but I’m glad I don’t feel so alone right now.
WaterGirl
Have you guys seen the change.org petition asking the electoral college to vote for Hillary Clinton? I voted.
WaterGirl
@Baud: Come on, Baud, you like us, I know you do!
I am headed to the gym for the fourth day in a row because I have this crazy need to feel stronger physically in order to face what is ahead.
schrodinger's cat
@WaterGirl: Petition or a phishing scam for future prosecution?
Omnes Omnibus
@WaterGirl: So did I. You understand that it is extraordinarily unlikely to have any effect, right?
@schrodinger’s cat: Might as well let them know where to find me.
delphinium
Thanks for this Tom! Every time I travel overseas, people talk about what a beautiful country we have and in particular our national parks. There is just so much that is amazing and wonderful in this world. Guess that’s why it is hard for me to completely understand those who want to destroy it due to resentment and spite.
cckids
For those on Facebook, there are some great memes/pics at Motivational Biden. First time I’ve really laughed since Tuesday.
A sample: Obama: “Joe, did you replace all the toiletries in the Oval Office with travel-size bottles?” Biden: “He’s got tiny hands, I want him to feel welcome”.
Go there, you’ll like it.
Central Planning
@Baud:
Would read again!!@! AAA+++
JPL
I just put on CBSN and they showed a snippet of the Trump interview that is going to be on tomorrow night. He plans on continuing his use of social media, because it’s a great platform to use, to correct the media. It sounded like a threat.
Excuse me now while I go vomit.
JMG
@JPL: He cannot understand that his life has changed forever. I’ll bet he lobbies to get back on the Apprentice.
Hal
@cckids: I’ve been posting these all day and yesterday. They are hilarious. Memes to get through the next few months.
Speaking of Facebook, I’m also amusingly watching a couple of Facebook friends get like, so offended you guys!? I mean, come on! Trump’s president. Can’t you just accept and believe in him!!?? I guess because he’s supposed to be a racist, I’m a racist because I voted for him??
I wish irony was a source of renewable energy, because Trump supporters asking people to be kind and considerate, and not react with anger or hatred could power this country for generations.
Karen Andrews
now for a different take. Ok, I have realized that the Trump presidency and the far right government takeover will most likely result in the end of America. But maybe in a fast changing world globally entwined our time was up. What I mean is this- while the us has contributed a lions share of technology etc to the world, we are a nation en thrall to a bunch of smart guys who wore tights and our government structure has not really evolved or changed in 250 plus years. Yes, there’s been stability in that but it’s also a system that is ripe for sclerosis and I dare say death. for example- the failures of the electoral college system are becoming more manifest and now that one of the two parties controls the media there is little in the way of significant pushback. I fail to see how millions of people who are at least progressively inclined will enjoy being run over roughshod by a bunch of troglodytes from Kansas and Kentucky; this cannot be a healthy sign of democracy which should by necessity be a more fluid expression of human dignity and achievement. Perhaps the solutions will come but have little to do with the parties – it might have to be structural. Why can’t there be more senators and representatives? should the Supreme Court be expanded?
Look I admire the founding fathers but it seems silly to have such reverence for a past where people didn’t even have plumbing, sanitation etc.. The us is one of the oldest democracies in the world but does that mean we can’t adjust?
These are just musings on my day off but
Perhaps as our nationhood concept has experienced an ele event, some major shifts can and must be entertained to evolve.
Thank you
Tom Levenson
@Hal: Oh, I got a meatspace acquaintance, a member of my congregation telling me that I’m the real Nazi because reasons. He’s been told to off-ge-fuck.
Downpuppy
I’m looking forward to the Boston waterfront Tuesday morning, around 11:08. Last months pictures collected by mycoast are pretty good, but cn be topped.
Steeplejack
@Tom Levenson:
Maybe you could quit mooning at the moon for a bit and fix your post to reflect the fact that November 25, 2034, is 18 years out, not 28.
ETA: Feel free to delete this. Not trying to score points, just editing for accuracy.
Baud
@Steeplejack: Time goes by so quickly.
Gin & Tonic
As if things weren’t bad enough, now I find out that McSorleys Old Ale House has been shut due to health code violations. “Rat activity.” Can you imagine? Rats in a 162-year-old saloon in New York City?
Gin & Tonic
@Baud: It flies like the wind.
WaterGirl
@schrodinger’s cat: If we’re afraid to sign petitions, then we have already lost.
I could not understand why, when I was a senior in high school, my mom was so worried and afraid when I signed a petition. I had no idea then of the Committee on Un-american Activities. Yeah, I’ll think twice now before signing a petition, but I hope to god that I am still willing to put my voice on the line for the good of our country.
I took a quick look at the most recent newsletter from Al Giordano as I was heading out the door to the gym. I assume you guys already know that he has a more person fight ahead of him – radiation and chemo for cancer. I feel terrible for Al, and I also feel a bit more lost because I was really counting on his voice to help see us through this wilderness.
3Jane Tessier-Ashpool (a/k/a Lorinda Pike)
@JPL: Oh, let him have at it! Unrestricted 3AM tweets. That is when his id totally takes over, and his minions have to bring in the weapons-grade pooper-scoopers to clean up the shit.
Let it happen A LOT before December 19th – until the Electoral College vote, when they will determine that they and they alone can save the country and the planet from this… shall I say it… LUNATIC!
schrodinger's cat
@WaterGirl: FBI got Hillary, former First Lady and Secretary of State and a two term senator, abundance of caution is not unwarranted.
Mary G
I love these isn’t nature amazing posts, and I will try to check it out Monday.
This.
Steve in the ATL
@Baud:
You and me both, brother. I have not had one happy moment since…THAT happened.
WaterGirl
@schrodinger’s cat: If President Obama can stand up in public and say that Dump is unfit for office, and if his press secretary can even confirm this week that, yes, that is still President Obama’s position, then I can sign a petition that says the same thing.
Karen Andrews
@Mary G: the earth will go on with or without us. The mountains and tides will outlast us – the universe in all its fiery glory rises above petty human squabbles. We are small and finite.
cckids
@Hal:
Send them to Scalzi’s site; he’s got a great write-up.
Steeplejack
@Baud, @Steve in the ATL:
Me, too. I have a small work project that I am late on and blocked on. I just can’t concentrate. I’m like: “Okay, gotta get this done. Let’s look at these specs here and holy shit I can’t believe that Donald fucking Trump is the goddamn president!” And my mind is off to the races again.
Brachiator
@Karen Andrews:
Democracies in the modern sense are both rare and fairly recent. Tyranny is a perennial that requires little in the way of adjustment.
Tom Levenson
@Steeplejack: Ah feck it. Will correct
Steeplejack
@Baud:
Want to make a joke so bad but I promised radio silence.
Major Major Major Major
What a cool painting!
schrodinger's cat
@WaterGirl: You go ahead then. I don’t want to fall on a sword for a largely ineffectual gesture that is not going to go anywhere.
NotMax
Nonsense. The circle is the perfect orbit. When the Earth and the Moon were created 6000 years ago they were made perfect and ever since travel in circles.
You must be a witch.
schrodinger's cat
@Tom Levenson: Math is hard. Did gastritis break your calculator?
/ducks
BTW how is the magnificent beast?
Steeplejack
@cckids:
Your link is totally fucked. I presume you mean “The Cinemax Theory of Racism”?
By the way, for your commenting pleasure, I believe FYWP is allowing naked links now.
Gin & Tonic
@Steeplejack: Removing pants as I type this.
Tom Levenson
@schrodinger’s cat: Trumpitis.
JPL
@Tom Levenson: Watch you language, young man. Yesterday when my son stopped by for a visit, he signed on to CNN using my roku. During one the Breaking News segments about Trump, out of frustration I spoke using my loud voice and said, it’s not fucking breaking news. My son calmly said mom, you have to watch your language. We’ve come full circle in my family.
Baud
@Gin & Tonic: I’m impressed with your one-handed typing ability.
Tom Levenson
@JPL: ;-) I’ve given up. My son just sighs.
JPL
The last several days, the wind has carried the smoke, due from wild fires in North Georgia, over much of the Atlanta area. I hope that we can see the moon.
Geeno
Madison Square Garden as the new Nürnberg – calling it now.
RobertDSC-Mac Mini
America was always great. We landed men on the moon.
Gravenstone
@JMG: I can’t decide if that will be the only thing keeping Twitter afloat, or if it will expedite its demise.
Gin & Tonic
A friend of my wife’s sent her this, I guess it’s going around on the book of face, but if you make your donation to Planned Parenthood in the name of Mike Pence, they will send him a nice certificate thanking him.
Gin & Tonic
@Baud: It was tricky, but you have to bring your “A” game if you’re going to comment here. I certainly don’t have to tell you that.
schrodinger's cat
@Gin & Tonic: This sounds like the lefty equivalent of sending Olympia Snowe bags of salt. The time for these cutesy protests is over.
delphinium
Speaking of irony, got an email from a relative that one of the reasons that Trump won was tied to the fight over the NC transgender bathroom law. So…the people who put this law in place due to fear of sexual predation then actually went out and voted for the candidate who has openly bragged about sexually assaulting women? Still trying to grok that one.
Gin & Tonic
@schrodinger’s cat: Sending salt to Snowe was stupid. Making a contribution to Planned Parenthood is useful.
Omnes Omnibus
@schrodinger’s cat: This one does get needed donations to PP.
schrodinger's cat
@Gin & Tonic:.@Omnes Omnibus: Yes but doing it in Pence’s name is stupid
Omnes Omnibus
@schrodinger’s cat: Maybe some people feel that they have to do something, anything.
Poopyman
If you want more perspective, looks like we’ve been downsized again. Or maybe it’s just the universe getting upsized:
The Universe is 10 times more vast than we thought
On earth, we’re only half-vast.
Tenar Darell
Hoping that I’m not thread jacking, since it is Technology….
I’m researching a fast VPN service for macOS and iOS. I’ve read a few articles, and now I’m trying to figure out if I should
1. try out one of the free VPN services
2. or skip directly to free trial of a paid service
3. which of the many out there are both fast & secure & work well with Apple devices, but could play well with Android (if necessary)
Suggestions welcome. Whether you’re simply telling me what you like to use, or if you have that perfect Consumer Reports style review that would help me figure this out.
All suggestions welcome.
Phylllis
@Steeplejack: Same here. I spent yesterday at work alternately playing Soda Crush and surfing on my iPad via my phone hotspot. And I don’t feel a damn bit guilty about it, which tells me my decision to move on in a year and a half was the right one.
Karen Andrews
@Brachiator: I’m saying though that systems become ripe for bad shit if they don’t evolve
J R in WV
@Tom Levenson:
Another correction is needed. The link to the Sky and Telescope article starts with vhttp, which won’t ever resolve to a real web location. Delete the “v” to fix that.
Could happen to anyone. Has happened to me, 4 sure. The default junk in the link button’s coding should be deleted.
Steeplejack
@Phylllis:
I did call the client Thursday, and she was just as out of it as I was. So my minor consolation is that I’m not crimping her productivity yet. Hope to get over the hump tomorrow and start the new week fresh.
enplaned
Given the number of people who reacted to Trump’s victory with outright shock, grief, horror, it’s apparent that many didn’t think it possible. I know several people who just never allowed themselves to contemplate a Trump victory — it was so totally outside what they viewed as possible they saw a Hillary victory as a foregone conclusion. As one person I know said on Nov 10, it’s like the whole thing was a April Fool’s joke that got out of hand.
I wonder how many people now regret their actions (or lack of same) pre-Nov 8? How many now, given the opportunity, would have given more money, volunteered, not dallied with a third party vote, rallied, etc? I was never enthusiastic about Hillary because I *knew* she could lose. It’s why I donated the max, it’s why I bullied my parents into doing the same, because it was so clear she could fuck it up and the country couldn’t afford it.
For people who only now are getting off their butts, especially people of means, education, agency, etc, I have limited sympathy. They finally learned a valuable lesson, but the price of that lesson is incredibly high — many vulnerable people, whether of limited-means, a minority, someone disabled, etc, will suffer needlessly. Those are the people who deserve our full sympathy.
Ripley
@Tenar Darell: I use Private Internet Access, a pay service that’s compatible with Apple products. Generally works well, good support, reasonable pricing. I’ve learned through experience to wait out software updates, though, as they’ve let a few buggy releases through. One thing: running it through a range extender results in occasional random connection failure, so have the auto kill switch on if you’re downloading anything.
J R in WV
@Steeplejack:
Then let me be the first to say the link should be:
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/supermoons-a-unique-observing-challenge/
and not:
vhttp://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/supermoons-a-unique-observing-challenge/
and there!
Steeplejack
@J R in WV:
I believe FYWP has been fixed to allow naked links now.
Test: “It’s Getting Better.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh2j-pPxYKM
ETA: That worked. Yee-haw.
Phylllis
@Steeplejack: Same here. If I buckle down next week, I can pretty much get all my projects to the ‘auto-pilot’ stage so I won’t have to bring any work home over Christmas break.
Tom Levenson
@J R in WV: @J R in WV: Thanks. Fix’t
Gin & Tonic
I’m not going to link to Politico, you know where to find it, but this lede that was in my Google News feed just now made me laugh.
It’s going to be four years of this. People around PBO or HRC could (generally) pull in the same direction and keep their mouth shut because they believed in the person and his/her ideas. Trump people don’t believe in anything, and hang around him just for the money. They’ll be backstabbing non-stop, worse than a clique of middle-school girls. It’ll be glorious.
gogol's wife
@delphinium:
They were never afraid of sexual predation. They’re just bigots. Perfectly consistent.
rikyrah
‘We are witnessing the politics of humiliation’ – Siri Hustvedt, Joyce Carol Oates and more on the US election
……………..
Siri Hustvedt
There is an old phrase often credited to the American demagogue Huey Long, but which was actually written by an obscure American professor: “When fascism comes to America, they will call it Americanism.” It has come, and it has come by public vote. I am convinced that we are witnessing the politics of humiliation. People who grew up with a powerful sense of white, masculine privilege (as well as others who sympathise with that image of power), people for whom that sense of superiority was always precarious and always needed protection, found in Donald Trump a figure for their own fantasy of the restoration of an era now gone.
The demographics in the US have changed. Growing numbers of Hispanic and Asian people, as well as a larger black middle class and more women in positions of influence, serve as an affront to the fantasy. “Those people” are held responsible for the white man’s fall from grace, just as the Jews were blamed in Germany. Obama, a highly educated, elegant, moderate and well spoken black man who was president for eight years, fed the racist fear of the Other. His very presence was an offence. From this point of view, electing a woman would add insult to injury.
The role misogyny played in this election should not be underestimated. Hillary Clinton lived squarely in the world of realpolitik. Those who voted for Trump are living in a state of vicarious narcissism. The man’s grandiosity, his sense of entitlement with impunity, his open cruelty toward women, minorities and disabled people were adopted by identification. Policy did not matter. Reality did not matter. He made humiliated, emasculated white men (and the women who identify with them) feel better about themselves. Now all of us will pay for a collective fantasy that belonged to only half of us.
otmar
The lunatic is in my head
The lunatic is in my head
You raise the blade, you make the change
You re-arrange me ’till I’m sane
You lock the door
And throw away the key
There’s someone in my head but it’s not me.
And if the cloud bursts, thunder in your ear
You shout and no one seems to hear
And if the band you’re in starts playing different tunes
I’ll see you on the dark side of the moon
gogol's wife
I don’t have the stomach for this right now, but some may find this syllabus on Trumpism to be informative.
Virginia (fka Abo Gato)
@Taylor: Thanks for the heads up. I have been watching it and find it to be painfully relevant. These movies were made then because Americans wouldn’t put up with this shit. Today they wallow in it. This whole week has made me so, so sad.
Pogonip
I’m sitting here looking at the moon right now. It’s nearly full, big and pretty, but I can’t say it looks unusually large.
Steve in the ATL
@Phylllis:
I travel a lot, but I have not been to my office in month, and may but not see it again until close to Christmas. I’m deep into DGAF territory.
jenn
Ta-Nehisi Coates gave a keynote speech on Wednesday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MPbVUJIQHM
I always find hearing/reading him worthwhile, and this is so from the heart. I am also in such admiration that he was able to get up in front of what I think were hundreds of people and speak so eloquently and sincerely as he did, the day after the election.
Phylllis
@Steve in the ATL: Yep. I emotionally disconnected from this job about six months ago. Now I see it as a series of tasks to complete for the next 395 days.
Mnemosyne
@schrodinger’s cat:
I know it’s a completely meaningless and ineffectual gesture because this is the Internet, but Imma give you a hug anyway.
(((((hug)))))
And I’m going to keep wearing my safety pin. Fuck the alt-right. They stole the election, they’re not going to steal my symbol, too. They’ll get bored with wearing it long before I do.
Pogonip
@Mnemosyne: I missed something. Please, what is all this about safety pins? (I never read the alt rite stuff because they make up so many of their own words it’s too much of a chore. They should have a lexicon like Cole’s.)
debbie
@schrodinger’s cat:
They rack up enough donations, he could become a charter member. The shame of it is well worth the price. I like the subversiveness of it. PP is getting the money either way.
Stick it to them whenever you can.
Mnemosyne
@Pogonip:
During WWII, people in occupied (I think) Norway started wearing paper clips or safety pins on their lapels to symbolize their resistance to the Nazis. People on Facebook proposed doing the same thing. Neo-Nazis also on Facebook saw that, put on safety pins, and started screaming at or beating up people to try and destroy the symbolism.
I say, fuck that, and fuck them. If gay people were able to reclaim the word “queer,” we can defend the safety pin from the fucking neo-Nazis. I am not willing to meekly accept their attempts to separate me from my fellow Americans on the basis of race.
debbie
@jenn:
Thanks for that link.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Gin & Tonic:
It’s worth saying, it could be worse, they all could be true believers in lock step. It won’t deal with the racists who feel they can let their freak flag run free, but at lest this won’t become law of the land.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@Pogonip:
Informative Vox article here.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@rikyrah:
I am white and male and I will never get that. Ya’ women can be a whiny pain, nit picky, self absorbed pains the ass sometime, so can kids. How does that cut off your dick? Listening to them bitch and complain is just the sign that your the alpha ape because they all want you to make it better for them. It’s like there is some desperate need for a mommy among a lot of guys.
It’s like watching that whole Gammer Gate thing on You Tube, yes, the “feminist” were a pack of snippy trolls, but those guys deserved to trolled and covered with a mound of shit the way their feelings were so delicate that even the thought of game with a strong woman character was like a kick to their love basket and how every woman had to just sit their and give them unconditional approval. So what are these emotional retards going to do if they have a woman boss or just expect to get laid?
Would The Duke approve of this? I think not.
Pogonip
Thanks for the safety pin explanation, explainers
Dadadadadadada
@WaterGirl: I forwarded that petition to literally every email contact I have, including people I don’t even remember. I hope someone paid attention.
NotMax
@Tenar Darell
This page might be of help.
Mart
Driving a couple hour west of Omaha the other day I was like, holy cow that is a big moon, and what is it doing on the horizon at 1 in the morning?