#North Atlantic to Pacific

[amoghbanagere915]

National Aquarium, Baltimore

May 15th, 2023 – After Amogh’s Chess Nationals (K-6) Elementary Championship, we visited the National Aquarium of Baltimore. 2023 National Elementary (K-6) Chess Championship in Baltimore Continue reading Untitled

[1nt3rnalpu7ref4ct10n]

s1e9

[hersurvival]

Forever bound to the west coast,

Holding onto trauma with both hands -

Cold, dark, and endless as the Pacific.

And though I have been to the east coast,

The Atlantic never felt like home-

Too warm, too shallow,

Too healing in its abundance of salt.

@nosebleedclub May 22nd - Eastern

[zponds]

My Friends’ Tribute to Rachael Lillis

Hudson: Thank you, Rachael Lillis, for your job in voicing Misty Waterflower and Team Rocket Jessie.

Jason: You did a fantastic job with voicing those two, Rachael.

Perry: As well as Jigglypuff.

Torpedo: And Ursula from Dinosaur King.

Freddy: Regardless of how many voice roles you had, you did a great job voicing them all, Rachael.

Glenn: You brought joy to 90s kids with your role as Misty.

Otto: And Jessie and Jigglypuff too.

Madeleine: Your roles as those Pokémon characters will always be cherished.

Jimmy Guord: And you yourself will always be remembered and cherished.

Union: Your legacy will always be remembered.

Wasatch: Especially your legacy as the OG Misty and Jessie.

Peter Sam: We will always remember you and carry your legacy with us all.

Centennial: Rest in Peace, Rachael Lillis.

Rebecca: May you find peace in the afterlife.

Jessica: You deserved to live a healthy life full of happiness and love and joy.

Artemis: Veronica Taylor and Eric Stuart will miss you dearly, as they’ve been with you since the beginning.

Queen Roanoke: Your loss has not only left a major impact on the Pokémon community, your sister and your fellow actors, but also us locomotives.

Daylight: You didn’t deserve to pass away from breast cancer.

Zane: You were very cheerful and generous, always happy to greet those who wanted to meet you… especially in person.

Cincinnatian: We hope your sister, family and friends will be okay.

Chief: May God watch over your kind soul and be in peace.

Angeles: May we, including Veronica and Eric, one day, be reunited with you.

Rudolph: Your personality was as cheerful as your voice.

Angelo: Let us carry your memory within us forever more.

Donohue: May your soul join the purest and kindest of all.

Judith: You lived a legend and died a hero.

Stella: Until the day, Rachael Lillis, till all are one…

Red Robin: Till all are one…

Jewel: We all hope you find eternal peace up in heaven, being watched over by God. Rest in Peace…

These are the tributes that some of my friends from the 20 American railroads said for Racheal Lillis. After I told all my friends from the 20 American railroads about the passing of Rachael Lillis, they were all as devastated as I was. And they too wanted to pay their tributes to the OG Misty and Jessie.

[terry-the-insane]

Animal of the day for October 27: Lamprey (Order Petromyzontiformes)

Dating all the way back to the Devonian, lampreys are one of the only two remaining orders of jawless fish. These fish are typically filter feeders as juveniles, but once they become adults they are parasites that feed on the blood of other fish.

[asurrogateblog]

it was WAY easier than I thought it would be to find out what kind of bird is singing at the beginning of Goodbye Blue Sky. anyway it’s a Eurasian Skylark

[xtruss]

Global Times Editorial: North Atlantic Terrorist Organization’s (NATO’s) Hidden Agenda Against China Exposed In Advance By “Braindead Puppet Lithuania 🇱🇹!”

— Global Times | July 07, 2023

Illustration: Liu Rui/Global Times

North Atlantic Terrorist Organization (NATO) is set to hold a summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, next week. As the host country, Lithuania appears both excited and impatient. A significant part of this sentiment is reflected in its provocation of China. At the same time, several other NATO members also appear to have coordinated in their approach to Taiwan Island. These have all exposed the coming NATO Summit's Malicious Intentions Toward China. This cannot be ignored by the Chinese people, who must remain vigilant.

About a week before the summit, Lithuania, mimicking the US, announced its so-called Indo-Pacific Strategy. The most eye-catching part of this 16-page "strategy" is its statement on the Taiwan question, emphasizing "the development of economic relations with Taiwan is one of Lithuania's strategic priorities." It even shamelessly drew a "red line," claiming that the status quo in the Taiwan Straits "cannot be changed via the use of force or coercion."

This is another display of Lithuania's "tough talk" and arrogance, after the country and Taiwan island mutually established representative offices, which led to a sharp deterioration in Lithuania's relations with China. If there had been no one to back it up, Lithuania would not have been able to provoke China for this long, nor would it have been so brazen in doing so.

It is bizarre that a Baltic country with a population of less than 3 million, located in the direct radiation zone of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, has come up with an Indo-Pacific Strategy. Many of its wordings for the strategy are familiar, as if they have been directly taken from the US rhetoric toward China, only this time they are being voiced from Lithuania. What is even more jaw-dropping is that Lithuanian foreign minister claimed that "with the Strategy having been approved, Lithuania now finds itself among global leaders 😂😂😂." Only someone completely lacking self-awareness could make such a statement. Lithuania is by no means a "global leader," but the incident has become one of the biggest international laughing stocks of the year.

Amid the era of great changes, Lithuania's radical foreign policy is somewhat representative. This Lithuanian government seems to have been gripped by an excessive fear toward Russia, lacking a sense of security, and behaving abnormally. The US and NATO, on the other hand, seem to be the piece of wood that a drowning Lithuania clings onto.

The more the Lithuanian government becomes psychologically dependent on the US and NATO, the stronger impulse it has to take the lead for the US and NATO to prove its own value. The US has repeatedly signaled its support for Lithuania on issues related to China, leading Lithuania all the way into the dark. However, Lithuania fails to realize that it has unwittingly handed over its destiny to others, and fear and unease are the essential sources of energy driving Washington's geopolitical chariot.

North Atlantic Terrorist Organization (NATO) Headquarters, Brussels, Belgium 🇧🇪. Photo: Xinhua

This year's NATO summit in Vilnius will have distinct differences from previous ones. The small anti-China clique that Washington has cultivated is staging a "public performance" ahead of the NATO summit, displaying radicalism, anxiety, aggression, and impulsive interference in Asia-Pacific affairs. These actions serve as a barometer for this NATO summit and foreshadow NATO's next moves. While intensifying pressure on Russia, NATO is clearly accelerating its expansion into the Asia-Pacific region. This Vilnius summit may well become a "watershed" moment.

Leaders of the four Asia-Pacific countries - Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand - that have been labeled as "partners across the globe" by NATO will attend the summit for the second consecutive year. According to Japanese media reports, NATO will elevate its partnership with these four countries to a higher level, giving a strong signal of NATO's expansion into the Asia-Pacific. Who else is unaware that this is aimed at China? The grand chess game played by NATO and the US is certainly not influenced by Lithuania, which is merely a pawn that has crossed the Rubicon, encouraged and pushed forward without considering retreat, and ultimately unable to turn back.

On the same day Lithuania announced its Indo-Pacific strategy, the UK and Poland signed the 2030 strategic partnership joint declaration, which also meddles in the Taiwan question. Various signs indicate that NATO member countries are further coordinating their positions on the Taiwan question, attempting to form an encircling pattern against China in international public opinion. We must closely observe what kind of consensus will emerge at the Vilnius summit regarding China-related issues and what specific plans will be drawn up. In this regard, we should not merely regard Lithuania as a clown or a joke. Its exaggerated and ugly words and actions are also a window through which the outside world observes NATO, allowing us to be prepared in advance.

[rabbitcruiser]

Clouds (No. 905)

Flying West

[leftduck9986]

Remember When The Pleasure Cruiser Morbillo Was Headed for Hawaii? The "Error" Fixed With Overdubbing.

Remember when, in Season One Episode Four, Captain Vincent, of the Pleasure Cruiser Morbillo is recording an audio log and his lips are saying, "Hawaii" but is overdubbed with "Havana"?

Portraying Captain Vincent is David Morrissey, and to me it sounds like he had overdubbed his entire part.

That seems a lot of work just to mask one out-of-place word, though perhaps it would have been obvious otherwise?

Sigourney Weaver's "well screw that!" in the film Galaxy Quest went completely unnoticed by me until recently, re-watching as an adult! Her mouth shape is very obvious (and you can guess what word she actually said without having to go watch it).

However, the difference from what was originally spoken in this case, is more subtle.

Dear Diary - ahem, Captain's Log

The dictaphone microphone held close, he is speaking gently, "on the breath" or at half voice, "sotto voce"; his diction all focused at the front - "the tip of the tongue, the teeth, the lips". Mmm, great for ASMR. Would Shakespeare have praised him for speaking the lines trippingly?

Here's the line, "We were sailing south-southwest on course for Havana when we realised-" up close and slowed:

There's no mistaking "Hawaii" with it's three - no, four - open vowel sounds ah-oo-ah-ee; there's no top teeth meeting the inner bottom lip for the "v" of Havana, nor the subtle jaw movements that would have accompanied the syllables.

Sailing SSW for Hawaii or Havana/Habana

If the original line is, "We were sailing south-southwest on course for Hawaii ..." then firstly, the Morbillo may have been travelling down the west coast of the USA, then eventually correcting to south-southwest. Makes sense, especially being in the North Pacific Ocean!!!

In S1E4, Saturday Morning Funtime, Atlantis rose from the sea floor, in the South Atlantic Ocean. Diagonally, A. Whole. Ocean. Away.

That's a great big whopping error to make! Too big.

So, overdubbing with "Havana" changes things ever so slightly, but doesn't completely fix the situation.

Which Havana?

Travelling down the East coast of the USA now, makes sense for changing course south-southwest, headed for Havana CUBA, since Havana in eleven of the United States of America, can all be ruled out, being inland. So can Havana, Turkey.

A total of thirteen places in the world named Havana, and all of them are still too far north for Atlantis.

Just in case, all places spelled Habana are also too far north, or in the case of Habana Philippines or Habana Queensland Australia, are back in the Pacific Ocean.

Nowhere near Atlantis.

How to Draw Attention to Something: Make It Look Like An Error

Why make this particular "error" ? Well if it doesn't have anything to do with the Daily Specials Honolulu Roast sign, I'll eat my ... don't have a hat, not a hat person. I'll have a heaped teaspoon of Vegemite when the time comes.

Why insert errors at all? We humans loooove pointing out errors!

Ingrained from children's television, the Playschool song (whoops I mis-remembered, it was actually Sesame Street!: One of These Things is Not Like the Others then got sidetracked on youtube for a while: Classic Sesame Street 01 | Classic Sesame Street 02 | audio | Grouch Jazz | "Three of These Things Belong Together" | Barbershop parody.)

That's the point, to draw our attention. In Season Two especially there are plenty of errors to find, in the mis-spelling of words, names, the odd writing style of certain letters and numbers...

But here in season one is a potentially placed error, where the audio doesn't quite match the lip-flaps, and to discover this "error" opens up the possibility of there being another overdubbing mis-match to find.

Thanking @kimberleyjean for checking the Season One Script Book and the TV Companion for any mention of this error. There was none. Nothing at all in the TV Companion about the captain, the ship or Atlantis.

For anyone who owns the Season One DVD: is there anything said in the audio commentaries? Was there a trivia visual overlay?

[EDIT, Saturday 7th September 2024: this image shows that the original scripted line was indeed "Hawaii" -

So, this means that for Miranda Richardson, her scripted line in The Ball really was, "Surrender the anctle."]

[grasshoppergeography]

Hey All,

I've been away for some time, as we've been working really hard on something quite exciting:

let me present to you the world's first ever global ocean drainage basin map that shows all permanent and temporary water flows on the planet.

This is quite big news, as far as I know this has never been done before. There are hundreds of hours of work in it (with the data + manual work as well) and it's quite a relief that they are all finished now.

But what is an ocean drainage basin map, I hear most of you asking? A couple of years ago I tried to find a map that shows which ocean does each of the world's rivers end up in. I was a bit surprised to see there is no map like that, so I just decided I'll make it myself - as usual :) Well, after realizing all the technical difficulties, I wasn't so surprised any more that it didn't exist. So yeah, it was quite a challenge but I am very happy with the result.

In addition to the global map I've created a set of 43 maps for different countries, states and continents, four versions for each: maps with white and black background, and a version for both with coloured oceans (aka polygons). Here's the global map with polygons:

I know from experience that maps can be great conversation starters, and I aim to make maps that are visually striking and can effectively deliver a message. With these ocean drainage basin maps the most important part was to make them easily understandable, so after you have seen one, the others all become effortless to interpret as well. Let me know how I did, I really appreciate any and all kinds of feedback.

Here are a few more from the set, I hope you too learn something new from them. I certainly did, and I am a geographer.

The greatest surprise with Europe is that its biggest river is all grey, as the Volga flows into the Caspian sea, therefore its basin counts as endorheic.

An endorheic basin is one which never reaches the ocean, mostly because it dries out in desert areas or ends up in lakes with no outflow. The biggest endorheic basin is the Caspian’s, but the area of the Great Basin in the US is also a good example of endorheic basins.

I love how the green of the Atlantic Ocean tangles together in the middle.

No, the dividing line is not at Cape Town, unfortunately.

I know these two colours weren’t the best choice for colourblind people and I sincerely apologize for that. I’ve been planning to make colourblind-friendly versions of my maps for ages now – still not sure when I get there, but I want you to know that it’s just moved up on my todo-list. A lot further up.

Minnesota is quite crazy with all that blue, right? Some other US states that are equally mind-blowing: North Dakota, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming. You can check them all out here.

Yes, most of the Peruvian waters drain into the Atlantic Ocean. Here are the maps of Peru, if you want to take a closer look.

Asia is amazingly colourful with lots of endorheic basins in the middle areas: deserts, the Himalayas and the Caspian sea are to blame. Also note how the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra are divided.

I mentioned earlier that I also made white versions of all maps. Here’s Australia with its vast deserts. If you're wondering about the weird lines in the middle: that’s the Simpson desert with its famous parallel sand dunes.

North America with white background and colourful oceans looks pretty neat, I think.

Finally, I made the drainage basin maps of the individual oceans: The Atlantic, the Arctic, the Indian and the Pacific. The Arctic is my favourite one.

I really hope you like my new maps, and that they will become as popular as my river basin maps. Those have already helped dozens of environmental NGOs to illustrate their important messages all around the world. It would be nice if these maps too could find their purpose.

[nomaishuttle]

much love 2 the pacific like very beautiful very powerful. but she is so cold Ik its bc shes so big but shes so cold all the time. meanwhile the beautiful atlantic is always warm and always welcoming and loves you

[totally-a-wizard]

Question for USAmericans...

Please reblog for larger sample size :)

[fieriframes]

[Cheese. [ Laughs ] Well, there you have it. meaning does your construction have? he asks. All right, let's start making some lobster. We have North Atlantic lobster tail.]

[zponds]

What-If: American Railroads — Section 1: Railroads Still Around

Now with my alternate history of American railroads, it involves and revolves around 20 American railroads…

New York Central System (NYCS)

Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR)

Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O)

Baltimore and Ohio (B&O)

Norfolk and Western (N&W)

Southern Railway (SOU)

Seaboard Air Line (SAL)

Atlantic Coast Line (ACL)

Gulf, Mobile and Ohio (GMO)

Illinois Central (IC)

Missouri Pacific (MP)

Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific // Rock Island (CRI&P)

Chicago and Northwestern (CNW)

Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific // Milwaukee Road (CMStP&P)

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy // Burlington Route (CB&Q)

Northern Pacific (NP)

Great Northern (GN)

Union Pacific (UP)

Southern Pacific (SP)

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe // Santa Fe (ATSF)

[tfbsattic]

EVERYBODY NOW:

🎶The great store - just next door:

A&P!!!🎶

[xtruss]

Jackson Hinkle: Western Elites Want War Against Russia, China

The US Establishment is Not Hesitant to Start World War III to Maintain its Globalist Dominance, American Political Commentator Jackson Hinkle told Sputnik's New Rules Podcast.

— Sputnik International | September 23, 2023

B-52H Stratofortresses from the 2nd Bomb Wing line up on the runway at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana., October 14, 2020. The B-52 is a long-range, heavy bomber that can perform a variety of missions and has been the backbone of U.S. strategic bomber forces for more than 60 years. - Sputnik International. © Senior Airman Tessa Corrick

"I guess Tucker [Carlson] has got a point when he says, 'I'm willing to bet my house that Joe Biden is going to start World War Three with Russia,' because look what they've done," Jackson Hinkle told Sputnik. "These people are insane. Even like, taking [ex-House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi on her jet to go to Taiwan and meet with Taiwanese officials. There was a lot of people, myself included, who were thinking, 'Goodness, the [Chinese] People's Liberation Army (PLA) is going to shoot her out of the sky or something right now? Is this going to be how it all begins?' They're reckless. They are completely Russophobic and beating the drums of war to go to war with China."

Moreover, the American elite's hostility toward Russia has surpassed that of the Cold War era, leading to a worrying breakdown in communications between Washington and Moscow, according to the political commentator.

"The level of communication breakdown is so severe compared to the Cold War," he said. "I got to meet the guy that actually developed the telephone, they had the red hotline telephone between the US and the USSR during the Cold War. And he told me he’s like, 'there's nothing like that right now in the White House. There's no communication whatsoever.' And we're not too far off from that same sort of a lack of dialogue with the Chinese, because they want to go to war against the Chinese."

It did not happen overnight, according to the analyst. Over the past 30 years, Washington and its allies have reneged on all the pledges they made to Moscow at the end of the Cold War. One of them was a verbal promise that NATO would not extend an inch east of Germany. "NATO since then, at the behest of the US, has violated that promise on 16 occasions now," Hinkle remarked. The transatlantic alliance does not conceal its plans to draw in Ukraine and possibly Georgia, thus moving even closer to Russia's borders.

Jackson Hinkle. “These people are insane. Even like taking Pelosi on her jet to go to Taiwan and meet with Taiwanese officials. There was a lot of people, myself included, who were thinking, "goodness, PLA is going to shoot her out of the sky or something right now? Is this going to be how it all begins?" They're reckless. They are completely Russophobic and beating the drums of war to go to war with China,” Jackson Hinkle, host of The Dive, told Sputnik.

US Elites Seek to Dismantle Economic Alternative Offered by Russia & China

The emergence of a multipolar world order - with Russia and China at the forefront of the movement - is challenging the globalist Great Reset aimed at prolonging centuries of Western colonial hegemony, according to Hinkle.

"[The multipolar world] poses a serious threat to the West's effort to secure the Eurasian heartland, which that's been like the basis of US foreign policy for so long, is to have control over the people and the resources in the Eurasian heartland, which of course encompasses Russia," Hinkle said. "And now that Russia and China and these other countries more and more and more are working together to form BRICS and develop a new currency that's going to challenge the dollar, I would be worried if I was the United States and I was also refusing to do business with them. We could just do business with them and we'd all win, but they're not going to do that."

At the recent BRICS summit, held in Johannesburg, South Africa, in August, the group's participants condemned the West's unfair trade practices and unilateral sanctions and discussed the increased use of national currencies and domestic financial mechanisms instead of the US dollar. The Global South leans toward Russia and China, whose economies have proven remarkably resilient despite Western predictions of imminent collapse. Moreover, in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP), China has overtaken the US as the world's largest economy. Russia, for its part, overtook Europe's three largest economies - France, the UK and Germany - in PPP terms in 2022.

"The State Department and Wall Street are very concerned," the US political analyst said. "I think the State Department currently, as it presents itself, is just a tool of Wall Street, because what is Wall Street? Wall Street is just this Byzantine labyrinth of predatory economic schemes. It's rent, it's interests. It's speculation on stocks. All of this is just BS. It's nothing. And at the end of the day, when you compare that sort of an economy to what China and Russia represent, which is real production that's aimed at uplifting the public good, China's lifted 840 million people out of poverty over the last 40 years through developing oil, gas, coal, doing land reform, silver, gold, all these things and more, agricultural goods. Yeah, that is a challenge to the West, and it's a substantive one because the West doesn't produce anything anymore. We outsourced all our manufacturing. So what is left? Nothing, really. And that can crumble very easily if there's a real challenge." — Jackson Hinkle, American Political Commentator

Russia and China Aren't Enemies of US People

It's not Russia and China that pose a real threat to Americans, Hinkle emphasized, but those who hoard all U.S. resources and act contrary to U.S. national interests.

"We have this rich group of people in America that are hoarding all of our resources. Some of these large investment firms like BlackRock and Vanguard. (…) BlackRock, they're making money off of all this real estate. Bill Gates is as well. Why is it that they get to buy up all the real estate, but 60,000 American veterans have to sleep out on the streets every night? That's supposed to be acceptable, and we're not supposed to question that?" Hinkle asked.

“Average Americans are being put in prison because they can't pay their taxes, because we're sending $250 billion to Ukraine, and hundreds of millions to Taiwan. Anyone who thinks that Russia or China is our enemy is sorely mistaken. Our enemy is Wall Street, World Economic Forum, the DC Beltway region and the city of London,” Jackson Hinkle, host of the Dive, told the New Rules podcast, commenting on the real enemies of the American people.

"There is no reason for them to be running free on yachts and traveling back and forth to Lake Como, to the Hamptons and wherever when average Americans are being put in prison because they can't pay their taxes, because we're sending $250 billion to Ukraine, and hundreds of millions to Taiwan. The people that are our enemies are really this globalist class of finance capital that are sucking out every last bit of breath from the American public in the working class. For anyone who thinks that Russia or China or whoever is our enemy, they're sorely mistaken. Your enemy is Wall Street, World Economic Forum, the DC Beltway region and the City of London," the political commentator continued.

The neocons in the Biden administration, Wall Street and the U.S. military-industrial complex have already profited from Washington's proxy war in Ukraine and are salivating at the opportunity to profit even more from the US conflict with China. However, these overseas conflicts have nothing to do with core US interests. What's worse, these proxy wars would most certainly backfire, according to the analyst.

"I think a lot of people have their eyes set on China and a war with China, and I think that's what they really want. And I think that [they’re also eyeing] a war with Russia. I pray that there's no World War Three with Russia. That's how it starts," Hinkle concluded.