The Thread Goes On And On

No idea if it’s freaky coincidence or what, but this is in exact time to the song I’m listening to.

Day 48.  The weekend just means more time for your Totorobics

Iron in the Butterfly Nebula : Can stars, like caterpillars, transform themselves into butterflies? No, but in the case of the Butterfly Nebula – it sure looks like it. Though its wingspan covers over 3 light-years and its estimated surface temperature exceeds 200,000 degrees, C, the dying central star of NGC 6302, the featured planetary nebula, has become exceptionally hot, shining brightly in visible and ultraviolet light but hidden from direct view by a dense torus of dust. This sharp close-up was recorded by the Hubble Space Telescope and is reprocessed here to show off the remarkable details of the complex planetary nebula, highlighting in particular light emitted by iron, shown in red. NGC 6302 lies about 4,000 light-years away in the arachnologically correct constellation of the Scorpion (Scorpius). Planetary nebulas evolve from outer atmospheres of stars like our Sun, but usually fade in about 20,000 years. via NASA

Hahaha.

Milky Way Full Arc and Aurora in Maine

js

Just a gentle reminder for tumblr users with anxiety, panic disorders or who get nervous quickly: 

- Chain mail, “reblog this or..” posts etc. don’t work. They’re not real. Nothing bad will happen if you don’t forward that mail or reblog that post. 

- “If you don’t reblog this, you’re a bad person” is a lie. You’re not a bad person for not clicking a button. 

- You are allowed to unfollow blogs that post triggering contents. 

- You’re not weak or a crybaby for avoiding things that are triggering. Far from it, you’re taking care of yourself. That’s amazing! 

I do write, and I’ve got 2 published fics (on ff.net but still, published.) but I’m shit at writing 3rd person. And I write all of mine by hand. I just create more work for myself.

I think Scott wouldn’t be best pleased that John went into EDEN without backup, (the comms going down probably didn’t help with his worry) and him just bringing John in for a big hug, with tears in his eyes, telling him how proud he is of him (and Alan obviously, but Al’s used to it).

TBH I don’t want to speculate on what might happen in the rest of the series, but I do think the Mechanic has done something to EOS, or left himself a backdoor/Trojan Horse (as some hackers call it) so he can get access to TB5′s system. We just have to wait and see.

I can try write something in my break from class tonight. I only get about 15 minutes, but I always get there a little early, and my teacher is deaf, so as long as I don’t write while she’s teaching, she doesn’t mind. I learn BSL (British Sign Language) for 2 hours a week.

The least realistic thing about the Lord of the Rings is that a team got together for a group project, decided everything in one meeting, and their plan worked.

#NotMyPresident

The electoral college does not vote until December 19th. We have 40 days.

What does this mean?

Right now, the presidential election results are only a PROJECTION of the election outcome. They are PRELIMINARY RESULTS. A candidate still needs to earn 270 electoral votes to win. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, which means that more than 50% of the voters wanted her for president. The electoral college shouldn’t guarantee an override of the public’s opinion– and it doesn’t have to.

There are 21 states that do NOT restrict which candidate the electors vote for. Out of these 21, Hillary lost the following:

As you can see, these states are worth 166 electoral votes. As it currently stands, Hillary Clinton is projected to receive 232 votes. Trump is projected to win 306. This means that 37 votes need to be taken away from Trump to bring him down to 269. Hillary Clinton needs 38 votes ADDED to win 270. These electoral voters can also abstain, which means that they can refuse to vote for either candidate. If 37 of the voters within these states abstain then no candidate will have reached the required 270. In this case, the vote would be taken to the House.

Trump won Pennsylvania, a state that typically votes blue, by less than 100,000 votes. While it is highly unlikely to get all 20 electoral voters to cross party lines and vote democrat, it also isn’t impossible to convince a few of them to be “faithless electors.” We only need to convince 38 out of the 166. That is 23%. There are SIXTEEN states we need to focus our attention on.

A move like this would be unprecedented. However, as we all saw on November 8th, odds don’t guarantee reality. Trump had a less than 20% chance of winning, yet given the circumstances, enough people came together and made it happen. We can make this happen. 

Ask yourself this: What do we have left to lose? We can stay complacent and accept that this country will be run by a racist, sexist, islamophobic, homophobic, ablest bigot, or we can at least try. 

How?

SPREAD THE WORD. Trend #NotMyPresident to let people know that we do not accept being led by a man who does not care about our wellbeing. Email your professors, email the dean of your colleges. The last thing a university wants is negative press. Millenials can take a stand, but that doesn’t mean we have to be the only ones. Church-led events helped bring a lot of disillusioned voters to the polls. Spread the word in any way possible, whether it be on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or even in person. Stage a peaceful protest. Hand out flyers. Let the people around you know that you don’t accept this man as your leader when he won’t even accept you as a citizen with your designated rights.

These 166 people need to face the consequences of electing this man. 

Do this for the people who couldn’t vote. Do this for the people who live in the very real fear of being deported. Do this for the people who will have to face the rise in hate crimes. Do this for the people who have a very real possibility of losing their rights. Do this for the people who will no longer be able to afford necessities.