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Today's Honest To Goodness No Bullshit Spin.....


Rufus69

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Take a break compadre and read this. Put prespective into your life. See if you can find the tiny blue dot in the picture below...

 

When the Voyager completed its exploratory mission and took the last photograph — of Neptune — NASA commanded that the cameras be shut off to conserve energy. But Carl Sagan had the idea of turning the spacecraft around and taking one final photograph — of Earth. Objections were raised — from so great a distance and at so low a resolution, the resulting image would have absolutely no scientific value. But Sagan saw the larger poetic worth — he took the request all the way up to NASA’s administrator and charmed his way into permission.

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The “Pale Blue Dot” — the Voyager‘s view of Earth seen from the outer edge of the Solar System. Photo courtesy of NASA.

And so, on Valentine’s Day of 1990, just after Bulgaria’s Communist regime was finally defeated after nearly half a century of reign, the Voyager took the now-iconic image of Earth known as the “Pale Blue Dot” — a grainy pixel, “a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam,” as Sagan so poetically put it when he immortalized the photograph in his beautiful “Pale Blue Dot” monologue from Cosmos — that great masterwork of perspective, a timeless reminder that “everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was… every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician” lived out their lives on this pale blue dot. And every political conflict, every war we’ve ever fought, we have waged over a fraction of this grainy pixel barely perceptible against the cosmic backdrop of endless lonesome space.

In the cosmic blink of our present existence, as we stand on this increasingly fragmented pixel, it is worth keeping the Voyager in mind as we find our capacity for perspective constricted by the stranglehold of our cultural moment. It is worth questioning what proportion of the news this year, what imperceptible fraction, was devoted to the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics, awarded for the landmark detection of gravitational waves — the single most significant astrophysical discovery since Galileo. After centuries of knowing the universe only by sight, only by looking, we can now listen to it and hear echoes of events that took place billions of lightyears away, billions of years ago — events that made the stardust that made us.

I don’t think it is possible to contribute to the present moment in any meaningful way while being wholly engulfed by it. It is only by stepping out of it, by taking a telescopic perspective, that we can then dip back in and do the work which our time asks of us.

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On 10/29/2019 at 6:03 AM, Cat_Scratch said:

Take a break compadre and read this. Put prespective into your life. See if you can find the tiny blue dot in the picture below...

 

When the Voyager completed its exploratory mission and took the last photograph — of Neptune — NASA commanded that the cameras be shut off to conserve energy. But Carl Sagan had the idea of turning the spacecraft around and taking one final photograph — of Earth. Objections were raised — from so great a distance and at so low a resolution, the resulting image would have absolutely no scientific value. But Sagan saw the larger poetic worth — he took the request all the way up to NASA’s administrator and charmed his way into permission.

direct?resize=w2000&url=https%3A%2F%2Fi1.wp.com%2Fwww.brainpickings.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2017%2F12%2Fpalebluedot_voyager.jpg%3Fresize%3D453%252C614%26ssl%3D1

The “Pale Blue Dot” — the Voyager‘s view of Earth seen from the outer edge of the Solar System. Photo courtesy of NASA.

And so, on Valentine’s Day of 1990, just after Bulgaria’s Communist regime was finally defeated after nearly half a century of reign, the Voyager took the now-iconic image of Earth known as the “Pale Blue Dot” — a grainy pixel, “a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam,” as Sagan so poetically put it when he immortalized the photograph in his beautiful “Pale Blue Dot” monologue from Cosmos — that great masterwork of perspective, a timeless reminder that “everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was… every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician” lived out their lives on this pale blue dot. And every political conflict, every war we’ve ever fought, we have waged over a fraction of this grainy pixel barely perceptible against the cosmic backdrop of endless lonesome space.

In the cosmic blink of our present existence, as we stand on this increasingly fragmented pixel, it is worth keeping the Voyager in mind as we find our capacity for perspective constricted by the stranglehold of our cultural moment. It is worth questioning what proportion of the news this year, what imperceptible fraction, was devoted to the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics, awarded for the landmark detection of gravitational waves — the single most significant astrophysical discovery since Galileo. After centuries of knowing the universe only by sight, only by looking, we can now listen to it and hear echoes of events that took place billions of lightyears away, billions of years ago — events that made the stardust that made us.

I don’t think it is possible to contribute to the present moment in any meaningful way while being wholly engulfed by it. It is only by stepping out of it, by taking a telescopic perspective, that we can then dip back in and do the work which our time asks of us.

Good post and a good reminder.

I often forget we are much much more than how we think of ourselves to be.  

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52 minutes ago, Nolebull813 said:

Rufus hates America. The stock market hit an all time high. Unemployment is lowest across the board. People are thriving. Life is good. And Rufus the doofus can’t handle it. Signs that he is deranged and he has disdain for the country 

In case Rufus isn’t paying attention:

 

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I doubt that @Rufus69 would define the greatness of our country by what Wall Street is doing.  Or put another way, it doesn't make sense to judge how well this country is doing by looking at How well rich people are doing.  Lots of people live pay day to pay day.  1 emergency or catastrophe away from financial ruin.  

 

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48 minutes ago, World Citizen said:

I doubt that @Rufus69 would define the greatness of our country by what Wall Street is doing.  Or put another way, it doesn't make sense to judge how well this country is doing by looking at How well rich people are doing.  Lots of people live pay day to pay day.  1 emergency or catastrophe away from financial ruin.  

 

And around 20% aren't even above water....but OH YEAH....Trumpy The Ass Clown...is making The U.S. GREAT again.

It's absolutely sickening.

 

 

Rufus>>

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12 hours ago, Blueliner said:

You are the epitome of the left's disingenuous, dishonest BS, and why America is so divided. You're pathetic, Rufus. 

Absolutely nothing dishonest about what I posted.  

Around 20% of people in the USA are not able to make ends meet.  They are below what is considered the poverty line.  And Trumpy The Ass Clown is sickening.  All are facts.

I've never seen such stupid and naive people in my life.....

 

 

Rufus>>

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1 hour ago, Rufus69 said:

Absolutely nothing dishonest about what I posted.  

Around 20% of people in the USA are not able to make ends meet.  They are below what is considered the poverty line.  And Trumpy The Ass Clown is sickening.  All are facts.

I've never seen such stupid and naive people in my life.....

 

 

Rufus>>

You've gone full-retard, Rufus. They always say...never go full-retard. You wouldn't listen. What's a fact is that you are fast-approaching dipshit-TDS-lunatic-disingenuous, leftist territory. This territory is basically reserved for shitbags like 66 and SN. Since SN was banned for being a liberal ass, having 66 as your number one cheerleader is not a good look for you. Rage on, though, pawdna.🤣

….Oh. And if you want to see someone who is naïve and has been duped by the democraps for years....clearly....simply look in the mirror. Please come back soon and regale us with your wisdom and profound insight.

signed,

a former dem

 

 

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23 hours ago, Rufus69 said:

Absolutely nothing dishonest about what I posted.  

Around 20% of people in the USA are not able to make ends meet.  They are below what is considered the poverty line.  And Trumpy The Ass Clown is sickening.  All are facts.

I've never seen such stupid and naive people in my life.....

 

 

Rufus>>

That 20% wouldn't happen to be in cities like LA, Detroit, Baltimore, Chicago, Miami, etc... would it? Where are the city leaders that ran on policies that they would fix these problems.

It's way to easy to blame it all on Trump when it has been this way even when Obama was POTUS.

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16 minutes ago, Cat_Scratch said:

That 20% wouldn't happen to be in cities like LA, Detroit, Baltimore, Chicago, Miami, etc... would it? Where are the city leaders that ran on policies that they would fix these problems.

It's way to easy to blame it all on Trump when it has been this way even when Obama was POTUS.

Thank you for confirming my facts.  It don't make no difference WHERE people live.  Whether it's rural or urban...it don't matter.  Many of these morons on here think American financial well being is tied to the stock market.  Nothing could be further from the truth.   And I'll argue with you about whether the poor were better off under President Obama or Trumpy The Ass Clown.

 

 

Rufus>>

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22 minutes ago, Rufus69 said:

Thank you for confirming my facts.  It don't make no difference WHERE people live.  Whether it's rural or urban...it don't matter.  Many of these morons on here think American financial well being is tied to the stock market.  Nothing could be further from the truth.   And I'll argue with you about whether the poor were better off under President Obama or Trumpy The Ass Clown.

 

 

Rufus>>

Oh, but it does. You can’t blame Trump for shity-policy-for-decades cities and you know it. Stop being a tool, bro. You sound ridiculous. 

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3 hours ago, Cat_Scratch said:

That 20% wouldn't happen to be in cities like LA, Detroit, Baltimore, Chicago, Miami, etc... would it?

Not so much.

Where are the city leaders that ran on policies that they would fix these problems.

It's way to easy to blame it all on Trump when it has been this way even when Obama was POTUS.

I don't want to speak for @Rufus69 ...again, but I didn't read it like it was Trumps fault.  It is true however that there are a lot of people who live check to check and it has been like that forever.  Many reasons for this and IMO it isn't something that a President could fix.  At least no President has been able to get the % of people living check to check to zero.  But a sincere effort would be appreciated if they were to tackle that problem.  Trump so far is too busy attacking people and trying to normalize his conspiracy nonsense.

The stranglehold that the 1% has on this country, from money in politics to income inequality, is tight around our necks and instead of working to fix it we would rather fight each other.  

Those living in poverty are mostly from the southern red states.  Not all but mostly.  IMHO

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2 hours ago, Powerball said:

FB_IMG_1571079973706.jpg

After 50 years of this same exact scare tactic and it has yet to dawn on anybody who believes it, that it has never happened because nobody tried or wanted to.  Always scared of something. 

Lol @ "coming for Christian values" line, especially Trump defending them.  Which Christian values would those be?  

And wtf would I want with your freedom.  I have my own.  

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