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#WhenWeFightWeWin

Dame Averil Cameron obituary Historian whose sparky, innovative Byzantines challenged the stereotype of a stagnant society with nothing new to offer

A beautiful obituary for the great historian Averil Cameron by @tigerlilyrocks.bsky.social

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The visionaries As always, if you find value in this work I do, please consider helping me keep it sustainable by joining my weekly newsletter, Sparky’s List! You can get it in your inbox or read it on Patreon…

new toon!
www.dailykos.com/stories/2026...

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Relax, it’s only April - still have the June swoon to look forward to…

Chinook salmon found naturally hatching in Upper Klamath River for first time in a century The Klamath Tribes are celebrating evidence of Chinook salmon spawning in Klamath River tributary.

After big dams on the upper Klamath River in far northern CA were removed in 2024, Chinook (king) salmon migrated upstream for the first time in 100+ years--and now they have hatched.

Will Sister Mary Kay Turn Out the Lights?

Blessings to Sister Mary Kay and all of the Sisters of Charity

Will Sister Mary Kay Turn Out the Lights? www.nytimes.com/2026/04/15/u...

#Jacksonville, #FL: 13y/o Xaiyah was last seen on March 4 on the Southside of Jacksonville.

Have you seen her?

Please SHARE to #HelpUsFindXaiyahThomas #XaiyahThomas #HelpUsFindUs

A Lewis’s woodpecker forages on a white oak in White River.

I finally knocked my nemesis off my list, and oh, what a gorgeous nemesis it was.

I’ve been known to stop at every old stand of white oaks I can still find and just post myself there until I’m sure Lewis’s woodpeckers are less common than Ivory-billed woodpeckers.

This beauty was in White River

He Warned About the Dangers of A.I. If Only His Father Had Listened.

#BoycottAI

He Warned About the Dangers of A.I. If Only His Father Had Listened. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/13/w...

Nature: Oak trees in California YouTube video by CBS Sunday Morning

youtube.com/watch?v=wS_l...

Edward I Follow Edward I’s dramatic reign as conqueror and crusader, from his wars in Wales and Scotland to the lasting legacy of his monumental castles.

In three weeks' time I'll be talking about Edward I at the Canterbury History Weekend. history-weekends.org/programme/ed...

The Fire This Time Independent journalism doesn't survive on good intentions. It survives on readers who believe the hard conversation is worth paying for. I'm betting you're one of them.

open.substack.com/pub/goldieta...

Cat on the ledge, outside the artist's studio, in 1657. By Gerrit Dou. Today is his day.

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The Hunterston Brooch from the collections of the National Museums of Scotland in Edinburgh. Dating to around 700 AD, the brooch was found at Hunterston in North Ayrshire during the 1830s. 📸 My own. #FindsFriday #HunterstonBrooch

Congress do your duty

#FindingFriday: #Glendale, #AZ: 12y/o Rhoda was last seen on April 6 near her home around Glendale Ave and 67th Ave., at 3pm wearing a black sweater and white pants.

Have you seen her?

Please SHARE to #HelpUsFindRhodaDunia #RhodaDunia #HelpUsFindUs

My photo shows a decorative gold brooch against a black background. The gold front plate is attached to a copper-alloy core by 8 silver rivets (not seen). The surface of the gold plate is ornately decorated with looped gold filigree, At the centre of the brooch is a circular blue glass cabochon set in a raised gold cell encircled by cloisonné garnets. Radiating out from the central blue glass cabochon are curved sections inlaid with cloisonné garnet like rays of the sun, forming a swirling pattern on the surface of the brooch. The 71 inlaid garnets come from Bohemia. Around the outer edge are four smaller round blue glass cabochons each set in a raised circular gold cell, alternating with four small square-shaped pieces of green glass set in raised square gold cells, at regular intervals. Overall, the piece is symmetrical, richly colored (gold, red, blue, and green), and highly ornate. This ornate brooch was found during the 2008-2009 excavations ahead of major renovation works at Grand Place in Quaregnon. The excavations uncovered a small Merovingian cemetery. The brooch comes from the tomb of a 7th-century female known as the ‘Lady of Quaregnon’. In addition to the brooch, her other items of jewellery included a necklace, bracelet, copper-alloy pins, and a pair of copper-alloy bow brooches.

Beautiful Merovingian brooch of the ‘Lady of Quaregnon’, AD 660-670.

Found during excavations ahead of construction works at the Grand Place, Quaregnon, Belgium, in 2008-2009. Gold, silver, copper-alloy, garnet, and glass. Diameter 5.6cm. 📷 by me

#FindsFriday
#Archaeology

The Byzantine monastery of Daphni (Δαφνί), founded in the late 6th and rebuilt in the 11th century, complete with a scriptorium, library room, early Komnenian mosaics, and antique spolia going back to the 4th century BC.

Lobstah dinner. Yolo Bypass. Black crowned night heron. #birds

We have the Twenty-Fifth Amendment. Now is the time to use it. It's past time for Trump to be removed from office. This is a global crisis. It's time for J.D. Vance and the Cabinet to invoke the Twenty-Fifth Amendment.

I’ve researched the entire history that led to the 25th Amendment and what followed and wrote about all of it nearly a decade ago.

Since then — and, in part, due to its limits and complications — I’ve only called for Section 4 to be invoked on two dates: January 6, 2021, and today.

A metal money box made of bronze, rests on display. The oval-shaped container has an open slot where several gold coins have spilled onto the surface below.

This rare bronze purse was found with six #gold coins still inside in the #Celtic oppidum (settlement) at Manching. It was originally sealed with an organic material, presumably a leather strap.
The purse is rather small: 4.3x3.3 cm. The diameter of the smallest coin is 6.5 mm.🧵1/2

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Are you ready to make your voice count this Election Day? @866ourvote has all the information you need to vote with confidence. Call/text 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683)

Happy Easter – La Fille mal gardée YouTube video by Royal Ballet and Opera

youtube.com/shorts/aNN3S...

It used to be that if you squinted, you could see the fuzzy outlines of a less unjust world order enabled by renewables. Now you don’t have to squint: this piece shows compounding economic & financial dynamics coming into sharp focus. Read this. It will increase your understanding AND make your day.

I feel like “the world passed peak gas-powered car sales in 2017” is not a widely known fact