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gerritb.bsky.social
The Centre for Useless Splendour
@gerritb.bsky.social
6.2K followers 770 following 14K posts
I'm Gerrit. Retired, hurt: hence the useless splendour. 😁
"We are all just walking each other home." Ram Das
Focus: #wisdom #climate #beauty #dem-soc #Cdapoli.
Me: 👨🏻‍🦳🇨🇦🇿🇦🪖♿️🏺🥗 [Ally: 💙🇺🇦🇵🇸🖤🤎🌍]
Dad & FIL of 🏳️‍🌈 & 🏳️‍⚧️
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gerritb.bsky.social
The Centre for Useless Splendour @gerritb.bsky.social · 2d
🇺🇸 The Liberty Bell was cast with the lettering:
"Proclaim LIBERTY Throughout all the Land
unto all the Inhabitants Thereof."
The legend is that it was rung
at the revolutionary victory in 1776.

Perhaps the resistance whistles of the blue cities
could then rightly also be called Liberty Whistles.
Photo: The Liberty Bell. Source: William Zhang, Wikimedia
Reposted by The Centre for Useless Splendour
altyellonatpark.org
The cooperation between species is called symbiosis and while there are other types of symbiosis its the mutually beneficial type I'd like to focus on today. These two were spotted in Finland hunting and eating together.

Photo credits
Lassi Rautiainen
A bear and a wolf were spotted hunting together and sharing the kill in Finland 2021.
February 1, 2026 at 7:36 PM
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ruinedfinery.bsky.social
James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1902- May 22, 1967)

Let America be America again

"Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed--
Let it be that great strong land of love -
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme -
That any man be crushed by one above."
#BlackHistoryMonth
February 1, 2026 at 6:45 PM
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johnbcaddell.bsky.social
an #OrangeSun #banksia #bloom at the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum for #ColorADay
🌱

#JBCFlowers
February 1, 2026 at 6:55 PM
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tramontes-t-photos.bsky.social
From the icefields down in #Patagonia, #Argentina near El Calafate, the bergs on the edge of the water have that cold look of #frost for #FebruArty2026.

#Stunday #EastCoastKin #landscapephotography #landscape #glaciers
February 1, 2026 at 6:56 PM
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keeprising.bsky.social
🪄🔵 Liam safe at home 🪄💙
We all love u, little man. As we fight for more, kiddos release 🧸🍭🛝🦄💙🔵💙🦄🛝🍭🧸
February 1, 2026 at 6:56 PM
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ruinedfinery.bsky.social
February 1, 2026 at 6:58 PM
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roger1952.bsky.social
A performer during a traditional "Tezutsu Hanabi" (hand-held cannon fireworks) festival in Japan.
Performers hold large bamboo cylinders filled with gunpowder, which erupt in a spectacular shower of sparks.
The event is a traditional ritual. Photo by 35587039@N04 on Flickr
A person stands in silhouette under a dramatic shower of golden sparks from a pyrotechnics display. The long exposure of the photograph makes the person's figure slightly blurred and the descending sparks appear as bright, streaking lines of light. This kind of visual is associated with traditional Japanese Tezutsu fireworks festivals, where brave participants hold large bamboo cannons that spray flames and sparks to ward off misfortune. It is also similar to Chinese "iron flower" performances, where molten iron is thrown against a cold wall to create a shower of sparks.
February 1, 2026 at 7:06 PM
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infinite8horizon.com
Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #GullsInWater the Alt theme is #ShortLeggedBirds.

Gull in the middle of Piazza San Marco 😄, crimson finch
#photography #birds #nature #urban #wildlife #seagull #finch #humour #gift #EastCoastKin
A seagull in the middle of St. Mark's square, Venice, standing in water backing up from the lagoon Crimson finch perched in pandanus Crimson finch taking off from pandanus Crimson finch perched on dead pandanus
February 1, 2026 at 7:20 PM
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vangogh.bsky.social
View of Paris from Montmartre - 1886
https://botfrens.com/collections/46/contents/14036
February 1, 2026 at 7:31 PM
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patriciastoughton.bsky.social
The Blue Bridge, St. James's Park, London.
The famous Blue Bridge, used in many a film scene, its railings reflected in the water below. People walking across or taking in the views. A pair of swans sail underneath.
February 1, 2026 at 6:15 PM
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dreamcatcher01.bsky.social
Beauty can take many forms...
Dried up red berries on a single branch. The background is blurry green and snowy white. 📷 Dreamcatcher
February 1, 2026 at 6:22 PM
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ruinedfinery.bsky.social
whenever I feel helpless
in this overwhelming world

I become a helper

on the days
when it feels like
I have no power

I serve others

you see,
whenever I wash
the world’s feet

my hands
immediately
stop shaking

🖊️ john roedel

📷 Stone on Nalagiri elephant, Sankar - Myanmar
February 1, 2026 at 1:53 PM
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ruinedfinery.bsky.social
"There is one thing the photograph must contain, the humanity of the moment." 🖊️ Robert Frank

📷 #WalkforPeace
February 1, 2026 at 2:03 PM
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janaazick.bsky.social
Good morning! Lots of art as meditation going on right now! Watercolor and ink....
#mixedmedia52 #mm52w5 #Floral #ArtAsMeditation #watercolor
A vertical loose watercolor and ink painting. It is a flowers and leaves in shades of reds, blues, purple, pink and green. The painting isnot realistic.
January 29, 2026 at 11:14 AM
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ysl.bsky.social
“It takes a long time to sound like yourself.”

— Miles Davis
January 31, 2026 at 11:08 PM
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estherhawdon.bsky.social
"New Year's morning:
the ducks on the pond
quack and quack." Issa Kobayashi

(images: Koson Ohara)
January 1, 2026 at 1:56 AM
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kalmantibs.bsky.social
“If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.”

— Buddha, 563–483 BCE

From Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel and the Vienna Philharmonic perform Adagio, Samuel Barber, String Quartet in B minor, Op. 11, composed in 1936.

🙏🏼🌍🕊️
January 30, 2026 at 11:29 PM
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barackobama.bsky.social
Black History Month is a time to recognize the lived, shared experience of all Black folks who have fundamentally shaped, challenged, and ultimately strengthened America. It’s about taking an unvarnished look at the past so that we can create a better future.
February 1, 2026 at 5:09 PM
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abilutangwa.bsky.social
Alarm bells are ringing in the Horn of Africa. Farms are no longer yielding, pests are spreading, and tropical diseases are emerging. Climate change is real, and it’s destroying lives. #ClimateCrisis #GlobalAction
January 31, 2026 at 6:44 PM
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keeprising.bsky.social
‼️💛🍭 Liam is home ‼️💜🧸
Here with Ilhan Omar
& Joaquin Castro

Now let's get the other
children out 🛝❤️💙💛💚🎠
February 1, 2026 at 5:14 PM
Reposted by The Centre for Useless Splendour
streetartutopia.com
New in Seattle!

Blame
Billionaires
Not
Immigrants

Abolish
ICE
A nighttime photo in Seattle shows a large protest message projected onto the side of a tall, pale office building. In bright white letters it reads “BLAME BILLIONAIRES NOT IMMIGRANTS” and, below, “ABOLISH ICE,” glowing through misty air with city windows and surrounding buildings visible in the background.
February 1, 2026 at 5:14 PM
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putawomanincharge.bsky.social
Or anything on my phone.
February 1, 2026 at 5:15 PM
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streetartutopia.com
More photos and about it: www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/h...
Photos: Hundreds of S.F. protesters form banner with message for ICE
The San Francisco protesters, motivated by the killings of Renee Good by an ICE agent and Alex Pretti by Border Patrol officers, spelled out “ABOLISH” on Ocean Beach.
www.sfchronicle.com
February 1, 2026 at 5:15 PM
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tamranger.bsky.social
River otter at Phoenix Lake #riverotter #otter #phoenixlake #mttamalpais #mttam #mttamwatershed #mmwd #marinwater #wildlife #wildlifephotography
February 1, 2026 at 5:18 PM
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momscleanairforce.org
He is home ❤️
February 1, 2026 at 5:18 PM