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rlgottwald.bsky.social
@rlgottwald.bsky.social
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rlgottwald.bsky.social
a man in a red shirt is saying i appreciate you noticing that
ALT: a man in a red shirt is saying i appreciate you noticing that
media.tenor.com
November 12, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Reposted
the-downballot.com
It turns out that *how* you ask the question has a huge impact. Make the GCB about D vs. R and the Dem lead is more modest. Make it solely about GOP control of Congress and the Dem advantage grows.

With independents, that lead skyrockets.
November 11, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Reposted
wellerstein.bsky.social
In my part, I make reference to photos of a nuclear test in which birds can be seen igniting in the air as a result of the thermal pulse — this is what I was referencing. From Science, vol 138, no. 3539 (October 26, 1962), which included an article on the brightness of an atomic bomb.
Photographs of an "atomic fireball," with small black clouds visible in the foreground. "An interesting effect of the light from an atomic fireball is shown in the series of prints (cover photo) which were taken from motion picture ifim made during one of the Eniwetok tests in the Pacific. The device was detonated at night when the birds of the island were roosting in the trees and bushes located between the camera and the point of detonation. With the appearance of the light from the fireball, which at this distance was many times that of the noon day sun, the birds were suddenly awakened and took to the air. Because they were between the camera and the fireball, their silhouettes showed clearly on the film. The time required for them to fly above the tree tops was about the -same as the time- for the maximum delivery of the therhial radiation pulse. At this time, the intensity of thermal radiation was sufficient to ignite the tail and wing feathers of the black birds. As their feathers burned, they could no longer remain airborne; their trails were marked by curving puffs of smoke as they fell to the ground. These trails are visible in the last two prints of the series. In the motion pictures, it is possible to detect a few birds which remained airborne and continued on their way. These are the white-feathered ones. The difference" (continued next) ..."in the thermal effects on these two classes of birds is due to the differences in the absorption of thermal radiation. As with sunlight, dark and especially black objects are heated more than white ones, and in this case the energy levels were just sufficient to ignite the feathers of the black terns and not the white ones." Graph showing the "luminous efficiency of a nuclear fireball in air" with "some other familiar light sources shown for comparison." The fireball is briefly brighter than the Sun.
November 12, 2025 at 1:43 PM