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Chris Becke (aka BeckePhysics) @chrisbecke.bsky.social · 1d

I remember learning this from @michaelshermer.bsky.social about 25 years ago.

Chris Becke (aka BeckePhysics) @chrisbecke.bsky.social · 1d

I've purchased a few of her pieces myself.

Danielle Rose Baker 🚀 @planetaryartist.com · 1d

Huzzah, it’s #PortfolioDay !

I’m Danielle and I paint and illustrate spacecraft, planets, and interesting landscapes in watercolor and ink. Fond of ink textures and pointillism. No AI here, just space and rocks/geology. 🪐🪨🚀

Prints and originals available at planetaryartist.com

Thanks for looking!

DUST OF OSIRIS by Danielle Rose Baker. A painting of the top-down view of the opened sample return capsule from the OSIRIS-REx mission to asteroid Bennu. Circular sections and hexagonal bolts are seen among the rocky material in the middle ring, framed by lotus flower motifs and patterned circles with geometric ink designs drawn in an ancient Egyptian style with gold accents. A ring of painted turquoise, lapis and carnelian rectangles accented with gold surrounds the inkwork. Inspired by the decorative motifs of Tutankhamen’s treasures, and the Art Deco-tinged Egyptian Revival movement that arose from the discovery of said treasures.

DIANA PIERCES THE AZURE SKY by Danielle Rose Baker. An ink illustration of a Saturn V rocket and launch tower during the launch of Apollo IV. The top two-thirds is a roiling sky of clouds rendered in blue, dark teal and navy inks, some with shimmering effects. Outlined against this, the launch tower is seen in shades of brown-orange. The rocket is bathed in warm light and yellow-tinged exhaust expands below, with dark shapes outlining the base of the launch pad.

HUES OF VENUS by Danielle Rose Baker. A pearlescent false-color watercolor painting on black paper of the cloudy atmosphere of Venus as seen by the JAXA Atatsuki spacecraft in 2020. In this view, the clouds are seen in swirls and ribbons of gold and dark blue, combining to blue-grays.

UBEHEBE CRATER by Danielle Rose Baker. A watercolor painting of Ubehebe Crater at Death Valley National Park. An explosive volcanic crater dusted with snow against an overcast sky. The crater wall has many layers, in shades of brown, tan and orange. The foreground is darker brown, with lighter splotches of snow.

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Chris Becke (aka BeckePhysics) @chrisbecke.bsky.social · 1d

I'm fairly certain I'll find a few things to photograph!

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Chris Becke (aka BeckePhysics) @chrisbecke.bsky.social · 1d

I was so looking forward to visiting Haifoss next week to take a photo to match your art, but unfortunately the road is not favorable.

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Chris Becke (aka BeckePhysics) @chrisbecke.bsky.social · 1d

You had me at "slightly over-baked"

Gina BOO 👻 #FreeŁink @gina.bzky.team · 1d

That slightly over-baked crease, on freshly cut brownies from the corner of the pan 🥰

Chris Becke (aka BeckePhysics) @chrisbecke.bsky.social · 1d

They want a “Continuing Resolution”. You’re right to stand up and say “The actions of this administration cannot Continue”

I’m surprised that’s not part of the messaging.

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Chris Becke (aka BeckePhysics) @chrisbecke.bsky.social · 1d

Wow. Almost nobody out on this rainy Tuesday morning. #TenMinMerlin

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Chris Becke (aka BeckePhysics) @chrisbecke.bsky.social · 2d

a shark is attacking a man on a boat that says rca

ALT: a shark is attacking a man on a boat that says rca

media.tenor.com

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Reposted by Chris Becke (aka BeckePhysics)

George Gantsoudes @pedsortho.bsky.social · 2d

Please remember that the disgust people have over Christopher Columbus is not based on some modern, 21st century “woke” ideology, but rather on contemporaneous accounts of atrocities that make many modern genocides appear quaint in comparison.

Below, are the accounts of Bartlomé de las Casas.

But too many of the slaves died in captivity. And so Columbus, desperate to pay back dividends to those who had in-vested, had to make good his promise to fill the ships with gold. In the province of Cicao on Haiti, where he and his men imagined huge gold fields to exist, they ordered all persons fourteen years or older to collect a certain quantity of gold every three months. When they brought it, they were given copper tokens to hang around their necks. Indians found without a copper token had their hands cut off and bled to death.
The Indians had been given an impossible task. The only gold around was bits of dust garnered from the streams. So they fled, were hunted down with dogs, and were killed.

After each six or eight months' work in the mines, which was the time required of each crew to dig enough gold for melting, up to a third of the men died.
While the men were sent many miles away to the mines, the wives remained to work the soil, forced into the excruciating job of digging and making thousands of hills for cassava plants.
Thus husbands and wives were together only once every eight or ten months and when they met they were so exhausted and depressed on both sides... they ceased to pro-create. As for the newly born, they died early because their mothers, overworked and fam-ished, had no milk to nurse them, and for this reason, while I was in Cuba, 7000 children died in three months. Some mothers even drowned their babies from sheer desper-ation.... In this way, husbands died in the mines, wives died at work, and children died from lack of milk ... and in a short time this land which was so great, so powerful and fer-tile... was depopulated... My eyes have seen these acts so foreign to human nature, and now I tremble as I write....

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Chris Becke (aka BeckePhysics) @chrisbecke.bsky.social · 2d

A quiet, cloudy Monday morning #TenMinMerlin

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Chris Becke (aka BeckePhysics) @chrisbecke.bsky.social · 3d

A friend had a costume party for his birthday. I had a bespoke Bill Adama costume made by an old friend. My wife went as Laura Roslyn.

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Chris Becke (aka BeckePhysics) @chrisbecke.bsky.social · 4d

I always book a window seat

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Chris Becke (aka BeckePhysics) @chrisbecke.bsky.social · 5d

This is certainly going to help US soybean farmers sell to China.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 5d

Trump posts a bizarre, whiny screed signaling an escalation of tensions with China

Some very strange things are happening in China! They are becoming very hostile, and sending letters to Countries throughout the World, that they want to impose Export Controls on each and every element of production having to do with Rare Earths, and virtually anything else they can think of, even if it’s not manufactured in China. Nobody has ever seen anything like this but, essentially, it would “clog” the Markets, and make life difficult for virtually every Country in the World, especially for China. We have been contacted by other Countries who are extremely angry at this great Trade hostility, which came out of nowhere. Our relationship with China over the past six months has been a very good one, thereby making this move on Trade an even more surprising one. I have always felt that they’ve been lying in wait, and now, as usual, I have been proven right! There is no way that China should be allowed to hold the World “captive,” but that seems to have been their plan for quite some time, starting with the “Magnets” and, other Elements that they have quietly amassed into somewhat of a Monopoly position, a rather sinister and hostile move, to say the least. But the U.S. has Monopoly positions also, much stronger and more far reaching than China’s. I have just not chosen to use them, there was never a reason for me to do so — UNTIL NOW! The letter they sent is many pages long, and details, with great specificity, each and every Element that they want to withhold from other Nations. Things that were routine are no longer routine at all. I have not spoken to President Xi because there was no reason to do so. This was a real surprise, not only to me, but to all the Leaders of the Free World. I was to meet President Xi in two weeks, at APEC, in South Korea, but now there seems to be no reason to do so. The Chinese letters were especially inappropriate in that this was the Day that, after three thousand years of bedlam and fighting, there is PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST.

I wonder if that timing was coincidental? Dependent on what China says about the hostile “order” that they have just put out, I will be forced, as President of the United States of America, to financially counter their move. For every Element that they have been able to monopolize, we have two. I never thought it would come to this but perhaps, as with all things, the time has come. Ultimately, though potentially painful, it will be a very good thing, in the end, for the U.S.A. One of the Policies that we are calculating at this moment is a massive increase of Tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States of America. There are many other countermeasures that are, likewise, under serious consideration. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

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Chris Becke (aka BeckePhysics) @chrisbecke.bsky.social · 5d

Capital gains are income and should be taxed as such.

Unrealized capital gains should be taxed as well. You can deduct these taxes from those you’d pay when you realize the gains.

And basis should not reset upon inheritance.

Chris Becke (aka BeckePhysics) @chrisbecke.bsky.social · 5d

Happy Friday! #TenMinMerlin

Northern Flicker

Chipping Sparrow o

Red-bellied Woodpecker o

Carolina Wren o

Northern Cardinal o

American Crow o
Carolina Chickadee o
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Tufted Titmouse •

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Chris Becke (aka BeckePhysics) @chrisbecke.bsky.social · 6d

I'm also looking for the next Democratic president to issue executive orders somehow related to reigning in the 2nd Amendment and enacting strong gun control reform measures.

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Chris Becke (aka BeckePhysics) @chrisbecke.bsky.social · 6d

A rather quiet Thursday morning #TenMinMerlin

Eastern Bluebird o
American Crow o
Blue Jay
Downy Woodpecker

Carolina Wren •
Carolina Chickadee •
Northern Cardinal o
Chipping Sparrow o

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Chris Becke (aka BeckePhysics) @chrisbecke.bsky.social · 6d

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

Trump’s Oval Office redesign includes $58 Home Depot item: report

Internet sleuths say the gold trimming recently added to the Oval Office is actually from Home Depot.

www.independent.co.uk

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Chris Becke (aka BeckePhysics) @chrisbecke.bsky.social · 7d

I looked up "Lying to Congress" in the dictionary. This came up:

Image of Pam Bondi testifying to Congress on Oct 7, 2025

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Chris Becke (aka BeckePhysics) @chrisbecke.bsky.social · 7d

My #TenMinMerlin for this Wednesday morning

Downy Woodpecker

House Finch o

White-breasted Nuthatch

House Sparrow o

Blue Jay

Eastern Wood-Pewee
YOUR BIRD OF THE DAY!

Carolina Wren •
Canada Goose
Tufted Titmouse o
Carolina Chickadee o
Red-bellied Woodpecker o

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Chris Becke (aka BeckePhysics) @chrisbecke.bsky.social · 7d

I just imagined an ironic future where "Trails to Rails" converts a certain amount of bike trails to an efficient high-speed rail network.

Chris Becke (aka BeckePhysics) @chrisbecke.bsky.social · 7d

Wait! Is that what happened to the Oval Office???

Chris Becke (aka BeckePhysics) @chrisbecke.bsky.social · 7d

The defenestration of Pra...vda?

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Chris Becke (aka BeckePhysics) @chrisbecke.bsky.social · 7d

Definitely a spot we've enjoyed to visit over the years.

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Chris Becke (aka BeckePhysics) @chrisbecke.bsky.social · 7d

There may be sites available at the Devil's Backbone campground down the hill. And you'd get to enjoy some brews as well.
app.fireflyreservations.com/Reserve/Prop...

Reserve | Devils Backbone Camp

app.fireflyreservations.com

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