Nadezhda Stasova (1822–1895) was an educator and one of the earliest leaders of the Russian women's movement. She was born into a noble and wealthy family; Tsar Alexander I of Russia was her godfather, and she received extensive private tutoring as a child. In adulthood, she dedicated herself to women's empowerment. Along with Anna Filosofova and Maria Trubnikova, she founded and led several organizations designed to promote women's cultural and economic independence, including a publishing cooperative. In a decades-long effort, they successfully pushed government officials to allow higher education for women, although continual opposition sometimes limited or even reversed their successes. Stasova eventually became the lead organizer of the Bestuzhev Courses for women in 1878, but a decade later was forced to resign under political pressure. She continued her work on women's issues right up until her death in 1895, mentoring and inspiring younger feminists. (Full article...)
George Roper was a four-masted iron barque that was built for service between England and Australia, launching from Liverpool in February 1883. On its maiden voyage, it carried 3,842 tons of cargo, including railway track for the Victoria State Government, liquor, chemicals, drapery, and dynamite. It reached Australia in July, but got caught on the reef at Point Lonsdale while being towed into Port Melbourne. The ship sat there for nearly two months before breaking up and sinking on 26 August 1883. The wreck remains under 4–5 metres of water and is accessible to recreational divers. This photograph by the German-born photographer Fred Kruger shows George Roper's wreck at Point Lonsdale before it sank.
The splendid fairywren (Malurus splendens) is a passerine bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is found across much of the Australian continent from central-western New South Wales and southwestern Queensland over to coastal Western Australia. It inhabits predominantly arid and semi-arid regions. Exhibiting a high degree of sexual dimorphism, the male in breeding plumage is a small, long-tailed bird of bright blue and black colouration. Non-breeding males, females and juveniles are grey-brown in colour; this gave the early impression that males were polygamous as all dull-coloured birds were taken for females. The species comprises several similar all-blue and black subspecies that were originally considered to be separate species. Like other fairywrens, the splendid fairywren is notable for several peculiar behavioural characteristics; birds are socially monogamous and sexually promiscuous, meaning that although they form pairs between one male and one female, each partner will mate with other individuals and even assist in raising the young from such pairings. Male wrens pluck pink or purple petals and display them to females as part of a courtship display. This male splendid fairywren was photographed in Cargelligo State Forest in New South Wales, Australia.
Baryte is a mineral consisting of barium sulfate (BaSO4). Generally white or colorless, it is the main source of the element barium, an alkaline earth metal. It is found across the world and can be deposited through biogenic and hydrothermal processes or evaporation. Early records of baryte date to the 16th century, when a radiating form gained notoriety among alchemists for specimens found near Bologna, Italy. Carl Wilhelm Scheele determined that baryte contained a new element in 1774, but elemental barium was not isolated until 1808 by Humphry Davy, using electrolysis of molten barium salts. Modern uses of baryte include oil and gas drilling, oxygen and sulfur isotopic analysis, and radiometric dating. These crystals of baryte on a dolomite crystal matrix was found at Cerro Warihuyn in Miraflores District, Peru. This photograph was focus-stacked from 24 separate images.
There is a great disconnect between how athiests and religionist view the proper place for religion in the public square. Briefly, atheists (usually) want no religion in the public square, and religionists want equal access (non-denominational) to the public square and view athiesm as just one other "religion" that needs access.
Wikipedia's Reputation
I've been thinking about this key principle: "[What] reliable sources ... have in common is process and approval between document creation and publication." This is also the key to Wikipedia's reliability and reputation. The core principles of neutrality and verifiability along with the standards for articles (featured/good/etc) and the implicit approval of every person who reads an article and makes no changes to it.
Intellectual Property
We (Americans) often "borrow" other people's intellectual property because the transaction method (i.e. limited use permission) does not exist and can not be created without the transaction cost exceeding the value of the permission (which is close to $0.00 in most cases) so we keep using other's work, and they don't sue us.
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