My Life on this planet.

Two days ago the moon was stunning: completely round and very bright. But then as we can expect from a cloudless night, that night, close to the end of March, would be very cold although this year many nights of March were very cold even when the sky was cloudy and snowy. I decided to take some pictures, and I got some nice results (I think). Indeed, as I took the pictures through double glass, whenever the exposure was longer and thus the moon brighter, one or even two other moons could be seen on the pictures because of the reflection in the window. All pictures: ISO 200 and 200mm lens . Long exposure of 1/20 sec and f/8.0 resulted in three moons. I find this fascinating and the reflections allow me to discover the higher hills and deeper valleys as the smaller ones disappear. Shorter exposure of 1/30 sec and f/10. As a result of both changes compared with the previous photo, much less light reached the camera and thus the real moon is no longer totally over-exposed while...

Democratic Senate leader Harry Reid decided there will be no vote on a plan to ban assault weapons , and thus in effect he probably kills off a key part of a gun control campaign prompted by the school massacre in Newton in December. He explains he took the decision after being told by analysts there wouldn't be a majority for the plan as 60 votes out of the 100-members Senate were needed to succeed. However, the plan passed, although only narrowly, a Senate panel last week, and thus there was hope. Therefore, I think his explanation is rubbish. Indeed, one has to talk in order to reach a consensus, but in the end Members of Parliament have to take their responsibility and vote but they can only do this when there is a vote. Only during a vote can it be sure how many and who support or oppose the ban while during debates leading to the vote one can understand why some members oppose the ban and thus some changes can be made so a majority can be reached. Only then the electorate w...

Part two of the fiscal cliff. After my previous article on this subject, a small deal was reached and for a short period the American budget was saved. However, the short period (about 2 months) is over and a new deal has not been reached. Therefore, on March 1 the President had to sign into effect budget cuts as the law forced him to do, known as the sequester. Who will be affected? About half the budget cuts concern the military. Some will claim this is a good thing as too much is spend on the army, and indeed this would be great if done in a controlled way but not due to artificial budget cuts as than chaos can erupt. It seems those working for defence contractors are already feeling the effect as some companies are already reducing their workforce. Further, at a moment when it seems the number of conflicts increase the army should be prepared. Although, maybe there will be less interferences in local conflicts and thus people may become less frustrated because of foreign interfer...

As I predicted last year after prime minister Berlusconi's fall that he may come back , indeed he is again a force to take into account when a government has to be formed after Italy's last election. I am really surprised so many people are surprised he is back. I understand investors may not understand his comeback because they only live in their own world, but that journalists (who should speak not only with the powerful but also with ordinary people) didn't see it coming is beyond my understanding. Therefore, to write a blog like this and predict how people may behave, you simply have to ask yourself two similar and simple questions, the first question starting with " What would I do if ...? " or something similar such as " How would I behave if ...? ". Then ask the second second : " What if most people would behave as I would behave, or do the opposite? ". Asking yourself these questions will bring you quite far. Let us try ... Questio...

A few days ago I saw a BBC documentary, i.e. " Atlantis: the evidence ". It describes the past existence of the island Thera , now known as Santorini , with the settlement Akrotiri which may have been (part of) Atlantis . View the island on a map and it becomes clear it was ones a round island while now only some parts are left. Indeed, around 1600 BC one of the largest volcanic eruptions ever recorded by humans took place with tsunamis devastating locally large areas while even Ireland was effected because of ash and worldwide temperatures dropped. The remains of the city were covered with metres of ashes. The tsunamis were huge and one can imaging they devastated large areas such as the Minoan civilisation on Crete that was on the path of the tsunamis and as a consequence this society collapsed. But waves also reached the mainland, including Greece and as Athens is not too far from the sea the earthquakes and tsunamis may have temporarily stopped Athens civilisation, a...

Look at the beauty of the skeleton of this leaf which I found today in my garden, at the end of the winter. Life is returning back to my garden and now many leafs that are left after the winter will disappear soon as insects start eating them. During the winter they were a good protection against frost for many insects such as woodlouse. But also snails and worms consume many of these leafs, certainly now when the only food available are old leafs. First the soft parts of the leafs disappear, leaving these beautiful but fragile skeletons. Thus, hurry if you too want to take some pictures of the skeleton of leafs before most are gone. A scanner is ideal for taking this kind of pictures. Skeleton of the leaf of a rose. Soon fresh leafs will appear and then, probably just as last year, the battle with snails and slugs eating my plants will start all over again. Update 12/11/2013: another leave to share. As I find this too a beautiful leaf, although not yet completely digest...