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I just wanna share something that has been happening recently in my country that just warms my heart.

So in the Philippines, the national government has been handling the pandemic horribly. Contact tracing is decentralized, implementation of travel restrictions were delayed (which could’ve helped curb the spread earlier), absurd restrictions have been imposed (which gave way for police to abuse their power against quarantine violators, who were usually out for essentials) –all the while killing activists, spreading disinformation and implementing a law that targets critics of the administration and our freedom of speech. (and also putting ₱389-million pesos worth of dolomite sand on Manila Bay in the middle of the pandemic which could’ve been used to feed millions). Oh and as of writing, we are tallying up to 9,000-10,000 cases daily.

That being said, millions of low-income households around the country are struggling to put food on the table. Government payouts per household (which goes as far as ₱1,000- 8,000 pesos/$20-160 depending on your wages) are not enough to sustain months of lockdown and no income.

Tired of witnessing inaction, a local woman named Patreng Non made a makeshift pantry right outside her community in Quezon and named it the “Maginhawa Community Pantry”. The rule was simple. It simply wrote “Magbigay ayon sa kakayahan, kumuha batay sa pangangailangan.” (translation: “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs”)

The pantry gained traction, and after that, donations started pouring in from local farmers, fishermen and other regular folks

First Photo: Patreng Non refilling the community pantry Second Photo: Local fishermen about to donate 50 kilos surplus of fish Third Photo: Cardboard saying: “Free sweet potatoes from the farmers of Paniqui, Tarlac” Fourth Photo: Tricycle drivers helping repack donations received Fifth Photo: Current pantry with signages designed by local students

There was no panic, no hoarding, and people only took what they needed and left. Soon enough, community pantries started to pop up in different provinces.

This pantry and the nurturing community behind it has done more for the community in a week than what the government has done for the Filipino people in months. 

Patreng Non has also set up a Paypal if you want to donate to the community pantry!

[americononini]

the way i’m crying rn

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Pick Your Favorite Findings From Fermi’s First Decade

The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has been observing some of the most extreme objects and events in the universe — from supermassive black holes to merging neutron stars and thunderstorms — for 10 years. Fermi studies the cosmos using gamma rays, the highest-energy form of light, and has discovered thousands of new phenomena for scientists.

Here are a few of our favorite Fermi discoveries, pick your favorite in the first round of our “Fermi Science Playoff.” 

Colliding Neutron Stars

In 2017, Fermi detected a gamma ray burst at nearly the same moment ground observatories detected gravitational waves from two merging neutron stars. This was the first time light and ripples in space-time were detected from the same source.

The Sun and Moon in Gamma Rays

In 2016, Fermi showed the Moon is brighter in gamma rays than the Sun. Because the Moon doesn’t have a magnetic field, the surface is constantly pelted from all directions by cosmic rays. These produce gamma rays when they run into other particles, causing a full-Moon gamma-ray glow.

Record Rare from a Blazar

The supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy 3C 279 weighs a billion times the mass of our Sun. In June 2015, this blazar became the brightest gamma-ray source in the sky due to a record-setting flare.

The First Gamma-Ray Pulsar in Another Galaxy

In 2015, for the first time, Fermi discovered a gamma-ray pulsar, a kind of rapidly spinning superdense star, in a galaxy outside our own. The object, located on the outskirts of the Tarantula Nebula, also set the record for the most luminous gamma-ray pulsar we’ve seen so far.

A Gamma-Ray Cycle in Another Galaxy

Many galaxies, including our own, have black holes at their centers. In active galaxies, dust and gas fall into and “feed” the black hole, releasing light and heat. In 2015 for the first time, scientists using Fermi data found hints that a galaxy called PG 1553+113 has a years-long gamma-ray emission cycle. They’re not sure what causes this cycle, but one exciting possibility is that the galaxy has a second supermassive black hole that causes periodic changes in what the first is eating.

Gamma Rays from Novae

A nova is a fairly common, short-lived kind of explosion on the surface of a white dwarf, a type of compact star not much larger than Earth. In 2014, Fermi observed several novae and found that they almost always produce gamma-rays, giving scientists a new type of source to explore further with the telescope.

A Record-Setting Cosmic Blast

Gamma-ray bursts are the most luminous explosions in the universe. In 2013, Fermi spotted the brightest burst it’s seen so far in the constellation Leo. In the first three seconds alone, the burst, called GRB 130427A, was brighter than any other burst seen before it. This record has yet to be shattered.

Cosmic Rays from Supernova Leftovers

Cosmic rays are particles that travel across the cosmos at nearly the speed of light. They are hard to track back to their source because they veer off course every time they encounter a magnetic field. In 2013, Fermi showed that these particles reach their incredible speed in the shockwaves of supernova remains — a theory proposed in 1949 by the satellite’s namesake, the Italian-American physicist Enrico Fermi.

Discovery of a Transformer Pulsar

In 2013, the pulsar in a binary star system called AY Sextanis switched from radio emissions to high-energy gamma rays. Scientists think the change reflects erratic interaction between the two stars in the binary.

Gamma-Ray Measurement of a Gravitational Lens

A gravitational lens is a kind of natural cosmic telescope that occurs when a massive object in space bends and amplifies light from another, more distant object. In 2012, Fermi used gamma rays to observe a spiral galaxy 4.03 billion light-years away bending light coming from a source 4.35 billion light-years away.

New Limits on Dark Matter

We can directly observe only 20 percent of the matter in the universe. The rest is invisible to telescopes and is called dark matter — and we’re not quite sure what it is. In 2012, Fermi helped place new limits on the properties of dark matter, essentially narrowing the field of possible particles that can describe what dark matter is.

‘Superflares’ in the Crab Nebula

The Crab Nebula supernova remnant is one of the most-studied targets in the sky — we’ve been looking at it for almost a thousand years! In 2011, Fermi saw it erupt in a flare five times more powerful than any previously seen from the object. Scientists calculate the electrons in this eruption are 100 times more energetic than what we can achieve with particle accelerators on Earth.

Thunderstorms Hurling Antimatter into Space

Terrestrial gamma-ray flashes are created by thunderstorms. In 2011, Fermi scientists announced the satellite had detected beams of antimatter above thunderstorms, which they think are a byproduct of gamma-ray flashes.

Giant Gamma-Ray Bubbles in the Milky Way

Using data from Fermi in 2010, scientists discovered a pair of “bubbles” emerging from above and below the Milky Way. These enormous bubbles are half the length of the Milky Way and were probably created by our galaxy’s supermassive black hole only a few million years ago.

Hint of Starquakes in a Magnetar

Neutron stars have magnetic fields trillions of times stronger than Earth’s. Magnetars are neutron stars with magnetic fields 1,000 times stronger still. In 2009, Fermi saw a storm of gamma-ray bursts from a magnetar called SGR J1550-5418, which scientists think were related to seismic waves rippling across its surface.

A Dark Pulsar

We observe many pulsars using radio waves, visible light or X-rays. In 2008, Fermi found the first gamma-ray only pulsar in a supernova remnant called CTA 1. We think that the “beam” of gamma rays we see from CTA 1 is much wider than the beam of other types of light from that pulsar. Those other beams never sweep across our vision — only the gamma-rays.

Have a favorite Fermi discovery or want to learn more? Cast your vote in the first of four rounds of the Fermi Science Playoff to help rank Fermi’s findings. Or follow along as we celebrate the mission all year.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.

[americononini]

George Takei and Lea Salonga Break Ground—Again—in ‘Allegiance’

Read Here

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Friends, I’m in a bind. We are running this new TV ad, but it’s so expensive to buy airtime. Will you help by sharing this video, so it spreads on social media? This put our last ad in front of over 1 million people. Remember, we open on November 8—a dream come true! My deepest thanks – Uncle George

[americononini]

The Museum is flying rainbow banners in celebration of the Supreme Court’s decision on same sex marriage. ‘Reblog’ if you support ‪#‎MarriageEquality‬ for everyone!

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Debt Limit Fight

Dear Folks,

Well, our congress is at it again.  They're squabbling again about the debt ceiling, tying it in to future spending, and guess what?  Nothing's getting done!  Shouldn't be surprised but it sure is getting tiresome.  The voters wanted a republican congress since we have a democratic president so we have a republican house that seems to be controlled by 50 tea baggers.  I guess we can blame those people who are enthralled with a multi-party system; nothing like having a bunch of small parties that don't answer to anyone and everyone's constantly trying to form coalitions.  Did anyone say Italy, Israel?  Now I'm sure our elected yahoos are well intentioned, after all having a balanced budget and living within one's means is a noble goal.  But can someone explain to me how not paying one's bills constitute balancing the budget?  The debt ceiling has to do with paying our debts, the ones that have already been incurred.  The annual budget is what determines where and how we're going to spend our money, or need to borrow to cover any shortfall.  Maybe they can't grasp this because these are the same guys who fall all over each other to add earmarks and pork barrel spending to the budget after they drag their feet and pass the budget in the wee hours of the morning before adjourning and not knowing what went into the bill.  It's these same yahoos who can tell you we need to cut spending but then can't tell you what projects they're willing to eliminate.  They want to eliminate the department of education but hey, why stop there?  Let's get rid of public schools and lunches all together.  After all, if you can't feed and educate your own children, why are you having them?  And public transportation, who needs it?  If you don't have a car, stay home.  And if more people stay home, we won't need roads so government can get out of building highways and maintaining them.  Great idea!  And medicare, medicaid, Obamacare (which of course hasn't even gone into effect but we won't go there.)  We won't need that because people are responsible and responsible people always pay their own bills.  We won't go into responsible people who can't get health insurance or the ones who lost their houses because they lost their jobs and couldn't service their debt because if they had been responsible they would have been living within their means.  So let's see, we can cut down on the size of government because we can pretty much eliminate services because we don't want to tax the wealthy and corporations because if we tax them they won't have money to hire people.  Of course we won't mention that corporations and the wealthy are swimming in money but aren't hiring.  We also won't mention that the 2 leading causes of the deficit have been tax cuts and the middle east wars because, well, that would be unamerican.  Do you get the feeling that all of this is stupid?  Congress has created this problem and want us to believe that the only way to solve their problem for them is by screwing the poor and the middle class even more.  And the press seem to say that this is politics as usual.  If it is, why are they devoting so much time this crap?  Why not just let the house of cards come crashing down?  Quietly.  I guess I'm just saying, I'm really tired of this.

[americononini]

Humanity

How can one be optimistic for humanity when humans insist on being shortsighted?

[americononini]

Religion

I had predominantly a parochial school education and creationism/evolution was never a problem. We were taught science in science classes, religion in religion classes, and there never was any confusion. It surprises me that so many people seem to want to make an issue of this.

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Elections 2010

Politicians seem to be well practiced skewers of the truth but Rick Perry and David Dewhurst have made lying part of their tenure and campaigns and have no business being in office.

[americononini]

Elections 2010

Just a reminder, ok nag, to vote.  1 more week of early voting in Texas.