Don Sutherland's favorite articles

"The virtue of the camera is not the power it has to transform the photographer into an artist but the impulse it gives him to keep on looking, and looking." Brooks Atkinson , 'Once around the Sun' Found At the start of Chapter 12 of 'Death is now my neighbour'by Colin Dexter (an Inspector Morse novel)

Dear members and friends of ipernity, 1) Summary of the General Assembly of Members. We thank all of you who attended the online meeting. Please refer to the separate article: 2024 IGA Report . We have a plan to simplify the voting process, without the need for emails with links to each PollUnit, while still having a secure voting system. 2) Meeting in the real world. Last weekend, numerous ipernity members went to Hamburg to meet face to face. See Hamburg 2024 group . With…

Executive Board (elected by the Ipernity General Assembly on March 25, 2023 and April 7, 2024) William Sutherland , United States, President Corinne Pommerell , Luxemburg, Treasurer Rob Stamp , United Kingdom, Webmaster Laura Fletcher , United States, Moderator Executive Assistants ( appointed by the Executive Board in accordance with ARTICLE VII,10 of the IMA Statutes ) Helena-Paule Fitoussi , France (hotline, spam removal) Stefan Roßkopf , Germany (IT) S…

The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. [Acts 2:20] Actually instead of doom and gloom, 8 April 2024 proved to be a surreal, awesome, joyful and even life-changing day for many who had watched as the eclipse unfolded with anticipation, excitement and awe. Since 21 August 2017 when our area (the NYC metro region) experienced a partial solar eclipse, Don and I had resolved to see totality in a solar eclipse set fo…

Ein Welttag soll an internationale Themen und aktuelle Weltprobleme erinnern. Es gibt von der UN und ihren Unterorganisationen mehr als 100 offizielle Welt- und Internationale Tage. Im Zeitalter der Globalisierung und des Internets erfahren weltweite Gedenktage eine Aufwertung. Der Weltozeantag wird jedes Jahr am 8. Juni weltweit begangen, um das Bewusstsein für die Bedeutung der Ozeane und deren Schutz zu schärfen. Er dient als Gelegenheit, die entscheidende Rolle des Ozeans in unserem Leben hervorzuheben, einschließlich seiner Auswirkungen auf die Klimaregulierung, die biologische Vielfalt, die Ernährungssicherheit und die Lebensgrundlagen.

Image created by Dall-e 2 Today, with the USA on the cusp of an intractable split, the Supreme Court exhibited a rare example of unity handing down a 9-0 decision that prohibited states from removing former President Donald Trump from the ballot. Like him or loathe him, this is the correct decision since allowing states to determine who is on their ballots would've destroyed our electoral system since states sympathetic to Trump’s candidacy threatened to retaliate and likewi…

... these days. Some of you may have recognized that my group headers for happy Bench Monday (hBM) and happy Fence Friday (hFF) come along with a small h instead of a capital one since February 24th, the beginning of Putin`s war of aggression against Ukraine and not so happy days for many people. I will continue this practice until the end of this war which will only know losers in retrospect. As a token of solidarity, you may consider to join me here. Thanks.

Composite created from images purchased from Shutterstock While I never crossed the threshold of the point of no return – permanent death – the near death experience (NDE) was nevertheless a shock. Being in top physical shape with perfect numbers on my last physical in December 2021, it was something I could have never imagined nor expected, which reinforces Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius’ (121-180 CE) words, “Live each day as if it were your last...” When I overexerted myself to hasten…

Note: Article lead photo taken at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Mt. Pleasant, NY on March 29, 2020. Background created from desert photo purchased from Shutterstock.® As the world remains gripped by the COVID-19 pandemic that has completely transformed our way of life and altered our priorities and filled so many with immense suffering, one can only look back to the to the life of Jesus, especially the time when he spent 40 days and nights in the desert at Mount Quarantania (Jabal al-Qarant…

Banner created using Coronavirus clipart for the zeros in 2020 purchased from Shutterstock and photograph of a solitary person who exited the New Jersey Path at World Trade Center Station Updated: 20 April 2020: With New York the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic and the daily death toll now exceeding 200, grim reality has sunk in. Consequently with the exception of military personnel providing services at the Jacob Javits Center that had been converted into an operational hospi…

Created from Shutterstock Stock Photograph purchased for Article “You have given up on us. You are leaving us to be slaughtered.” [1] [Gen. Mazloum Kobani Abdi, Commander, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces] While I oppose any coups, I believe President Trump’s misguided and reckless decision to abandon the Kurds is reason enough for voters to deny him a second term. Personally I cannot in good conscience vote for a President whose actions unleash genocide, nor one w…

While New York City, a metropolis of 8.6 million is known for its urban bustle and towering skyscrapers currently with four over 100 stories tall, Central Park with its diverse ecosystems and abundance of flora and fauna provides a hidden view of New York City and a welcome escape from the urban din. “Under the forest canopy of the Ravine , Manhattan’s skyline is hidden and the rushing sound of a waterfall drowns the city noise. When Park designers Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux create…

I created the header image because the United States is facing its greatest threat ever – a coup that will forever destroy the Constitution, extinguish freedom and have significant, profound and lasting consequences for not only America but the entire world as human dignity and fundamental rights such as freedom of speech, thought, religion and life are eliminated and governments determine and control the dissemination of information, shape our individual destiny and even decide who may have off…

With today’s climate change strike protests by young people (who have the most to lose) across the world the question arises, did the world miss its best chance to unleash a “green” revolution? Back in late 2008 and early 2009, when the world was experiencing the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s, former World Bank Chairman Nicholas Stern stated, “the economic case for tackling the global climate crisis is more compelling than ever” [1] since downturns and dis…

Created from Images purchased from Shutterstock For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” [Jeremiah 2 9:11 ] Disappointment, setbacks and adversity “are inevitable parts of life, yet difficult… to deal with.” [1] Yet there is little comfort in knowing this and even when a spiritual explanation is added – “It happens for a reason” – they are still not easy to accept since we often never…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6imIxpEWCA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF1iZH1F40s

All of us who lived that 9/11 day eighteen years ago will never forget. That fateful Tuesday started out full of promise with a cloudless sky and mild temperatures until the first plane, American Airlines Flight 11 hit the North Tower of 1 World Trade Center at 8:46 AM. A second plane, United Airlines Flight 175 hit the South Tower seventeen minutes later. By 10:28 AM both towers had collapsed and New York City was shrouded in darkness with the Statue of Liberty the only beacon of light as it…

Insects “may all look alike to human eyes, but each… is unique” with its own distinct face and “personality” that consists of traits like boldness, forcefulness, determination, shyness and even the presence of an ego, [1] despite being an estimated quintillion in number. At the same time, insects are conscious sentient beings that can communicate, think, have subjective experiences, possess a memory, feel pain, display emotions including empathy and engage in both individualistic and group b…

Life is made up of moments: Moments when we’re troubled – when a loved one drops a bombshell. Moments when we’re ecstatically happy – the birth of a child. Moments when we’re sad – the death of a loved one. Moments when we’re blissful – when the world just is. Moments of anguish – a cross word at the wrong time. Moments of frustration – when people don’t do their job correctly. Moments when we’re content – cosied up in a chair with a warm drink, watching the world through the window. Moments of…

From a distance Buddhism that emphasizes attaining the “highest good” and Christianity that focuses on salvation through the cross, appear incompatible and distinct especially since one branch of Buddhism is non-Theistic (Godless) in nature. However when the sayings of Siddhartha Gautama (563-483 BC), a monk, teacher and philosopher in northeastern India and the founder of Buddhism, a strand of sutras when pieced together form a messianic text and Mahāyāna Buddhism (the dominant branch with 53%…