Jessica Crabtree

Ten Myths of the Little Bighorn » HistoryNet
by Gregory Michno

“The Battle of the Little Bighorn, fought on the banks of the river of that name in Montana Territory in June 1876, is the most often discussed fight of the Indian wars. It has been said that we will never know what happened there because there were no survivors. That is nonsense. There were thousands of survivors. The Indians clearly told us what happened. We need only to listen to what they said.”

Watch Planet Green Video: WAHLEAH JOHNS

Like many other Indian reservations in the West, the land of the Navajo Nation has long been a casualty of its rich fuel, metal, and mineral deposits. Countless corporations have been eager to capitalize on these resources – often at the expense of atrocious air and water contamination.

Among these is the Peabody Coal Company, first granted a permit in 2008. As part of its operations, Peabody was pumping around 3.3 million gallons of water per day from the Navajo aquifer to create a coal slurry that was piped to Nevada. There it helped to power the electric plants of one of the fastest-growing urban centers in the country.

Young Navajo Wahleah Johns helped to organize a community-based movement to bring an end to Peabody’s operations on the reservation. In a major victory for the Black Mesa Water Coalition, Peabody’s mining permit was repealed early 2010, meaning a new lease on life for the Nation’s only freshwater reservoir.

Victory for Black Mesa – Peabody Coal Mining Permit Denied

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An incredible shot of an Iberian wolf leaping a fence – from NewScientist.com.

(Image: José Luis Rodríguez/Veolia Environnement Photographer of the Year 2009)

A quick sketch of an Alaskan malamute, done in 4b graphite. Click for full-size.

Using white chalk on suede

White chalk is very difficult to work with on suede because it has such low binder and pigment content. White pastels of both hard and soft varieties are essentially just chalk – and consequently they look and feel chalky. Compared to other colors they almost never layer or blend well.

Your best bet is to start off with a base coat of a color other than white – for instance a rich dark gray – depending on what undertones you want. The base layer of pastel will act as a primer to make blending and molding on the suede possible.

Using this technique, you can develop your painting without losing the pastels’ flexibility. Use the base coat to your advantage to help with the shading, and just add the white tints as a final top coat. They will show up much brighter and the suede mat won’t peek through.

A fractal is an extremely irregular geometric form, representing complex mathematical functions, that is infinitely self-replicating.

The term was coined by Benoit Mandelbrot in 1975, based on the fact that no matter how many times you “fracture” a fractal shape, you can always break it down to smaller, exact copies of itself. The pattern of the original shape repeats itself endlessly on an ever-smaller scale (somewhat like a family tree).

Because fractal patterns are so complex, it wasn’t until the 20th century that modern math and science could figure them out. But surprisingly, they seem to have been a familiar motif all over the ancient world – because fractals are one of the most fundamental patterns of nature.

It’s hard to look around and not see a fractal, if you know what to look for. Some examples of natural fractals are familiar to us; others are so bizarre, they will blow your mind!

See some amazing photos of fractals in nature > (continue reading…)

Library of Congress “Today in History”: New Mexico’s Colonial Past

“On September 21, 1595, Don Juan de Oñate’s petition and contract for the conquest of New Mexico was presented to Luís de Velasco, the viceroy of Nueva Vizcaya.  

Already a wealthy and prominent man, he sought to turn the Indians’ wealth into his own and had requested the assignment after hearing rumors about golden cities in the vicinity. Oñate was granted the commission and set about recruiting men for his expedition.”

Acoma Pueblo photographed by Ansel Adams, 1941 (public domain)

A beautiful shot of a minke whale from NatGeo’s “Photo of the Day” gallery.