An obscene time

We are living in an obscene time. We have to call capitalism what it is…. The increasing concentration of wealth into ever-smaller numbers of people, wealth that has been produced by polluting this planet—Angela Davis, 1:02:19 in this video.

At the same time, this sky. I hear in my mind's ear the chant written by Hildegarde of Bingen:

O splendidissima gemma
et serenum decus solis....

I stand with my camera, watching molten gold fill all the space I can see. If I shift my gaze slightly to the left, I see, smaller than the tiniest ant from this distance, a passenger jet streaking along, filled with people who believe they are doing important things. You might be able to see it too in the Extra.

Bernie Sanders writes to his email list: I believe historians will look back at the afternoon of July 3, 2025 and conclude that the passage of Donald Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" was one of the greatest acts of thievery in the history of the United States, and one of the worst pieces of legislation passed in modern American history.

Class warfare. And on the same day, this.