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Justin Jones

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The Butterfly Nebula

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Nikephoros I

Nikephoros I ruled as emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 802 to 811 CE. A former finance minister who did much to improve the state economy, Nikephoros was not particularly popular with the empire’s overtaxed peasants and overregulated merchants. Initially successful in his foreign affairs when he won victories in the Balkans, he then faced a rebellion in Asia Minor in 806 CE and subsequent losses to the Abbasid Caliphate. The emperor was killed on the battlefield fighting in Bulgaria, and his skull was infamously made into a silver-lined drinking cup by his nemesis the Bulgar Khan Krum.

Succession

Irene the Athenian (r. 797-802 CE) had been the first-ever woman to rule as Byzantine emperor in her own right. The wife of Leo IV (r. 775-780 CE) and regent for her young son Constantine VI from 780-790 CE, Irene took sole power in 797 CE after enduring the ignominy of exile following her insistence she should rule above her son no matter what age he reached. However, her proposed marriage alliance with Charlemagne, king of the Franks and Emperor of the Romans in the west, was a step too far for the Byzantine establishment and she was deposed and exiled for the second time in October 802 CE. Nikephoros, the chief finance minister (logothetes tou genikou) under Irene, was selected as the new emperor.

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Our-Nammou

Our-Nammou (r. de 2047 à 2030 av. J.-C.) fut le fondateur de la troisième dynastie d'Ur (Our) à Sumer, à l'origine de la période dite Ur III (2047-1750 av. J.-C.), également connue sous le nom de Renaissance sumérienne. Il est surtout connu comme le roi qui a composé le plus ancien code juridique existant au monde, le Code d'Our-Nammou.

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Yemanjá is one of the most popular ‘orixás’, the deities or spiritual entities from the Afro-Brazilian religion of Candomblé, a syncretic religious fusion which has developed amongst the people brought to Brazil from Western Africa during colonial times. The personage of Yemanjá/Yemaya originally comes from the ancient Yoruba mythology and she is the goddess of the ocean.

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AFRICA’S VISA DISASTER

Why are Africans making life hard for themselves by closing colonially-imposed borders to each other? Why does an African from one part of the continent need a visa to visit any other part? It makes no cultural or economic sense - hindering trade and intra-African relations.

Here’s South African entrepreneur Vusi Thembekwayo making the point powerfully to an audience in Nigeria. He relates his absurdly roundabout travel route from South Africa and compares it with the effortless ease with which he can move around Europe.

Is this a leaf we should be taking out of Europe’s book?

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RACIST: “RACISM DOESNT EXIST” ANOTHER RACIST: “IM SELLING LIFE SIZE SLAVE DOLLS FOR $399” ANOTHER RACIST: “LEMME GET ONE SO I CAN SELL IT FOR $599” RACISM will never go away! NOT BECAUSE WE KEEP TALKING ABOUT IT! RACISM will never go away because it’s too profitable!!! #EndRacism #StopReTraumatizingUs #StopMakingUsVictims Then calling us victims #AuntieWiggzIG

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The Sahara can reach temperatures of over 100°F, but the fennec fox’s ears act like an air conditioning system by cooling the blood in a network of veins. BBC Earth

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