‘City killer’ asteroid to pass harmlessly between Earth and moon | Asteroids | The Guardian
An asteroid big enough to wipe out a city will pass harmlessly between Earth and the moon’s orbit this weekend, missing both, while providing scientists a chance to study the object close up.
Asteroid flybys are common but Nasa said it was rare for one so big to come so close and that events like this occurred only about once a decade. Scientists estimate its size to be somewhere between 40 and 90 metres in diameter.
Discovered a month ago, the asteroid known as 2023 DZ2 will pass within 515,000km of the moon on Saturday US time and, several hours later, fly past the Earth at about 28,000km/h.
The close encounter will provide astronomers the chance to study a space rock from just over 68,000km away. At less than half the distance from here to the moon, the asteroid will be visible through binoculars and small telescopes.
“There is no chance of this ‘city killer’ striking Earth, but its close approach offers a great opportunity for observations,” the European Space Agency’s planetary defence chief, Richard Moissl, said in a statement. [continues]
We procrastinate on climate change at our own peril | The Seattle Times by David Horsey
the tok is ticking in more ways than one
Al Franken tackles the latest news including Congress grilling TikTok’s CEO, Florida governor Ron DeSantis extending “Don’t Say Gay” to 12th grade, and Beethoven’s DNA being used to study his cause of death. #DailyShow #comedy #AlFranken #TikTok
editorial board on docking the ticking Tok
Opinion | Should Biden ban TikTok? Not so fast. – The Washington Post
maybe?
Currently russia is shipping tanks from the 1950’s to Ukraine, not good for much other than a temporary artillery platform, until it is blown up. Another sign that russia is not doing too well is it is not supplying India with what was purchased. I am trying to remember back to when U.S. told India to be careful, perhaps February or March of twenty-twenty-two.
I gotta say an asteroid 90 meters in diameter sounds like a big rock. And 28000 km/hr sounds really fast. I’m a little surprised that it is said to be between 40 and 90 meters in diameter – lotta difference in size between the two ends of that range. I’d think astronomers would have a little more precise estimate of its size.
Bear hugger job (thehill.com)
New Mexico Department of Game and Fish
Now hiring professional bear huggers.
Must have ability to hike in strenuous conditions, have the courage to crawl into a bear den, and have the trust in your coworkers to keep you safe during the process.
Not all law enforcement field work is this glamorous, but we would love for you to join the team where you can have the experience of a lifetime.
Applications for the next class of Conservation Officers is now open. Deadline to apply is March 30th. Click the link below for job details and hiring timeline. https://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/enforc…/career-advancement/
P.S. we do not recommend crawling into bear dens. This was part of a research project in Northern New Mexico and all bears were handled safely under supervision. If you do, our officers will have to have a chat with you.
P.P.S. Don’t feed the bears.
“I’d think astronomers would have a little more precise estimate of its size. “
pogo, and i hope they’re reallyreally precise about just where and what it
won’t
hit
BBC
U.S. bombs Syrian targets after deadly drone attack
this movie was the inspiration for today’s thread title [my subtitle only pertains to the NASA assessment of the asteroid trajectory]
Based on real events that haven’t happened – yet. Don’t Look Up in select theaters December 10 and on Netflix December 24..
DON’T LOOK UP tells the story of two low-level astronomers who must go on a giant media tour to warn mankind of an approaching comet that will destroy planet Earth. Written and Directed by Adam McKay.
Trump’s barrage of violent posts justify denying bail, or at least a gag order.
This morning he warns “death and destruction” could follow if he were arrested
BB
ran across some interesting numbers on Russian tanks. They have lost 2/3 of the their new fancy tanks, T80s? and half of their T72s and T62s. As you said they are bring in tanks manufactured back in the 50’s. But it is worse than that these tanks have been in long term open storage, (aka the junk yard) In other words they are target practice, pity the poor sucker who has to drive them.
Jack
He posted this pic of him holding a bat next to Bragg pic last night!
“Don’t look up”. In the world of famous last word it is in the category of “I wonder what will happen if I [pull, push, turn, open, etc.] this”, “Noooooo, don’t tough that [button, switch, etc.]” and “Hey, watch this.”
Pat, Well, it would be nice to think that the astronomers are right about the trajectory of a very large asteroid that they just can’t seem to get a fix on the size of. If not, we may know that by say, Sunday.
Donald Trump tweeted?
So what kind of person? he asks?
Somebody who has bigger balls than you do whiney b****
Jack
He’s dangerous. Rallying the crazies tomorrow in Waco for anniversary of the siege that inspired Oklahoma City bombing.
Trump is a loser either laugh at him or just ignore him.
Jack
Jack, these posts are on his fake Twitter site, Truth Social, where he really lets loose with the dog whistles. It’s a scary read
https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/24/business/china-mintz-staff-detained-closure-intl-hnk/index.html
“The Mintz Group, which says it has more than 450 staff in 18 cities around the world, offers a range of services, including due diligence checks, asset tracing, fraud investigations, corruption investigations and background checks for corporate clients.”
“Chinese authorities have closed the Beijing office of Mintz Group, an American corporate due diligence firm, and detained five local staff, the company said Friday.”
“It also follows unusually direct comments by Chinese leader Xi Jinping targeting the United States, accusing Washington of trying to “contain” and “suppress” China.”
Craig, it is people like you who give him any relevance. If you all would ignore his tweets he would disappear. He is dangerous on twitter only because his enemies give him oxygen. With out you all he dies and the maga crowd would drift on to the next shiny object.
Jack
When law enforcement officers are injured or die in Waco, it will be traced back to Orange Adolf. More of the GQP will then turn against him. However, he is just symptomatic with fascism because it benefits him.
The things that DuhSantis and the rest of the neo-Nazis who govern red states are doing is less attention-grabbing, but also very scary.
https://www.texastribune.org/2023/03/21/texas-gov-greg-abbott-school-choice-esa/
“Abbott has spent recent months traveling the state to advocate for school choice, monitoring school curricula and other so-called parental rights issues at “parent empowerment” nights.”
“Abbott is all in this session on passing Senate Bill 8, which if passed would give families up to $8,000 in taxpayer money, per student, to pay for private schooling through an education savings account, called an ESA.”
“Our children are being taught a radical woke agenda,” Abbott said at the event. “There’s no reason why any students should have a woke agenda pushed on them. Our schools are for education, not indoctrination.”
Greg Abbott, defunding public schools and prohibiting the truth from being taught.
https://www.texastribune.org/2023/03/23/texas-schools-bill-sexuality-gender-identity/
“Senate Bill 8’s Republican backers say the legislation is needed to expand the rights of parents, whom they say are the best people to teach their children about these issues. But bill opponents say the legislation would violate constitutional free speech protections, ban lessons on some aspects of American history and force the Texas school system to ignore that LGBTQ people exist.”
“An earlier version of the bill would have allowed such lessons and activities if they were “age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate.” The new version bans lessons or programming about gender identity and sexual orientation up to 12th grade outright with very limited exceptions.”
Just how irrelevant, he is going down to celebrate Waco. You know that shit that happened before half the voters were even born. Like ancient history?
As I said he only exists because folks like you give him oxygen.
Jack
The more he rants and threatens, the more his psychopathy and malignant narcissism is revealed. Right now his sycophants still think it’s “funny” but at some point even they will become frightened. There will be a tipping point.
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/3913300-warren-steps-up-criticism-of-powell-following-rate-hike-says-he-is-dangerous-to-serve-as-fed-chair/
“Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) stepped up her criticism of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell following the Fed’s most recent interest rate hike Wednesday, saying that he is a “dangerous man” to serve in his role.”
“Warren said Powell has spent the five years he has served in his position weakening regulations for the large banks like Silicon Valley and Signature.”
Powell thinks the answer to inflation is to knock down the rate of employment. What a monstrously bad idea.
The interest rate does not need to be raised. The unemployment rate does not need to be increased. Wages do not need to be decreased. What we need (needed to start two years ago) are price freezes/rollbacks and corporate regulations, plus taxation of the uber-wealthy.
I am sure the good folks of Waco are just waiting for the orange idiot tour to show up. Especially the group of tour followers. It is a bit larger than when I was there about forty-five or so years ago. The oil still smells the same no matter how many hate mongers roll through.
Talking about bringing out some WWII era tanks, how about that good feeling you would have sitting next to sixty or seventy year old ammunition? Yeah, the russian tankers already prefer to sit outside of the tank, now they might walk a good two hundred meters away from it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHUUTpxmzxA
So this rock that’s hurtling toward us, if it’s diameter is 45 meters (the outer limit of the estimate of the astronomers) is one heavy beast. If it’s spherical its volume would be about 13479788.2 cubic ft. x 165.2 pounds/cubic foot (average weight of rock – close to granite’s density) for a weight of = 1,115,000 tons (more like 1.25 million tons if it has the density of basalt). Might pay to have a hard hat on to protect your head while you try and stick it up your butt if you see a big smoking fireball the size of a football field coming your way this weekend.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2Je5AWPdh8
https://wacotrib.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/plans-in-place-bills-paid-for-trump-rally-in-waco/article_f1db343a-c807-11ed-9e30-ffaffcdc712a.html
Breaking news from Waco:
“And the Trump campaign has paid its tab for all the attention. City spokesperson Monica Sedelmeier said Thursday the campaign was billed $60,714 for city services, a debt now retired.”
“Holland said the Trump campaign did not ask the local Republican Party to assist with the rally, but that Republicans here are looking forward to Trump’s arrival and would help if needed. He told the Tribune-Herald earlier this week the party remains neutral and would endorse no candidate. He said it would welcome appearances, for example, by GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley or Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has not officially launched his 2024 presidential campaign but has laid the groundwork for a run.”
“Others wonder if Waco being linked to the deadly Branch Davidian standoff in 1993, and the anti-government sentiment it kindled, proved attractive to Trump, who refers to Washington, D.C., as “the swamp.”
“I think Trump picked Waco, though maybe he had help,” said Holland, who earlier in the week told the Tribune-Herald that Republican higher-ups had indicated the Trump campaign preferred a site away from Texas’ major metropolitan areas such as Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin.”
For Jack: While I agree with your premise of withdrawing attention, this is not a normal situation. Turning your back to a burning building won’t put out the flames.
Bid, good catch, so even Texas doesn’t want him, At CPAC he couldn’t even fill a small hall.
So Craig I wasn’t picking on you just the general whole east coast media fixation.
Jack
BiD
the problem is the flames are out, the fire only happens when liberal give it oxygen.
Personally I hope the Republicans nominate Trump.
Jack
Ignoring him is no help.
Like trying to ignore a toothache.
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-countdown-with-keith-olbe-99705496/
That was a photo of a mob boss taking a ballbat to a district attorney. There is no good way to ignore that.
That’s been a media dilemma since 2015, Jack, ignore him or not. No Idea what the right answer is. But if he is indicted, he will not be ignored.
While I too share in your sentiment to ignore SFB, Jack… he’s also leading in the polls as to who republicans want for their presidential candidate in 2024. And though I sometimes want to know why liberal pundits spend so much time talking about him… I also think they must be driving him crazy talking about how small his crowds are and how much he’s losing in the courts.
so it’s half a dozen of this… and half a dozen of that… in the meantime… life goes on.
Give him enough rope, he’ll hang himself. But first you have to go thru the give-him-enough-rope part. He’s taking on a massive pile of rope. I hope to see him like Ahab lashed to the side of a great white whale.
‘… like Ahab lashed to the side of the great white whale.”
sturge, a bit masochistic if he lashed himself to himself
Haha. He’s become like a “Dick Tracy” villain.
So, someone said to me on Monday, “I heard [dipshit] is being arrested tomorrow?” and i said, “no, [dipshit] said he is being arrested tomorrow, and everything he says is a lie”, and time has proven me right (yet again)!
That said, a former President possibly being indicted, threatening government officials, and attempting to foment civil war is definitely “news”
jack, love ya man, but we disagree on Dumbass’ presence and influence dying out if people like Craig don’t give him coverage. He’s an ex-president head of the RW clowns-only circus running to be president again, is leading (by a LOT!) as he would say, in the Repugn race for the nomination and is under potential indictment in at least 4 separate matters in 3 separate legal jurisdictions. No way no how is he just going to fade away if he doesn’t get coverage in small political blogs that tend to lean left. His rantings on Truth Social feed the fires at numerous RW and ultra-RW blogs (i.e. racists and white supremacists) with thousands of more participants than our little corner of the blogosphere, not to mention the coverage he gets for his insane rantings on the cable news outlets and even the MSM giants. Oh, and every time he tweets or whatever the hell you call what he does on TS, he rakes in cash from the gullible third of the GOP who still think when he speaks they are hearing the voice of god. Since I don’t really think he’s going away until he’s either convicted of something or beaten for the Repugn nomination, I want to know what his rantings and state of mind are. Like our old buddy Sun Tzu said,
–
Yup, he remains our nation’s #1 white supremacist, and as he said, received more votes for President than any white supremacist in American history!
well., sturge he already is a dick and literally a cartoon character who even if not news would make headlines as a comic’s butt joke.
Mopey Dink.
I figure when they were measuring the diameter of that big flying rock, whatever tape measure they use for that got hung up on a snag about half way thru so they just had to guess at it. Happens all the time.
I wonder whether he has to replace his phones because of screen wear at the virtual keyboard exclamation point location., or whether his tiny hands don’t damage it
Sturg, I bet so.
Dana Milbank is in rare form theses days.
He’s become one of my favorites. but to that last paragraph – remember where Tuckums works.
“ whatever tape measure they use for that got hung up on a snag about half way thru”
…thhhwwiiipppp, “Goddamnit”
…thhhwwiiipppp, “Goddamnit”
…thhhwwiiipppp, “Goddamnit”
NBC reporter: Asked Rep. Jim Jordan what he makes of Trump’s warning about “potential death & destruction” if indicted; Jordan said he hasn’t seen Trump’s post. When I showed this to him on my phone, he said he can’t read well without his glasses.
Can Jim Jordan be tossed out of Congress for being ignorant.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/24/politics/george-santos-prosecutors-brazil-fraud-case/index.html
“A petition from Santos’ attorney requesting a deal says Santos would agree to formally confess to the crime and pay damages to the victim, a Rio de Janeiro area clerk, as is required under Brazilian law.”
“Santos told the New York Post in December he had not been charged with any crime in Brazil. “I am not a criminal here – not here or in Brazil or any jurisdiction in the world. Absolutely not. That didn’t happen,” he said at the time.”
“After Santos left for the United States, Brazilian authorities could not find an address to serve him papers intimating him to appear in court, which eventually led to the archiving of the case, until it was reopened in January.”
Now, about all of those dinners that came in just below the campaign-reporting threshold…
https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2023/01/31/impossible-parking-fees-puzzling-diner-bills-retracing-george-santos-steps-miami/
“Santos, who has admitted to “résumé embellishment,” has struggled to fully explain his campaign reports, including how he obtained the money for a $700,000 personal campaign loan and whether he masked his spending by listing dozens of items at $199.99 — one cent below the threshold requiring receipts be kept by the campaign.”
***
https://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/santos-liberty-pac-congress-cairo-fq5mum33
“Campaign finance experts said the activities of the “1776 Liberty” PAC, which formed and disbanded within five months late last year, were unorthodox and may have violated federal election law.”
Jim Jordan is the perfect example of how they think this all is “so funny” but the joke is going to come back to bite them.
Jordan is a creepy little guy and the people who vote for him should be deeply ashamed.
For a guy who is all about protecting children he was no where around during the scandal at Ohio State’s wrestling squad despite team members saying he did know and did nothing
whatwith this last spate of meadows and a bunch of close advisors being required to testify to grand jury about jan6 [see https://nypost.com/2023/03/24/judge-shoots-down-trumps-executive-privilege-claim/ ] AND requiring personal lawyer to cough up records and testimony on classified records to grand jury, looks more and more like the 2 special counsel cases are about ready to morph into indictments…. and soon. maybe before any of the others.
if the charge in the jan6 is seditious conspiracy [see 18 U.S. Code § 2384 – Seditious conspiracy | U.S. Code | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute (cornell.edu)] where and how will the perp be arrested? that kind of charge is serious enough to require super secure detainment. i envision the perp will be secured by secret service guarded house arrest with no outside contacts allowed, but where? his NYC home in the tower would seem the easiest for all concerned. if in DC, where would they hold him? homes in new jersey and FL are too porous and harder to lock down. at any rate, there will need to be extra and well vetted secret service folk assigned.
“I ‘m going to kill you’: White powder in envelope marked for ‘Alvin’ discovered at Manhattan DA’s office
https://www.rawstory.com/white-powder-in-envelope-marked-for-alvin-discovered-at-manhattan-da-s-office/
https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/24/politics/house-vote-parents-bill-of-rights-act/index.html
“Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said the Republican bill “will not see the light of day” in the Senate and has called the legislation “Orwellian to the core.”
“In remarks on the Senate floor Thursday, Schumer described the measure as a “school control bill.”
“If passed, schools across the nation would be forced to adhere to a panoply of federal regulations that take power away from parents and school districts. Again, let me repeat that: it would take power away from parents and school districts, away from educators, and put it in the hands of elected politicians. Again, the GOP that treasured small government, local control, is long since gone, replaced once again, by hard right MAGA ideologues,” Schumer said.”
lol
When a liar is lying to you, is it okay to lie back? (asking for a friend)
Ivy – you have my permission to lie and lie again. Don’t worry there are no longer consequences. That is if you are of the gqp. In my world lies are only the last resort of excuses.
Ah, its Friday, the sacrosanct day of news dumps. Want to hide something, now is the time to do it. Only thing that would be good would be news of minority leader, but that was handled Wednesday. A couple of gqp giving the guy a “how ya doin?” call. ‘Still alive, champing at the bit, wish I was there”. Yeah, he ain’t right – yet. Next up, “George Santos” (might or might not be his real name) worked with Brazil authorities to plead something to get rid of the charges and lawsuits against him. Yup, greedy old perverts have themselves an international criminal. The orange moron is doing his best to get a gag order. Knowing he would not follow it he could be the first former guy in jail.
BUT, we need news dumps.
Short story of the day: “The Dog That Bit People” by James Thurber, as read by Olberman on “Countdown” podcast.
Blue Bronc, lol. I thought about it because Al Franken mentioned his book, “Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them.” The world of lies has only gotten bigger since he first wrote it. You have to wonder at this point how much they even aware they’re lying (and being lied to) or if they’ve reached the point of believing lies. Even a belief in lying itself as a necessary means to an end.
When you’re Lying for the Lord it becomes Sacred.
Also thinking that over two decades in my former line of work, I came face-to-face with a fair number of lying liars and the like. There is nothing quite like a liar protecting their lies. They are not fun people to be in a room with. In my experience, the closer their feet get to the fire of consequence, the louder the scream at you and more vicious their dire threats become. It’s difficult and scary, but staring them down and sticking to your job is the only way to deal with them. And have security close by.
https://www.texastribune.org/2023/03/24/west-texas-am-university-lawsuit-drag-show/
“An LGBTQ student group at West Texas A&M University and its two student leaders have filed a lawsuit against university president Walter Wendler, alleging he violated their First Amendment rights when he canceled a planned campus drag show earlier this week because he believed the shows degrade women.”
Degrades women? What a BS reason. Drag makes him uncomfortable, period.
“In the letter, the president said drag shows degrade women because they “stereotype women in cartoon-like extremes for the amusement of others and discriminate against womanhood.”
Ummm, nope.
“Students rejected Wendler’s assertions and said he mischaracterized the art form.”
“Whether students gather on campus to study the Bible, host a political talk, or put on a drag show for charity, the First Amendment prohibits public university officials from suppressing the students’ expression simply because the administrator (or anyone else) finds the message offensive,” the lawsuit reads.
Great work this week, patd, as usual.
great performance, Frampton still shredding
Ivy, thank you. couldn’t have done it though without a boost or two from Jack and Craig.
in the meantime here’s another:
NEW THREAD