…the motion picture?
Don’t hold your breath.
Have We Finally Gotten Congress’s Attention?
“Fifty years ago, we would have had no way of seeing an asteroid like this coming. Now, thanks to the discoveries NASA has made in its short history, we have known about 2012 DA14 for about a year. As the world leader in space exploration, America has made great progress for mankind,” Smith continued. “But our work is not done. We should continue to study, research, and explore space to better understand our universe and better protect our planet.”
The chairman announced a hearing in the coming weeks to examine ways to better identify and address asteroids that pose a potential threat to Earth.
I hope they have Ed Lu testify.
[Update a while later]
Jeff Foust has more.
Commercial Crew
Jeff Foust is reporting that the sequestration will bring it to a halt. And then there’s this:
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion crew exploration vehicle would not be directly affected by the cuts.
Insanity.
[Update a couple minutes later]
A commenter says it may not be as bad as it appears (or at least, it’s not much worse than the status quo, given that Congress refuses to fund it adequately).
It always hurts my head to try to get it wrapped around the entrails of budget issues, but I’ll dig into it further (and be interested to see what Major Tom has to say).
The Crippled Cruise Ship
I’ve been thinking of writing a piece about how the passengers were transported back in time to when immigrants came over in steerage (or worse, were slaves chained in the hold, lying in their own filth for weeks), and still may, but Lileks has some biting criticism of the media coverage so far.
Strange Spam Du Jour
I just go this from the UK, subject, “Contract Dispute”:
Attention:
We seek an attorney who handles breach of contract matters.Let us know if
your firm takes such cases.Thank you
Edward Scholes.
No attachment, no web site to click through, nothing, but it has a return address and a reply-to of someone with that name. What is the purpose of this?
I guess one (bizarre) possibility is that it’s exactly what it would appear to be — someone looking for an attorney, and spamming the Internet to find one. It’s not like it costs anything. But you might get a lot more responses, many of them scams themselves, than you know what to do with.
In The Market For A GPS Receiver?
We have a TomTom, which Patricia is pretty happy with, but this Garmin
I wonder how long a dedicated GPS receiver will survive the era of smartphones and tablets? I guess it’s still handy to just leave in a car.
The Russian Asteroid Strike
I just woke up to the news. I’ve heard some people say it’s not related to the flyby today, but that seems like a remarkable coincidence. Are they both part of a cluster, which could mean that there is potential for more hits, or do they know this one came from an entirely different direction?
Related: what would happen if Tonguska hit New York City?
Oh, this Guardian article says that ESA has ruled out a relationship. I’d still like to know on what basis. It’s also claiming almost a thousand people injured (but no reports of deaths yet, fortunately). I guess it will get sorted out later today.
And this is a good reminder to support the B612 Foundation, because I expect the government to continue to dither, even with these stark reminders.
[Update a couple minutes later]
OK, I see that people had already started to discuss this in comments at yesterday’s post before I was awake.
[Update a few minutes later]
Jorge Frank (who was one of the reviewers of my book when I was drafting it) says that it’s too soon to say.
[Update a few more minutes later]
OK, now Don Yeoman is saying that it’s unrelated:
Yeoman stressed that the bolide event was likely not associated at all with the incoming asteroid 2012 DA14, which will fly within 17,200 miles (27,000 kilometers) of Earth when it passes safely by our planet today.
“The asteroid will travel south to north,” Yeomans said. “The bolide trail was not south to north and the separation in time between the fireball and 2012 DA14 close approach is significant.”
I think the jury’s still out, for reasons that Jorge notes. Yes, they’re far from each other, given the time and velocity, but that doesn’t mean that they’re not part of a cluster that were once a single object, that have spread out from perturbations over the eons.
The National Conversation On Guns
Apparently it’s supposed to be a monologue:
At a meeting, two firearms experts came forward to speak, bringing with them two common Ruger 10/22 rifles that had been cleared by security. The purpose of their presentation was to explain how the gun-control laws currently being proposed would outlaw only a gun’s cosmetic features while not affecting the functionality of the firearms in any measurable way in terms of rate of fire and accuracy.
In the video, DFL legislators simply arise and exit without explanation. They avoid learning details from the presentation about the very firearms they seek to legislate out of existence.
By “national conversation” they always mean “We’re going to lecture you, and you’re going to knuckle under, because shut up.”
Women
How some of them ruin everything for women.
Obviously, an unwelcome stolen kiss is rude. But “rapey”? Really?
Just another example of how the seventies feminists went more than a bridge too far.
And no, I’m not going to do my standard spiel about how Valentine’s Day is part of the war on men, but Jim Geraghty has some good thoughts.
But I will repeat that I always laugh when I hear about women wanting to know what men want on Valentine’s Day. Just show up. We’re not that hard to please. Especially for those of us who don’t have women.
And it’s not that long until Steak and a BJ Day (though I have to confess that when it comes to oral s3x, I think it’s far better to give than to receive, and I have no interest in watching fel**tio in pr0n).
The Hagel Filibuster
Dan Foster asks, “what’s the point?”:
Okay, so what are you going to learn about Hagel in the next ten days? Is there some bombshell you’ve got ready but you need a little more time to cross the Ts and dot the Is? Are you using this holdup as leverage to get something else you want? Do you think peeling ten days off the calendar is going to prevent Harry Reid from bringing some odious measure to the floor? If the answer to all of these questions is “no”, just what the hell is the point of waiting to confirm Hagel?
Don’t get me wrong. I think Hagel is an awful candidate who reflects his would-be boss’s low regard for the Pentagon. I think Hagel’s ceiling — his ceiling, people — is ineffectual bumbler disliked by Pentagon lifers. And I don’t think he has a floor. But, if you’re going to let this guy get confirmed, who’s soul do you think you’re saving by waiting ‘til next Monday to do it?
Well, there may be more things like this:
Chuck Hagel, whose nomination is currently being filibustered by Republicans, reportedly argued in a previously unknown speech that the U.S. State Department is controlled by the Israeli foreign ministry.
Picky, picky, picky.