Tuesday, September 6, 2011

6 September 2011 Put them all back into the caldron and keep stirring

. They have not learned to work or play well with humans.
The Last Moderate  By JOE NOCERA
Published: September 5, 201
Nocera writes about Rep. Jim Cooper of Nashville TN. Area, and of Cooper’s hope that civility and function can be restored to Congress.
With Congress back in session this week — and the mean-spirited wrangling about to begin anew — I thought it would be useful to ask Cooper how Congress became so dysfunctional. His answer surprised me. He said almost nothing about the Tea Party. Instead, he focused on the internal dynamics of Congress itself.
To Cooper, the true villain is not the Tea Party; it’s Newt Gingrich. In the 1980s, when Tip O’Neill was speaker of the House, “Congress was functional,” 
            While Congress may be dysfunctional, the Cosmos are happily expanding and exploding.  If you have a telescope, good binoculars, a spotting scope, or other visual aid; take advantage of any evening with clear skies.
           
            I encourage you to go out for a look if you have a telescope. As you’ve read, it’s not often we have such a stellar show. Here are links to two maps to help you find it. As of last night, SN 2011fe was the brightest star seen in the main body of the galaxy, outshining all the Milky Way foreground stars. When you look at the galaxy in your telescope and all you see is blurry spot and a single star shining within, that’s it!
            Find the Supernova 2011fe (The Pinwheel Supernova) and gaze at it as long as possible.  We don’t know how long it will continue to shine brightly before it becomes a cooling ball of carbon and oxygen unable to avoid gravitational collapse and its terminal status as a cold black dwarf. And we don’t know when the next supernova visible in our skies will appear. 

            For further illumination on this subject:





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