Today’s news is full of things to celebrate.
(CNN) -- An asteroid the size of an aircraft carrier will pass Earth to within eight-tenths of the distance of the moon Tuesday, the closest approach to Earth of an object this size in more than 30 years.
The closest approach will occur at 6:28 p.m. ET when the asteroid passes within 202,000 miles of our planet, NASA said.
The space agency classified the asteroid as a "potentially hazardous object."
Asteroid to pass close to EarthIf the asteroid were to crash into Earth, it could cause a 4,000 megaton blast and a magnitude 7.0 earthquake, according to scientists at Purdue University. If it fell into the ocean, it could cause a 70-foot high tsunami within 60 miles of the crash site, the experts said.
However, the space rock, called Asteroid 2005 YU55, poses no threat of an Earth collision, according to NASA's Near Earth Object Program.
The growing threat of Iran’s nuclear program
By Stephen Rademaker and and Blaise Misztal, Published: November 7
When the computers that control Iran’s centrifuges were attacked by the Stuxnet worm beginning in 2009, the assault was widely ascribed to intelligence services intent on setting back Iran’s nuclear program. More significant than the damage to Iran, however, has been the damage to Western resolve, as the United States and other countries have become more complacent about the Iranian threat.
Can Herman Cain’s campaign weather latest sexual harassment allegations?
Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain faced a new set of political challenges Monday after graphic allegations by a Chicago woman raised questions among GOP operatives and activists about the candidate’s ability to survive the growing scandal.
After eight days of accusations and denials of alleged sexual harassment by Cain, the specific and explicit nature of the new allegations could threaten his position among a core group of supporters who have stood by him, or at least stayed silent.
Appearing on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain says that he will fight the latest harassment allegations head-on because there is not an ounce of truth to the claims. (Nov. 8)
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Sharon Bialek, a client of attorney Gloria Allred, becomes the first woman to publicly accuse Herman Cain of sexual harassment at a news conference in New York City.
“This is the first time that the allegations have been about physical rather than verbal harassment. These are much more serious charges that require Cain to provide a more specific explanation than a blanket denial,” said Daniel Schnur, who advised Sen. John McCain’s 2000 presidential campaign but is uncommitted in the 2012 contest.
Cassi Creek:
We get to observe another “near-earth asteroid” go tumbling by between our planet and our moon. While this is nothing out of the ordinary, this object is passing us in a less distant trajectory than ever before. While it is not an “end all life on earth” sized object, the potential for immense impact-related consequences is the stuff of fact as well as fiction. We’ve seen countless movie plots and read dozens of books about asteroid impacts re-ordering life on earth. What is usually written as science fiction is actually something from the history books. We have the huge Arizona meteorite crater to use for scale as well as the Siberian airburst in 1908. The Siberian missile may well have matched the current near miss in size, scoring at about the size of a Nimitz class carrier. It leveled timber for miles in all directions, rather like a much larger Mt. Saint Helens eruption.
http://whyfiles.org/106asteroid/2.html provides a brief historical timeline of significant impacts.
I wrote about Iran yesterday. The threat remains unchanged. So does the lack of a politically and economically acceptable solution.
As for Herman Cain, the reports of sexual harassment don’t surprise me at all. I’m happy to see some specifics emerge. I have little doubt that they allegations are factual. What remains to be seen is how the GOP/teavangelists will respond to the emergence of truth to replace unsubstantiated rumors.
This is the type of behavior that spawned investigations and impeachment as the GOP poured oil onto the flames in an effort to unseat Clinton. Limbaugh is already attacking the victim in his usual puerile manner. That seems to me to indicate that the GOP/teavangelists are mobilizing their propaganda machine to convince their base that sexual harassment and extortion are OK if the perpetrator is one of them. While I don’t care whom Cain has sex with, I want nothing to do with people who try to extort sex by demanding it in return for a job offer or other political favor.
Cain, I believe, is quite capable of such behavior and probably feels he did nothing wrong.
The worst news item of the day, as of 1120 is this. No commentary is necessary
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