JamesSavik

We have a big decision to make: we can trust in God's will... and be extinct as a species. .OR. Take responsibility. Tracking asteroids is difficult but it's not impossible. The world does not even have an organized body or systematic approach to the problem. No satellites are even devoted to asteroid surveillance. The way asteroids are tracked is to calculate their orbits. If you get a good fix on an asteroids orbit, you can predict where it will be decades in advance. Regardless of their color, asteroids radiate in the infrared band. The wavelengths are easily calculated but the earths atmosphere absorbs IR on those wavelengths. We need a satellite in orbit to do the job. The Spitzer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spitzer_Space_Telescope) is designed for deep space surveys but serves to show that we actually DO have the technology to do the job. Radar works. You can detect and track asteroids with radar but the range is somewhat limited. Better outside the atmosphere but not very far in astronomical terms. Difficult does not equal impossible.

Yeah- get on with your space program.

They aren't prawns (shrimp). They are crayfish http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crawfish. I there is a species native to Australia but I'm not sure that y'all eat them. Our Crayfish come from wetlands along the Gulf Coast. They cook up a lot like prawns (shrimp)- they've just got a lot of extra-armor. You can boil them or fry them. A favorite recipe locally is crawfish etouffee. You can substitute shrimp for this recipe. Crawfish Etouffee Ingredients: 1 pound fresh or frozen, peeled, cooked crawfish tails (or shrimp) 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 cup cooking oil, butter, or margarine 2 medium onions, finely chopped (1 cup) 1 cup finely chopped celery 1/2 cup finely chopped green sweet pepper 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 Tablespoon butter or margarine 3/4 cup water 1/2 cup sliced green onion 1/4 cup snipped fresh parsley 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne) 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper Hot cooked rice Fresh parsley (optional) Preparation: Thaw crawfish tails if frozen. In a 3-quart heavy saucepan stir together flour and 1/4 cup oil, butter, or margarine until smooth. Cook over medium-high heat for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium. Cook and stir for 5 to 8 minutes more or until a reddish brown roux is formed. Add onion, celery, sweet pepper, and garlic to saucepan. Cook and stir for 5 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon butter or margarine; stir until melted. Stir in water, green onions, parsley, salt, ground red pepper, and black pepper. Bring to boiling. Add crawfish. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, about 5 minutes or until heated through. Serve with hot cooked rice. Garnish with parsley, if desired. Yield: 4 servings Make-Ahead Tip: Prepare roux; cool. Transfer to jar; cover and chill up to 3 days. Transfer to saucepan; heat until melted. Continue recipe as directed.

Sunday dinner

Finn- the whole thing was orchestrated by a cabal of Chinese generals that were planning on taking over the whole of China and a big chunk of the Pacific Rim. If three of the Chinese boomers had volleyed their missiles at the United States from the Philippine Sea, everything West of the Mississippi would be a radioactive wasteland. If the Iranian nukes had made it to New Orleans and Houston, the United States would have just plain been over. Their operational concept was to provoke a nuclear exchange between the US and China. They would be there to pick up the pieces. The American President put a bullseye on the Generals by letting slip (falsely) that they had leaked the position and plans to the civilian leaderships emergency bunker.

And be sure to never write it down or use it again!

I heard on the news that the explosive strength was like 400+ kilotons.

JPL scientists estimate that yesterdays meteor was ~30 tons and as big as a semi trailer. It has been called a "once in a century event".

If I was much younger, yes. As positive as it was for Colin, it was just the opposite for me. There were times it seemed that the only people that didn't hate me were the ones that I was screwing. My parents gave me hell and hit me on occasion over it. People at school went out of their way to frak with me. If I fought back, I would be the one that would get in trouble and the aggressors got off scot free. I was denied doing things that other kids could do- like scouting. I had to fight to do the stuff that they couldn't actually ban me from- like sports. When it came to relationships, very few people I knew wanted one. They would rather screw around. When I did get to see someone, both sets of parents tried to break us up. When we were a little older, our friends were like- you could do better. I don't even think many people even thought in terms of relationships past the next frak. Most people I knew of were in the closet and looked at you like you were nuts if you wanted anything more than a hook up. When I finally found someone, I had to settle for an open relationship. Monogamy was completely unheard of. When AIDS and HIV arrived, it broke us up. It eventually ended up killing my significant other leaving me too old, too ugly, too fat and too burned out to be bothered with it anymore. So yeah- being gay is swell if you like pain, want to see your hopes and dreams shattered, have doors slammed in your face and have a significant number of random people hate you intensely for no apparent reason. I hope it's better for the young people. I'm not going to lie and say it has been wonderful. I've looked down the barrel of my Beretta more than once wishing for the courage to blow my brains out.

I don't want it. It's ugly and its mother dressed it funny.

Russian meteor shower causes blast; hundreds injured Boriana Milanova, CNN updated 3:50 AM EST, Fri February 15, 2013 http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/15/world/europe/russia-meteor-shower/index.html?hpt=hp_t3 A meteor shower sparked an explosion that left 250 people injured Friday in southern Russia, state media reported. Of the hundreds, at least three were critically injured by broken glass, state-run RIA Novosti reported. A bright white flash appeared in the sky for a few seconds, followed by a heavy "bang" that sounded like a blast, according to Russian News Agency Itar-Tass. The meteorite fell 50 miles (80 km) from Satka city, Itar-Tass reported. Russian emergency officials said the meteorite was destroyed after it partially burned in the lower atmosphere over the Ural district. Glass broke in high rise buildings, causing the injuries, the the Russian Emergency Ministry said in a statement. ______________________________________________ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c-0iwBEswE ________________________________ 400 Injured by Blasts as Meteor Falls in Russiahttp://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/meteorite-falls-russian-urals-18508752 By JIM HEINTZ Associated Press MOSCOW February 15, 2013 (AP) A meteorite contrail is seen in Chelyabinsk region on Friday, Feb. 15, 2013. A meteor streaked across the sky of Russia?s Ural Mountains, causing sharp explosions and reportedly injuring around 100 people, including many hurt by broken glass. A meteor streaked across the sky above Russia's Ural Mountains on Friday morning, causing sharp explosions and injuring more than 400 people, many of them hurt by broken glass. "There was panic. People had no idea what was happening. Everyone was going around to people's houses to check if they were OK," said Sergey Hametov, a resident of Chelyabinsk, about 1500 kilometers (930 miles) east of Moscow, the biggest city in the affected region. "We saw a big burst of light then went outside to see what it was and we heard a really loud thundering sound," he told The Associated Press by telephone. Fragments of the meteor fell in a thinly populated area of the Chelyabinsk region, the Emergency Ministry said in a statement. Interior Ministry spokesman Vadim Kolesnikov said more than 400 people had sought medical treatment after the blasts, and at least three had been hospitalized in serious condition. Many of the injuries were from glass broken by the explosions. Kolsenikov also said about 600 square meters (6000 square feet) of a roof at a zinc factory had collapsed. Reports conflicted on what exactly happened in the clear skies. A spokeswoman for the Emergency Ministry, Irina Rossius, told The Associated Press that there was a meteor shower, but another ministry spokeswoman, Elena Smirnikh, was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying it was a single meteor. Amateur video broadcast on Russian television showed an object speeding across the sky about 9:20 a.m. local time (0320 GMT), leaving a thick white contrail and an intense flash. Russian news reports noted that the meteor hit less than a day before the asteroid 2012 DA14 is to make the closest recorded pass of an asteroid -- about 17,150 miles (28,000 kilometers). There was no immediate demonstrable connection. Small pieces of space debris — usually parts of comets or asteroids — that are on a collision course with the Earth are called meteoroids. When meteoroids enter the Earth's atmosphere they are called meteors. Most meteors burn up in the atmosphere, but if they survive the frictional heating and strike the surface of the Earth they are called meteorites.

SARS-linked virus may have spread between people http://news.yahoo.com/sars-linked-virus-may-spread-between-people-103711107.html LONDON (AP) — British officials say a mysterious virus related to SARS may have spread between humans, as they confirmed the 11th case worldwide of the new coronavirus in a patient who they say probably caught it from a family member. The new virus was first identified last year in the Middle East and the 10 people who have previously been infected had all traveled to Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan or Pakistan. According to Britain's Health Protection Agency, the latest patient is a U.K. resident with no recent travel to any of those countries but who had close personal contact with an earlier case. The patient may also have been at greater risk of infection due to an underlying medical condition and is currently in intensive care at a Birmingham hospital. "Although this case provides strong evidence for person to person transmission, the risk of infection in most circumstances is still considered to be very low," John Watson, head of the respiratory diseases department at the Health Protection Agency, said in a statement. "If (the) novel coronavirus were more infectious, we would have expected to have seen a larger number of cases." Six hospital staffers where the patient is being treated are being monitored for infection but none have so far showed any symptoms of the illness. The patient did not come into contact with any other hospital patients and is currently being kept in isolation. The new coronavirus is part of a family of viruses that cause ailments including the common cold and SARS. In 2003, a global outbreak of SARS killed about 800 people worldwide. Officials at the World Health Organization said the new virus has probably already spread between humans in some instances. In Saudi Arabia last year, four members of the same family fell ill and two died. And in a cluster of about a dozen people in Jordan, the virus may have spread at a hospital's intensive care unit. "We know that in some of those cases there was close physical contact between family members caring for one another, so we can't rule out human-to-human transmission," said Gregory Hartl, a WHO spokesman. He said there were still big gaps in the understanding of the novel coronavirus, which can cause acute pneumonia and kidney failure. Of the 11 cases to date, five people have died. Health experts still aren't sure how humans are being infected. The new coronavirus is most closely related to a bat virus and scientists are considering whether bats or other animals like goats or camels are a possible source of infection. Michael Osterholm, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Minnesota, warned the virus could be adapting into a more transmissible form. "At any moment the fire hydrant of human-to-human transmission cases could open," he said. "This is definitely a 'stay tuned' moment." He noted that before SARS sparked a worldwide epidemic, there were a handful of human-to-human cases, until something happened, like a virus mutation, which triggered an explosion of cases. WHO says the virus is probably more widespread than just the Middle East and has advised countries to test any people with unexplained pneumonia. ______________________________________________________ New pathogens don't "come out of the blue". They do come from somewhere. Most of the time the really problematic diseases are the ones that have "jumped species". The original SARS came from bats. It is called zoonosis or the transfer of an animal disease to humans. It happens all the time. HIV and a host of other emerging infectious diseases have all come from the animals to humans. There is no need for a conspiracy or germ warfare. The planet has been doing this since before there were people.

The answer depends. Most people don't care to disappear for six months or a year and then come back and plot down a completed novel. The serial nature of publishing longish stories here provides several advantages. You don't have to wait forever for feedback. You can tell whether people are interested simply by the number of hits you get. Others can give you valuable feedback as the story unfolds- anything from don't go there to gimme more. Disadvantages are that if you write yourself into a corner, it's not so easy to go back six chapter and fix things. Continuity and structural problems get locked in when the chapters are published.

That "zombie apocalypse" warning in Montana? It was fakehttp://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/12/us-usa-zombie-montana-idUSBRE91B1IA20130212 By Laura Zuckerman Tue Feb 12, 2013 4:39pm EST (Reuters) - You survived December's much-heralded Mayan apocalypse, but now fear the "zombie apocalypse" and its deadly attacks? Don't worry. It was a fake, the artwork of hackers in Montana. Hackers infiltrated the emergency broadcast system of local station KRTV in Great Falls, Montana, a CBS affiliate, and issued the zombie alert, the station said on Tuesday. Viewers were warned of a so-called zombie apocalypse and advised not to tangle with the monstrous creatures, the station said. Engineers at the station were investigating the incident, which occurred during a Monday afternoon broadcast, said Jon Saunders, vice president of the station's parent company, Cordillera Communications. Video posted to the Internet shows the transmission interrupted a local broadcast of the Steve Wilkos talk show. No images flashed across the screen during the hoax. But a male voice told viewers: "Civil authorities in your area have reported that the bodies of the dead are rising from the grave and attacking the living." The voice warned not "to approach or apprehend these bodies as they are extremely dangerous." Saunders said early reports suggest similar but separate attacks were launched in the past 24 hours against emergency alert systems for TV stations elsewhere, including Michigan. "It appears to be more widespread than we thought," he said. The hoax caused several humorous-minded residents in Great Falls to call authorities to inquire if guns were an adequate defense against zombie hordes. "We didn't get any serious calls on it," Great Falls Police Department spokesman Bill Hunter said. Local law enforcement has not been asked to investigate the hack into the Montana station, he said. Hunter said it was not immediately clear why hackers had sought to get a rise out of a zombie scare. "It's been a real chuckle," he said. ___________________________________________________________________________________ Yes, yes- it's all fun and games until the zombies are making pate out of your brains. < Remain calm. All is well.

Agreed. Just let other obligations make writing impossible. You will be touched by inspiration like never before.

I don't understand that at all. Wrestling is one of the original Olympic events. If anything they should go back to wrestling in the nude like they did in the original games. I'm sure that would improve the TV ratings.

Seafood Gumbo Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups crabmeat 2 pounds shrimp, in shells 3 quarts water 2 small bay leaves 1 teaspoon lemon juice 1 small onion, cut in wedges salt and black pepper parsley 2 pounds okra, sliced 4 tablespoons bacon grease, divided 4 tomatoes, peeled & chopped 2 onions, finely chopped 2 green peppers, finely chopped 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper, or to taste 4 tablespoons brown roux reserved shrimp stock salt, pepper, thyme, parsley, to taste hot cooked rice Preparation:In a large Dutch oven boil the water with bay leaves, lemon juice, onion wedges, salt, pepper, and parsley. Wash shrimp and add to pot; boil for 2 minutes. Peel shrimp and return shells to the stock for later use. Put shrimp and crab meat in refrigerator until ready to add to the gumbo. Saute okra in 2 tablespoons bacon grease in large heavy skillet. The okra will turn darker as it cooks. When okra is soft, transfer to a stew pot and add tomatoes. Stir and mix together well. Clean skillet and heat remaining 2 tablespoons bacon grease. Sauté the chopped onion, green pepper, and red pepper. When soft, add to the stew pot. In a saucepan, warm the roux; strain shrimp stock and stir into the roux. When well-blended, add to the large stew pot with the other ingredients. Bring to a boil and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, adding more strained stock if needed. Taste and add salt, pepper, thyme, and parsley to taste. Simmer for 1 to 2 hours longer; add the shrimp and crab meat and cook for 15 more minutes. Serve with fresh boiled rice in soup bowls. Serves 6 to 8.

Now THAT's Funny! I'm sure the Catholics will select the creepiest old geezer with dementia that they can find.

I'm thinking they need to work on that. Looks like they are doing it wrong.

That's just precious. Psychotic goose-stepper Kim Jung Un is playing with his tiny little missile. I make a bigger boom than 6 kilotons for July 4th celebrations.

Crawfish! Get a mess of crawfish. corn on the cob new potatoes an onion (cut up) a lemon (cut up) Crab boil In a big ole pot, bring some water to a boil. Throw in the crab boil, onion and lemons. Let the water soak up the flavor- let it boil for a few minutes. It'll turn a sort of tea color. Throw in the new potatoes and corn. Let boil for 20 minutes. Add crawfish and boil another few minutes until the crawfish turn red. Then you feast, silly puppy. The amount of ingredients is proportional to how many crawfish you are cooking. This will work for a few pounds. Other options are to add sausage or vary the amounts of seasoning. (Goes good with beer by the long neck)