Today, a spacecraft designed by human beings left behind our familiar neighborhood and entered the vast interstellar void. Rebecca J. Rosen has a post at The Atlantic with the following amazing Soundcloud audio file - the distant cry of other solar systems, measured by the oscillations of our private star.
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darthstar Fri, Sep 13, 2013 6:25:46pm |
Holy crap! There are humpback whales in interstellar space!
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Kragar Fri, Sep 13, 2013 6:27:09pm |
re: #2 darthstar
Holy crap! There are humpback whales in interstellar space!
We knew that from Star Trek IV.
///
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Eclectic Cyborg Fri, Sep 13, 2013 6:28:39pm |
So that means we have to wait how long for Star Trek the Motion Picture to actually happen?
| 5 |
Eclectic Cyborg Fri, Sep 13, 2013 6:28:49pm |
Also, repost from downstairs:
Coming to theaters this fall…
The ultimate in extreme law enforcement…
He’s a douchebag and a police officer all rolled into one…
He is…DUDEBROCOP
| 7 |
Eclectic Cyborg Fri, Sep 13, 2013 6:30:17pm |
That should really help illustrate how big our universe is. It took voyager 30 plus years just to get out of OUR GALAXY. The universe contains hundreds, possibly thousands of galaxies.
Really, really, really, freakin big
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Charles Johnson Fri, Sep 13, 2013 6:33:54pm |
How this audio file was generated: NASA Spacecraft Embarks on Historic Journey Into Interstellar Space | NASA
Voyager 1 first detected the increased pressure of interstellar space on the heliosphere, the bubble of charged particles surrounding the sun that reaches far beyond the outer planets, in 2004. Scientists then ramped up their search for evidence of the spacecraft’s interstellar arrival, knowing the data analysis and interpretation could take months or years.
Voyager 1 does not have a working plasma sensor, so scientists needed a different way to measure the spacecraft’s plasma environment to make a definitive determination of its location. A coronal mass ejection, or a massive burst of solar wind and magnetic fields, that erupted from the sun in March 2012 provided scientists the data they needed. When this unexpected gift from the sun eventually arrived at Voyager 1’s location 13 months later, in April 2013, the plasma around the spacecraft began to vibrate like a violin string. On April 9, Voyager 1’s plasma wave instrument detected the movement. The pitch of the oscillations helped scientists determine the density of the plasma. The particular oscillations meant the spacecraft was bathed in plasma more than 40 times denser than what they had encountered in the outer layer of the heliosphere. Density of this sort is to be expected in interstellar space.
The plasma wave science team reviewed its data and found an earlier, fainter set of oscillations in October and November 2012. Through extrapolation of measured plasma densities from both events, the team determined Voyager 1 first entered interstellar space in August 2012.
“We literally jumped out of our seats when we saw these oscillations in our data — they showed us the spacecraft was in an entirely new region, comparable to what was expected in interstellar space, and totally different than in the solar bubble,” Gurnett said. “Clearly we had passed through the heliopause, which is the long-hypothesized boundary between the solar plasma and the interstellar plasma.”
| 10 |
Kragar Fri, Sep 13, 2013 6:35:14pm |
re: #7 Eclectic Cyborg
That should really help illustrate how big our universe is. It took voyager 30 plus years just to get out of OUR GALAXY. The universe contains hundreds, possibly thousands of galaxies.
Really, really, really, freakin big
Actually, it will probably be millions of years to get out of our galaxy. It took 36 years to leave the solar system.
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Killgore Trout Fri, Sep 13, 2013 6:35:41pm |
Wingnut extremist senator’s writings to be published by Russian propagandists!
thecable.foreignpolicy.com
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Shiplord Kirel Fri, Sep 13, 2013 6:36:27pm |
re: #7 Eclectic Cyborg
That should really help illustrate how big our universe is. It took voyager 30 plus years just to get out of OUR GALAXY. The universe contains hundreds, possibly thousands of galaxies.
Really, really, really, freakin big
It’s just out of our solar system. Out of our galaxy would be hundreds of thousands of times farther.
| 13 |
Shiplord Kirel Fri, Sep 13, 2013 6:38:48pm |
re: #11 Killgore Trout
Wingnut extremist senator’s writings to be published by Russian propagandists!
thecable.foreignpolicy.com
Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Tea Party? The John Birch Society? The Libertarian Party?
The lack of self-awareness in the right’s sudden rush to Russia is just breathtaking.
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Decatur Deb Fri, Sep 13, 2013 6:39:28pm |
on topic:
If I’m working Wife’s iPad planetarium program correctly, Venus and Saturn should be in close conjunction after sundown on the 16th. You might check a day earlier in case I fumbled it.
| 15 |
Decatur Deb Fri, Sep 13, 2013 6:40:52pm |
re: #11 Killgore Trout
Wingnut extremist senator’s writings to be published by Russian propagandists!
thecable.foreignpolicy.com
Derp Without Borders.
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Iwouldprefernotto Fri, Sep 13, 2013 6:40:58pm |
In space no on can hear you scream … Benghazi
| 17 |
Charles Johnson Fri, Sep 13, 2013 6:41:09pm |
re: #7 Eclectic Cyborg
That should really help illustrate how big our universe is. It took voyager 30 plus years just to get out of OUR GALAXY. The universe contains hundreds, possibly thousands of galaxies.
Really, really, really, freakin big
Even bigger than that.
Voyager is nowhere close to leaving the galaxy. You and I will be long dead before that happens, if it ever does. The craft has just left the gravitational boundaries of one solar system out of ~200 billion solar systems that make up the Milky Way galaxy.
| 18 |
Iwouldprefernotto Fri, Sep 13, 2013 6:44:26pm |
re: #17 Charles Johnson
Even bigger than that.
Voyager is nowhere close to leaving the galaxy. You and I will be long dead before that happens, if it ever does. The craft has just left the gravitational boundaries of one solar system out of ~200 billion solar systems that make up the Milky Way galaxy.
Correction, Voyager has not left the solar system. This article on Slate explains it better than I can.
I will never correct you again. Probably. Voyager has not left the solar system
| 19 |
Decatur Deb Fri, Sep 13, 2013 6:46:38pm |
re: #18 Iwouldprefernotto
Correction, Voyager has not left the solar system. This article on Slate explains it better than I can.
I will never correct you again. Probably. Voyager has not left the solar system
It’s neutrally-linked to the solar system.
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BongCrodny Fri, Sep 13, 2013 6:48:38pm |
re: #10 Kragar
Actually, it will probably be millions of years to get out of our galaxy. It took 36 years to leave the solar system.
I blame Obama.
| 21 |
Iwouldprefernotto Fri, Sep 13, 2013 6:50:19pm |
It’s still an ass-kicking achievement, funded by the US Govt.
| 22 |
aagcobb Fri, Sep 13, 2013 6:56:19pm |
This is a reason I prefer robotic exploration of space to human. Robots can go places humans never will, at a fraction of the cost, and if one of them is lost, its a shame but not a tragedy.
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b_sharp Fri, Sep 13, 2013 7:00:08pm |
There is no end to the solar system’s gravity. It extends to the edge of the universe, just like the gravity of every other mass. There is a place between two masses where the affects of gravity cancel each other out but only in a hypothetical sense since there are no spots where only two masses interact.
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ProTARDISLiberal Fri, Sep 13, 2013 7:07:42pm |
Somebody at BBC America just got in trouble. Also, doesn’t like Rose.
Nine and Rose's relationship summed up in a single picture. #DoctorWho pic.twitter.com/LnZuMfHUxB
— Doctor Who on BBCA (@DoctorWho_BBCA) September 13, 2013
I can agree with this.
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Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut Fri, Sep 13, 2013 7:15:51pm |
re: #24 ProTARDISLiberal
Why would they get in trouble for that?
| 26 |
ProTARDISLiberal Fri, Sep 13, 2013 7:17:18pm |
re: #25 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut
BBCA employees are probably not supposed to bash the various companions I presume.
Although, Rose is more than a little annoying.
| 27 |
Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut Fri, Sep 13, 2013 7:17:48pm |
re: #26 ProTARDISLiberal
Why on earth do you think that’s bashing Rose?
| 29 |
Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut Fri, Sep 13, 2013 7:20:29pm |
Rose is screaming in pain and fear as she watches her father die in front of her, and the Doctor is hurtling towards her, knowing he can’t really save her from this fate but still trying.
How does Rose come off badly in that?
30 |
OhNoZombies! Fri, Sep 13, 2013 7:20:57pm |
Oh Brother Where art Thou is on.
I just love this movie.
Just…just thought you should know.Heh.
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Targetpractice Fri, Sep 13, 2013 7:21:19pm |
re: #22 aagcobb
This is a reason I prefer robotic exploration of space to human. Robots can go places humans never will, at a fraction of the cost, and if one of them is lost, its a shame but not a tragedy.
Saying that there are places humans will never go sort of sells short the ingenuity of humanity. We’ve explored the peaks of the highest mountains and sent manned vessels to the bottom of the Marianas Trench. We’ve cracked the sound barrier, sent men to the surface of our own moon and returned them safely, and begun establishing a foothold in planetary orbit.
And “fraction of the cost” is misleading because a single robotic exploration satellite or rover can still be an investment of years and millions to billions of dollars. It’s actually a large part of the reason that NASA has had a hard time justifying its budget requests time and again, because the success/failure rate is rather troubling when you consider that (for example) 2/3 of all missions sent to Mars have ended in failure. You can have scientists spend the better part of their careers planning, designing, constructing, and launching a mission only to see it end in failure because somewhere along the way a tech forgot to program the computer to accept measurements in metric rather than imperial units.
| 32 |
ProTARDISLiberal Fri, Sep 13, 2013 7:24:25pm |
re: #27 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut
She’s just standing there screaming, while the Doctor is running in. Showing the companion as weak. Al of them have that sort of moment.
The combination of factors makes her look un-intelligent and helpless.
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Velvet Elvis Fri, Sep 13, 2013 7:26:13pm |
| 34 |
Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut Fri, Sep 13, 2013 7:28:10pm |
re: #32 ProTARDISLiberal
To me that’s a really weird way to look at that scene. She’s watching her father die. It doesn’t make her look unintelligent to be in pain from that. Or to be helpless. And the doctor can’t do shit to help her, and he knows it, and it’s all over his face.
| 35 |
Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut Fri, Sep 13, 2013 7:28:57pm |
re: #33 Velvet Elvis
My response is going to be coming out in Bubba Gut’s Bait and Tackle Review. It’s the fall fashion issue.
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Stephen T. Fri, Sep 13, 2013 7:29:16pm |
re: #31 Targetpractice
2/3 of all missions sent to Mars have ended in failure.
How is this metric measured? Only by the number of probes sent? Does it take into consideration that Spirit and Opportunity were both supposed to last only 90 sols, but have both last much longer than that? Opportunity is still going, 38 times its designed lifespan.
| 37 |
Targetpractice Fri, Sep 13, 2013 7:34:47pm |
re: #36 Stephen T.
How is this metric measured? Only by the number of probes sent? Does it take into consideration that Spirit and Opportunity were both supposed to last only 90 sols, but have both last much longer than that? Opportunity is still going, 38 times its designed lifespan.
That is the metric used, sent versus successful. 1/3 of missions actually suceed in returning useful data to Earth. 2/3 end either in the Earth’s atmosphere, in Earth orbit, in transit, during insertion, or (in the case of landers) during reentry. Spirit and Opportunity are major accomplishments, but for each one, there’s been a Beagle 2 and Mars Polar Lander that ended by smashing into the planet’s surface at terminal velocity.
| 38 |
ProTARDISLiberal Fri, Sep 13, 2013 7:38:09pm |
re: #34 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut
That was the same episode she caused a paradox in (understandably).
However, Rose as a character has begun to bother me. Namely the attitude toward other companions.
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William Barnett-Lewis Fri, Sep 13, 2013 7:47:02pm |
re: #32 ProTARDISLiberal
You’re over thinking it.
But then I like that Doctor a lot and like her quite a bit as well.
| 41 |
Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut Fri, Sep 13, 2013 7:47:41pm |
re: #38 ProTARDISLiberal
No clue what you’re talking about. Anyway, that picture shows Rose Tyler watching her dad die. And the doctor not being able to save her from that moment.
I just watched the Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe one with my wife. I freaking love Bill Bailey in that.
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klys Fri, Sep 13, 2013 7:51:28pm |
re: #40 William Barnett-Lewis
You’re over thinking it.
But then I like that Doctor a lot and like her quite a bit as well.
I totally ship her and her Doctor.
This is the closest I come to liking Dr. Who.
| 43 |
ProTARDISLiberal Fri, Sep 13, 2013 7:57:40pm |
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prairiefire Fri, Sep 13, 2013 7:59:08pm |
re: #41 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut
No clue what you’re talking about. Anyway, that picture shows Rose Tyler watching her dad die. And the doctor not being able to save her from that moment.
I just watched the Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe one with my wife. I freaking love Bill Bailey in that.
Critics say that the tension build up to the war seen is one of the best filmed.
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Mattand Fri, Sep 13, 2013 8:05:01pm |
re: #35 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut
My response is going to be coming out in Bubba Gut’s Bait and Tackle Review. It’s the fall fashion issue.
This season’s hip waders are to die for.
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Arrrr, matey! Fri, Sep 13, 2013 8:07:51pm |
It’ll be at the nearest star to us in about 40000 years.
| 47 |
prairiefire Fri, Sep 13, 2013 8:15:15pm |
re: #46 Pavlovian Hive Mind
It’ll be at the nearest star to us in about 40000 years.
Maybe Gene Rodenberry will catch up with it out there, somewhere. I think it’s thrilling news.
| 48 |
Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut Fri, Sep 13, 2013 8:17:04pm |
re: #43 ProTARDISLiberal
I have no idea what it is but I am almost certain I don’t ‘ship’ and please don’t tell me what it is.
| 49 |
Targetpractice Fri, Sep 13, 2013 8:21:20pm |
Look at it this way, long after climate change has wiped us out and the passage of time has scoured most of the evidence of our existence from the surface of the Earth, Voyager will still be out there, serving as evidence that we were here.
‘course, knowing our luck as a species, some alien ship will discover Voyager, look over the golden record, and decide that Earth would be a good place to strip mine for resources.
| 50 |
Shiplord Kirel Fri, Sep 13, 2013 8:22:41pm |
Another one bites the dust:
Blogger Burnett found dead at Shallowater home
This was a major libertarian a-hole, so far around the bend he was shunned by other local libertarians (a little like being thrown out of Walmart for bad grooming). He repeatedly denounced a local politician as a “racemixer” for being married to a Hispanic woman, threatened the city council (and got arrested for violating a restraining order), made cruel remarks about the disabled, and never met a racist or antisemitic conspiracy theory he didn’t like.
| 51 |
EPR-radar Fri, Sep 13, 2013 8:22:58pm |
re: #49 Targetpractice
Look at it this way, long after climate change has wiped us out and the passage of time has scoured most of the evidence of our existence from the surface of the Earth, Voyager will still be out there, serving as evidence that we were here.
‘course, knowing our luck as a species, some alien ship will discover Voyager, look over the golden record, and decide that Earth would be a good place to strip mine for resources.
Somewhat facetiously, US wingnuts may reach the Oort cloud before Voyager does, at the rate they are going.
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Lidane Fri, Sep 13, 2013 8:23:17pm |
re: #49 Targetpractice
‘course, knowing our luck as a species, some alien ship will discover Voyager, look over the golden record, and decide that Earth would be a good place to strip mine for resources.
By the time they get here there won’t be anything left.
| 53 |
BongCrodny Fri, Sep 13, 2013 8:29:10pm |
re: #48 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut
I have no idea what it is but I am almost certain I don’t ‘ship’ and please don’t tell me what it is.
It’s a good thing you added that last part, because the example I have in mind?
Let’s just say that sleep tonight would be difficult.
| 54 |
William Barnett-Lewis Fri, Sep 13, 2013 8:36:32pm |
re: #46 Pavlovian Hive Mind
It’ll be at the nearest star to us in about 40000 years.
Nah, it’s going to hit the micro black hole that keeps perturbing Uranus’ orbit (and twerked the Enterprise in “Tomorrow was Yesterday”) so it can become V’ger.
| 55 |
ProTARDISLiberal Fri, Sep 13, 2013 8:46:35pm |
| 56 |
Targetpractice Fri, Sep 13, 2013 8:48:46pm |
re: #54 William Barnett-Lewis
Nah, it’s going to hit the micro black hole that keeps perturbing Uranus’ orbit (and twerked the Enterprise in “Tomorrow was Yesterday”) so it can become V’ger.
Then return to Earth in 260 years to wipe out all of us “carbon units.” Only for Earth to be saved over the course of a 2 hour movie that could easily be titled “The Cure for Insomnia.”
| 57 |
Kragar Fri, Sep 13, 2013 8:49:06pm |
You know, The Legend of Boggy Creek had some flaws as a movie.
58 |
NJDhockeyfan Fri, Sep 13, 2013 8:50:59pm |
Oh, brother…
Speaking of Russian exceptionalism, here's what a member of Russian parliament just tweeted: pic.twitter.com/HSM24V1XZi (via @tikhondzyadko)— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) September 13, 2013
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austin_blue Fri, Sep 13, 2013 8:54:11pm |
Just about 50 minutes to post before scheduled events…
Evening all! Hope you are doing well. SWMBO is doing rehearsals/gigs Sat/Sun/Mon/Tue with one of her symphonies that includes a series of children’s concerts. That’s part of the outreach that any orchestra must do to try and survive in this economy. The kids love it. Many parents think it’s a waste of money to expose kids to classical music.
Can I hear a collective “Fuck You!” from the Lizards? Really. It’s important.
Music is magic. Magic is good for kids. It stretches them. It exposes them to worlds they might not ever experience because of the referenced short-sighted yokels noted above.
And at 10:50 local, CST, this rant is done.
| 60 |
austin_blue Fri, Sep 13, 2013 9:02:18pm |
re: #58 NJDhockeyfan
Oh, brother…
[Embedded content]
What a liberal, inclusive culture the Russians have. Can’t wait for the Sochi Winter Olympics! Male ice skaters are especially stoked!
| 62 |
Kragar Fri, Sep 13, 2013 9:07:15pm |
63 |
Amory Blaine Fri, Sep 13, 2013 9:09:38pm |
re: #62 Kragar
You could barely hear him with that mask on.
Well, he was taunted and bullied as a child due to the fact that he was a slightly deformed, and for the most part, slightly retarded child growing up in a time in which this was to truly be a freak. He “died” due to the negligence of others and it is only really established that he started to kill after he witnessed his mother’s beheading, and then started to “defend” as it were his home which was Camp Crystal Lake as well as to avenge her death. There are a lot of horror critics that have proposed that Jason is a misunderstood killer, and is therefore a slightly tragic character in the horror genre.
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Dark_Falcon Fri, Sep 13, 2013 9:14:11pm |
re: #11 Killgore Trout
Wingnut extremist senator’s writings to be published by Russian propagandists!
thecable.foreignpolicy.com
John McCain isn’t a wingnut, and he’s no friend of Putin.
| 65 |
Belafon Fri, Sep 13, 2013 9:14:24pm |
re: #58 NJDhockeyfan
Obviously not even real: Image: hotdog_24.jpg
| 66 |
Kragar Fri, Sep 13, 2013 9:16:30pm |
re: #63 Amory Blaine
When it comes to 80s slasher villains, I have to stick with Horace Pinker.
| 67 |
Dark_Falcon Fri, Sep 13, 2013 9:16:33pm |
re: #58 NJDhockeyfan
Oh, brother…
[Embedded content]
Ah, racism in it’s pure form. No ‘dog whistle’, no ‘but’s, just straight on calling black people subhuman.
/spits
| 68 |
blueraven Fri, Sep 13, 2013 9:17:54pm |
re: #11 Killgore Trout
Wingnut extremist senator’s writings to be published by Russian propagandists!
thecable.foreignpolicy.com
Oh Jeez, just what we need…angry geriatric pissing contest.
That will be helpful. /
| 69 |
Amory Blaine Fri, Sep 13, 2013 9:18:43pm |
McCain and Putin could oil up shirtless and have a grudge match on PPV.
| 70 |
Kragar Fri, Sep 13, 2013 9:19:04pm |
re: #68 blueraven
Oh Jeez, just what we need…angry geriatric pissing contest.
That will be helpful. /
Allow me to summarize:
“Прочь с моего газона!”
| 71 |
Ming Fri, Sep 13, 2013 9:21:21pm |
re: #58 NJDhockeyfan
re: #60 austin_blue
I think of Russia as having been in a “deep freeze” from 1917 to 1991, the lifetime of the Soviet Union. Even though it’s now 22 years later, I see them as still waking up from this deep coma. It’ll be fascinating to see how Russia evolves, or devolves, as the years go on. I’ve always been fascinated by them, as “the other superpower”. I’ve always wanted to visit Russia, especially Moscow and St. Petersburg, but I may never get the chance.
| 72 |
blueraven Fri, Sep 13, 2013 9:23:27pm |
| 73 |
Dark_Falcon Fri, Sep 13, 2013 9:23:41pm |
re: #69 Amory Blaine
No, doesn’t even work as a joke given McCain’s arm injuries. Injuries made worse by the torture he suffered while a POW in Hanoi. McCain’s anger at Putin is righteous because people just like Putin in mindset tortured him and many of his fellow POWs, some of them to death.
| 74 |
blueraven Fri, Sep 13, 2013 9:24:52pm |
re: #73 Dark_Falcon
No, doesn’t even work as a joke given McCain’s arm injuries. Injuries made worse by the torture he suffered while a POW in Hanoi. McCain’s anger at Putin is righteous because people just like Putin in mindset tortured him and many of his fellow POWs, some of them to death.
I appreciate your defense of Senator McCain…but just what do you think this will accomplish?
| 75 |
Amory Blaine Fri, Sep 13, 2013 9:26:09pm |
I just watched Mama and The Cabin In the Woods. Thought both were pretty good.
76 |
First As Tragedy, Then As Farce Fri, Sep 13, 2013 9:36:22pm |
re: #63 Amory Blaine
I haven’t seen Friday the 13th in approximately one billion years, but I remember thinking that the movie revealed that Jason had been dead the whole time and his mother was a murderous lunatic because of his death. Ever since then I have assumed that Jason was some undead thing.
I first saw it when I was entirely too young to see such things. My dad acquired a cable descrambler from one of his employees, and because both of my parents were crazy workaholics I had ample unsupervised time to watch 70s and 80s horror movies on HBO and ridiculous soft-core porn on the Playboy Channel. I don’t think there were any negative effects, although I did avidly listen to G. Gordon Liddy’s radio show during the 90s, and for a while I was a hardcore JFK assassination conspiracy theorist and UFO/aliens/Area 51/Men In Black nut, so maybe there was some subtle damage after all.
For some reason, my wee little self thought slasher movies were dumb, not even slightly scary, and pretty uninteresting, though there were some exceptions.
I will never forget sitting in my mom’s bedroom watching HBO one day when Videodrome came on. I didn’t have the slightest idea what I was in for, but I was transfixed. I had seen dozens of horror movies by then, but Videodrome was the first movie I had ever watched that kind of freaked me out. For those who haven’t seen it, the Cliff’s Notes version of the premise is that watching depraved things on television does bad things to your mind, and that there is a very deliberate system that profits from the way you are changed by exposure to these things on TV. That doesn’t do justice to the story, the visuals, the soundtrack, the acting, or anything else. Videodrome remains one of my favorite movies to this day, and while I am a huuuuuuge fan of the rest of David Cronenberg’s body of work, very little of it comes close to Videodrome as far as I’m concerned.
blah blah blah, never mind.
| 77 |
William Barnett-Lewis Fri, Sep 13, 2013 9:43:24pm |
re: #76 First As Tragedy, Then As Farce
Videodrome is one of the few movies I consider horror in the sense that it actually scared me. The first Alien was good that way too, though more classic in it’s construction. Still when that chest burst happens, it freaked me out quite completely. Pity they only made one sequel… :whistles:
| 78 |
Amory Blaine Fri, Sep 13, 2013 9:44:02pm |
re: #76 First As Tragedy, Then As Farce
We used to see all the horror movies as a kid. We never got hassled because of our age. Saw Videodrome at the theater. Loved Scanners too. When we went to see the Fog they had a fog machine in the theater. Good times.
| 79 |
darthstar Fri, Sep 13, 2013 9:48:27pm |
Because my wife loves me, she gave me this image. (Yes, I buy a lot of pumpkins…we do live in Half Moon Bay). pic.twitter.com/SjVDr9MGzM— Sean McCabe (@darthstar99) September 14, 2013
| 80 |
Kragar Fri, Sep 13, 2013 9:50:00pm |
The Thing remains my favorite horror movie of all time.
“How do we know who’s human? If I was an imitation, a perfect imitation, how would you know if it was really me?”
| 81 |
OhNoZombies! Fri, Sep 13, 2013 9:50:09pm |
re: #58 NJDhockeyfan
Oh, brother…
Sad.
There was a time when I would have been shocked and outraged.
Fuck Russia.
| 82 |
OhNoZombies! Fri, Sep 13, 2013 9:53:13pm |
The first horror movie I remember seeing was ‘It’s Alive!”
Every night thereafter, I locked my dolls in the closet.
| 83 |
darthstar Fri, Sep 13, 2013 9:55:02pm |
re: #82 OhNoZombies!
The first horror movie I remember seeing was ‘It’s Alive!”
Every night thereafter, I locked my dolls in the closet.
Lucky…my dolls locked me in the closet.
| 84 |
OhNoZombies! Fri, Sep 13, 2013 9:56:15pm |
re: #83 darthstar
Lucky…my dolls locked me in the closet.
Aaah, see…
You gotta get them before they get you!
| 85 |
Kragar Fri, Sep 13, 2013 9:57:16pm |
Poltergeist freaked me out as a kid. Any TV playing static spooked me.
| 86 |
First As Tragedy, Then As Farce Fri, Sep 13, 2013 9:57:29pm |
re: #80 Kragar
The Thing remains my favorite horror movie of all time.
“How do we know who’s human? If I was an imitation, a perfect imitation, how would you know if it was really me?”
The Thing is a masterpiece. But then again I also think Female Trouble is a masterpiece, which shows what I know.
| 87 |
Lidane Fri, Sep 13, 2013 10:00:18pm |
re: #66 Kragar
When it comes to 80s slasher villains, I have to stick with Horace Pinker.
Freddy Krueger scared the absolute shit out of me as a kid. I still can’t watch those films. I have really vivid dreams most nights. I’ve even had a few lucid dreams. Freddy freaked me the hell out.
| 88 |
OhNoZombies! Fri, Sep 13, 2013 10:02:02pm |
Lol.
Hubby was not a fan of the new ‘Thing’.
He went into a fanboy rage over that one.
| 90 |
Targetpractice Fri, Sep 13, 2013 10:02:37pm |
I can’t honestly say what was the first horror film I watched. Mostly because horror films were my mother’s favorite genre when I was growing up as a kid and so I saw various ones. Think one of the earliest I can remember is Pumpkinhead.
| 91 |
First As Tragedy, Then As Farce Fri, Sep 13, 2013 10:09:08pm |
Another movie that sort of bothered me when I was too young to watch it was called “The Beast Within”.
This scene right here:
The tongue thing, man. Jeezus. But now it just looks stupid.
The story is basically that a teenage guy turns into a cicada and impregnates his mom. Yep.
| 92 |
Kragar Fri, Sep 13, 2013 10:09:33pm |
re: #88 OhNoZombies!
Lol.
Hubby was not a fan of the new ‘Thing’.
He went into a fanboy rage over that one.
There was only the 1982 film.
There was only the 1982 film.
| 93 |
Targetpractice Fri, Sep 13, 2013 10:10:31pm |
re: #92 Kragar
There was only the 1982 film.
There was only the 1982 film.
People keep telling me there were other Highlander films. Bunch of loonies.
| 94 |
Lidane Fri, Sep 13, 2013 10:11:23pm |
re: #88 OhNoZombies!
Lol.
Hubby was not a fan of the new ‘Thing’.
He went into a fanboy rage over that one.
Boyfriend was not a fan of the new Evil Dead film despite being a fanboy for both Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell. I was surprised. I thought he would like it, but it was just not for him.
| 95 |
Lidane Fri, Sep 13, 2013 10:12:41pm |
re: #93 Targetpractice
People keep telling me there were other Highlander films. Bunch of loonies.
And some people have tried to tell me that there are six Star Wars films. I only remember the first three, which came out when I was a kid.
I think those people were hallucinating.
| 96 |
First As Tragedy, Then As Farce Fri, Sep 13, 2013 10:13:08pm |
re: #92 Kragar
Yeah, I don’t understand what makes people keep referring to a sequel to “The Thing”, or multiple sequels to “Alien”. Sometimes I even hear people claim that there was a 6th season of “Lost”, and that “The X Files” persisted long after season 4. What will they think of next, a Star Wars “prequel”?
Give me a break.
| 97 |
Kragar Fri, Sep 13, 2013 10:14:28pm |
re: #93 Targetpractice
People keep telling me there were other Highlander films. Bunch of loonies.
Same nutballs who talk about a Matrix “trilogy.
| 98 |
Kragar Fri, Sep 13, 2013 10:15:01pm |
re: #96 First As Tragedy, Then As Farce
Yeah, I don’t understand what makes people keep referring to a sequel to “The Thing”, or multiple sequels to “Alien”. Sometimes I even hear people claim that there was a 6th season of “Lost”, and that “The X Files” persisted long after season 4. What will they think of next, a Star Wars “prequel”?
Give me a break.
Stargate after season 8? What have you been smoking?
| 99 |
First As Tragedy, Then As Farce Fri, Sep 13, 2013 10:15:07pm |
re: #94 Lidane
Boyfriend was not a fan of the new Evil Dead film despite being a fanboy for both Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell. I was surprised. I thought he would like it, but it was just not for him.
I hated the “new” Evil Dead as much as I can hate anything without being black-out drunk.
| 100 |
Targetpractice Fri, Sep 13, 2013 10:15:08pm |
re: #94 Lidane
Boyfriend was not a fan of the new Evil Dead film despite being a fanboy for both Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell. I was surprised. I thought he would like it, but it was just not for him.
I’ve heard a lot of grousing because Campbell didn’t play a role in the film, but I think that’s mostly butthurt that it wasn’t a one-to-one remake of the original. Folks should bear in mind that the original Evil Dead was effectively a low-budget B-movie that a bunch of college buddies made on a shoestring budget.
That it got popular and became a cult classic…yeah, that’s not exactly something new in Hollywood.
| 101 |
OhNoZombies! Fri, Sep 13, 2013 10:15:45pm |
re: #92 Kragar
There was only the 1982 film.
There was only the 1982 film.
Yep.
There was only one The Day the Earth Stood Still…
Tonight, I saw an abomination on FX.
| 102 |
Lidane Fri, Sep 13, 2013 10:16:27pm |
re: #96 First As Tragedy, Then As Farce
“The X Files” persisted long after season 4
I’ve even heard mention of some X Files films. Crazy talk.
| 103 |
Targetpractice Fri, Sep 13, 2013 10:16:44pm |
re: #101 OhNoZombies!
Yep.
There was only one The Day the Earth Stood Still…
Tonight, I saw an abomination on FX.
Keanu Reeves trying to act “serious”?
| 104 |
Lidane Fri, Sep 13, 2013 10:17:52pm |
re: #97 Kragar
Same nutballs who talk about a Matrix “trilogy.
What trilogy? I remember The Matrix and then a long, loud, extended rave that put me to sleep.
| 105 |
First As Tragedy, Then As Farce Fri, Sep 13, 2013 10:18:18pm |
re: #102 Lidane
I’ve even heard mention of some X Files films. Crazy talk.
Pfft, oh come ON. Next you’re going to say there was a War of the Worlds remake.
| 106 |
OhNoZombies! Fri, Sep 13, 2013 10:19:37pm |
| 107 |
Kragar Fri, Sep 13, 2013 10:21:16pm |
re: #105 First As Tragedy, Then As Farce
Pfft, oh come ON. Next you’re going to say there was a War of the Worlds remake.
You mean that TV series from the late 80s?
| 108 |
Targetpractice Fri, Sep 13, 2013 10:21:54pm |
At this point, I don’t think even Shatner wants to acknowledge Star Trek V anymore. And Paramount would prefer it if people just forgot there was a movie after Insurrection.
| 109 |
OhNoZombies! Fri, Sep 13, 2013 10:24:22pm |
Someone told me there was a Time Machine remake.
I saw a movie. It was called Time Machine.
It was not.
| 110 |
Targetpractice Fri, Sep 13, 2013 10:28:03pm |
There were no films between Batman Returns and Batman Begins!
| 111 |
First As Tragedy, Then As Farce Fri, Sep 13, 2013 10:32:09pm |
re: #110 Targetpractice
There were no films between Batman Returns and Batman Begins!
Ha ha, I see what you did there, implying that there were Batman movies before “Batman Begins”.
| 112 |
OhNoZombies! Fri, Sep 13, 2013 10:36:37pm |
My cousin revealed that she liked this movie starring George Clooney and Alecia Silverstone, and some other guy.
I’m planning an intervention.
| 113 |
Amory Blaine Fri, Sep 13, 2013 10:38:45pm |
I used to watch all the early 80s occult movies no matter how bad.
| 114 |
BongCrodny Fri, Sep 13, 2013 10:40:10pm |
re: #76 First As Tragedy, Then As Farce
I don’t think there were any negative effects, although I did avidly listen to G. Gordon Liddy’s radio show during the 90s, and for a while I was a hardcore JFK assassination conspiracy theorist and UFO/aliens/Area 51/Men In Black nut, so maybe there was some subtle damage after all.
You have a really interesting interpretation of “subtle.”
| 115 |
OhNoZombies! Fri, Sep 13, 2013 10:56:44pm |
Off to bed.
May all of your dreams be original.
:-)
| 117 |
First As Tragedy, Then As Farce Fri, Sep 13, 2013 11:21:47pm |
re: #116 freetoken
The fur trapper started whippin’ on my favorite baby seal with a lead-filled snow shoe.
119 |
dog philosopher Fri, Sep 13, 2013 11:52:57pm |
bought myself a kindle fire, an indulgence - bigger screen than the phone, not as heavy duty when i just want to do web stuff in front of the teevee or in bed
hello from my new toy!
| 120 |
dog philosopher Fri, Sep 13, 2013 11:57:34pm |
not as heavy duty as my laptop, that is
the site runs very slow on this ‘silk’ browser, tho…
| 122 |
Amory Blaine Sat, Sep 14, 2013 12:05:35am |
Somebody said it might be easier @ LGF on spy mode. Try that once.
123 |
hellosnackbar Sat, Sep 14, 2013 3:26:32am |
Sometime ago I heard an American NASA chap describe Voyager 1 whilst passing Neptune as : The LittleSpaceship that could!
| 124 |
Justanotherhuman Sat, Sep 14, 2013 3:26:38am |
| 125 |
Amory Blaine Sat, Sep 14, 2013 3:35:02am |
I can’t get how far the meme got that Obama somehow bumbled our response. I think there’s a deliberate push to keep anyone with a half a brain from giving an interview on tv. Every where you turn its like a 3rd grade civics class.
| 126 |
Justanotherhuman Sat, Sep 14, 2013 3:37:28am |
I have to say, Rachel Maddow gets it totally correct in this 7 min segment about the rightwing and Putin.
I wish they would all move to Russia. Thanks for the suggestion, Scott Lively.
| 127 |
Justanotherhuman Sat, Sep 14, 2013 3:46:02am |
Followup on the WMD deal.
US-Russia reach agreement on Syria weapons
I think Kerry was a hard bargainer, and a huge credit to the Obama admin, because…
“They say some elements of the deal include a timetable and how Syria must comply - and that if Syria fails, they will seek a Security Council resolution that could authorize military action. (my emphasis)
This last had been reported as something that would not be pursued, and that the UN would not vote to do, blah, blah, blah.
I think Pres Obama got what he wanted, overall. No unilateral military action by the US, and international condemnation and action.
Suck on that for a while, doubters.
| 128 |
Amory Blaine Sat, Sep 14, 2013 3:52:01am |
Republicans are now leading Democrats on handling several key issues, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC poll.
The poll, released Friday, shows more Americans think that the Republicans are doing a better job on the economy, foreign policy and reducing the federal deficit.
The GOP has an edge of 7 percentage points over the Democrats on the issue of foreign policy. This is up from 2006, when the GOP was behind by 9 percentage points.
We are in serious trouble when the democrats can’t capitalize on the complete disconnect and absurdity of the GOP.
| 129 |
Justanotherhuman Sat, Sep 14, 2013 3:55:28am |
Yes, it’s going to take time to remove all the CWs from Syria. Here’s the rough timetable:
US and Russia agree Syria arms deal in Geneva
This is a huge victory for Pres Obama, Kerry and diplomacy.
| 130 |
Amory Blaine Sat, Sep 14, 2013 3:55:40am |
Think the GOP is better for the economy. The party that is threatening to shut down the government and not raise the debt ceiling. I just.. what can you do?
| 131 |
Justanotherhuman Sat, Sep 14, 2013 4:00:03am |
re: #130 Amory Blaine
Think the GOP is better for the economy. The party that is threatening to shut down the government and not raise the debt ceiling. I just.. what can you do?
The party of the idiocracy. What else can you say about people who think reality TV is culture at its finest? And that Putin is an “American hero”?
| 133 |
steve_davis Sat, Sep 14, 2013 4:14:12am |
re: #7 Eclectic Cyborg
That should really help illustrate how big our universe is. It took voyager 30 plus years just to get out of OUR GALAXY. The universe contains hundreds, possibly thousands of galaxies.
Really, really, really, freakin big
No, no. It took Voyager 30 plus years to exit the solar system. The galaxy itself is millions of light years across. We’re in one of the spinning outer pieces (the Milky Way is actually the heart of the galaxy, and we’re far away from that), and even here, it would take Voyager millions of years, at a guess, to exit the galaxy.
| 134 |
Justanotherhuman Sat, Sep 14, 2013 4:38:29am |
Funny how some in the US press are reporting the Syria CW deal.
US, Russia reach deal on Syria’s chemical weapons
“If Syria fails to comply, it will be referred to the U.N. Security Council, Kerry said. It was not clear what those measures might be. The deal includes nothing about the potential use of force, Lavrov said.”
The BBC report says Chapter 7, which includes the use of force by the UN, will be invoked if the agreement is not honored by Syria. If Russia votes against any use of force by the UN in the Security Council, then it violates the agreement.
That’s my understanding of it, anyway.
I suppose we’ll have to wait until the WH itself officially announces the terms. The press isn’t doing a very good job of it.
| 135 |
Justanotherhuman Sat, Sep 14, 2013 4:47:40am |
Fucking rogue nation, Syria. We know these strikes are just conventional, even in light of the CW deal. And they can’t blame this on rebels who have no planes.
Syrian warplanes strike Damascus: residents
(Reuters) - Syrian warplanes struck rebel-held suburbs of the capital on Saturday and government forces clashed with insurgents on the frontlines, residents and opposition activists said.
“The warplanes are very busy this morning,” said a journalist working in central Damascus who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons.
“Activists said the strikes were focused on Berze, a northeastern part of central Damascus, where rebels have been on the offensive to push further into the city.”
The al-Assads don’t want to lose their power and will do anything to keep it, so they’ll continue killing Syria’s own citizens, “collateral damage” be damned.
136 |
Flounder Sat, Sep 14, 2013 5:07:38am |
Translation: Earthlings are coming, hide the valuables!
We here that a lot at family gatherings for some reason.
137 |
Dr Lizardo Sat, Sep 14, 2013 5:16:12am |
re: #136 Flounder
Translation: Earthlings are coming, hide the valuables!
We here that a lot at family gatherings for some reason.
| 138 |
Flounder Sat, Sep 14, 2013 5:23:33am |
re: #30 OhNoZombies!
Oh Brother has an awesome soundtrack too.
| 139 |
Decatur Deb Sat, Sep 14, 2013 5:39:46am |
re: #135 Justanotherhuman
Fucking rogue nation, Syria. We know these strikes are just conventional, even in light of the CW deal. And they can’t blame this on rebels who have no planes.
Syrian warplanes strike Damascus: residents
(Reuters) - Syrian warplanes struck rebel-held suburbs of the capital on Saturday and government forces clashed with insurgents on the frontlines, residents and opposition activists said.
“The warplanes are very busy this morning,” said a journalist working in central Damascus who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons.
“Activists said the strikes were focused on Berze, a northeastern part of central Damascus, where rebels have been on the offensive to push further into the city.”
The al-Assads don’t want to lose their power and will do anything to keep it, so they’ll continue killing Syria’s own citizens, “collateral damage” be damned.
Yankee Warplanes Strike Atlanta, Hundreds Killed, Big’FU’ From Sherman.
| 140 |
Justanotherhuman Sat, Sep 14, 2013 5:46:26am |
| 141 |
Lidane Sat, Sep 14, 2013 6:40:28am |
If I see one more “informed” conservative telling me that Putin is a peacemaker who just averted WW3, I’m going to scream.
No, he didn’t “lead” on averting war. He offered his client Assad a better refund policy than Amazon because Obama started moving warships into the area. What. The. Fuck. Why can’t people see this?
| 142 |
Dark_Falcon Sat, Sep 14, 2013 6:43:25am |
re: #141 Lidane
If I see one more “informed” conservative telling me that Putin is a peacemaker who just averted WW3, I’m going to scream.
No, he didn’t “lead” on averting war. He offered his client Assad a better refund policy than Amazon because Obama started moving warships into the area. What. The. Fuck. Why can’t people see this?
Because they have a driving need to see Obama fall on his ass and because they keep believe that “this scandal will be the one that finally brings Obama down”.
| 143 |
Lidane Sat, Sep 14, 2013 6:50:18am |
weird, because managing Middle East civil wars is usually so simple; MT @memeorandum AP: Obama's Larger Syria Strategy in Disarray— Eric Boehlert (@EricBoehlert) September 14, 2013
| 144 |
Lidane Sat, Sep 14, 2013 6:53:29am |
Holy shit these people are shameless:
Fox's Dana Perino: the Bush White House did not engage in partisan politics. http://t.co/PEeUeknAIg— Media Matters (@mmfa) September 14, 2013
| 145 |
Decatur Deb Sat, Sep 14, 2013 6:56:36am |
re: #144 Lidane
Holy shit these people are shameless:
[Embedded content]
Fox’s Dana Perino: the Bush White House did not engage in partisan politics.
The post-9/11 Dems were so wimped out that he hardly had to.
146 |
sagehen Sat, Sep 14, 2013 6:57:32am |
| 147 |
darthstar Sat, Sep 14, 2013 6:57:53am |
Uh, I disagree. Fox's Perino: Bush White House Did Not Engage In Partisan Politics http://t.co/YK6p8k6XAg— Valerie Plame Wilson (@ValeriePlame) September 14, 2013
| 148 |
Dark_Falcon Sat, Sep 14, 2013 7:02:22am |
re: #144 Lidane
Holy shit these people are shameless:
[Embedded content]
[Embedded content]
That’s a self-evident lie: Every White House engages in partisan politics. The president is a politician and head of his party in many regards. Thus he has to be partisan at times, and that’s OK.
| 149 |
darthstar Sat, Sep 14, 2013 7:06:09am |
@joshtpm @igorbobic There's one man who won't accept a diplomatic solution for an answer. At least the Russians are dismissive of him.— Sean McCabe (@darthstar99) September 14, 2013
| 150 |
darthstar Sat, Sep 14, 2013 7:07:11am |
re: #149 darthstar
And I do mean dismissive…
“Mr. McCain has been an active anti-Russian politician for many years already. We have been critical of his stance on Russia and international politics in our materials, but we would be only pleased to publish a story penned by such a prominent politician as John McCain.”
| 151 |
GeneJockey Sat, Sep 14, 2013 7:07:16am |
re: #144 Lidane
Holy shit these people are shameless:
Fox’s Dana Perino: the Bush White House did not engage in partisan politics.
Are you fucking kidding me? How did she manage to say that with a straight face?
| 152 |
Dark_Falcon Sat, Sep 14, 2013 7:08:54am |
re: #150 darthstar
Don’t side with Putin over McCain, either. McCain is a decent man, Putin is…not.
| 153 |
A Mom Anon Sat, Sep 14, 2013 7:09:21am |
re: #147 darthstar
LOL. Awesome.
They’re pretty desperate to rewrite history as fast as they can.
I was reading a piece in Bloomberg this morning about GA’s idiot governor and insurance commissioner doing everything possible to obstruct the ACA. Including requiring the healthcare navigators to have to take the same test an insurance agent does to be licensed. Even though the navigators don’t need to do that by law. Why you ask?
Because insurance companies, drug companies, senior care companies and others have given over a million dollars to Gov. Nathan Deal’s Real PAC. I don’t have any idea how much the moron insurance commissioner has stuffed his pockets with.
How is this a win for insurance companies if they’re getting a flood of new customers who couldn’t previously afford insurance? Some of that money will also come from subsidies, so it’s not like they’re taking that big of a hit with lower rates either. Between the subsidies and new customers why are they fighting this so hard?
| 154 |
Decatur Deb Sat, Sep 14, 2013 7:09:26am |
re: #151 GeneJockey
Are you fucking kidding me? How did she manage to say that with a straight face?
Practice.
| 155 |
OhNoZombies! Sat, Sep 14, 2013 7:11:40am |
re: #151 GeneJockey
Are you fucking kidding me? How did she manage to say that with a straight face?
I hear Botox is very popular…
| 156 |
darthstar Sat, Sep 14, 2013 7:12:59am |
re: #152 Dark_Falcon
Don’t side with Putin over McCain, either. McCain is a decent man, Putin is…not.
Putin’s an asshole with little man complex (which is why he’s always posing shirtless doing something manly). He postures and poses and then he blinks.
McCain is the Senior Senator from Arizona, and he’s trying to inject himself into a conversation where he’s irrelevant - and he’s getting mocked…openly…for good reason.
And the whole taking sides thing in wingnuttia is Putin-vs-Obama (I’m on Obama’s side, for the record). It may surprise you, but John McCain was never actually elected president.
| 157 |
A Mom Anon Sat, Sep 14, 2013 7:14:42am |
It’s a gorgeous morning, I’m going to go enjoy it. BBL.
| 158 |
darthstar Sat, Sep 14, 2013 7:17:03am |
Imagine the deep shit-filled hole we'd be in if the media pundits were always right about @BarackObama …or ever right for that matter.— Sean McCabe (@darthstar99) September 14, 2013
| 159 |
Dark_Falcon Sat, Sep 14, 2013 7:17:12am |
re: #156 darthstar
Putin’s an asshole with little man complex (which is why he’s always posing shirtless doing something manly). He postures and poses and then he blinks.
McCain is the Senior Senator from Arizona, and he’s trying to inject himself into a conversation where he’s irrelevant - and he’s getting mocked…openly…for good reason.
And the whole taking sides thing in wingnuttia is Putin-vs-Obama (I’m on Obama’s side, for the record). It may surprise you, but John McCain was never actually elected president.
Hell, DS, McCain’s been on Obama’s side on getting a use of force resolution through the Senate, and when said resolution needed to be altered to reflect the current diplomatic situation McCain took the lead on getting it done.
John McCain ain’t tryin’ to upstage the president, he’s taking a swipe at Putin in the same way Putin swiped at the US.
| 160 |
darthstar Sat, Sep 14, 2013 7:24:38am |
re: #159 Dark_Falcon
John McCain ain’t tryin’ to upstage the president, he’s taking a swipe at Putin in the same way Putin swiped at the US.
It’s not his place. He doesn’t represent the American people. We elected someone else to that job. He’s only doing this because that’s how he’d handle the situation if he was president. And yes, he agreed with the president on getting a resolution for force to the Senate for a vote, then threatened to vote “No” because it wasn’t bootsonthegroundy enough.
| 161 |
Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut Sat, Sep 14, 2013 7:25:02am |
re: #159 Dark_Falcon
He also talked about impeaching Obama if he put boots on the ground. That sort of crazy talk really isn’t helpful.
| 162 |
Decatur Deb Sat, Sep 14, 2013 7:27:54am |
re: #161 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut
He also talked about impeaching Obama if he put boots on the ground. That sort of crazy talk really isn’t helpful.
That was in a ‘calming’ exchange with a citizen—he was describing the TP radicals in the House, rather than pressing for impeachment himself..
| 163 |
Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut Sat, Sep 14, 2013 7:29:02am |
re: #162 Decatur Deb
That was in a ‘calming’ exchange with a citizen—he was describing the TP radicals in the House, rather than pressing for impeachment himself..
McCain is a master at fucking those exchanges up, but at least that’s better than just saying it himself.
“He’s a Muslim!”
“no, no, he’s a decent man.”
Still pisses me off.
| 164 |
darthstar Sat, Sep 14, 2013 7:30:13am |
BREAKING.. US - Russia reach accord that would rid Syria of chem weapons by mid- 2014— Michael Tackett (@tackettdc) September 14, 2013
US-Russia deal. Syria will begin destroying CWs within the week. #whycantobummerlead— Michael Tomasky (@mtomasky) September 14, 2013
We can't have CW accord on #Syria yet! @SenJohnMcCain is still writing his angry op ed to Pravda. “…tear down this…no, it's been done”— Sean McCabe (@darthstar99) September 14, 2013
165 |
ninja cat Sat, Sep 14, 2013 7:31:01am |
re: #153 A Mom Anon
I was reading a piece in Bloomberg this morning about GA’s idiot governor and insurance commissioner doing everything possible to obstruct the ACA. Including requiring the healthcare navigators to have to take the same test an insurance agent does to be licensed.
Don’t omit my idiot FL Gov. He has issued an order completely blocking navigators from offering any guidance or assistance. Their reasoning is …well, I have no idea actually. Something about financial info would be available to the navigators, ergo a rise in ID theft will then run rampant.
| 166 |
darthstar Sat, Sep 14, 2013 7:33:14am |
re: #163 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut
“He’s a Muslim!”
“no, no, he’s a decent man.”Still pisses me off.
An appropriate response would have been, “Lady, stop being such a racist dipshit! And that goes for every other birther piece of shit in this country who wants to claim my opponent is some sort of Kenyan Muslim plant!”
That would have won him more votes.
| 167 |
Iwouldprefernotto Sat, Sep 14, 2013 7:34:14am |
re: #163 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut
McCain is a master at fucking those exchanges up, but at least that’s better than just saying it himself.
“He’s a Muslim!”
“no, no, he’s a decent man.”Still pisses me off.
Yes, this. This is one of the greatest examples of the GOP not being able to stand up to their base. It’s why they are failing and will continue to fail.
| 168 |
GeneJockey Sat, Sep 14, 2013 7:35:17am |
re: #166 darthstar
An appropriate response would have been, “Lady, stop being such a racist dipshit! And that goes for every other birther piece of shit in this country who wants to claim my opponent is some sort of Kenyan Muslim plant!”
That would have won him more votes.
Don’t know about THAT, but it sure would have done a tiny bit to make up for Sarah Palin.
I see his response as the bare minimum required.
| 169 |
Lidane Sat, Sep 14, 2013 7:36:35am |
So the saga of my soon-to-be unemployment continues.
Spoke to my boss yesterday. He’s leaving the company at the end of the month. Turns out, he’s leaving by choice. He offered to do more to help boost the numbers and their response was to offer him going from being a director to being a senior sales person, which would be a demotion and a pay cut. I’d leave too.
He also told me without my asking that he fought to keep me on and to keep the office open, but he got nowhere. He even tried to come up with suggestions for me to transition to marketing or digital/social media since that’s my MBA anyway, but nada. There has apparently been a desire to close the office here for some time, but they renewed the lease when I got hired. It was pretty much just a matter of time before I was facing this at all.
And to top it off? The lease isn’t up yet on the office. Their big plan when I’m gone? They’re going to leave the office here, abandoned, until the lease runs out so they don’t have to pay the penalty to break the lease, then they’ll ship the furniture and stuff back to California. WTF. I’m done next week. If you’re willing to pay the lease to keep the lights on for a while longer, why not have me stay until then?
Oh well. It’s for the best. Even my boss agrees they’re doing it wrong. I’m sure I’ll find something a lot better that also pays better.
| 170 |
darthstar Sat, Sep 14, 2013 7:40:55am |
Vice President Biden on President Obama: “This man has courage in his soul, compassion in his heart and a spine of steel”— meta (@metaquest) September 14, 2013
| 171 |
Internet Tough Guy Sat, Sep 14, 2013 7:44:31am |
re: #164 darthstar
Obviously, Russia giving in and cutting a deal shows how weak Obama is.
/the Establishment and their dudebro enablers
| 172 |
darthstar Sat, Sep 14, 2013 7:45:29am |
.@BarackObama You know what really pisses off the #GOP? If diplomacy works in #Syria, they can't threaten to defund it. #NiceJob— Sean McCabe (@darthstar99) September 14, 2013
| 173 |
darthstar Sat, Sep 14, 2013 7:47:14am |
I'm old enough to remember when Putin denied Assad used chemical weapons and Assad denied he even had them.— Greg Pinelo (@gregpinelo) September 14, 2013
| 174 |
Decatur Deb Sat, Sep 14, 2013 7:53:30am |
As always, Fox finds the cloud around the silver lining:
“The mechanics, perils and pitfalls of destroying Assad’s chemical weapons arsenal”
| 175 |
Dark_Falcon Sat, Sep 14, 2013 7:56:23am |
re: #163 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut
McCain is a master at fucking those exchanges up, but at least that’s better than just saying it himself.
“He’s a Muslim!”
“no, no, he’s a decent man.”Still pisses me off.
He can’t go full bore on those assholes, Obdi, they’ve got too much influence in Arizona. The best he can do is make clear he isn’t one of them and wait for the fever to break.
| 176 |
darthstar Sat, Sep 14, 2013 8:12:07am |
Poo-pourri Great commercial - apparently a real product.
177 |
Stanley Sea Sat, Sep 14, 2013 8:21:42am |
re: #176 darthstar
Hey Darth - give me a quick low down on Uber?
| 178 |
darthstar Sat, Sep 14, 2013 8:28:34am |
Curious. Do Kerry or Obama get credit for this deal, or does everybody just change the subject?— gwen ifill (@gwenifill) September 14, 2013
| 179 |
aagcobb Sat, Sep 14, 2013 8:29:39am |
re: #31 Targetpractice
Saying that there are places humans will never go sort of sells short the ingenuity of humanity. We’ve explored the peaks of the highest mountains and sent manned vessels to the bottom of the Marianas Trench. We’ve cracked the sound barrier, sent men to the surface of our own moon and returned them safely, and begun establishing a foothold in planetary orbit.
And “fraction of the cost” is misleading because a single robotic exploration satellite or rover can still be an investment of years and millions to billions of dollars. It’s actually a large part of the reason that NASA has had a hard time justifying its budget requests time and again, because the success/failure rate is rather troubling when you consider that (for example) 2/3 of all missions sent to Mars have ended in failure. You can have scientists spend the better part of their careers planning, designing, constructing, and launching a mission only to see it end in failure because somewhere along the way a tech forgot to program the computer to accept measurements in metric rather than imperial units.
Think how much worse it would’ve been if they had spent ten times as much and the error got a whole crew killed. Its very expensive to launch all that food, water, oxygen, living space, heating and cooling and waste disposal into space, and a human crew would’ve been long since dead before exiting the solar system as Voyager has done. And why would we send people there? There is nowhere to go that can be reached. There may come a time when there is a good reason to send people to Mars or other neighboring planets, but right now robotic exploration is the only sensible way to go.
| 180 |
darthstar Sat, Sep 14, 2013 8:41:06am |
Yeah, that's what made Vladimir 'Former Head Of The KGB' Putin back down. Social media. #headdesk #FFS http://t.co/YyDaCi0mTo— Danielle (@DCPlod) September 14, 2013
I think that the UK and US would have attacked Syria had it not been for the outcry they saw on Social Media.— Dusty Bin (@321Bin) September 14, 2013
| 181 |
darthstar Sat, Sep 14, 2013 8:42:10am |
The Putin/McCain dueling op-eds sums up the ridiculousness of patriarchy and false manhood better than anything i've ever seen.— Joey Two Times (@60th_Street) September 14, 2013
182 |
wheat-dogghazi Sat, Sep 14, 2013 8:45:53am |
re: #133 steve_davis
No, no. It took Voyager 30 plus years to exit the solar system. The galaxy itself is millions of light years across. We’re in one of the spinning outer pieces (the Milky Way is actually the heart of the galaxy, and we’re far away from that), and even here, it would take Voyager millions of years, at a guess, to exit the galaxy.
Pedantic corrections. The Milky Way IS our galaxy. Since we are in the suburbs, so to speak, when we look toward Sagittarius we are looking toward the center of the galaxy, whose arms spread out across the night sky to form a cloud-like structure to the naked eye, which was called the Milky Way because of its milky appearance. Gailleo in the early 1600s was the first to realize that the Milky Way was in fact gazillions (he said that very word — true story!) of stars that were very close together.
City dwellers can’t usually see the Milky Way, because street lighting washes out the faint glow. To see it right, you gotta go out to the countryside away from street lights and when Sagittarius is visible, like this time of year. It’s best if the Moon’s glare is not in the way, though. Let your eyes become accustomed to the dark and you will see it. Gorgeous!
Image: milkyway.jpg
Photo from Universe Today
Voyager 1, IIRC, will take several hundreds of thousands of years to reach the next star system on its trajectory. It will have a long, long way to go to reach intergalactic space — millions of years would be a good estimate.
| 183 |
wheat-dogghazi Sat, Sep 14, 2013 8:57:50am |
A follow-up to my comment 183. Voyager 1 will reach the next star system in roughly 38,000 years, per Universe Today.
Voyager 1 is aiming toward the constellation Ophiuchus. In the year 40,272 AD, Voyager 1 will come within 1.7 light years of an obscure star in the constellation Ursa Minor (the Little Bear or Little Dipper) called AC+79 3888. It will swing around the star and orbit about the center of the Milky Way, likely for millions of years.
Read more: universetoday.com
So, our little buddy will not venture into intergalactic space at all. He doesn’t have escape velocity.
184 |
Carlos Danger Sat, Sep 14, 2013 9:06:27am |
About Voyager’s power supply [via wiki]
The United States stopped producing plutonium-238 in 1988;[3] since 1993, all of the plutonium-238 used in American spacecraft has been purchased from Russia. In total, 16.5 kilograms have been purchased but Russia is no longer producing plutonium-238 and their own supply is reportedly running low.[4][5]
In 2009, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) requested funding to restart American domestic production.[6][7] It is estimated that to restart production will cost between $75 million and $90 million over five years.[8] Since the DOE would be responsible for producing the plutonium-238 for NASA, the two agencies want to split the cost of restarting production.[8] Congress has given NASA some of the money requested, $10 million in 2011 and the same in 2012.[8] The U.S. Congress has denied the DOE’s funding request for three years in a row.[8]
| 185 |
Carlos Danger Sat, Sep 14, 2013 9:07:42am |
But it’s not all bad:
Jim Adams, deputy director of planetary science at NASA, said that there is enough of the fuel for NASA missions to around 2022. He says if NASA does not get more after that, “then we won’t go beyond Mars anymore. We won’t be exploring the solar system beyond Mars and the asteroid belt.”[7] After production has been restarted it is predicted that it would take at least five years to get enough for a single spacecraft mission.[6]
In February 2013, it was reported that a small amount of was successfully produced by Oak Ridge’s High Flux Isotope Reactor, this was the first time the United States had produced 238Pu since production ended in the late 1980s.[9] Jim Green, head of NASA’s planetary science division, stated in March 2013 that NASA expects to receive reports back from DOE later in 2013 on a complete schedule that would put plutonium-238 on track to be produced at about 1.5 kg (3.3 lb) per year.[9]
| 186 |
wheat-dogghazi Sat, Sep 14, 2013 9:10:05am |
re: #185 Carlos Danger
It’s OK. Putin, with his superpowers, can crush uranium dust in his bare hands to make plutonium. This form is called putinium.
//
| 187 |
b_sharp Sat, Sep 14, 2013 9:24:21am |
Get the US and Russia to fund building a facility in Sask, where we can restart our mining.
| 188 |
Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut Sat, Sep 14, 2013 9:24:35am |
re: #175 Dark_Falcon
He can’t go full bore on those assholes, Obdi, they’ve got too much influence in Arizona. The best he can do is make clear he isn’t one of them and wait for the fever to break.
He can. And as long as people say he can’t, the GOP will remain unreformed.
| 189 |
sagehen Sat, Sep 14, 2013 9:31:22am |
190 |
wrenchwench Sat, Sep 14, 2013 9:31:49am |
re: #188 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut
He can. And as long as people say he can’t, the GOP will remain unreformed.
Assuming he’s not going to run for reelection yet again, now is the opportunity for him to push back against the whackos.
| 191 |
makeitstop Sat, Sep 14, 2013 9:36:19am |
The Zombie Lie of Syria’s chemical weapons actually being Saddam’s old chem weapons seems to be making a big-time comeback today.
It’s painful to watch these people so desperately want to believe an old lie that they’ll make up a new lie to confirm the old one.
| 192 |
wrenchwench Sat, Sep 14, 2013 9:37:12am |
Important lesson: habitat restoration softens flood impact to Albuquerque, New Mexico. http://t.co/G1UeKahqcu by @jfleck #nmwx #resiliency— E Schlenker-Goodrich (@riogranderift) September 14, 2013
A flood flow from this week’s massive storm passed through Albuquerque uneventfully overnight, with a lower and earlier peak than water managers had expected.“It didn’t peak nearly as much as they thought it might have in Albuquerque,” said Mary Carlson of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Reclamation sounded the alarm Friday afternoon after major flood flows raised the Rio Grande’s flow at north of Bernalillo to levels that were unprecedented in recent decades. But the peak seems to have dissipated on its way to Albuquerque as water flowed out of the river into lowlands and side channels that have been built in recent years to provide habitat for the endangered Rio Grande silvery minnow and other plants and animals, Carlson said.
Flows at the Central Avenue Bridge in Albuquerque peaked at around midnight last night, an hour earlier than expected, with a flow measured by the U.S. Geological Survey of 4,320 cubic feet per second, 80 times higher than the drought-sapped flows of less than a week ago. That is less than the 6,000-7,000 cfs peak the Bureau had projected, apparently in large part because the habitat restoration sites upstream absorbed a substantial part of the flow, Carlson said.Flows this morning are still extremely high in Valencia County, but no levee problems have been reported there, according to Carlson. Water managers are closely watching the situation from there south, with big flood flows still making their way toward Socorro County on the Rio Grande with a possibility of large inflows from the Rio Puerco that could compound the rising river.
| 193 |
Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut Sat, Sep 14, 2013 10:24:28am |
re: #192 wrenchwench
That’s pretty damn awesome. Was this an intended effect or just a side effect of being nifty?
| 194 |
wrenchwench Sat, Sep 14, 2013 10:32:51am |
re: #193 Absalom, Absalom, Obdicut
That’s pretty damn awesome. Was this an intended effect or just a side effect of being nifty?
I don’t really know, but I think it was proposed and sold as an endangered species project. Next time they can sell it as a twofer; improved habitat for the fishies, and avoiding a degraded habitat for the humans.
| 195 |
b_sharp Sat, Sep 14, 2013 10:36:10am |
re: #194 wrenchwench
I don’t really know, but I think it was proposed and sold as an endangered species project. Next time they can sell it as a twofer; improved habitat for the fishies, and avoiding a degraded habitat for the humans.
All of these habitats are there for a reason so every time we decide we don’t like them and re purpose them we change the adaptive nature of the environment. We really should expect the unexpected when we do that.
| 196 |
wrenchwench Sat, Sep 14, 2013 10:44:29am |
re: #195 b_sharp
All of these habitats are there for a reason so every time we decide we don’t like them and re purpose them we change the adaptive nature of the environment. We really should expect the unexpected when we do that.
Yep. Especially in the desert, it seems. If you don’t look closely, it looks like there’s not much to mess up, but there’s a delicate, thriving ecosystem if it’s left alone. Grazing is responsible for a lot of dust storms these days. Maybe even a haboob or two.
| 197 |
Shiplord Kirel Sat, Sep 14, 2013 10:51:38am |
I’ve seen more than one right wing fellow traveler gushing “Putin for president” on the net.
Perhaps they can put their dubious skill at researching birth records to work trying to find evidence that Vlad was actually born in the US while his parents were here as part of a Stalin-era spy ring.
| 198 |
b_sharp Sat, Sep 14, 2013 10:54:38am |
re: #196 wrenchwench
Yep. Especially in the desert, it seems. If you don’t look closely, it looks like there’s not much to mess up, but there’s a delicate, thriving ecosystem if it’s left alone. Grazing is responsible for a lot of dust storms these days. Maybe even a haboob or two.
We have shallow swamps up here. The farmers over the past 100 years have been filling them in so they can sow grain there. Now every time we have a wet spring (happening more frequently) their tractors get stuck, not just where the swamp used to be but on neighbouring fields.
Instead of recovering the swamp, they buy bigger tractors. 0_o
| 199 |
Eclectic Cyborg Sat, Sep 14, 2013 11:00:47am |
I wonder, if the clock were turned back about 70 years, would the RWNJs be gushing over Hitler too? I mean hey, he wanted a pure society too.
| 200 |
Shiplord Kirel Sat, Sep 14, 2013 11:01:59am |
re: #199 Eclectic Cyborg
I wonder, if the clock were turned back about 70 years, would the RWNJs be gushing over Hitler too? I mean hey, he wanted a pure society too.
A lot of them WERE gushing over Hitler back then, at least until Pearl Harbor.
| 201 |
Kragar Sat, Sep 14, 2013 11:02:21am |
re: #199 Eclectic Cyborg
RWNJ never met a Bund they didn’t like.
| 202 |
Shiplord Kirel Sat, Sep 14, 2013 11:04:19am |
re: #197 Shiplord Kirel
I’ve seen more than one right wing fellow traveler gushing “Putin for president” on the net.
Perhaps they can put their dubious skill at researching birth records to work trying to find evidence that Vlad was actually born in the US while his parents were here as part of a Stalin-era spy ring.
It would have been an NKVD spy ring back in 1952. In any case, I am going to want to see Vlad’s “long form” birth certificate.
| 203 |
Eclectic Cyborg Sat, Sep 14, 2013 11:07:11am |
re: #200 Shiplord Kirel
Excellent point. Kind of scary actually.
| 204 |
Eclectic Cyborg Sat, Sep 14, 2013 11:07:44am |
I wonder how long until someone co-opts the Chuck Norris facts and uses them for “Vladimir Putin facts”.
205 |
bratwurst Sat, Sep 14, 2013 11:15:01am |
So, Kerry made it look like it was Putin who had the brilliant idea and in control? I do that everyday with my husband.— Lipstick Liberal (@LipstickLibShow) September 14, 2013
| 206 |
Shiplord Kirel Sat, Sep 14, 2013 11:26:24am |
Since conservative leaders like Ann Coulter have tried hard to rehabilitate the whiskey-sodden ghost of Joseph McCarthy in recent years, I think it might be fun to turn it back on them:
“I have (or can readily fabricate) a list of 214 (or is it 189?) State Department employees who are known to be card carrying members of the Tea Party. Now, pass me some more of that Jim Beam, willya? *hic*”
207 |
RadicalModerate Sat, Sep 14, 2013 1:08:17pm |
Something that wasn’t mentioned in the story here, that many may find relevant:
Voyager 1’s speed, relative to the Sun, is roughly 39,000 miles/hr, and is currently considered the fastest spacecraft launched from Earth.
It has traveled roughly 11.7 billion miles in the 35 years since its launch.
Now for a little perspective.
The nearest extrasolar star to Earth (Proxima Centauri) is 4.25 light years away.
Voyager’s trip so far is slightly more than 0.002 light years.
If Voyager were traveling toward that star at its current speed, it would take about 75,000 years to get there.
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