neildegrassetyson

Asteroid 2018VP1, a refrigerator-sized space-rock, is hurtling towards us at more than 25,000 mi/hr.
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It may buzz-cut Earth on Nov. 2, the day before the Presidential Election.
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But it's not big enough to cause harm. So if the World ends in 2020, it won't be the fault of the Universe.

While his pronouncement may seem to bring papal thinking right up to 1995, it is, never-the-less,  progress for a Church that changes at glacial speed. It did, after all, take about 400 years to say Galileo was spot on.

It is not clear what the Pope means by "legal cover", but surely his civil union position will be helpful, if not the equality of marriage, at least a baby step to the inevitable stroll in the park.

Paraphrasing Churchill, Fried states that such a maneuver is a bad idea, except for all the alternatives. Here, he continues, the alternatives boil down to just one: a predictable, reactionary majority on the Supreme Court for perhaps as long as another generation.

He writes "reactionary" not conservative since the Court, with Barrett added, is poised to take a "wrecking ball" to generations of Supreme Court doctrine--and not just matters of reproductive choice.

Fried recalls the court packing of FDR, while unsuccessful, chastened the Court. And, suggests that Biden's veiled threat may do the same.  

Fried's laudable pole vault misses the mark with his wait and see approach.  "Let's see if the Court majority overplays its had.  If it does, then Biden can act. But for now, he holds, Biden should not overplay his hand."

No.  In my view, Biden (assuming a Democratic senate) needs to reform the Court immediately. We do not need to wait and see.

 Justice is blind, concerned citizens should not be. At best, Roberts will prevail upon the majority to go easy for a while--let it blow over. With Trump gone, the media will work diligently to normalize the Republicans.  And, later into a Biden term, the Court can let lose---time will not be on the Democrats side--passing the legislation, nominating and confirming judges (would not like to make more judge/justice positions for a Republican president to fill).

It's probably from the first campaign.  He just drove by and it's gone.  No idea what that means but I'm taking it as good news.

This one shows Floyd's 2019 arrest which has similarities to the 2020 arrest.  It sounds like one officer says...
"Open your mouth. Spit out what you've got.  I'm going to tase you.  Spit it out."

Not sure if these videos will be admissible at trial but they are interesting. If it looks like Floyd likely died from drugs, not the knee to the neck, it will probably be more difficult for the prosecution to get a conviction on the most serious charges.

Fletch:   A favorite of mine from the 80s with Chevy Chase in his prime.  Still funny.  Most of the famous lines like, "It's all ball bearings nowadays" still hold up.  The Harold Faltermeier soundtrack is so mid 80s it's almost worth watching just for that.

Manhattan:  The black and white cinematography and George Gershwin music hold up for the most part.  There are plenty of good Wood Allen one-liners and the intellectual BS works well. Meriel Hemmingway is good as Allen's age inappropriate girlfriend. It would be interesting to watch a double feature of this and Taxi Driver to contrast different views of 70s New York.  

American Werewolf in London:  The special effects are no longer groundbreaking and the acting is uneven but I still had fun revisiting this John Landis film. The weird dream sequences might be the best part now.

Breonna Taylor grand juror says panel wasn't given a chance to consider homicide charges

The grand juror said the panel was only presented with wanton endangerment charges against one officer involved the police shooting in March. A second grand juror, who also stepped forward to ask about speaking publicly about the case, said Tuesday they were discussing next steps with counsel.

"Questions were asked about additional charges and the grand jury was told there would be none because the prosecutors didn't feel they could make them stick," the first juror's statement said.

Some legal experts have said it's curious Cameron didn't seek any of Kentucky's homicide charges to begin with. And CNN senior legal analyst Laura Coates said earluer this month that it's rare for grand juries to go beyond the statutes a prosecutor presents.

"The reputation of Rudy Giuliani could be set for a further blow with the release of highly embarrassing footage in Sacha Baron Cohen's follow-up to Borat," The Guardian reports.

"In the film, released on Friday, the former New York mayor is seen reaching into his trousers and apparently touching his genitals while reclining on a bed in the presence of the actor playing Borat's daughter, who is posing as a TV journalist."

"Following an obsequious interview for a fake conservative news program, the pair retreat at her suggestion for a drink to the bedroom of a hotel suite, which is rigged with concealed cameras. After she removes his microphone, Giuliani, 76, can be seen lying back on the bed, fiddling with his untucked shirt and reaching into his trousers."

"They are then interrupted by Borat who runs in and says: `She's 15. She's too old for you.'

What women?

I didn't but it's that small a place so this was not just another day at the village PD probably.

LITTLE ROCK (KATV) -- A Cherokee Village man was arrested after sheriff's investigators say he confessed to killing two people and injuring one

Joe Biden told 60 Minutes that the Supreme Court system needs reform, saying "it's getting out of whack."

He said he would launch a 180-day national commission "of scholars, constitutional scholars, Democrats, Republicans, liberal, conservative" to study Supreme Court reforms.

Said Biden: "It is a live ball. We're going to have to do that... The last thing we need to do is turn the Supreme Court into just a political football, whoever has the most votes gets whatever they want."