Eeyore's News and view

Near Earth Objects is a fascinating subject and is something for everyone to consider in my opinion, it would not take much of one to foul things up for us and different parts of the world for years. Follows two articles and a link to find out more if you want.
Surprise Asteroid Makes Near-Miss of Earth
Wait! Did you hear that whooshing sound?
A small asteroid buzzed by Earth Monday, though only real astronomy geeks in the Pacific would have noticed.
The rock, estimated to be no more than 200 feet wide, zoomed past our planet at an altitude of 40,000 miles at 1:44 p.m. universal time — or 8:44 EST.
Dubbed 2009 DD45, it was discovered only on Friday by Australian astronomers.
Forty thousand miles may sound like a lot, but it's only about one-seventh of the way to the moon, and less than twice as far out as many telecommunications satellites.
Had 2009 DD45 hit the Earth, it would have exploded on or near the surface with the force of a large nuclear blast — not very reassuring when you consider humanity had only about three days' notice.
According to the Australian news Web site Crikey, the asteroid is likely to be drawn in by Earth's gravity, meaning it may return for many more near misses in the future.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,503164,00.html

Space rock gives Earth a close shave
An asteroid of a similar size to a rock that exploded above Siberia in 1908 with the force of a thousand atomic bombs whizzed close past Earth on Monday, astronomers said on Tuesday.
2009 DD45, estimated to be between 21 and 47 meters (68 and 152 feet) across, raced by at 1344 GMT on Monday, the Planetary Society and astronomers' blogs reported.
The gap was just 72,000 kilometers (44,750 miles), or a fifth of the distance between Earth and the Moon and only twice the height of satellites in geosynchronous orbit, the website space.com said.
The estimated size is similar to that of an asteroid or comet that exploded above Tunguska, Siberia, on June 30 1908, flattening 80 million trees in a swathe of more than 2,000 square kilometres (800 square miles).
2009 DD45 was spotted last Saturday by astronomers at the Siding Spring Survey in Australia, and was verified by the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Centre (MPC), which catalogues Solar System rocks.
The closest flyby listed by the MPC is 2004 FU162, a small asteroid about six metres (20 feet) across which came within about 6,500 kms (4,000 miles) of us in March 2004. http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.783c3aae6eb418393fc6f8c443ef6765.2f1&show_article=1

http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007DPS....39.0801J

This is what was claimed by a lot of folks, and has now come to light (at least to the public) how far the Bush Admin. would have gone.
Bush-era memos claim broad powers for president
WASHINGTON (AP) — In the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, the Bush administration determined that certain constitutional rights would not apply as the U.S. stepped up its response to terrorism, according to documents released to the public for the first time.
In nine legal opinions disclosed Monday by the Obama administration, the Justice Department under former President George W. Bush claimed exceptional search-and-seizure powers. Within two weeks of the 2001 attacks, government lawyers were discussing ways to wiretap U.S. conversations without warrants.
Also revealed by the Obama administration in court documents Monday: The CIA destroyed nearly 100 videotapes — far more than previously known — of interrogations and other treatment of terror suspects. Congressional Democrats and other critics have charged that some of the harsh interrogation techniques amounted to torture, a contention that Bush and other officials rejected.
The Bush administration eventually abandoned many of the legal conclusions, but the documents themselves had been closely held. By releasing them, President ama continued a house-cleaning of the Bush administration's most contentious policies.
"Too often over the past decade, the fight against terrorism has been viewed as a zero-sum battle with our civil liberties," Attorney General Eric Holder said in a speech as the documents were being prepared for release. "Not only is that school of thought misguided, I fear that in actuality it does more harm than good."
The legal memos written by the Bush administration's Office of Legal Counsel show a government grappling with how to wage war on terrorism in a fast-changing world. The conclusion, reiterated in page after page of documents, was that the president had broad authority to set aside constitutional rights.
Fourth Amendment protections against unwarranted search and seizure, for instance, did not apply in the United States as long as the president was combatting terrorism, the Justice Department said in an Oct. 23, 2001, memo.
"First Amendment speech and press rights may also be subordinated to the overriding need to wage war successfully," Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo wrote, adding later: "The current campaign against terrorism may require even broader exercises of federal power domestically."
On Sept. 25, 2001, Yoo discussed possible changes to the laws governing wiretaps for intelligence gathering. In that memo, he said the government's interest in keeping the nation safe following the terrorist attacks might justify warrantless searches.
That memo did not specifically attempt to justify the government's warrantless wiretapping program, but it provided part of the foundation.
Yoo, now a professor at the University of California at Berkeley School of Law, did not return messages seeking comment. Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who served as White House counsel when many of the memos were written, did not immediately respond to a request for comment made through his attorney.
The memos reflected a belief within the Bush administration that the president had broad powers that could not be checked by Congress or the courts. That stance, in one form or another, became the foundation for many policies: holding detainees at Guantanamo Bay, eavesdropping on U.S. citizens without warrants, using tough new CIA interrogation tactics and locking U.S. citizens in military brigs without charges.
Obama has pledged to close the Guantanamo Bay prison within a year. He halted the CIA's intensive interrogation program. And last week, prosecutors moved the terrorism case against U.S. resident Ali Al-Marri, a suspected al-Qaeda sleeper agent held in a military brig, to a civilian courthouse.
A criminal prosecutor is wrapping up an investigation of the destruction of the tapes of interrogations.
Monday's acknowledgment of videotape destruction, however, involved a civil lawsuit filed in New York by the American Civil Liberties Union. It is not clear what exactly was on the recordings. The government's letter cites interrogation videos, but the lawsuit against the Defense Department also seeks records related to treatment of detainees, any deaths of detainees and the CIA's sending of suspects overseas, known as "extraordinary rendition."
At the White House, press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters he hadn't spoken to the president about the report, but he called the news about the videotapes "sad" and said Obama was committed to ending torture while also protecting American values.
ACLU attorney Amrit Singh said the CIA should be held in contempt of court for holding back the information for so long.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-03-02-justicememo_N.htm

Russia says Obama letter has nothing concrete
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has received a letter from U.S. President Barack Obama, Medvedev's spokeswoman said on Tuesday after being asked about a report in the New York Times.
"We have received this letter. It was in fact a reply to a letter from Medvedev sent to Obama after his appointment. The letter contained an assessment of the situation, but there were no concrete proposals about any mutually binding decisions," Natalya Timakova told reporters during a visit by Medvedev to Spain.
The New York Times reported that in the letter Obama had offered to back off deploying a new missile system in Eastern Europe if Russia helps to stop Iran from building nuclear weapons. Moscow has not yet responded to the letter, according to the paper.
Russia opposes the deployment of a U.S. missile defence system in Poland and the Czech Republic. The system was proposed by the administration of former President George W. Bush.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is set to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva on Friday.
http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2009/03/03/africa/OUKWD-UK-MEDVEDEV-OBAMA.php

A man (not a male) will do what ever he has to, so that he can feed his family. I won't be as carvelier as some to say that they are selling the "birthright" like Esau did for a mess of pottage. I just hope that i never have to make that choice.
Dallasites turn in 147 guns in exchange for grocery cards07:25 PM CST on Saturday, February 28, 2009
The city of Dallas' gun buyback program yielded 147 guns in exchange for $50 grocery store gift cards Saturday, the city announced.
Dallas residents trade guns for grocery gift cards
Although many of the guns turned in were generations-old rifles and shotguns, a few of the guns more typically used in crimes – handguns – were collected.
"This shows that people will be behind a positive activity," said Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway, who spearheaded the event at Reunion Arena. "Some of those guns are ones our officers are up against."
Throughout the morning, a steady stream of young and old braved the cold weather to turn in their guns. Mayor Tom Leppert said he initially expected officers would take in about 20 weapons. But just an hour and a half into the event, 77 guns had been exchanged for $50 Kroger cards.
"It's more than I thought we were going to get," Leppert said. "I'm pleasantly surprised."
Dallas police officers who examined the guns generally asked nothing of the people turning them in other than to see their driver's licenses. Officers tagged the guns and inspected them to make sure they were functioning. After putting the guns through a 20-minute inspection process, officers placed them in bins and gave the gift cards. The guns eventually will be smelted.
Those who came had various reasons for participating. Some said their guns had been handed down but never used. Others didn't want the guns around their kids. And some wanted money for groceries.
Gary Reed said he exchanged his guns because of his Christian faith. Reed pulled his sport utility vehicle into the old arena's parking lot around 10:30 a.m., and an officer approached him.
"What you got there," Lt. Gary Tittle asked.
"I got two of them. No, three of them," Reed responded as he pulled out a shotgun, rifle and pistol from the back seat of his SUV.
The two men walked into Reunion Arena, and the officer asked why Reed decided to bring the guns in.
"My church has been asking me to do more," said Reed, 42, who drove 25 minutes to Dallas from Crandall. "These were weapons I got in my younger years, and I'll leave it at that."
Reed said he planned to take the $150 worth of gift cards he'd receive and give them away to strangers.
Caraway said that although the guns collected might not have been used in crimes, that wasn't the point of the buyback. Some could have been stolen later and used in crimes, he said. Others might have lain around homes, where children could have played with them.
"Some of these guns are very dangerous," Caraway said. "It takes only one gun, one shot to destroy a family."
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/yahoolatestnews/stories/030109dnmetguns.1130ece0.html

This last one is globalization, socialism, communism what ever you want to call it, but i will just call it scary. You ought to be aware of it at least.
Brown woos Obama on global deal
GORDON BROWN hopes to forge a partnership with President Barack Obama in Washington this week, to call for a “global new deal” to lift the world out of recession.
As he prepares for his first White House visit since the president’s inauguration, the prime minister has hinted that he is ready to make further tax cuts to boost the UK economy.
Brown will meet Obama on Tuesday and address a joint session of Congress on Wednesday. Aides say he has both to demonstrate to a sceptical British public that he commands the respect of the president, and to persuade the American political establishment that global action is needed to rescue the US economy.
Brown is under pressure to persuade American political leaders to sign up to bold aims for the G20 summit of industrial and leading developing nations, which is to be held in London next month.
Many US politicians believe economic policy should put America first, and have shown little interest in concerted global action. Brown will argue for a renewal of the transatlantic relationship, with the two powers working together to solve global economic problems.
The prime minister will borrow from the rhetoric of Franklin Roosevelt, who introduced the government-financed New Deal to tackle the US Depression of the 1930s. He will argue that his 21st century “global new deal” will also require public spending on a huge world-wide scale.
Writing in The Sunday Times today, Brown calls for “universal action to prevent the crisis spreading, to stimulate the global economy and to help reduce the severity and length of the global recession”.
His stress on continued economic “stimulation” will increase speculation about next month’s budget. No 10 sources said that, while no final decision had been taken about further tax cuts, the prime minister would do “whatever it took” to pull the UK out of recession.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article5822265.ece