Meteorite Hits Russia!

Who needs fiction these days? We have a Pope resigning, a nuclear test by North Korea, a Cruise Ship adrift at sea with people trapped on board for days, and now a meteorite has crashed into Russia, blowing out windows for miles and injuring 400 people or more. Did I mention that there is amazing video of the whole thing, including the delayed sonic booms or earthquakes (or both)?

And it's not the only Meteor expected near the earth today - no, really. Another large one is expected to come so close to earth this afternoon that it will move between our planet and the communications satellites that bring us our TV signals. Scared yet?

As Yoda said, "You Will Be."

Eerie Predictions in this ABC Video from yesterday. They even mention the Tunguska Event in 1908 during which an alleged meteorite crashed into northern Russia with the force of several atomic bombs, leveling trees for hundreds of miles. *shiver*


NASA will be following the giant asteroid today in a Livecast:

...The half-hour broadcast from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., will incorporate real-time animation to show the location of the asteroid in relation to Earth, along with live or near real-time views of the asteroid from observatories in Australia, weather permitting.
At the time of its closest approach to Earth at approximately 2:25 p.m. EST (11:25 a.m. PST/ 19:25 UTC), the asteroid will be about 17,150 miles (27,600 kilometers) above Earth's surface.
The commentary will be available via NASA TV and streamed live online at:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

and

http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2

In addition to the commentary, near real-time imagery of the asteroid's flyby before and after closest approach, made available to NASA by astronomers in Australia and Europe, weather permitting, will be streamed beginning at about noon EST (9 a.m. PST) and continuing through the afternoon at the following website:

http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2

A Ustream feed of the flyby from a telescope at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., will be streamed for three hours starting at 9 p.m. EST (8 p.m. CST). To view the feed and ask researchers questions about the flyby via Twitter, visit:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-msfc

Russian Livejournal with lots of pictures and videos

BBC News

A meteor crashing in the Urals of central Russia has reportedly injured at least 400 people, as the shockwave blew out windows and rocked buildings.

Most of those hurt suffered minor cuts and bruises but some received head injuries, Russian media report.

A fireball was seen streaking through the sky above the city of Yekaterinburg, followed by loud bangs.

The meteor is believed to have landed in a lake near Chebarkul, a town in the neighbouring Chelyabinsk region.

Much of the impact was felt in the city of Chelyabinsk, some 200km (125 miles) south of Yekaterinburg.

"It suddenly became as bright as if it was day”
~ Viktor Prokofiev, Yekaterinburg resident

"We saw a big burst of light, then went outside to see what it was and we heard a really loud thundering sound," Chelyabinsk resident Sergey Hametov told AP news agency by phone.

Officials say a large meteor partially burned up in the lower atmosphere, resulting in fragments falling earthwards.

This one will make you jump ~ be forewarned! Just brace yourself

Dust Storm Blows Eastward from Oklahoma

I thought I had seen every kind of weather where I live in Tennessee, from drought to blizzards to tornadoes to remnants of hurricanes. Did I mention hailstorms, straight-line-wind and downbursts? Yes, I thought I had experienced everything Mother Nature had to throw at us, even an occasional flood, earthquake, landslide, and sinkhole.

So imagine my surprise when my local forecast surprised me.

Today it says: Blowing Dust. And you can see it on the radar (screencap below) as sort of muddy-looking streaks blowing up from Alabama - surreal. Outdoors, it only appears as a haze over everything. Usually a windy day in October would be nice and clear with blue skies and long-distance visibility. Not today.

My mother grew up in Kansas and told us what it was like during the Dust Bowl of the 30s, when they had to wear rags over their faces to walk to school, and blocked cracks around the windows to try and keep the dirt out. This is nothing compared to that, of course. And when I was a kid, Chattanooga had such bad air pollution that it was hazy for months at a time, so we've come a long way.

But the fact that the drought in Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska is so horrible that eroded dirt is blowing across the country again is disturbing. It wasn't supposed to happen again, and the fact it coincides with the Great Recession is really something to think about in terms of history repeating itself.







From the Chattanoogan

Kathy Robertson of the Air Pollution Control Bureau said, "We started getting calls about 10 o'clock this morning. By 12 or 12:30 when people were getting out for lunch, our phones were ringing off the hooks."

She said at first it was thought to be a woods fire, "but we didn't smell smoke and the haze was a different color."

Ms. Robertson said she eventually found reports of the dust storm that hit the Midwest and knew that it had arrived here.

It started as a beautiful clear day, but around mid-morning it began to get difficult to see Lookout Mountain or Missionary Ridge from downtown.

Ms. Robertson said it was the same situation in places like Fort Payne, Dalton and Cleveland. "I got a call saying it was even worse in Knoxville."

However, she said local air quality readings remained good. She said the dust should not be a health factor except for those who are sensitive to dust.

What Eastwood's Chair Really Said

Via: Francesco Francavilla

LOL!

The Chair Responds to Eastwood:

Chair: What did people say when you said you were going to talk to an empty chair?
Eastwood: You're absolutely crazy.


Colbert Interviews Eastwood's Chair:

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

Romney Brought A Black Entourage to the NAACP

You can't make this stuff up. I saw this on the Ed Show last night and was staring at the TV in disbelief, and because it is such a strange story held it until today to see if more information was available.

According to NAACP members on the ED Show, Romney brought his own entourage of African Americans to the convention, either bussed or flown in. You can see the original article and video below, but here is the new information from this afternoon:

MSNBC ~ Romney Brought in Black Supporters

The Romney campaign Wednesday night denied to Lean Forward that it brought in supporters to cheer during the candidate's speech to the NAACP, as several attendees have claimed. But one prominent black Republican told us she was invited to the event by the Romney campaign, and another African-American conservative said he was urged to go by people connected to the campaign.

"I was invited by Governor Romney," Lt. Governor Jennifer Carroll of Florida, a Republican, told Lean Forward in a phone interview Thursday afternoon.

Asked who paid Carroll's way, her office referred Lean Forward to the Romney campaign's press office, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

. . . Niger Innis, a conservative activist, told Lean Forward Thursday that he was encouraged to attend the Houston speech by friends in the NAACP, as well as "some folks that were aligned with the Romney campaign," declining to elaborate. Innis said he paid his own way.

. . . The TV host Roland Martin, Hilary Shelton of the NAACP, and the radio host Mark Thompson all have claimed that the Romney campaign brought in supporters to the speech. Shelton said on MSNBC Wednesday that the goal was "to provide the cheering for [Romney]." Thompson said the supporters served as "applauders for his applause lines."

Andrea Saul, a Romney campaign spokeswoman, told Lean Forward Wednesday night that Shelton's claims were "not true." Asked Thursday about Carroll's statement that she attended the speech as a guest of the Romney campaign, and Innis's that he was urged to go by people connected to the campaign, Saul did not immediately respond.

No joke, folks. Romney is one weird candidate. If he brought in people to clap and support him, maybe they were also the ones booing him on cue as well. Honestly - it begs the question. The whole thing stinks to high heaven, if you ask me.

From The Ed Show Blog

Romney said today that after the speech, at which he was booed for saying he'd repeal the Affordable Health Care Act, he met with black leaders who told him they support his policies but are afraid to do so publicly.

But on The Ed Show, (Hilary) Shelton said those were likely people brought in by the Romney camp "to actually provide the cheering for him."

"Quite frankly, the campaign actually gave me a list of African-American VIPs that they brought into the NAACP meeting," Shelton told Ed Schulz. "So we were aware that they had people brought in specifically for the campaign. So I'm sure those were the ones they sat down with, because quite frankly none of the rank-and-file NAACPers met with him."

Indeed, despite the boos, cheering can be heard at various points during the speech, including when Romney criticized President Obama over the economy and education.

Shelton said that none of the people Romney met with were active NAACP leaders, and that Romney's referring to African-American conservative politicians like Niger Innis who "was brought in from New York."

Pressed by Ed Schultz about whether Innis and the others were actually members of the NAACP, Shelton said: "They're bringing people in that they know will support his agenda from other places, that aren't active with the NAACP. These are people who are brought in to actually provide the cheering for him, so there will be some support along those lines."

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Freaky Weather in Tennessee

We've been having a rather bad drought in the Chattanooga area, so everyone was happy when storms were forcast for Thursday. But it turned into a freaky weather situation that no one expected.

First we had severe storms with bad lightning and very little rain. Hail was reported but on my sidewalk it turned into giant raindrops that only lasted a few minutes.

An hour later, Chattanooga got squeezed between two more severe storms, and the outflow created a dry "Gust Front" wind that wreaked havoc over a wide area. I would have called it a "gustnado" because it was twisting trees first to the left then the right. This video captures it well - I'm glad no trees fell on this guy!




I have never seen waves like this on Lake Chickamauga, and for 8 years I lived right on the Tennessee River.




Unfortunately, a boat also overturned in the storm, killing a child and her grandmother.

In our neighborhood a power pole snapped in half and took down the lines. It was 24 hours later that we got our power restored, after my husband went directly to the power board building and reported it for the third time. Thank God because this afternoon the temperature inside our house at 5 p.m. was 90 degrees.

But I realize that what we have suffered for 24 hours is nothing compared to those up in Virginia and the Washington DC area this past week. I hope everyone gets the power back on soon.

Between the tornadoes over the past year, and this Gust Front, I can't even imagine what could be next. I don't want to know!