Thinking Ahead

Earth has been struck many times by meteorites in its long history, most recently at Tungsuka in 1908. The destructive power of that event is thought to have been between 10 and 40 megatons of TNT. Sooner or later, another wandering piece of rock will cross paths with Earth, and the potential exists for all human life t be snuffed out.

So it's reassuring to learn that somebody is making plans to deflect such objects if they are a potential threat. (Although it's a little disappointg to me that the Europeans are taking the lead in this.) The basic idea is to ram the wayward rock with a spacecraft, and so alter it's trajectory.

Reason 5,375 to support Bush's SC nominee's

The Club For Growth is being sued by the FEC on the grounds that they were guilty of "express advocacy" for a candidate.

The campaign finance laws drafted by John McCain and Russ Feingold were upheld by the Supreme Court in 2003 in a 5-4 decision. Justice O'Connor joined with the liberal members of the court to produce the five member majority.

The Wreck of the Medusa

Sub heading, book review.

I'm interested in hearing what the rest of you consider worth reading, and I hope that book recommendations will become a fairly regular feature here.

The The Wreck of the Medusa , by Alexander McKee, describes the disaster that befell the crew and passengers of the French warship Medusa when it ran aground off the coast of Africa in 1816. Due to incompetence on the part of those in leadership positions, 150 men and one woman were placed on a raft which was then set adrift. Two weeks later, fifteen of them were rescued, after going through what might be called indescribable suffering, except that McKee describes it in painstaking detail.

For the first day or two those on the raft maintained a degree of unity, but after that civilization crumbled quickly, and murder, cannibalism and mass insanity broke out.

The book closes with an examination of similar disasters, examines the psychological affects on those involved, and examines the different ways groups of people react to high stress situations. Although he does not spend a great deal of time on the topic, McKee suggests that group cohesion is an important factor in surviving a disaster.

The Wreck Of The Medusa.
Sub heading, book review.

I'm interested in hearing what the rest of you consider worth reading, and I hope that book recommendations will become a fairly regular feature here.

The The Wreck of the Medusa , by Alexander McKee, describes the disaster that befell the crew and passengers of the French warship Medusa when it ran aground off the coast of Africa in 1816. Due to incompetence on the part of those in leadership positions, 150 men and one woman were placed on a raft which was then set adrift. Two weeks later, fifteen of them were rescued, after going through what might be called indescribable suffering, except that McKee describes it in painstaking detail.

For the first day or two those on the raft maintained a degree of unity, but after that civilization crumbled quickly, and murder, cannibalism and mass insanity broke out.

The book closes with an examination of similar disasters, examines the psychological affects on those involved, and examines the different ways groups of people react to high stress situations. Although he does not spend a great deal of time on the topic, McKee suggests that group cohesion is an important factor in surviving a disaster.