bud porn

What? There was an election recently?  Oh yeah, and Oregon, Alaska, and Washington, D.C. all legalized recreational weed!  Up to 4 states and counting! Meanwhile, how about some bud porn?

Jon Stewart

Jon Stewart gave an extended interview to New York magazine. His movie, Rosewater, premieres on November 14 across the country. I read the book. Will the movie be as good as the book? Is it ever? 

In Conversation: Jon Stewart

Is there any politician you really want to have on who hasn’t agreed to do the show?

No one, really. It’s not that people don’t refuse all the time. Like Paul Ryan, Ted Cruz, they won’t come on. We’ve asked them a million times. Marco Rubio has been on a couple times. He generally likes to mix it up. The truth is, I’m not particularly hankering for a conversation with those guys. I always find it interesting how guys come on this show and they soft-pedal their beliefs. They’ve written a book called Liberals Will Fuck Your Dead Grandmother. You ask, “Why would you write Liberals Will Fuck Your Dead Grandmother?” “It’s not about that. We’re not that far apart.” Right. But then why would you write that they’re necrophiliacs? “Did I?” They completely back away. Jim DeMint writes a book that says, “This is a battle between socialism and free enterprise.” He comes on the show: “Oh, so you want to get rid of Social Security?” “No, that’s a great program.”

The Republicans look as if they’re going to gain more power in the midterms.

It’s going to be very interesting. They’ve spent six years basically cock-blocking. Now they will be on the hook. So what do you do? Do you go Sam Brownback28 and ruin Kansas — enact all of the crazy stuff you’ve been talking about and then watch everything go to shit? I guarantee you they have some good ideas that would have alleviated problems in the health-care rollout or other things. But it’s the opposite of Pottery Barn’s “You break it, you bought it.” They fuck up the government and sit back and say, See, it doesn’t work.

You’re coming to the end of your term in office. Your Daily Show contract finishes in September 2015. How much are you thinking about “Okay, what’s next?”

I’m thinking about it a lot.

full interview here

Gary Peters

I finally found one!  ONE Democrat - Gary Peters, running for US Senate in Michigan - actually embraced President Obama and didn't shy away from the things the Democrats have accomplished! ONE!  Out of hundreds. Incredible. And guess what? Peters has a 15-point lead over his opponent.

Why, oh why, are the Democrats being such pussies and won't embrace Obama? Are they afraid of the big, bad meanie Republicans? It would appear so. 

Only One Senate Dem Candidate Had the Guts to Embrace Obama and He's About to Win Big

The best – and sadly the only - example of a senate candidate with the courage to actually stand with the president rather than pretend he doesn’t exist is Michigan’s Senate challenger Gary Peters. Far from apologizing for Obama, Peters asked the president to attend a rally and give a speech standing alongside him on the very last week before the polls open.

In many ways, Michigan is the ideal testing ground for whether or not a candidate could reject the Obama Myth and still be competitive. A purple state with a strong liberal base as well as many conservatives, it would be easy to go the Clay Aiken route and ignore the liberals and desperately court moderate conservatives. Instead, Peters went with the president.

As the crowd cheered, Peters — a Wayne State graduate — welcomed Obama’s appearance, and stressed the bailout of the auto industry.

“Thank God, our president stood up for American workers,” said Peters, who also pointed out that his election could determine control of the Senate. [source]

Obama, perhaps happy to flex his rhetorical powers in front of a crowd rather than shilling at a fundraiser for a one governor or another, gave a roaring speech. He spoke so passionately that half way through his voice nearly went out – and he kept going.

“They don’t have an agenda for the middle class!” Obama shouted as a crowd of several thousand cheered. “They don’t have an agenda for Detroit! They don’t have an agenda for Michigan!”

The crowd, many of them who’s jobs are still around thanks to Obama’s actions to save the auto industry after the financial collapse, didn’t seem to find Obama’s presence off-putting. They were energized. The kind of energy that Maher noted Aiken lacked. These were potential voters who were fired up to vote.

The result of this mad experiment? Peters holds a massive 15-lead on his Republican opponent. When the dust has settled after Election Day, he may in fact be the only new Democratic senator going to Washington.

There are a number of reasons Republicans are expected to make huge gains in both chambers of Congress – gerrymandering, voter ID laws, piles of dark money being spent on Republican candidates – but the one area that Democrats could make a difference and failed to is in voter apathy. It’s no fun to vote for candidates who seem afraid to speak too loudly about their liberalism lest the big, bad Republicans come and be mean to them. It’s hard enough as it is to get Democrats to the polls, giving them something to vote for could make all the difference.

In comparison, it’s hard to imagine Clay Aiken made any liberals sit up when he bashed the president. That spinelessness doesn’t amount to much. And that’s a missed opportunity that the nation can’t afford to make.

Original.

November Stargazing

For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.

-Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890)

SkyTips: November 2014

Stargazing Summary

November is a time of transition in the night sky. The signature star pattern of summer, the Summer Triangle, drops down the western sky during the evening hours, while some of the leading constellations of winter, including Orion and Canis Major, creep into view by mid- to late-evening. The zone between them is devoid of bright stars and constellations. It is dominated by the "celestial sea," a collection of relatively faint star patterns with a watery theme that stretches from Capricornus, the sea goat, to Cetus, the sea monster. Lonely Fomalhaut, in Pisces Austrinus, the southern fish, is the only bright spot in this watery stretch of stars.

More stargazing information »

Radio Program Highlights

If you want to start hearing the StarDate program in your area, you can request a station to carry our program by emailing the request to stations@stardate.org.

November 3-9: Bright, Brighter, Brightest. We'll talk about a range of brilliant objects this week, from supergiant stars to exploding stars to cosmic particle beams. Join us for this plus the Moon and a couple of bright orange companions.

November 10-16: Cold Skies. The weather is getting cooler here in the northern hemisphere, but that's nothing compared to Saturn's moon Titan, where it's so cold that water is frozen as hard as granite. Join us for Titan and much more.

November 17-23: Discovering the Universe. A century ago, astronomers weren't sure whether there was anything beyond our own galaxy. But a couple of discoveries by Edwin Hubble settled the question. Join us for Hubble and more "universal" discoveries.

November 24-30: Mergers. Galaxies are giant agglomerations of stars that keep getting bigger by merging with other galaxies. We'll have details on merging galaxies, plus a couple of rare birds in the southern sky and much more.

November program schedule »

Hear StarDate every day on more than 300 radio stations nationwide. Find an affiliate »

This Month in StarDate Magazine

In our November/December issue, read about the new category of dwarf planets in our solar system. For now, the group has less than a dozen official members, but several are awaiting the designation. We’ll also bring you a guide to great holiday gifts for astronomy enthusiasts of all ages.

Subscribe today

News From the Observatory

McDonald Observatory Astronomers Advise National Research Council
Astronomers from McDonald Observatory are providing input to the National Research Council (NRC) on a variety of topics in response to a community-wide request from the council in late August. The NRC has a committee on optical and infrared astronomy that is seeking input on topics important to the future of the field in the United States in the era of the forthcoming Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST).


Eminent Engineer and Physicist Appointed to Lead Giant Magellan Telescope Project
The Board of Directors of the Giant Magellan Telescope Organization is pleased to announce the appointment of Edward I. Moses, Ph.D., as President of their organization. Moses, former Principal Associate Director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, will lead the organization responsible for the development of the billion dollar, 25-meter Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT). The University of Texas at Austin is a founding partner in the GMT project.

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About SkyTips

SkyTips is a monthly email newsletter for visitors to McDonald Observatory and StarDate Online. Each issue features stargazing highlights, upcoming StarDate radio program descriptions, and other news. Please feel free to forward this newsletter to your friends and family.

SkyTips is a publication of the University of Texas McDonald Observatory Education and Outreach Office, 2609 University Ave. A2100, Austin, TX 78712. Reproduction of SkyTips content is permitted with proper credit given to McDonald Observatory.