The Hunga Tonga undersea volcanic eruption was the largest on earth over the last 30 years, according to Research Physical Scientist Brian Brettschneider with the National Weather Service Alaska region.

Brettschneider said that the ash created by the eruption will likely cause a slight cooling effect on the climate, though not as dramatic as short-term climate changes from past volcanic eruptions. In 1815, the climate impacts caused by the Mount Tambora volcanic eruption caused what was called “the year without a summer.”

“What we’re seeing so far is a fairly minor amount of climate altering stratospheric sulfur particles have been detected so far,” Brettschneider said. “A pretty small amount relative to the size of the eruption, so kind of our first initial best guess is that there is going to be a pretty minor climate impact over the next few years.”

Of course, that can only account for the estimates of the blast so far, not any future eruptions that may or may not happen.
Estimates say the Hunga Tonga eruption was equivalent to 2% of the pressure released in the Krakatoa eruption for comparison.

Poor Bob.
Every case of voter fraud found I’ve heard of was committed by a Republican bar one, a Democrat who’s husband died but she cast his vote anyway….for Trump. That’s 399 Republican cases, one semi-Democrat….or as you say, both sides….good people on both sides. 🤦‍♂️

Yes, I’ve had enough Republican voter fraud, schemes from single fraudulent votes to ballot harvesting and changing to schemes to throw out millions of votes based on Republican lies and false claims. Voter ID doesn’t address any of the fraud that actually happens.

Remember Trump’s national commission looking at voter fraud, the voting integrity commission….from 2017!? Remember how it quietly disappeared because they couldn’t find ANY fraud? Back then Trump said he would make certain there wasn’t any fraud going forward….what happened? That seemed vitally important to you people. Did he just forget? Did he fail miserably? Or did he make up the fraud fraud because his ego can’t accept that he lost in a historic landslide?

That said, under 400 possible cases nation wide, barely any in person frauds at all, none capable of changing the outcome of any elections (well, there actually was a mayoral race I read was overturned because of one fraudulent vote scheme by one candidate, but that wasn’t in person and the system caught it) …that is absolutely not a reason to disenfranchise millions of voters (I remind you that’s exactly what Republicans called for when you lost in 2020…just throw out any votes in areas where you claimed an individual fraud, invariably areas where Democrats won). It’s not a reason to put up road blocks that disenfranchise millions by putting poll taxes and hurdles in place.

I support a voter ID, if the ID is free and obtainable by anyone regardless of their documentation….but that makes it worthless. If the ID costs money, that’s a poll tax, and illegal. If the requirements to get the ID cost money, that’s a poll tax and out. If the affluent can obtain the ID easily, but the indigent have to spend a day or more in line to get one, no. Issue free national ID to everyone, including homeless, then it’s not too much of an obstacle. I think voting should be an obligation for every citizen over 18…I’ve never skipped an election even though I rarely like who I can vote for.

I point out that a voter ID law would do almost nothing to combat any fraud, because in person fraud isn’t the issue. Falsely claiming fraud is the issue. Republicans trying to defraud the system with fraudulent electors is a problem. Republicans harvesting mail in ballots from the elderly and filling them in for Republican candidates is a problem. Voter ID doesn’t address these problems, the real election fraud issues with real consequences, instead they target the poor with clear intent to dissuade them from exercising their rights, effectively blocking millions of votes from fear one invalid vote might be cast. That is the intent, and the result…not election security, but massive vote denials of a targeted population.

How about imagining requiring a firearm ID, required to buy, own, or possess a firearm, with fees, renewal fees, and documentation requirements to obtain….oh wait, I don’t have to, someone in congress suggested it (in the 90’s I think) and the right lost it’s fucking mind over the draconian government trampling their rights…but similar requirements to vote, sure, that’s fine because the ID they already have is acceptable….fuck the rights of people who don’t have a drivers license.
In person voter fraud is not an issue, voter ID solves a problem that doesn’t exist and creates a major problem for millions….intentionally.

His ratings are crappy largely because he’s not doing enough, not because of what he’s done. He needs to replace Garland with someone willing to prosecute sedition against representatives and ex presidents. They’re in the shitter because 35% (you) automatically disapprove simply because he’s not Trump, and 35% disapprove because he’s not replacing Trump era policy enough. I’m in the latter category, as are most people I know, but we understand that without congress functioning there’s little he can do, and Republicans have the practical majority even though they’re the minority on paper. Keep killing off right wingers and maybe that will change this year, but I’m not holding my breath.

Lol. Failed economy? Sorry, Trump is the one who gave us a negative GDP, tens of millions unemployed, and an unmitigated pandemic with a cadre of morons unwilling to believe in it or take any safety measures to combat it. My portfolio lost 8-10% over 4 years under Trump, it gained over 30% in one year under Biden. If that’s failing, keep failing! GDP near -3% in 2020…+4% 2021…predicted to be 9% 2022. -3%!!! And you want to talk economy?! You fucktard.
Inflation….Trump printed 1/3 of every dollar circulating! That’s what causes inflation, you devalue the dollar when you print more. The market takes time to react….there’s going to be more coming to pay for Trump’s spending spree. Dumbass.
Covid! You’ve got to be fucking kidding me! Covid is a right wing (Trump) caused issue, made much worse by far right insanity of denial and conspiracy, and now nearly all hospitalization and death is anti vaxers, who are nearly all far right nutters that followed Trump’s “lead” and who’s heads exploded when he recently told them to get vaccinated. Look at “leftist” countries like New Zealand to compare a leftist government’s response results. (52 deaths). Moron.

Trump’s tax rates didn’t improve unemployment rates, or the economy. They didn’t trickle down. Growth went negative under those cuts, unemployment went to double digits! Debt and deficit went into orbit, rising faster than ever by miles….but that didn’t matter one whit to you when it was Republican debt and deficit, a much worse Republican economy, and insanely higher Republican unemployment rates. Idiot.

Holy fuck. Talk about ignoring reality. What color is the sky in your world? Is the ocean in the air with fish swimming overhead there?!

@bcglorf
Reading bible passages in class as “something we can all agree on” is the definition of proselytizing to a captive audience….and outside of private religious schools is totally inappropriate.

It’s not “fun” to be ostracized in public because you believe different mythology or are smart enough to ignore all stone aged mythology…..really only disbelieving one more myth than the believers.

Getting the season completely wrong because you don’t know it was chosen to make it easier to use religion as a political tool is a bit different from “the exact date being inaccurate”. It’s an outright, bold faced, well documented lie, created as a political ploy from the 4th century used to degrade and absorb Zoasterism/Mithraism in order to control the masses politically. That is absolutely a “credibility” issue, and if you don’t get it, that’s an education and/or ethics issue. Christianity has many major credibility issues, being “created” (codified) as a political tool is just one of them. Stealing almost every bit of the mythology from previous religions and denying it is another.

Yes, the misuse of Fauci clips out of context is another issue of truthfulness here, but those who are intentionally ignorant of the reality they just lived through are lost and not worth wasting my breath on. As anyone with two brain cells knows, the first, “you don’t need to wear a mask in public” was recommended at that time because a massive mask shortage meant health care workers had to reuse paper masks sometimes for months during a major pandemic, (and clearly they needed priority on the limited supply) not because we had information saying they weren’t useful….but that’s a minor detail of history I feel only brain dead ignoramuses consider in question, relevant, or factual, and they have discarded fact, truth, reason, and logic in favor of their cult of personality….so there’s no real point arguing with them. Just let them get Covid and hope for EIA.

Preaching one religion in a public class room and claiming “we all agree” is a continuation of a much more pernicious, long term, continuing battle for the religious freedom our country was founded on, and I find it outrageous and anti American that you dismiss it as nothing. I can only hope your children’s teachers aren’t a vastly different, contradictory religion than you and they don’t teach your children that everyone agrees with their religion, not yours, and don’t use proveable fallacies to make their point….but if they do I’ll be here to dismiss your concerns.
🤦‍♂️

Excuse me?!
Control of all three?! Executive, legislative, and judicial? What?!

How exactly do you think a 3-6 minority in the Supreme Court is control?
How is a 48/50/2 split in the senate with two independents and two Democrats (that you mentioned) being Republican in all but their claimed party, always voting against their party and with Republicans, “control”?

I would say it’s barely even a 50/50 split, Dems have the white-house and house, Republicans have the senate and courts. That really puts Republicans in control of 2/3 since they have veto power in the senate and use it every time for any democratic bill.

I already regret the (seemingly minor) spoilers from the trailer - looks excellent!

LMFAHS!!
That wall that cost billions, stole private property, broke dozens of environmental laws, fell in many many places, can be thwarted easily with a ladder, rope, angle grinder, truck, or climbing skills and hasn’t slowed illegal entries one whit? That wall? Ha! You’re funny.
Remaining in Mexico (as major targets for organized crime) during the lengthy asylum application (sometimes for years)….maybe you’re too ignorant to know that never stopped.
Regaining an energy independence that never existed? Um….yeah. We had a minor surplus last year, not because of more production but because the Trump recession and the Trump pandemic lowered demand to the point where oil producers were giving oil away for free. Yes, in summer we exported some oil, but never as much as we import in winter. This is another Trump lie you repeat without a thought and certainly without verification…because you still believe what he tells you despite everything he’s ever said being a blatant lie for his entire lifetime, multiple fraud convictions, being banned from charities because he stole from veterans and children,….the list of his crimes of moral turpitude is never ending.

Goo start….nice unintentional pun. (Sad you can’t help but fail at English even as you correct your original hilarious mistake).

Increasing our oil output is a goo start, but a god awful plan. It’s actually a non starter, Biden pushed oil companies to increase production for months, but they preferred high prices and high profits. They have millions of acres with drilling rights they don’t want to use because the profit margin is 5% lower and blame the fed for not giving them access to the last pristine national forests and reserves….so again I’ll ask you, nationalize oil? If you want to blame the government, they should have control, otherwise you’re just a whining baby crying over spilled milk and blaming the wrong people.

Requiring better fuel economy from vehicles and industry, phasing in electric vehicles and more green electricity production are actually GOOD starts, and what Biden is moving towards despite total opposition from Republicans on ANYTHING. That’s how you get actual energy independence….the only way in the long term.

What did I tell you!?! States rights! Suckers! Bwaaaahahahahaha!

“I am outraged by yesterday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing Texas’s ban on most abortion services to remain in place,” Newsom said. “But if states can now shield their laws from review by the federal courts that compare assault weapons to Swiss Army knives, then California will use that authority to protect people’s lives, where Texas used it to put women in harm’s way.” Newsom said he will work with his staff, the Legislature and California Attorney General Rob Bonta to craft a bill that would let citizens sue anyone who “manufactures, distributes, or sells an assault weapon or ghost gun kit or parts” in California. They could seek damages of at least $10,000 per violation plus costs and attorney’s fees, Newsom said.

Read more at: https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article256524466.html#storylink=cpy

I told you this would happen.

BTW, the Presidential coup Plan PowerPoint handed over by Meadows pretty much obliterated the lies that 1) it wasn’t an attempted coup 2) it wasn’t expected 3) it wasn’t planned 4) it wasn’t Trump supporters being violent and 5) the white house wasn’t directly involved.
Contemporaneous records of the planning, including texts to organizers and militias claiming that the national guard is poised to protect Trump rioters from arrest or attack….as if any non cultist needed more evidence beyond the live broadcast of the coup attempt, but now there’s publicly available physical documentation/evidence directly from the highest levels in Trump’s cabinet of their own direct involvement in the planning to overturn the certified election by fraud and force.….which I’m certain you will dismiss as fake news with no hint of evidence because your little brain can’t handle facts.

the PowerPoint laid out a plan to effectively use the military to steal the election outright, undeniably. That’s treason.

The plan was to use the military, specifically the national guard, declare a state of emergency, throw out most of the ballots from the 2020 election, and then have the national guard run by people that Trump handpicked himself count only the paper ballots that they deemed to be legitimate. essentially giving them a free ride to throw out any ballots that were for Biden. Only count the ones for Trump and boom, Donald Trump gets all the electoral votes. That's how the coup was supposed to happen. So again, these lawmakers were briefed on this two days before the capital riot. So they knew exactly what Donald Trump was trying to do, what his administration, what his friends, what his allies had suggested to him. There is no indication at all that one of these lawmakers alerted the department of justice, the FBI, local authorities, anyone, they had this information and they did nothing with it.

Any official who knew and didn’t report to the FBI or DOJ should be removed immediately, get the firing squad, and their entire estate (and their spouses estate, and minor children’s estates) seized. That’s a lot of Republicans.

Also, Fox hosts, the same ones who now claim Jan 6 was a peaceful picnic, families calmly touring congress, and it was BLM and ANTIFA and the FBI that perpetrated the violence that didn’t happen, were all frantically trying to reach the president to stop the attack on January 6, outraged he wouldn’t tell his supporters to stop attacking America, explaining how not acting to stop the coup was destroying his legacy and theirs.

Yeah, 20000ft is roughly 6km. The air density is about 1/2 but from what I can determine that doesn't equal 1/2 air resistance, but something more like 90-95% air resistance of sea level.

Having said that, I haven't studied aerospace engineering, so I might be getting the details wrong.

There are definitely some minor advantages to building on a mountainside, but I don't think they outweigh logistical difficulties under normal circumstances.

The idea has a good bit of scifi (and probably scientific) history behind it though. I believe Heinlein used a railgun cargo launcher from the moon in Moon is a Harsh Mistress and a mountainside sled rocket in one of his earlier books.

Project Rho is a great resource for hard scifi and rocketry research for writers. http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/surfaceorbit.php is the link to a page that discusses maglev, railguns and rocketsleds.

I’m thinking Mt Chimborazo in Ecuador…at over 20000 ft, it’s peak it the farthest from the center of the earth (while not being the highest above sea level thanks to the equatorial bulge).
Sure, it doesn’t remove air resistance or friction, but halving it, even cutting it by 1/3 is a massive leap in efficiency and negates much of the extreme engineering and materials needed to overcome the friction….plus, as you mentioned, there’s the rotational speed advantage from launching on the equator vs Florida.
Also, while extremely minor, there’s also a slight reduction in gravitational pull at those heights. A joule saved is a joule earned!

He illegally owned a gun, and was doing some vigilante justice (also illegal), and was out as a 17 year old in Wisconsin past curfew

"No minor under the age of seventeen years shall be or remain in or upon any of the streets, alleys, other public places, or any private place held open to the public in the county between twelve o'clock midnight and five a.m., unless accompanied by a parent"

Then he killed several people by shooting them with an assault rifle.

To be clear…while I don’t think every right winger is a brainless Trump cultist, they are (seemingly) now the majority on the right and are catered to by the party of the right. On the left, the extremists exist, but as a small minority that’s often disavowed by the establishment lefties and the left as a whole (I’m looking at you, ANTIFA, disavowed by the left, and often intentional active enemies of the left, but still considered leftist extremists.)

I also hope they’re the minority…but I fear if they are, the tide is changing and they won’t be for long.

@newtboy,

Those have been attacked by extremely tiny, but vocal minorities on the very far left, not main stream leftists nor centrists. Just as all on the right aren’t raving lunatic Trumpists that gladly put orange daddy before reality, country, and democracy, all on the left aren’t as you’ve described them….very few are.

I think you are making the mistake of believing all on the left believe what the most extreme far lefties do.

Yes, some have attacked Chappel, but far more leftists have come to his defense….I will. What I’ve heard is FAR from transphobic.
He doesn’t limit that to Islam, all religious extremists are prone to violence, so only a select few looking for Islamophobia call it that, IMO.
Only the insane trans community thinks trans women are full 100% women. I ignore people like that. They don’t live in reality. I’m not alone on the left thinking that.
Edit: I misunderstood…sorry. Yes, the far left “feminist” segment does think fair trial=don’t believe the women. That’s insanity….as is thinking you should lock people up based on one person’s unverified accusation. I think most leftists think you should investigate any claim of abuse and bring charges when appropriate, not just outright believe every one.

Yes, I think you’re wrong. Those have been attacked by extremely tiny, but vocal minorities on the very far left, not main stream leftists nor centrists. Just as all on the right aren’t raving lunatic Trumpists that gladly put orange daddy before reality, country, and democracy, all on the left aren’t as you’ve described them….very few are.

Democrat’s policies created the insanely great economic opportunities that made Walgreen think it was worth opening 22 extra stores in a small city. Now, high rent (because SF is an insanely popular place to live) and over saturation are obviously more costly than a minor increase in petty shoplifting.

Be clear, Walgreens isn’t closing all their SF locations…which they would if it was just about shoplifting. There are still 20 open locations in the city. 42 was just insane.

This reminds me of Texan politicians calling California an economically failed state, when Texas barely broke even in 2020, lost money in 2019, and California had a $36 billion surplus and supplies services.

Nonsense. Pre industrial agriculture wasn’t very damaging in most cases…and when it was it was on a minuscule scale compared to industrial agriculture.
Pre industrial building wasn’t excessively environmentally damaging in most cases, certainly not to the point where it endangered the planet or it’s atmosphere.

It's utterly ridiculous hyperbole to say we have to be cavemen to not destroy our environment. We don't even have to revert to pre industrial methods, we just have to be responsible with our actions and lower the population massively. With minor exceptions, pre industrial farming caused little to no permanent damage, and it was almost all easily repairable damage. (With a few exceptions like Rapa Nui that may not have been over farming but cultural damage, we aren't exactly certain what happened there).

I eat berries now, don't you? I grow raspberries, blackberries, black raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, and Tay berries myself. People would be healthier if they ate berries, and they're tasty too. What?!

Yes, around 7 billion need to die (without procreating first). Better than all 9 billion.

There’s a huge difference between being occasionally deadly and so insanely toxic we destroy our own planet in under 200 years to the point where our own existence is seriously threatened.
Edit: toxicity levels matter as much as exposure levels. Cavemen impacted their environment at levels well below sustainability (mostly….the idea they killed the mammoths or mastodons off by hunting is, I believe, a myth….natural environmental changes seem much more likely to be the major influence in their extinction.). Per capita, modern humans have a much larger, more detrimental footprint than premodern humans, exponentially larger….and there’s like a hundred thousand times as many of us (or more) too. We need to reverse both those trends drastically if we are to survive long term.

Yes, progress includes risk, but risk can be managed, minimized, and not taken when it’s a risk of total destruction. We totally ignore risk if there’s profit involved.

This is a night time comedy show, not a science class. I think you expect WAY too much. It points out that there is a problem, it doesn’t have the time, or the audience to delve into the intricate chemical processes involved in the manufacture, use, and disposal of them. It touched on them, and more importantly pointed out how they’ve been flushed into the environment Willy nilly by almost everyone who manufacturers with them.