Lunar Eclipse 2011: Year’s First Total Eclipse Of Moon Will Be Unusually Long, Not Visible In North America
June 13, 2011 No Comment
LOS ANGELES — The year’s first total eclipse of the moon will last an unusually long time, a rare celestial treat for a wide swath of the globe. Except if you’re in the United States and Canada. North America will be left out of Wednesday’s lunar spectacle, which will be visible from start to finish from eastern Africa, central Asia, the Middle East and western Australia – weather permitting. The period when Earth’s shadow completely blocks the moon – known as totality – will last a whopping 1 hour and 40 minutes. The last time the moon was covered for this long was in July 2000, when it lasted 7 minutes longer than that. The full moon normally glows from reflected sunlight. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the moon glides through the long shadow cast by the Earth and is blocked from the sunlight that illuminates it. As the moon plunges deeper into the Earth’s shadow, the disk will appear to gradually change color, turning from silver to orange or red. This is because some indirect sunlight still reaches the moon after passing through the Earth’s atmosphere, which scatters blue light. Only red light strikes the moon, giving it an eerie crimson hue. It’s difficult to predict the exact shade the moon will take, which will depend on how much dust and clouds are in the atmosphere during the eclipse. Since the moon will pass close to the center of the Earth’s shadow, the total eclipse phase will be longer than usual, said NASA eclipse expert Fred Espenak at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. The entire eclipse will last a little over 5 1/2 hours. Observers in Europe will miss the first part of the show because it will occur before the moon rises. Eastern Asia and eastern Australia won’t catch the final stages, which will happen after the moon sets. Portions of South America will be able see the moon entirely shrouded. Unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses are safe to watch with the naked eye. Keith Gleason, who runs the Sommers-Bausch Observatory in Boulder, Colo., is disappointed that he will not have a ringside seat to the upcoming eclipse. The last total lunar eclipse visible from the U.S. occurred on Dec. 21, 2010, which coincided with winter solstice and was widely observed. Some 1,400 people showed up for a viewing party at the observatory. “We had an absolutely glorious time,” he said. The next total lunar eclipse will fall on Dec. 10 with best viewing from Asia and Australia. The moon will be completely blotted out for 51 minutes. Only parts of the U.S. including Hawaii and the Pacific Northwest will catch a glimpse. The rest of the continental U.S. will have to wait until April 15, 2014 to witness a total lunar eclipse. ___ Online: Array ___ Array .
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What would have happend to Michael Richards if he had let loose his racist tirade while Seinfeld was still an NBC hit? What about Mel Gibson’s famous anti-Semitic invective if Braveheart was about to be released? What did happen to Dr. Laura when she let it all hang out about her feelings about African-Americans? She quit (got fired). So what should happen to Tracy Morgan? While Richards, Gibson, and Dr. Laura revealed reprehensible prejudice, none of them actually sanctioned violence against the groups they denigrated. By contrast, Tracy Morgan joked about deadly violence against LGBT youth. He should be fired. For those of you who missed it, according to Kevin Rogers who attended Morgan’s show in Nashville: Morgan: said if his son that was gay he better come home and talk to him like a man and not [he mimicked a gay, high pitched voice] or he would pull out a knife and stab that little N (one word I refuse to use) to death. In a year when we have experienced horrible suicides of LGBT youth which sparked a national movement called “It Get’s Better” to not fire Tracy Morgan sends exactly the wrong message at the wrong time. To advocate violence against anyone is disgusting, but against our most vulnerable youth — it crosses the line. After attending seminary I worked for a year with LGBT Youth in Seattle, Washington. Most of the young people I worked with were homeless because of the psychological or physical abuse they had recieved at the hands of their own family and at their schools. They lived on the streets, crashed on sofas and sometimes even turned to prostitution or other crime because of the ‘funny’ reality that they could not be gay and welcomed within their own family, schools and community. It is these exact kids, who experienced such trauma at their rejection by those who were meant to love them, that Tracy Morgan is suggesting should be stabbed with a knife within their own home. Tracy Morgan’s violent tirade unfortunately raises wider questions about the whole Lorne Michaels production machine. Why there has never been an ‘out’ SNL actor? Is there is some kind of odd sanction of gay bashing within the ranks of that outfit? I just read Tina Fey’s hysterical memoir “Bossypants” which shares her important relationships with gay people throughout her life. Clearly Fey must be appalled as are probably most of the other members of the cast. But ultimately, if Morgan stays, it is a signal by the entire 30Rock show that joking about gay bashing, and even killing, doesn’t really cross the line. What is even more galling to me as a minister is that Morgan said within his routine that “God don’t make no mistakes.” Yes, that is true. And God made all of us and we are all beautiful and are meant to have lives full of love, security and beauty – including every single gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered child. There could be redemption here. If Morgan is really sorry as he says he is. Then let’s see him spend some serious volunteer time with LGBT youth in New York and Los Angeles. Words are not enough — this ‘joker’ needs to be schooled. So, Tracy — the ball is in your court, show us how you really feel. Volunteer with gay kids — 200 hours should do it. If he doesn’t, then I’m sorry to say it, but 30 Rock will be permanently poisoned unless he goes. Follow Paul Brandeis Raushenbush on Twitter, @raushenbush.
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Much of the media made fools of themselves with their excited obsession over the release of Sarah Palin’s gubernatorial e-mails, but NBC News went the furthest, sending, as did CNN, reporters to Juneau as the network uniquely led its Friday night newscast by hyping the non-news as a major event. “On the broadcast tonight,” anchor Lester Holt heralded, “mail call. Thousands of pages of e-mail from Sarah Palin's time as Governor. What we're learning about her tonight.” Following a story from “national investigative correspondent” Michael Isikoff in which “MSNBC.com investigative reporter” Bill Dedman had the gall to complain “we waited longer for these records than Sarah Palin was Governor, almost a thousand days,” NBC’s David Gregory recognized, in an understatement: “As Mike and his team are finding, not a lot of bombshells here.” ABC also got into the act, but didn’t send any on-air personnel to Juneau. On Saturday’s World News , however, John Berman trumpeted his big discovery proving Palin’s hypocrisy: “While these days Palin is criticizing parts of Michelle Obama’s national battle against obesity…she once e-mailed an aide asking for ‘low carb foods…just don’t want the kids to have too much sugar/white carb stuff.’” That should pretty much discredit her. CBS showed the best news judgment, not mentioning the Palin e-mails on Friday or Saturday’s CBS Evening News. Isikoff’s find – Palin once praised something candidate Barack Obama said: “Among the e-mails, this exchange from Palin to an aide written a few weeks before she was picked by McCain, praising then-candidate Obama’s energy policy speech. ‘He gave a great speech this morning in Michigan – mentioned Alaska,’ adding, ‘we need to take advantage of this and write a statement saying he's right on.’ Then in a later e-mail telling an aide, ‘he did say ‘yay’ to our gas line. Pretty cool. Wrong candidate.’ Palin later became one of Obama's fiercest critics on energy policy.” From the top of the Friday, June 10 NBC Nightly News: LESTER HOLT: Good evening, I'm Lester Holt, in tonight for Brian. Sarah Palin's short rise from obscurity to a source of endless political fascination reached a new level today as reporters lined up to scour thousands of pages of e-mails from her time as Alaska Governor. Looking for deeper insight and clues into her political ambitions. Responding to media requests, the state of Alaska released 24,000 pages of e-mails covering the period from December 2006, when she was sworn in as governor, to September 2008 when she was named John McCain's running mate. With Palin a potential presidential challenger, the question tonight is: Could her foes try to use them to try and define her candidacy? NBC’s national investigative correspondent Michael Isikoff has been examining some of those e-mails. He joins me now from Juneau, Alaska, with more. Michael, good evening. MICHAEL ISIKOFF: Good evening, Lester. News organizations have waited nearly three years to get access to these documents. Stacks of e-mails from Palin's time as Governor. Palin and the state of Alaska fought having to make them public. But now that they are, a Palin spokesman said today that they show she was a very engaged Governor and that everybody should read them. A media frenzy Alaska hasn't seen since 2008. Journalists jockeying to get their hands on thousands of pages of e-mails sent by Sarah Palin to more that 50 top aides and officials in Alaska. The 250 pounds of documents contain e-mails from Palin's first two years as Governor and continue through September 2008, including the chaotic first weeks after John McCain thrust her into the national spotlight as his running mate. As Governor, Palin was a frenetic BlackBerry user, firing off e-mails but using her personal Yahoo e-mail account rather than government accounts to conduct state business — all in an effort to keep her communications private. News organizations like MSNBC.com first requested the e-mails in 2008, but prying them loose from state archives hasn't been easy. BILL DEDMAN, MSNBC.COM INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: The state public records law calls for a ten day release of public records. We waited longer for these records than Sarah Palin was Governor, almost a thousand days. ISIKOFF: Among the e-mails, this exchange from Palin to an aide written a few weeks before she was picked by McCain, praising then-candidate Obama’s energy policy speech. “He gave a great speech this morning in Michigan – mentioned Alaska,” adding, “we need to take advantage of this and write a statement saying he's right on.” Then in a later e-mail telling an aide, “he did say ‘yay’ to our gas line. Pretty cool. Wrong candidate.” Palin later became one of Obama's fiercest critics on energy policy. Palin says the e-mails won't be a distraction. SARAH PALIN, ON FOX NEWS SUNDAY, JUNE 5: I'm sure people are going to capitalize on this opportunity to go through 25,000 e-mails and perhaps take things out of context. They'll never truly know what the context of each one of the e-mails was or each one of the issues were that I was working on that day. ISIKOFF: The e-mails have lots of redactions, and so far, there are no bombshells, but they do show Palin's irritation with what she calls the “lamestream media.” Writing from the McCain campaign trail, she writes in one e-mail: “It drives me crazy to catch all the corrections.” And in an earlier e-mail, “I feel like I'm at a breaking point with hurtful gossip.” Lester?
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Much of the media made fools of themselves with their excited obsession over the release of Sarah Palin’s gubernatorial e-mails, but NBC News went the furthest, sending, as did CNN, reporters to Juneau as the network uniquely led its Friday night newscast by hyping the non-news as a major event. “On the broadcast tonight,” anchor Lester Holt heralded, “mail call. Thousands of pages of e-mail from Sarah Palin's time as Governor. What we're learning about her tonight.” Following a story from “national investigative correspondent” Michael Isikoff in which “MSNBC.com investigative reporter” Bill Dedman had the gall to complain “we waited longer for these records than Sarah Palin was Governor, almost a thousand days,” NBC’s David Gregory recognized, in an understatement: “As Mike and his team are finding, not a lot of bombshells here.” ABC also got into the act, but didn’t send any on-air personnel to Juneau. On Saturday’s World News , however, John Berman trumpeted his big discovery proving Palin’s hypocrisy: “While these days Palin is criticizing parts of Michelle Obama’s national battle against obesity…she once e-mailed an aide asking for ‘low carb foods…just don’t want the kids to have too much sugar/white carb stuff.’” That should pretty much discredit her. CBS showed the best news judgment, not mentioning the Palin e-mails on Friday or Saturday’s CBS Evening News. Isikoff’s find – Palin once praised something candidate Barack Obama said: “Among the e-mails, this exchange from Palin to an aide written a few weeks before she was picked by McCain, praising then-candidate Obama’s energy policy speech. ‘He gave a great speech this morning in Michigan – mentioned Alaska,’ adding, ‘we need to take advantage of this and write a statement saying he's right on.’ Then in a later e-mail telling an aide, ‘he did say ‘yay’ to our gas line. Pretty cool. Wrong candidate.’ Palin later became one of Obama's fiercest critics on energy policy.” From the top of the Friday, June 10 NBC Nightly News: LESTER HOLT: Good evening, I'm Lester Holt, in tonight for Brian. Sarah Palin's short rise from obscurity to a source of endless political fascination reached a new level today as reporters lined up to scour thousands of pages of e-mails from her time as Alaska Governor. Looking for deeper insight and clues into her political ambitions. Responding to media requests, the state of Alaska released 24,000 pages of e-mails covering the period from December 2006, when she was sworn in as governor, to September 2008 when she was named John McCain's running mate. With Palin a potential presidential challenger, the question tonight is: Could her foes try to use them to try and define her candidacy? NBC’s national investigative correspondent Michael Isikoff has been examining some of those e-mails. He joins me now from Juneau, Alaska, with more. Michael, good evening. MICHAEL ISIKOFF: Good evening, Lester. News organizations have waited nearly three years to get access to these documents. Stacks of e-mails from Palin's time as Governor. Palin and the state of Alaska fought having to make them public. But now that they are, a Palin spokesman said today that they show she was a very engaged Governor and that everybody should read them. A media frenzy Alaska hasn't seen since 2008. Journalists jockeying to get their hands on thousands of pages of e-mails sent by Sarah Palin to more that 50 top aides and officials in Alaska. The 250 pounds of documents contain e-mails from Palin's first two years as Governor and continue through September 2008, including the chaotic first weeks after John McCain thrust her into the national spotlight as his running mate. As Governor, Palin was a frenetic BlackBerry user, firing off e-mails but using her personal Yahoo e-mail account rather than government accounts to conduct state business — all in an effort to keep her communications private. News organizations like MSNBC.com first requested the e-mails in 2008, but prying them loose from state archives hasn't been easy. BILL DEDMAN, MSNBC.COM INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: The state public records law calls for a ten day release of public records. We waited longer for these records than Sarah Palin was Governor, almost a thousand days. ISIKOFF: Among the e-mails, this exchange from Palin to an aide written a few weeks before she was picked by McCain, praising then-candidate Obama’s energy policy speech. “He gave a great speech this morning in Michigan – mentioned Alaska,” adding, “we need to take advantage of this and write a statement saying he's right on.” Then in a later e-mail telling an aide, “he did say ‘yay’ to our gas line. Pretty cool. Wrong candidate.” Palin later became one of Obama's fiercest critics on energy policy. Palin says the e-mails won't be a distraction. SARAH PALIN, ON FOX NEWS SUNDAY, JUNE 5: I'm sure people are going to capitalize on this opportunity to go through 25,000 e-mails and perhaps take things out of context. They'll never truly know what the context of each one of the e-mails was or each one of the issues were that I was working on that day. ISIKOFF: The e-mails have lots of redactions, and so far, there are no bombshells, but they do show Palin's irritation with what she calls the “lamestream media.” Writing from the McCain campaign trail, she writes in one e-mail: “It drives me crazy to catch all the corrections.” And in an earlier e-mail, “I feel like I'm at a breaking point with hurtful gossip.” Lester?
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Over the past couple years or so, we’ve learned to take Lady Gaga’s many, um, eccentricities in stride. Meat dress? Okay. Donning a baby bump mid-performance on live TV? Fine. Songs about loving Jesus’ traitorous disciple, featuring lyrics about ear condoms? Sure, why not! But let’s take a moment to ponder the impression the currently … More » Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : Idolator Discovery Date : 12/06/2011 23:07 Number of articles : 2
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Police vehicles set on fire during Guangdong clashes which began after fracas between security officers and vendor Rioters burned police and fire vehicles in a third day of unrest in southern China’s manufacturing heartlands, witnesses have reported. Hong Kong broadcasters reported that armed police fired teargas as they sought to disperse the crowd and detained at least a dozen demonstrators. The clashes, which began on Friday after a fracas between security officers and a pregnant street vendor in Xintang, Guangdong province, highlight Chinese authorities’ struggle to control social frustrations. It is thought that most protesters were migrant workers like the vendor. Last week hundreds of migrant workers clashed with police in Chaozhou, also in Guangdong, following a dispute over unpaid wages. In Lichuan, Hubei, as many as 2,000 protesters attacked government headquarters last Thursday after a local politician who had complained about official corruption died in police custody. Inner Mongolia recently saw its biggest street protests for 20 years, over the killing of a Mongolian herder who sought to halt coal trucks trespassing on grasslands. Although the causes seem to have been very different in each case, the spate of incidents underlines the challenge that authorities face in preventing widespread grievances bursting out. Unrest is thought to have become increasingly frequent, although data is hard to come by. The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences has estimated that there were more than 90,000 mass incidents in 2006, with further increases in the following two years. China has increased its domestic security budget by 13.8% this year, to 624.4bn yuan (£59bn). Police in Guangdong said on Sunday they had arrested 25 people after violence broke out on Friday night following a row between chengguan – low-level law enforcement officers – and a pregnant vendor during a crackdown on street stalls. State news agency Xinhua said that Wang Lianmei fell during the dispute, while other accounts said that the chengguan had shoved her. The officers have a reputation for thuggish behaviour. Other migrant workers from her province, Sichuan, quickly gathered, with some attacking police vehicles called to the scene with bottles, bricks and stones. Another crowd gathered on Saturday as rumours spread that police had killed Wang’s husband, Tang Xuecai, and that she had been seriously injured. Local media said he appeared at a press conference on Sunday to say that his wife and their baby were fine and that he was happy with the government’s handling of the case. “The case was just an ordinary clash between street vendors and local public security people but was used by a handful of people who wanted to cause trouble,” said Ye Niuping, the local mayor, urging residents not to spread “concocted rumours”. The South China Morning Post said Xintang appeared to have calmed down on Sunday afternoon, with armed police and armoured vehicles patrolling the area, but that as many as 1,000 later gathered despite the heavy police presence. “There were many people out on the streets late last night, shouting and trying to create chaos. Some of them even smashed police vehicles,” said a worker from the nearby Fengcai clothing factory, adding that bosses barred employees from leaving the plant. An employee at a hotel in the area said police had told them to stay indoors. State news agency Xinhua reported on Monday that officials had sent work groups to villages, factories and residential communities to set the record straight. Guangdong police headquarters declined to comment and calls to the local police station rang unanswered. “There is a lot of pent up anger and frustration among ordinary people – not just migrant workers,” said Geoff Crothall of Hong Kong’s China Labour Bulletin, noting the different causes behind the recent outbreaks of unrest. But he added: “There are many towns in Guangdong which are still very much [divided between] locals and outsiders. Migrant workers are still doing the lowest paid, dirtiest jobs and suffer discrimination on a daily basis. That’s going to cause resentment and anger to build up.” China Tania Branigan guardian.co.uk
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‘The Book of Mormon’ wins best musical at Tony Awards; Saxophonist Clemons suffers stroke according to source; Abrams and Spielberg’s ‘Super 8′ lifts off with $37M. (June 13)
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Today is the big day everyone! Thousands and thousands of emails from former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin have been released into the wild, and every single news organization will be trying to aerially hunt the news that might be contained within them. Perhaps Sarah Palin has something to worry about, but I have to imagine that this evening, as she relaxes her way into another weekend, she will think on this and laugh. Mainly at us. Like many other organizations that cover politics, we at The Huffington Post have made our arrangements to obtain the emails, have handed out assignments to reporters and are hopeful that a crowdsource army will help pick up the slack. What are we expecting to find? Who knows? Maybe a lot of Comic Sans. Maybe some penetrating new story about Palin’s Alaska reign. Maybe it will be a hot pile of nothing! Yeah, that’s right: One possible outcome of this exercise is that it will be a complete bust. Don’t get me wrong. There’s always some nominal value in paging through the communiques of a public figure, and Palin — who’s been as public a figure as any — is a good candidate for this attention. But it’s really not hard to think that the joke might somehow be on us. After all, so what if we find something damning about a former public official whose not likely to be anything more than an itinerant rich person for the rest of her life? Perhaps we will uncover some heretofore unknown brilliance that propels her to the top of the 2012 food chain and restores her in the eyes of the public? Are you ready for that, America? Mainly, I think the media — and I’m implicating HuffPost, and me, in this as well! — is going to open itself up to some worthy public criticism. “This is something you’ll spend time and resources to cover?” you will say. And you will be right. If it means anything, your reward will be that you will have a much more enjoyable weekend than any of us. Ahh, this week. I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe: blurry photo renderings of a man’s genitals, campaign staffers evacuating en masse from Newt Gingrich. I watched tens of thousands of emails glitter on my laptop screen in a searchable PDF database. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in the rain. Time to die. WATCH: if(typeof AOLVP_cfg===’undefined’)AOLVP_cfg=[];AOLVP_cfg.push({id:’AOLVP_987217910001′,’codever’:0.1, ‘autoload’:false, ‘autoplay’:false, ‘playerid’:’61371448001′, ‘videoid’:’987217910001′, ‘width’:480, ‘height’:270, ‘stillurl’:’dynamic’, ‘playertype’:’inline’,’videotitle’:’HuffPost takes on Palin emails’,’videodesc’:’HuffPost Politics’,’videolink’:’#’}); Would you like to follow me on Twitter? Because why not? Also, please send tips to tv@huffingtonpost.com — learn more about our media monitoring project here.
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Bill Gates doesn’t give too many interviews, but the Daily Mail ‘s Caroline Graham sure managed to get a lot out of him during their recent sitdown. Gates spent much of the time discussing his global health foundation, which, according to him, has become “full-time work for the rest of my life.” And, while he acknowledged that he’s still involved with Microsoft on a ” part-time ” basis, he reaffirmed that he has no desire to return to the throne. Does this mean he’s finally ready to lift his household’s notorious Apple embargo and allow his kids to own iPods? Not exactly: “They have the Windows equivalent. They have a Zune music player, which is a great Windows portable player. They are not deprived children.” Hear that? Bill’s kids aren’t in need! In fact, they even earn allowances and “do chores,” just like your kids. Sure, their pops may have billions of dollars stowed away under his mattress, but he says his offspring will only receive a “minuscule portion” of that fortune. Cue the violins. Bill Gates’ kids ‘aren’t deprived,’ they have Zunes originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Jun 2011 08:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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• Press F5 for the latest, or hit auto update • Email katy.murrells@guardian.co.uk with your thoughts • Click here for the latest tennis news and highlights Tok, tok, tok they’re warming up. Murray has once again opted for his trusted blue and white ensemble, with Tsonga going for white and black with a flash of green. Tsonga will serve first. These two players have met five times before, by the way, with Murray leading their head-to-head 4-1, including in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon last year. And the players are out. This has got a slightly surreal Wimbledon middle Sunday feel about it, with Tsonga coming out to a blast of Iggy Pop’s Lust for Life and Murray arriving to a bit of Cee Lo Green. Can you think of anything more un-Queen’s like? Some hardy people have apparently been queuing since 2am to get in for this, with tickets available for a tenner to gatecrash one of the poshest clubs in town. Cue Paul Foley. “Are there tickets still available?” he asks. “I promise I’ll still read you on my mobile if I get in.” Sorry to be the bearer of bad news Paul, apparently all 7,000 tickets have now sold out. Omen time . This is the third time there’s been a Monday final at Queen’s, after John McEnroe beat Victor Pecci in 1979 and Boris Becker defeated Jimmy Connors in 1987. But neither went on to triumph at Wimbledon. McEnroe was knocked out in the fourth round by Tim Gullikson, while Becker was knocked out in the second round by Peter Doohan. So take from that what you will. Hello. So Andy Murray and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga are back for the final they would have played yesterday had it not decided to chuck it down . Not that I witnessed said chucking down in London because I was battling near-apocalyptic conditions at a wedding on top of a wet and wind-battered hill in Sunderland. I think it’s fair to say I’m not exactly full of the joys of the British summer on this Monday morning. But anyway, I digress. The good news is that the weather is set fairer for today, and if the skies over the Guardian office in King’s Cross are anything like they are a few miles down the road in Barons Court, we should be on course for a 12.30pm BST start. Though if Tsonga’s general outlook is anything to go by, this final could still end up being a bit of a damp squib. “He’s better than me,” conceded the Frenchman after Murray’s semi-final demolition of Andy Roddick. A cunning game of reverse psychology? Let’s find out. Andy Murray Tennis Katy Murrells guardian.co.uk
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