Does The Asteroid Redirect Program Work? Halfway to 2025. Fly The Flag. Precision At Its Finest.
- Quote of the Week: “If the Earth gets hit by an asteroid, it’s game over. It’s control-alt-delete for civilization.” – Bill Nye
The earth has had asteroid ‘near’ misses – which thankfully in scientific terms means skirting earth by 2,000 – 6,000 miles. Fortunately, about once a year, an asteroid about the size of an automobile does hit earth’s atmosphere but burns up before reaching the earth’s surface. Scientists guesstimate that every 2,000 years or so, a meteoroid the size of a football field hits earth resulting in significant damage. Those same scientists insist that every few million years, an object large enough to threaten our civilization comes along.
On June 30th of 1908, exactly 116 years ago today, an asteroid plunged through the earth’s atmosphere and exploded over Siberia. The shock wave and heat blast from the aerial explosion devastated that remote area of Siberia, created massive forest fires, and knocked down trees for hundreds of miles. In recognition of that event, the United Nations proclaimed Asteroid Day be observed globally on June 30. The event aims to raise awareness about asteroids and what can be done to protect the Earth, its families, communities, and future generations from a catastrophic event.
NASA has now established the Planetary Defense Coordination Office and evaluated the technology to redirect a small asteroid should one pose a danger to Earth in the future. Let us hope that NASA’s plan is one that works well. Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson gives his take on dealing with asteroids. We are hoping his “gravitational toe-line” works.
- Every year, the Economist Intelligence Agency (EIU) evaluates cities for their livability using thirty indicators including stability, healthcare, culture, education, and infrastructure. The goal of the ranking is to show us “how comfortable these cities are to live in.” Like many of you, I have traveled most of my business career, and to avoid evoking outrage with some of you, I will not comment on how wrong this ranking must be. 🙂 Note: the overall ranking number compares these U.S. cities on a worldwide scale. Worldwide, Vienna, Austria ranked #1, Copenhagen, Denmark #2, and Zurich, Switzerland, #3. I have been to Copenhagen and have no argument with that ranking.
- Honolulu, Hawaii (overall ranking: 23)
- Atlanta, Georgia (overall ranking: 29)
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (overall ranking: 30)
- Seattle, Washington (overall ranking: 34)
- Washington D.C. (overall ranking: 38)
- Chicago, Illinois (overall ranking: 39)
- Boston, Massachusetts (overall ranking: 45)
- Miami, Florida (overall ranking: 47)
- San Francisco, California (overall ranking: 49)
- Minneapolis, Minnesota (overall ranking: 50)
Five Things I Think Halfway to 2025:
- A month ago, I mentioned using your time wisely and to try and balance all the political news with other interests (volunteering, taking in a good book, etc.) I also mentioned that using your time wisely would be “a great way to keep your mind off of the ‘Weekend at Bernie’s’ and ‘The Donald’ presidential candidates.” I grudgingly watched the first five minutes of last Thursday’s debate, and again, here is my never-ending question: How, in 2024, did the two parties end up with these two candidates?
- A very happy Independence Day to you and yours. I hope that no one takes our independence with a grain of salt, especially in light of some of the chaos, terrorism, and war happening at home and abroad. I was surprised that Independence Day was only declared a federal holiday in 1941, considering the United States is celebrating our 248th birthday. On July 2, 1776, the Continental Congress voted in favor of independence and two days later, on July 4, delegates from the thirteen colonies adopted the Declaration of Independence, drafted by the one and only Thomas Jefferson. If you have a flag, please fly it. If you do not have one, The Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Ace Hardware have flag kits for under $15.00. Buy a flag and fly it proudly. To our Canadian friends: you celebrate Canada Day tomorrow, July 1st….and my experience with Canadians tells me most of you have been celebrating a few days early!
- Some people are continuing to complain about interest rates, especially the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. The rate has now declined for the fourth straight week and is languishing at 6.85%. I am not going old school with this comment, but my first mortgage was at 14.8%. Will someone please provide us with their thoughts on post-election mortgage rates?
- As if the U.S. healthcare system is not in enough disarray, Amazon has created a platform for health services including primary care, pharmacy services, and telehealth. Hopefully, Amazon’s foray into healthcare will increase healthcare access after hospitals and clinics have decreased these services due to decreasing margins.
- I think that this is absolutely crazy. The game is basically over, in extra time and the scored tied. Atlanta attacks and the opposing goalkeeper saves the ball and goes to play the ball from his goal area. Little does he know that an Atlanta player, who first drank some water from the goalkeeper’s water bottle, is behind him. Watch what happens in the last few seconds of the game.
- For this week’s take on Pure Talent we look in on The Royal Edinburgh Military Tatoo. A military tattoo is a musical display performed by the military. Military tattoos evolved from a process called “doe de tap toe,” which was Dutch for “turn off the tap.” The Dutch States Army sent drummers through garrison towns to mark curfew. By the late 19th century, military tattoos were commonplace, with this military tattoo another great example of Pure Talent.