China’s space station launch might cost lives on the ground

You’ve probably seen the news this week that China successfully launched the first piece of what will become a brand new space station. The module was launched on Thursday and China used one of its powerful Long March 5B rockets to push the hardware skyward. It was a big day for China’s space agency, and it got a lot of attention. Unfortunately, one of the factoids that wasn’t part of the initial buzz was the fact that China has no way of controlling its rocket stage that is now orbiting Earth and slowly falling back toward the surface.

As SpaceNews reports, the core stage of the Long March 5B that sent the “Heavenly Harmony” space station module into orbit is now tumbling around our planet. The uncontrolled rocket component is absolutely huge and it won’t be long before the pull of gravity becomes too much and it falls through the atmosphere back toward us. Where will the pieces land? Nobody has any idea.

Rocket stages that send satellites or other spacecraft into orbit around Earth regularly end up falling back toward Earth. In the vast majority of cases, the rocket stages fall into predictable areas, usually in the ocean. Some launches result in rocket stages reaching speeds that would allow them to orbit Earth, but those are often controlled using burns that force them to slow down and, again, tumble harmlessly into the ocean or burn up in the atmosphere. In many cases, the hardware can’t withstand the intense friction of reentry and is essentially vaporized.

In the case of China’s Long March 5B, the rocket reached orbital velocity but will have a limited amount of time before it is dragged back down. China does not seem to have employed a controlled burn feature, making the rocket very unpredictable. Its size will make it the single largest uncontrolled spacecraft to reenter the atmosphere, and it’s possible that enough of the rocket stage will survive reentry and impact the ground below.

So, there’s a big rocket flying around above our heads and at some point over the next week or so it’s going to come down… somewhere. It’s moving extremely fast, completing an orbit of Earth every 90 minutes or so, and that makes predicting its reentry location close to impossible. Should we be freaking out? Eh, probably not.

The rocket will indeed burn up in the atmosphere and the majority of it should be completely destroyed in the process. It’s possible that no debris even survives reentry, but if it does, it’s likely going to come down in the ocean. Earth has more ocean than anything else and the odds of the debris coming down on land is relatively small. Smaller still are the odds of it impacting a populated area, and if we want to get really technical, the odds of it actually hitting someone or causing an injury is very, very, very small. It’s not zero, but it’s pretty close.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/china-space-station-launch-might-143314099.html

Another Twist of the Knife: Introducing a New Death Tax

The devil is in the details, and while, when it comes to the Biden tax plan, Old Nick is not just lurking in the small print, one particular technical-sounding change proposed by the president is rightly attracting some attention: that is the plan to scrap the long-standing principle that if someone inherits an asset, his or her basis cost in that asset for capital-gains-tax purposes is not the price that the deceased may have paid for it (or its value when it came into the deceased’s ownership) but its market value at the time of the deceased’s death, a “break” that can be justified on grounds of basic fairness. That’s the case for various reasons, but one of the most obvious is that estate tax may well, in the case of the wealthiest, also be payable on what is left after the capital-gains tax has been paid.

Under the administration’s proposed new rule, the death of the owner of an asset would, for capital-gains purposes, be treated as the sale of that asset, meaning that the deceased’s unrealized capital gains would be taxable (less a $1 million per-person exemption).

The Tax Foundation gives an example of how this could work here:

In addition to taxing unrealized capital gains at death at ordinary income tax rates, large estates would also be subject to the current estate tax of 40 percent above an exemption of $11.7 million per person.

Click on the link to see a table that sets out what happens next, but for those already so demotivated by the prospect of tax rises to come to bother, here is what it shows:

For an asset worth $100 million (all of which is a capital gain for the sake of simplicity), the two changes would mean an immediate capital gains tax liability of $42.9 million at the time of death. Upon paying the capital gains tax at death, the value of the $100 million asset falls to $57 million for the purposes of the estate tax. After subtracting the $11.7 million exemption, the 40 percent estate tax rate is levied on the remaining $45.3 million in assets to produce an estate tax bill of about $18.1 million.

That gives a combined tax rate of 61.1 percent. And this is before any account is taken of state taxes.

The Tax Foundation:

By historical standards, Biden’s plan to tax unrealized gains at death and levy the estate tax at the same time is quite unique. Traditionally, estate tax law has allowed for a “step-up” in the basis of transferred assets so that they were not hit by the capital gains tax and the estate tax at the same time. Combining both taxes results in a total tax liability of $61.1 million on the original $100 million asset, for an effective tax rate of 61 percent. The tax rate under Biden’s proposal is nearly twice the effective tax rate that the same asset would face today under existing tax rules.

When the estate tax was repealed for one year in 2010, the step-up was also repealed, which meant that heirs did face tax liability on any gains when they sold inherited assets.

However, the impact of the step-up’s repeal was mitigated somewhat for smaller estates by a provision that exempted “$1.3 million of an estate’s increased value from the capital gains tax and $3 million for transfers to a spouse.” Even though some heirs did pay higher capital gains taxes on the assets they inherited in 2010, Congress has historically understood that it was bad policy to levy a capital gains tax and estate tax on the same assets.

more

https://www.yahoo.com/news/another-twist-knife-introducing-death-142922364.html

Crowds gather for Holy Fire ceremony at Jerusalem's Holy Sepulchre

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Orthodox Christians flocked to Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Saturday to celebrate the Holy Fire ceremony, gathering in far greater numbers than last year because coronavirus restrictions have eased.

This season's religious holidays in the Holy Land, home to religious sites sacred to Christians, Jews and Muslims, have been overshadowed by tragedy, as Israel mourns the death of 45 Jewish worshippers killed in a stampede overnight between Thursday and Friday at a religious festival in the north of the country. Children were among the casualties.

"I listened to the radio, when the parents were talking, I was crying because I have a small son. I cried for the kids," said Zaira Didmanidze, 40, one of the 2,500 people who attended the Holy Fire ceremony.

The ceremony, symbolising Jesus's resurrection, is one of the most colourful spectacles of the Orthodox Easter season, usually attended by many pilgrims.

With Jerusalem under lockdown last year's Holy Fire ceremony was held in the near-empty church that is revered by Christians as the site of Jesus's crucifixion, burial and resurrection.

"Last year it was a sad year," said Rosaline Manees, a pilgrim from Jaffa. "This year is better, though not like other years as pilgrims from all over the world are not visiting the country. Today it is only us who live in the country. But, sure, better than last year."

Israel's swift vaccination drive has largely beaten back the pandemic in the past few months, allowing for restrictions on gatherings to be greatly eased as officials plan a resumption of international tourism in the coming months.

The Holy Fire ceremony typically draws tens of thousands of worshippers to an imposing grey edicule in the Holy Sepulchre that is believed to contain the tomb where Jesus lay 2,000 years ago.

Sunbeams that pierce through a skylight in the church's dome are believed by worshippers to ignite a flame deep inside the crypt, a mysterious act considered a Holy Saturday miracle each year before Orthodox Easter Sunday.

Jerusalem's Greek Orthodox Patriarch then emerges from the crypt where Christians believe Jesus was buried, lights a candle with the Holy Fire and disperses it to the faithful.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/crowds-gather-holy-fire-ceremony-100916264.html

>>13557586

>last summer

But he probably did once he was betrayed by Pence et al.

>>13557608

Chips for Chumps

Where is all that data going? Every single thing that has the capability of being "smart" by design, was a plot by [THEM] to sell as "useful" to idiots.

Biggest pet pieve is the spy cams the Smiths are putting up on their homes. Oh, we need this to fee safe…

Everything they market for "Good" is used for "EVIL."

Like Eagle Eye/Gods Eye SPY TECH.

You may be against personally owning this spy tech, but thanks to your sheep neighbors, your every move is tracked.

>>13557646

H = 8

Sound like Hate. Haiti?

>>13557725

Phoenix

Satanic Temple, Inc. v. City of Scottsdale

No. CV-18-00621-PHX-DGC

11-18-2019

The SATANIC TEMPLE, INC., et al., Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF SCOTTSDALE, Defendant.

Matthew A. Kezhaya, Pro Hac Vice, Kezhaya Law PLC, Bentonville, AR, Stuart Patrick deHaan, De Haan Law Firm PLLC, Tucson, AZ, for Plaintiffs. Holly Marie Zoe, Scot L. Claus, Vail Choji Bryant Cloar, Dickinson Wright PLLC, Phoenix, AZ, Joshua Michael Crum, Scottsdale City Attorneys Office, Stephanie Lynn Heizer, City of Scottsdale, Scottsdale, AZ, for Defendant.

https://casetext.com/case/satanic-temple-inc-v-city-of-scottsdale

'Hail Satan': Tucson Church Vandalized With Satanic Graffiti

https://patch.com/arizona/tucson/tucson-church-vandalized-satanic-messages-report

==PHOENIX – An incomplete tunnel found stretching from Mexico to Arizona appears to be "the most sophisticated tunnel in U.S. history," authorities said.

The tunnel intended for smuggling ran from a neighborhood in San Luis Río Colorado, Mexico, to San Luis, Arizona, where it stopped short of reaching the surface. It was built in an area that's not conducive to tunnels because of the terrain, and it had a ventilation system, water lines, electrical wiring, a rail system and extensive reinforcement, federal officials say.

"What makes this one unique is that the terrain in Yuma is very hard… the sand is very loose, and most of them end up caving. So the fact that the material was very well built and it had ventilation, it had water, it had a rail system with walls, roof, floor, electrical, makes this one a very unique type of tunnel," said Angel Ortiz, assistant special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations in Yuma. HSI is a division of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

"This appears to be the most sophisticated tunnel in U.S. history, and certainly the most sophisticated I've seen in my career," said Carl E. Landrum, acting chief patrol agent with the Border Patrol's Yuma Sector.

Homeland Security Investigations started excavating around the tunnel in late July after someone reported a sinkhole near the border wall. HSI already had reports of potential tunnel activity in that area, and the agency began drilling, Ortiz said. A camera was sent 25 feet (7.6 meters) underground, and the tunnel was discovered on Tuesday.

The tunnel measured 3 feet (about 1 meter) wide and 4 feet (1.2 meters) high.

Investigators don't know what exactly the tunnel would have been used for, since it was incomplete. They also don't know how long it had been there, because they don't know what kind of equipment was used to build it. If it was done by hand, it would be many months of construction to get as far as it did, Ortiz said. But if the builders used heavy machinery it would "potentially a few months, not that long of a period," Ortiz said.

Smugglers have been using tunnels to get drugs and people across the border for decades.

https://abc11.com/border-tunnel-found-yuma-arizona-in-san-luis-ro-colorado-mexico/6360163/