Government problem solving in Washington DC, and in Pacifica

Aka:  waiting for some outside force to fix Pacifica...

The New Yorker/Andy Borowitz, 2/17/13. The Borowitz Report, the news reshuffled (spoof), "House science committee questions existence of meteors."

Another Task Force "spot on the map" plan to bring tourism to Pacifica

"The chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology said today that the committee would hold hearings next week “to settle the question, once and for all, of whether meteors exist.”

“The media has been in something of a frenzy recently on this whole topic of meteors,” said chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas). “I think it’s irresponsible of them to frighten the public about something that, at the end of the day, may be about as real as unicorns.”

....  As for the scientific theory that meteors may have killed the dinosaurs, Rep. Smith chuckled, “That theory would also have us believe that there were dinosaurs.”   Read more.

Related -  CNN, 2/18/13, article and embedded videos. "Russian scientists track down fragments of Urals meteor."  "Scientists from Urals Federal University found 53 small meteorites on the surface of the lake and believe a larger fragment is under water, said Viktor Grokhovsky, the scientist who led the effort.

The fragments point to a rocky meteor with about 10% iron mixed in, Grokhovsky told CNN."

San Francisco Chronicle/Associated Press, 2/15/13. "Skyfall: Meteorites strike Earth every few months." 
Q. What's the difference between a meteor and a meteorite?  A. Meteors are pieces of space rock, usually from larger comets or asteroids, which enter the Earth's atmosphere. Many are burned up by friction and the heat of the atmosphere, but those that survive and strike the Earth are called meteorites. They often hit the ground at tremendous speed — up to 30,000 kilometers an hour (18,650 mph) — releasing a huge amount of energy, according to the European Space Agency.  Q: How often do meteorites hit Earth? A: Experts say smaller strikes happen five to 10 times a year. Large meteors such as the one in Russia on Friday are rarer, but still occur about every five years, according to Addi Bischoff, a mineralogist at the University of Muenster in Germany. Most of them fall over uninhabited areas where they don't injure humans.

Posted by Kathy Meeh