When Republicans scored their big victory in the midterm elections of 2010, they looked like a party on the rise after a devastating pair of losses in 2006 and 2008. Instead, they have become a party in almost permanent disorder, torn by warring factions and near-constant tensions between their establishment leadership and a tea party-infused grass roots.
Now, in the wake of GOP House Speaker John A. Boehner’s stunning announcement Friday that he will step down from his post and resign his seat in Congress at the end of October, the question again arises: Can a party so driven by anger, a party divided over confrontation vs. compromise, actually govern in Washington?
Boehner’s decision to quit, and the suddenness with which the news broke, provided one more piece of evidence of how badly strained the Republican coalition is. His inability to corral his unruly members was legendary and, seemingly, never-ending, a series of “Perils of Pauline” moments that brought temporary truces but never fully resolved the debate about the kind of party Republicans want.
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Super, harvest, eclipsing moon starring on Sunday night
This weekend, when you look into the night sky you will be able to see a blood red, larger-than-life moon projecting against the stars; the first in more than 30 years.
The rare event is due to the supermoon total lunar eclipse that is expected to happen on Sunday night. Anyone in the U.S. will be able to witness the event from their own backyards or watch the livestream on NASA’s website.
NASA expects the eclipse to last approximately 1 hour and 11 minutes beginning at 10: 11 p.m. and peaking at approximately 10:47 p.m. The live stream will begin at 8 p.m. when the supermoon is shining bright and it’ll end at 11:30 p.m.
NASA will also be answering questions regarding the eclipse via Twitter by using the hashtag #askNASA.
A ‘blood moon’ has always been seen as a bad omen throughout history, but NASA explains the red filtering is caused by particulates in Earth’s atmosphere. Experts have said that when there are a lot of fires or volcanic eruptions, lunar eclipses will appear darker and redder.
Once the moon hides behinds Earth’s shadow—the umbra—during an eclipse, sunlight reaches the moon indirectly and it’s refracted around the edges of Earth, which then causes all colors to be filtered with the exception of red.
Now all we have to do is keep our fingers crossed that the clouds of the weekend will have blown off. The weekend is supposed to be cloudy and perhaps rainy.
My family always celebrates Harvest Moon, at my insistence. We go to a Chinese restaurant each year. The bad thing is, local Chinese restaurants don’t seem to highlight the Harvest Moon any more. Now anyone with a moniker involving a moon should just get excited over this lunar event. I am!
Happy Super, Harvest, Blood, Eclipsing Moon!!!!
