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We, me maties, Argh, otta due something for the Occasion! What with the current increase in "blow me downs" in the Carribean, we need to do our part to stem global warming! Avast there, me hearties! Who's with me!

"They're more like guidelines, you see." And so, on the 26th of September, once my moderation ban is over, I say we give the TMB the Black Spot! We spam mod him into oblivion, and take over the ship of SoylentNews! Argh! My parrot agrees with me. Who else wants to live as free persons on the high seas of the internets, instead of slaves to a crazed captain hunting for the DN? It is all there in Melville's novel, and the chapter on the "Whiteness of the Whale". Pirates, privateers, cannot afford to be racist.

Wakened from its latest hibernation, New Horizons may visit additional Kuiper Belt Objects

Fuel saved during the MU69 encounter could be used to send New Horizons to a third KBO, a move that would require yet another mission extension. In 2016, NASA approved an extended mission for the MU69 flyby through the year 2021.

On Sept. 6, Stern told members of NASA’s Outer Planets Assessment Group that mission scientists are already searching for an additional KBO target.

“We have a fighting chance of having a second [Kuiper Belt Object] flyby,” Stern said.

Approval of another mission extension will also provide more opportunities for New Horizons to continue its distant observations of KBOs, dwarf planets, and centaurs. Stern said that he intends to request a second extension once the MU69 flyby is completed and the data collected from it returned to Earth.

Even that might not be the mission’s end. Stern foresees additional extensions beyond the one that would take it to a second KBO.

“There’s fuel and power on board the spacecraft to operate it for another 20 years,” Stern said. “That’s not going to be a concern even for a third or fourth extended mission.”

The probe will be put into another hibernation period on Dec. 22, 2017, during which it will remain until June 4, 2018, when it will be woken up in preparation for the MU69 encounter, which will officially begin in August 2018.

(486958) 2014 MU₆₉

Size comparison to Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko (exact size and appearance of 2014 MU₆₉ are still unknown, but it is suspected to be a binary object or contact binary, like Comet 67P)

I believe we can - we must - build a future that puts work first

The BBC has a story about a German schoolboy jailed for writing to the BBC.

Karl-Heinz Borchardt was 18 years old when he was arrested by the Stasi in East Germany for writing to the BBC. In communist East Germany, listening to a foreign broadcaster was a crime, and Borchardt had been listening to the BBC's Letters without Signatures on its German service.

Much to the ire of the East German regime, the BBC programme gave an extraordinary insight into the physical and emotional lives of a cross-section of GDR society for more than 25 years.

"It was like coming up for air," says Borchardt - a form of release for a young, curious mind locked in the suffocating atmosphere of the communist state.

The methods employed by the Stasi to track down "criminals" who wrote to the BBC were quite clever.

They took saliva samples from the licked envelopes to identify blood groups which they cross-checked with doctor's records. They traced fingerprints on the paper, sourced the ink and collated an extensive archive of handwriting samples.

They caught Borchardt by cross-referencing the handwriting on one of his letters with that on a piece of school homework that he'd handed in.

He spent eight months in prison before being sentenced to two years for "attempted subversive activities" in conjunction with an enemy broadcaster.

Or is it an "outside" job?

I have absolutely no problem with AC trolls. They are perfectly welcome. Some of my best friends are ACs. But the one hovering around me like a gnat lately just doesn't sound human, seems particularly fixated and bizarre. So I just thought I'd ask. Please don't take it as a complaint.

Move along... Nothing to see here... Absolutely nothing at all.

Nun With A Chainsaw Becomes Symbol Of Post-Irma Cleanup: 'She Rocks'

The farce continues.

Chief champion of Brexit, Nigel Farage, very recently backed the German far-right AfD without a hint of irony. Suzanne Moore in the Guardian tells the bigger story.

Very recently tens of thousands of people in the UK marched to protest against Brexit.

Of course, if you're an EU citizen from one of the other 27 countries living and working in the UK, things are uncertain and uncomfortable.

“Everybody shrugs their shoulders and says ‘you’ll be all right, your husband’s British’. We’re fed up of hearing this. I don’t have a home to go back to. It’s not as if we’re teenagers going back to mum and dad, I’ve spent my whole adult life here. To tell us we have to be treated like criminals, have fingerprints, pass an English test, it’s insulting.

“This is an abuse of human rights and our family lives. Every day I am questioning do I want to remain in a country where the majority of British citizens are not speaking out for us?

“Why are they not on the street demonstrating? If this happened in France and there was such discrimination against British citizens, I would be out on the street.

Some of us have written letters, demonstrated, argued, donated to legal challenges etc. but there is more to be done. It's not over yet.

If Mrs May's government lasts into 2018 I'll be very surprised.

9/11: Never Forget

Previously:

• Harvey could be Ted Cruz’s time to shine. So far he hasn’t
• Is Ted Cruz human? An investigation
• Ted Cruz is now likeable, The New York Times wants you to believe

And then...

• Republican senator Ted Cruz caught liking pornographic video on social media
• For One Hot Second, Ted Cruz’s Official Twitter Account Liked a Porn Video
• Ted Cruz Likes Adult Movie On Twitter With Woman Who ‘Vaguely Resembles’ His Wife, Heidi
• Ted Cruz "Likes" Porn Video On Twitter
• Ted Cruz Just ‘Liked’ A Hardcore Porn Video On Twitter
• Why is US Senator Ted Cruz trending for porn?

Update: Somebody fell on their sword:

• Ted Cruz blames staffer for 'liking' porn tweet

Ted Cruz trivia:

• Ted Cruz helped defend Texas ban against sale of sex toys in 2007
• Snopes version of above
• Before Twitter porn controversy, Ted Cruz didn’t think masturbating was a laughing matter
• Even The National Review Doesn’t Think Cruz Needed To Pull Campaign Ad Featuring Porn Star

Japan Is No Place for Single Mothers (archive)

Much longer read:

The First White President (archive)