QUESTION ASKED: Would a Supervolcano Eruption Wipe Us Out?

The past 500 years have been fairly peaceful ones for Campi Flegrei. There have been no eruptions at all since 1538, and that was a comparatively small event that resulted in the formation of the “New Mountain”, Monte Nuovo. But recent events suggest that this period of quiescence may be coming to an end.

An acceleration of processes causing deformation and heating within the caldera saw the Italian government raise the volcano’s threat level in December 2016. Fears are growing that magma deep inside Campi Flegrei could be reaching the “critical degassing pressure”, where a sudden large-scale release of volcanic gases could abruptly inject heat into surrounding hydrothermal fluids and rocks. When this happens on a significant scale, it can cause catastrophic rock failure within the volcano, triggering an eruption. In line with this, a study published in May 2017 found evidence that the supervolcano has been building towards an eruption for decades.

But the difficult question is not if, but when, and just how big an event this would be.

When will environmentalists finally get serious about putting a stop to climate-destroying tectonic plate movements?

JOE PAPPALARDO: Why the First True Spaceliner Will Change Everything: We need a DC-3 for space to finally democratize travel off our planet.

In the 1930s, before the DC-3, the state of aviation in the early 1930s was dire. Airplanes were slow, leaked fumes into the cabin, and had limited range. That range thing was a big deal, especially since there were hardly any airports around. Touchdowns for maintenance meant landing in fields, empty roads, or anywhere else it looked flat. Back then, it was standard operating procedure. Today we’d call it an emergency landing.

What aviation needed was a machine that could be safe, comfortable, and cheap enough to carry paying customers. C.R. Smith, the president of American Airlines in 1934, demanded Douglas Aircraft build an airplane that could serve as an airliner. The result was the DC-3, which first flew at the end of 1935.

The plane had twin 1200-hp engines and clever, cantilevered wings. Before the DC-3 it took 25 hours and 15 stops to cross the country in an airplane. The new airplane cut that down to three stops for fuel. And the passengers were treated well, with sleeping berths, drinks, and fine meals served for a $300 ticket. Rich people could fly and feel comfortable – physically and mentally.

Which, frankly, is an accomplishment even today.

CURIOUSLY, NEWSWEEK DOESN’T SEEM TO BE DOING MUCH TO REFUTE THIS ANALOGY: Trump Boy Scout Speech Is Nazi Hitler Youth Rally, Left Says.

The Boy Scouts as the Hitler Youth – run with that analogy, lefties – run hard with it. I’m so old though, I can remember when Newsweek declared that America had entered into a lengthy period of socialism, nationally:

Earlier: If you missed it last night, our look at the rest of the MSM predictably losing what’s left of their sanity over Trump’s Boy Scout appearance. If only Trump could play Congress so reliably.

UPDATE: At Power Line, John Hinderaker writes, “President Trump addressed the Boy Scout Jamboree in West Virginia last night. His speech sparked controversy, as he veered from his prepared text to riff on politics. As usual with President Trump, however, the Left’s reaction is disproportionate to anything he actually did…Was it inappropriate for the president to criticize Democrats and the media in this sort of appearance? I think it was. But when do the Democrats ever forgo an opportunity to attack Trump? Never, as far as I can see. And who was it who politicized the Boy Scouts, trying either to drive them out of existence or to radically transform them?  The Democrats. No wonder Trump got such a warm reception last night.”

And no wonder the DNC-MSM had such a sense of amnesia last night.

PRIORITIES: As chaos envelops Venezuela, Caracas spends millions on lobbyists in Washington.

“The costs for representation is a drop in the bucket when compared to the potential economic loss” of oil sanctions, said C.J. Gimenez, the son of Miami-Dade mayor Carlos Gimenez and a lobbyist who left Avenue Strategies, a firm started by former campaign aides, after the firm decided to pick up Citgo as a client.

U.S. sanctions on Venezuela’s oil market could have major financial implications for the Maduro regime and for average Venezuelans. Although Venezuelan crude makes up a small fraction — about 8 percent in 2016 — of all U.S. oil imports, the U.S. buys nearly half of Venezuela’s oil, and oil revenues account for 95 percent of Venezuela’s export earnings, according to OPEC.

Gimenez said Venezuela’s greatest asset is its oil and that Maduro “uses it to fund his continued existence.”

Frack that.

GOOD LORD: A hefty reward awaits the murderer of an Israeli family — courtesy of U.S. taxpayers.

Ironically and appallingly, just last week the US State Department published a report blaming Israel for Palestinian terrorism and claiming that the PLO-led, and US-funded Palestinian Authority doesn’t incite terrorism and violence and hatred.

The State Department also opposes the Taylor Force bill which if passed — along the lines passed in the House of Representatives, (the Senate bill is an insult to our intelligence), would end US taxpayer subsidization of Palestinian terrorism to the tune of more than half a billion dollars a year.

The State Department — Tillerson included, apparently, doesn’t see anything wrong with the fact that the PA uses more than $300 million every year to pay people like the murderer who butchered the Solomons and their families.

Having murdered the Solomons in their home, this terrorist is guaranteed a lifetime salary and pension for his family that ensure them all an upper middle class economic status — courtesy of US taxpayers via the “moderate” PA, PLO, Abbas, terror machine.

There’s a lot of swamp to drain at State, but beware the crocodiles.

QUANTUM CRYPTOGRAPHY SYSTEM breaks daylight distance record.

OFFICIAL CORRUPTION: Kremlin’s Black Cash Described as the ‘New Red Menace.’

HE’S NOT WRONG: “ICE Chief Slams Sanctuary Cities, Calls Them ‘Un-American’…[Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Thomas Homan] also named San Francisco, New York City, and Philadelphia as cities that are particularly crime-heavy because of their sanctuary city policies.”

WELL, THEY SHOULD: GOP Fears Health Care Fail Could Thin Senate Majority.

WE HAVE THESE MOTION-SENSOR SOLAR LED LIGHTS scattered around our property. They work quite well.

WHAT COULD GO WRONG? We Could Resurrect the Woolly Mammoth. Here’s How.

AMANDA MARCOTTE: The sad story of Charlie Gard shows there’s no limit to right-wing political vampirism. “A dying baby and his parents have been exploited by conservatives who want to strip Americans of health care.”

Forget it, Jake — it’s Marcotte.

IMPORTANT NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF SCIENCE: How To Have Hot Sex, According To Scientists.

CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: A DC Federal Court Just Ruled Carrying Guns In Public Is A “Core” 2nd Amendment Right.

The full D.C. Circuit opinion in Wrenn v. District of Columbia is here.

PATRICK POOLE: Media Cartel Feigns Outrage After Trump Tweets on Cancelling CIA’s Syria Program.

TWEET OF THE DAY:

PUNCH BACK TWICE AS HARD: Bret Weinstein, the Evergreen State College professor who was driven from campus by a mob of students earlier this year, is preparing to file a $3.8 million claim against the public institution. “The claim accuses Evergreen State of “fostering a racially hostile work and retaliatory environment” by encouraging the student protests that forced Weinstein to flee campus for his own safety. The students were upset with Weinstein for objecting to a ‘Day of Absence’ event that called for white students and faculty to leave campus for a day of diversity programming.”

I think the facts here would sustain a federal civil rights conspiracy action against both the administration and the students (and faculty) involved.

COLLUSION: Videos suggest Russian government may be arming Taliban.

The Taliban have received improved weaponry in Afghanistan that appears to have been supplied by the Russian government, according to exclusive videos obtained by CNN, adding weight to accusations by Afghan and American officials that Moscow is arming their one-time foe in the war-torn country.

US generals first suggested they were concerned the Russian government was seeking to arm the Afghan insurgents back in April, but images from the battlefield here corroborating these claims have been hard to come by.

These two videos show sniper rifles, Kalashnikov variants and heavy machine guns that weapons experts say are stripped of any means of identifying their origin.

Maybe it’s time to let the Russians handle Afghanistan — again.

THE GOLDEN AGE OF MUSCLE CARS (CONTINUED): Ford Bumps 2018 Mustang’s Power, Claims Sub-four-second 0-60 Time for GT.

RICHARD EPSTEIN: The Diversity Fundamentalists.

CIVIL DISCOURSE: Kat Timpf Assaulted At Campaign Event.

ANDY McCARTHY: Yes, a President May Be Indicted … and May Pardon Himself.

TONI AIRAKSINEN: College Speech Codes Discriminate Against People With Asperger’s, Prof. Argues.

Worse, they discriminate against anyone with something interesting to say.

‘LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF FREE WIFI.’ Confirmed: ‘There’s No Joy Reid Parody Account For A Reason.’

Read the whole thing – and don’t miss the surprise cameo appearances by the ghosts of Eisenhower, Hanna, Barbera, and Gene Roddenberry!

Speaking of Roddenberry, Chevy Chase as Spock’s response when he mind-melded with an earlier NBC employee in the classic Michael O’Donoghue-penned “Last Voyage of the Starship Enterprise” parody from the first season of Saturday Night Live sums up Reid’s brain as well: “It was all dark and empty in there. And there were little mice in the corners and spiders had spun this web…”