Tunguska Event

I've just finished my last exam and posted my final paper, which heralds the end of the fall semester and the beginning of a month of personal reading time. Having written over 10,000 words in the last two days, and with the general feeling that my brain might at any time simply drain like chunky applesauce out my ears, I'll be going easy on the links tonight. Oh, yeah, and it's Friday.

• I don't agree with everything said in this piece, but if you're interested in one perspective on what is going on in Russia, I'd recommend you check out this TPMCafe post.

• Via this article on Wired.com:

• Insurance company denies a client payment for a liver transplant, stating the procedure was experimental and outside the scope of coverage.

• Doctors write a letter to the company saying patients suffering similar complications and undergo liver transplants have a 65% six-month survival rate.
  

• Ten days later, the insurer reverses the nonpayment decision, but the young woman dies a few hours later.

• Bill Clinton has an iPhone, apparently.

• Mars stands a pretty good chance at getting smoked by a massive asteroid next month.

• "The asteroid, known as 2007 WD5, was discovered in late November and is similar in size to an object that hit remote central Siberia in 1908, unleashing energy equivalent to a 15-megaton nuclear bomb and wiping out 60 million trees."

• If the space rock hits, astronomers predict it will create a hole in Mars the size of Meteor Crater.

Sounds like it should be a pretty good show as long as it stays the hell away from Earth. Tune in next month.

Now, get out there and enjoy the weekend.