And it's official - next month NASA will launch a probe to the asteroid Bennu - which some astronomers think could smash its way into the Earth sometime over the next hundred or so years.

The probe - which is named OSIRIS-REX - will take two years to reach Bennu - after which time it will spend 505 days mapping out its surface from a distance of 5 kilometers.

OSIRIS will also take a small sample from Bennu's surface and return it to earth sometime around 2023.

Scientists hope the sample will tell them more about the materials that made up the solar system millions of years ago.

It could also help give them more information about Bennu and help prepare for its still possible crash landing on Earth.

And while that's all well and good - where's Bruce Willis when you need him?

-Thom

(What do you think? Tell us here.)

Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 7pm and 10pm... Zachary Roth - The Great Suppression, Voting Rights, Corporate Cash, and the Conservative Assault on Democracy (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT or Free Speech TV, and catch past shows on Youtube)

Friday's Daily Stack 

Article: "Three Republican Judges Restore Wisconsin Voter Suppression Law" by Ian Millhiser.

Video: Guess Where the Kochs Are?.

Article: "Regulators Notice It's Always Sunny In Arizona" by Samantha Page.

Article: "Hillary Clinton Campaign Says She Would Reschedule Marijuana" by Daniel White.

Article: "Obama puts Congress on notice: TPP is coming" by Adam Behsudi.

Article: "Gabby Douglas a 'Sorry American' for National Anthem Response, but Michael Phelps' Laughter is 'So Moving'" by Kiersten Willis .

Article: "After Historic Swimming Gold, Simone Manuel Addresses Police Brutality And Racism" by Lindsay Gibbs.

Article: "Donald Trump Calls Obama 'Founder of ISIS' and Says It Honors Him" by Nick Corasaniti.

Article: "Donald Trump Explains His Obama-Founded-ISIS Claim as 'Sarcasm'" by Alan Rappeport.

Video: Great Minds P1: Karen Shragg - The Ticking Time Bomb - Population.

Video: Great Minds P2: Karen Shragg - Is Overpopulation Our Biggest Threat?.

Video: Cowspiracy.

Video: Hillary Clinton Economic Policy Speech, August 11, 2016.

Book: "Walking Your Blues Away: How to Heal the Mind and Create Emotional Well-Being" by Thom Hartmann.

Book: Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging by Sebastian Junger.

Quote: "It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters." - Epictetus.

Article: "The parking ticket - Make sure you get to the end of the story" by packman.

Poem: "If" by Rudyard Kipling.

Article: "Watch Johnny Depp Play Donald Trump As A Clueless Loser In 'funny Or Die Presents: Donald Trump's The Art Of The Deal The Movie'" by Meghan O'Keefe.

Poem: "A Pict Song" by Rudyard Kipling.

Article: "Roger Ailes Used Fox News Budget to Finance 'Black Room' Campaigns Against His Enemies" by Gabriel Sherman.

Movie: "All The Way".

Play: "All the Way (play)" by Robert Schenkkan.

Play: "The Great Society" by Robert Schenkkan.

Clip: Phone conversation between President Lyndon Johnson and Sen. Everett Dirksen (R) 968. "Here's the latest information we've got... This is treason. ... "

Law: "Voting Rights Act of 1965".

Law: "Civil Rights Act of 1964" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Can you get the benefits of exercise by having a hot bath?" by Michael Mosley.

Site: Arctic News.

Event: August 24: "Our Bernie Revolution Organizing Kickoff".

Site: Our Revolution.

Law: "36 U.S. Code � 301 - National anthem".

Article: "The Colorado River" by National Geographic.

Article: "Rio Grande " by Encyclop�dia Britannica.

Video: I'm Sick of The So-Called "News".

Article: "Fairness Doctrine" by Wikipedia.

Book: Plenty Ladylike: A Memoir by Claire McCaskill with Terry Ganey.

Article: "Are We Really Getting Smarter?" by James R. Flynn.

 

Talk Media News Segment:
- Bob Ney 

GoFundMe: "Killing 'Atticus Finch': The Political Assassination of Don Siegelman".

Article: "Trump backs away from ISIS claim, says it was 'sarcasm'" by TMN.

Article: "Fox's Pirro: Obama set ISIS leader free in 2009" by PunditFact.

Article: "Syria conflict: Aleppo hit by clashes despite Russia aid pledge" by BBC.

Article: "Syria conflict: Aleppo medics appeal to Obama for help" by BBC.

Article: "CENTCOM accused of manipulating intel on ISIS" by CBS News.

Book: "Sideswiped: Lessons Learned Courtesy of the Hit Men of Capitol Hill" by Robert Ney.

Site: "Goats for the old Goat".

Site: Governor Free Don Siegelman 

Article: "Quick Morning News - Is Trump worried - about losing? - August 12, 2016" by Victoria Jones.

Article: "Quick Morning News - Trump: Obama is 'Founder of ISIS' - August 11, 2016" by Victoria Jones.

Hour Three: How Stronger Labor Makes a Stronger America
- Randi Weingarten, American Federation of Teachers(AFT)/Hillary for America      

Article: "Card check" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Employee Free Choice Act" by Wikipedia.

Act: "National Labor Relations Act", 1935.

 

Article: "The fight for water: Nevada taps Lake Mead and hunts for 'Utah' water" by Amy Joi O'Donoghue, May 14 2012.

Article: "Greg Boyle" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Homeboy Industries" by Wikipedia.

Book: What Would Jefferson Do?: A Return to Democracy by Thom Hartmann by Thom Hartmann.

Book: "The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight: Revised and Updated: The Fate of the World and What We Can Do Before It's Too Late" by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "Proportional representation" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Ranked Choice Voting / Instant Runoff" (RCV) by FairVote.

Article: "Instant-runoff voting" by Wikipedia.

Video: President Obama Roasts Donald Trump At White House Correspondents' Dinner! (2011).

Article: "DEA decides not to loosen restrictions on marijuana, keeping it schedule 1 (with heroin)" by German Lopez.

Monday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 12-3pm ET 

 

We'll have the latest news and information...everything you need to know to win the water cooler wars...

 

And, the best of the rest of the news along with your calls right here on...

 

The Thom Hartmann Program, Occupying The Media 3 hours a day 5 days a week" for "we the people"

 

And don't forget...Democracy is NOT a spectator sport...it begins with you...