NATO to create 'spearhead' force

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Newport, Wales (CNN) -- NATO members agreed Friday to form a "spearhead" force of several thousand land troops ready to deploy within a few days, NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said, as the trans-Atlantic alliance grapples with the threats posed by Russia's interference in Ukraine and the rise of ISIS in Syria and Iraq

The troops would be backed by air, sea and special forces support, he said, with a command and control center and extra equipment in Eastern Europe.

"This decision sends a clear message: NATO protects all allies at all times," Rasmussen said on the second day of a NATO summit in Newport, Wales.

"And it sends a clear message to any potential aggressor: Should you even think of attacking one ally, you will be facing the whole alliance."

The new readiness action plan, which includes proposals for more short notice exercises, is intended to help NATO respond swiftly to Russian aggression and other international conflicts.

"In these turbulent times, NATO must be prepared to undertake the full range of missions and to defend allies against the full range of threats," Rasmussen said.

He said NATO members also "stand ready to assist Iraq" in its fight against Islamist extremists if Baghdad asks for help.

But pressed by reporters on exactly what aid NATO would offer, Rasmussen toned down his remarks, saying NATO is prepared to consider a "defense capability building mission" in Iraq.

Responses to threats posed by Russia's interference in Ukraine and the rise of ISIS in Syria and Iraq were at the heart of discussions Thursday on the first day of the alliance's meeting in Wales.

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NATO to create 'spearhead' force

NATO to launch 'spearhead' force

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Newport, Wales (CNN) -- NATO members agreed Friday to form a "spearhead" force of several thousand land troops ready to deploy within a few days, NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said, as the trans-Atlantic alliance grapples with the threats posed by Russia's interference in Ukraine and the rise of ISIS in Syria and Iraq

The troops would be backed by air, sea and special forces support, he said, with a command and control center and extra equipment in Eastern Europe.

"This decision sends a clear message: NATO protects all allies at all times," Rasmussen said on the second day of a NATO summit in Newport, Wales.

"And it sends a clear message to any potential aggressor: Should you even think of attacking one ally, you will be facing the whole alliance."

The new readiness action plan, which includes proposals for more short notice exercises, is intended to help NATO respond swiftly to Russian aggression and other international conflicts.

"In these turbulent times, NATO must be prepared to undertake the full range of missions and to defend allies against the full range of threats," Rasmussen said.

He said NATO members also "stand ready to assist Iraq" in its fight against Islamist extremists if Baghdad asks for help.

But pressed by reporters on exactly what aid NATO would offer, Rasmussen toned down his remarks, saying NATO is prepared to consider a "defense capability building mission" in Iraq.

Responses to threats posed by Russia's interference in Ukraine and the rise of ISIS in Syria and Iraq were at the heart of discussions Thursday on the first day of the alliance's meeting in Wales.

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NATO to launch 'spearhead' force

NATO: Cyberattack could trigger action

NATO says no third country can veto membership

NATO, responding to Russian warnings against Ukraine's bid to join the western alliance, said on Friday that no third country could veto its enlargement policy and approved new steps to advance Georgia towards membership.

"No third country has a veto over NATO enlargement," Rasmussen told a news conference on the second day of a summit of the U.S.-led defence pact, adding: "NATO's door remains open. Each country will be judged on its merits."

The 28-member alliance agreed on a package of measures to boost Georgia's defence capabilities and advance the former Soviet republic's preparations to join, he said. Russia and Georgia fought a brief war in 2008 after NATO agreed in principle that it and Ukraine would one day become members.

Rasmussen also said NATO stood ready, if requested, to help Iraq counter Islamic State fighters who have captured swathes of its territory and would cooperate on exchanging information on foreign fighters returning from the Middle Easta potential source of terrorism in Western countries.

Poland welcomes boost to NATO presence

Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski said on Friday his country greatly valued the decision by NATO to create a 'spearhead' rapid reaction force that will boost the alliance's presence in eastern Europe.

"We value very highly the fact that there is a progress in increasing the level of NATO readiness to create ... (a spearhead), including assigned forces that comprise around 5,000 troops for absolutely immediate reaction," Komorowski told a news briefing at a NATO summit in South Wales.

NATO stands by pact with Russia despite violation: Merkel

NATO stands by a 1997 agreement on cooperation with Russia even though Moscow has breached it through its actions in Ukraine, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday.

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NATO: Cyberattack could trigger action

Men Blaming Jennifer Lawrence & Kate Upon for Nude Pics Leak, Hate NSA Spying – Video


Men Blaming Jennifer Lawrence Kate Upon for Nude Pics Leak, Hate NSA Spying
The men who hate NSA spying blame Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton for leaked nude pictures http://www.theverge.com/2014/9/1/6092769/creeps http://metro.co....

By: David Pakman Show

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Men Blaming Jennifer Lawrence & Kate Upon for Nude Pics Leak, Hate NSA Spying - Video

Posted in NSA

'Isis are using Snowden leaks to evade US intelligence': Former NSA boss warns terror group are exploiting massive …

Chris Inglis, NSA deputy chief during leaks, says IS 'clearly' harder to find Says they altered tactics, allowing them to operate away from gaze of U.S. He says Snowden spill went 'way beyond disclosing privacy concerns' Leaks also cover NSA's top-secret 'means and methods' of hunting enemies

By Matthew Blake for MailOnline

Published: 07:28 EST, 5 September 2014 | Updated: 07:59 EST, 5 September 2014

On the run: Snowden has been on the run from U.S. authorities since he laid bare the extent of the NSA's spying programme, particularly on internet communication, such as emails, and social media

Islamic State extremists have studied and exploited the leaks made by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden to operate under the radar of U.S. intelligence, a former agency chief has claimed.

Chris Inglis said militants in Iraq and Syria are 'clearly' harder to track down since the rogue agent made freely available a wealth of top-secret information about how the U.S. government hunts its enemies online.

The terror group, Inglis said, has drastically altered its evasive tradecraft as a result of the data spill, and now operates only in the darkest corners of the internet, where they remain one step ahead of the intelligence community.

Inglis,who was the National Security Agency's deputy director when Snowden exposed how the NSA eavesdrops, said the leak 'went way beyond disclosing things that bore on privacy concerns', and delved deep into the agency's 'means and methods' used to stay on terrorists' tails.

He told the Washington Times: 'Having disclosed all of those methods, or at least some degree of those methods, it would be impossible to imagine that - as intelligent as they are in the use of technology, in the employment of communications for their own purposes - they wouldn't understand how they might be at risk to intelligence services around the world, not the least of which is the U.S. And they necessarily do what they think is in their best interest to defend themselves.'

Snowden has been on the run from U.S. authorities since he laid bare the extent of the NSA's spying programme, with particular regard to internet communication, such as emails, and social media.

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'Isis are using Snowden leaks to evade US intelligence': Former NSA boss warns terror group are exploiting massive ...

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SFPD keeps abortion clinics safe and gives First Amendment rights to protesters

For the past three weeks, police have been using a municipal code -- which bars people from aggressively pursuing others -- to keep abortion clinics in The City secure in the face of aggressive anti-abortion protesters, according to Police Chief Greg Suhr.

This effort, which is a stop-gap measure awaiting legislation in the works that will permanently deal with the issue, follows a June U.S. Supreme Court ruling that barred buffer zones -- such zones existed in San Francisco -- around such facilities.

In June, the Supreme Court struck down a Massachusetts law mandating a 35-foot security buffer around abortion clinics. The ruling in McCullen v. Coakley bars such buffers nationwide because it infringes on First Amendment rights.

But Wednesday night, Suhr told the Police Commission that the department has been enforcing a city code in order to keep clinics safe from aggressive protesters. Thus far, he noted, no one has been cited or arrested.

Suhr also mentioned legislation in the works that would allow police to move protesters away from a clinic for a time and then allow them to return. The idea, he added, would be to make sure abortion clinics are safe, can serve clients and that people's First Amendment rights are upheld.

"We have been working on legislation for the last few months in response to the Supreme Court ruling," Supervisor David Campos said. Those efforts, Campos said, have included Planned Parenthood, the Police Department and the City Attorney's Office.

Campos' legislation would be an anti-harassment ordinance preventing the "kind of harassment that we are seeing ... where people are being followed," he said. A similar law in Massachusetts is being used as a model.

"We will be introducing something very shortly," he said, adding that he would be glad to work with anyone on these efforts. To that end, Campos met with the Mayor's Office on Thursday to inform it for the first time of his legislation.

"The mayor and Supervisor Malia Cohen are working with the City Attorney's Office to craft legislation and it will be introduced in a few weeks," said Christine Falvey, a spokeswoman for Mayor Ed Lee. "The mayor wants to make sure that women and families in San Francisco are not denied access to family planning and reproductive health services."

The Mayor's Office said it was working on separate legislation since late July, although it is almost identical to Campos'.

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SFPD keeps abortion clinics safe and gives First Amendment rights to protesters

Bitcoin Definition | Investopedia

Bitcoin balances are kept using public and private "keys," which are long strings of numbers and letters linked through the mathematical encryption algorithm that was used to create them. The public key (comparable to a bank account number) serves as the address which is published to the world and to which others may send Bitcoin. The private key (comparable to an ATM PIN) is meant to be a guarded secret, and only used to authorize Bitcoin transmissions.

In March 2014, the IRS stated that all virtual currencies, including Bitcoin, would be taxed as property rather than currency. Gains or losses fromBitcoin held as capital will be realized as capital gains or losses, while Bitcoin held as inventory will incur ordinary gains or losses.

The independent individuals and companies who own the governing computing power and participate in the network, also known as "miners," are motivated by mining rewards (the release of new Bitcoin) and transaction fees paid in Bitcoin. These miners can be thought of as the decentralized authority enforcing the credibility of the Bitcoin network. New Bitcoin is being released to the miners at a fixed, but periodically declining rate, such that the total supply of Bitcoin approaches 21 million. One bitcoin is divisible to eight decimal places (100 millionth of one bitcoin), and this smallest unit is referred to as a Satoshi. If necessary, and if the participating miners accept the change, Bitcoin could eventually be made divisible to even more decimal places.

Style notes: According to theofficialBitcoinFoundation, the word "Bitcoin"is capitalized in the context of referring to the entity or concept, whereas "bitcoin" is written in the lower case when referring to a quantity of the currency (e.g. "I traded 20bitcoin"). The currency can be abbreviated toBTCor, less frequently,XBT. The plural form of the word can be either "bitcoin" or "bitcoins."

To learn more about this cryptocurrency, check outHow do I buy Bitcoins?

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Bitcoin Definition | Investopedia

What Is Bitcoin? – Gizmodo

Maybe you've heard of Bitcoinit wants to shake the entire global economy, and has become the financial bubble du jour with a skyrocketing value. It's online moneyan alternative to dollars and euros. Well what's that mean? It's complicated, but we break it down.

Bitcoin is not real money. It's an online "currency"virtual tokens that can be exchanged for goods and services at places that accept it, the same way you'd give someone a dollar for a cookie. But unlike a dollar, a Bitcoin has no serial number or any possible mechanism that could be used to trace it back to a buyer or seller. This makes it attractive to drug dealers and/or privacy advocates.

In their YouTube manifesto, Bitcoin's creators say they're going to revolutionize global finance the way the web changed publishing. So! Kind of a lofty goal, aiming to be a global currency up there with (or replacing) the dollar. Right now, that's still the pipiest of pipe dreams.

Aside from the software developers who work on new versions of the code that underpins Bitcoin, there's no Central Bitcoin Bankno virtual Federal Reserve. Bitcoins are backed by no one and nothing and completely unregulated.

When you write your friend a check, money from your account is withdrawn from your bank, and then transferred to her bank, and then she withdraws it as cash (maybe). With BitCoin, there are no middlemen (other than the users that comprise the network itself). Money goes straight from you to whomever, through the BitCoin P2P system, with no intermediary agency passing along the chips.

This is where it starts to get a little weird! Unlike traditional currency, that's backed up by something, (be it gold, silver, or a central bank), Bitcoins are generated out of thin air. Through a process called "mining," a little app sits on your computer and slowlyvery slowlycreates new Bitcoins in exchange for providing the computational power to process transactions. When a new batch of coins is ready, they're distributed in probabilistic accordance to whomever had the highest computing power in the mining process. The system is rigged so that no more than 21 million BitCoins will ever existso the mining process will yield less and less as time goes on, and more people sign up. This makes the whole system a lot sweeter for early adopters.

Compared to "real money," few places accept Bitcoin at the moment. But that's quickly changing. There's decent incentive for small businesses to accept Bitcoinsit's free to use, and there aren't any transaction fees. At the moment you can buy the services of a web designer, indie PC games, homemade jewelry, guns, and even cocaine. If the internet is the Wild West, BitCoin is its wampum.

Just like you can trade in yen for dollars, you can swap your BitCoins with other users for several "real world" currencies. And right now, the BitCoin is trading very high! When we first published this post in May 2011, one Bitcoin was worth $7.50. Today it's over $250. And climbing. And climbing and climbing. Not too shabbythe world is starting to see its first Bitcoin millionaires.

But like any bubbleor perhaps more so than most bubblesthe digital coin rush could collapse at any moment, leaving a lot of people with a lot of virtual nothing.

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What Is Bitcoin? - Gizmodo

Bitcoin operator admits to aiding drug dealers launder $1M

Disgraced bitcoin evangelist Charlie Shrem is already talking about a comeback.

Minutes after pleading guilty to helping drug dealers launder $1 million via the virtual currency through the illicit Silk Road website Shrems lawyer said his client is hoping the bitcoin industry welcomes him back with open arms.

If permitted to be involved in bitcoin, he would pursue it doggedly, said Marc Agnifilo outside Manhattan federal court on Thursday. If God smiles upon him, hopefully he will be back in the bitcoin business, Agnifilo said.

Any pals of the 24-year-old felon, however, shouldnt plan the welcome-back party yet.

Under his plea agreement, Shrem faces up to five years in prison.

I knew that what I did was wrong, Shrem told Judge Jed Rakoff. I am pleading guilty because I am guilty.

Shrem ran BitInstant, a bitcoin exchange, before he was busted by the FBI.

His co-conspirator, Robert Faiella who ran an unlicensed money-transmitting business that Shrem was helping also pleaded guilty on Thursday to facilitating bitcoin transactions that he knew were being used to buy illegal narcotics.

Faiella, 54, also faces up to five years in prison.

Shrem at his office in 2013.Photo: JC Rice

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Bitcoin operator admits to aiding drug dealers launder $1M

Bitcoin backer Shrem pleads guilty to operating unlicensed payments

Bitcoin backer Charlie Shrem pleaded guilty Thursday of knowingly transmitting money intended to facilitate drug trafficking on the Silk Road online underground market, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York said.

Shrem, a founder of the Bitcoin Foundation, is said to have been associated with Robert M. Faiella, who allegedly ran a Bitcoin exchange on the Silk Road from about December 2011 to October 2013, and went by the username BTCKing.

Silk Road, which was accessible only through the Tor anonymity service, used the anonymous bitcoin virtual currency to keep the identity of sellers and buyers private. Until its closure in October last year, Silk Road is alleged to have been a thriving market for drugs and other illegal products and services, including fake passports.

Faiella sold Bitcoins to users wanting to buy illegal drugs on the site, without registered his business as a money transmitting business with the U.S. Treasury Department, as required under U.S. federal regulations, according to government charges.

He filled the orders through a company in New York, which had Shrem as its chief executive officer and also its compliance officer, in charge of complying with federal anti-money laundering laws, from about August 2011 until about July 2013, when the company ceased operating. The statement from the U.S. attorneys office did not refer to the companys name Bitinstant.

Both Faiella and Shrem pleaded guilty before District Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York for operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, through which they knowingly transmitted money intended to facilitate criminal activityspecifically, drug trafficking on Silk Road, according to the U.S. attorneys office.

The lawyers for both Shrem and Faiella could not be immediately contacted. There was no record of the guilty pleas in the online records of the court.

Faiella and Shrem will be sentenced by Judge Rakoff next year on Jan 20. Shrem, who pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting Faiella in his unlicensed money transmitting business, carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, as also Faiella who pleaded guilty to one count of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.

Shrem quit as vice chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation in January after charges were brought against him by the U.S. attorneys office. The foundation, while accepting his resignation, quoted from the indictment which said that Bitcoin are not inherently illegal and have known legitimate uses.

John Ribeiro covers outsourcing and general technology breaking news from India for The IDG News Service. More by John Ribeiro

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Bitcoin backer Shrem pleads guilty to operating unlicensed payments

Comets: Zoom Astronomy – Enchanted Learning

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PARTS OF A COMET Nucleus: The nucleus is the frozen center of a comet's head. It is composed of ice, gas, and dust. The nucleus contains most of the comet's mass but is very small (about 1 to 10 km across - or more).

Coma: The coma is the roughly spherical blob of gas that surrounds the nucleus of a comet; it is about a million km across. The coma is comprised of water vapor, carbon dioxide gas, ammonia, dust, and neutral gases that have sublimed from the solid nucleus. The coma and the nucleus form the head of a comet.

Ion Tail: A tail of charged gases (ions) always faces away from the sun because the solar wind (ions streaming from the sun at high velocities) pushes it away (it is also called the plasma tail). When the comet is approaching the Sun, the ion tail trails the comet: when the comet is leaving of the Sun, the ion tail leads. The tail fades as the comet moves far from the Sun. The ion tail can be well over 100 million km long.

Dust Tail: The dust tail is a long, wide tailcomposed of microscopic dust particles that are buffeted by photons emitted from the Sun; this tail curves slightly due to the comet's motion. The tail fades as the comet moves far from the Sun. Hydrogen Envelope: Hydrogen gas surrounds the coma of the comet and trails along for millions of miles (it is usually between the ion tail and the dust tail). The hydrogen envelope is about 10 million km across at the nucleus of the comet and about 100 million km long. It is bigger when the comet is near the Sun.

A COMET'S ORBIT Comets orbit the Sun in highly elliptical orbits. Their velocity increases greatly when they are near the Sun and slows down at the far reaches of the orbit. Since the comet is light only when it is near the Sun (and is it vaporizing), comets are dark (virtually invisible) throughout most of their orbit. The solar wind pushes the tail away from the Sun.

Some comets crash into the Sun or get so close that they burn up; these comets are called sungrazers.

COMET EXPLORATION NASA's Stardust Mission will visit the Comet Wild 2 in 2004. It will take a sample of comet particles and return them to Earth. The small spacecraft (about 770 pounds = 350 kg) was launched February 7, 1999 and rendezvoused with comet Wild 2 in January, 2004. It will return to Earth on January 15, 2006, and land in western Utah, USA. Comet Wild 2 (aka Comet 81P) is a short-period comet that was discovered by the Swiss astronomer Paul Wild on January 6, 1978. The comet's nucleus is about 3 miles (5 km) across. Wild 2 orbits the Sun every 6.39 years; its elliptical orbit ranges from about Mars' orbit to Jupiter's orbit.

COSMIC SNOWBALLS There is a new and very controversial theory that comets (composed of frozen water) are constantly bombarding the Earth. These "cosmic snowballs" have (perhaps) been seen by the visible imaging system of the Polar Satellite. In theory, these frozen comets vaporize in the atmosphere, adding water vapor to the environment.

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Comets: Zoom Astronomy - Enchanted Learning

Workington Comets suffer heavy defeat at Sheffield

Last updated at 11:04, Friday, 05 September 2014

Sheffield 52 Workington Comets 40: Workington Comets slumped to a heavy defeat against the bottom side in the Premier League.

Kyle Howarth, front, battles with Sheffield's Ben Wilson

The Comets had been looking at the very least for a bonus point but they returned home with nothing, falling away after a bright start to the meeting.

After six heats the two sides were all square at 18-18 but from that point the Tigers pulled clear and a 5-1 to the Comets in the last heat was scant consolation for what had gone before.

The Comets had also lost 52-40 at Owlerton in a League Cup meeting early in the season, so to that degree they were at least consistent.

Before the last heat maximum the visitors had grabbed a 5-1 in heat five and the only other race advantage came when a second place from Josh Grajczonek as a tac ride helped them to a 5-3.

Co-promoter Steve Whitehead was acting team manager and admitted he was disappointed by the defeat.

He said: I know they are bottom of the league but they rode better than that tonight. Simon Stead is still class; Nico Covatti had his best meeting for them and all the other chipped in well.

Kyle Howarth had declared himself unfit on Tuesday after a crash on Monday but today he said he was ready to go. We sorted that and he was excellent. He desperately wanted to ride in heat 15 and he followed Josh round for a 5-1.

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Workington Comets suffer heavy defeat at Sheffield

What Comets, Parking Lots and Charcoal Have in Common

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In this delightful portrayalof Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, we see the 2.5-mile-wide object close to true colorwith downtown Los Angeles, Calif. for size reference.Compare to the same image (below) as viewed from space. Despite appearances in photos, comets are coal-black objects. Credit: ESA and anosmicovni

All the pictures weve seen of Rosettas target comet 67P/C-G show it reflecting brightly against the background of outer space. And well they should. Space is black as night. But if we were to see the comet against a more familiar earthly backdrop, wed be shocked by its appearance. Instead of icy white, Rosettas would appear the color of a fresh asphalt parking lot. Most comets, including Rosettas, are no brighter than the charcoal briquettes you use to grill hamburgers.

Astronomers rank an objects reflectivityby its albedo (al-BEE-do). A body that reflects 100% of the lightis said to have an albedo of 1.0.Venus albedo is .75 and reflects 75% of the light it receives from the sun, while the darker Earths average is 30%. Trees and thedarker-toned continents reflect much less light compared to Venus pervasive cloud cover. In contrast, the coal-dark moon reflects only 12% of the sunlight falling on it and fresh asphalt just 4% smack in the middle ofthe 2-6% range of most known comets.

Photo of Comet 67P/C-G taken by Rosetta on August 6, 2014. Against the blackness of space, it appears whitish-grey. Credit: ESA

The brightest object in the solar system is Saturns icy moon Enceladus with areflectivity of 99%.So why are comets so dark? Its funny because before we sent the Giotto spacecraft to snap close-up pictures of Halleys Comet in 1986, astronomers thought comets, being made of reflective ice, were naturally white.Not Halley and not every comet seen up close since then.

Comets are as dark as charcoal but appear light only because the sun illuminates them against the blackness of outer space. I shone a flashlight on a charcoal briquette (left) to simulate comet lighting.The same charcoal, when viewed in normal light, appears black. Credit; Bob King

Astronomers hypothesizethat a comet grows a dark skin both from accumulated dust andirradiation of its pristine ices by cosmic rays. Cosmic rays loosen oxygen atoms from water ice, freeing them to combine with simple carbon molecules present on comets to form larger, more complex and darker compounds resembling tars and crude oil.

Comet colored parking lots have been the rage for years. Both comets and fresh asphalt reflect about the same amount of light. Credit: Bob King

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What Comets, Parking Lots and Charcoal Have in Common