"close But No Cigar"

[HARDCORE]

?CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR?

OK Tom (Ridge), what is Homeland Security going to do about that 1.2 mile wide chunk of space rock (2002NT7) that may (or may not) have a bead on Earth? Talk about your ?Intergalactic Terrorism!? The only problem here is - there ain?t nobody we can hunt down for this one, save for Mother Nature Herself!

This space monster, but one of many that may slam into Earth some day, may again threaten our tranquillity in 2060? The devastation that could result from impact, would be continental in scale, considering mass, velocity, trajectory, and all that good stuff! But not to worry fellow travelers - with technology being what it is, turning ?Mr. Reagan?s Star Wars Parafenelia? outwards, just might do the trick! If I am wrong and we do get clobbered, I will apologize, if I am still capable of talking that is? Hell, I?ll only be 120 years old by then!!

Hey, ya know what, we can always send up the Space Marines to blow-away this threatening asteroid, or possibly Bruce Willis (Armageddon) to take out this space marble, or maybe we could even employ Sean Connery (Meteor) or Morgan Freeman (Deep Impact) to slide-rule out a solution? Hell no, why bother, ?WE?VE GOT TOM RIDGE and HOMELAND SECURITY!!?

VERITAS