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AN ASTEROID with the destructive power of 2,700 megatons of explosive TNT risks slamming into the Earth later this year, NASA’s asteroid trackers have revealed. The imposing asteroid, dubbed Asteroid FT3, will come barrelling past our home planet on October 3, 2019. NASA expects the flyby to mark the first of 165 approaches between 2019 and 2116. On any one of these asteroid flybys, the risk of cataclysm is low but should the asteroid veer off course and straight into Earth, the results could be cataclysmic. Asteroid FT3 is a monstrous rocky object measuring an estimated 1,115ft (340m) in diameter....

Says Senate's Current Requirement of 60 Votes to Get Anything Done Represents Fundamental Shift in Congress (CBS) The Senate's frequent use of the filibuster, a procedural tool used to block legislative progress, represents a "fundamental shift" in Congress, Vice President Joe Biden said today on "Face the Nation." The Republican minority in the Senate has used the filibuster, which requires 60 votes to bypass, to block significant bills like the Democrats' health care reform package.