Is Comet Elenin Disintegrating?

Comet Elenin Could Be Disintegrating

August 30, 2011

Astronomers monitoring Comet Elenin have noticed the comet has decreased in brightness the past week, and the coma is now elongating and diffusing. Some astronomers predict the comet will disintegrate and not survive perihelion, its closest approach to the Sun.

On August 19, a massive solar flare and coronal mass ejection hit the comet, which may have been the beginning of the end for the much ballyhooed lump of ice and dirt.

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Comet Elenin as seenby the STEREO HI1-B on Aug. 6, 2011, from about 7 million kilometers from the spacecraft. Credit: NASA/STEREO

“We’ve been following it in the STEREO spacecraft images and a number of amateurs have been following it in their telescopes,” said Australian amateur astronomer Ian Musgrave, author of the Astroblog website. “Shortly after the coronal mass ejection the comet flared up and you could see some beautiful details in the tail, with the tail was twisting about in the solar wind. But shortly after that Earth- bound amateurs reported a huge decrease in the intensity of the comet. We think it may presage a falling apart of the comet.”

One journalist joked that maybe Comet Elenin just couldn’t take all the doomsday talk and publicity.

“It really has been a beautiful little comet and it deserves a better fate than to be overhyped by doom-sayers,” said Musgrave.

Elenin is a long period comet originating from the outer edges of our solar system, and Musgrave noted that comets coming from the Oort cloud which are making their first pass through the solar system tend to be under-performers in terms of brightness. “They don’t brighten as quickly as comets that come around more than once,” he said, “and in looking at the relationship between the brightness and the distance from the Sun, we find empirically that comets that brighten on roughly the same speed as Elenin tend to be likely to fall apart at perihelion.”

However, Musgrave added, each comet is unique. “Some comets will survive and some won’t. The fact that this comet decreased in brightness after the CME, possibly indicates that the comet will not survive. Another possibility is that merely the CME wiped away the coma — the bright cloud of particles around the comet — and the volatiles of the comet might take awhile to come back and recreate the coma, if it does survive.”

Elenin’s mass is smaller than average and its trajectory will take it no closer than 34 million km (21 million miles) of Earth as it circles the Sun. It will make its closest approach to Earth on October 16th, but be closest to the Sun on Sept. 10.

Animation of 5 images taken Aug 19,22,23,27,29 displaying the nucleus of Comet Elenin in the process of disintegrating. Credit: Michael Mattiazzo. Used by permission

Another Australian amateur Michael Mattiazzo has been taking images of the comet (see his website, Southern Comets) and he has noticed that the nucleus appears to be elongating. When that occurs, usually the comet disintegrates or splits apart. Above is an animation Mattiazzo created from images he took of Comet Elenin on August 19, 22, 23, 27 & 29.

You can see a wide-field view of the comet by astrophotographer Rob Kaufmanns, comparing the view from August 19, 23 and 26 at this link.

A similar process took place just a few weeks ago with another comet, 213P Van Ness.

Do comets break apart often?

“You don’t see it it that often, but it happens surprisingly more than people think,” Musgrave said. “Van Ness just happened, but ever couple of years there is a comet that visibly breaks up into fragments, maybe about 6 comets in the last 10 years — excluding the Kreutz-sun-grazer family of comets which split and vaporize on a regular basis.”

A closeup photo of the breakup of Comet S4 LINEAR taken on August 6, 2000 by the European Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile. Credit: ESO

Unfortunately, the likely demise of Comet Elenin hasn’t put a lid on the doomsdayers who have predicted earthquakes or three days of darkness or a collision with Earth.

“The doomsdayers are just saying that more bad things will happen!” laughed Musgrave. “But you have to remember that when a comet breaks up, the fragments stay in the same orbit. If it evaporates, you’ll have a mass of rubble and gas on the same orbit. People don’t seem to get that space is big, really big, and when a comet breaks up it follows Newtons Laws and the fragments will slowly draw apart, but over the timescale that we see them, the difference will be so miniscule.”

Sources: Conversation with Ian Musgrave, Astroblog, AstroBob, Southern Comets, STEREO

Pakalert Press

Gibson Guitar Raid: And the plot thickens

Another interesting tidbit in the Gibson Guitar saga

 posted at 6:50 pm on August 30, 2011 by Tina Korbe

regular view

Commenters yesterday wondered whether Gibson Guitar CEO Henry Juszkiewicz is a Republican donor. Yep, he is. It also turns out that Chris Martin IV, the CEO of Gibson competitor, C.F. Martin and Company, is a long-time donor to Democrats. C.F. Martin uses the same “questionable” Indian rosewood in its guitars, but has the federal government raided a C.F. Martin factory? Didn’t think so. Juszkiewicz said yesterday he feels like this is a personal attack. Could it be because it is?

John Hinderaker over at Power Line words it perfectly:

It has come out that Juszkiewicz is a Republican donor, while the CEO of one of his principal competitors, C.F. Martin & Company, is a Democratic donor. Martin reportedly uses the same wood, but DOJ hasn’t raided them, leading to speculation that the Obama administration is sending a warning to Republican businessmen that they had better not oppose his re-election, lest they face criminal investigations. Normally such speculation would not be credible, but Eric Holder has politicized the Department of Justice to a point where such questions must be taken seriously. …

If nothing else, this incident illustrates the misguided priorities of the Obama administration. Harassing American businesses on frivolous grounds is not exactly what our economy needs at the moment. But the anti-business Obama administration just can’t help itself.

It’s also worth noting that the U.S. is a “trivial” importer of rosewood from India and Madagascar. According to Hinderaker, 95 percent of it goes to China. So, the whole “it’s for the trees” argument doesn’t really hold up.

http://hotair.com/archives/2011/08/30/another-interesting-tidbit-in-the-gibson-guitar-saga/?print=1

Dispute over Muslim headwear sends scores of police to Playland; 10 arrested

UPDATED, 6:20 PM: RYE — A large disturbance broke out at Playland Park today when Muslim visitors got angry that the park was enforcing its ban on headgear by prohibiting the women from wearing their traditional head coverings on some rides.

Police from at least nine other agencies converged on the park beginning at 3 p.m. after county police sought assistance in responding to the disturbance, which involved about 30 to 40 people. At least 10 park visitors were arrested, mostly for disorderly conduct, and two park rangers were injured, authorities said.

The park was crowded with Muslims celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr, one of Islam’s two major holidays. Most were from community groups around New York City as part of a day-long event arranged by the Muslim American Society of New York.

Parks officials had “painstakingly” told the organizer about the headgear ban, said parks spokesman Peter Tartaglia, but he said that the rules might not have been communicated by the organizer to some attendees. The ban was implemented about four years ago to keep hats and other head coverings from landing on tracks and derailing rides.

“It’s a safety issue on rides. If it’s a scarf, you could choke,” Tartaglia said.

Accounts of what had happened varied, but everyone agreed the dispute began after park-goers were told the headgear ban applied to women wearing traditional Muslim head coverings, known as hijabs.

Tartaglia said once word of that got out there were “a lot of unhappy people.”

He said park officials were in the process of arranging refunds when members of the Muslim group got into a scuffle with each other.

The two rangers, seasonal county police employees, were hurt trying to break it up, he said. He said one suffered an injured knee and the other an injured shoulder.

Lola Ali, 16, of Astoria said she had witnessed a group of girls and women wearing hijabs go to park security to confront them about the headgear issue.

She said the women were upset and yelling. She said the security officers started pushing them away and the girls stood their ground, at which point the security officers grabbed them, pushed them to the ground and handcuffed them.

Men within the park saw this and tried to intervene, Ali said, and the situation went downhill from there.

“They were beating down the girls then they started beating down the guys,” she said of the security officers.

Earlier, a park cashier told a Journal News reporter that a woman wearing a hijab either pushed or hit a ride operator who forbade her from going on the ride. She said a police officer tried to restrain the woman and the woman’s husband took offense, at which point a multiple-person fight broke out.

The park was never closed to attendees but for a time new visitors were not being allowed in. Crowds were being turned away at Playland Parkway and Forest Avenue. Officials said late in the afternoon that they were slowly reopening the park to new visitors and that the group’s religious ceremony planned for 9 p.m. could still occur.

The organizer had put together the gathering with an offer of $20 ride-all-day wristbands and $3 spectator wristbands. Visitors had come from around the tri-state area to take advantage of the offer.

Brooklyn resident Amr Khater, who had come to the park at about noon with his family, said his family was told about the hijab rule by park employees when they arrived.

“Everybody got mad, everybody got upset,” he said. “It’s our holiday. Why would you do this to us?”

He said he had left the park and was not being allowed to return, but his children and wife were still inside.

Eid-ul-Fitr marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan. It is a three-day period during which Muslims give to charity and celebrate their completion of Ramadan’s requirements with family and their community.

At 4:30 p.m., more than an hour and a half after the incident started, nearly three dozen cruisers blocked Playland’s entrance and a helicopter was flying overhead. A reporter counted nearly 60 cruisers on the scene from various agencies.

Tartaglia said the county believed a mass response was required “as a safety precaution.”

Playland’s policies, posted on its website, include: “All items and clothing must be appropriately secured while on a ride; some smaller items can be stored/secured in cargo pockets or waist pouches. Hats must be secured, and jackets/sweaters must be worn properly and not around the waist while on a ride. Some rides do not allow backpacks, purses or head gear of any kind.”

Ali and Gina Shibah of Yonkers said the amount of police response was unnecessary.

“Sixty vehicles, it’s wasting our taxpayer dollars,” Ali Shibah said.

Sal Mohumed of Brooklyn said he hoped for a refund for himself and his two cousins.

“I thought we would come and play in Playland,” he said. “There’s no playing here. Coney Island is better than this.”

http://www.lohud.com/article/20110830/NEWS02/110830004/Dispute-sends-scores-police-Playland-park-reportedly-closed

 

Muslims denounce bill to ban ‘foreign laws’

Last Updated: August 17. 2011 1:00AM

Muslims denounce bill to ban ‘foreign laws’

Community leaders call state rep’s plan divisive, unnecessary

Oralandar Brand-Williams/ The Detroit News

Detroit —Opposition is mounting among Muslims against pending legislation that would ban Michigan courts from considering “foreign laws” — including Sharia, or Islamic law.

Muslim and community leaders gathered Tuesday in Midtown to denounce legislation from state Rep. Dave Agema, R-Grandville, as divisive, unnecessary and mean-spirited.

“This plan goes against our country’s core values of accepting people from all races and walks of life,” said state Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, who is Muslim. “We simply cannot move forward with this plan.

“It’s racism at its core.”

Similar measures are under consideration in 25 other state legislatures, and supporters say the protections are needed. The Michigan bill doesn’t mention Sharia, but watchdog groups say they’ve identified 50 cases nationwide that could be influenced by the religious rules. Most involved divorce or child custody.

Another sponsor of the Michigan bill, Rep. Martin Knollenberg, R-Troy, said the legislation is necessary because “we shouldn’t allow other laws to usurp the state constitution.”

He scoffed at critics who called the bill racist: “Where does it say (in the bill) it’s anti-Muslim?”

Agema last week called the accusations of bigotry “hogwash.”

A House committee has yet to take up discussion of the bill. The Council of American-Islamic Relations’ Michigan chapter announced Tuesday it would sue if it becomes law. Gov. Rick Snyder’s office hasn’t done an analysis of the measure, said his spokeswoman, Geralyn Lasher.

“We don’t know if this is an issue taking place or whether there is a need” for a law, she said.

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee also encouraged members Tuesday to contact their state representatives and urge them to oppose the bill.

bwilliams@detnews.com

http://detnews.com/article/20110817/…-laws%E2%80%99

The Racial Violence that Dare Not Speak Its Name

Recent flash mob violence has alerted Americans to a troubling wave of sadistic racial mayhem. A notable outbreak occurred in Denver in 2009, setting a pattern of delay, denial, and silence. Now that same scourge has returned to Denver, among many other places.

In 2009, a four month wave of mayhem broke out in Denver. There were at least 26 violent robberies committed by two black gangs. The victims were — without exception — whites and Hispanics. When the dust settled from that initial spate of violence, victims were left with injuries ranging from a skull fracture to broken noses and shattered eye sockets. The local Denver ABC news affiliate summarized the crime spree:

Black gangs roaming downtown Denver often vented their hatred for white victims before assaulting and robbing them during a four-month crime wave, according to interviews and court records obtained by 7NEWS.

That is not the language of a conservative commentator; it’s simply a mainstream local news report from an American city that has witnessed widespread racial violence.

The first-hand accounts and surveillance videos of the 2009 attacks are shocking. These weren’t sucker punches or fair fights — the attackers swing madly and rapidly with a viciousness that can only come from blind cruelty. The victims, who can be seen in interviews, were kind-looking, ordinary people. The victims were mostly either gay or straight couples. They didn’t provoke the attacks in any conceivable way. The attackers sometimes fractured skulls, or broke eye sockets, and left one victim in a coma. There were a total of 26 attacks from July 17 to Nov. 17.

An incredible 38 people were arrested in connection with this campaign of racist violence. Thirty were ultimately charged, all black. Has this number of arrests been made against any violent white supremacist or right wing organization in the last 50 years?

The story first came to light in 2009 when a source inside the Denver police department said that the department was “keeping the public in the dark” about the attacks. Court documents show that the police did indeed have knowledge of a pattern of racial attacks, but remained silent for 27 days. One victim complained that, had the police informed the public sooner, he could have protected himself. The same group responsible for that violence is suspected in the murder of Andrew Graham, a young graduate student who was senselessly shot in 2010.

Late last month, Denver saw a possible return to violence, as couples leaving restaurants were being attacked by a group of black men with baseball bats. The Denver Police have renewed warnings of those attacks.

The brutality in Denver is disturbingly similar to violence occurring elsewhere, nationwide. In the last few months alone, a young white lady named Shaina Perry was taunted and beaten in Milwaukee. A young white man named Carter Strange had his skull fractured by a mob in South Carolina. Dawid Strucinski was beaten into a coma by a mob in Bayonne. Anna Taylor, Emily Guendelsberger, and Thomas Fitzgerald were beaten and kicked to the ground in separate Philadelphia flash mobs. Every weekend in July, mobs have attacked in Greensboro, NC. In a mostly-white suburb of Cleveland, witnesses reported large groups of “teens” walking through the streets, “shouting profanities and racial epithets,” and one man was viciously beaten while leaving a restaurant with his wife and friends. In all of those cases, the victims were white and the attackers were black.

Then there are the ominous stories that no one has ever heard about. For instance, a mob of 150 “young people” descended on a small, predominantly white NJ town named Winfield Township during a firefighter’s carnival. Perhaps the townspeople are merely lucky that there wasn’t violence. Isn’t the racial mob mentality scary enough that we shouldn’t have to wait for violence before we take it seriously?

It cannot be emphasized enough that these attacks often occur in suburban areas where the black groups have to leave their own neighborhoods and purposefully travel to areas that are predominantly non-black, to attack non-black victims. For instance, in one of the many flash mob attacks in Chicago, Trovulus Pickett, 17, is part of a group that attacked and robbed several victims, including a 68-year-old doctor. The attacks occurred in the North side, which is 15 miles away from Pickett’s home. This indicates a serious level of planning and potential racial targeting. If these were just run-of-the mill robberies, it wouldn’t be too surprising. But the social problem we’re looking at is large groups, sometimes numbering in the hundreds, sometimes armed, engaging in racially-focused violent crimes.

There is quite simply no way for a politically correct society to grasp these events, much less effectively deal with them. Liberals have reached the depths of self-deception and self-censorship in response. The Washington Post, New York Times, and the Chicago Tribune, have all openly stated that they will refuse to report on the racial facts of these violent crimes. The Los Angeles Times explains that they don’t want to “unfairly stigmatize racial groups.” They prefer the soft bigotry of low expectations instead.

These flash mobs have turned the comfortable narrative of racism on its head. Politicians, the media, academics, and the legal community do not have the capacity to face the issue. The reigning dogma of white racism is too deeply entrenched. There is a small grievance industry built around condemning white racism and intolerance, real or imagined. Indeed, the welfare state itself is in large part based on the assumption that whites need to give more to achieve racial equality, as reflected in President Obama’s lament that the civil rights movement didn’t focus on economic redistribution. Legal treatises complain that the racist white power structure grows into the bitter fruit of anti-minority racist violence. For instance, the work of Mari Matsuda and Richard Delgado is featured in countless undergraduate courses, and is ubiquitous in graduate and law school courses. They argue that hate speech is a severe social problem and that such speech, along with other tools of racism, keeps minorities in an inferior position (1). While academics dwell on hateful speech, the actual violence continues. We all pay the price, as racial guilt is used to extort tax money for the welfare state, which fosters the mobs. The PC status quo will not acknowledge the fact that the worst form of racism today is black mob violence.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/…_its_name.html

Sex, video and NM State Trooper

$46,000 Moves USB Vibrator From Dream to Reality

I don’t get it! 

$46,000 Moves USB Vibrator From Dream to Reality

Published August 30, 2011

| News Corp Australian Papers

Crave

The Duet USB drive vibrator, which has already gained more than $40,000 in crowd-funding.

The Duet USB drive is sleek, waterproof, comes in a range of different colors … and vibrates.

And it’s already a success — before it’s even been made.

A San Francisco design team has raised over $46,000 from fans to make the world’s first thumb drive that really is a pleasure to use.

The team, named Crave, plan to make three different Duet models, beginning at $75 — vibrator-only, 8GB and 16GB.

“The initial drive behind making it a USB device was the ease of charging and ease of travel, but it became clearly fairly early on that we could add storage to it,” Crave’s Michael Topolovac told news.com.au.

 ”A very common response was: ‘Wow, this is cool, I can store my content on this!’”

Designer Ti Chang said the Duet’s early success was down to a lack of innovation in the sex toy industry.

“You know, sex, and just that word in general, has been taboo in a lot of society, and people don’t usually talk about it, and when people don’t talk about it, it doesn’t tend to draw a lot of talent and innovators,” she said.

As for the data storage, Chang said “it’s really up to the woman. Some women, they love it, some women, it’s not their thing.”

Topolovac said including data storage on a sex toy wasn’t as out there as it may sound.

“People may have content libraries that are private and important to them — it’s not our place to suggest what should or shouldn’t be on there — but to give users that options of storing whatever they like on this device, we thought was a nice feature,” he said.

The Duet was launched on ckie.com on August 17 and has so far raised over $46,000 in backing. Crave say they expect to begin shipping the vibrators in early October.

Ckie.com is a crowd-funding platform similar to Kickstarter. Designers upload projects along with various funding options, and customers who contribute cash receive the product once it’s been made.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/08/30/fans-contribute-40000-for-usb-vibrator/#ixzz1WXxzCiTX

Would you rather be Fired or Shot?

Get Vaccinated or . . . Be Terminated?

By Dr. Manny Alvarez

Published August 30, 2011

| FoxNews.com

A large health care group in northern Michigan is taking every precaution when it comes to keeping patients safe by issuing an ultimatum for employees: Get a flu shot by Dec. 31 or get fired.

This report has a lot of people up in arms, but before you cry civil rights, let’s take a look at the facts.

Even though doctors, nurses and other health care professionals across the country are ordered to get vaccinated against hepatitis and tested for tuberculosis on a regular basis, compliance is always very poor — not to mention, hard to enforce. As someone who has worked in this environment for over 30 years, I know for a fact that hospital administrators are constantly looking into personnel files and reminding employees that they have to comply with these mandatory tests.

 

The difference with the flu vaccine is that it is encouraged but not yet mandated in many hospitals.
But the truth is, we know that any city can get overrun with flu admissions to their hospitals and urgent care centers. Many of these patients require isolation, making it so that the nurse, doctor or phlebotomist that treats them could become a carrier of the virus to other non-infected patients.

It makes all the sense in the world to me, that anybody who has contact with patients, should have all the necessary vaccinations — including the flu shot. But the key issue in this case is that if employees don’t get vaccinated, they will lose their jobs.

So the question is: What about the individual’s right to refuse such a requirement? Well, my answer, in short, is that the hospital administrator has the right to make flu shots mandatory.

When a health care professional involves him or herself in patient care, that professional is no longer acting as an individual. Rather, he or she is acting as part of a collective group of medical professionals that contribute to the improvement of patients’ health.

It’s mandatory that medical professionals who treat patients in hospitals, clinics or private practices have the proper training and licensing credentials — not to mention the qualifications for utilizing invasive technology. So why then, should it not also be mandatory that patients be protected from health care professionals potentially passing on diseases to them?

The argument that individual right is placed in danger, does not apply when it comes to performing the duties that we swore an oath to do: “First, do no harm.”

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/08/30/get-vaccinated-or-be-terminated/#ixzz1WXwaCZXS

Tit for Tat or should I say Arrow for Rock

California Boy Throws Rocks at Car, Gets Hit by Crossbow

Published August 30, 2011

| Associated Press

SAN DIEGO –  San Diego police say a 16-year-old boy throwing rocks at a sport utility vehicle was struck by a crossbow bolt fired by a passenger.

Police say the shirtless boy and a friend were throwing rocks at a black Toyota RAV4 in the Linda Vista neighborhood Monday afternoon when a passenger fired a crossbow out the window.

The boy was shot in the right side and was taken to a hospital. The San Diego Union-Tribune says his injuries are not life-threatening.

His name wasn’t released.

Nobody has been arrested.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/08/30/california-boy-throws-rocks-at-car-gets-hit-by-crossbow/#ixzz1WXvhMPqe

ATF Director Melson gets a “Fast and Furious” demotion

ATF Director Reassigned; Sources Say U.S. Attorney Out Amid ‘Fast and Furious’ Uproar

By William Lajeunesse

Published August 30, 2011

| FoxNews.com

AP

Kenneth Melson has been acting director of the ATF since 2009.

Acting ATF Director Kenneth Melson has been reassigned to a lesser post in the Justice Department and the U.S. attorney for Arizona is also “out,” sources told Fox News Tuesday as fallout from Operation Fast and Furious reached new heights.

Melson’s step down from his role as head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to the position of senior adviser in the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Programs is effective by close of business Tuesday, administration officials announced.

Fox News also learned from multiple sources that U.S. Attorney for Arizona Dennis Burke, one of the officials closely tied to Fast and Furious, is also a casualty in a shakeup tied to the botched gun-running program. Burke was on the hot seat last week with congressional investigators, and according to several sources, got physically sick during questioning and could not finish his session.

Related Stories

Guns From ‘Fast and Furious’ Sting Linked to 11 More Violent Crimes

Senator Blasts ATF’s Reported Promotion of Supervisors in Ill-Fated Gun Operation

ATF Accused in Congressional Report of ‘Arming’ Cartel for ‘War’ Through Operation Fast and Furious

Feds Silent on How Convicted Felons Bought Guns in ‘Operation Fast and Furious’

U.S. Attorney’s Office Rejects Family of Murdered Border Patrol Agent as Crime Victims

The purge of those responsible for the firearms trafficking scandal continued as new documents reveal a deeper involvement of federal agencies beyond ATF.

In Phoenix, Assistant U.S. Attorney Emory Hurley, who oversaw Fast and Furious on a day-to-day basis, was reassigned from the criminal to civil division. Also in Phoenix, three out of the four whistleblowers involved in the case have been reassigned to new positions outside Arizona. Two are headed to Florida, one to South Carolina.

Hurley’s reassignment came after three ATF supervisors responsible for the operation were promoted. William G. McMahon, a former deputy director of operations, took over the Office of Professional Responsibility. Field supervisors William D. Newell and David Voth, also moved up despite heavy criticism.

The moves follow a series of reports on Fox News detailing the face-off between Attorney General Eric Holder, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, whose investigators have recently broadened their probe. It now reportedly shows a deeper involvement of the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.

Operation Fast and Furious, a program designed to track illegal gun sales, turned into an embarrassing scandal after weapons linked to it were found at the scene of a U.S. Border Patrol agent’s murder last year. Thousands of guns ended up in the hands of Mexican cartel members.

Melson has led the agency since April 2009 supplanting a Bush administration acting director who was also unable to get Senate confirmation over the objections of gun rights groups. It was during his tenure that the ATF Phoenix office began Operation Fast and Furious in the fall of 2009.

With Melson’s reassignment, Holder will have to fill the top job at ATF. The likely replacement, ATF Chicago Office head Andrew Traver, was nominated last November by Holder. His nomination is opposed by the National Rifle Association.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/08/30/sources-atf-director-to-be-reassigned-amid-fast-and-furious-uproar/#ixzz1WX2J0oPV