Space love triangle

It’s not every day you hear about an astronaut’s attemt to murder a rival to her relationship with another astronaut.

A US astronaut accused of attacking a woman she considered competition for the affection of a shuttle pilot has been charged with attempted murder.

Earlier a Florida court had ordered that Navy Capt Lisa Nowak, 43, who was facing charges of attempted kidnapping and battery, could be freed on bail.

However, the introduction of the more serious charge that she intended to murder Colleen Shipman reverses that.

A mother of three, Capt Nowak flew on the space shuttle Discovery last July.

And the plot thickens... This is as close to a NASA soap opera as you can get.

technorati tags: Nowak, nasa, astronaut+murder, news

Just some ideas...

Really busy; here are some random thoughts.

The Ruth Kelly controversy.
Should British Education Minister Ruth Kelly’s child have to suffer by not getting the education their parents see fit for them just because their parent is the education minister? This always seems to be a problem when a politician at any level sends their kids to a private school — especially if their position in government deals with the education system itself. It is Kelly’s choice where her kid goes to school and just because she is the education minister and just because she is a politician, her child should not have to suffer in the name of politics and for their mum not to be a called a hypocrite.


BBC News on the execution of two more Saddam regime figures (as if Saddam's execution wasn't done poorly enough).

United Nations and European Union leaders have condemned the executions in Baghdad of two of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's top aides.

Some say that these executions are sparing the individual rights for the greater good… Then again, what do the executions accomplish — other than killing the executed?
Hasn't Saddam's death just made Iraq worse?

As far as the United States’ mission in Iraq and the wider Middle East goes… ‘We had already accomplished the mission; we just need to accomplish it [again]!'
'Almost there... again!’


Blair gives some climate change wisdom on how we can help...
Sacrifice one’s pleasures for the greater good? Bullocks says soon-to-be-gone (thank god) UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. How does ‘impractical’ face off with essential, Mr. Blair?


Admiring only after death: what the deaths and ensuing mourning and gratification historically of people like Reagan and Ford show us about our society and its guilt and ‘respect’ — or disrespect too — for death, and the media’s place in it all.


You scratch my back, I won’t scratch yours: the United States expects the African Union to help, but has not helped — or even consulted — the AU over the US’s Somalia policy.


A metaphorical war against an unknown, and largely symbolic as a whole, terrorist enemy like the US’s Communist ‘enemy’ in the Cold War, but even more oblique. Terrorism is a vast movement. It is a word of many definitions and a description of many meanings. To label all of Islamic extremism as a collective enemy is loony enough; to label all terrorism an enemy is well over the edge.

What do newlyweds have to do with excited kids and a white Christmas?

While everyone is busy reflecting on this year and compiling "Top _____ of 2006" lists, I am, as usual, pondering about basically random things and blogging about a select few of them. Here are some holiday thoughts — which have little significance, I just thought they would be a nice break from the important stuff: For many, especially children, the lead up to Christmas is like the lead up to a marriage. Yes there are fears of getting bad or not enough presents — like the matrimonial fear of commitment — but there is also that passion and joy that to-be-wed and newly wed couples often enjoy. This is where the concept of a 'white Christmas' (a Christmas with snow) may actually be more detrimental than enjoyable for those observing Christmas. The lead up to opening the presents — like the lead up to a wedding — is filled with worry and passion. Afterwards, there is a newly-wed kind of aura around the new couple and the honeymoon period of relationship bliss, which is like the period after opening presents for kids. A while down the road the presents loose there appeal, the same thing that happens with many a marriage. Christmas for children is quite comparable to young newlyweds' wedding period and its immediate aftermath. Going back to my white Christmas theory; a white Christmas, with snow for children's enjoyment, may be a distraction in that honeymoon period of presents. Think about it this way: a loving couple excitedly gets married, but soon after, one or both of them needs to work or is occupied by a task cutting into the couple's newly-wed time. Either that intensifies the relationship by making the honeymoon all that more enjoyable (a break from work, after all that waiting), or that often blissful period is shortened because one or both in the couple cannot enjoy one another. With the honeymoon period, post-Christmas, for kids and their presents, a white Christmas — assuming the children go out to play in the snow — can either intensify the fun and freshness of the presents once the kids get back to enjoy them, or the magic is ruined; after all that waiting the mind wants to focus on some other want and wish.

technorati tags: christmas, holidays, presents, wedding, newlywed, society, metaphor

Trivial Persuit, college kids stats, and online university lectures (etc.)

Whew! I just played a three-hour-some game of Trivial Pursuit (Vol. 6). The most interesting fact I learned: How many, out of 10, first year US college students describe themselves as "liberal" or "far-left" in 2001? Three. I guess the stereotype doesn't fit. I did a search (as of about January 2001, about 27 percent describe them selves as above), and found this article with even more statistical goodies about college kids.Speaking of left-right ideology in the United States, check out this interesting blog post about the 'center' and what a 'leftist' argument is.

Have a yearning for learning? Check out all these university lectures, symposiums, round tables, audio/video courses, etc. The one with the widest variety of university sources, as well as having the largest amount of content, is Princeton's University Channel, which also has an audio and video podcast. There are also full audio cources offered as podcasts from Berkley.

technorati tags: learning, education, trivial+persuit, game, lectures, podcast, princeton, university, university+channel, in+perspective, clearthought

Borat gets sued

I just thought this was kinda funny:
Humiliated frat boys sue 'Borat' (AP/Yahoo! News):

AP: SANTA MONICA, Calif. - Two fraternity boys want to make lawsuit against "Borat" over their drunken appearance in the hit movie.

The legal action filed Thursday on their behalf claims they were duped into appearing in the spoof documentary "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan," in which they made racist and sexist comments on camera.

technorati tags: borat, humor, funny, news, entertainment, clearthought, in+perspective