Etiquette, for Etiquette's sake

During the State of the Union address, there was what was considered to be a breach in etiquette on the part of both the president, and Justice Alito. Obama expressed the opinion that he did not agree with the supreme court removing limits on corporate spending on politics, Justice Alito, grimaced, shook his head and mouthed the words "that's not true" when the president said that this would lead to a flood of special interest money in elections. This was not considered acceptable behavior for a supreme court justice, who are supposed to show no emotion when attending political events. I personally believe Obama was not out of line at all. That change in policy will most likely change the way political campaigns are run in the future, and will make a campaign like Obama's not possible. He has the right to inform the American people of such an important event, and it is good that he has the guts to do so. As for Alito's response, I think the whole formality of the event was a bit silly. After all, he is only human.

Community service

For my community service, I volunteered at Xenophon, which is a therapeutic riding center in Orinda. It helps children with special needs connect more with their world and gain balance and coordination that they would not otherwise be able to achieve, especially if they are wheelchair bound. I was what they call a side walker, someone who walks along side the horse and makes sure the rider is able to keep their balance. It was loads of fun and I volunteered a total of 20 hours. Unfortunately, I was not able to keep volunteering there once school started, because it was during the day. But I know that next summer, I will definitely be back.

As if Uganda didn't have enough problems.

After a visit to Uganda by three American evangelical christian missionaries who gave lectures about "curing homosexuals" and the threats they pose to the traditional family, a bill has been proposed that would sentence homosexuals to death by hanging. Naturally, Western nations have advised Uganda to drop the bill, because it is a violation of human rights, though Uganda's minister of ethics and integrity recently stated that "Homosexuals can forget about human rights". After realizing that it would lose quite a bit of foreign aid, Uganda said it would change the death sentence for homosexuals to life in prison. In a world where there is already so much going wrong, one would hope that at the very least, people can learn to accept each other for who they are. The last thing we need is another war, though that is probably unlikely, since our army is already homophobic. It will be interesting to see how the situation will play out, whether it will lead to civil war, genocide, or a mass migration to places like San Francisco, which is famed for it's accepting society. Only time will tell.

Prospects for Lunar Lava Tubes

Using high resolution photos taken by the Japanese moon orbiter SELENE, scientists have discovered a vertical lava tube, 213 feet wide and 260 feet deep. It is thought to be suitable for a possible colony, since it has a lava shield over the top protecting it from the moon's harsh environment, and doesn't look like it will collapse. I personally think that it would be unwise to inhabit a place where you must bring everything you need to live. It would be very expensive, and not a quality of life many would enjoy, because you would have to stay inside to survive. True, the view would be spectacular, but then again, you would be living in a dark tube, and excursions would probably be few and far between. Lets focus on saving the planet we evolved to live on and learn to not treat our world as disposable.