I Saw Andromeda

I had a great astronomy lecture today, and I finally saw my first galaxy. We peeked into the heavens and we saw Andromeda, which is about 2.5 million light years away from our solar system. That is the closest galaxy to the Milky way, and according to my book, we might be on a collision course with Andromeda! Apart from Andromeda, we looked at Venus, Uranus, Orion's Nebula and a host of other stars. Plus we also had an activity where we had to manually identify the stars in the night sky based on a star chart. We managed to identify Sirius which is the brightest star in the sky, Beteljeuce which is the shoulder of Orion or "The Hunter" as some would call Orion, and a lot of other cool stars. What amazed me the most was how Dr. Aufdenberg could just look into the sky and name the stars by heart. Oh, and the next time someone says that they can see the Milky Way from earth, they are not lying. They are telling the truth because the solar system is positioned in such a way that we're actually facing the center "the big bulge" in the middle of the Milky Way. But to see that, you have to be in a very dark area. For example, a county side. So that was astronomy for today.

But apart from Astronomy, I had quite a few laughs today. First of all, reading about how some groups back in Malaysia have called for the boycott of American products. Not only that, Mahathir has called out to Malaysians to stop using the American dollar, and for all those working with American corporations such as McDonald's and Microsoft to immediately quit their jobs. Apparently, it should be done because America is supporting Israel's incursion into Gaza. I've got two issues with that. Number one, our economy isn't doing very well and asking people to quit their jobs and to reduce trade and the circulation of money is only going to worsen the problem. And when that happens, people loose their jobs. When people loose their jobs, they loose money and a source of income to pay their mortgages, bills, to feed their families, and disposable income to drive the economy. When that happens, the crime rate will go up because people have to survive, and when circumstances are dire, humans would do just about anything. So, in the end, we end up losing big time.

Secondly, are these groups seriously trying to tell us that it was Israel's fault that this whole thing started? Let me ask you. Who launched rockets into Israel despite repeated calls for them to stop? Hamas. Who hid their weapons and military targets in the middle of civilian population centers? Hamas. Who sent suicide bombers to Israel? Hamas. Who instigated the fight? Hamas. And they have the cheek to blame Israel. Goodness. True, I don't agree with how Israel has responded with such force that has caused the deaths of nearly 800 civilians. But if you asked me, Hamas asked for it. And they are just as equally to be blamed for all the atrocities in Palestine.

But the most funniest news I read today, was how two Muslims got caned for drinking beer. According to the authorities, the caning was not intended to inflict pain on them, but instead, to bring shame upon them. With all due respect for their laws. Can't they be shamed in less painful ways? Must you go and hurt them, humiliate them and do all sorts of things to them and expect them to learn from it and respect you for it? Oppression breeds rebellion. Think about it.