Suzanne’s Blog

This is the latest talk of the town.

It’s a video everyone’s talking about and checking out on YouTube. I read a report saying that Bush’s shoe” video has been seen more than 5.5 million times online, and this just within half a day! It may just be on track to beat the Obama victory speech video in terms of viral reach in a 48-hour period. There’s even a video game on this that was created within a 24-hour window. Hmmm… Our question then, “Is that how Bush will be remembered?”

President George W. Bush was in Iraq over the weekend for a surprise visit and during his press conference in Baghdad, an Iraqi reporter hurled his shoes at Pres. Bush.
The reporter shouted “It is the farewell kiss, you dog” before throwing his shoe.
And then another shout of angry words “This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq.”
Bush ducked successfully both times and the shoe just whizzed past his head. Lucky duck!

It’s not difficult to see why this is a talking point in any water-cooler conversation. The video of a man throwing his shoes at President George W. Bush is sure to -quote- live on in infamy for many reasons: the sheer brazenness of the act, the incredible lack of adequate security surrounding Mr Bush, and the sad commentary on the US leader’s standing in the world during his waning days in office. What makes this story more sensational is that it’s the President we’re talking about here, the leader of the most influential country in the world.
And adding spice to the story is the fact that in arab culture, showing the sole of your shoe is a great insult. To hit someone with that shoe as the journalist tried with President George W. Bush - is seen as even worse.

The shoe is considered dirty because it is on the ground and associated with the foot, the lowest part of the body. Hitting someone with a shoe shows that the victim is regarded as even lower.

So everyone has an opinion, and everyone seems prepared to share it and many are cracking jokes at it - we see cheeky headlines to wisecracks on air. Well, sometimes poking a little fun at awkward or bizarre situations is OK. But with this, I wonder if it falls into that category.

This act clearly highlights a bigger problem that we face today - it reminds us that the war in Iraq is not finished and there is still a sense of anger among many in that part of the world. The world has a responsibility in bringing back peace and stability to the region. It’s a heavy duty that cannot be laughed at.

But regardless of the above point, a little bit more respect would be decent I feel. President Bush is still the President.

 
Calling anyone a dog for that matter and hurling a shoe at him is bad enough… but to look on and find amusement in assaulting any president… it just aint right…even if you disagree with him.

It was hilarious… The whole morning I was telling Steve “Oh my, we’ve got cats coming into the studio later this morning. I’m not a cat person. I don’t mind dogs but cats… no no. There’s something about them that ain’t so appealing and friendly. Oh dear…”

And who would have thought! The minute our guests from the Feline Fanciers Society came in with their kittens, I was a convert haha. I screamed ” Oh my, sooooo cute!! They’re adorable!”  I was truly surprised at my own reaction! Imagine Steve’s :p

(Will post pictures soon) The kittens were really cute. They literally looked like they were right out of the animation movie Shrek - remember Puss in Boots when he puts on this look with those large round eyes when he wants something?

That was exactly what those kittens in the studio looked like. Except they were real with beautiful fur and really very very well-behaved. I’m referring specifically to the one that I held - Puffin. Our guests tell me they are called the ‘long hair exotic’ breed. There were two of them in the studio that morning. One with silky silverish grey fur, and the other with white and brown fur. They’re actually a cross between the Persian and the domestic short hair cats.

The Exotic Longhair Cat is really very sweet and friendly cat.
Their teddy bear look is truly endearing, and you can’t help but be drawn into those beautiful eyes.

Out with my pre-conception that cats are mysterious, cold and totally aloof. Apparently they’re easy maintenance too… having personality traits of the Persian… gentle, affectionate, and in general very calm.

Anyway, I guess I don’t really dislike them afterall. I’ve never been drawn to them but the uneasiness with cats comes from a lack of exposure and experience more than anything else. It’s also interesting to note how we generally like to make this divide between cats and dogs - there’s an underlying divisiveness of pet preferences.
“Do you like cats?” (or dogs) can be a make-or-break question sometimes. We wonder if cats and dogs can live together? or sometimes often ask “Can hardcore cat people and dog people date? Or should they just be friends?”
What do you think?

A recent study I read online suggest that there is really no such thing as a “cat person” or a “dog person”. Many of us only perceive ourselves as such because we often relate ourselves to the impression these pets give… Well, that’s certainly not the way to choose a pet. If we were planning to get a pet based on stereotyping… that would be a dear mistake. If we are choosing a pet based on their ‘cute’ or ‘adorable’ factor, it’s definitely not advisable as well. We should really be choosing our companion animals not on the basis of species or looks, but on how our individual (human and pet) personalities match up. That’s more important than whether that pet is a cat or dog.

Now, that would ensure a good fit… hence a higher success rate in a happy owner-pet relationship. It really all boils down to responsible pet ownership which is more than just adoring your pet.
It’s a commitment that should be considered carefully for many obvious reasons but sadly overlooked or not taken seriously.

For me, with pets as with people, I’m all about the “can’t we all just get along” theory.
If I do get a pet anytime soon though… I’m willing to step outside of my canine fixation and hang out with kitties too.

Especially after meeting Puffin. I mean, really… Who can resist?

Spacewalks aren’t easy. Yesterday’s news was testimony to that.

Ask astronaut Heide Stefanyshyn Piper.

She was doing her seven-hour spacewalk to do some repairs outside the International Space Station when… Ooops…. slippery fingers!

She let go of her tool bag momentarily while cleaning a greasy mess made by a malfunctioning tool. The 13-kg tool bag just drifted into space…

Now when it’s lost in space… it’s really lost… but when the reports came out initially, there were worries that the bag might come back and hit the ISS (International Space Station) and cause more damage - I guess like a boomerang effect in space?

Never heard of it… but hey you never know what happens up there, it’s an unknown universe. Apparently, the crew had spotted a screw floating by earlier in their mission but were too far away to catch it. They had no idea where it came from…

Anyway, I got a little curious since I know little about space. I was thinking ” if it was slowly drifting away, why couldn’t she just reach out and grab it… like you would with a balloon that just slipped away…” Well, it’s not that simple obviously. I watched this clip and it made everything much clearer to me. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7737250.stm

Astronaut Heide had to constantly be holding onto something or SHE would have been ’lost’ as well I suppose. Forces of space would pull her away. I guess it’s really like when you’re underwater.

Imagine you’re fixing a nozzle at the bottom of the pool. To stay there, you need to hold onto something or you’ll float to the top. So when one of your tools floats away to the top (even though this happens at a slow-motion pace) you become helpless once the tool is just even an inch out of reach… Interesting… I learnt something there.

Oh and another trivia which I found very amusing. A spider runs amuck in Space! haha

Two spiders were taken to space with the crew as part of a science experiment aimed at generating interest among students grades K-12 ( hey, they got me interested too!)  They wanted to see and study how spiders weave their webs without gravity.

Well pity the space spiders and the webs they weave… because obviously the spiders fought a battle with weightlessness and lost. The web turned out to be just a tangled mess, a far cry from the elegant symmetrical creation that we see here on earth.

Take a look at the photo made available courtesy of NASA. This is what the web looks like…

Spiders are confused? Deranged?

According to a spacewatcher… it seems one of the two spiders grew irritated at its habitat and its helplessness, so it broke free and is now nowhere to be seen. Maybe it’s having artistic troubles and is looking for a good place to drown its sorrows?

Or maybe… it’s just camera-shy.

When the spiders come home at the end of its 15-day mission later this month… boy, will they be relieved…

But funny incidents aside, the men and women involved in space exploration and science are carrying out incredible missions and collecting invaluable information on what awaits men in space. Space study is about our future and you’ve got to hand it to them to take such unknown risks in the name of science.

We’ve come to the end of watching a remarkable journey … and what an unexpected one it has been.

Watching Obama’s victory speech gave me the goosebumps… he is that good. I’m not American, but I was pumped with hope for America and what good sea change this means for the rest of the world. I endorse his stance on climate change, his take on how the rich should pay and contribute more and am convinced he has a better and real sense of the bigger world around him. John McCain is an admirable man but he appeared to lose focus time to time during this election.

We’re now going to see lots of post-election analysis report from various media and different people giving different opinions on the election and what went wrong/right. Well I thought I’d write my two cents worth about how amazing this race has turned out to be… not that I think it’s important for you to know but simply because it has been such a breath-stopping, exciting follow through for me as well that I feel I need to now let it all out and come to a conclusion of my own… so that I can just wrap it up,  put it aside and get ready for a new chapter… just like how Barack Obama did in his victory speech… except I don’t think I could do it as beautifully as he put it

You know, I vividly remember when I was first introduced to the name ‘Barack Obama’. It was just 4 years ago, when I was getting ready for the Democratic National Convention 2004 and whispers reached my ears to look out for a young promising man who will be making a speech that night to endorse John Kerry.  “Barack who?”…

Well, he’s turned out to be more than just promising. Look at the story now and it’s an impressive and incredible one. And having watched him and followed him since has made me a fan of Obama. It is his ability to electrify young voters, get them interested and more aware of what’s happening in the world around them that really makes him exceptional. He drew millions of new voters and the young has never been so active in politics as in this race we’ve seen.

He must know what an inspiration he is to all young black men especially…
And that his story, perseverence and success is giving other people of colour more confidence in their everyday life too.
He has sent out a message of hope and planted seeds in tomorrow’s generation to dream for their future and about their future.

And I, coming from a family of teachers, enjoying interacting with young students and just being someone who cares a lot about our younger generation, firmly believe and cannot stress enough how so important it is to dream, not to be afraid to dream and work towards that dream. Well, he certainly is today’s great model for all youth. I am so proud of him for that.

Here comes the hard part.

Barack Obama will soon be embarking on his “actions speak louder than words” mission come January when he has to start delivering on his promises to his country and to the world. 

The world’s high hopes for Obama are probably unrealistic. But hey, having said that… he’s known for breaking records. This campaign, thanks to him has been the longest and costliest campaign in US history. Barack also made history by breaking the ultimate racial barrier to become the first African American to claim the country’s highest office.

After sweet victory, the hard work begins now.

Though his honeymoon period in office is likely to last longer than previous presidents, bearing in mind the massive mess he inherits from George W. Bush… I do hope to see some form of refreshing change in the first 100 days in office.

That would mark a great start to indeed a new dawn as he calls it in his victory speech.

Having read, heard and then watched previous interviews of Sarah Palin, I have to admit there was a part of me tuning in to be ‘entertained’. Especially after cringing at her interview with Katie Couric. THAT ONE… the media loved. She gave us so many interesting answers, one couldn’t resist but news-ify them. My favourite? How she told Katie Couric that merely living next to Russia helped to boost her foreign policy credentials. Right… So, I was just one of the millions watching this debate just to see how Mrs Palin performed.

You know what? She did a great job - she brushed up her knowledge, sold herself as much as she could with the thin resume she had and maximised opportunities to let her charisma and passion shine through on topics close to her heart. She even had the candor to wink a few times at her audience! Though looking nervous, depending too much on her cue notes and often swallowing hard after the end of each answer, she held herself up high and well.

Could you do that knowing over 55 million pairs of eyes in the US alone were watching you for that ‘gotcha’ moment? I couldn’t.

Palin fans can no doubt breathe much easier today than yesterday…

But hold on. She’s only proven herself to be a competent speaker. What about having the vision AND the potential to be a leader? She didn’t score there.

Whatever good she did in her answers on domestic issues and others, may have vaporised when she said she was not entirely sure that global warming was a man-made problem. And reality check… the NATO commander is General ‘Mckiernan”, not “Mclellan”. She’s still got some homework to do.

So, good for her, this debate might only have a shelf life of about 24-48 hours some critics say. And there were no moments I think will get replayed over and over again.

Same goes for Joseph Biden.

He was good. But that was expected. What really helped him was that he managed to keep to the right tune and tone the whole time during the debate. A little too defensive at first, but soon his sharp tones directed at McCain came through and I think the Democrats were happy to see that.

But the most effective moment came when we saw Biden choke up and briefly lose his voice when he spoke of his family. Biden lost his wife and daughter in a car crash and almost lost his two sons. One of them is currently serving in Iraq.

That was when the whole hall went silent. I don’t think I was the only one moved by this.

Palin though fell on deaf ears and her eagerness to get her ‘maverick’ message across might have come off looking a little cocky right at that moment.

I suspect this might have cost Palin dearly…

Palin did good.

But Biden did better…

I’m finally at it again… after taking a 3 year break. My work and my life kept me from blogging as much as I would have liked in the past. I’m hoping it’ll be better this time although nothing’s changed on the work and family front. Well, you basically learn and realize quickly that life only gets busier. Maybe that’s why we’re constantly warned against procrastination. The list of things to do only keeps piling up.

Anyway, it’s always good to be starting something again. And this blog will probably capture snapshots of what’s on my mind at different times of the day/month or year.

Lately, there’ve been two major issues dominating my thoughts.

I’ll touch on one of them today after I grab myself a cup of quick coffee. It’s already been 13 hours since I’ve been awake and I need one to keep me going till evening…