Guided Tours of the Sky
A very good addition to browsing “Goggle Earth” or “Goggle Sky” is the browsing of the new Microsoft’s Worldwide Telescope (WWT), the new Web 2.0 software, released on May 13. This new online tool can be downloaded on to our own computer free of charge. Microsoft researchers have dedicated this new computer program to the memory of Jim Gray, the famous American computer scientist who disappeared last year when he went sailing alone in California. He spent a large amount of time in his life to explore with astronomers on how to present map and satellite images of the world and the universe online. Thanks to Curtis Wong, head of a new media research group at Microsoft, who continues this challenging work, I can now make a virtual tour of the night sky to see the images of the universe from the best ground and space based, by just sitting in my own room. I can use my own computer to zoom in and out for a good look at different planets in the night sky. Better still, I can get close in to see the dust of the Milky Way Galaxy condenses into stars and planets in vivid 3-dimensions. The Worldwide Telescope inspires me to become an amateur explorer of the Universe without space traveling. I am sure that scientists and educators will also find this new software most useful to stimulate interest in astronomy. This is a real innovation, a contribution to public education and the scientific study of the Universe.
Filed under Science, Travel | Comment (0)New York City Steam Pipe Explosion
Earlier this month, as my son and I were watching a historical documentary about the underground infrastructure of New York City, we said to each other that it was scary that anything could happen underneath our feet as we walk and we would not even know about it. The steam-pipe explosion that happened two days ago at Lexington Avenue and 41st Street, for us, was “closer to home”. It was in the area where my son and I usually walk to work, eat or meet friends. We considered ourselves lucky for not being in the city on that particular day. But I am certain that many of our friends, out on the street at the time of the explosion– getting home from work, that were hit by falling debris, steamy hot mud on their heads and bodies. They have our sympathy. Mayor Bloomberg and those of us who live in New York City have to find ways to check safety conditions of our underground infrastructures so that accident like this will not happen again. For a long time, I have never feel safe when walking on the street of old cities like New York, Tokyo, Rome, London and Paris, knowing what could go wrong underneath my feet at any moment. It turns me into a fatalistic world traveler, rather paranoid, waiting for a disaster to happen at any moment.
Filed under Environment, Travel | Comment (0)Beauty In The Sky
I always enjoy watching fireworks. Lucky for me this year to be in New York to watch the whole of Macy’s firework show on 4th of July US Independence Day Celebration. It was a spectacular event on the East River, the bursting of vibrant colors into the sky: red which comes from strontium and lithium salts, blue from copper, green from barium, yellow from sodium, silvery flashes come from the combinations of magnesium, aluminium and titanium, all natural ingredients from our Earth. All these fireworks displays are copied from the Chinese who invented them in the ninth century. It has now become a world custom. Many countries celebrate auspicious occasions or national days with fireworks, using similar recipes – a mixture of 75% potassium nitrate, 15th%charcoal and 10%sulphur to make a small balls and shoot them up to create starburst in the sky. The London Economist says that the Japanese firework is the best in the world. They make
flowers in the sky, a new form of artwork, to celebrate Flower-fire Festival in Japan from July onward.
Legalizing Abortion
Finally, women in Mexico have won their long-fought battles with the male-dominated Catholic Church hierarchies their right and freedom to choose abortion. If the men could be pregnant, we would have abortion on demand long time ago. Abortion rights have gained ground in Latin America when more than two thirds of the Mexico City’s legislative assembly members voted on 24 April to approve a law allowing Mexican women to have abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancies. This law indicates a sign of political and social change in the region where only two countries, Cuba and Guyana allow abortions in the first trimester. Since 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognized that the wellbeing of women depended on opportunities for women to control their lives in all areas, including education and health. Increased recognition in the United Nations circles of reproductive rights came much later on. In 1968, the Teheran Declaration of International Conference on Human Rights included the rights of individuals to information and family planning and these were confirmed later on at the international conferences on population issues held in Bucharest in 1974, Mexico City in 1984 and Cairo in 1994. Declarations ensuing from those various international conferences spearhead the winning of a legal battle that happened in Mexico last week. Women in Mexico and in other Latin American countries have the right to attain the highest standards of sexual and reproductive health, including safe abortion, and to make reproductive choices free from coercion from conservative groups in the government or religious establishments.
Filed under Gender Issues, Travel, United Nations, World Affairs | Comment (0)Religious Beliefs Have No Place in Constitution
Constitution is a document that set up the way the government is run and organized. It is a document in which these laws and principles are written down for all citizen of the land, not for a particular group of peoples following a certain religious faith. Law should be set up based on the aspiration of the people, including non-believers, and those who do not follow any organized religion. Secular and spiritual affairs cannot be mixed. Globally, only a few countries have declared a state religion in the constitution. The majority of governments in the world have separated religion from affairs of the states. Declaring a state religion is therefore, non-democratic. A civilized society should be organized and run by all the people living in the same land/country. In a democratic government, Buddhists, Christians, and Muslims, Hindus and Atheists have equal opportunity to participate in governing on an equal footing. I, for one, cannot accept the demand of the group of monks in Thailand that Buddhism be written in the newly drafted Constitution as a “State Religion”. The demand already is encouraging further divisiveness among the people in the country. It is best for Thailand to remain a secular state as before.
Filed under Thailand, Travel | Comment (0)Moscow Chamber Orchestra
While in Thailand, I enjoyed the special concert of the Moscow Cnamber Orchestra under the famous conductor, Maestro Constantine Orbelian. He did a fantastic job in conducting the group that he brought together to play in Bangkok in February to celebrate the 80th birthday of the King of Thailand. For this occasion, twenty-five great musicians played superbly the Tchaikovsky”s Serenade for String in C Major OP.48 and Sarasate”s Zigeunerweisen OP.20, arranged for violin and orchestra with the young Alexander Sitkovetsky playing the lead violin, and Federico Mondelci playing the saxophone. Mondelci recieved a standing ovation from the audiences at the Thailand Cultural Centre when he played the Argentinian Libertango arranged specially for saxophone and orchestra.The wonderful music played by the Moscow Chamber Orchestra are now in CD under the titled: Piazzolla, and the Stars of the Moscow Chamber Orchestra. I agree with the New York Times review that the “dynamic Moscow Chamber Orchestra” is one of the world’s great ensembles.
Filed under Art, Travel | Comment (0)Bomb Blasts and Fireworks
This is how 2006 has ended and 2007 has begun for me sitiing in Bangkok the night of 31st December 2006. There were fireworks in small scales around the city; the big count downs at Central World Plaza and at Sanam Luang were canceled a few hours before midnight because of severalbomb blasts. The television news from around the world are also full of groups action to stone the devils in the Holy City of Mecca, and the hanging of a dictator in Baghdad. It is a violent time we live in. We have become so immuned to seeing violence in front of us or in daily news on the TV or computer screens. It is difficult to hope for peace in 2007 when extremists of all kinds dominate actions in the world. But we should find a better way to solve conflicts and to negotiate peaceful solutions. Celebrating the New Year only with fireworks is not enough.
Filed under Travel | Comment (0)Skyscrapers
After 9/11 attack of the New York World Trade Towers, I am surprised why anybody should want to live or work in a skysraper ever again. They might look beautiful to the eyes of some people, but skyscrapers are monsters that eat up large amount of energy which the world cannot afford to waste. They are bad for the environment by increasing the greenhouse gases, which produce global warming. And yet, architects continue to design them and investors never hesitate to fund its construction. Two new gigantic towers are being built: the Phare Tower in Paris, and the Gazprom city in St. Petersburg in Russia. The new World Trade Towers are also being rebuilt in lower Manhattan in New York. I am not sure if we humans are supposed to live or work so high up way above the clouds. Going up and down the high-speed elevators many times, on a daily basis, can’t be good for our bodies and brains. And when there is a blackout or an accident, such as the recent airplane hitting the building putting it on fire in mid-town Manhattan, I for one, would not want to be stranded there high in the sky having to find my way down to the ground by walking in a narrow stairwell. Going up to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris is already too high for me, I am not looking forward to see the view of Paris from the top of the new skyscraper, Phare Tower when it is finished.
Filed under Environment, Travel | Comment (0)Travelling to Asia
What most of us are looking for in air travel is a good/safe plane, to have efficient ground/air flight services, a comfortable seat, delicious meals with favorite drinks, a wide choice of movies, video, features and news to choose from, and friendly help from stewards/stewardesses.
I have found all of the above on my recent flight to Asia from the United States. The aircraft took off from Newark airport in New York at 11pm and arrived at Changi Airport in Singapore early in the morning. It was a long non-stop 18 hour flight, but I did not feel tired at all. I found that the time had passed by so quickly, with the excellent in-flight entertainment service. Films in several languages while enjoying the delicious Asian dishes served to me by attentive, efficient and polite “Singapore girls” stewardesses.
I had a good night sleep, enjoying the new widely stretched-out “SpaceBed” of the Raffles Class. It was quite a dream-like trip. As someone who has traveled a lot for work and holidays over the last three decades, I can recommend Singapore Airlines. To anyone who wants to travel to Asia from the United States in the future, I’d say they’re the best service-provider in the traveling business.