Selenography is the study of the surface and physical features of the Moon.

As Christmas and the New Year come upon us again, it seems appropriate to reflect on the past year. 2006 was a trying year, to say the least. Problems arose that were difficult to solve. Space and time seemed more compressed and everything and everybody seemed ever busier.

However, 2007 approaches, school nears its finale and everything will change. Things may just be looking up after all.

Have a Merry Christmas everyone!

Holy War, pt. 19

Six foreigners—five Bulgarian nurses and one Palestinian Doctor—have been sentenced to death for allegedly giving children AIDS in a Libyan hospital. Their death sentence was just affirmed by an appeals court.

The Economist has an interesting take:

That the parents of the infected children—52 of whom have died of the disease—should demand justice is understandable. That Mr Qaddafi should use the case to stir xenophobia as a distraction from his people’s many other discontents is perhaps explainable as a particularly cynical political ploy. Yet the scientific evidence speaks so clearly of the innocence… that the sentences look sickening.No fewer than three reports by distinguished foreign AIDS specialists have cast doubt on whether the nursing staff should be blamed. French, Swiss and Italian experts noted that the AIDS outbreak started at least a year before the accused nurses arrived in Libya and continued after their arrest. More than half the blood samples taken from HIV-infected children showed they had also been infected with other diseases.

The obvious likely culprit was re-use of unsterilised needles, a practice that other workers at the same hospital say was routine. This has, in fact, been the cause of similar AIDS outbreaks elsewhere. But in a first trial, and now in a retrial, Libya’s courts have rejected such evidence on the grounds that it contradicts the conclusions of a panel of Libyan doctors. The alleged discovery of vials containing AIDS antibodies in the home of one of the nurses, the Libyan doctors contend, is proof enough that the foreign medics had been trying out an AIDS cure, on behalf of some unnamed foreign drug company, using Libyan children as guinea pigs.

The article finishes with three possible outcomes:

1. European governments may strike a deal for the nurses.
2. Qaddafi may try to score points by granting a pardon.
3. Libya may try to exchange the medics for the Libyan terrorists of the Lockerbie bombing.

Hamlet is Back!

Some kind of life with the edges taken off.

It seems as the winter draws near and Christmas approaches that everything in the world seems to speed up and rush by. It seems to me that much is lost when this happens. The days, rather than being days, seem like time allotments for shopping, parties, or making up excuses for getting rid of that awful Christmas sweater that your grandmother gave to you.

For me, Christmas and the holiday season have always seemed like a period meant for relaxing and getting together with those close to you. The commodification of this time into a retail spending spree cheapens the entire effect of the season.

As I approach my December finals and the imminent stress associated with them, I yearn to find this relaxation and free time to reflect on the year and all that has happened in it. The presents, rituals and festivities have always seemed to me as diversions from this general goals. Here’s hoping that everyone will find some peace, relaxation and contentment this holiday season.