Between the Jewish holidays, traveling to Israel (where I am now) and the Yankees stinking up September it has been hard to focus on healthcare. Or at least blog about it.
Not that I haven't been reflecting about it from time to time..getting aggravated is more like it.
So I was about to write a blistering blog about how the media continually tries to make policy according to a narrative and if the facts aren't there to fit the narrative, well you can always make more.
And then I saw this:
UN 'to appoint space ambassador to greet alien visitors'
A space ambassador could be appointed by the United Nations to act as the first point of contact for aliens trying to communicate with Earth.
Mazlan Othman, a Malaysian astrophysicist, is set to be tasked with co-ordinating humanity’s response if and when extraterrestrials make contact.
Aliens who landed on earth and asked: “Take me to your leader” would be directed to Mrs Othman.
(Could we at least see a resume before making that decision? Coordinating humanity's response? Maybe she and the UN should start with something more pedestrian, like paying it's bills on time. )
She will set out the details of her proposed new role at a Royal Society conference in Buckinghamshire next week.
The 58-year-old is expected to tell delegates that the proposal has been prompted by the recent discovery of hundreds of planets orbiting other starts, which is thought to make the discovery of extraterrestrial life more probable than ever before.
(Let me get this straight: there is an actually a group of scientists who will sit and listen to her? Without laughing? )
Mrs Othman is currently head of the UN’s little known Office for Outer Space Affairs (Unoosa).
(Yes, I am Earth's ambassador to the United Federation of Planets, a little know office in the State Department.)
In a recent talk to fellow scientists, she said: “The continued search for extraterrestrial communication, by several entities, sustains the hope that some day human kind will received signals from extraterrestrials.
“When we do, we should have in place a coordinated response that takes into account all the sensitivities related to the subject. The UN is a ready-made mechanism for such coordination.”
(Of course it is. And you thought UNICEF was the only trick or treat program the UN sponsored.)
Professor Richard Crowther, an expert in space law at the UK space agency who leads delegations to the UN, said: “Othman is absolutely the nearest thing we have to a ‘take me to your leader’ person”.
(Wait a minute. Shouldn't we have a vote? Can't every country nominate one TMTYL type person? I would nominate William Shatner...because he's got the intergalactic experience. Or David Hasselhoff because he can do rehab and host America' Got Talent.)
The plan to make Unoosa the co-ordinating body for dealing with alien encounters will be debated by UN scientific advisory committees and should eventually reach the body’s general assembly.
(when it takes a break from bashing Israel)
Opinion is divided about how future extraterrestrial visitors should be greeted. Under the Outer Space Treaty on 1967, which Unoosa oversees, UN members agreed to protect Earth against contamination by alien species by “sterilising” them.
Mrs Othman is understood to support a more tolerant approach.
(I wonder what that might be: diversity training, a path to citizenship for extraterrestrial aliens ahead of the 12 million illegal aliens, family planning?)
Thank goodness the UN is taking on a challenge it can likely meet and on par with the level of seriousness that organization deserves.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/8025832/UN-to-appoint-space-ambassador-to-greet-alien-visitors.html
Not that I haven't been reflecting about it from time to time..getting aggravated is more like it.
So I was about to write a blistering blog about how the media continually tries to make policy according to a narrative and if the facts aren't there to fit the narrative, well you can always make more.
And then I saw this:
UN 'to appoint space ambassador to greet alien visitors'
A space ambassador could be appointed by the United Nations to act as the first point of contact for aliens trying to communicate with Earth.
Mazlan Othman, a Malaysian astrophysicist, is set to be tasked with co-ordinating humanity’s response if and when extraterrestrials make contact.
Aliens who landed on earth and asked: “Take me to your leader” would be directed to Mrs Othman.
(Could we at least see a resume before making that decision? Coordinating humanity's response? Maybe she and the UN should start with something more pedestrian, like paying it's bills on time. )
She will set out the details of her proposed new role at a Royal Society conference in Buckinghamshire next week.
The 58-year-old is expected to tell delegates that the proposal has been prompted by the recent discovery of hundreds of planets orbiting other starts, which is thought to make the discovery of extraterrestrial life more probable than ever before.
(Let me get this straight: there is an actually a group of scientists who will sit and listen to her? Without laughing? )
Mrs Othman is currently head of the UN’s little known Office for Outer Space Affairs (Unoosa).
(Yes, I am Earth's ambassador to the United Federation of Planets, a little know office in the State Department.)
In a recent talk to fellow scientists, she said: “The continued search for extraterrestrial communication, by several entities, sustains the hope that some day human kind will received signals from extraterrestrials.
“When we do, we should have in place a coordinated response that takes into account all the sensitivities related to the subject. The UN is a ready-made mechanism for such coordination.”
(Of course it is. And you thought UNICEF was the only trick or treat program the UN sponsored.)
Professor Richard Crowther, an expert in space law at the UK space agency who leads delegations to the UN, said: “Othman is absolutely the nearest thing we have to a ‘take me to your leader’ person”.
(Wait a minute. Shouldn't we have a vote? Can't every country nominate one TMTYL type person? I would nominate William Shatner...because he's got the intergalactic experience. Or David Hasselhoff because he can do rehab and host America' Got Talent.)
The plan to make Unoosa the co-ordinating body for dealing with alien encounters will be debated by UN scientific advisory committees and should eventually reach the body’s general assembly.
(when it takes a break from bashing Israel)
Opinion is divided about how future extraterrestrial visitors should be greeted. Under the Outer Space Treaty on 1967, which Unoosa oversees, UN members agreed to protect Earth against contamination by alien species by “sterilising” them.
Mrs Othman is understood to support a more tolerant approach.
(I wonder what that might be: diversity training, a path to citizenship for extraterrestrial aliens ahead of the 12 million illegal aliens, family planning?)
Thank goodness the UN is taking on a challenge it can likely meet and on par with the level of seriousness that organization deserves.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/8025832/UN-to-appoint-space-ambassador-to-greet-alien-visitors.html
