Satellites of love

It's getting crowded up there. The U.S. Strategic Command, which tracks everything in orbit apparently missed the likelihood of an orbital mishap when a Russian and American satellite collided in low earth orbit over Siberia in a rare mash-up. Moving at 6 miles per second, the crash involved one of the 66 Iridium communications satellites and an out off service Russian Cosmos-2251 military satellite. The crash occurred 485 miles above the earth and the risk to the International Space Station and other orbital assets is still being determined. Apparently the rules that currently exist for the maintenance of orbital traffic are sketchy and no one wants to designate a traffic cop. With so much junk in orbit it's only a matter of time before another accident occurs. When that happens, it'll be interesting to see who hands out and who gets the ticket. Just as long as the owner doesn't have AIG as the insurer.

Kabul go kaboom

On that other front in the GWOT, you know, Afghanistan, the Taliban demonstrated their ability to mount an offensive by attacking the Afghan Ministry of Justice. Twenty were reported dead and 57 injured in an attack ahead of the arrival of President Obama's special envoy to the region, Richard C. Holbrooke. It seems that at one point, the justice minister was locked in his office for his own protection. Apparently this strike was the same kind as the one carried out in October against the Afghan Ministry of Information and Culture. Now that the Taliban has flexed its muscles, we'll see what happens when Holbrooke flexes his.

Election 5769

Israeli voters are choosing a new premier. Their two main choices are a former female spy for Mossad and a former general and two-time prime minister. They are running for the chance to be bounced from power on corruption charges like outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Despite the bad weather, election returns were running at 60 percent, which lagged slightly behind the 63.2 percent in the 2006 election. Security and the recent kerfuffle with Hamas are top issues in what has turned out to be a tighter race than expected. Palestinians were banned from Israel for the duration. Whomever wins the election, it is expected that no one party will have enough seats to run the Knesset themselves which will mean a coalition government is in the offing. Stay tuned.

Stimulating the stimulus

Only a few days into the job and President Barack Obama is already facing trouble getting his signature legislation passed. Going on the stump in Hoosier Territory, he remains very popular but the stimulus package -- not so much. Part of it is the elephants in the room who won't play ball. Part of it may be that the public would rather have the $10,000 in their pocket rather than have their money handed over to someone else to boost the economy. But as the deal inches closer to passage some problems are likely to linger rather than get resolved. Don't expect any immediate miracles.

Get out of Purgatory free card

The Vatican has decided to revive Plenary Indulgences. For non-Catholics and for Catholics under a certain age, the practice is a decidedly curious one. In keeping with the "What You hold on Earth, I'll hold in Heaven" deal Christ made with Peter, the most recent keeper of the throne has brought back this practice, probably so he can be absolved in his turn for ex-excommunicating a Holocaust denier. It only works to get out of Purgatory though, not Hell. Funny how that works. In the Catholic mythology, Purgatory is the place for those who aren't bad enough for Hell but aren't good enough for Heaven. But Purgatory is only for Catholics, which of course leaves everyone else scratching their heads. And of course, there are rules to this sort of thing. You can't buy them outright anymore, and not every church is making the offer. So check the fine print.