BeautifulMag #131 Week 07-08 | Near Hit

EDITORS LETTER

Next weekend, or to be more precise on February 15, an asteroid will pass our planet. That by itself is not so special. After all, numerous asteroids have passed Earth in the past and will be passing us in the future. However, this rock is going to pass us relatively close. In fact it will pass us at a distance of about 21,000 miles (35,000 km). It seems like quite a distance but if you know that the moon orbits us at 240,000 miles distance, it all of a sudden comes pretty close by. This particular asteroid is small. It has an estimated diameter of 50 meters, which isn’t enough to destroy the Earth but big enough to flatten a city if it would decide to hit at the wrong place.

So this asteroid is going to pass at a distance that is not troubling and with a size too small to see with the naked eye. So what’s the big deal? Nothing really you might say. Millions of asteroids and meteors have passed Earth since the beginning of time. Some of them hit us and even though we are aware of it, the impact is nothing to worry about. But we also know that bigger ones have collided with our planet in the past, resulting in some devastating changes in climate and environment. The possibility you win a million dollar lottery is more likely, but nevertheless, the chance it happens is there and will always be there. And that makes you wonder, doesn’t it. The petty differences we have, the stupid disagreements and conflicts based on religions, traditions and conservative ideas.

On February 2 2013 the French National Assembly approved the marriage equality law with 249 votes against 97. A generous victory that was quite surprising if you know what happened before it came to the actual voting. Several manifestations took place, both pro and con. France is a laical state, which means it does not favor any religion. So it was quite surprising to see that the opposition in this battle was led and fed by the Church. Even more so, for the first time several different religions were able to – temporarily – forget about their differences and combine forces to stop the unholy and unnatural legal bonding of same sex partners and prevent them from raising children. As I said before, petty differences and disagreements based on religious, traditional and conservative thinking.

The Asteroid 2012 DA14 is going to pass Earth on February 15 2013. Its journey brings it close to Earth but not close enough for us to worry. DA14 is following an orbit that will bring it back in close range in 2020. But again, it will pass at safe distance. However, an asteroids orbit is not as predictable as a planet’s. And one day one might hit us. Or a major earthquake will destroy parts of our environment. Or a volcanic eruption will block the sun and create a nuclear winter. All things we simply cannot control. If it happens, it happens. What we can control however is our attitude towards each other. What we can do is try to be more tolerate, have respect for each others choices and open our minds to more liberal and more progressive ideas. If we could do that, than at least in the time we can still use this planet, we can all enjoy a little bit of happiness. –BM-

BEAUTIFULMAG | Everything That Is

Comments

[Dieter (Toronto, CANADA)]

Excellent article.....so very true !!