What Caught My Eye Today

Fred's Note: First, on a personal note, I just read that a high school friend died in a plane crash this past weekend. That brings to three the number of Panthers from the Class of '89 that are no longer with us. Life is short. Don't take a single day for granted. As for my friend, Kristen, you'll be missed.

In today's post we bid farewell to one era and usher in a new one. Yeah, I totally planned it this way...totally.

Space Shuttle - The space shuttle Atlantis and its four astronauts launched into orbit Friday on a cargo run that will close out three decades of both triumph and tragedy for NASA and usher in a period of uncertainty for America's space program. This is the 135th shuttle flight since the inaugural mission in 1981. Atlantis' crew will dock with the International Space Station on Sunday, deliver a year's worth of critical supplies to the orbiting outpost, and bring the trash home. After Atlantis' return, it will be lights out for the shuttle program. Thousands of workers will be laid off within days. The spaceship will become a museum piece like the two other surviving shuttles, Discovery and Endeavour. And NASA will leave the business of building and flying rockets to private companies while it turns its attention to sending humans to an asteroid by about 2025 and Mars a decade after that. It will be at least three years before astronauts are launched again from U.S. soil. Good grief, this reads like an obituary. My goodness, aren't we a sorry lot. I'm thinking this is a time to celebrate 30 years of accomplishment and look toward the future. This is space exploration we're talking about people. As much as I applaud the Space Shuttle program, how much more are we going to learn by continuing to orbit the Earth. I'm thinking the nearly 21,000 orbits the space shuttles made are enough. It's time to embrace our inner Star Trek and "boldly go where no one has gone before."

South Sudan - Ladies and gentleman, put your hands together for the 193rd officially recognized nation, South Sudan. The Republic of South Sudan
became the world's newest nation, officially breaking away from Sudan after two civil wars over five decades that cost the lives of at least 2 million people. South Sudan earned independence at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, the culmination of a January independence vote guaranteed in a 2005 peace deal that ended the most recent north-south war. Sudan was the first country to officially recognize South Sudan. That's a nice gesture don't you think? One has to believe that the north is still pretty bummed out about losing half its turf, you know, the part with all the oil.

Belgium - It seems our Belgian friends still cannot find a way to form a government. Belgium's King Albert II urged the country's politicians on Friday to consider "the gravity of the situation," after the resignation of the latest mediator in talks to form a coalition government. Elections in June 2010 brought the anti-Belgium N-VA regionalists to the fore in Flanders and left the pro-Belgium PS Socialists as the main party in the Francophone regions. The two need to work together to form a unitary national government, but talks have repeatedly broken down over demands for reforms and more self-rule to the two communities. The nation now holds the record for time without a government for a modern democracy. I have to say, I'm pretty impressed that Belgium has held itself together so well. After all the turmoil of the Arab Spring (can we call it Arab Summer yet?) and the havoc caused by the sudden collapse long standing governments, when you look at the state of affairs in Belgium, you might pause for a moment to ponder just how important it really is to have a functioning government.

Cycling - Dude, the peleton hasn't even hit the mountains and there is carnage galore. Here's a quick recap. Pre-tour favorite Alberto Cantador got caught up in a crash on the first stage and is a minute and 42 seconds off the pace (at this level of competition, that's quite a bit). Stage 5 had at least 10 crashes that pretty much took out at least one rider from every team (and yes Contador was involved in a crash yet again). On stage 6, American Levi Leipheimer crashed late (his second spill in two days) and lost more than a minute on the leaders, which pretty much hoses his chances for a podium finish. And then today, a crash at the end of the stage left dozens of riders, including poor Levi, to finish more than 3 minutes behind stage winner, Mark Cavendish. This guy is the man. Cavendish has now taken 27 stage wins in major Tours, including 17 stages of the Tour de France, 2 stages of the Giro d'Italia in 2011, as well as 68 wins on the road since turning pro in 2007. HTC-Highroad has racked up 42 victories this season alone, making them the most successful ProTour team. As for the top of the leader board, Thor Hushovd (Norway) still leads the way with Cadel Evans just one second behind, and Frank Schleck still in third place, four seconds behind Hushovd. Just think, the first high mountain stage isn't until stage 12. I'm not sure how much more drama I can handle.