Thursday, September 27, 2007
10 Sources of Movies and TV OnlineSome really useful sites if you watch to catch up on shows. TV Links has lots of British stuff including almost every Doctor Who episode available. There’s also a lot of movies including ones not released on DVD yet.
Science and Religion Don’t Mix
Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor has a problem. Two problems. The first is that Mecca keeps moving.
Well, not really. It’s Shukor who’ll be moving. As Malaysia’s first astronaut, he’s scheduled to lift off October 10 in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft for a nine-day visit during the holy month of Ramadan to the International Space Station.
He’s a devout Muslim and when he says his daily prayers he wants to face Mecca, specifically the Ka’aba, the holiest place in Islam ("Turn then thy face towards the Sacred Mosque: wherever ye are, turn your faces towards it .... “ The Quran, Al-Baqarah, 2:149).
That’s where the trouble comes in. From ISS, orbiting 220 miles above the surface of the Earth, the qibla (an Arabic word meaning the direction a Muslim should pray toward Mecca) changes from second to second. During some parts of the space station’s orbit, the qibla can move nearly 180 degrees during the course of a single prayer. What’s a devout Muslim to do?
“As a Muslim, I do hope to do my responsibilities,” Shukor says. “I do hope to fast in space.”
The Funny Pages
The NY Times shows its not entirely worthless by running a new series by Dan Clowes. They are also paying attention to other alternative comics artists like Seth, Chris Ware and Joe Sacco. This slideshow on comics is excellent.
