Daily Lessons from Life 15 February 2013 - Meteor strike in Russia hurts over 400, sows panic

Updates on 14 Feb 2013 blog: Athletics: Pistorius formally charged with murder of girlfriend - it has been confirmed that the girlfriend was killed not due to she being mistaken as an intruder. It is a SAD story that is so familiar. 'Star athelete turned murderer!'

Aside:
Ex-MM/SM/PM Lee Kuan Yew missed the CNY dinner of his constituency for the 1st time in decades as he is ill. May I wish him a speedy recovery and get a good rest as he has done all he could for his beloved Singapore despite inconsistent performance in the last 1/4 of  his sterling political career and national leadership .

"Meteor strike in Russia hurts over 400, sows panic - AFP 15 February 2013

MOSCOW: A plunging meteor exploded with a blinding flash above central Russia on Friday, sowing panic as the hurtling space debris set off a shockwave that smashed windows and left over 400 people injured.

Morning traffic ground to a sudden halt in the Urals city of Chelyabinsk as the falling meteor partially burned up in the lower atmosphere above the city and lit up the morning sky, television footage showed.

It was not clear if the meteor was linked to the asteroid 2012 DA 14 which is expected to pass about 17,200 miles (27,000 kilometres) above the Earth later Friday in a unusually close approach to the Earth.

The Chelyabinsk region is Russia's industrial heartland, filled with smoke-chugging factories and other huge facilities that include a nuclear power plant and the massive Mayak atomic waste storage and treatment centre.

A spokesman for Rosatom, the Russian nuclear energy state corporation, said that its operations remained unaffected.

"All Rosatom enterprises located in the Urals region -- including the Mayak complex -- are working as normal," an unnamed Rosatom spokesman told Interfax.

The emergencies ministry said radiation levels in the region also did not change and that 20,000 rescue workers had been dispatched to help the injured and locate those requiring help."

A close call for some. Or many since there is NO fatality reported thus far!

Lessons for me are:

1. do WE know enough about the univeral - ours and those outside our knowledge? Definitely not. Human race just paled into insignificance when compare to the 'endless universal'! Yet, we cannot stop functioning the way we are doing right now. At least for a while more unless someone starts to focus his or her attention to the question of: "what does it mean to be alive as human being?";

2. suffice to say there WAS an identified meteor that scientists are tracking and concluded that it will miss Mother Earth by more than a thousand miles. YET, this 'little' runaway meteor COULD have caused a lot more troubles and deaths and destruction to the human race! How little we know about the universal that we stay in! Similar sentiment as in Item 1 above!!;

3. what does it mean for us then? Maybe a time to reflect and go back to the core basis question of: "what does it mean to be alive as a human being?" or more specifically for each individual: "what are your purposes on Mother Earth?" Maybe to be 'a little kinder than usual to anyone you meet' as he or she may be facing a much bigger trouble than you could ever imagine! Be around and make a positive difference to people you interact with. Make it worthwhile not just for yourself but your fellow human being!

A bit fatalistic by me? Maybe. But not if you change NOW for the better. Do good regardless of meteor or not!