Astronut
We've all heard and seen the story about NASA astronut Lisa Nowak who donned space diapers and drove 900 miles to pepper spray her alleged rival to a love interest with another astronaut. I've now heard some "expert" professor on Nightline talking about how intelligent she was and how only an astronaut would have the ability to plan ahead that much to wear diapers so as not to waste time stopping on the way to her crime scene in Florida. Come again? She drove 900 miles from Texas to Florida so unless she was driving a gas truck I believe she would have had to stop for gas at least once probably twice. I'm more impressed that she drove that far and was able to find her victim at a busy airport. Apparently she tracked her down and followed her onto the rental car shuttle bus and accosted her, allegedly, in the parking lot when she got off. Now that's some airport meet-up. I can't find my ride when I'm trying to look for it. After she gets out of prison Nowak has a future as an airport taxi driver.
This story is on par with the Nancy Kerrigan-Tonya Harding train wreck. They probably didn't think to try to do a pay-per-view boxing event back then but I'm more hopeful today that the Navy Captain Nowak and the Air Force Captain victim will be ready to rumble soon. At a minimum a Playboy spread. At worst an endorsement deal with Depends?
It's obviously a tragedy for everyone. This nut has twin 5 year-old daughters and a teenage son. Mommy was in outer space last July and now she's out of her mind. Her marriage of 19 years went into a black hole not too long ago and she is going to prison before the year is out. If I was her defense lawyer I'd try some new defense theory like maybe she got infected by an alien virus up on the International Space Station and that took over her mind. That happened on every other episode of Star Trek and while that was fiction this story proves that truth is really stranger than fiction.
This story is on par with the Nancy Kerrigan-Tonya Harding train wreck. They probably didn't think to try to do a pay-per-view boxing event back then but I'm more hopeful today that the Navy Captain Nowak and the Air Force Captain victim will be ready to rumble soon. At a minimum a Playboy spread. At worst an endorsement deal with Depends?
It's obviously a tragedy for everyone. This nut has twin 5 year-old daughters and a teenage son. Mommy was in outer space last July and now she's out of her mind. Her marriage of 19 years went into a black hole not too long ago and she is going to prison before the year is out. If I was her defense lawyer I'd try some new defense theory like maybe she got infected by an alien virus up on the International Space Station and that took over her mind. That happened on every other episode of Star Trek and while that was fiction this story proves that truth is really stranger than fiction.
posted by Crankyboy at 11:07 PM
6 Comments:
Et tu curmudgeon? I was hoping I'd heard the last of this nonsense. Astronut or astroslut, I just don't care.
Same here
The interest here is in seeing her former classmates/colleagues and friends' reactions; that they do not recognize this person. I knew someone quite well, also brilliant, caring, a paragon, who is in jail for the rest of her life, because of years of treason. I'm still incredulous. At least for me, the interest is in what we think we see and know in people, and what might really lurks just under the skin of that person.
I understand d.k.'s thought about thinking you know someone and finding out you don't have a clue, but there is a significant distinguishment that must be made between a calculating greedy person that commits treason against their country and a person that seems to have lost control of her mind. I'm going to maintain a presumption of innocence for our "spacey" lady because it just may be that she has an imbalance in her brain chemistry that has precluded her from reasoning normally; she could be mentally ill. Onset of mental illness and associated bizarre behavior is unfortunately more common than many people realize. I represent people at Baker Act procedings and occasionally run into people afflicted that I know have been articulate and accomplished persons within our community. I typically keep it confidential but I did mention a case to my wife recently to see if see had heard any gossip. Apparently nobody knows and I guess that's the way it should be, but on the other hand, the frequency of onsets of mental illness unfortunately remains misunderstood.
Westfield,
In the short, one paragraph commentary, I understand why you really don't see the connection between the two cases. I haven't written about it extensively yet, but would be happy to elaborate if you care or are interested, and email me. It is much, much deeper than being duped by a spy. Yes, in no indisputed way did she not commit treason - she did, but never for a dime's personal reward, but rather complex, historical, and inverted ethical reasons. In a word this person I referred to is a good person, a decent human being in many, many respects, who made a terrible mistake - And my heart still goes out to her. She is not a "monster" at all, and this I know. But she crossed a line that is understandably difficult to forgive. And, mental/emotional illness may well be a factor here too. It really isn't so different from this case, and again, if anyone cares, I'd be happy to elaborate via email.
Don
Maybe it's time to rename your website. I have a couple of suggestions:
- The Not-So Daily Curmudgeon
- The Occasional Curmudgeon
- The Only When I Feel Especially Curmudgy Curmudgeon
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