A classic

                                                               Where’s Your Conscious?

 

            The year is 1999.  Monica Lewinsky is a household name and blue dresses are scandalous.  In fact, one could fast forward 14 years to now and Monica Lewinsky and that blue dress are still controversial.  Why?  During his presidency, Bill Clinton was involved in an extramarital affair with a White House intern named – you guessed it – Monica Lewinsky.  According to the dictionary definition for adultery (voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and someone other than his or her spouse), the situation above would make Bill an adulterer.  Adultery, in general, is one of the worst actions a human being can commit.  While it is a physical action for one spouse, it is emotionally damaging to the other spouse. The spouse who commits adultery can simply blame their action on a “simple”, stupid mistake, but the faithful spouse, who did no wrong, has to deal with the most difficult part of the situation: rebuilding the broken trust, dealing with the emotional trauma caused by the cheating spouse, the list goes on!  Alongside being extremely frowned upon in the bible (7^th commandment), adultery is quite frowned upon in society, hence Clinton’s extreme punishment: impeachment (which is another story in itself).  If one truly loved his or her spouse, why in the world would one want to hurt them in one of the worst possible ways? It is almost as if the cheating partner is careless and basically reckless; almost as if they have no conscious to guilt them.

 

 

                                       Refutation: Kennedy Curse or Poor Judgment?

            The crash involving John F. Kennedy, Jr.’s Piper Saratoga light aircraft did not result from poor weather conditions, but from pilot error.  On July 16, 1999, JFK Jr. crashed his aircraft into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard due to what the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) commented was the “pilot’s failure to maintain control of the airplane during a descent over water at night, resulting in spatial disorientation.”  Spatial disorientation is the inability to correctly interpret aircraft attitude, altitude, or airspeed in relation to reference point; it results from the pilot’s failure to discern the direction in which he or she is flying his or her aircraft.  At the time of the flight, weather conditions were hazy, decreasing the visibility of the horizon line.  However, most professional pilots are able to proceed with flight plans because they have instrument rating, meaning they are trained to use the instruments within the aircraft to prevent disorientation; as a private pilot, JFK Jr. did not have instrument rating.  In fact, his flying instructor had previously reported that JFK Jr. was not ready for an instrument evaluation and needed additional training.  At the time of the flight, JFK Jr. had also chosen incorrect flying frequencies: for Martha’s Vineyard ATIS, his radio was set to 127.25 when it should’ve been set to 126.25; he also had 132.25 for Essex County ATIS, which should’ve been set to 135.5.  He also chose to take a shorter route to Martha’s Vineyard, flying the aircraft over a 30-mile stretch of water at night with no light to help guide.  Due to his overall lack of pilot experience and indiscretions as a pilot that night, JFK Jr. was in no position to be flying the aircraft at the time of the crash.

                                                                 

                                    Confirmation: More Proof of a Kennedy Curse?

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            John F. Kennedy, Jr. crashed his Piper Saratoga light aircraft as a result of poor flying conditions, killing him, his wife, and his sister-in-law.  Due to the poor weather conditions and his lack of piloting experience for such conditions at the time of the crash, JFK Jr. was in no position to fly the aircraft at that time.  On July 16, 1999, JFK Jr. crashed his aircraft into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard due to what the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) labels spatial disorientation – inability to correctly interpret aircraft attitude, altitude, or airspeed in relation to reference point after reference point has been lost; it’s when a pilot’s perception of direction doesn’t agree with reality.  At the time of the flight, the weather conditions were hazy, decreasing the visibility of the horizon line.  Also, JFK. Jr. had been flying the aircraft over water during the night; combine this with the decrease in visibility of the horizon line, it would’ve been difficult for him to tell the difference between the horizon line and the start of the water, causing him to lose his reference point. JFK Jr. was qualified to pilot the aircraft at night, however, as a private pilot he had no proper instrument rating, which is needed to fly during poor weather conditions when the pilot has no sense of the horizon line. The NTSB labeled the cause of the crash to be the pilot’s failure to maintain control during a descent over water: pilot’s error. It is possible the crash resulted from pilot’s error, but it is more likely that due to the hazy, unclear weather conditions and his lack of proper instrument rating, JFK Jr. lost sense of the horizon line and ultimately his reference point, causing him to fail to land the plane safely.

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            Is It Worth It?

            “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.”  A strange saying (if ever really said) but nevertheless, very true.  It’s a very interesting way of putting the common knowledge that everything comes with a cost, even though said cost may be hidden at first. If you think about it, nothing really is free. It’s often said the best things in life are free, but are they really?  For example, consider the action of stopping and taking a moment to watch birds splash in a birdbath.  A seemingly innocent act and, indeed, one that could be considered “free.”  But after a while of carelessly watching the birds hop along, you look up and realize how much time has passed. In fact, the entire day has passed; you’ve gotten nothing done.  This is a very extreme example but it gets the point across; the cost here is time. Time is precious, as we are often told, and it is a shame when it’s lost.  It’s like the concept of easy/fast money; easy money isn’t always the best form of money. Exotic dancers make easy money fast, but the burdens that come with their chosen form of “art” are sometimes too much for them to bear; it often costs them their piece of mind. The saying is an example of why when something is free, it is approached with uncertainty and resistance because it is almost too good to be true. If something is too good to be true, often times it is.