For thousands of years, mankind has known the universe is full of stars.  When the Hubble space-telescope was launched in 1990, scientists began to number the stars in our Milky Way galaxy alone at more than 100 billion.  But the assumption, based on Hubble data, was that there were very few planets outside our own solar system. Now, NASA’s new and more powerful Kepler space-telescope is sending back evidence of planets outside our solar system—thousands of them.

In the hustle and bustle of daily life, few people take the time to consider where they are going or where they have been—until some personal upheaval jolts their sphere of activities and forces them to focus, however briefly, on the purpose of it all.

Many do not pay much attention to where they are on the road of life until they approach “middle age.” Some face middle age with calm and aplomb. Others, seeing where they are, become anxious—and may even panic.

Gulnaz is a young Afghan woman who was sentenced to twelve years in prison for reporting that she had been raped by her cousin’s husband.  Assaulted two years ago, she hid the crime for fear of reprisal, until signs of pregnancy forced her to report the attack.  Thankfully, after two years of imprisonment and mounting international pressure on the Afghan government, she was released from incarceration.  Now, tragically, she faces pressure to marry the man who previously attacked her! What can she do? What can be done to help her?

EU Vice President Neelie Kroes invited Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg to Brussels “to advise on how to provide ongoing support to Internet users, bloggers and cyber-activists living under authoritarian regimes.”  He has been living in the U.S. for the last several months in a type of self-imposed exile, while working with a major political think tank.

The winter tide festivities continue on, with people moving almost mindlessly through them—looking neither left nor right, only onward to the end of them, full of parties, food, drink and maxed-out credit cards.

In just a few more days it will be the New Year and the glut of holiday celebrations will cease and we all can get back to normal—at least until Valentine's Day, Easter, Mardi Gras, etc.