The issue gained momentum after Karnataka Housing and Waqf Minister BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan initiated “Waqf Adalats” (courts), aiming to reclaim properties that Waqf authorities claimed were encroached upon.
With the world eagerly awaiting the results of the US presidential elections, NASA has brought in some big and intriguing news. The astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are planning to cast their vote while orbiting the Earth, being in space.
If you are interested in knowing how voting from space works, here’s a bit of information.
It was back in the year 1997 when NASA allowed astronauts to vote from space, following the passing of a bill in the Texas Legislature. This was also the time when NASA astronaut David Wolf became the first American to vote from space.
For those unversed, Wolf had voted from the Mir Space Station.
According to reports, NASA has allowed this procedure of voting from space with the help of a Federal Postcard Application, or FPCA.
Per the website of the National Air and Space Museum, “Before Election Day, an encrypted electronic ballot is uplinked to the astronauts by JSC’s Mission Control.”
The website also states that through a set of unique credentials that are sent to the astronauts by e-mail, they can access their ballots, cast their votes, and downlink them back down to Earth.
Their votes are directly sent to the county clerk’s office.
Talking to the media for the first time after her launch in space, Williams stated that the experience of voting from space is “pretty cool.” Calling it a “very important duty,” Williams mentioned that she is looking forward to voting from space.
Sunita Williams also mentioned that she is missing her family and two dogs while being in space, onboard the International Space Station.
While stating that it might be tough for her friends and family as well, Williams added that they surely understand, also mentioning “everyone is cheering for us to get back.”
Adding to her words, Butch Wilmore stated that he had already set down his “request for a ballot today.”
Both Sunita Williams and Butch Willmore were launched into space with the help of a Boeing Starliner spacecraft on June 5 this year. This was the first time that a Starliner Boeing spaceflight had carried the astronauts into space.
The astronauts were left back in space, as NASA aimed to ensure the safety of the astronauts, following a few thruster failures and helium leak incidents.
With the Starliner coming back to Earth on September 6, the astronauts will be returning on a SpaceX craft in February 2025.
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Kate Nash described the challenges of ascertaining her bisexuality as she grew up. The Foundations singer detailed the struggles arising from not disclosing her sexuality while in elementary school due to the stigma surrounding bisexuality.
In an interview with Origins with Cush Jumbo, Nash opened up about never coming out when she was in primary school and struggling with self-acceptance. The discussion also turned to the sexual education Nash has had, where she recalled one time being taught that mas*****tion is a sin.
She recounted a time in which a fellow student came out as bisexual, though most of her peers only reacted negatively, some even calling her ‘a freak’, ‘a weirdo’ and ‘a creep.’ Nash confessed that she, for example, did not take part in stopping such bullying when it happened; she often pondered on whether wanting to kiss girls was a bad thing or not.
The Coffee Wars star said, “And then at school, I remember a girl saying to me, ‘It’s just so disgusting; the thought of two girls kissing, like, just makes me feel sick,’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, me too.’ But actually, I’m like, ‘I think I want to kiss girls. Is something wrong with me?”
Nash recalled that as a teenager, when she engaged in mas*****tion every night, she thought that she was “like sinning my soul away, desperately sinning,” though she did not know that it was a normal thing to do. The blame primarily fell on the education system, which mocked such things rather than providing proper information.
Later, with age, Nash’s worldviews transformed, including that while she was a teenage student at the BRIT School she was able to understand and appreciate bisexuality. There she thought she was free to do or felt more comfortable with expanding her sexuality. The Kiss That Grrrl singer seems to have had a circle of homosexual friends inviting them to share stories and in this setting, she found it easy rather than trying to pretend bisexuality was disgusting.
Nash has been vocal about her personal life and struggles in her interviews, particularly when it came to body image issues. In 2017, in an interview for The Independent, she explained how she coped with body image issues as a public person when faced with inappropriate comments about her body and face. She said to the outlet, “When you’re a woman, you have such a strange relationship with your body because—especially when you’re in the public eye—you’re constantly being judged.”
Kate Nash, who became famous for her song Foundations in 2007 as well as her first album Made of Bricks, is still not shy about saying what is going on in her life. Apart from her music career, she has also ventured into the acting field and appeared in a significant role in the Netflix show Glow. Her new album 9 Sad Symphonies, released in June 2024, is available on all music streaming platforms.
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