A long road to American citizenship, NASA's predicament and weekend movie news

- The stories of people like Kwame James never cease to inspire, encourage and impress. You might remember James as one of the heroes who helped to subdue would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid on a trans-Atlantic flight 10 years ago. James has spent the past decade in immigration no man’s land despite playing two years in high school in the U.S. and four years at Division I Evansville. He entered the U.S. as a tourist but later realized he couldn't overstay his visa if he wanted to become a citizen later. On that fateful flight, he was roused from a nap by a flight attendant after Reid attempted to ignite explosives hidden in his shoes. Using seats belts and headset wires, James and fellow passengers were able to subdue Reid. On Thursday, James finally fulfilled his dream of becoming an American citizen at a ceremony in Atlanta. Clad in a gray pinstriped suit and blue tie, the 6-foot-8 James became an official American citizen and at this point, he would rather distance himself from his one moment in the sun and talk about how happy he is to be a new citizen and his passion for music. "I became a citizen of one of the best countries in the world and I am very happy," he said. "All the things that people come here for, that's what I'm here for, the opportunity. You can come from nothing and become something here, just through hard work." Prior to coming to the U.S., James was born in Canada and raised in Trinidad. He was playing professional basketball abroad at the time of the incident and actually asked to take time off from his team once the gravity of what he had just gone through sank in. Even after he agreed to testify against Reid, the government turned its back on him and his citizenship request after Reid pleaded guilty before trial in October 2002, said his immigration lawyer, Michael Wildes. Helping thwart a potential terrorist attack wasn’t enough to engender goodwill with the government and as James’ request faded into obscurity, Wildes attempted to gain support from then-New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and Rep. Joe Crowley. James ultimately applied for a visa that allowed him to play basketball and made the roster for the minor league Brooklyn Kings. With the support of his coaches, James settled in and married his girlfriend, Jill, after which he became a legal permanent resident. His basketball days ended a few years later and James got a job as a sales representative for Pfizer. He was later laid off, but having shown he could get a job on his own, James felt comfortable moving to Atlanta to help expand his friend's IT staffing firm in the Southeast last year. Now that he’s a U.S. citizen, what is he most looking forward to? Something that most Americans couldn’t be more indifferent to, that’s what. “I can't wait to vote in the next election," James said. Enjoy the voting booth, amigo, we’re glad to have you here………

- NASA finds itself between a major rock and a really hard place at the moment. President Obama is set to slash funding for space programs and yet the space agency has bigger aspirations than ever to explore the great beyond. In a week, Obama is scheduled to attend a major "space summit" in Florida and in advance of that visit, NASA has unveiled sweeping new programs designed to implement the administration's proposed shift to commercial manned rockets and development of new technologies to enable eventual deep space exploration. Obama’s 2011 budget request would eliminate the W. administration's Constellation moon program and has no real targets or aims for manned space explorations or moving those explorations beyond low-Earth orbit. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden did his best to have the president’s back, saying that Obama’s controversial "vision" is different from past programs because it is affordable and sustainable. "This budget provides an increase to NASA at a time when funding is scarce," Bolden said. "It will enable us to accomplish inspiring exploration, science and R and D, the kinds of things the agency has been known for throughout its history." Borden believes the revised budget will allow “NASA to set its sights on destinations beyond Earth orbit and develop the technologies that will be required to get us there, both with humans and robots.” I don’t know how that is supposed to salve the wounds of the 10,000 people who will lose their jobs at the Kennedy Space Center alone and thousands more at other NASA centers and communities who will be unemployed because of the budget cuts. “A very serious and real concern for everyone is the jobs," Bolden concurred. "But this is what we call progress, Unfortunately, If you look at every area of technology in this country, as you advance there are fewer and fewer manual-type jobs. That's what happens when you advance technology." These advances basically double back on everything W. looked to do in the wake of the 2003 Columbia disaster, when he decided to complete the space station and retire the shuttle by 2010. Note that I’m not saying all of this is a bad idea. The Constellation program has spent some $9 billion over the past five years, money that undoubtedly could have been spent in more productive places. As for the Obama administration’s decision to support commercial launch services without any long-range destinations or timetables…….what else did you expect? In most senses, this administration is no different than any other presidential administration. They are going to throw out nice-sounding, general concepts that will be tough to track the success of and even more difficult to actually implement on account of being so vague. The bottom line is that NASA will have to learn to do more with less and not be wasteful in its spending. It’s the same lesson everyone else in this country has had to learn (well, everyone outside of Donald Trump and people of his ilk) of late. Step your game up, NASA, and find a way to shoot people and things into space while spending less…………

- It was a close race at the box office over the weekend, but moviegoers showed that they still have no freaking clue what a good movie looks like and made "Date Night" it the weekend’s top film with $27.1 million gross, narrowly edging out "Clash of the Titans'" and its $26.8 million take. For a mediocre movie with so-so acting and a clichéd script, "Date Night” managed to do reasonably well. The tally marks a new box office opening weekend record for Tina Fey. It was not a record-setter for Fey's co-star Steve Carell, who had his best opening weekend with 2008's "Get Smart," which opened to $38 million on its way to $130 million. Moviegoers will see much more of Carrell this summer, as he will be back in July with "Dinner for Schmucks," where he stars alongside Paul Rudd. The second-place finish may not be as disappointing for Titans as the fact that the movie dipped a whopping 56 percent from its opening weekend. Bet star Sam Worthington and Co. weren’t too pumped to see that even though the movie has now grossed $110 million after two weekends of release. In third place was Dreamworks’ animated flick "How to Train Your Dragon," which has rebounded from a disappointing opening weekend to hold steady the past two weeks and finish just behind the top two films with time around with a tally of $25.3 million. Fourth place went to the most utterly regrettable, forgettable ad detestable movie of the weekend, "Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too." That crap-fest made $11 million, i.e. approximately $11.1 million more than it should have made. I’m willing to chalk part of that up to the fact that the movie stars Janet Jackson and a lot of guys still have a thing for her, but that doesn’t account for all of the problem. The fact that another hack pop singer - Miley Cyrus - was right behind in fifth place with her movie "Last Song" doesn’t excuse it either. “Last Song” made $10 million, raising its cumulative total at $42.4 million in two weekends in theaters. "Alice in Wonderland" stayed strong and locked down the sixth spot with another $5.6 million, enough to boost its overall total to $319 million since debuting in early March. The top 10’s second-worst movie, MGM's "Hot Tub Time Machine," checked in at No. 7 with $5.4 million. That was enough to edge out "The Bounty Hunter" took the eighth spot for the frame, which slipped to eighth place and earned $4.3 million. The ninth spot went to "Diary of a Wimpy Kid," with the children’s book adaptation grossing an additional $4.1 million. In tenth was an unusual story in the form of the Christian-themed "Letters to God," which opened in 895 theaters yet hauled in an impressive take of $1.1 million. The overall box office was down compared to last year at this time, when Cyrus owned the weekend with her film "Hannah Montana." Next weekend brings the debut of the comedy/action romp "Kick-Ass," so stay tuned…………

- Among the legions of groups we have in the United States that are comprised entirely of idiots, there aren’t many I enjoy mocking and deriding more than the tools of the Tea Party. So I got a big kick out of the scene in Connecticut over the weekend as members of the party attempted to raise the flag they've adopted as part of their movement even after police at the state Capitol said it could not fly over the building. These clowns wanted to raise the Gadsden flag and its "Don't Tread On Me" slogan atop their own flag pole near the Capitol during a rally Friday. State Capitol police initially approved the flying of the flag atop the Capitol but Thursday afternoon, the decision was reversed and the flag was not allowed to be flown. In response, the TPT (Tea Party Tools) ran the flag up their own pathetic flag pole in defiance. The Gadsden Flag dates back to before the Revolutionary War and is well-known for its serpent and its slogan of "Don't Tread on Me." Several state lawmakers spoke out about the issue and they don’t seem to have much support for the TPT. "The same way I don't think we should have a Democratic flag or a Republican flag on top of the Capitol, I don't think they should have a Green Party flag or a Working Families Party flag," said Rep. Michael Lawlor, D-East Haven. The state is no stranger to controversies involving flags; back in 1999 things got testy when a gay-rights flag flew at the Capitol after there. Lawlor said the Gadsden flag is simply too identifiable with the tea party movement to qualify as nonpartisan. As for the TPT, they raised their adopted flag on a different flagpole on the south side of the building near Capitol Avenue. "This is not just a movement, this is the tea party nation. This is about that flag, which for 300 years has been a representation of the people who rule government, not government ruling the people," said Duffy Acevedo, who is currently running for the governor on the Republican ticket. Whatever you say, TPT, whatever you say………

- Who hasn’t been clamoring for this partnership? I know I’ve bee saying for some time now that I need to see two hallowed American institutions like the Smithsonian Institution and home shopping network QVC team up. Finally, that dream has come true. The Museum of Natural History announced a licensing agreement allowing the QVC network to sell a jewelry collection based on the museum’s valuable gem collections. Now, some 180 million households worldwide will have the opportunity to own a cheap knockoff trinket that vaguely resembles something residing in a large, poorly lit museum that most of them will never even be in the same area code as. For example, you may not be able to afford something like the dazzling 45.5-carat Hope diamond, but now you can have a cheap replica of it. Likewise, earrings owned by Marie Antoinette or a necklace that the emperor Napoleon gave as a gift to his wife are likely outside of your price range, but now a poor facsimile of those items can reside in your jewelry box. However, even these knockoffs will start at $85, so they aren’t exactly cheap either. Museum curators will help supervise the creation of the jewelry line, which I’m sure will be a great fit. After all, who knows more about jewelry and fashion than people who spend all of their days working with old relics like Archie Bunker’s chair or Jimi Hendrix’s lunch box from when he was 10? When completed, the collection will include 30 items, inspired by the museum's National Gem and Mineral Collection. "They will use some of the stones including Smithsonite, which is a mineral that was named for James Smithson, the founder of the Smithsonian, as well as garnet, topaz, semi-precious as well as some costume jewelry," said the Smithsonian's Linda St. Thomas. To promote the line, museum curators will also do taped interviews for QVC (another winning mix because who’s more charismatic than a museum curator) to introduce new exhibits. QVC will start selling the jewelry this fall, so keep an eye out for it when you can’t sleep at 3 a.m. and are gnawing on a leftover cheese log and vegging out on the couch. It’s the latest in a string of licensing deals for the Smithsonian, including furniture, lighting, books and hobby kits based on the museum's collections. I guess with the government running a bigger budget deficit by the second, even the Smithsonian has to sell out………….