By Ed Forry
BIR Publisher
American astronaut Catherine Coleman, of Shelburne Falls in Massachusetts, roared into space in December along with a Russian cosmonaut to dock on the International Space Station, where she will be circling the earth until sometime in May.

While she will have much to do as a working station manager, she has planned for the times when she can relax. An amateur musician, she has four flutes to pick from when she wants to play. One is her own, and the other three are on loan from three well-known musicians: a tin whistle from Paddy Moloney, leader of the Irish trad group the Chieftains; a priceless traditional Irish concert flute from Chieftains member Matt Molloy; and a flute from Ian Anderson, founder of the band Jethro Tull.
Molloy said he and Moloney got to know the Coleman more than 10 years ago after they had played a gig in Houston. “We had done a concert and as always we had a tune afterwards with local musicians,” he said. “It transpired that she played the flute and we have been friends ever since.”
A recently retired US Air Force lieutenant colonel, Coleman lives with her husband, glass artist Josh Simpson, and their son in the foothills of the Berkshires. She claims strong Irish ancestral roots. In 2004, she received the John F. Kennedy Award as the “Outstanding American of Irish Descent” from retired Springfield Bishop Joseph F. Maguire in a ceremony before that year’s St. Patrick’s parade in Holyoke.
Coleman said she carried the flutes with her to space to reach out to the music community. “One of the things I think it’s important to do is to try to share how amazing it is up here and relate to different groups of people,” Coleman said in an interview on National Public Radio. “I relate to flute players, and I just wanted them to understand what a cool place it was and how many possibilities there were to play music up here on the space station, a pretty well-rounded spectrum. I am having a great time up here with them,” she added.
Coleman is the only flautist among the station’s six-member crew. She prefers creating music with other people, so she puts flute music on in the background and plays whenever she has the spare time. Last month, she played a couple tunes for radio and TV interviewers.
Coleman reports that things are quite different when playing a flute in weightlessness. She finds herself bumping into objects while she plays and floats with her eyes closed. The acoustics, she says, vary from room to room. The chambers that are padded with cloth bags absorb the sound and aren’t nearly as bright sounding as in the space station’s window-enclosed observation deck.
Coleman, a graduate of MIT, with a doctorate in polymer science and engineering from UMass/Amherst, says it is “pretty neat” creating her “own little world with music” in orbit. She hopes to team up with the Chieftains and Tull flautists for a space-to-ground concert before she returns to Earth in May.
The Expedition 26 mission is commanded by Scott Kelly, brother-in-law of the wounded Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. His twin brother Mark – Giffords’s husband – is slated to command the space shuttle Endeavour mission in April.
Material from AP, NASA, NPR, and the Irish Times was used in this report.
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Irish Priest Says O’Malley’s Irish ‘Visitation’ Offers Hope
A story written by John L. Allen and published in the National Catholic Reporter on Feb. 17 played down recent media reports out of London suggesting that Boston’s Cardinal-Archbishop Sean P. O’Malley sees the Catholic church in Ireland “on the edge of collapse,” saying that the leader of a reform-minded group of Irish calls the visitation “far more positive” for him and other like-minded priests.
Father Tony Flannery, a founding member of the Association of Catholic Priests that was launched last September, told Allen that his group’s experience is that the visitors are “really listening,” that they grasp the “depth and urgency” of the crisis in Ireland generated by revelations of decades of sexual abuse and cover-up, and that they have placed “no restrictions” on the conversation about reform.
Flannery told Allen that the “edge of collapse” line “wasn’t quite fair to what O’Malley said.” The point O’Malley was trying to make, he said, was that the visitors understand there are “very deep and real problems” exposed by the sexual abuse crisis, and that “just papering over cracks is not going to deal with them.”
O’Malley declined a request to comment for NCR, citing the confidentiality of the visitation.
Flannery told NCR that the tone set by the visitors has provided a sense of hope. “I think it’s fair to say that our initial response to the visitation was negative, bordering on cynical,” he said. “But so far our experience has been good.”
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McBride Trains Hard for April Showdown in New Jersey
By Corey Burns
Special to the Reporter
You’ve likely seen him countless times on your way to grab a coffee at Greenhills Irish Bakery or breakfast at Gerard’s in Adams Corner.
He’s a giant of a man — aptly nicknamed “the Clones Colossus” — and though he’s a world-renowned pugilist who has competed on the world’s biggest stage — Kevin McBride likes to keep things simple.
Best known to the general public for his 2005 TKO victory over “Iron” Mike Tyson, the 37 year-old is back in training these days, gearing up for an April bout against Tomasz Adamek (43-1) of Poland. The winner may get a shot at Vitali Klitscho for the heavyweight belt.
“I’m looking forward to it, it’s a big fight,” McBride told the Reporter. “It’s probably my last chance to get in the door for my dream fight, a world title fight.”
“I have been training as hard as I was when I trained for Mike Tyson. I’m a bit heavier and a bit older but I have more experience,” McBride said. “I have an equalizer and that’s what I intend to do.”
The 6-foot-six, 280-pound McBride has a stellar career record of 35-8-1. He last fought in October during the Prizefighter Tournament in England where he won a split decision against Franklin Egobi in the quarterfinals. Unfortunately, he lost the same night by unanimous decision in the semis against Matt Skelton.
“I put him down, but I didn’t get the decision,” said McBride.
Since then, McBride has been back in Dorchester spending time with his wife Danielle, and their two children, Grainne and Caoimhin. He’s a family man, but he still hits the gym, and now, with his upcoming fight, he’s hitting it harder than ever. He is determined to keep his dream of winning championship belts for his children alive by winning in April.
He has been training with his fitness trainer, Radovan Serbula, to get into the best shape possible and with Goodie Petronelli, who is best known for training “Marvelous” Marvin Hagler. He is also scheduled to work out with the McLoughlin brothers, Eddie and Tony, in New York.
McBride clearly has a lot of respect for his opponent. He knows the success Adamek has had in multiple weight classes and that he beat Andrew Golota, who beat McBride.
But McBride says he is ready for the challenge. “I’m up for this fight, looking forward to it. It’s time to leave all the talking in the ring. This guy is in my way to get to my dream fight.
“The main goal is to beat this guy and get an opportunity to fight Klitscho, because that’s what Adamek is supposed to do, beat me and [then] fight him,” McBride said. “Boxing is a beautiful sport because all it takes is one punch to change anyone’s chapter. I’m going to deliver that on him that night. You can run but you can’t hide from Kevin McBride.”
“You know this guy’s quick, they are going to say he’s too fast. But its 12 rounds and I’m going get contact eventually, and when I do, he’ll think the whole of Poland hit him.”
The McBride vs. Adamek fight takes place on April 9th in New Jersey’s Prudential Center. McBride has an abundance of supporters who will join him there. His mother, his sister Debbie, and his nephew are going to Newark along with close friends like Tommy White, who has been extremely important in Kevin’s life. His brother, who lives in New Jersey, will also be there cheering him on.
Kevin would not make any predictions, but he did say, “I don’t think it’s going the distance. I’m fit for 12 rounds, but hopefully I’ll be my own judge and it won’t go 12. I want to be victorious, I want to have my hand raised in the end, but if not, they are going to need a stretcher because I’m going to leave it all in the ring.”
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JFK Library feature lets you work at The President’s Desk
As a little girl, Caroline Kennedy hung out at her father’s desk while he worked in the country’s most famous office. Now the library she works with to preserve her father’s memory has introduced a way anyone can sit — virtually — at John F. Kennedy’s desk and learn more about his life and administration.
On Feb. 21, the Museum at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Dorchester unveiled a new online feature, The President’s Desk.
The interactive desktop has numerous objects Web visitors can click — a telephone, a campaign button, a secret recording button — and get video, audio and text from JFK’s era.
“I hope users will feel they are sitting at the president’s desk themselves and will be excited to bring history to life in this dynamic setting,’’ said Caroline Kennedy, president of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. “My parents shared a love of history, and I know they would have enjoyed this exhibit themselves.’’
The online feature was introduced in front of a replica of the desk.
The original desk was made from the timbers of the British ship the HMS Resolute and was given to President Rutherford B. Hayes by Queen Victoria in 1878. Still used by President Barack Obama, the original desk was in the White House broadcast room until JFK’s wife, Jacqueline Kennedy, discovered it and had it installed in the Oval Office in February 1961.
The virtual version has seven clickable objects, each of which holds various layers of information.
Clicking the telephone, for instance, pulls up a list of recorded conversations, and a user can listen to the president talk to his brothers Robert Kennedy and Edward Kennedy.
The campaign button reveals a picture of his campaign headquarters and video from his run for office.
Hitting the secret recording button gives access to transcripts and sound from high-level discussions on the Cuban missile crisis and Vietnam. Other objects hold information about Kennedy’s family, his military service and his love of the sea.
The President’s Desk can be found at JFKLibrary.org.