Making mistakes is something humans are extraordinarily good at, and in space, mistakes tend to hold heavier consequences.
While Mayor Michael Bloomberg's plan to keep tobacco products out of sight from customers at New York city stores was met with mixed reviews last week, another section of the anti-smoking proposal, that may render even heavier consequences for tobacco retailers, seemed to fly under the radar.
Older children and teenagers can have "heavier" consequences in order for them to learn from their mistakes.
"We can't obligate women to carry the heavy consequence of being unable to decide [to end a pregnancy] because of a law, because that tramples their dignity, prolongs their suffering, and risks their lives," Bachelet said as she announced the bill.
The high cost of one month of ICU closure had a heavy consequence on the behaviour of the ICU staff, which was more careful in the application of prevention measures and protocols.
That's a heavy consequence for forgetting to shut down your computer.
"There is an appreciation, perhaps not held equally by everyone, that there are heavy consequences" for American inaction, he said.
Back when Bush made that speech, state department officials warned that such loose political talk would carry heavy consequences and limit America's room to manoeuvre.
As they briefly state (before going onto advocate for the same military intervention), previous attempts – most notably Operation Lightning Thunder – were a disaster, with heavy consequences for civilians.
But if the U.S. does go barreling into Baghdad, with or without the sanction of the United Nations, the American people should at least have some clear sense of the potentially very heavy consequences that may ensue.
