Last Escort

Blackfive lets LtCol M.R. Strobl USMC tell how he escorted PFC Chance Phelps USMC to his final rest. This will choke you up.

I sent it to Fox News and the Kansas City Star. This story should be widely told.

Via Dean Esmay.

Kerry Prepares To Cut And Run

John Kerry plans to 'lower the bar and pass the buck' by leaving Iraq as soon as stability is reached. This lowers the bar by settling for stability rather than achieving democracy. It passes the buck by leaving it completely up to the Iraqis to implement democracy. Thanks to Ara Rubyan for the phrase. He'd never use it to describe Kerry though, the only man left standing in the Anybody But Bush parade. This innovation was left to me.

Why Higher Education Is Rotten

Higher education is not ideologically diverse.
Higher education creates new fields of study which are only politically motivated.
Higher education has subordinated truth to politics.

John Kekes say it better.

Via Instapundit.

Since It Takes So Much Time To Board...

... let's speed up the planes. Actually this article is on the cool search for a softer sonic boom. Note the wonderfully inexpensive way NASA is doing the early research, by putting a false nose on an existing plane. The report does not mention glasses, a fake mustache, or a cigar. Maybe the secret word is ZOOM.

NASCAR in Space

Space.com gives this overview of the X Prize, which is offering ten million to the first group to shoot a three-person spacecraft 100 kilometers into space, safely lands and do it again with the same ship in two weeks. It seems they also are creating a more direct competition:

The X Prize Foundation, based in St. Louis, Missouri, is in the midst of analyzing bids from both Florida and New Mexico for one of them to be the picked as the spaceport of choice for the first annual X Prize Cup.

Diamandis said the cup would be a two-week event, taking place at the same location each year. X prize teams would be invited to fly as many times as they can. 'They would set records and compete in different categories, such as maximum altitude, time-to-climb, the fastest vehicle turn-around, number of people carried during a single flight or during the course of the two weeks,' he explained.
This 'friends and family' type of gathering would allow public viewing of perhaps a 100 spaceship launches throughout the two weeks, Diamandis envisions.

I'm saving up my vacation time for this one....