Genius In Progress

I guess it’s been a while since I’ve posted. Almost exactly a year and a half, to be precise. My last post was about an awesome, awesome airplane being retired, so I figure to bridge the gap, this post will be about the same. The U.S. Air Force is retiring the amazingly awesome F-117A Nighthawk, otherwise known as the Stealth Fighter. This plane was designed by Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works (also the creators of the U-2, SR-71 Blackbird, F-22 Raptor (which is, effectively, replacing the F-117A), and the F-35 Lighting II), and was just an all-around awesome piece of hardware. I could rant on and on about it, but you can just go read about it for yourself. If you ever have a chance to see one up close, or see it fly, go do it… it’s an impressive sight.

The US Navy today bid farewell to one seriously badass piece of machinery. The last of the F-14 Tomcats have been taken out of service, ending  the long and distinguished career of  one of the most impressive planes ever built. I wonder if this means I can now pick one up on eBay for cheap?

Sadly, Christopher Reeve died yesterday. He’s been one of my heros since I was little, due to his roll as Superman in the movies I watched so many times. He continued to be a positive roll model after the accident in 1995 that left him paralyzed. Desoite his injury he continued to pursue life, stating that he would walk again some day, despite predictions to the contrary. I believe the way he lived his life after the accident is more of a model of a super man than even the movies. His presense will be missed. God bless.

http://us.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/10/04/womens.college.ap/index.html

In other news, the students of Wells College are putting on a fine show. Wells College, which has been all-female for the past 136 years, has decided to go coed. Apparently this decision did not go over quite so well with some people. My favorite part is the signs that were made, containing such wisdom as “Coeducation Silences Women.” According to the article, the women worry that “men may dominate the classroom if they are admitted.” I attended a university with a lot more males than that college will ever have to worry about, and the female half of the population seemed to have no problems participating in class without being dominated by the men. So, Wells College students, welcome to the real world.

http://us.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/10/05/spaceshipone.race.ap/index.html

Following SpaceShipOne winning the Ansari X Prize, the X Prize foundation has announced the X Prize Cup. It will be an anual event, a competition based on a number of criteria, to determine the best spacecraft. How cool is that? Space flight might be almost as attainable as airline travel in 10 - 20 years.

For the sake of all of the children yet to be born, and for the sake of their parents, and for the sake of anyone whose life could possibly be affected by those children, we can only hope that this leads to something better.

Why didn’t I think of this? There is a student group there offering a $250 scholarship only to white students. “The application for the $250 award requires an essay on ‘why you are proud of your white heritage” and a recent picture to confirm whiteness.” Ahh, I can only dream of how much fun that would be to do in Ann Arbor.