This morning, an Air France Concorde departed from Kennedy Airport in New York for the last time.

As the first supersonic commerical aircraft, the Concorde has been a symbol of status and technological advancement for over a quarter century. But the high cost associated with maintainting the aging fleet and the reduced demand for seats -- costing up to $7000 each way -- seem to have signaled the end for 3 1/2 hour intercontinental flights. As the economic downturn continues, companies have increasingly decided to cut their losses on ego boosting but money losing operations (see also: media companies dumping sports franchises).

British Air plans to retire their Concordes later this year, as well. Both airlines have mentioned donating their planes to museums. However, Richard Branson, CEO of Virgin Air, would like to purchase ther planes and keep them flying.

I imagine Air France and British Air viewing an upstart airline flying the majestic Concorde as an incredible hit to their corporate egos, but I hope that Branson can keep the Concorde alive.

I'm not sure whether it's a spinoff of the reality TV fad or not, but it seems than any slightly out of the ordinary story suddenly leads to talks of book deals for those involved.

Jason Blair, the now infamous New York Times journalist caught plagiarizing and fabricating facts for stories has hired a literary agent to help sort through book and movie deals.

And those Northbrook, IL teens involved in the Powder Puff hazing incident have been offered a reinstatement deal, provided that they "don't cut a book or movie deal." Does that mean that some of them were already shopping their story?

This closely follows Montgomery County, MD police chief Charles Moose's filing suit to win the right to tell his story in a book. You may remember his as the face of the DC area sniper investigation.

And Stephen Glass, perhaps Blair's role model, recently received press coverage for the release of his novel, based on his own fabrication scandle that rocked the New Republic and other magazines for which he wrote five years ago.

With the exception of Chief Moose, these individuals brought unto themselves the scandal that lead to the media attention and possible book deals. It's almost like a new form of lottery ticket, but with higher odds of payout. Commit a crime, tell your story, cash in.

While Blair may not be able to work as a journalist again, he'll probably earn more with one book deal than he would in 20 years as a reporter.

A book deal would also help cushion the blow financially should any of those expelled from Glenbrook North have their collge acceptances recinded. So what if they end up at Wisconsin - LaCross instead of Illinois, when they've got their book deal.

So is that the trick? Do something so horrible you can literally write your own ticket to fame and wealth? Do they figure the infamy will blow over before the cash runs out? Do they hope that the book or movie will propel them to their own reality show, like Monica Lewinsky?

Am I the only one who sees a problem with this?

We are currently wrapping up a war in Iraq that was started because our President felt that their (still unsubstantiated) weapons of mass destruction posed a threat to our national security and that the Iraqi people needed to be liberated from Saddam's evil regime.

So why is it then, that North Korea admits to having nuclear weapons, after already backing out of nuclear proliferation treaties, testing long range missiles, etc. and we're calling this a regional issue. North Korea wants to hold talks with the U.S., but the Bush administration keeps trying to pawn N. Korea off on China, S. Korea, Japan et al.

Oh yeah, and North Korea's leader seems to be insane as he's currently extracting all triplets from their parents because he fears they will topple his regime.

Weblogs are among the new technologies that allow for more in depth coverage of the war in Iraq. In recent days, CNN.com has had stories about how bloggers close the situation have brought the war to our computers, including this story that mentions soldiers' blogs as well a passing mention to one written by an Iraqi in Baghdad (there was full story on CNN on 3/24 but it seems to have been pulled).

However, the irony regarding CNN's coverage of bloggers and the war is that CNN forced one of its own correspondents in Iraq to stop writing on his blog!

Looks like one this week's Onion stories is already out of date.

CNN is reporting that CIA Director George Tenet testified to a congrssional committee that North Korea has ballistic missile capable of hitting U.S.

This news comes only 1 day after Osama bin Laden reminded the U.S. that al Qaeda is still a threat.

And yet the president and military still seems to be singularly focused on Iraq. While I'm sure that Saddam is up to no good and that eventually there does need to be some change in Iraq, I think that it's becomming increasingly clear that he's only our third most important enemy at the moment.

So why is it that the Bush administration still seems so intent on pushing for war in Iraq? Why not finish off Osama and deal with North Korea first?

Maybe I do need to go out and get my duct tape and plastic sheeting.

Coverage contines on TV and across the internet about the tragic breakup of the Columbia space shuttle yesterday morning.

While the loss is most tragic for the family and friends of those lost, they all take some level of comfort that those 7 aboard lost their lives doing something they loved. They worked hard and persevered to accomplish their goals of space travel.

These astronauts really are today's fearless pioneers and adventurers. We seem to take for granted that anyplace can be reached safely and quickly. But it wasn't always the case.

When Christopher Columbus or Ponce de Leon set off by boat, that they faced the great unknown beyond the horizon. Lewis and Clark, as they set off across the U.S., knew of the danger they faced during their journey. Today the entire earth seems to be known and fairly safe -- but space is still today's great unknown. It is today's unexplored frontier.

Those who blaze the new trails know the risks and take them on willingly because the sense of adventure and discovery outweighs those risks. And all of mankind ultimately benefits from their sacrifice.

I think most of us admire this sense of adventure the astronauts display and to som eextend live vicariously through them. Perhaps this is why so much coverage is devoted to them. Why so many people who have never met any of them feel compelled to sign eulogy books and build tributes. Seven lives is not a lot in terms of numbers. That many probably die in accidents in a major city each day. Seven skiers died yesterday in an avalanche in Canada, but that only received a 15 second mention on CNN. But the symbolic lives they lived for all of us make their untimely passing seem so important and sad for all.

Some Good Weblog Coverage:
• Saltire's Columbia coverage
(via megnut)
• Dave Winer's Scripting News coverage
• Nixlog Collection of Infographics
(via kottke.org)
Posted by blipsman at 12:29 PM | Comments (0)

Columbia shuttle breaks up over Texas at 8:00 am CST.

More:
• Minute-by-minute recap of Columbia Mission Report
• Shuttle debris visible on National Weather Service radar
• Crew Profiles (Fox News)
• ebay pulls Columbia debris listings

Well, at least that's what we do here in Chicago! Seriously, get out and vote today. So we may not be electing the president, but there are still many important races that can affect the political direction of the nation for at least the next two years. People are quick to criticize the government and our elected officials, and yet more than half the population doesn't take the ten minutes out of their day to go vote! We learned in the the 2000 election that every vote counts, so go punch some chads!

After receiving consideration every year for more then two decades, Jimmy Carter finally wins the Nobel Peace Prize. He really deserves this award for his tireless work promoting peace and democracy across the globe through his Carter Center, which is affiliated with Emory University, my alam mater.

In a related note, I attended an Emory alumni event the other night in which Kenneth Stein, Carter's Middle East advisor and Emory professor, spoke about the current issues involving the issue. I am more sorry than ever I never found the opportunity to take one of his classes. Not only does he teach about a fascinating topic, but he also did a great job presenting all sides to the issues in a charasmatic and humorous way.

On the list of Top 100 most frequently challenged books! Thought I'd post a list to this in honor of Banned Books Week, which runs from September 21-28, 2002.

I have read many of the books on the list for either school or pleasure ( I guess some could be considered both). It's sad to think that people have faught to keep them out of the schools and out of the hand of readers.

Some may deal with controversial issues or issues/actions that do not agree with their religion, etc., but understanding that people have different views and different experiences and learning about them is one of the great freedoms we have.

Simply banning anything that is not 100% in agreement with one's views is what the Taliban did. It's not what Americans should be doing.

Princeton Review named Indiana Universitythe Top Party School in its latest edition of Party School rankings. Not surprisingly, the administration is upset.

Princeton Review probably hired former Florida dept. of children and family services employees to do the assessments, which means they probably throw darts at a map and choose the closest schools to the darts to add to the list, then fudge the reports of their visit.

Same thing happened a couple years ago, when my alma mater, Emory university placed on the list while I was there. That was a joke, because there were virtually no parties on campus and the biggest complaint by students was the lack of on-campus social life. Of course the administration chose to use that as a reason to crack down further on the campus social scene.

Citing self-esteem issues among others, Santa Monica principal bans Tag from her school's playground. Schools have already been outlawing Dodge Ball. What's next, criminalizing Kick the Can because it harms the environment?