An interesting news day.

SpaceShipOne winning the ANSARI X-Prize is cool. Not just because I happen to like Burt Rutan, but because it helps illustrate a cheap and simple way to space.

Ken Blackwell confirms my long held belief that he's a jerk. Why do I say long held? Many years ago I attended Conservative Youth Indoctrination Camp, err, Boy's State . I had a good time at Boy's State, which was an experence combining elements from Lord of the Flies with Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. (I coached the "govenor" of Buckeye Boy's State through the debates, in return for which I had virtually unlimited power to grant jobs and handout fake money grants, political favors, etc. In moves foreshadowing the future, I took and passed the fake Bar exam, and attempted to learn the minimal amount of Triumph of the Will-like marching and chanting.) Anyway...back to Ken Blackwell: I got to meet him when he visited Boy's State, and his answers to questions about the Ohio School funding problem were extremely evasive overall, and very condesending once the press entered the room. That is, even though he was in the Q/A time, as soon as the press entered, he lauched into a long lecture about how great Boy's State is, and what fine young men we were rather than answering the question.