Sunday, May 12, 2002

How far the mighty have fallen -- part of the roof of the Baikonur Cosmodrome has fallen, injuring at least eight people. Baikonur is Russia's space launch complex in Kazakhstan and is the site from which Sputnik -- the world's first man-made satellite to orbit the earth -- was launched. Kazakhstan took possession of the cosmodrome after the disintegration of the USSR. But it lacked the funds and expertise to maintain the site, which was looted by local people who sold sophisticated equipment for scrap metal. Russia has been leasing Baikonur from Kazakhstan since 1993, though the two former Soviet countries have on several occasions been at odds over rent payments and accidents during launches. 11:21:55 PM     We celebrated Mothers' Day with an assembly of mothers: my wife, my mother, and a family friend who is a mother. Both sons made it home from college at one point or other during the weekend. Mothers' Day may well be just another Hallmark Card day, but it's a great excuse to get everybody together for a good time. We need more celebrations. 11:03:40 PM     Visit USS Clueless for a concise history lesson about Genghis Khan's Mongol Horde. Anyone who has not actually studied the reality of the Mongols will not realize the truth: the Mongol army was the greatest military force that ever existed from between the fall of the Roman Empire and the time of Frederick the Great. Had fate not interfered, the Mongol Empire probably would have extended all the way to the Atlantic. 10:56:14 PM

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