Day: December 8, 2005

A Southwest Airlines jet landed and slipped off the end of the runway at Midway Airport in Chicago tonight. The passenger jet came to rest at the corner of 55th and Cicero after sliding through a fence and crashing into a car. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been sitting in a rental car at that very corner.

A young boy died at the scene.

A 6-year-old boy in one of the vehicles was killed, authorities said. He was among eight people hurt on the ground. Two passengers on the plane suffered minor injuries, Aviation Department spokeswoman Wendy Abrams said.

Southwest Airlines Flight 1248 from Baltimore was landing at Midway International Airport with 98 passengers and five crew around 7:15 Thursday night when it slid through the fence. The airport area had 7 inches of snow, but Abrams said runway conditions at the time were acceptable.

The landing seemed normal at first, passenger Larry Vazzano said. “There was a bump. I saw snow rush over the wing, then there was a big bump,” said Vazzano, 54, of Baltimore. “I braced myself on the seat in front of me.”

Mike Abate, 35, of suburban Milwaukee, said he could see from the plane that a man was carrying an injured child and that other people were being taken away in an ambulance. “We were safe on the plane,” Abate said. “The toughest part was to realize that someone was under the belly of the plane.”

Southwest CEO Gary Kelly said the plane had circled Midway for 30 to 35 minutes because of the weather and the flight traffic before it was cleared for landing on the airport’s 6,500-foot runway.

He would not speculate on what could have caused the accident but said the plane’s captain had been flying for about 10 years.

“There are no indications that there are any maintenance problems with that aircraft whatsoever,” Kelly said. He said the plane had just had a service check in Phoenix on Wednesday.

More at The Travel Bloggers.
Video

Homes of the Billionaires 2005 over at Forbes.

Here he goes again.

AP – Senator John Kerry says US needs to reduce its forces in Iraq by at least 100,000 by the end of 2006.

He says such a move will send a message to the Middle East that Americans aren’t interested in maintaining a permanent military presence in that country.

In a speech before the Council on Foreign Relations, Kerry said the goal should be to have a force of 30-to-40,000 in Iraq by the end of next year.

However, he said any troop withdrawal should be linked to a timetable set by what he calls “a series of benchmarks of accomplishment.”

In a speech sometimes reminiscent of his 2004 run for the White House, Kerry focused most of his criticism at the Bush administration.

So, let me get this straight. To take 100,000 of our troops out of Iraq, all we need to do is set a timetable with benchmarks of accomplishment. OK, let’s pretend that Bush agrees to Kerry’s plan. First we need to determine what constitutes accomplishment. Oops, plan failure. The Democrats will never agree with Republicans on a practical definition of ‘accomplishment’, so we’re back to square one.

Nice try John.

I can’t wait to see this. Too bad it’s only going to be released to the web and not broadcast television. Although, now that I think about it, the Swifties sure didn’t need much TV time to be effective.

UPDATE: Video

FOXNews, on Yoko today, and her first appearance with the Beatles in the movie ‘Let It Be’:

“She looked like the specter of death itself.”

This is good news.

AP – House and Senate negotiators reached an agreement Thursday to extend the USA Patriot Act, the government’s premier anti-terrorism law, before it expires at the end of the month.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., announced Thursday that a House-Senate negotiating committee had reached an agreement that would extend for four years two of the Patriot Act’s most controversial provisions — authorizing roving wiretaps and permitting secret warrants for books, records and other items from businesses, hospitals and organizations such as libraries. Those provisions would expire in four years unless Congress acts on them again.

“All factors considered it’s reasonably good, not perfect, but it’s acceptable,” Specter said of the agreement.

Meanwhile, members of the party of NO! stood up to object, as expected.

“I will do everything I can, including a filibuster, to stop this Patriot Act conference report, which does not include adequate safeguards to protect our constitutional freedoms,” said Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., who was the only senator to vote against the original version of the Patriot Act.

The American Civil Liberties Union immediately denounced the deal, calling on lawmakers to reject the legislation because it intrudes too far into the privacy of innocent Americans.

“This sham compromise agreement fails to address the primary substantive concern raised by millions of Americans, as well as civil liberties, privacy and business organizations and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle and in both chambers,” said Caroline Fredrickson, the ACLU’s Washington legislative office director.

The vote is expected next week.

Is this really the way it’s going to be? Seems a little heavy in the ‘paranoia’ category to me.

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday expressed doubt that the Holocaust occurred and suggested Israel be moved to Europe.

This guy is going to be trouble. He’s even more of wacko than I thought.