The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier: Changing of the Guard

by Jamie Rhein on

At 3:00 p.m. today, there is a supposed to be a moment of silence to honor those who have died in war. I’m not usually one to be moved by pomp and circumstance, although, during high school graduations, the song “Pomp and Circumstance” played by a high school band does tear me up. Even though this is how I am, the “Changing of the Guard” at the Tomb of the Unknowns, another name for the memorial in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., is an experience I’ve never forgotten. There is something tender and honorable in the gesture of remembrance. So, here is my 3:00 p.m. EST offering.

The laying of a wreath at the tomb is one in which the public can participate. Here are four middle schoolers doing just that. Ignore the kid at the end of the video. The person who shot the tape was not too pleased, but in a way, that’s how life is. As we travel about, those we come in contact with don’t necessarily see life–or memorials, the way we do.

Boeing 747 breaks in HALF during takeoff in Brussels

by Grant Martin on

The Associated Press is reporting that A Kalitta Air Boeing 747 broke in half while trying to take off on Sunday. The cargo aircraft, which was carrying diplomatic baggage for the United States ambassador to Belgium, ruptured in the center of the aircraft around the main fuselage and again at the rear of the plane.

All five crew members escaped with no injuries.

There is no indication as to how or why the aircraft crashed, but speculation is buzzing around the internet. Runway 20 is one of the shortest in the Brussels airport, so it’s possible that the increased strain of pulling the aircraft up at lower speed caused the airframe to rupture. It’s another possibility that the cargo was overloaded to begin with and that failure was imminent anyway. Others conjecture that the cargo could have shifted during take off and caused the tail to strike the tarmac as the aircraft lifted off.

Either way, don’t let this deter you from flying on a 747 any longer. A variety of factors could have caused the failure that aren’t necessarily the product of the aircraft design. Once the NTSB (or Europe’s version of the NTSB) gets their hands on the data we’ll have a better idea of what truly happened.

Until then, take a look at this footage of the carnage.

Beer + gadgets + travel = heaven

by Grant Martin on

Three of my favorite things in one place. Could I be any happier? I’m currently sitting in the Northwest Worldclub in Tokyo, waiting five hours for my flight to Honolulu, where I have a thirteen hour layover before I take another redeye to Los Angeles, where I’m connecting home to Detroit. Total time in transit? About 36 hours.

But at least I’ve got this beer machine to keep me company. I have a feeling we’re going to become great friends in the next five hours.

Small aircraft lands on top of another in Texas

by Grant Martin on

[edit: Roanoake TEXAS, not Virginia. – GM]

I guess a couple of pilots got their messages mixed up in Roanoake, TX yesterday when they were figuring out who had runway privileges. Each thought that the runway was his domain and just as the inbound aircraft was about to touch down the outbound plane pulled under it. The move was timed so perfectly that the first aircraft landed right on top of the other, lodging its propeller into the lower fuselage and coming to a halt directly on the other roof.

Amazingly, nobody was injured, but I’m willing to bet there a couple of seriously embarrassed private pilots in Virginia tonight. Check out video of the accident below.

Robbed tourists in Barcelona to get justice via webcam

by Abha Malpani on

I generally find Spain very laid back and relatively lagging in the world of technology — it’s what I often enjoy about being here.

It’s somehow possible to stay away from the high-tech hysteria everywhere else, be it use of technology in your personal life (I don’t know anyone here who cares about the iPhone), or in the professional sector (when I went to pick up my resident card in Madrid, my appointment had been noted on 3 different hand-written(!) lists.

So when I read that a group of tourists who were robbed in Barcelona about a year ago are finally going to get justice by testifying via webcam(!) from their respective country, I almost fell off my chair!

According to the Guardian, 24 British, Belgian, German, Danish, Portuguese, American and Australian alleged victims of a Romanian gang who posed as police to rob tourists in Barcelona last year, will see the culprits punished, assuming the case is revolved. Time differences between the countries are being coordinated, webcam identification of the criminals, and stories of the victims, are being heard. Apparently, all this “tech-justice” process was devised to quicken clearing the backlog of nearly 270,000 such pending cases in the country.

Tourists often get robbed when traveling and can never do much about it because they are leaving the country shortly, this webcam justice initiative by Barcelona has taken things to a new level — I would never have expected such a thing to come out of Spain. Bravo!