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With the decision this morning by an 8-1 vote, South dakota's Ellsworth Air Force Base was removed from the list of recommended closures by the BRAC Commissioners.

Some coverage on the facts of the decision in the Rapid City Journal...
Ellsworth saved

Like the phoenix from the ashes, the status of Ellsworth Air Force base rose from expendable to essential in a matter of seconds when the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission, or BRAC, voted Friday to save the base.

South Dakota's top lawmakers and the head of the Ellsworth Task Force were at the edge of their seats in the suburban Washington, D.C., hearing room when BRAC commissioner Samuel Skinner made a motion to reject the Pentagon's recommendation to close Ellsworth and move its 29 B-1B Lancer bombers to Dyess Air Force Base.

Looking for at least five commissioners to raise their hands in support of Skinner's motion, the South Dakotans instead saw all but one of the nine-member panel vote to save Ellsworth.

...and in the Sioux Falls Argus Leader:

ELLSWORTH SPARED

Ellsworth Air Force Base was taken off the Pentagon?s recommended list of closures this morning, a decision that sent jubilant Rapid City residents leaping to their feet as they watched the proceedings on live TV.

The nine-member independent commission voted 8 to 1 to reject the Pentagon?s recommendation to close the base as part of the Defense Department?s plan to restructure the military.

Meanwhile, some of the politics of the situation which provide a boost to Sen. Thune's position were not lost on others:

Base Closing Choices Impact Politics

When the Pentagon announced that it wanted to shut down Ellsworth Air Force Base, it was an enormous setback for Sen. John Thune. The Republican got elected in part by repeatedly telling voters he could save the base because of his close ties to President Bush.

Thune responded to the Ellsworth news by going on the offensive: He and fellow South Dakota leaders from both parties launched an intense lobbying effort. He also stopped fund-raising for the Republican Party and opposed the Bush administration on a few important Senate votes.

On Friday, Thune's political future got a big boost when a federal commission decided to save Ellsworth, home to B-1B bombers and a major player in the Cold War. He and other South Dakota politicians hailed the decision as the result of an extraordinary bipartisan campaign that convinced the commission that the military and nation need Ellsworth.

All in all, a very good day for South Dakota!

This is from the main editorial in today's New York Times:Ellsworth had become a symbol of political manhood for Senator John Thune, a South Dakota Republican who spent most of the summer personally lobbying the commission. During the cold war,...

DARPA's 'Star Wars'-style Laser Cannon

Laser cannon. The words evoke immediate visions of the space war scenes in Star Wars. As it turns out the US is starting to build this new way to do it to them before they get a chance to do it to us. The Darpa program is called the High Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense System (HELLADS).

No muss, no fuss. Direct application of lethal energy to the target with no need for ammunition. Nice.

If you have an interest in other sorts of advanced projects, the DARPA TTO site (use the PROGRAMS link) describes some of the sorts of things that are coming down the chute. SciFi comes to life - our tax dollars at work, and worth every cent!

Eugene Volokh, a highly respected law professor, defends the morality of assassination while questioning its practicality. I would argue that unless a strong argument can be made otherwise a civilian leader should be treated as a non-combatant, making assassination unjust...

Seth, of the CCK, is whining about blog bickering regarding Ellsworth and we are suppose to stop it:Seriously, I?m reading the South Dakota blogs and I?m getting sick. It?s generally a bunch of East River people so entrenched in partisan...

SD War College has a new design. Check it out....

Charles notes that the San Francisco chapter of the "9/11 Truth Moonbats Alliance" held an "artwork" contest, with a special category for kids. And while the little tyke who won certainly created some nifty spew (talk about rotten parenting), nothing...

Well look who the cat dragged in....

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