The End of the Beginning

"Beware the fury of a patient man."

John Dryden

Scratch one dirtbag.

Osama bin Laden is dead, killed by American special forces in a daring raid in Pakistan.

Early reports are that the SEALs carried out the operation, but it will take time to sort out the details. Regardless of what unit carried out the raid: well done, guys.

The War on Terror is not over, but this is definitely a victory.

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."

Winston Churchill

Hook

The hook brings you back...

"Hook," Blues Traveller.

Bon Voyage, Endeavour UPDATED: Not Yet

The last launch of the space shuttle Endeavour is this afternoon. UPDATED 10:35 AM: Today's launch scrubbed; problem with an auxillary power unit.

You can watch the launch You can still get updates over at Spaceflight Now.

There's only one more shuttle mission after this...

Picking Up The Pieces

As rescue workers and survivors start picking up the pieces, we are starting to get a better idea of the magnitude and severity of last Wednesday's tornadoes in the South.

• CNN reports the official death toll this morning was 298. 

• 210 of those were killed in Alabama.

• CNN.com has a good summary of the casualties and damage by state.

• The Weather Channel has some video analysis, which helps you better understand the forces at work in these tornadoes and how they do their damage.

The Weather Service is also getting initial survey results suggesting that several EF4 tornadoes and at least one EF5 tornado were part of this tornado outbreak. This is one storm complex that meteorologists will be studying for years.

I also really want to point out the excellent work that Birmingham TV station ABC 33/40 is doing: they are posting on Youtube their aerial damage surveys from several different tornadoes.

From the Tuscaloosa/Birmingham tornado
Tuscaloosa Part 1
Tuscaloosa Part 2
Tuscaloosa Part 3
Tuscaloosa Part 4
Birmingham Part 1

From the Cullman, AL tornado

From the Cordova, AL tornado

From Hackleburg, AL (Part 1) (Part 2)

And there's more...