Free Republic

Most people have some sort of fantasy about flying, but not everyone is as dumb about it as Brian Walker. Calling it Project RUSH (Rapid Up Super High), the man has built for himself the world's largest crossbow to launch a tiny rocket-propelled craft carrying his fragile body 20 miles into the air. He plans to pull 10 gs as the carbon-fiber bowstring releases and sends his little spaceship-like vehicle soaring into the air while firing a jet turbine with 1350 pounds of thrust. He will be wearing a Russian space suit to help keep his innards in, and...

BOSTON - A decade after he lost a bid for the U.S. House, John Kerry (news - web sites) faced a choice: build a respectable, mainstream career in Boston's legal circles or wade back into the muddy waters of Massachusetts politics. "After '72," said Dan Payne, a Democratic consultant who later worked for Kerry, "John told friends he wouldn't run again." Few believed him. When he decided in 1982 to return to politics, Kerry aimed low: lieutenant governor, a post with little power, few responsibilities and almost no public profile. But it offered a chance to build a statewide political...