I am in awe of the recent discovery of Australopithecus sediba. My previous experience learning about Australopithecus gracile left me feeling awed by what these creatures looked like and what they could accomplish with tools. The human evolution tree keeps growing and the things we are learning shows irrefutable evidence that we have come a very long way over that last few million years.

For some perspective:

The loss Kaczynski entourage is mildly reminiscent of U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone's plane crashing in northern Minnesota in 2002 under similarly inclement weather — only amplified by, at a minimum, a factor of at least 22.

Okay, 22 is arbitrary. It could just as well be 13 or whatever. But the basic premise should be fairly comprehensible.

Am I just paranoid, or is it suspicious that Poland's entire top military brass and the head of their national bank died in a crash of a Russian plane in Russia, and mobster Vlad Putin is going to head up the inquiry?

Fnarf: It's not "paranoia" when they're really out to get you.

Jesus. They were flying in to memorialize the Katyn massacre. That is so haunting.

I wondering if any 12 y.o. girls died on an FLDS compound without being reported.

Fnarf and Mile, the underwebs have just released footage of the crash as it was happening. Google search "Zapruder".

You would think they should know better than to travel together on the same plane. That should be the first new law the country enacts after this "accident".

@10: I know, it would seem pretty standard. Many organizations have policies in place where the top people are not allowed to all travel together. Flights and other transportation has to be staggered to prevent an accident or other tragic event from causing a major 'brain drain'.

Very sad story, very sad circumstance.

As awful as it is for the families of all the crash victims,... somehow I'm having problems feeling bad one of the Kaczynski twins was killed... this is a man who once said that if he could, he would implement the death penalty for Polish homosexuals.

@13: He may have been a dickweed, but think of it in terms of, say, the U.S. during the W. Bush years. Had a comparable loss of life happened at the top tier of federal government, despite many people seriously detesting that government, there would have stood a reasonable probability of political instability.

A vacuum of leadership for any nation-state can be quite problematic, really. For Poland, not only might this alter its domestic stability, but it could also implicate the political and economic stability of other EU member states — particularly those states sharing immediate geopolitical borders.

Alternately put: if an electoral change of political leadership can affect markets, then imagine what a complete void might do.

an elephant that never forgets...to kill!

@14: I'm sure it's a big deal for Poland, but I don't think the president there is as big a deal as it is here. It's largely a figurehead head-of-state for a government that is run by parliament and the prime minister. Not insignificant, but I think more like the Governor General of Canada rather than the POTUS.

@ Telsa.... yeah, mildly. As much as I dislike GWB's lapdog Norm Coleman, I can't see him in the Putin role in this scenario. I'm not THAT paranoid...

I still really miss Paul. He was the first major candidate I ever voted for who won. I'm proud of my vote for Al Franken, and am so glad he's in Paul's old seat.