Scandal! An article describing a successful Chinese space launch was published on the Internet before the rocket even took off. Actually, not a huge scandal: lots of wire service stories are pre-written, with the numbers plugged in later. As are obituaries. Some events are so predictable that they could be written beforehand, which is exactly what this Chinese writer did when describing the exciting rocket launch:

"The firm voice of the controller broke the silence of the whole ship. Now, the target is captured 12 seconds ahead of the predicted time ... 'The air pressure in the cabin is normal!' "Ten minutes later, the ship disappears below the horizon. Warm clapping and excited cheering breaks the night sky, echoing across the silent Pacific Ocean." [AP]

Heh. Is this a metaphor?