CNN Reporter Embedded with Marines Shocked by Massacre Allegations

Here is an interesting piece by CNN reporter Arwa Damon; she was embedded with the Marines in western al Anbar Province, the home to Haditha. Haditha is the town that a company of Marines is alleged (in the press) to have massacred Iraqi civilians last November. Congressman Murtha (D.-PA) has all but convicted these unknown Marines in the press but Ms. Damon describes herself as shocked at the allegations. In the article she describes the incredible lengths that the Marines went to in order to avoid harming civilians, including while conducting the type of door to door searching that seems to be involved in the massacre allegations. The article should be read by anybody interested in the use of force by our soldiers; and it is a must read for Congressman Murtha.

New Porsche Track Car – Except for the US

Rear window of Porsche's new GT3 RS shows off impresive roll cage
c Porsche

The new GT3 RS is a continuation of the GT3 series of street-legal track-worthy 911s and will be released in October. The Porsche 911 GT3 RS features the same 3.6 liter 415 hp engine that the base GT3 has. The car is a lightweight version of the US legal GT3, shaving almost 45 pounds off of the already light GT3. It also features an adjustable wing and a full factory roll cage. Porsche shaved almost 45 pounds off of a lightweight car and added a roll cage; that is impressive. It is likely that the roll cage is keeping the car from being imported into the US, the feds do not like to okay vehicles with roll cages.

The car comes with a lightened flywheel and a closer ratio transmission plus a fire extinguisher and racing seats. This is one heck of a weekend racer, for the very well healed. With a reported price of 94,280 British Pounds ($177,482) it makes for one expensive track car. Porsche has put a micro site on the web featuring this new car.

Hat Tip: the Autoblog

Proof that Kerry was in Cambodia

c unknown and F.F. Coppola
The Horrors! The Horrors!


Thanks to blogger Kitty at Kitty Litter for the great photoshopped photo! The above "photo" would have best accompanied and is in reference to this post and this post on Flying Debris.

70 Missions Over Europe

As we give thanks to America’s veterans and soldiers this Memorial Day our prayers and thoughts turn to those who did not make it home; my thoughts today have also turned to those I have known who did make it home. Last weekend I attended a memorial service (on Armed Forces Day) for Arthur H. Barton, a man I wrote about here and alluded to here. At the time I was writing from some old memories but today, thanks to Art’s daughter Lesley, I have Art’s war record in front of me and it is impressive. During Art's ceremony, one that included the very moving military Flag Ceremony, Art’s brother-in-law quietly alluded to the fact that Art had flown 70 missions over Europe and how he had known Art for years before he learned of that fact. As he slowly repeated “Seventy missions over Europe” it was clear that those of his generation know how incredible and important Art’s achievement was. Quite simply, Art could have been buried in a farmer’s field in France.

When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor Art was a 20 year old Chicagoan selling furniture during the day and attending Northwestern University at night. Like so many of his contemporaries Art soon joined the military, in his case the Army Air Force. Art trained in Santa Anita, California and received his Navigator Wings in October of 1942, about the time that he turned 21. Second Lieutenant Barton was assigned to the 453rd Bomb Squadron, 323rd Bomb Group, which was part of the 8th Air Force. In April 1943 Art was stationed in Earls Colne, England as a navigator/bombardier. Art flew in the Martin Marauder B-26 medium bomber named “Goatee Hell”.

Among Art’s military awards were two Purple Hearts, the first for being wounded on a mission over Martinvast, France and the other for being injured on D-Day. One of Art’s proudest moments was serving as lead navigator on two low-level bombing raids in support of the D-Day landings, June 6, 1944. During his second mission on D-Day a Nazi anti-aircraft shell-burst shattered the Plexiglas nose that Art was seated in; he died earlier this month with some of that shrapnel still in his body.

Art served with and remained friends with a number of his old crew members including: pilot Col. Robert (Bob) H. Adams, co-pilot F/O Robert “Brownie” K. Brown, engine gunner S/Sgt. Clarence “Blackie” M. Blackmore and radio operator-gunner Sgt. Archie “Russ” Russell Martin. Of course Art also had a war-time nickname, it was “Buzz”. The group flew most of their missions over France, Holland, Belgium and the submarine pins in Norway.

One of Art’s amusing war time memories was of the time that the B-26 “Marty Marauder” crashed into their base and right into the “Goatee Hell”, wrecking both planes. Their Master Sergeant George Feehan was not about to lose 2 planes in one crash so the crews spent the next 3 weeks welding the good halves of each plane to each other. The new plane featured the nose of the “Goatee Hell” (veteran of 51 missions) and the tail of the “Marty Marauder” (veteran 57 missions); unfortunately I do not know the name of that B-26 mashup.

After leaving Europe Art trained French officers at Selfridge Field in Michigan and Barksdale Field in Louisiana. After that Art participated in the Seventh War Bond Drive. The 23 year old First Lieutenant Arthur H. Barton was honorably discharged from the Army Air Force on June 14, 1945 after being awarded the following decorations:

The Distinguished Flying Cross
2 Purple Hearts
The Air Medal with 2 silver and bronze oak leaf clusters
The European Theater Medal with 2 battle stars
American Theater and Liberty Medals

Thank You Art and Thank You to all who served honorably.

My initial post on the life of Art Barton can be found here, it contains a few great tidbits that are not contained in this post.

I Was in Cambodia with John Kerry on Christmas Night 1968

Along with Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen and Dennis Hopper. During the last time we had to endure John Kerry’s war-time exploits (2 years ago) we found out that Kerry had never discussed his participation in Nixon’s Illegal War in Cambodia until the movie Apocalypse Now debuted in 1979; parts of the movie’s plot line is similar to Kerry’s story. During his post-Vietnam years John Kerry had plenty of opportunities to publicly discuss his involvement in Nixon’s Illegal War in Cambodia including his Congressional testimony, but he chose not to.

He also expects us to believe that a Special Ops guy gave him a hat that the Special Ops guy may have actually needed while in the jungles of Cambodia, or where-ever. As if just before being inserted into a jungle the Special Ops guy said to himself, “you know, I won’t be needing this piece of camouflage, I’ll just give it to this pompadoured Bostonian on the boat. He surely needs it more than I do.” I wonder if Mr. Kerry actually believes this story. Does he really “have that memory which is seared – seared” into him?

This post is in reference to yesterday’s post on Flying Debris, NY Times: Have They Seen Kerry’s Naval Files?

Sunday Porsche Blogging: Porsche Type Numbers – Part 2

As the name states this is the second in a series of posts detailing the project numbers that Porsche has used. These project numbers are mostly chronological. As mentioned in Part 1 these project numbers are not to be confused with the somewhat confusing part numbers system.

Type 115
1939
Supercharged Kdf 1.1 liter engine overhead camshafts

Type 116
1938/39
Kdf backed 1.5 liter racing car with Type 114 components

Type 128
1940/41
Kdf based amphibian Schwimmwagen

Type 135
1940/41
130 Watt Wind power Generator

Type 136
1940/41
736 Watt Wind Generator

Type 137
1940/41
4500 Watt Wind Power Generator

Type 138
1940/41
Amphibian Schwimmwagen, alternative design

Type 160
1941
Design for Integral Body/Fraame for Kdf-Wagen

Type 166
1942/45
Kdf-Powered 4x4 Schwimmwagen, final design

Type 170
1942
Marine Sturmboot Engine, version 1

Type 171
1942
Marine Sturmboot Engine, version 2

Type 174
1942
Sturmboot Engine using Normal Kdf Engine

Type 175
1942
Steel Wheeled Military Tractor, the Ostradschlepper

Type 180
1942
Tank Design with Electric Transmission

Type 181
1942
Tank Design with Hydraulic Transmission

Type 205
1942
180 ton Tank, Maus

Type 212
1942
Air-Cooled 16-Cylinder Diesel Tank Engine

Type 245
1942
18-Ton Multi-Purpose Tank

Type 250
1942/43
Turretless Tank with 105 mm Gun

Type 285
1945
3.5 hp experimental Water Turbine

Type 293
1944
Personnel Carrier

Type 300
1944
Jet Engine to Power V-1 flying bomb "vengance weapon"

Type 309
1945
2-Stroke Diesel Engine for VW or Tractor

Type 312
1945
Gasoline Tractor

Type 313
1945
Diesel Tractor

Type 323
1946
11 hp Diesel Tractor

Type 328
1946
28-hp Tractor

Type 352
1946
Passenger car design for von Senger A.G., Switzerland

Type 356
1947
First Porsche Automobile, Open, Mid-Engined two-seater built with the VW as the basis
The link is to a Wikipedia photo of the actual first Porsche car


Source: Porsche Excellence Was Expected - The Complete Story of the Sports and Racing Cars
Karl Ludvigsen
1st Edition, 1977 pg. 517
2nd Edition, 2003 pg. 1484

The Ludvigsen work is an ongoing labor of love and a must read for any serious student of Porsche history.

This post and a collection of Sunday Porsche Blogging posts are available at the aptly named Sunday Porsche Blogging.

NY Times: Have They Seen Kerry’s Naval Files?

Tomorrow’s NY Times contains a story about Sen. John Kerry’s (D-Ma.) war record and again attempts to rebut the charges of the Swift Boat Vets. This time Mr. Kerry claims to have new evidence. The article is another in a long line from the Times and other newspapers that assumes we can’t remember anything after 12 to 24 months. Flying Debris commented on that tactic here while discussing another NY Times article. The author, Kate Zernike has some real laughers, including the idea that John Kerry has made his Naval personnel records public. Little has changed since the last time the nation had to endure John Kerry talking about his war record; the only change of substance is that he has released an unknown amount of his files to the Boston Globe. After that release almost a year ago it became apparent that the Globe had not seen the critical form 180 authorizing the release of Kerry’s records, the form is needed to ascertain how much of his record is actually known to the Globe, not to mention the public. This all would be less of a big deal if he didn’t regularly bring it up and if he hadn’t run a “reporting for duty” campaign.

They are still continuing with the hat story, that Kerry was given a jungle hat by a "special forces officer" he dropped upriver in Cambodia. During the summer of 2004 we found out some arcane information about the Vietnam War like the fact that any "special forces officers" were always dropped upstream in their own boats. We also found out that the first time that John Kerry spoke about that incident was after the release of Apocalypse Now, a movie containing that plot line. It is notable that Mr. Kerry has never been reticent about discussing his wartime travails, it’s not like he was one of those guys who never discuss their war-time experiences. Maybe the movie caused a flashback. That’s not to say that we didn’t have people in Cambodia at the time, we did. Unfortunately for Mr. Kerry his recollection of a Christmas in Cambodia was belied by Naval records and the testimony of his colleagues that showed him miles away.

Ms. Zernike also brings up an old lie about John O’Neil; that he was recruited by and was a shill for the Nixon administration. Due to the fact that President Nixon kept extensive audio tapes of Oval Office conversations we know exactly how Nixon found out about John O’Neil; O’Neil was out debating John Kerry in public and accusing Kerry of being dishonest in his public statements about the conditions in Vietnam. Nixon was so excited to hear about O’Neil that he invited O’Neil to the White House before a televised debate between Kerry and O’Neil. This is part of the public record and it is indisputable; the fact that Ms. Zernike wrote that lie about Mr. O’Neil simply shows her and the editorial staff of the NY Times to simply not be serious. Ms. Zernike also describes O’Neil’s Unfit for Command as a “manifesto”. Somebody should tell Ms. Zernike that it is not the conservatives who are big on “manifestos”.

British MP Galloway Off of Meds Again

The Independent has reported that British MP George Galloway has now said that it would be “justified” for a suicide bomber to murder British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Mr. Galloway, as always, a pox on you and your friends. One cannot choose his family so I will leave your family out of the poxxing.

Hat Tip: Drudge

Iranian Students Riot Overnight

The Gateway Pundit has a great rundown of reports (with photos!) concerning university students rioting and protesting in Tehran. Reuters has reported that twenty students were recently kidnapped out of their dorms by Islamic vigilantes. Undoubtedly that was a strong motivator for the protests but it was only a matter of time that objections to the tyrannical rulings of the mullahs would start to show up. Now Iran’s ruling mullahs even want all Muslims to wear traditional dress. That won’t fly with a youth population that has been exposed to western culture, especially when those youths are such a large percentage of the population. Between the internet, films and satellite broadcasts the youth of Iran likely have an understanding of what is possible in this world, many also likely understand that what they are doing has the potential to change the direction of the Middle East. To them I must say, Godspeed, it is a long road that you want to walk.

Democratic Culture of Corruption: Cook County, the Wellspring

Less than a week before last spring’s primary election Cook County Board President John Stroger had a stroke and he has not been seen in any public capacity since last March. With the help of the local Democratic machine the invalid Stroger defeated Forrest Claypool and will stand for election this November. That turn of events has sent local Democrats scheming in order to replace Mr. Stroger on the ballot. One universally frowned upon potential candidate is his son Alderman John Stroger, a more palatable possibility (to local Dems) is Congressman Danny Davis.

There have been increasing questions surrounding Stroger’s health and his ability to function as an executive. One of those questioners has been Republican Cook County Board Presidential candidate Tony Peraica, who held a press conference asking just that yesterday. The reaction to those questions has been interesting, Alderman William Beavers described those relevant questions as racist and stated “President Stroger is alive and well. Until he decides that he don't (sic) want to run again -- it's up to him. And whoever he decides that (sic) he wants to replace him -- that's what's going to happen. ... White folks can do it. Black folks can do it -- easily. We got control of the [weighted] votes in the city and the county, so we do what we want to do. Remember that.”

Mr. Beaver’s understanding of democracy leaves much to be desired; but that is how the local Democrats see elected office, “elected” positions are for politicians to appoint rather than the voters to elect. Mr. Beaver’s most interesting sentence was surely “so we do what we want to do. Remember that.” Thanks for the explanation Mr. Alderman.


Mr. Peraica also complained that local Democrats, led by Cook County Clerk David Orr appear to be willing to wait until late October, mere weeks before the election, to place a replacement for Mr. Stroger on the ballot. If the name David Orr sounds familiar you are either a local or a political savant. Mr. Orr inserted himself into the Bush/Gore dispute in Florida after the 2000 election. Mr. Orr sent an amicus brief to a Florida county court in order to bolster the Gore team’s contention that dimpled and hanging chads are counted as votes in Cook County and he wrote that he was relying on an Illinois case. The Gore team was forced to withdraw that brief due to the fact that it was not true, we do not count hanging and dimpled chads and the relevant case law states that county officials cannot count those ballots as unspoiled ballots.

It should worry any person interested in fair elections that David Orr is inserting himself into this election at such an early date. It should especially worry Mr. Peraica and his fellow Republicans.

Jesse Jackson Sr. vs the "Spear Carriers" in the Media and Reality

In Jesse Jackson’s Sun Times column this morning he wrote that the Republicans were cooking “up a campaign claiming that if Democrats win the House, Conyers is geared up to impeach the president.” Mr. Jackson also wrote that “the right-wing noise machine and their spear carriers in the mainstream media, have been in attack mode over the last few weeks.” That Mr. Jackson seemed to include Tim Russert in that group of “spear carriers” is unfortunate, as Mr. Russert was certainly being honest in questioning the intentions of Mr. Conyers. A simple Google search could have saved Mr. Jackson some embarrassment. Simply typing “Conyers impeachment” into Google will yield over 750,000 results in just over a tenth of a second. Near the top of the list is a link to the Library of Congress that contains some relevant information; House Resolution 635, introduced just five months ago by Rep. John Conyers. The House Resolution proposes to set up a select committee to, among other things “make recommendations regarding grounds for possible impeachment.” There was also the matter of last summer’s “Mock Impeachment Trial” that Congressman Conyers oversaw as “Chairman” in the basement of the Capital.

When one considers his House Resolution and his charade impeachment trial it very reasonable to believe that Congressman Conyers would attempt to hold impeachment hearings. The Library of Congress has some other information on this issue that Mr. Jackson could have noted; of the thirty-six cosponsors to House Resolution 635, three are right here in Chicago and one of them is his son.

My Lamborghini is at Home, on the Wall

c LATimes
Is that a Lamborghini on your wall or are you just happy to see me?

This is Richard Moriarity's '74 Lamborghini Countach. He is putting it on the wall of his Newport Beach estate sans engine; that will be a table in the room. The LA Times has some installation photos here.

Hat Tip: the Carpundit

Is Air America Now Running a Stock Scam?

Brian Maloney of the Radio Equalizer has been all over the Air America story and the story of the strange angels that the radio network has. The angels, Sheldon and Anita Drobny are alleged to have used what sound like shell-game companies in order to keep Air America afloat. The Radio Equalizer is now reporting that Air America has been having trouble securing a station in Milwaukee. Apparently the radio station owners of Milwaukee can read the ratings. What really struck me about the Business Journal of Milwaukee article the Brian linked to this tidbit:

In Milwaukee, the Drobnys are seeking larger investors as well as average folks who would invest $10 to $100 toward acquiring a station. Nova M wants to lease with an option to buy, and struck such a deal in April for a station in Little Rock, Ark.

Are these people registered to offer securities? Is “Nova M” registered to issue securities? Does the SEC know about this? Are these people trying to claim “private placements” to people “investing” $10 to $100 in order to avoid legal requirements? Would this qualify as a “culture of corruption”?

Studs Terkel and the ACLU File Suit against AT&T

The Chicago Tribune is reporting tonight that the ACLU and a few prominent Illinoisans filed suit in Chicago this afternoon against AT&T “alleging that the company invaded the privacy of its Illinois customers by providing phone records to the federal government without a court order.” The Tribune also reports that AT&T has provided a written statement that said, “If and when AT&T is asked by government agencies for help, we do so strictly within the law and under the most stringent conditions." They are asking for no money rather to discontinue the practice.

I am a member of the class that they are angling to represent. I live in Illinois and I have AT&T service. I also use cellular service, you know, those little radios that we carry around. In addition I brazenly tempt fate by using a cordless phone on my “land line”. I do not expect absolute privacy on any broadcast phone, be it cellular or cordless. I do still own a non-cordless touch-tone phone, for electrical failures. That is the only telephone that I could securely expect privacy on and it’s in a box in the basement.

California Schools to Promote Misogyny, Discrimination, Slavery and Beheadings

How else could one explain this nonsense from the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco? After outlawing the Pledge of Allegiance in west coast schools that very same court has encouraged California schools to have their students “practice” the muslim faith. This alleged “practice” includes memorizing chants like "In the name of allah, most gracious, most merciful . . . .", "allah is the only true god and muhammad is his messenger.", and “praise be to allah" if prompted by some whacked-out teacher.

With all of that nonsense from the world’s most discriminatory religion that believes that Non-muslims should be held in lower regard legally and be forced to submit to muslims; can state sanctioned be-headings be far behind? The 9th Circuit should’ve heeded Wavy Gravy’s warnings from the stage at Woodstock, “Don’t take the brown acid man.”
Hat Tip: Michelle Malkin

Madonna the Bimbo

Who in the world goes to Madonna concerts? She has yet to release a half-decent song yet her career continues through the use of shock. The trouble is that most stopped being shocked by her twenty-some years ago so she needs to up her dose of shock like a junkie on a two decade jag. So here is some aged bimbo who celebrates her career of playing a whore by crucifying herself on a cross. Of course she went to a Catholic school so this is just a little “acting out”. Her family must be proud. “Yes honey, that’s mommy, defiling religion for money. Maybe someday you can dress up to be a hooker too!” The chick is simply dull and predictable.

When I lived near Wrigley Field Madonna was at Wrigley to make the movie “A League of Their Own” and she was camped out in a trailer down the street from me. A guy I knew was sent over by the Cubs to act as her gofer. He later said that his job consisted of going over to a shady little video store on Addison St. to pick up pornos for Madonna. He said that she sat in her trailer with a vibrator and watched pornos until she had to be on the set. It has long struck me that the chick is little more than a porn star for little girls, making her one Class-A strange bird.

Sunday Porsche Blogging: Porsche Type Numbers - Part 1

This weeks Sunday Porsche Blogging subject is the Porsche numbering system for projects. Forget the part numbers, those are akin to a Dewey Decimal System for German engineers. This is the first of several project lists that will detail the surviving project numbers and what they involved. The numbering system for projects was a sequential chronological numbering system. The initial displayed project is seven because the first six never made it past the drawing boards.

Type 7
1930/31
Wanderer 1.86 liter chassis (1st design by Porsche office)

Type 8
1930/31
Wanderer 3.25 liter chassis

Type 9
1930/31
Supercharged version of type 8

Type 22
1932/37
Auto Union GP car

Type 52
1934
Auto Union sports car design

Type 60
1934/41
Kdf small car, later became the Volkswagen Beetle

Type 60K10
1939
Kdf sports coupe for Berlin to Rome Race

Type 62
1936
Kdf cross country, with open-sided body

Type 64
1937/38
Sports car, 1.5 liter, based on Kdf components

Type 66
1938
Kdf right-hand drive

Type 67
1939
Kdf listed as an "invalid vehicle"
Type 68
1939
Kdf panel van

Type 80
1938/39
Mercedes-Benz land speed record car

Type 82
1939/40
Kdf based Kubelwagen

Type 87
1939/41
Kubelwagen with 4-wheel drive

Type 100
1939/41
Tank prototype

Type 101
1942
Carrier for 88 mm gun with an electric transmission
Type 102
1942
Type 101 with hydraulic transmission

Type 108
1938
2-stage supercharger for Mercedes Benz

Type 110
1938/39
Small tractor, Volkspflug

Type 111
1939/40
Small tractor, new design

Type 112
1940/41
Larger-engined small tractor

Type 113
1941
Small tractor, third version
Type 114
1938/39
F. Wagen, a 1.5 liter sports car design

Source: Porsche Excellence Was Expected - The Complete Story of the Sports and Racing Cars
Karl Ludvigsen1st Edition, 1977 pg. 517
2nd Edition, 2003 pg. 1484
The Ludvigsen work is an ongoing labor of love and a must read for any serious student of Porsche history.

This post and a collection of Sunday Porsche Blogging posts are available at the aptly named Sunday Porsche Blogging.

UN “Human Rights” Report: World Now Garden of Eden

The alleged “human-rights” wing of the UN has an alleged “anti-torture” committee that is now complaining about the civil rights of Chicago criminals. It is noteworthy that the alleged abuses cited by the committee have been investigated for four years by an independent council and the investigation is being overseen by the Chief Criminal Judge for Cook County. The independent council’s report will be released next month.

This case is getting more and better attention than any governmental abuse case would get in ANY country sitting on the alleged “human rights” commission set up by the UN. As a point of fact this case is getting more and better attention than anything that the UN has ever done, save their various self-enriching schemes.

The alleged “human rights” commission has members like Cuba and China; in addition it contains other member-states that make a mockery out of the very idea of human rights. Cuba led by fascist-geezer Castro, recently imprisoned journalists and librarians. Yes you read that correctly, librarians. That is not a problem; rather the world’s largest problem is the adjudication of abuse allegations in its freest nation. As the title of this post proclaims, if the world’s largest problem is that of one disgraced former Chicago cop and his underlings, then the world must’ve turned into the Garden of Eden. Hallelujah, just try to keep the missus away from the apple.

Chicago’s UnCivil War Starts Today!

The Cubs play the Sox at Comiskey (ok, Cellular One Field) on the South Side this weekend. Comb your mullet and grab your brie, oh, and also grab a bunch of beer.

It’s Always Hard to Know What to Make of Harry Reid

Especially when he says dumb things like this about the desire for new Americans to actually speak English, “(a)lthough the intent may not be there, I really believe this amendment is racist. I believe it is directed at people who speak Spanish.”

Powerline has the story of Harry the Clown in “English as a First Language.”

It could be said that the charge of racism is the last refuge of a scoundrel; unfortunately it has become the first refuge of too many Democrats.

Will Their Dreams Come True Tomorrow?

c Wizbang
Will Friday be the Day That Democrats Have Been Waiting For?

For a week now some liberal bloggers have been confidently predicting the imminent indictment of Karl Rove. Wayne Madsun has put the latest date on this imminent indictment; May 19, 2006. Wizbang has the latest excerpt from this tale and the photo above.

Markos of the Daily Kos Plays a Creepy Peeping Markos in Political Ad and Malkin Makes a Mashup

Charles from Little Green Footballs has linked to Democrat Ned Lamont’s web site, it features two strange commercials. One features Markos of the Daily Kos and the other features a barking dog. Not much difference there. Lamont is running against Joe Lieberman in Connecticut and the Kossaks hate Lieberman with a passion that turns off many old-line Democrats. Before watching the bizarre Lamont/Kos commercial you should really watch Michelle Malkin’s send-up, really a video mashup, here on her new site Hot Air, it is hysterical.

“No One Should Ever Call Murtha a Marine Again”

The title of this post is a direct quote from Curt of Flopping Aces, a retired Marine. I was never in the Marine Corps, but having known a number of former Marines I can state categorically that Marines do NOT sell their nation or their Corps down the river. Curt and others in the blogosphere have rightly pointed out that the Marines are still investigating the alleged incident and that in America one is considered innocent until PROVEN guilty. That proof does not mean another liberal article in Time Magazine, the intellectual equivalent of the Weekly Reader for high school children. Flopping Aces also went back to the original Time article to point out the allegation of this alleged Marine atrocity is largely based on one witness, a nine year old Iraqi girl. The little girl in question never saw an American and she initially assumed that her family was killed by the Iraqi soldiers who entered her house after the killing stopped. It was an Iraqi soldiers who told this little girl that “(w)e didn’t do it, the Americans did.”

Murtha is likely selling out our nation and the Marine Corps in order to get his visage on television once again. His comments are endangering Americans. Those American Marines and soldiers who Murtha is selling down the river are the very same ones who he insists that he is helping. Some help. Like all Americans they deserve the assumption of innocence, especially when the investigation is still ongoing.

Murtha is running for his seat again this fall against Diana Irey, who is somewhat of a hottie. She needs and deserves the support (financial and otherwise) of actual patriotic Americans; as opposed to Murtha and his crew.

In addition to Flying Aces this story is being covered by
the Gateway Pundit.

The Marine slogan is Semper Fi. To Mr. Murtha I say – Vado ut Hades!

My Senator is an Embarrassment

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) made a bizarre statement today that indicating that he believes that we will be running our cars on ethanol, Midwestern corn he called it. He also stated that it would produce good jobs for Americans; and here I thought that the family farm was dying. Powerline addressed Durbin and his fellow Senate democrats quite accurately with:

"’Energy independence’ is one more in a long series of issues on which the Democrats have nothing serious to contribute.”

The Powerline post includes an audio clip of Durbin, it is sad.

Democratic Rep. Lacey Clay Practically Booed Off Stage

The Gateway Pundit has a great piece on an outrageous commencement speech by Congressman Clay in front of the UM-St. Louis graduates and their guests. A person outside of the building said that police were called in to quell a disturbance inside, during the ceremony. Congressman Clay used the same rhetoric that we hear from some Democrats constantly these days, the anti-Bush stories that have become something of a security blanket. Gateway Pundit reports that a St. Louis radio duo, Allman and Smash on 97.1 FM, have been covering the story and they have been receiving reports from the public, including this one from Matt Keller:

He spent a good five minutes talking about how President Bush lied, there were no weapons of mass destruction, we need to bring our troops home, etc. (the typical rhetoric of the left). He even gave the number of U.S. casualties to date. During this tirade many people began to boo and yell. At one point the jeers were so bad that Mr. Clay said "Now wait a minute, I have the microphone so you need to listen"

If you want a story about imperial hubris and stupidity check out the the commencement from hell at the Gateway Pundit.

John Kerry Would’ve Commenced Retreating Yesterday

Last month John Kerry, in his usual pompous fashion, stated that the US should immediately start to withdraw our troops from Iraq unless the Iraqis “put together an effective unity government” by May 15, last Sunday. The Democratic Daily had the story the last month. I wonder if Mr. Kerry has a servant follow him around clapping coconuts together while he yells things like “run away, run away!”

The final line refers to these and other lines in Monty Python’s Holy Grail:

Minstrel: [singing] Brave Sir Robin ran away...
Sir Robin: *No!*
Minstrel: [singing] bravely ran away away...
Sir Robin: *I didn't!*
Minstrel: [singing] When danger reared its ugly head, he bravely turned his tail and fled. Yes, brave Sir Robin turned about, and valiantly, he chickened out. Bravely taking to his feet, he beat a very brave retreat. A brave retreat by brave Sir Robin.

Thank you Mr. Kerry for your fine advice.

Hat Tip: Greyhawk at the Mudville Gazette

Howard Dean Will attend KosCon - Update

This post is about that dishonest Dean character who was mentioned in this post below. Within minutes of President Bush’s Monday night speech Howard Dean got on television to lie about Bush, he stated that Bush wanted to round up every illegal alien and deport them. That is an outright lie.

Hat Tip: the O’Reilly Factor

Howard Dean Will attend KosCon

Daily Kos “Diarist” Tracy Joan announced this afternoon that former Gov. Howard Dean will attend the upcoming KosCon, or whatever they call it when they proselytize their “netroots” ideology. All right, they call it YearlyKos; I just think that KosCon may be a more accurate description. This announcement brought a great big “Yeah” from all of Kosland. The “Yeah” was so loud that it was even heard in Whoville.

This is interesting, here is a group of people who put their money behind a guy who got smoked in the primaries during which he became somewhat of a laughingstock. After swallowing that bitter pill the Kos Kids regrouped and made sure that their guy, the laughingstock, became the head of the Democratic Party. As head of the party he has continued in his laughingstock ways by sticking his foot in his mouth on a regular basis. I wonder if I can donate something to help keep these kids going.

Chicago Media and Race Healers Ignore Vicious Attack on a White Woman in the Projects

Last week both Chicago newspapers ran a bizarre story about a former UCLA student from LA who was hired to do a strip show in Chicago and ended up near death in the Robert Taylor Homes. The woman is said to have been bipolar and she had numerous run-ins with the Chicago Police and the Transit Police before eventually being locked up for a night in a precinct house near the projects. After leaving the lock-up she was seen wandering through the last standing building in the Robert Taylor Homes. She was then seen with a gang leader on the seventh floor of that building. Moments later she was sprawled on the ground below, thrown from the apartment that she had been seen in, likely a rape victim.

This happened last week and I saw numerous articles on the story but until today I did not know that the woman in question was white. I missed the report on the ABC affiliated WLS-TV that is referred to in this mornings informative Richard Roeper column. The ABC report that I missed included this tidbit from a resident who saw the dead woman twice that day, "She got up on MY floor, she tried to come into my place," said the woman. "I said 'Oh no no no, you know, white people and us, we don't mix.' " Roeper correctly asks “Where’s the Outrage?” A Roeper reader who saw the ABC piece e-mailed the following to Roeper "I wish someone could explain to me how a 21-year-old girl ends up in the Robert Taylor Homes, is [allegedly] raped, begs for help and is told by a black woman she isn't going to help because she is WHITE, the young woman is pushed or jumped out of a seventh-floor window, and NOBODY is outraged? [Where are] the religious leaders like [Jesse] Jackson and [James] Meeks? Where is it on the news coverage? This is a young woman with mental problems and NO ONE is speaking up on her behalf." James Meeks is a local minister who keeps threatening to run against Gov. Blagojevich, a move that would split the Democratic Party and likely assure a victory for Judy Barr Topinka, the Republican candidate.

Indeed, one should ask, where are these “men of the cloth”? As for Mr. Jackson, he needs to see the green, the dollars and the dough at the end of his efforts. I’m surprised that he didn’t see a chance to get some “support” from the family if he railed against the Chicago Police for for enough time. On the other hand, this is a gang related crime and Jesse really has never gone after the gangs in this town; just another of the many reasons to not take Mr. Jackson seriously or at his word. Mr. Jackson also seems to be afraid of Mayor Daley, maybe Daley knows where some of the Jackson skeletons are buried.

Western Media: Will Happily Ignore their Own Coverage if it Hurts Bush

John Hinderaker of Powerline commented last night on Captain Ed’s post concerning the Iraqi bio-labs that allegedly made hydrogen for weather balloons. Mr. Hinderaker correctly points out that hydrogen balloon filling stations likely were not on the top of Saddam’s shopping list on the eve of a war. The weather balloon idea always struck me as silly because at least one of those labs was shown on television and it had remote bio-chemical gathering arms outside of the trailer. It had two rubber arms with sealed rubber gloves that would allow a person to grab a sample of something and place it in a testing device located on the outside of the trailer, all without exposing the handler to the sample. What the media and likely the CIA wants us to believe is the following: Saddam ordered these wonderful and expensive hydrogen filling stations for weather balloons; he also ordered the optional “remote bio-chemical testing devices” that at least one trailer contained. If the western media isn’t generally biased then they are generally chumps. Remember it was their video that showed us the bio-chemical devices in the first place.

Sunday Porsche Blogging: the Coming Porsche Panamera

c unknown
A third possible design for the upcoming Porsche Panamera

Porsche has been open about its plans to build a four door car beginning next year and according to Sybarites.org (Big Hat Tip to Autoblog) Porsche has started factory preparation for the new project. One of the Sybarites forum members has “informed” them that after discontinuing production of the Carrera GT at its Leipzig factory, Porsche has started preparing the factory for Panamera production. A four door Porsche is something that the firm has toyed with from time to time, even some early 911 design studies were for a four door vehicle. During the eighties and nineties the firm said that they would not produce a four door vehicle because it would interfere with the design work that they do for other automobile companies.

I am sure that some of the world’s Porsche purists will send up a great cry of despair over a Porsche four-door but I will not be one of them. Flying Debris has already commented on the reaction by Porsche purists to Porsche coming out with an SUV here. There are some people who deplore the fact that Porsche moved beyond what are referred to as the pre-A 356 models. Flying debris is happy that some of the rare Porsche parts that the factory still makes will likely still be manufactured, assuming that the Panamera doesn’t bomb.

c unknown
Another possible design for the upcoming Porsche Panamera

c unknown
One of the expected designs for the new Porsche Panamera

The New York Times: Knows Less Than Some Children

John Hinderaker of Powerline wrote in Purple Haze at the Times that it is “freaking unbelievable” that the people at the NY Times could describe a Purple Heart as a Purple Star. Flying Debris concurs, what kindergarten did these kids attend? Hinderaker wonders whether "a single adult American who didn't know that the medal that is awarded to wounded servicemen is the Purple Heart.” Powerline is referring to this correction in Saturday’s NY Times “The article also misstated the name of a service medal that a general presented to Sergeant Gomez's mother. It is a Purple Heart, not a Purple Star” the Times wrote.

The editors at the NY Times should be able to remember two whole years ago when they repeatedly told of John Kerry’s bravery in receiving three Purple Hearts. When it comes to arguments some liberal folks tend to argue as if the world’s knowledge had a starting point of this morning. By this I mean that some have a tendency to argue clearly settled arguments, of course they wait until enough time has passed that many may have forgetten the arguments of the other side.

An example of this would be the nonsense that lower deficits always lower interest rates and the opposite, that higher deficits always lead to higher interest rates. This was part of the “raising taxes lowers the deficit which lowers interest rates which sends the economy to the moon” theory. The practitioners of this nonsense had lain off of that argument for a little while during the last few years due the fact that the deficit was rising as interest rates fell. Give them a little time and they are right back at it with a new twist; the rising deficit combined with falling interest rates didn’t happen. That’s right, it simply didn’t happen. They rightly expect that one does not attend cocktail parties with government reports. The above has actually happened to me.

Maybe the reporter and editor involved simply had no knowledge carried over from the past. Their world may be a blank slate each and every morning, the world is much less pesky that way.

Mazda to Use Corn based Bioplastic

As if the corn market needed even more bullish news (CBOT corn contracts for delivery this year were up between 10 ½ to 11 ¼ cents a bushel today) the hits just keep coming. They say that a bull market needs to be fed; well the corn market has been getting fed. This morning the Autoblog reported that Mazda and a Japanese industrial consortium in cooperation with the Japanese government and Japanese academia have come up with a better plastic. Using only 12% petroleum the bioplastic will be less energy intensive to produce and will have superior heat resistance and rigidity than polypropylene. Stuart Waterman of the Autoblog wrote:

The prototype bioplastic is made of 88 percent corn and 12 percent petroleum, and requires 30 percent less energy to produce than conventional petroleum-based polypropylene plastics. Its higher rigidity may make it a superior material to polypropylene plastics for mass production of injection molded parts.

Lately the talk in the corn market has been about the aggressive buying of deeply deferred contracts like December ’07 and December ’08. That buying has centered on ideas of dramatically increased ethanol usage in future years. Mazda may very well have added to the world’s usage of corn. Waterman also wrote that Mazda claims that the Hiroshima-based effort was aided by the fermentation expertise of local sake makers.

Powerline Does the Latest Phone Controversy

John Hinderaker of Powerline Blog has a great post about Qwest and its customer privacy policies. Since all of this started one of things that struck me was that it seemed that people actually believe that they have privacy in their commercial transactions, not to mention on their wireless telephones.

That Iranian Guy and his Letter

The Iranian President Whose Name I Shall Not Spell (IPWNISNS)
recently sent President Bush a now infamous letter that some have even described as a rapprochement. It really is a strange letter but in historical context it makes more sense. Amir Taheri an Iranian journalist living in the west, wrote a great piece in today’s NY Post that attempts to put parts of the letter in historical perspective. Taheri wrote the following:

Ahmadinejad's move fits into a 14-century-long Muslim tradition, initiated by the Prophet Muhammad himself, of writing letters to "the rulers of the world." In 625 A.D., having consolidated his position in Medina and established a secure power base for his rule, the prophet decided it was time to call on "the infidel" to abandon their faith and submit to Islam. He dictated letters to Khosrow Parviz, the Persian king of kings (a Zoroastrian), and to Emperor Heraclius of Byzantium and the Ethiopian monarch Negus (both Christian).
To each, the prophet's offer was simple: Convert to Islam and secure a place in paradise - or cling to your beliefs and face the sword of Islam.

The letter written by the IPWNISNS doesn’t read like a document searching for peace in the first place. Put the thing in context and it is just more of same jihadist nonsense that we have been hearing from the Muslim world for far too long. As is so often the case the Neo-Neocon has got a pretty good grasp of the situation, she wrote:

It continues to puzzle me that so many of us have to learn the same lesson over and over, and that is this one: tyrants mean what they say. Iran's leadership hasn't had its people chanting "Death to America!" for nothing for all these long decades.

They have been chanting “Death to America” in Iran for my entire adult life, at some point you would have to think that they’d get off of their collective duffs and try to do something about it.

Update: the Gateway Pundit is starting another post on the Iranian President Whose Name I Shall Not Spell (IPWNISNS) here; another great Gateway post on the IPWNISNS is here.

Arthur Barton, Decorated WWII Hero – R.I.P.

Lt. Arthur Barton (Ret.), a decorated WWII veteran passed last Sunday in Glenview, IL. Art grew up in Chicago as a first generation German/American in the old German area on the city’s North Side. During the late ‘30s Art was recruited by the German American Bund to travel to the fatherland and fight for the German people. The world was lucky that Art resisted those folks. Art eventually entered the Army Air Corps and became a bombardier stationed in England. As a bombardier he had a cat’s luck; he was the only man out of his first crew to live through the war. He flew in numerous planes that barely limped back to England and he carried shrapnel from the Ruhr Valley in his back through most of his life. He ended up flying nearly three times the normal allotment of 25 missions.

As Art went from plane to plane during the war he amassed so many missions that the Air Corps wanted him out of the theater and back in America selling War Bonds as a bona fide war hero. They were also worried that after so many missions he was starting to enjoy them. When Art was getting the necessary paper work done in order to return to the States, he was pulled out of line. The officers who pulled him out of line asked him if he would like to train for a secret bombing mission in the Pacific theater. Art replied that he had already cabled his mother to tell her of his imminent return and that he couldn’t disappoint her. Art likely would've trained for a mission to carry a nuclear weapon but he wouldn't disappoint his mother.

Art came home, went on that War Bonds tour and then used the GI Bill to attend Northwestern University’s Law School. Art was a successful lawyer here in Chicago for many years and he raised his family in Kenilworth, IL. He was a Republican but he was always quick to defend the rare North Shore Democrat like my father. Cruelly Art had Alzheimer’s during the final years of his life, but he’s gone to see those buddies of his youth; they’ve been waiting for him.

Yonder Mountain in Tourist Photo

c Flying Debris
Yonder Mountain String Band plays in Nederland, Co. August 2001

Flying debris dug deep into the digital cabinet for this one. The photo was taken at the annual Nedfest in the mountain town of Nederland, Co. Nederland is a beautiful little mountain town about twenty miles outside of Boulder. This photo was taken back before Yonder Mountain had a drummer. Looking at the YMSB summer schedule it appears that they will not play at Nedfest again this year, but they will appear at RockyGrass in Lyons, Co. again.

Yonder Mountain Got a Drummer!

There is a bluegrass band from Boulder Co. named Yonder Mountain String Band; they are worth checking out if you like bluegrass. Two of the members are from Chicago’s western suburbs and their fan base would’ve been very happy at a Dead show or a Pfish concert. The band has always been four guys up on stage wailing away (quite well) on stringed instruments. On some level not having a drummer is a shtick, but for these guys it worked very well. They are a great live band and although the albums are somewhat spotty they all have some fantastic songs. Well they’ve gone out and done it, they got themselves a drummer for the new album that the made with producer Tom Rothrock (Foo Fighters). They have also put out an introduction e-card that includes a video of one of the new songs, Troubled Mind. It’s a great song if you like bluegrass, if not it might just sound like Hee Haw.

Score Your Politics!

This site asks a few questions about current issues and plots your politics on a graph. Some of the questions aren’t all that great due to the wording. They have me as a left leaning Libertarian, you are free to peruse Flying Debris and see if you agree with their assessment. I will not comment on my score, for now. Try it and see if you think that you are what they say you are.

Hat Tip: Bob

Well You Always Knew That It Would be Keith

c http://www.musiconphoto.com/FOTOS/keith_richards_01.htm
Keith Richards - Many Light Years From Home


With Reuters reporting that Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards may have suffered brain damage, future touring may be iffy for the Stones. You knew that it would be Keith who would stop the touring but you always figured it would be something even more serious. Hey Keith, my prayers are with you buddy.

Update: Stones Deny Keith Suffered Brain Damage

Couldn’t they Find Something Near Hyannisport?

We have a treaty with Cuba that divides the Straights of Florida in half for the purpose of mineral rights. Cuba has never drilled for oil out there because they are simply too poor (except for billionaire Fidel), I mean the most modern car on the island is a ’57 Chevy. For many reasons the US has chosen to not drill out there. The New York Times has reported that it is all about to change; Cuba has awarded or will award oil leases on 59 fields south of the Florida Keys and westward. Captain Ed at Captains Quarters has some thoughts on this development.

This Sure Seems a Little Bit Late

This group, CensureCarter.com will start to run television ads on Tuesday. Bush I and Clinton would’ve supported an effort to shut Carter up. During Reagan’s terms Carter was taken much less seriously than he is now so such an effort would’ve been seen as piling-on.

Hat Tip: RedState.org

NY Times Discloses Classified Energy Policy Ideas

In yesterday’s article concerning Democratic hopes on retaking congress this fall the Times slipped in what must have been classified information concerning Democratic energy policies. The secret policy was leaked in this paragraph:

Pelosi also vowed "to use the power to investigate" the administration on multiple fronts, starting with the task force convened in secret by Vice President Cheney to devise the administration's energy policy. The administration has successfully fought lawsuits since 2001 that sought to reveal the names of energy company executives tapped to advise the task force.

One must admit it is a brilliant plan, investigate Cheney, he must have all of the oil! “Lookey over yonder Nancy, that thars a gusher.” This investigating a task force thing has been going on for five years with these people. The courts have repeatedly found that there was nothing illegal in the Vice-President taking private counsel. Some Democrats have even tried to make the situation a corollary to the Hillary Care task force. They keep forgetting that among the legal issues was the fact that Mrs. Clinton was not a person elected to the executive branch. During those five years the total new energy ideas put forth by the Democrats could be counted on the fingers of the handless man.

During those five years it would have better served both the Democrats and the nation if the Democrats would have argued the issues and the ideas that came out of the task force rather than the task force itself.* The Democrats energy ideas haven’t really changed in the last thirty years so I guess that five isn’t such a big deal. For as long as I can remember, the Democrats have said that they support clean, inexpensive and renewable energy; and big chocolate cakes.

The policies to achieve those dreams have been to subsidize alternative energy sources. Most have been failures but in all fairness some have helped lower the costs of energy, solar is one example. Solar is still too expensive to compete in the average Americans situations, but it has been getting cheaper and likely will continue becoming more economical. Solar has also become cost effective enough to get a decent amount of use in remote areas. Solar may just need a break through that we haven’t yet imagined.


* On second thought maybe it’s just as well that the Democrats didn’t actually argue energy issues. Who knows what inanities the New York Times would’ve been forced to print?

Huffington Poster a Traitor

That’s really all that can be said about a man who suggests espionage and shutting down the nation’s transportation system in the event of a war. Some guy named Bob who has a Blog on the Huffington Post wrote this winner:

A logical target for a general strike would be commercial transportation, particularly the boat, rail, and truck lines that handle cargo containers. America is a "just-in-time" society, where many businesses depend upon an uninterrupted steam of deliveries.

Thank you Arianna.

Hat Tip: Michelle Malkin

Heckler Goes a Long Way Towards Explaining CIA Problems Part 3

Flying Debris had a little bit to say about last week's Rumsfeld Heckler, Ray McGovern here and here. The Gateway Pundit has very complete roudup of all sides of the issue. Flying Debris still stands behind the wacky appearance theory that was noted after seeng Mr. McGovern on Tucker Carlson’s show.

Sunday Porsche Blogging: A New Flying Debris Porsche Blog

c Sideline Sports Photography
'66 Porsche 911 prepped as a 911 R works the North Course at the Autobahn CC on April 2



The crack staff here at Flying Debris has organized all of the Sunday Porsche Blogging posts and assembled them on one handy web site, the originally named Sunday Porsche Blogging blog. Enjoy.

Sun Times Media Critic Tries Politics, the Problem Is He Gets His News from the Daily Show and the Daily Kos

This Sun Times article amounts to a public complaint concerning the media’s coverage of the White House Correspondents Dinner and the general media panning of the performance by Stephen Colbert. It is really a very strange article. Having seen a tape of both Mr. Colbert and the President I can say that although I wouldn’t go to Vegas to see either one of them, the President did have a better routine than the comedian. Mr. Elfman snarked that the President had material written for him, does Elfman believe that Colbert writes all of his own stuff? Should the President even be spending any time writing jokes? Mr. Elfman wrote that to liberals TV news journalism “is a big stinking cabal of conservatives.” That would be news to conservatives, especially after the TV news department of CBS News (CBS is of course, a television company) based a very anti-Bush piece on an obviously fraudulent document fifty-five days before a Presidential election. It would also come as a surprise to those of us who watched NBC News one evening during the spring of 2004 as they interviewed an Egyptian “journalist” who stated that Rumsfeld and Bush were Neo-Nazis. It would shock those who have done studies and surveys of Washington journalists. Heck, it should shock anyone who pays attention to Washington politics.

The Sun Times piece is truly awful, Mr. Elfman claimed that the President and Mrs. Bush “fled as soon as possible afterwards.” Elfman then asks “(f)rom whom were they fleeing? A star comedian”. If Mr. Elfman had been paying attention during the past five plus years he’d have known that the President goes to bed very early. There have even been comedy routines about the habit.

My initial thought upon hearing the Colbert bit that Elfman complains did not get enough media praise was that the bit sounded just like what is so often the nonsense on the Daily Kos or the Democratic Underground. No wonder Elfman and the other kids over at the Kos were so upset about it. Mr. Elfman really is simply writing about the ramblings and musings on the Daily Kos and this Colbert stuff is just a cover. After first doing the job of challenging reality by calling CNN America’s middle ground and doing a typical tar-job on FOX News, Mr. Elfman wrote this revealing admission, “Liberals find true solace on TV only in the fake news of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report" and "The Daily Show”.

At least the guy admits his ignorance. It just seems that Mr. Elfman has gotten in way over his pay scale.

Flight Grounded by Nail Polish

Get this, the Sun Times is reporting that some lady was doing her nails on a flight from Chicago to San Diego and that the plane had to be diverted because the pilots thought that the odor might have been coming from the 25 liters of acetone that was on the manifest. Before diverting the plane to Denver the passengers were asked if anyone was doing their nails, the woman in question didn’t speak up until after the plane landed in Denver. I am afraid that the lady in this story needs more than Miss Manners can offer. As a regular user of public transportation I must say that one of the ruder things that a woman can do on the El is her nails. I have sat next to ladies who will sit on a packed train with nail polish that affects an entire car.

Did We Give Up When the Germans Bombed Pearl Harbor?

Scott Johnson of Powerline has written a much needed piece on Iran this morning. It includes not only a sobering assessment of the situation by a longtime Iranian activist interviewed by Jerusalem Post editor David Horowitz but the piece also notes the review of Mark Bowden’s new book Guests Of The Ayatollah in the Washington Post Book World. The book review opens by noting Iranian Islamofacist Massoumeh Ebtekar's rant to world leaders in Davos Switzerland. The review then goes back in time to recount Ms. Ebtekar’s haranguing of the American hostages who were held by Iran in 1979 and 1980. Back then she was simply known as Screaming Mary. The Post’s review includes this choice paragraph:

At one point in Mark Bowden's riveting new book, Guests of the Ayatollah, Ebtekar browbeats a CIA agent named William J. Daugherty over "the inhuman, racist decision" to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After Daugherty shoots back that the Japanese started the war at Pearl Harbor, Ebtekar looks confused. "Pearl Harbor? Where's Pearl Harbor?" she asks. Hawaii, she is told. Her reply, after a moment of confused silence: "The Japanese bombed Hawaii?"

One would need the sense of humor of a Samuel Clemens to make that one up.

Update: The title of this post refers to a line by the late great John Belushi who played “Bluto” Blutarsky in the comedy Animal House.

That Wacky Rumsfeld Heckler and that Hapless Kennedy

Just two days ago Flying Debris observed that the former CIA agent who had heckled Donald Rumsfeld seemed a little bit wacky when he appeared on the Tucker Carlson Show Thursday night. Apparently the crack staff here at Flying Debris weren't the only ones to notice. It seems that the former agent, a Ray McGovern, has been doing this sort of thing for a few years now. The Scrapbook section of the Weekly Standard has a rundown of Mr. McGovern’s past public anti-Bush actions. It has some bonus information on the hapless Patrick Kennedy. In Mr. Kennedy's situation I feel the sorriest for the citizens of Rhode Island and the most relieved for the pedestrians and drivers of our nation’s capital.

A Blogasphere Challenge that Still Stands

Two weeks ago I posted a challenge to the world’s bloggers. As I have not noticed any interest in that challenge, I am taking the liberty of re-posting it. Here it is from Sunday April 23:


A Challenge for the Blogosphere

This is a challenge that I am sure that the nation’s bloggers are up to. As we approach the 8 month anniversary of Hurricane Katrina there are still some unexplained mysteries surrounding the events that followed the storm. One of them involves a live broadcast from the Super Dome. On (I believe) Wednesday evening following the storm I was watching either FOX News or MSNBC (I think that it was FOX, but I was flipping between stations) when a reporter, broadcasting from just outside of the Super Dome spoke to a “doctor” in scrubs who claimed to have spent the past day working inside of the Super Dome. The doctor described a dire situation inside of the Super Dome that was spinning out of control. This “doctor’s” “eye-witness” account was false. He stated that there were murders, rapes and all sorts of horrific occurrences happening inside of the Super Dome. As Howard Dean is continuing to blame Bush for the weather and the fact that an overwhelmingly Democratic city was grossly unprepared for the obvious and the predictable, I believe that it is important to track down the people who helped to further the lies that came out of New Orleans during the aftermath of Katrina. That alleged doctor is one of those people. Who was that guy? Is he an actual doctor? Did he go down to the Super Dome on a bet that he could get on TV? Was he just a freelance troublemaker? Is he a member of the Ku Klux Klan who wanted to make African-Americans look like savages? Was he a Democrat who wanted to make Bush look awful during the storm’s aftermath? Does he work for the New York Times or even CBS?

Joe Wilson the Leaker? What a Shock!

Both Pajamas Media and the Gateway Pundit are reporting that Joe Wilson may have been a source for leaks concerning his wife Valorie Plame. This is something that I have speculated about for almost two years, that Joe Wilson leaked the name of his wife to the media. Whether he did this to hurt the administration or because he is a simple publicity hound I do not know. It is always difficult to speculate on someone’s motives. After Mr. Wilson’s op-ed piece appeared in the NY Times I considered the case bizarre for many of the same reasons that some in the blogasphere considered it bizarre. The man was writing in the press for starters, furthermore he seemed to have no qualifications. The article itself was bizarre, I stated at the time that if the best that the CIA could do was to send an overweight, middle-aged, white, former surfer-dude to an African nation (Niger) to look at possible black market or covert activities; then we were in much deeper trouble than most of us imagined. A white guy sipping tea on a veranda likely will not uncover much in the way of covert transactions in Africa. Does the CIA even have any black field officers? The entire episode pointed towards incompetence. The episode also pointed to the possibility of a rouge agency that was trying to surreptitiously undermine the elected officials of the US. In addition it seemed that the agency was attempting to influence the outcome of a federal election. A spy agency influencing American elections is something that the Democrats are supposed to be outraged by, oh well. So if Mr. Wilson is the leaker, one must ask is the CIA full of incompetents or is it full of treasonous bureaucrats? Only time will tell.

Most Ridiculous Car Club in America

c Flickr
I would trade my '66 911 for this '66 Lamborghini Muira P400, just not on a temporary basis

The title describes this strange club, it facilitates owners of high-end cars to swap miles in each other’s cars. See, I told you it sounded stupid. Does the other guy beat on his car? Is he/she properly insured to use another’s car, am I? This sounds like a real hassle with little benefits. I for one would not relish some random guy with a Lamborghini Muira (above) taking my 911 out for a hundred miles of thrashings, even though I do want to drive a Muira. So if any Flying Debris readers happen to own a Muira, please feel free to let me drive it. See a review of the Muira from back in the day here, and a modern review here.

Update: the Carpundit noticed this club and titled the related post "How About Letting Someone Else Crash Your Ferrari"

US Response to UN Tribunal Should Be: Name, Rank and Serial Number

US State Dept. lawyers had to meet with the UN’s Committee Against Torture today to answer charges that the US has been torturing prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and other places.
I pity the federal lawyers who had to go to Geneva in order to sit in some sort of United Nations “courtroom” and listen to how the US is the bane of modern existence. The Gateway Pundit has a typically thorough rundown on this story in US Gets Blasted by UN for Its "Climate of Torture" at Geneva Court.

It is very interesting to note that the “court” will demand that the US turn over classified information, thus the title of this post. In addition to the US, the “court’s” commission will look into torture allegations concerning Georgia, Guatemala, Qatar, and Togo. Are these people serious? There has been no torture in Cuba, in North Korea, in Russia or its former satelites? Huh, I guess that the world is in better shape than I thought it was.

Heckler Goes a Long Way Towards Explaining CIA Problems

The former CIA employee who heckled Rumsfeld in Atlanta yesterday appeared on MSNBC with Tucker Carlson last night. The former CIA employee blamed the Iraq war on Israel and American Neo-cons. The fact that this man appeared to be somewhat deranged makes me wonder; was he was gainfully deranged at the CIA?

They Plan to “Draft” Hillary in Nashville

The NY Times has reported that Hillary Clinton's supporters chose Nashville to launch their "draft Hillary" campaign in order to prove that “Democrats can win in southern states.” They actually can’t “prove” that until 2008, just don’t tell them.

Alpha’s Coming Back! Alpha’s Coming Back!

c Salon de Geneve
New Alpha Romeo 159, a likely Candidate for the US Market

Italiaspeed has reported that during a teleconference to announce Fiats 1st Q results, Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne said that the company was planning on bringing the Alpha brand back to the US, a huge market that they left a decade ago. He said that they had designed two new model lines to conform with US regulations. They plan to initially distribute the vehicles through existing Masserati dealerships.

Hat Tip: Autoblog

Happy Birthday George Will

George Will turned 65 today. For his birthday he gave us this wonderful article about the recently deceased John Kenneth Galbraith. Sometimes Mr. Will can only be described as a weenie, but because of his lifelong devotion to the Chicago Cubs I'll give him a break. In today's article Will commented on Galbraith's seminal book The Affluent Society:

If advertising really could manufacture consumer wants, few new products would fail. But many do. The Affluent Society, postulating the awesome power of manufacturers to create whatever demand they find it convenient to satisfy, was published nine months after Ford Motor Co. put its marketing muscle behind a new product, the Edsel.

For those who aren’t familiar with the Edsel; it was a very highly publicized flop. The term “Edsel” became synonymous with laughable failure for multiple generations. I was not even born when the Edsel was produced but we were all quite familiar with it.

Italian Communists and Islamics Get Together to Murder Italian Soldiers

Gateway Pundit has the story and John Hinderaker of Power Line helpfully points out that the Communists in Italy “aren’t a fringe group” but part of the government coalition. The reasons that some follow the syren song of communism would take more than a post, and is likely better handled by the likes of the Neo-Neocon.

Pontiac Will Take the Solstice Racing

c Autoblog
A Pontiac Solstice with a hardtop will race in SCCA Showroom Stock B this weekend at New Hampshire Int'l Speedway

The folks at the Autoblog have reported that GM will support a racing program for the Pontiac Solstice. This is a good idea, especially if the car is as good as the GM flacks have said it is. The SCCA demands some sort of hardtop for its racing and it looks like GM will offer the top in addition to some racing upgrades.

Senator Byron Dorgan: A Man of “Great Ignorance” Speaks on Markets and Orgies

Senator Byron Dorgan, a Democrat from N. Dakota appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box this morning and made a complete ass of himself. Mr. Dorgan replaced his intellectual equal, Harry Reid as Chairman of the Democratic Policy Committee, meaning that his goofy ideas are likely the ideas of his party. Mr. Dorgan has a plan for our nation’s energy policy, be prepared to pay more, lots more.

Mr. Dorgan is pushing a policy to tax all oil “profits” that accrue from oil prices above $40 a barrel. He chose the arbitrary price because he said that oil was recently trading for $40. I put the word “profits” in quotes because despite an MBA from U of Denver the guy clearly has little business knowledge. In fact his bio states that he has worked in government since 1968. That is a very long time to be out of work. He stated that the money would be “rebated” to us. I didn’t notice if he was planning a rebate for consumers of gasoline, for drivers, for taxpayers or for citizens. I’m going to guess that the answer is citizens. He states that the tax could be avoided by corporate “reinvestment” in drilling and refining capacity. This is from a guy who is a member of the reactionary Democratic Party that will not allow oil drilling in the US. They aren’t too big on refineries either, just look at Al Gore’s 2000 campaign. One of the CNBC commentators asked if this meant that the Senator would now support drilling in ANWAR. Mr. Dorgan said “that’s cute.” Cute? This is a serious issue and he thinks that people are playing “gotcha games” with him. Mr. Dorgan, it is Democrats who spend their waking hours thinking of more slick little “gotcha games”, not traders; we have better and more honest things to do with our time. Mr. Dorgan then went into the typical conspiracy theory that one could hear from many Democrats; he said that we are not drilling for oil off of Florida because President Bush was helping his brother.

Mr. Dorgan stated flat out that he supported drilling for oil off of Florida but that he does not support drilling in ANWAR. Sure pal, the area that encompasses ANWAR gets less than 100 often very well healed “eco-tourists” a year. Florida on the other hand receives approximately 40 million tourists a year; a fact that likely had something to do with the Federal decision to not allow drilling off of the Florida coast. The 17.3 million residents may also have weighed on the decision. ANWAR has a population of zero. I am old enough to recall hearing the same bogus arguments concerning Prudhoe Bay that I am now hearing on ANWAR. Many of the same people who are against ANWAR are making the same arguments that proved false 30+ years ago. Those people were once confidently saying, well actually screaming, that Prudhoe Bay would run out of oil twenty years ago; Prudhoe Bay is still producing over three-hundred-thousand barrels per day. There is a constant complaint that the caribou would be negatively affected by drilling in ANWAR, a position that spits in the face of current knowledge. I wonder; would Mr. Dorgan and his fellow Democrats support drilling for oil off of Democratic California? The Democrats are after all, the party that will not allow windmills off of the Kennedy Compound in Hyannis Port. Now if they could put those windmills off of the Bush estate in Kennebunkport; well, that is something that they could all get behind.

Mr. Dorgan claimed to like the free market, which I guess depends on the meaning of the phrase “free market” because Mr. Dorgan then proceeded to call the oil futures market “an orgy of speculation.” He also stated that oil couldn’t be a free market because of OPEC. All right pal, you want us to just fold our tents because of OPEC? We should not have a free market in the US because of OPEC? That ignorant comment was his lame attempt at the “gotcha game.” He probably thinks that the mere mention of OPEC would shut up any opposition, fat chance asshole! The idea that there cannot be a free market in oil here in the US due to overseas suppliers who will sell to the highest bidder is ludicrous. Calling the NY Merc’s oil pit an “orgy of speculation” just shows how uninformed and poorly educated this man is. Does this genius even know that his constituents are using the futures markets every day to protect their family farms? This is truly scary, for a farm state Senator (3rd term, 6 in the House) to not even understand the futures markets just boggles the mind. One trader I know just shook his head and said that such a comment “just shows great ignorance.” Another trader repeated his opinion that “they are going to go after those Merc guys.” I think that my friend is on to something, it does seem that the Democrats could very well be lining up to go after anybody, even people trading federally regulated futures contracts, especially the guys on the floor. Those Merc guys are lucky that Elliott Spitzer is otherwise occupied.

Poor Tim Robbins, Nobody Told Him

Robbins is in Athens promoting has stage version of 1984. Somebody should clue him in to the fact that the book was strongly influenced by Orwell’s experience with liberal bureaucrats in war time Britain. I wonder what Orwell would think of the irony; a liberal clap-trap doing his play to promote liberal values.

Mike McGivick has Suggestion for Iran Situation

Mike McGavick, who is running for the Senate in Washington, wrote in the Weekly Standard yesterday that a good way to make Iran sit up and notice the international community is to ban them from the World Cup Soccer competition. For a young, soccer mad, and increasingly secular Iran banishment from the World Cup could start some interesting fissures.

More on those Flags that the Chicago Daily Kos Girl Couldn’t See

Flying Debris noted yesterday that a “diarist” on the Daily Kos wrote that she had stood for hours at the corner of Jackson and State in Chicago yesterday during the march and saw nothing but American flags. Flying Debris took issue with that report seeing it as an unlikely occurrence due to the sheer number of Other Than American Flags (OTAFs) that were on the parade route. Even with a camera that was going through some sort of death tremor, Flying Debris was able to photograph numerous OTAFs.

One of my favorite local liberal columnists, Neil Steinberg wrote an entire column on the different flags that people were carrying. Steinberg reported that local communists were distributing there own flag, I imagine that it would've been the hammer and sickle, I saw a few of those. Could they have been made by a collective in Vermont? Doubtful, they were probably made by near-slave labor in China. An interesting and amusing angle that Steinberg reported on was the appearance of some local anarchists. Not just any anarchists, but organized anarchists. They had the Anarchy flag (an A), they marched together, they sat together, they even voted on where they should march to next. No surprise here; as predictable as a Cuban “election”, they voted to march out to Haymarket Square.

One of the Daily Kos dissenters in the comments section (9th comment "Hmmmm…") pointed out that the marchers were not chanting USA but rather “Ci! Se puede. ‘Yes We Can’” That slogan was on numerous signs and in fact was on the signs held by what I figured to have been union lawyers (photo below), they really didn’t want to talk about who they were.

Michelle Malkin has a great roundup of signs, flags and tee shirts that can be found here.

Chicago Daily Kos Writer: What March Was She At?

This post (they actually call them diaries) from the Daily Kos states that the writer was at the corner of Jackson and State during the Chicago march. I was also at Jackson and State, (also Jackson & LaSalle, Jackson & Dearborn and Jackson & Clark). This writer claims to have only seen American flags; except one Greek flag that made her smile. There were more American flags at this march than there were at the last one; but there were still a lot of Mexican flags. The vast majority of American flags that were small and likely handed out at some point; most folks seemed to have the same small flag. I missed the Greek flag but I did see the American flag, the Puerto Rican flag (?), the Mexican flag, the Guatemalan flag and a few flags that I did not recognize. I also saw a few signs telling immigrants to fight America for their “rights.” Again, I’m not sure that we were at the same march this afternoon.

A Few Photos of the Chicago May Day March

Here are the Union Lawyers (as far as could be discerned) - Looking For Clients, I Guess - This Isn't Ambulance Chasing, per se...
c Flying Debris

Slowly Heading East on Jackson at Dearborn - Heading Towards Jackson & State Through the Heart of the Federal Government's Downtown Area 1:35 PM May 1
c Flying Debris

My 5 year old Coolpix was giving me trouble, the yellow signs are for ANSWER, the Communist Group
c Flying Debris

Madonna Must Need More Cash

Madonna’s career must be in another one of its downward spirals.
When that chick needs money she gets ever more “outrageous.” She is now “with child” so she can no longer play the hooker, the pimp, the slut, the whore, the dominatrix, the slave or the lesbian. Have I missed any Madonnas? Well over the weekend she told her audience to "(j)ust go to Texas and suck George Bush's d**k." Okay, go explain that one to your kid honey. This is just another example of a person who plays dress-up for a living attempting to tell others how to think. Actually she is another of the many uneducated celebrities who actually believe that they have something to add to the national dialog. Hey Madonna, just go get yourself peed on again.

Some of the Google links to Madonna’s book SEX are not fit for normal consumption, unless you dig homo-erotic crap.