Har!

Sun   9 Mar 2008   12:27 by Kevin McGehee 45° and fair in Coweta County, GA 1 comment [War] [Yee-haw!]

This is funny. One day, high above Arizona, we were monitoring the radio traffic of all the mortal airplanes below us. First, a Cessna pilot asked the air traffic controllers to check his ground speed. ‘Ninety knots,‘ ATC replied. A twin Bonanza soon made the same request. ‘One-twenty on the ground,‘ was the reply. To our surprise, a navy F-18 came over the radio with a ground speed check. I knew exactly what he was doing. Of course, he had a ground speed indicator in his cockpit, but he wanted to let all the bug-smashers in the valley know what real speed was ‘Dusty 52, we show you at 525 on the ground,‘ ATC responded. The situation was too ripe. I heard the click of Walter’s mike button in the rear seat. In his most innocent voice, Walter startled the controller by asking for a ground speed check from 81,000 feet, clearly above controlled airspace. In a cool, professional voice, the controller replied, ‘Aspen 20, I show you at 1,742 knots on the ground.‘ We did not hear another transmission on that frequency all the way to the coast. » Major Brian Shul: “I loved that jet” However, there’s something in this article that doesn’t add up: My first encounter with the SR-71 came when I was 10 years old in the form of molded black plastic in a Revell kit. Cementing together the long fuselage parts proved tricky, and my finished product looked less than menacing. Glue,oozing from the seams, discolored the black plastic. It seemed ungainly alongside the fighter planes in my collection, and I threw it away. Twenty-nine years later, I stood awe-struck in a Beale Air Force Base hangar, staring at the very real SR-71 before me. For you arithmetic junkies out there, name x as n minus 29. I came to the program in 1983 with a sterling record and a recommendation from my commander, completing the week long interview and meeting Walter, my partner for the next four years. This identifies n as 1983. What is x? Having arrived at x, consider this: The SR-71 was the brainchild of Kelly Johnson, the famed Lockheed designer who created the P-38, the F-104 Starfighter, and the U-2. After the Soviets shot down Gary Powers’ U-2 in 1960, Johnson began to develop an aircraft that would fly three miles higher and five times faster than the spy plane-and still be capable of photographing your license plate. ... In 1962, the first Blackbird successfully flew, and in 1966, the same year I graduated from high school, the Air Force began flying operational SR-71 missions. Consider also that even though the SR-71 was flying operationally in the 1960s, its existence was not admitted to the public until much later. So, how did Revell make a plastic model of the SR-71 years before it was even designed? Odds are, Shul is remembering something fanciful and futuristic that might in retrospect have resembled the Blackbird but wasn’t, actually. H/t: Instapundit, who doesn’t appear to have caught the timeline problems.

Things Must Not Be Going Well in ‘el Tercer Imperio’

Sun   2 Mar 2008   22:07 by Kevin McGehee 51° and clear in Coweta County, GA 1 comment [War] [Wackadoodle]

Sic semper tyrannis. Whenever the homefront gets troublesome, they make threatening noises against a neighbor. Warning that Colombia could spark a war, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez sent tanks and thousands of troops to the countries’ border Sunday and ordered his government’s embassy in Bogota closed. The leftist leader warned Colombia’s U.S.-allied government that Venezuela will not permit acts like Saturday’s killing of top rebel leader Raul Reyes and 16 other Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia guerrillas at a camp across the border in Ecuador. “Mr. Defense Minister, move 10 battalions to the border with Colombia for me, immediately—tank battalions, deploy the air force,“ Chavez said during his weekly TV and radio program. “We don’t want war, but we aren’t going to permit the U.S. empire, which is the master (of Colombia) ... to come to divide us.“ » Chavez Warns of War With Colombia Hugo, por qué no te callas?

Is Opposition to Terrorism Really ‘Islamophobia’...?

Wed   23 Jan 2008   15:31 by Kevin McGehee 50° and fair in Coweta County, GA 6 comments [War] [Get Offa My Lawn!] [Wackadoodle]

Anti-GOMLP commenter Samir seems to think so. He’s offended by the fourth plank in the GOMLP’s provisional platform: You want to kill me and everyone else who doesn’t share your belief in the holiness of a meteorite in Mecca? GET OFFA MY LAWN! PLANET! Remember the Mohammed cartoon riots? Utterly bereft of irony, Islamic Rage Boy and his ilk threatened to behead anyone who dared say Muslims were violent. I’m not Islamophobic. I’m stupiditiphobic. And Samir, judging from your comments so far, you’re stupid.

Ugh

Wed   16 Jan 2008   18:04 by Kevin McGehee 33° and "wintry mix" in Coweta County, GA 0 comments [War] [Get Offa My Lawn!] [Here's Your Sign] [Wackadoodle]

Other than noting that the case against him remains to be presented in a court of law, you will never see this blog defending anyone who’s thrown in with al Qaeda—regardless of which U.S. political party he may claim to identify with. A former congressman and delegate to the United Nations was indicted Wednesday as part of a terrorist fundraising ring that allegedly sent more than $130,000 to an al-Qaida and Taliban supporter who has threatened U.S. and international troops in Afghanistan. The former Republican congressman from Michigan, Mark Deli Siljander, was charged with money laundering, conspiracy and obstructing justice for allegedly lying about lobbying senators on behalf of an Islamic charity that authorities said was secretly sending funds to terrorists. A 42-count indictment, unsealed in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo., accuses the Islamic American Relief Agency of paying Siljander $50,000 for the lobbying—money that turned out to be stolen from the U.S. Agency for International Development. Siljander, who served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, was appointed by President Reagan to serve as a U.S. delegate to the United Nations for one year in 1987. » Ex-Lawmaker Charged in Terror Conspiracy If they have evidence that he did in fact lobby the Senators, he is at the very least a slimeball and an idiot (for not vetting his client thoroughly, in light of 9/11). At worst… Do we still hang traitors? Update: FWIW, readers of this CQ post are raising questions about the indictment.

The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Explained So Anyone Can Understand It
Wed   16 Jan 2008   7:44 by Kevin McGehee 30° and cloudy in Coweta County, GA 0 comments [War] [Humor?]	Except that Israel-bashers will of course get it backward anyway. » Read more "The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Explained So Anyone Can Understand It"

How Do You Say ‘Bite Me’ in Arabic?

Tue   8 Jan 2008   8:14 by Kevin McGehee 46° and cloudy in Coweta County, GA 0 comments [War] [Wackadoodle]

Received in my e-mail this morning: Listen ! if ur goin through a mental disorder than keep it to yourself do’nt include others in it . We all respect all the prophets cz they were sent to make people like you a human. Give respect to others so u can be respected ! I hope you change ur point of view otherwise u burn in hell real good ! amen Stop including prophets in your jokes i mean any prohpet including Prophet Mohammad May peace be upon him and Prophet Jesus May peace be upon him as well. Your a sick retarded person who really needs a behavioral , moral, mental and physical improvement. Learn before GOD send u sombody to beat u up and learn it the hard way !! Rest in peace I gather this intellectual heavyweight is reacting to this post: Knock, knock. Who’s there? The Prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him. The Prophet Mohammed, who? DIE, INFIDEL!!! I don’t know why anyone wouldn’t think that was funny. But apparently finds it so offensive he wants God to come and beat me up for it. Which, God would so do that ‘cause is just so awesome.0000 @ hotmail.com

I Can’t Imagine Why People Wouldn’t Believe the CIA

Fri   7 Dec 2007   14:11 by Kevin McGehee 56° and fair in Coweta County, GA 0 comments [War] [Media Ochre]

Just 18% of American voters believe that Iran has halted its nuclear weapons program. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 66% disagree and say Iran has not stopped its nuclear weapons program. Twenty-one percent (21%) of men believe Iran has stopped the weapons development along with 16% of women. The survey was conducted following release of a government report saying that Iran halted its nuclear weapons development program in 2003. » Just 18% Believe Iran has Stopped Nuclear Weapons Development Program Looks to me, from a wide variety of polls on a wide variety of related topics besides this one, like the public was never much open to the “Bush lied” meme floated by Iraq war opponents over WMDs. Looks to me like there’s good reason to suspect people think the Bush Administration accepted the intel on Iraq’s WMDs on good faith—but wants the administration to be more wary this time around. If so, I think the public is wiser than the media. Yeah—big surprise there, right?

Coming Soon to Chavezistan: ‘A State of Emergency’

Mon   3 Dec 2007   0:54 by Kevin McGehee 68° and cloudy in Coweta County, GA 0 comments [War] [Prognosticate THIS!]

I don’t think Thuggo is going to sit still for this: CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - President Hugo Chavez suffered a stinging defeat in a vote on constitutional changes that would have let him run for re-election indefinitely, the chief of National Electoral Council said Monday. Voters defeated the sweeping measures by a vote of 51 percent to 49 percent, Tibisay Lucena said. » Chavez Loses Constitutional Vote Not only do I expect Chavez to effectively cancel future elections, I expect his apologists in this country—many of whom are the same ones who used to predict George W. Bush would declare martial law and cancel elections here—to defend him for it. Update, Tuesday: Thuggo may have backed down on Sunday, but he isn’t backing off.

Uh-Oh

Thu   29 Nov 2007   23:41 by Kevin McGehee 42° and clear in Coweta County, GA 0 comments [War]

WASHINGTON—U.S. Rep. John Murtha today said he saw signs of military progress during a brief trip to Iraq last week, but he warned that Iraqis need to play a larger role in providing their own security and the Bush administration still must develop an exit strategy. “I think the ‘surge’ is working,“ the Democrat said in a videoconference from his Johnstown office, describing the president’s decision to commit more than 20,000 additional combat troops this year. But the Iraqis “have got to take care of themselves.“ Violence has dropped significantly in recent months, but Mr. Murtha said he was most encouraged by changes in the once-volatile Anbar province, where locals have started working closely with U.S. forces to isolate insurgents linked to Al Qaeda. » Murtha finds military progress in trip to Iraq Somebody better warn the Pentagon their Hellfire missiles may not work, now that their energy source has frozen over.

One Way or Another, They’re Right

Fri   16 Nov 2007   8:56 by Kevin McGehee 32° and sunny in Coweta County, GA 0 comments [War]

The headline: Democrats see victory ‘out of reach’ In fact, the only way a victory in Iraq doesn’t put political victory out of reach for Democrats in 2008 (hence, “one way or another”), is if outright mission success comes before, say, the nominating conventions. That would allow the electorate to consider “the war” over while they’re considering which party’s ticket to support in November—history teaches that there is no “gratitude dividend” for those who lead a nation through rough times. Once the Second World War was ended, so was Churchill’s government in Great Britain. The end of the Cold War played no small part in George H.W. Bush’s election loss in 1992. If the GOP were as diabolical as the Democrats like to depict them, the perceived end of our involvement in Iraq would be delayed until late October. Instead, even if holding off until then looked to be the best thing both for Iraq and for the GWOT, I think the Bush administration would rather hurry it up, just to try to avoid the appearance of manipulating the news for political benefit.

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