Here is another idea on how to provide American troops with realistic training. Real-world training, NOT your mundane “canned” exercise!
Place this one in the category of “strange but true”. See other blog entries of a similar nature such as Noah’s Ark, foo-fighters, ball lightning, Flying Dutchman! Para-normal phenomenon for which their is a military connection.
[this particular idea gotten from listening to the Michael Medved radio talk show. An idea Michael did not properly appreciate and had no time to discuss.]
Search for Bigfoot. The supposed eight foot tall humanoid creature lurking in the forests of the American northwest/British Columbia.
[Humanoid generally is defined as having the appearance of a human, i.e., two arms, two legs, torso, head! Upright walking on two feet!]
A creature, believed by some to exist, perhaps exist, or maybe a hoax, a fairy tale to many, an illusion without foundation! If existing, NOT a “missing link”! A distinct species unto itself,
A controversial subject, the Bigfoot, it being hard to imagine that in 21st century an eight foot tall ape-like, hairy creature could exist on the North American continent and not be known or acknowledged by modern science.
Other crypto-creatures such as the Bigfoot are purported to exist. The Wild Man of China, the Mokele-mbembe of Gabon, etc.
The search for a Bigfoot would provide excellent training for special operations units and perhaps even similar military units of nations friendly to the U.S.!!??
Special Forces, Rangers, Navy SEAL, Marine Recon, etc. Small units [less than half a dozen men] surreptitiously entering into a remote area, setting up, again, surreptitiously, a hide-spot, hoping to glimpse and photograph a Bigfoot!! Sustaining themselves in a rough environment for an extended period of time, practicing camouflage and concealment and operational techniques in a manner so that even a wary and elusive animal cannot detect them!!
Results gleaned from trained observers are generally accepted as having much greater veracity and credibility? This is so?
One mission of deployed surveillance teams would be set up and employ wildlife “capture” cameras. Devices that have been used successfully by naturalists the world-over to “image” elusive and wary “critters” seldom seen by man in the wild.
Trained tracker-teams too. Small units, the personnel of which are trained man-trackers. Move through dense wooded areas, once more, surreptitiously, attempting to “cut-sign”, find the tracks or indications of a Bigfoot, following the creature if possible. You may even want to import Dayak woodsmen from Borneo, skilled trackers, to assist the special ops units in the “hunt”. A lot of valuable skills and techniques could be learned, abilities honed to a fine level!!
[there is NOT an element of danger here? The Bigfoot is reputed to rather pacific by nature, elusive, shy, avoiding humans, etc. NOT a killer or aggressive in any manner. Stumbling across a Bigfoot would NOT pose a danger to the troops?]
I also would not preclude the use of CSAR [combat Search And Rescue] units in the search for Bigfoot. Using sophisticated imaging devices [NOD, IR, etc.], spy-in-the-sky satellites, drones, personnel trained to find the proverbial needle-in-the-haystack!!
There is precedent for this sort of thing? Special operations military units used to confirm or deny para-normal activities? Reportedly, the British SAS, a number of years ago now, in response to the appearance of CROP CIRCLES in an area where access was supposedly tightly controlled, deployed surveillance units, covertly, in an effort to determine the origin and means by which the crop circles were created. Never heard anything further regarding the matter.
There is too, the novel “Almost Adam”. Describes an incident where a British troop [an Indian national serving in the British army], occupying a hide spot in the Rift Valley of Kenya, hoping to espy Mau Mau insurgents, instead observes a pair of proto-human hominids, half-human, half-ape like creatures, missing links still in an evolutionary stage as mankind was 500,000 years ago. Hominids the existence of which was unknown to modern science.
[recall too from long ago my blog entry on the kouprey. Wild ox of Cambodia. Almost extinct in the wild. Soldiers operating in the remote and extreme wilds of Vietnam/Cambodia/Laos during the Second Indo-China War would on very rare occasions stumble upon the kouprey! A once-in-a-life-time-event for the participant!]
NO specimen has ever been found, dead or alive, brought back to civilization for study, Frank Buck style!
An eight-foot tall, hairy, humanoid creature did exist in prehistoric times. Gigantopithecus. Bigfoot is a surviving member or related to the extinct species?
Traffic on the U.S. interstate highway system has yet to claim a Bigfoot as a victim. An individual, crossing and getting hit by a vehicle and killed. This has not happened!
However, whether a Bigfoot would be “discovered” or not is so much a concern rather THAN THE TROOPS WOULD UNDENIABLY RECEIVE REALISTIC TRAINING!! That is the whole point!!
Please keep in mind the blog entry dealing with the fifty mile hike. Marine officers once a year expected to complete a fifty mile hike, to be done in three days, carrying gear.
Especially so during the Napoleonic black powder era, units of "foot", [infantry] were required to march long distances as a matter of course. Obviously and intuitively so, "foot" meaning just that! Marching to battle!
The march of the British Light Brigade [43rd Regiment of Foot, the 52nd Regiment of Foot and the 95th Rifles] prior to and during the Battle of Talavera is the thing of legend. Talavera. Peninsular War - - Spain - - English versus French occupier! An entire brigade of foot [infantry], encumbered as they were, covered sixty-two miles in twenty six hours, NOT, however, arriving in time for the battle, and then HAVING TO MARCH FOR AN ADDITIONAL FIFTEEN HOURS SUBSEQUENT!!
Both RGJ and DLI traditionally functioning in the role of riflemen, skirmishers, pickets, etc. Light infantry [Light Brigade] NOT normally deployed as other troops of the black powder period. NOT fighting in closed formations of densely packed troops firing a massed fusillade with muskets. Carrying the specially designed Baker rifle. Issued in particular to the light infantry in furtherance of their unique mission.
In the case of the Light Brigade, to cover 62 miles in a twenty-six hour period would mean walking [marching] at a pace of slightly less than 2 ½ miles per hour
My assumption here is that the march was more or less continuous for the entire twenty-six hour period. NO breaks for meals or the ordinary ten-minute rest per hour generally prescribed for an infantry unit during an extended march.
This is eminently possible? For troops, unencumbered with impedimenta, carrying only a rifle [musket?], ammunition, and possibly bayonet, this does seem as “DO-ABLE”!
In the case of the Light Brigade, the troops WERE NOT stripped of all but the essentials, rather carrying the full combat and existence load!?
One would suspect that such a pace is possible for seasoned, experienced, and conditioned troops. Hardened veterans, enlisted and officers both, who know how to push themselves to the limits of endurance and beyond when necessary.
NOT ONLY hardened, experienced, seasoned, conditioned troops, but under the command of an officer, Craufurd, generally felt to be a harsh taskmaster. A commander given over to the lash when he saw fit.
Covering such a distance would be even more remarkable given that Talavera occurred on July 27th, during mid-summer, in Spain, a time of the year very hot and dry!
* What percentage of troops fell out on the march and did not arrive on the battlefield [in the aftermath of Talavera] with the brigade? Generally speaking, a soldier unable to keep up the pace and falling out during a forced march to battle would be in great peril. Alone, subject to assault and murder by marauders, irregulars, or just plain criminal attack! Emphasis on “staying together as a unit” is for GOOD REASON!
* To what extent was the APPROACH of the Light Brigade appreciated by the French commander and part of his battlefield calculations? The mere presence of a unit on the battlefield, even if not committed or capable of combat, can drastically change plans, calculations and perceptions! The potentiality of reinforcement [for or against or the total lack of] is something a commander must at all times consider
Regulations be damned too! It is the lot of a soldier that he may have to forgo food, water, be cold or hot, exhausted, without sleep, devoid of any creature comforts, MARCHING TO BATTLE IN A MANNER WITHOUT LET OR SURCEASE SHOULD BE EXPECTED FROM TIME TO TIME AS PART AND PARCEL OF THE SOLDIERS’ LOT!!
"Hey coolbert, I was just reminded of a post you had made in this blog (or maybe it was the one you maintained earlier) about the ranking system of a Japanese Admiral (I think) of allied soldiers against the Japs themselves.
The man who even as a relatively junior field grade officer, had contacts and operated within the most highest and rarefied echelons of the Japanese military and civilian command structure, before, during, and after World War Two.
Was the Chief of Staff of the Malaya operation [1941]. Saw extensive combat experience on all fronts in the Pacific theatre during WW2. Wounded thirteen times or such??!!
Was a prolific writer on all things military, even after the war. Wrote after-action reports for the U.S. military based upon his experiences.
Devised a rating scheme for the various combatants he had encountered on the battlefields of the Pacific theatre. Just in terms of FIGHTING ABILITY, Tsuji's rating system was as follows: [#1 being the best!]
For a person who was an extreme nationalist and chauvinist, you might well expect Tsuji to have rated the Japanese as #1!! How "fighting ability" is specifically defined I just cannot say.
Tsuji, as mentioned in my previous blog entry, disappeared in South Vietnam under mysterious circumstances and never was seen again. A case never solved!
"'I smoke about a pack a day, and a few cigars, and I drink an average of 15 10-ounce glasses of beer every evening, except on weekends, when it's more.'" - - Marine officer participating in a fifty mile hike.
[a Marine officer describing his life style in such a manner today would be promptly cashiered from the service??!!]
President Obama, just recently having taken the oath of office and now serving as Chief Executive, has already signed and promulgated some executive orders. Some of which have a definite military dimension to them.
Here is - - from the era of over forty years ago now, during the Presidency of John F. Kennedy, a fad, also the result of an executive order originally signed by Theodore Roosevelt, that took the nation by storm and was all the rage in some circles. A fad which also had a definite military dimension to it.
"Kennedy (or someone else in the White House) had discovered a 1908 Executive Order from Theodore Roosevelt that all Marines should be able to cover 50 miles in three days and for the last half-mile double-time 200 yards, rest 30 seconds; double time 200 yards, rest 30 seconds and sprint the last 200 years to the finish line as proof of their fitness. Because the records showed that some officers in 1908 had covered the course in one day, the challenge was to see if the present military were as fit as those of 1908."
"On February 12, 1963, 34 officers led by Brigadier General Rathvon McClure Tompkins, 50, limping from an old shrapnel wound, marched all day. The order called for the officers to wear helmets, pistols and a light pack, adding another 25 pounds to carry the distance. The fastest time was recorded by 2nd Lt. Marty Shimek, a long distance runner, who completed the march half running and half walking in 9 hours and 53 minutes."
The fifty mile hike was all the rage in the time of the young, vigorous, athletic President Kennedy!
A fad, however, not totally understood by the lay public. Carried to extremes in a manner it should not have been!?
The criteria for Marine officers to complete a fifty mile hike ONCE PER YEAR was a regulation in effect since 1908, but almost never actually implemented or enforced.
A hike - - a march - - of fifty miles is not a problem if done over a three day period? To do the same in ONE DAY is expecting a lot from most people? And to encumber a civilian with an amount of gear as expected to be carried by a Marine officer is absurd!
This sort of stuff got carried away to an extent. High minded idealism in the extreme. To be physically fit and able to hike fifty miles in a single day is not a bad idea, but only FOR THOSE PERSONS PROPERLY CONDITIONED AND HAVING SOME PRACTICE TRAINING AND THE MENTAL WHEREWITHAL TO MARCH [HIKE] SUCH A DISTANCE. Especially if the expectations and desire is to complete the entire distance in one day.
I can only assume that there were a lot of folks who ended up with foot, ankle, knee, or back injuries as the result of attempting the fifty mile hike and not being properly prepared for the ordeal.
The man who piloted the Airbus into the Hudson river, saving the lives of all on board, is a NATURAL?
A pilot, more correctly, A FLIER, who first learned the business of aviation from his experiences as a glider pilot at the Air Force Academy.
Learned to FLY in the most basic and rudimentary of aircraft, without power, developing a skill set that has served him well throughout his career.
Again, a NATURAL!! Demonstrated marked ability from the get-go! The type of man the Academy is looking for but rarely finds!
"During his tenure at the Academy, he was selected as one of around a dozen other freshmen who were enrolled into a cadet glider program, and by the end of that year he was an instructor pilot. In his graduation year, he received the Outstanding Cadet in Airmanship Award, which is given to the top flier in each graduating class."
The U.S. Air Force Academy runs "the largest glider operation in the world"!! The basic and most rudimentary instruction in flight and piloting is taught by learning how to fly a glider [sailplane]!!
"Soaring occurs at the Academy on a year-round basis. The program is the largest glider operation in the world. Its mission is to form the foundation of cadet exposure to military aviation, build character, and help motivate cadets toward a career in the United States Air Force."
"Retired aviation technology professor [Purdue] Charles Holleman also said Sullenberger's experience as a glider pilot may have given him an edge in landing his crippled Airbus A320 jet safely in the Hudson River.
NO - - it was the edge that gave "Sully" the marked advantage that he and all those passengers needed. IT was the edge!!
[the manner with which that Airbus had to brought to a successful landing would have required a reaction that would have been counter-intuitive? Put the nose over and place the aircraft into a dive, even without power? Build up speed by doing so, place moving air over the wings, allowing the pilot, "Sully" to guide the aircraft to a controlled landing.]
"Any Israeli soldiers accused of war crimes in the Gaza Strip will be given state protection from prosecution overseas, the country's PM [Olmert] has said."
The Israeli Prime Minister, Olmert, is taking great pains to assure those Israeli troops just recently involved in the incursion into Gaza, that they will be protected from prosecution for war crimes. Foreign entities, Belgium for instance, may issue warrants for the arrest of Israeli troops and demand extradition? It is possible!!
How would and does the Jewish nationalist, the Jewish troubadour, and the Israeli general officer look upon these accusations?
Here are some interesting quotations and song lyrics [historical and otherwise] that express the true sentiments and feelings [??] of “the Jewish nationalist, the Jewish troubadour, the Israeli general officer” regarding the alleged “war crimes” as perpetrated by the Israeli military:
"We constantly and very loudly apologize... Instead of turning our backs to the accusers, as there is nothing to apologize for, and nobody to apologize to . . . Isn't it long overdue to respond to all these and all future accusations, reproaches, suspicions, slanders and denunciations by simply folding our arms and loudly, clearly, coldly and calmly answer with the only argument that is understandable and accessible to this public: `Go to Hell!'?" - - Zeev Zhabotinsky, 1911
"Let them quake. And let them call us a mad-dog nation. Let them realize that we're a wild country, deadly and dangerous to everyone around, awful, crazy, capable of suddenly going nuts because they murdered one of our kids - - even one! . . . that if they shoot one of our ambassadors, or even a consul, or even the attache' in charge of stamp collecting, we're capable of starting, suddenly, just for the hell of it, before breakfast, World War Three." - - a quote I can reasonably infer to have been spoken by Rehavam Zee'vi.
Take it for what it is worth. You be the judge. Arrive at your own conclusions. These attitudes, these sentiments, these comments, song lyrics, etc., are really indicative of how MOST of the Israeli populace regards these most recent accusations of “war crimes”?
A new cause celebre' among those of the far left? [Dr. Mats Gilbert, for instance, is a member of the Norwegian Communist party.]
"Dense Inert Metal Explosive (DIME) also called a dime bomb, is an experimental type of explosive that has a relatively small but effective blast radius . . . an explosive material . . . and small particles of a chemically inert material such as tungsten. It is intended to limit the distance at which the explosion causes damage, to avoid collateral damage in warfare."
"Upon detonation of the explosive, the casing disintegrates into extremely small particles . . . The HMTA powder [tungsten alloy] acts as micro-shrapnel which is very lethal at close range (about 4 meters or 13 feet), but loses momentum very quickly due to air resistance, coming to a halt within approximately 40 times the diameter of the charge . . . Survivors close to the lethal zone may have their limbs amputated (as the micro shrapnel can slice through soft tissue and bone)"
DIME weaponry, as dropped from Israeli aircraft. DIME warheads carried on the newly developed and now deployed GBU-39 bomb?
"The GBU-39 Small-Diameter Bomb (SDB) is a 250 pound (113 kg) guided bomb that is intended to provide aircraft with the ability to carry a higher number of bombs. Most US Air Force aircraft will be able to carry a pack of four of these bombs in place of a single 2,000 lb bomb"
Right. The collateral damage caused by one 2,000 pound being dropped on a target is just stupendous. If you are targeting a jihadi adversary who is hiding in a residential area - - you will successfully kill him with one 2,000 bomb, but in the process kill A WHOLE LOT OF OTHER FOLKS WHO ARE IN THE VICINITY AND ARE JUST BYSTANDERS! You crack the egg with a sledgehammer, so to speak.
These small diameter bombs, more can be carried by one aircraft, allowing for greater versatility and response, while minimizing collateral damage. Kill that one specific targeted person and limit the lethality to the approximate area of the detonation!
"You can't say that civilization don't advance, however, for in every war they kill you in a new way." - - Will Rogers - - New [Duranty] York Times, December 23, 1929.
Another executive order just signed by President Obama is directing the DoD to plan for the closing of the Guantanamo detention facility within one year.
Resolve the "problem" of housing and detaining the captured jihadis. Or should I say accused jihadi?
Most of these jihadi bad guys will end up being released - - but not necessarily to the lands of their native origin. Those particular nations DO NOT want them. That approach has been tried already. European countries that were critical of President Bush will be willing to accept without qualifications the detainees? Each and every EU member nation will have to accept a fair portion of those folks released?
Protocols, procedures, legal charges pending against those persons accused of having perpetrated the 9/11 attacks are going to be a sticky point? Surely NO ONE is suggesting that the four or five detainees in custody at Gitmo thought to have a hand in the 9/11 attacks will be RELEASED??!!
What to do with those "accused" 9/11 villains? Try them in American court? That might be difficult, considering that the "accused" were purportedly water boarded!! Evidence obtained by coercive or hostile interrogation will not be permissible in an American court? What to do with the handful of 9/11 planners and enablers then?
For those many hundreds of jihadi already confined at Gitmo, and whose release will not be imminent but nonetheless forthcoming, there is the anachronistic policy in wartime of PAROLE available to the American authorities. A PRACTICE AVAILABLE TO BUT NOT USED BY THE U.S. MILITARY IN OVER 140 YEARS!!
"the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their word of honor to abide by certain restrictions."
Parole is '[t]he agreement of persons who have been taken prisoner by an enemy that they will not again take up arms against those who captured them, either for a limited time or during the continuance of the war.' The U.S. Department of Defense defines parole more broadly. 'Parole agreements are promises given the captor by a POW to fulfill stated conditions, such as not to bear arms or not to escape, in consideration of special privileges, such as release from captivity or lessened restraint.'"
Parole of captured combatants [note I have not said unlawful enemy combatants] was a method used widely by both sides in the American Civil War. Get the jihadi in residence at Gitmo - - prior to release - - to sign a pledge, a promise, NOT to participate in further jihad as a condition of their release!
I am also taking into account the Islamic practices of taqqiya and kitman. Lying, prevarication, dissimulation, mental-reservation, etc., are permissible under Islamic law under certain circumstances. Signed pledges and promises as a condition of parole will be meaningless to the jihadi?
But, don't just allow the detainees to be let go scot-free without getting SOMETHING in return. Even a basically worthless piece of paper will be better than nothing!
Who has not heard of the most recent bird strike incident? A commercial jet airliner, upon take-off, flies into a flock of birds [geese], ingests several birds [ingest, that is the correct term!!] causing shutdown in both engines! A potentially catastrophic situation that came to a most fortunate end, the entire complement of passengers and crew being saved, emerging from the landing on the Hudson River unscathed.
Almost a miracle!! First the plane is in the air. Then flies into the bird flock [geese?]. Then the birds are ingested into the engines [2 engines]. Then the engines cutout. Then the pilots REPORT SMELLING COOKED BIRD!! Then the dead-stick [?], powered down landing into the Hudson, safely so. Amazing?
Also referred to as Foreign Object Damage [FOD]! Measures to prevent items, bird and otherwise, from being “ingested” into a jet engine [not to minimize the danger to propeller driven aircraft either].
FOD can include all and any objects beyond a bird strike. To include, but not limited to: paper, nuts and bolts, pieces of tire, small animals, twigs, branches, wind-blown objects, etc. AND IN TIME OF WAR, BOMB-DAMAGE [CHUNKS OF CONCRETE] TO THE RUNWAY ITSELF!!
Here is a military combat aircraft that has incorporated into the basic design a means to combat FOD! The Soviet/Russian Su-27.
An integral titanium grille, covering the jet engine air inlet, provides FOD protection. A grille, in place, only when in the take-off mode [landing mode too?]! A grille made of a strong but very light metal, preventing serious engine ingestion. Mitigates and minimizes, maybe even totally eliminates [?] the possibility of catastrophic engine failure from FOD!!
It should be clarified that the titanium grille can be and should be in place only during take-offs and landings? Cannot be used at altitude when the aircraft is at high speed? Will distort the airflow into the engine inlet in such a manner that engine efficiency and actual operation will be compromised. Catastrophic engine failure and shutdown can occur when the plane is at high speed - - and with the grille in place?
President Obama, too, has now issued instructions that the "case" of the captured jihadi Ali al-Marri is to be examined and resolved with all due speed!!
Al-Marri, a legal U.S. resident, but NOT a citizen, has been deemed by ex-President Bush to be an unlawful enemy combatant. Locked in the brig ever since a few days after 9/11.
The case of al-Marri is most interesting in that he re-entered the U.S. on 9/10/2001. One day before the attacks on WTC and the Pentagon. Was a sent agent ["sleeper"] embarking on a terrorist mission of some sort? An obvious [???] Al Qaeda "sleeper" whose mission would be to facilitate further terrorist attacks WITHIN THE U.S. At best - - A SPY!! At worst - - a trained terrorist - - part of an organization whose goal is to kill millions of Americans.
Categorized as an unlawful enemy combatant based upon the prior ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of the World War Two German saboteurs.
German saboteurs, agents of a hostile foreign power in a time of war, dressed in civilian clothes, conducting a sabotage mission. Captured, tried, found guilty, AND EXECUTED!! All within a period of TWO WEEKS!! Tried, found guilty, and executed, all at the behest and insistence of President Roosevelt.
IT SHOULD BE KEPT IN MIND THAT THESE GERMAN SABOTEURS, AT THE TIME OF CAPTURE - - HAD DONE NOTHING WRONG!! Were caught before they had the time to commit a single act of sabotage.
Resolving the case of al-Marri will more than likely result in HAVING TO LET THE MAN GO!!?? Al-Marri can probably be charged with mail fraud [credit cards] and being the unregistered agent [??] of a foreign power? But other than that, what else can he be tried with?
And even if convicted, he has already been in the brig for seven years now. To "resolve" his case, he will be released based upon time served! And then what? He is a legal resident of the U.S. Continued residence is an option?
I MUST BE GETTING OLD!! Eric Holder considers the U.S. to be at war! So he testified under oath. But that is not his true sentiments? I AM GETTING OLD!
[Ali too prefers the "Salafist" look. The full beard with neck hair, and the long hair, emulating those Arabs of the time of Muhammad! Islam is not just a religion, it is way of life, regulating even tonsorial habits]
President Obama has just signed an executive order outlawing all forms of coercive interrogation techniques. TO INCLUDE WATER BOARDING.
The CIA, for instance, will now be limited to conducting interrogations of captured terrorists using ONLY techniques as outlined in the U.S. Army field manual for interrogations. Techniques designed to be used against prisoners-of-war [POW]! POW as captured on a conventional military battlefield.
Nineteen such interrogation techniques, utilizing psychological methods SOLELY, are contained in the field manual. I had thought there were ONLY seven or eight such psychological techniques available to army interrogators? Perhaps the manual has been updated and new approaches adopted since I last did military service?
“[the] 19 techniques . . . eschews harsh questioning practices . . . all rely on psychological approaches and prohibit interrogators from making physical contact with suspects or using force.”
[U.S. Army interrogators are told [?], have been told [?], in training, that in 90 % to 95 % of the cases where psychological methods of interrogation are used, the “POW” will “give it up” more or less right away!!]
Well, no shouting, screaming, touching in any manner, threatening [only in verbal manner] by shaking a fist, or anything like that anymore on the part of an American interrogator? Restraints? Forbidden too? NO more playing rock music to jar the hearing sensibilities of the Middle Easterner? And let the guy [POW] have a break to go to the bathroom if he says he needs to? This is the kinder, gentler approach? Am I being flippant and sarcastic here?
The jihadi, captured, is NOT like an ordinary POW! The jihadi has mentally prepared himself for death, even hoping to die!! Psychological methods will almost never work with these bad guys. You will not “break” them, THEY WILL “BREAK” YOU!!
Again, these comments of mine might seem to be flippant, sarcastic, unwarranted, etc. But this IS my perception! Good luck interrogators - - you will need it!!
"In terms of worst-case scenarios for the Joint Force and indeed the world, two large and important states bear consideration for a rapid and sudden collapse: Pakistan and Mexico,"
"Pakistan, in the event of such a rapid collapse, would be susceptible to a 'violent and bloody civil and sectarian war' made more dangerous by concerns over the country's nuclear arsenal."
"The report says a collapse in Mexico seems less likely, but . . . A collapse within the United States' southern neighbor would also 'demand an American response based on the serious implications for homeland security alone.'"
Sudden, precipitous, uncontrollable, societal collapse. A total break-down of all law and order, restraints, and governmental control. Chaos of an unprecedented nature, spiraling in directions that will develop in a manner unfavorable to the U.S. Collapse that will occur for a variety of reasons, suddenly, spreading like the proverbial wild-fire?
Worst-case scenarios, the potentialities for the United States being apocalyptic in nature. Worst-case scenarios for which there would be little amelioration possible. In both cases, an ounce of prevention will be worth A TON of cure. But what is that "ounce"? In both Pakistan and Mexico, the slightest little "cold" or "sneeze" can start an avalanche rolling down hill for which there will be no stopping!!
In the case of Pakistan, a no brainer! Atomic weapons falling into the hands of Islamic fundamentalists. Persons possessed by an intense hatred of all things "western". A hate that "clouds all reason"!
[concerns over atomic weapons falling into the "wrong hands" is obviously why the Pakistani General Kayani has been named one of the fifty most powerful persons in the world.]
In the case of Mexico, also a no brainer! Mass migration of displaced persons across the U.S.-Mexico border by the tens of millions?! Border states and further environs will be subject to "invasion" by desperate refugees, "invasion" that will SURELY HAVE "serious implications"!
During the the last two years in Mexico, the low-intensity warfare being fought between the various Mexican governmental entities and the gangs of the drug-narcoticos has claimed the lives of 8,000 persons. The drug-narcoticos now possess [and have possessed for some time], the numbers, the wealth, the organizational ability, the weaponry, the utter ruthlessness and determination to fight the Mexican military and police, THE DRUG-NARCOTICOS EMERGING VICTORIOUS MOST OF THE TIME!!
That Mexico may suddenly collapse as a nation-state is a scenario that most Americans will find difficult to believe? That the possibility of such an event actually transpiring is just not something people are willing to contemplate, so disastrous will be the consequences!!
Please recall to that the Mexican drug-narcoticos have had for some time a substantial capability within the borders of the United States [devoted readers might want to read the entire seven-part series of blog entries on the subject]. A capability that astounds many. These villains are not some penny-ante bunch of thugs that just so happen to have M-16 riles at their disposal. Evil-doers that can wreak a lot of havoc at will, in an almost casual, leisurely manner. In case of the worst scenario for Mexico, the drug-narcoticos, emboldened as they will be, will not feel restrained to limit their activities but will spread northward at an ever increasing pace!!
[personally, I would also consider Saudi Arabia to be a nation also in danger of "going-under" in a precipitous, sudden, and uncontrollable manner. With ramifications for the ENTIRE WORLD that would also be of an apocalyptic nature!! This too is something, a sudden collapse Saudi, that is greatly desired by the jihadi!]
Confirmation [??], that the jihadi of the Al Qaeda persuasion, is not only contemplating the use of biological agents, but has actually obtained samples [??] of deadly biological toxins and is experimenting with same!! Alarming headlines!!
"an area sealed to prevent leakage of a biological or chemical substance had been breached, according to the official."
"The story was first reported by the British tabloid the Sun, which said the al Qaeda operatives died after being infected with a strain of bubonic plague"
"40 members of AQLIM (al-Qaeda in the Land of the Islamic Maghreb), the largest Al-Qaeda group outside the Middle East have died by the Black Death."
"The plague, responsible for the deaths of an estimated 75 million people world wide during the 14th century, swept through the AQLIM training at a forest camp in Algeria, North Africa, and was only discovered when security forces found a body by a roadside."
First the story is carried in a British tabloid, then in the more [??] reputable Washington Post, then a body is found, an autopsy done, the disease confirmed?
In this particular case - - bubonic plague!! The Black Death!! A scourge from medieval times that is going to make a comeback - - thanks to evil doers!?
Experimentation that has gone awry?? Killed a number of the jihadi villain through their own carelessness?
And, too, perhaps caused an infestation that is SPREADING, through ignorance and just plain ordinary callousness.
The most virulent and contagious form of the disease is the pneumonic plague. Spread by coughing and sneezing, sputum and such, from person to person, NOT from a flea bite!
During the Middle Ages, it is estimated that about 100 million Europeans were killed by the Black Death!! DISEASE, RATHER THAN WAR, HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE BIGGEST KILLER OF MANKIND, BY FAR!!
If these reports are true, it does definitely indicate and only serves to confirm in the minds of persons such as myself the determination and desire of the jihadi devoted to and who have pledged allegiance to Osama to kill Americans by the millions, as they have stated. Use weapons of mass destruction to achieve their goals, what ever the cost, the civilian being the target, in a purposeful, deliberate, and malicious manner, with a depraved mentality - - premeditated!
Here are two military aviators from the World War Two [WW2] era that beat the odds in a fashion that is just incredible:
1. Kirk [Krekor] Kerkorian. American pilot. Ferried newly built Mosquito two-engine aircraft from Canada to England. Did so flying the non-stop route, via the north Atlantic, “riding” the Iceland Wave. Completed thirty-three missions of this sort [ferrying aircraft] when the odds were only one in four [1:4] that a single crossing could be made in this fashion [non-stop, via the “Iceland Wave”] successfully. “Blasted” across the Atlantic at near jet transport speeds, and doing so IN A PLYWOOD AIRPLANE!! Fancy that!
[the Iceland Wave is the jet stream? Believe this to be so, but not exactly sure. Air-currents, moving at high speed and at high altitude? Kerkorian was a civilian flying on contract during this cross-Atlantic mission, but flying a military aircraft into a combat zone. It that sense he qualifies as a military aviator in a general sense.]
2. Guy Gibson, VC. English bomber pilot, commander of the world-famous “Dam Busters” Squadron. By the fourth year of the war [1943], Gibson had completed 174 missions over Germany. This at a time when only one in five [1:5] American bomber aircrews were able to survive twenty-five missions. Twenty-five missions at the time was the magic number, an aircrew being returned stateside, their combat tour having been fulfilled.
Here with comments from a man [John M.] that knows statistics, an actuary, an informed evaluation of these odds: [particular emphasis here on the 73 billion billion to one figure!!]
B. Since independence of the trials would mean one chance in about 73,000 trillion, it seems that either the trials were not independent, and each success greatly increased
the odds of future successes, or the odds were much better than one in four all along, or he was better than the average pilot, or a combination.
C. The one in four was probably subjective or based on a small sample of pilots (who maybe were less skilled than he was?)!
"I tried an experiment with just 10 successful flights. It seems that for even just ten successful flights if the flights are independent and the odds always one in 4, the odds are one in 1,048,576. This means that it is still 50% likely that you could have 725,000 guys try to do it and all would fail."
"Do you realize that in the last war [WW2] there were two categories of pilots in our air force [Soviet]? Some, the minority had dozens of enemy planes to their credit, while the other, the majority, had practically none . . . The statistics of war make very painful reading. The majority spent no more than nine hours in the air before they met their end. Fighter pilots were shot down on average on their fifth sortie. With the first category the opposite happened: they carried out hundreds of sorties and each of them spent thousands of hours in the air . . . . In between those two categories of wartime pilots there was absolutely nothing, an abyss. There was no link between them, no middle class. Either an ace, a hero, a general, or a lieutenant, shot down on his first sortie. Nothing in between." - - Soviet Major-gneneral of the Air Force Kuchumov.
It should be clear that Kerkorian and Gibson were best termed NATURALS? Persons with a instinctive flair for aviation. Top-notch pilots way above average in ability using measured audacity and mastery of the calculated statistic to accomplish where others could not!!
For each and every one of those ferrying flights across the Atlantic, as a civilian contract employee, Kerkorian was paid $1,000. That was a princely sum at the time? The tidy sum saved by Kerkorian during the war years was the “seed money” used to finance a subsequent entrepreneurial career! Kerkorian, still alive and active at an advanced age, is one of the richest men in the world!!
Guy Gibson, VC, unfortunately did not survive the war. Was killed-in-action, evidently, when his bomber aircraft ran out of fuel and crashed? Of Gibson, it is said:
"For some men of great courage and adventure, inactivity was a slow death . . . Facing death had become his drug . . . He had pushed his luck beyond all limits and he knew it. But that was the kind of man he was…a man of great courage, inspiration and leadership." - - Barnes-Wallis.
"par·a·digm - - n. - - One that serves as a pattern or model. A set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality for the community that shares them, especially in an intellectual discipline."
A paradigm that calls for winning the "hearts and minds" of the people [the Afghans]. This was the same paradigm that did not work so successfully in Vietnam?
A paradigm that recognizes that counter-insurgency is a battle best described as being 80 % political and only 20 % military.
A paradigm that calls for action on the part of a central government to "win the hearts and minds" of a dubious or neutral populace.
"Winning the hearts and minds" usually accomplished by what are euphemistically called civic action programs.
* In the case of Afghan, plowing under the poppy crop and providing an alternative cash crop. [no one is ever able to suggest what alternative crop can provide the same income for a destitute Afghan farmer, living from hand-to-mouth.]
A strong central government "providing" for the populace. Win the support of the locals and turn them against the insurgents. This is the paradigm. A MODEL OF GOOD GOVERNMENT BASED UPON THE WESTERN MODEL! A paradigm doomed to failure in Afghan?
According to the late Zahir Shah, the last king of Afghanistan, this is not the way to rule the Afghan people. Zahir, referred to reverentially and affectionately as Baba [Father] by his people, in an interview, decades ago, with the National Geographic magazine, was most clear and concise on this issue!
Zahir Shah was quoted [I am paraphrasing here] that: "The Afghan people are a pleasure to rule. To rule successfully in Afghanistan, you basically have to do NOTHING!!"
For any ruler in Afghan, the key to success is to allow your sixteenth [16th] century people to lead their sixteenth [16th] century lives unmolested. Do not bother them with program, ideas, policies, etc., that are part of the "western" concept of good government.
This is correct? I fear it is so! Rather than helping the situation, the "western" model of good government will not work in the Afghan counter-insurgency situation. The "surge" as envisioned by Obama will do no good!?
[taking action, "doing something" is a marked aspect of the American character. Doing NOTHING is alien to the American mentality. If I were to tell you, the devoted reader, that more damage was done to the enviroment by the clean up of the Alaskan Exxon Valdez oil spill than was done by the oil spill itself, would you believe me? More damage was done by cleaning up the mess than was done by the mess itself! True! But to suggest to do NOTHING is definitely un-American and alien to the American thought process!!]
Here are three persons, celebrities from the entertainment business, dying in airplane crashes during World War Two [WW2]. Plane crashes directly related to the war effort, one crash totally explainable, the other two mysterious in nature, even to this day!!
1. Carole Lombard. American actress, at the height of her popularity in 1942. Enjoying a successful career, devoted to the American war effort, doing "her bit" by participating in war bond rallies.
"When the US entered World War II at the end of 1941, Lombard traveled to her home state of Indiana for a war bond rally. Just before boarding the plane, Lombard addressed her fans, saying: "Before I say goodbye to you all, come on and join me in a big cheer! V for Victory!" . . . After refueling in Las Vegas, Flight 3 took off on a clear night. However, beacons in the area had been blacked out because of the war, and the plane was 6.7 miles (10.8 km) off course . . . the plane crashed into 'Double Up Peak' . . . southwest of Las Vegas. All 22 passengers and crew were killed."
Because of wartime regulations - - the normal beacons used by domestic aircraft for navigation were turned off, the pilot, flying into a mountain, all aboard, including Carole Lombard - - killed.
2. Glenn Miller. American big band leader. Also "doing his bit" for the war effort, leading his band into "overseas" venues, as a morale boosting venture. Again, as with Carole Lombard, an entertainer at the absolute height of popularity, without question a major personality!
According to General Jimmy Doolittle: “[...]next to a letter from home, that organization [the band of Glenn Miller] was the greatest morale builder in the European Theater of Operations.”
Miller, meeting an untimely death under mysterious circumstances that are controversial to this day:
"On December 15, 1944, Miller . . . was to fly from the United Kingdom to Paris, France, to play for the soldiers who recently had liberated Paris. His plane departed from RAF Twinwood Farm, in Clapham, Bedfordshire, but disappeared over the English Channel."
"Miller's plane may have been bombed accidentally by Royal Air Force aircraft over the English Channel after an abortive air raid on Siegen, Germany. One hundred and thirty-eight Lancaster bombers, short on fuel, jettisoned approximately 100,000 incendiaries in a designated area before landing, per standing orders. The logbooks of Royal Air Force navigator Fred Shaw recorded that he saw a small single-engined monoplane spiraling out of control and crashing into the water."
3. Leslie Howard. English actor, most famous for his role portraying Ashley Wilkes in the move, "Gone With the Wind"! The death of Howard is even MORE controversial! Killed while involved in "secret" work, all the while purportedly on a "goodwill" mission as an entertainer?
"Howard died in 1943 when he was returning to England from Lisbon on KLM Royal Dutch Airlines/BOAC Flight 777. The aircraft was shot down by a German Junkers Ju 88 over the Bay of Biscay. It has been rumoured that Howard was engaged in secret war work at the time"
"the Germans were almost certainly out to shoot down the plane in order to kill Howard himself. His intelligence-gathering activities (while ostensibly on 'entertainer goodwill' tours), as well as the chance to demoralise Britain with the loss of one of its most outspokenly patriotic figures, were behind the Luftwaffe attack"
"Howard was traveling through Spain and Portugal, ostensibly lecturing on film, but also meeting with local propagandists and shoring up support for the Allied cause. The Germans in all probability suspected even more surreptitious activities . . . A book by Spanish writer José Rey-Ximena called 'El Vuelo del Ibis' ('The Flight of the Ibis') claims that Howard was on a top secret mission for Churchill to warn Franco to keep out of the war."
Howard would have been working for the propaganda division of SOE [Special Operations Executive]? Whatever records regarding Howard and his "war work" are still highly classified to this day? Entertainers have many international contacts and can move freely from one nation to another, hobnobbing with upper-class types, having access and entre' to elements of society where few others do?
"highly trained and highly specialized SF teaming up with the Afghan army [Northern Alliance] and using air power to rat out the tallies [Taliban]."
"As I recall from a documentary I saw about Army SF, they operated as 12 man teams at the basic level and lived in very spartan conditions in sparsely constructed operating bases."
I do recall all the moaning and groaning from the military pundits and television "experts" in the days after 9/11. The realization was that the U.S. military would have to go into Afghan in a major way to root out Osama and his Taliban confederates. And the folks that "know" what is going on said it would take the U.S. military THREE MONTHS JUST TO GET STARTED!! And then the winter weather of Afghan,especially in the mountain passes, would make things so treacherous that no conceivable military operations would be possible. I do remember this all very well.
It took only three weeks for the American Special Forces [SF] teams, a total of about two hundred troops [200 men] period, [British SAS and other national special operations forces too] to link up with the Northern Alliance and begin operations.
Mil-ops using B-52 bombers based in Diego Garcia dropping JDAMS from 40,000 feet one moment, cavalry charges by the Northern Alliance forces the next being routine!!
Within weeks, the Taliban had been routed, Al Qaeda was on the run, and Kabul was safely in friendly hands. This WAS ALL TOTALLY UNANTICIPATED!!
The SF troops also adopted, very controversially, Afghan national dress, complete with those large pantaloon trousers, baseball caps, and BEARDS as all part of the deal. Living rough, driving around on 4-wheel motor-cycle like ATV, sans creature comforts of any type, and doing quite well [just as SF are supposed to do].
There was even a widely publicized photo of a SF troop, riding horseback, complete with sunglasses, participating in a celebratory match of buzkhashi, the Afghan national sport. SF knew what to do, and did it well.
Personally, I consider that period just after 9/11 to be a very high point of American military history. What was thought to be very difficult if not downright impossible, was done with panache', aplomb, and all those other French words and terms that are so appropriate.
SF too, not providing the enemy with targets. Moving constantly, the SF troops the aggressor, not being the hunted.
"Make the enemy bleed, make him keep his head down, make him wonder where you are coming from" - - G.S. Patton.
"Afghanistan, the land that swallows armies, of ancient rifles in the hands of men as hard as mountains."
"The Russian army had hundreds of thousands of troops here and lost. Now it's the Americans" - - a Taliban fighter.
"In Ghazni province, at least, the Taliban militants are not frightened fighters skulking in caves, sneaking out to ambush and then scurrying off to another mountain hideout. They live comfortably in the farming villages where many of them were born, holding territory, recruiting and training new troops, reveling in what they see as God's gift of inevitable victory against heathen foreign occupiers."
"'In the early days [2001], there were many spies, so we had to move around in small groups,' Ahmadi said. 'But now we are in groups of 300 or 400. We have no problems.'"
Taliban hard-core units, now numbering company and even small battalion sized units are roaming around the Afghan countryside, foot-loose and fancy-free!!?? This cannot bode well!
And Ghazni too is NOT far from Kabul. These Taliban villains have the upper hand now, and know it. Ghazni was of course the capital of the great Afghan conqueror, Mahmud, from 1,000 years ago now. Ancient traditions die hard in Afghan. Memories of a long-ago past that are still alive and fresh in the mind of the Afghan? "We conquered the Russians and others way before them." "These Americans are no different than anyone else and are next on the agenda!"
Here from the last news conference at the very end of his Presidency, according to George Bush the Younger:
"when you look back over the long arc of your presidency, do you think in retrospect that you have made any mistakes? And, if so, what is the single biggest mistake that you may have made?"
"Clearly, putting a 'mission accomplished' on a (sic) aircraft carrier was a mistake. It sent the wrong message. We were trying to say something differently, but, nevertheless, it conveyed a different message."
"Mission accomplished" was not a mistake. In the context, "mission accomplished" meant, at the time, AND CORRECTLY SO, an end to military activities in Iraq at corps level and greater.
Victory had been achieved over the Iraqi military, Iraq had been "liberated", the despotic regime of Saddam deposed. All this was done and done with panache', in an admirable fashion!!
As defined, a cessation to military activities at corps level or greater, mission - - was accomplished!!
"Marines newly arrived in Afghanistan are discovering that the tactics they learned in nearly six years of combat in Iraq are of little value in their new war — and may even inhibit their ability to fight their Taliban foes."
Roads, and use that word advisedly, are almost non-existent in Afghan. Those roads that do exist are unlike the semi-well developed road system of Iraq. Afghan roads are mere paths, or sandy, poorly developed dirt trails! Maybe in some areas, maybe many areas, NO ROAD EXISTS PERIOD!!
And the U.S. troop, wearing the fighting load, is too heavily encumbered to be able to keep up with, much less catch the fleet-of-foot Taliban adversary. Especially in mountainous terrain! Your average-everyday-run-of-the-mill Taliban wears the turban, a heavy wool cloak, those pantaloon trousers and slippers, carrying only an AK or a RPG, AND THAT IS THAT!!
One of the best movies of all time? I think so. Made a big impression at the time [1978], winning Academy awards for Best Picture and Best Director. Had an outstanding cast, De Niro, Walken, Streep!
The career of Cimino - - after "The Deer Hunter" - - never seemed to go anywhere! For whatever combination of reasons - - after "Deer Hunter" - - nothing more of consequence from the man.
Cimino did seem to have all the right credentials to work as a director of the highest repute. An artiste' with the right background and qualifications!
"He graduated from Yale University, receiving his undergraduate degree in 1961 and his master's in 1963."
"During the production of The Deer Hunter, Cimino had given co-workers . . . the vague impression that much of the storyline was biographical, somehow related to the director’s own experience and based on the experiences of men he had known during his service in Vietnam. Just as the film was about to open, Cimino gave an interview to The New York Times in which he claimed that he had been 'attached to a Green Beret medical unit' at the time of the Tet Offensive of 1968."
* "Universal Studios president Thom Mount commented at the time that 'I know this guy. He was no more a medic in the Green Berets than I’m a rutabaga.'”
[it is worth noting that allegedly Cimino DID NOT claim he was a medic in the Green Berets. He did say [?] that he was a medic attached to a unit of Green Berets.]
* [a reporter was able to] "corroborate that Cimino had done a stint as an Army medic, but also discovered that the director had never been attached to the Green Berets, and that his active service – just six months in 1962 – had been as a reservist who never deployed to Vietnam"
Michael Cimino - - was a fully qualified and trained combat medic? BUT DID NOT SERVE WITH THE GREEN BERETS IN VIETNAM! Cimino was an army reservist during the whole time of the Vietnam War, and strictly that, NOT serving in-country, as they say? Perhaps, trained with Special Forces designated personnel who were beginning the initial stages of becoming qualified as a Green Beret medic. At the time, to become a Special Forces medic, you first had to complete the army basic combat medic course.
To that extent, Cimino served with Green Berets and was attached to the same unit? That 1962 date would fit in well with the period between graduations for baccalaureate and masters degree!
[thanks to Rich J., a Green Beret medic from the period for the clarification on the details regarding medic training!]
"when Hitler was a still a political upstart, he [Hanfstaengl] advised him that his patch of a moustache was unattractive and that he should grow it wider; to which Hitler replied, 'If it is not the fashion now, it will be later because I wear it.'" - - [Ernst Hanfstaengl] recalled [in conversation with] in 1923.
Referring here to the "toothbrush moustache". As worn by Adolf Hitler. Was not fashionable at the time prior to Hitler assuming power, but became fashionable in the years AFTER Hitler assumed power.
"The Toothbrush moustache (also called Hitler moustache, Charlie Chaplin moustache or 1/3 moustache) is a bushy moustache, shaved at the edges, except for three to five centimetres above the centre of the lip. The sides of the moustache are vertical rather than tapered."
And, not ONLY in the west too. NOT favored in China either. Japanese soldiers too during WW2, bent on conquest and atrocity, also wore a version of the "toothbrush"?
"In China a trimmer version of this moustache is viewed as a stereotype of Japanese people, especially of Japanese soldiers from the Second World War."
Including Hitler, here are some of the major players in the Third Reich who emulated the "fashion statement" of Hitler and also wore a "toothbrush"! Sought to ingratiate by imitation? A poor choice, I must say!
* NOT necessarily lick spittle fawning toadies. NOT merely YES men but often persons with strong personalities of their own.
* Ernst Hanfstaengl was a very early supporter of Hitler and National Socialism. A personal confidant in many regards. During World War Two [WW2] defected to the Americans and provided some interesting intelligence and insights into the behavior and personality of Hitler.
* Zeitzler was hand-picked [by Hitler] to succeed Halder as the German Chief of Staff. Jumped way over the heads of many senior and more experienced general officers to assume command. Took over the German Army at a bad time, when defeat became apparent and Hitler became more and more adamant and uncompromising in his [Hitler] decisions.
* Dirlewanger was a certifiable sociopath who led a unit comprised of certifiable sociopaths. A mad man leading a band of mad men!
Going back to the time of auditions for The Extra Mile i've been keeping track of this kid Justin Bieber. He's another one that's obviously going places. He has a huge heart and big talent. This new video is a great example of both, as he records a new song for a Food Bank benefit CD.
You can find more videos of Justin by searching on YouTube or accessing the milkriverfilm channel and searching favorites there.
A long awaited project has finally gotten off the ground with the determination of Blackfeet Tribal Council Chairman Earl Old Person and several other Councilmen including Edwin Little Plume, Ronald Kittson, Rodney Gervais, Pat Thomas and Roger Running Crane. The Blackfeet Archives and Library Project opened its doors Nov. 4, 2007, and has since been sorting through the Tribe's governmental and historical documents. In the very near future the information will be available for anyone wishing to research the Blackfeet Tribe's governmental history as well as retrieve family photos, do genealogical research and retrieve newspaper and other articles about the Blackfeet Tribe.
Since losing everything in an office fire in the early 1960s, the Blackfeet Tribe has not had a formal archives department with which to track the progress of the Blackfeet Tribe, its people, triumphs and defeats. The archives will contain valuable information about our ancestors, our leaders, our reservation, and the Blackfeet people in general, which may not have been preserved in any other location, but will come alive with the archives.
With this project, Blackfeet Archives will provide several million pages of vital record data and photographs, which will be available for the world to view. "In my mind, this collection will be as valuable as any history book because it contains information about the entire Blackfeet Tribe, including our government," said Chairman Earl Old Person. Vice Chairman Roger Running Crane added, "I'm enthused about the project because of the increased access to information it will allow."
Once the material from Blackfeet Archives has been launched, the data will be available on a website for people to access. The first release of data will include the 1982 Claims documents, which contains an enormous amount of tribal history. Subsequent data releases will contain treaties, tribal ordinances, resolutions, Tribal Councilperson biographies, family genealogy, and other data that identifies what the Blackfeet Tribe is. Links to other Blackfeet records will also be available on the website.
A once critically endangered species of parrot now under threat from a highly contagious virus may be offered a renewed chance of survival by a conservationist at the University of Kent.
Dr Jim Groombridge, Lecturer in Biodiversity Conservation at the University's Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), has been awarded GBP215,594 from the Leverhulme Trust to lead a three-year project that aims to determine what factors drive the Mauritius parakeet's susceptibility to infection, and in particular the spread of the highly contagious (and often lethal) parrot-specific virus Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease (PBFD) that has recently infected this endangered parrot.
This project is all the more important given that the once widespread population of the Mauritius parakeet (Psittacula echo) fell to just 12 individuals by 1987, following a century of habitat loss and competition from the introduced ringneck parakeet. However, following a highly successful avian restoration programme, numbers of Mauritian parakeets eventually recovered to 350 birds (resulting in its downgrading from critically endangered to endangered) but in 2004 an outbreak of PBFD threatened this still recovering population.
Alongside its principal aim of providing important guidance for managing the disease-problems encountered by this endangered parrot, the project will also provide equally important guidance for managing infectious disease in species conservation programmes worldwide. In addition, it will provide a rare opportunity to study the epidemiology of infectious disease as extensive data is available from 20 years of careful monitoring of both the Mauritius parakeet and a closely related, introduced species of parakeet.
The dramatic success story of the Mauritius parakeets' rescue from extinction (one of the few remaining endemic parrots in the Indian Ocean) is the direct result of coordinated efforts and long-term support of the Mauritius Wildlife Foundation, The World Parrot Trust, the UK's International Zoo Veterinary Group and the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust in Jersey.
Dr Groombridge said: 'This project will integrate epidemiology and immunogenetics within an important and high-profile parrot recovery programme managed by the Mauritius Wildlife Foundation - an organisation that has gained a worldwide reputation for its success in restoring critically endangered species from the brink of extinction. Funding by The Leverhulme Trust will provide a much needed inter-disciplinary platform to examine how avian diseases can be effectively managed for the long-term.'
FINALLY, we have launched the new Denice Franke website! Check it out at www.denicefranke.com (including photos from me!).
We hope you like the new look. There are a couple of new features - we've added an Archive Photo page (get to it from the Photos link). We will be adding more photos over the next few weeks. We haven't had a chance to label all of the photos or give photo credits yet but we are working on it.
You'll also notice a new Video page with some archive videos (Denice with Lyle Lovett and Nanci Griffith back in the mid-80s) and a couple of performances from Denice's recent tour in the Netherlands as well.
For venues and promoters, we have an updated EPK (electronic press kit) with new promo pics and a new downloadable poster. We also have an anonymously written piece about Gulf Coast Blue and a wonderful biographical piece written by freelance writer Lynn Adler (co-proprieter of noted live music venue Crossroads Coffeehouse & Music Co in Winnsboro, Texas, and one half of the duo Adler & Hearne).
DENICE'S NEW RECORD, Gulf Coast Blue, produced by Mark Hallman, will be released August 5! You can pre-order on the Store page of the website. (Thanks to the folks at the ConneXtion.) You can hear sound bites of the tracks by visiting the Music or EPK page.
WE ARE HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE the first CD Pre-Release show will be close to home at Anderson Fair in Houston, Texas, on Saturday, August 2, so mark your calendars! There are several other releases planned around Texas in Austin (Aug 8), Dallas (Aug 15), Winnsboro (Aug 16), and La Grange (Aug 23). For more details or for a complete schedule of all of Denice's dates, please visit the tour page at http://www.denicefranke.com/tourinfo.html.
If you would like to host a concert or have Denice play a venue near you, please contact us at denicegirlmusic@cs.com. We are finalizing the '08 dates and booking '09 now.
MANY thanks to Sue Peete who has worked so hard to get the website ready for the new release. We also want to thank Tammy Peete for her help with the site as well. A very special thanks to Bill Peete who left us way too soon but who together with Sue made Gulf Coast Blue a reality.
And thanks to all of you for your continued support of Denice's music. Let us know what you think of the new site (comments can be posted on the Guestbook).
The groups are set for the next stage of CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying, with El Salvador and Trinidad & Tobago overcoming first leg losses to advance on Sunday.
El Salvador beat Panama 3-1 to win 3-2 on aggregate. Trinidad & Tobago beat Bermuda 2-0 to take the series 3-2 on aggregate. Cuba beat Antigua and Barbuda 4-0, 8-3 on aggregate. Haiti took a 1-0 aggregate win over the Netherlands Antilles courtesy of an own goal. Suriname beat Guyana 2-1, 3-1 on aggregate.
This is a huge chunk of childhood, and formative years, and personal thought processing, and just a part of my being gone . . .
SANTA MONICA, Calif. - George Carlin, the frenzied performer whose routine “Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television” led to a key Supreme Court ruling on obscenity, has died.
“The whole problem with this idea of obscenity and indecency, and all of these things — bad language and whatever — it’s all caused by one basic thing, and that is: religious superstition,” Carlin told the AP in a 2004 interview. “There’s an idea that the human body is somehow evil and bad and there are parts of it that are especially evil and bad, and we should be ashamed. Fear, guilt and shame are built into the attitude toward sex and the body. ... It’s reflected in these prohibitions and these taboos that we have.”
Carlin said he hoped to emulate his childhood hero, Danny Kaye, the kindly, rubber-faced comedian who ruled over the decade Carlin grew up in — the 1950s — with a clever but gentle humor reflective of the times.
NEW YORK - More than 30 years after George Carlin pronounced “Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television,” some of those words have lost their sting.
Some of those words still aren’t welcome on the public airwaves (or, for that matter, in print) and they are still being debated in the courts.
Carlin, who died Sunday at age 71, observed in his routine: “We have thoughts, but thoughts are fluid. Then we assign a word to a thought and we’re stuck with that word for that thought — so be careful with words.”
Carlin’s seven words, he would caution ironically, “are the ones that’ll infect your soul, curve your spine, and keep the country from winning the war.”
Or course, times — and wars — have changed. At least one of Carlin’s words (a rude term for urine) wouldn’t raise an eyebrow on much of broadcast TV now.
Meanwhile, none of them is alien to premium cable. For many viewers, hearing those Words You Can’t Say On Television being said on television helps make pay cable worth paying for.
They fall into predictable categories: bodily waste; sexual acts (both socially acceptable and frowned upon); and female body parts.
“When he used those words he wasn’t just trying to shock,” said Richard Zoglin, who wrote about Carlin in his recent book, “Comedy at the Edge: How Standup in the 1970s Changed America.”
“He was trying to make a statement that’s familiar today, but wasn’t so familiar back then: ’Why do we have this irrational fear of words?”’
For broadcast, The Words are actually words the FCC says can’t be heard before 10 p.m. — when the “safe harbor” for young viewers applies. But exactly what those words are, and under what circumstances they may be permissible, is currently unclear.
“The networks are being careful, because even in this kind of flux, you don’t want to push too far,” said T. Barton Carter, Boston University professor of communications and law. “Vagueness and inconsistencies in regulation can have a chilling effect on broadcasters.”
The picture is further muddied by the fact that 80 to 90 percent of viewers get all their programming (from broadcast stations as well as cable networks) through their cable or satellite subscription, Carter added. Different indecency standards apply to channels whose difference is often undetectable to the audience.
The uncertain regulatory climate led to PBS distributing two versions of the Ken Burns documentary series “The War” last fall. Stations could choose the original version, or opt for a sanitized version of World War II, one that was free of any Words You’d Be Safer Not Saying On Television.
The FCC changed its policy on indecency following a January 2003 broadcast of the Golden Globes awards show by NBC when U2 lead singer Bono uttered the phrase “f------ brilliant.” The FCC said the “f-word” in any context “inherently has a sexual connotation” and can trigger enforcement.” That case has yet to be resolved.
Recently the U.S Supreme Court has entered a legal fight over curse words aired by Fox in 2002 and 2003 on the live broadcasts of “The Billboard Music Awards.” Cher used the phrase, “F--- ’em.” And Nicole Richie said, “Have you ever tried to get cow s--- out of a Prada purse? It’s not so f------ simple.”
Scheduled to be heard by the Supreme Court this fall, the case would decide whether the government can ban “fleeting expletives,” one-time uses of familiar but profane words.
Dropping an “f-bomb” on a broadcast won’t automatically blast open the floodgates, said Tim Winter, president of Parents Television Council, but he warned, “It’s a slow accumulation. First it’s once every several months. Then it becomes once a month. Then it becomes once a night.”
“That’s our concern for some of the words that are at issue here,” said Winter, who’s also an avowed George Carlin fan: “It’s unfortunate that a brilliant comedian like George Carlin is a poster child for the lawsuits that are out there.”
In the realm of stand-up comedy, there is nothing more objectionable than one comic swiping the material of another. It is an industry taboo, which could result in a drink in the face or a prop in the groin.
But kids get to steal for free. I was one of them. And the man I stole from most often was George Carlin.
While other youngsters were occupied with math homework or flipping baseball cards, I was memorizing bits from my favorite comedians and performing them for friends. It was like a traveling nightclub, without alcohol and hecklers. I would pilfer from such notables as Cheech & Chong, Bill Cosby, Robin Williams, Bill Dana, Redd Foxx, Steve Martin, Nipsey Russell and others. I never got paid, but I never got booed, either.
While all of the material I chose usually got laughs, the Carlin stuff was gold. There was just something about where his mind went that brought about instant glee. He was part observational guru and part social critic, with a good deal of dopey maniac thrown in.
Did you ever notice that the thing you hold onto on the escalator moves just a little bit faster than the steps? He did. I used that. It killed.
George’s comedy was accessible and universal. And there was a lot of it. He had been working the clubs, radio and television, and making recordings for more than 50 years before he passed away Sunday of heart failure. He had an archive of hilarity that was vast and rich, and any self-respecting adolescent or teenager who didn’t steal from him was just looking to be made fun of.
The one routine that I didn’t hijack from George was the one he is probably most famous for, “The Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television.” Unfortunately, all seven can’t be said on a family Web site, either, so I’ll let the YouTube explorers and the Google-meisters look for it directly, or more accurately, the ones who don’t already know it by heart.
That routine set him apart because it was the Lenny Bruce chapter of his life. While Bruce was crusading for his right to say anything he wanted in public and became increasingly bitter as the authorities made his life miserable, Carlin was observing and was even present as an audience member and taken away with Bruce during one arrest.
That was the seasoning his comedy needed to make him the George Carlin we all knew and loved. Before that he had meandered around on TV and in clubs as the goofy nut. Yet quickly his comedy would also take on social relevance.
In 1973, a man complained to the FCC about the “Seven Words” being broadcast on public airwaves. He was worried his son could hear such language. I sometimes fantasize that his son grew up to be Andrew Dice Clay, but I have no proof of that.
The Supreme Court ruled, 5-4, that the FCC could indeed regulate such material on the airwaves. No matter. It was a victory for George in a way because it brought focus to his career and said to the world, “Hey, this guy’s a riot!”
He didn’t absolutely need that, of course. You could just look at him and realize that. He had one of those faces that, when contorted slightly, put you in stitches. He’d raise an eyebrow and you’d chuckle. He’d bug his eyes out in mock surprise and you’d guffaw.
And I would do the same. The same gestures. The same expressions. The same irreverence. I never became a stand-up comedian – one UCLA Extension class with veteran Stanley Myron Handelman (who passed away last August) impressed upon me that it isn’t so easy – but I entertained a lot of schoolmates, and later even some adults.
I do know that there were others like me out there who did go on to have incredible careers in comedy or in a field in which comedy was essential, and George Carlin was the chicken stock from which their silly soup was made. In fact, I would go so far as to say that just about any successful standup who grew up from the 1960s onward had to be impacted in some way by George’s work, either by comedic osmosis or direct heisting of gags.
Bill Cosby was hugely influential as well, but he never courted controversy. He was as bright and as clever as George. He just wasn’t as crazy.
Something tells me that the wild man inside George, the one who indulged in backstage excess as a younger performer, was responsible for his passing too soon. He was only 71. George Burns made it to 100 before he went, and he was cracking lines to the very end.
I wish George could have hung around longer. There are many more customs to be skewered, many more prominent citizens to be lampooned.
LOS ANGELES - The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts said on Monday it would go ahead with plans to present its Mark Twain Prize for American Humor to the late George Carlin, making him the first comedian so honored posthumously.
Carlin, the counter-culture figure famed for his provocative stand-up routines on such subjects as profanity, drugs and the demise of humankind, died on Sunday at age 71 after complaining of heart problems earlier in the day.
The Kennedy Center had only announced days before that Carlin was selected as the 11th recipient of its prestigious Mark Twain award, an honor bestowed annually at a black-tie gala televised on the Public Broadcasting Service network PBS.
"He was thrilled that he was chosen ... and today was the day we were supposed to talk on the phone about potential guests," said Mark Krantz, an executive producer of the show. "So he was very much into it and was already agreeing to do some press, and we were getting ready to get the nuts and bolts worked out when this terrible thing happened."
After consulting with Carlin's family and PBS, the Kennedy Center decided to go forward with the ceremony as scheduled on November 10. The show, taped at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., will air on PBS at a date to be announced.
Last year's honoree was actor-comedian Billy Crystal. The first in 1998, was Richard Pryor, the only other recipient who is now deceased. Others have included Whoopi Goldberg, Lily Tomlin, Bob Newhart, Steve Martin, playwright Neil Simon and "Saturday Night Live" producer Lorne Michaels.
For Carlin's ceremony, producers will stick with the usual format described by Krantz as "a funny celebration of a career," with friends and peers telling stories and anecdotes and introducing clips of his work.
"He has a 50-year career to look back on," Krantz said. "He was the first host of 'Saturday Night Live.' He did 130 Johnny Carson shows, he did 13 or more HBO specials, he's won four Grammys."
The Mark Twain prize is named for the 19th-century novelist, essayist and humorist whose given name was Samuel Clemens, author of such classics as "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn."
Contrary to Carlin's cantankerous stage persona, Krantz said the comedian was a "nice guy, and very Mark Twain-like in his observations."
MANCHESTER, England - Manchester United defiantly vowed to block Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Real Madrid after the Portugal winger stated his desire to advance his career by leaving Old Trafford.
Ronaldo said there was a “great” possibility he will move to Real and plans to give more details about the “dream” move over the weekend.
But United issued a statement Friday — described on its Web site as a “defiant message” — stressing its prized asset won’t be sold: “United are not listening to offers.”
“I will be seen by the doctors of United in a couple of days,” he said. “Then in three or four days I will be operated. ... I have had for three months a problem on my foot. I have been playing with pain.”
The 23-year-old Ronaldo also implied United would find it difficult to reject a windfall from Real, which would have to better the world record fee of $65 million it paid for Zinedine Zidane in 2001.
“It is always difficult,” said Ronaldo, who scored 42 goals in helping the Red Devils win the English and European titles last season. “It is not only one person deciding, it is many people, but it can be a very good thing for everybody.”
But almost four years remain on his United contract, and manager Alex Ferguson has said the team’s American owners, the Glazer family, would prefer to banish players like Ronaldo to the stands rather than sell them.
Ronaldo also has risked fermenting a feud between Ferguson and Luiz Felipe Scolari by disclosing the Portugal coach, who takes charge at Chelsea on July 1, was the inspiration behind his transfer decision.
“It is a dream, a step forward,” Ronaldo was quoted as saying Friday on Spanish journalist Guillem Balague’s Web site. “For me it is a great opportunity, and as Scolari says, that train passes by only once, and we have to take advantage of it.
“That is why, he took advantage of his change, that opportunity, and other people have to take advantage of opportunities too.”
“I don’t know what I have to say to (Ferguson), I have to say what I want and what I think,” Ronaldo said after Portugal was knocked out of the Euro 2008 quarterfinals by Germany on Thursday night. “It is my opinion, that is why I don’t mind if people get upset. It is my decision. It is what I want.
“I am going to give my opinion in two days. I am going to say what I want, but things don’t depend only on me, that is why we have to wait.”
Ferguson has been infuriated by Real’s persistent attempts to lure Ronaldo to the Spanish capital. But his official protests to FIFA were rejected, with football’s governing body ruling that no regulations had been broken.
Great show is down to its final two stagings at Cailloux Theatre. Singin' in the Rain, starring Austin Owen, Tara Pannell and Jake Asbury is something i can absolutely recommend. Austin is an old friend, was fantastic here several years ago in shows like Big River, and has gone on to national acclaim in two years of playing the lead in the National Tour of The Producers. He recorded his fantastic new CD here at the Ranch studio. In addition to being a phenomenal talent, he is just a wonderful, wonderful human being. Combined i think he's perfect for the role, and also as a mentor at the Playhouse Theatre Academy.And Jake Asbury and Tara Pannell, new on my local theatre map, are sensational.Then there's a bunch of other fine people i know in this show too including almost all the amazing Academy kids, Brian Bondy, Jessica Roberts, Neill Day, Phil Kuhlman, Kaleb Dworsky, and Dale Green, star of my new short film. It's wonderfully directed by Heather Cunningham. Please fit a show date into your schedule, you won't regret it.
Robin Hood opening tonight on The Point Theatre stage -- cast including many of our friends, castmatesm and great people, including Irec Hargrove, Graydon Vaught, Sarah Tacey, Alan Zaizar, Jeff Scott, Emily Houghton, Roslyn Houghton, Ryan Batley, Devin Anderson, Luke Cummings, Daniel Miller, Jerry Mertz, Evans Johnson, and probably some others i can't recall right now. There is an amazing set designed and built by Jim Weisman, who also directed. First show tonight at 8:30 p.m.
A small electronic tag that was implanted in a Steelhead Salmon Oncorhynchus mykiss at the USFWS Columbia River Hatchery (USA) has been discovered in New Zealand. Because Steelhead Salmon do not migrate across the equator, the best theories about the tag’s travels involves Sooty Shearwaters Pufinus griseus.
Sooty Shearwaters breed on islands off New Zealand, Australia, Chile and the Falkland Islands. They undertake annual journeys of up to 60,000 km during their migration period. Birds fly from their breeding colonies to northern wintering sites in Japan, Alaska or California. This brings the shearwaters into contact with Steelhead Salmon.
Sooty Shearwaters are classified as Near Threatened because they have undergone a moderately rapid decline owing to the impact of fisheries, the harvesting of its young and possibly climate change. In New Zealand, the number of burrows in the largest colony declined by 37% between 1969-1971 and 1996-2000.
Harvesting of young birds currently accounts for the loss a quarter of a million birds annually, but is unlikely to account for the full scale of the decline. Longline fishing is responsible for a large numbers of Sooty Shearwater deaths, along with many other seabird species such as albatrosses.
The IBAs Programme of BirdLife International seeks to identify and conserve sites that are critical for the long-term viability of bird populations. The Global Seabird Programme and a number of BirdLife Partners are taking the lead on identifying marine IBAs. “Marine IBAs will make a vital contribution to current global initiatives to gain greater protection and sustainable management of the oceans”, commented Ben.
In the Lakota language, a single word expresses the awe and connectedness with nature that some feel looking at the Northern Lights. In Euchee, the language makes no distinction between humans and other animals, though it does differentiate between Euchee people and non-Euchee.
And the Koasati language of Louisiana provides no word for goodbye, since time is seen as more cyclical than linear. To end a conversation, you would say something like: "This was good."
More than 300 American-Indian languages flourished in North America at the time of Columbus, each carrying a unique way of understanding the world.
And despite an often-brutal campaign to stamp them out, more than half of those languages have survived, including the Delaware Valley's Lenape, though the pool of speakers has dwindled.
Can they be saved? Last month, representatives from Indian groups around the country met with linguists and other academics in Philadelphia to see what they could accomplish together.
"We're talking about an emergency situation," said Richard Grounds, a speaker of the Euchee language and co-organiser of the meeting, held at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology.
The youngest person to grow up speaking Euchee as a first language is now 78, said Grounds, a professor at the University of Tulsa. The rest are in their 80s.
Grounds learned from his own family how Indian languages were systematically squelched. His grandmother, he said, grew up speaking Euchee, but, as a teenager, was forced into an English-only boarding school where teachers would wash her mouth out with soap when she uttered a word of her native tongue.
In the last few years, he has been racing to coax all the words and wisdom he can from tribal elders.
And yet, at the meeting, a number of young people spoke and even sang in Euchee, Lenape, Miccosukke, Lakota, Miami and other endangered languages - something that Grounds said gave him hope.
The situation in North America is part of a worldwide erosion of language diversity. At stake are not just words. For native communities, language embeds traditions, religion, medicine and geography, as well as a more general way of seeing the world.
"It's not only about the use of (medicinal) plants, et cetera, carried in a language," said Grounds, "but literally ways people have of knowing themselves".
Some languages, for example, have no way to give directions using left and right, because their speakers navigate with a less self-centred view of the world than we do, said Leanne Hinton, a linguist at the University of California, Los Angeles. They think more in terms of local geography.
Ryan Wilson, a member of the Oglala Sioux tribe, said the quality his people value most in a man is something like courage, but includes a degree of independence and perseverance. It has no direct English translation, and with the word may go the idea and the reason it once mattered.
Wilson, who is president of the National Alliance to Save Native Languages, said there was also a word that describes the feeling that you cannot live without someone. It is similar to love, but something is lost in that translation.
Languages seem to be going extinct just like species of plants and animals. That comparison holds up pretty well, except that languages can occasionally be brought back to life.
Growing up in Ohio, Daryl Baldwin said he was told that the language of his Miami tribe was already extinct, but he did not accept that. As an adult, he set about digging up all available records and teaching himself.
"It changed the way I thought," he said about learning the language after 29 years of speaking nothing but English.
The Miami language contains wisdom about which foods are healthful - something that today might have helped Indians avoid being disproportionately affected by Type 2 diabetes, Baldwin said. Today, he's working to perpetuate the language as director of a program called the Myaamia Project at Ohio's Miami University.
In the Maskoke language, time and space are seen very differently from Western perception, said Marcus Briggs-Cloud, who is a member of the Maskoke Nation of Florida and a theology graduate student at Harvard. In English, time is more linear, whereas it's more cyclical in Maskoke. There's a cyclical nature to space as well, and some ceremonies focus on the renewal of space.
While the academics see these languages as windows into the human mind, the American Indians see them as a way to reconnect to their heritage and to the ancestors who used them.
"In the next few years, my tribal community will either see our language restored to a new generation, or we will bury it forever in the grave of our last few elderly speakers," said Jacob Manatowa-Bailey, of the Oklahoma-based Sauk language.
Although they seem to have common needs, Grounds said, the academic linguists interested in American-Indian language have not always worked in the best interests of the people they study. The academics use funds to catalogue and dissect languages that might have been used to revive them, he said, and linguists sometimes compete for access to the few remaining elders, whose time might be better-spent teaching the language to young people who would use it.
As a member of the Euchee tribe and a historian of religion with a doctorate from the Princeton Theological Seminary, Grounds straddles both worlds. Some of the problem, he said, is a defeatist attitude, in which academics think the best they can do is catalogue languages that are destined to die. "For the community point of view," he said, "this doesn't have much value".
One of the most endangered languages is Lenape - once the dominant language of what's now eastern Pennsylvania, Delaware and parts of New York and New Jersey. While a few Lenape people remained in this area, most were forced to scatter in various directions - westward to Oklahoma and north into Ontario - and only a tiny fraction of those identifying themselves as Lenape continued to speak the language.
The conference brought Lenape from diverse places. Some of those coming from Canada said they didn't know until relatively recently that there were other Lenape still living in the Delaware Valley.
Shelly DePaul, a teacher and musician in Kunkletown, Pennsylvania, said she was one of just three fluent Lenape speakers left in the state. But now, she said, they are joining forces with Lenape from elsewhere to teach the language to children.
"There didn't seem to be a lot of hope a few decades ago, but now things are reviving," she said. "It's very exciting."
We all know that the fine folks of Frisco must be entertained, and that's what makes FC Dallas's belabored coaching change all the more odd. The Schellas Hyndman in the lead and John Ellinger in support tandem might as well pretend that they've never heard of Mo Johnston, Bob Gansler, and that other FC.
Instead, they should be firmly focused on the little things like the four points and a game difference between themselves and first place in the West. Steve Morrow has gifted them a team that doesn't necessarily need even a minor revamp to contend, though they can operate with that easy excuse in place.
With the squad talking about a need for direction, any competent coach should be able to impress that quickly. The obvious is turning their tendency for one goal losses into at least draws. With the obvious exception of the Sunday that got him fired, Morrow's version of Dallas kept games close.
Kenny Cooper is playing like everybody's favorite National Team call-up candidate, the Dallas defense and keeper situation isn't the screaming issue it is at other clubs, and they have the position players to separate themselves from the problems in the West.
Again, this takes away a lot of the standard excuses coaches use when stepping in during the season. It's not their club. They need to go through a draft and a preseason to really get what they want out of a rebuilt squad. And so on.
Instead, Schellas Hyndman is in a somewhat unique position where he can make the big statement this season. Dallas should hold him to that. After all, they could've always opted against overreacting after that disappointment against the Galaxy.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper will seek to make amends for the schools that for a century plucked Indian children from their homes in order to wipe out their language and culture.
OTTAWA -- For eight years, Thomas Louttit was forced to attend a residential school whose mission was to "Christianize and civilize" Canada's native people. He doesn't remember much of what he learned, but he is keenly aware of what he lost.
"They gave us a number. That's all our name was. We didn't speak their language, and we were not allowed to speak ours," he said. Like other students, he said, he was sexually abused, a secret that filled him with shame and remained untold until many years later.
"You forget how to cry, you forget how to show your feelings," he said, staring out of his window. "We were never taught to say, 'I love you.' We were never taught to forgive."
Now, 12 years after the last residential school shut down, Canada is asking the 150,000 students and their descendants if it is indeed possible to forgive. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper will formally apologize to Canada's aboriginal people and declare his support for a truth and reconciliation commission.
A $1.9-billion compensation fund, created after the federal government settled a lawsuit in 2006, has already begun payouts. Every student is receiving some money; those who were abused are getting higher amounts. But some say the process may be more for the perpetrators than the victims.
"The important thing is that they own up to what they did, admit that it is unconscionable, and it was genocide," said Roland Chrisjohn, the director of the Native Studies program at St. Thomas University in Saskatchewan, and a member of the Iroquois nation. "But they are afraid that such an admission would bring with it criminal liability."
Over a century, Canada's government and churches built 130 residential schools across the country. Childrenwere forcibly taken from their parents to instill mainstream language, culture and values. An Indian Affairs official in 1920 said the goal was "to kill the Indian in the child."
"Our object is to continue until there is not a single Indian in Canada that has not been absorbed . . . and there is no Indian question," wrote Duncan Campbell Scott, deputy superintendent general of the Indian Affairs department. Native rituals such as pow-wows were outlawed, and entire communities relocated.
A commission concluded in 1996 that the program indelibly damaged generations of aboriginal people and subverted their culture, prompting the last of the schools to be shut down. It outlined a program of healing and redress, but that has been a long time coming.
For Justice Harry LaForme, the chair of the newly formed Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the truth is now largely known; the real work will be in the reconciliation.
"Today, the idea that you could order the removal of a people from the fabric of a nation is a human rights violation of the first order," he said in an interview in the commission's new office across from Canada's Parliament. "In order to move forward, we need to listen to people's voices, to hear the 'whys' behind it, to write the missing chapter that everyone knows is there."
A Mississauga Indian, LaForme was the first aborigine to sit on an appellate court in Canada, where he has ruled in landmark cases to recognize same-sex marriage, and to legalize medicinal marijuana.
The commission, created under the terms of the lawsuit settlement, will hold seven national events and many more local ones involving church leaders, school survivors and government officials. LaForme says that unlike its South African model, the panel will leave "naming names" to civil courts.
One of the largest shifts in attitude has come from Canada's churches, which ran most of the schools and have since settled lawsuits for physical and sexual abuse.
"The 'good guys,' no matter how kindly or well intentioned, have to confront they were complicit in a system of evil," said Jamie Scott, the United Church of Canada officer for residential schools.
The United Church was one of the first to withdraw from the schools, in 1969, and in 1986 was the first of the churches to apologize. Between 1991 and 1994, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate from the Catholic Church, the Anglican Church and the Presbyterian Church also issued apologies. They have agreed to participate and donate to the commission. Scott said staff members have their own tales to tell.
"Many of the people who worked in those schools never beat a kid," he said. "They saw themselves called to help people they saw as marginalized. They have a side of the story too."
Louttit, 60, now an elder of the Moose Factory First Nation, tosses some tobacco leaves into the flames as an offering to the spirits, a gesture that was once against the law. He watches them burn, then turns the gas fireplace off with a switch, and begins his story.
When he was 5, he and his sister were taken from their home and put on a motorboat to Fort George on James Bay, a day's journey. Their parents weren't sure where they spent 10 months of the year, didn't know that they answered to numbers, did heavy labor, and were mentally and sexually abused in the school that was run by the Catholic Church.
"One summer after I went home, my father was calling and calling me," Louttit recalled. "I didn't answer him because I was not used to hearing my name. He asked what was the matter with me. I never told him."
"I never knew how to bring up my kids," he said. "After I stopped drinking, I shared my stories with my daughter in a sacred circle. She said she had been miserable with my drinking and the violence. I told her I love her, and it took a long time for me to say that."
Louttit has made a point of instructing his community in the ways of the tribe and the world, taking boys to sweat lodges in the bush. He has kept his hair in a long, graying braid, and his eagle feather fan is close at hand.
"Many of my classmates have gone over to the spirit side. Seven committed suicide. I wish I could have found them first," he said.
"It's not from him inside. Someone else wrote it for him," he said. "I will share my story to people who want to hear it. I will be comfortable to listen to theirs. But I wonder if they will really listen to ours.
IQALUIT - A new Official Languages Act was passed in the Nunavut legislative assembly last week, but some remain concerned about the fate of the Inuit language.
While Bill 6, the Official Languages Act, lists Inuktitut and Innuinaqtun alongside French as English as Nunavut's official languages, James Eetoolook, first vice-president of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., had hoped that it would have been read alongside Bill 7, the Inuit Language Protection Act.
"It was our preference that the Official Languages Act would not be passed without the Inuit Language Protection Act because the Official Language Act alone would have limited protection and advancement of the Inuit languages," said Eetoolook.
The Inuit Language Protection Act is scheduled to be reviewed in the fall sitting of the legislative assembly.
"I really wanted this bill to be passed in this sitting so that at least we can get the ball rolling and start working on implementing it and informing the public about what it's all about," said Aariak.
The newly-passed act must be approved at the federal level before the territory can begin implementation.
Like Eetoolook, Aariak expressed concern that the Inuit Language Protection Act wasn't read alongside its parent bill.
"(The Inuit Language Protection Act) will greatly enhance the promotion and protection and use of our language so we won't have to complain about the erosion of our language anymore. Now is the time to start acting towards making a change," said Aariak.
Aariak expressed concerns of rumours that the Inuit Language Protection Act would be too costly to implement, and so the potential costs could be a deterrent to pass the bill.
"Does that mean that my culture and language is too expensive for my culture to implement? I don't think so," she said.
Aariak said although approximately 70 to 80 per cent of the territory's population speaks an Inuit language, erosion of language and culture is a very real possibility.
"If we don't do anything about promoting it and teaching it in the classroom, it can, within a family, be lost within one generation and that's scary," she said.
"The (Official Languages) Act will protect not only the constitutional rights of the francophone community but also provide the long-needed recognition of the Inuit language. We hope that the legislative assembly will soon pass Bill 7, the Inuit (Language) Protection Act, to further equity within Nunavut society," stated association president Suzanne Laliberté in a press release.
Louis Tapardjuk, Minister of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth, said that it was important to pass the Official Languages Act prior to the Inuit Language Protection Act since the former requires federal approval.
"Before we introduced another piece of legislation, it was important to see passing of (the) Official Languages Act," he said.
The Inuit Language Protection Act has been read twice in the legislative assembly and is now in the hands of the Ajauqtiit Standing Committee.
Tapardjuk added that he believes that the passing of Bill 6 is a good step in recognizing the territory and its languages.
"I think we've accomplished that. Now the next task for this government is to fulfil its mandate is to see the passage of Bill 7," he said.
WASHINGTON, DC (Jun 15, 2008) USSoccerPlayers -- The United States got the goals in the first leg of their home and home World Cup Qualifying series against Barbados, with Brian Ching and Clint Dempsey scoring twice and Michael Bradley, Landon Donovan, Eddie Johnson and a Barbados own goal finishing out the lopsided win in Carson, California.
Clint Dempsey opened the scoring in the first minute and the US never looked troubled by an admittedly weak Barbados squad. Bob Bradley had to sub out Pablo Mastroeni for Freddy Adu in the first half due to injury, and Eddie Lewis and Eddie Johnson came on late for the United States.
“We were the better team today and we knew that our job was to go out and win decisively," Dempsey said. "The more goals that we can get the more of a cushion it gives us going to Barbados. You can never take a team too lightly and we just wanted to make sure we put ourselves in a good position for the next game. It is definitely a good feeling going into next week, and now we just have to make sure that we take care of business down in Barbados before we look forward to the next challenges.”
The US now faces Barbados next Sunday at 3pm ET on ESPN Classic in the second leg at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados.
When Jimm Goodtracks speaks to his grandson at home, it's usually in Baxoje, a language that is nearly extinct.
That's a concern for Lawrence resident Goodtracks and other members of the Ioway nation, who are the namesake for the state of Iowa despite being largely removed from there in the 1830s.
But tribal members are seeing a resurgence in interest in their Iowa roots -- and residents of Iowa are rediscovering an interest in the tribe -- thanks to a new documentary featuring the culture of a people struggling to maintain their heritage through the years.
The title of the film -- "Lost Nation: The Ioway" -- refers mainly to the fact that the people of Iowa don't know the history of their state's name. But it also refers to a bond that has been lost among Ioway people -- a bond people such as Goodtracks hope to rediscover.
The film is the work of Kelly and Tammy Rundle, who live in Moline, Ill. They pursued the project at the request of an Iowa historian who mentioned that many Iowans didn't know the history of their state's name.
Briefly, that history is this: In 1824, two Ioway brothers traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with William Clark, superintendent of Indian Affairs (and of William and Clark fame). Brother White Cloud saw cooperation as the only way for his people to survive, but brother Great Walker regretted the loss of land where his ancestors are buried.
He grew up in Oklahoma, hearing his Ioway elders speak Baxoje, the language of his people. But it wasn't until he graduated from Oklahoma State University and moved into a job in southern Colorado -- where he learned to speak Spanish -- that he appreciated being bilingual.
"I thought, 'Geez, if I'm going to talk Spanish, I might as well write down my own language,'" he says.
Since then, Goodtracks has been working on an unabridged dictionary on his people's language, assisted with grants from his tribe and the Kansas Humanities Council.
"The concern over losing language -- that's a big concern," says Alan Kelley, vice chairman of the Ioway Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska. "If we don't get something going, it will disappear."
Goodtracks also is working on an alternate Baxoje audio track for the upcoming DVD for "Lost Nation," which is due out in spring of 2009.
"Jimm has been doing that for a long time, ever since I can remember," Kelley says. "The hardest part of the language is the pronunciation -- a female might do a different pronunciation than a male, which is the hardest part of saying certain words. Jimm knows all that."
Now that he's retired, Goodtracks hopes to do his part to keep the Baxoje language alive, which he says is a big part of keeping the Iowa culture alive.
Goodtracks says: "It's like they always say -- you don't know where you're going if you don't know where you've been."
SAN ANTONIO — Robert “Gary” Hecht, 61, a Kerrville resident for more than 13 years, passed away on Monday, June 9, 2008, in a San Antonio hospital.
He was born in Kermit, Texas, to Martha and A.C. Hecht, but spent most of his childhood in Junction. He graduated from Junction High School in 1965 and Texas Tech University in 1969. On May 16, 1970, he married Lynn Ferrell and shortly thereafter moved to Abilene, Texas, then to Austin, followed by a move to Houston, and has since resided in Kerrville.
Gary was an avid animal lover, leading to he and Lynn’s ownership of a local pet store for the last 12 years. He was also an active member of the Texas Tech Alumni Association, Hill Country Chapter, annually helping to raise money for scholarships for local youth. He also volunteered for American Red Cross and the Boy Scouts of America, participating in fund-raising.
He is survived by his wife, Lynn Hecht; sister and brother-in-law, Judy and Bill Cardwell; stepfather, Milton Schulz; father-in-law, Jim Ferrell; daughter and son-in-law, Hilary and Kyle Marshall; daughter and son-in-law, Kristen and Beaux Cook; grandchildren, Jackson and Garrett Marshall and Holland Cook; and two nephews and their families.
He was predeceased by his mother, Martha Schulz; father, A.C. Hecht; and mother-in-law, Billie Ferrell.
Donations in his memory can be made to the American Heart Association or the Texas Tech Alumni Association.
Services will be at 1 p.m. Friday, June 13, 2008, at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, officiated by the Rev. Stockton Williams. Burial will be held privately.
US National Team coach Bob Bradley released his roster for Sunday's World Cup Qualifier against Barbados in Carson, CA. Carlos Bocanegra returns to the lineup after missing the Argentina friendly for personal reasons.
Mr. Derek Kent McKiddie, age 42 of Kerrville, Texas, passed away Saturday, June 7, 2008, in a Kerrville hospital from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident. He was born September 11, 1965, in Houston, Texas, to Joe McKiddie and Dolores Brenek McKiddie. He was a 17-year resident of Kerrville and was a longtime teacher and coach in the Kerrville I.S.D.
He graduated from Grapeland High School in 1984 and graduated from the University of Texas El Paso in May 1991.
Survivors include his wife, Bridget McKiddie; a son, Cooper Landry McKiddie, parents, Joe and Dolores McKiddie; father in law, Herbie Witt; Sister, Brenda Heimann and husband, Louis “Bud", all of Kerrville; brother, Joe McKiddie and wife, Linda of Pearland, TX; brothers and sisters in law, Troy and Susan Witt and T.R. and Hollie Andreas, all of Kerrville and nieces & nephews, Megan Murray, Drew Murray, Jake Heimann, Megan Heimann, Emily Witt, Ian Witt and Reelyn Andreas.
Funeral services for Mr. McKiddie will be Tuesday, June 10, 2008, at 2 p.m. at First United Methodist Church with Dr. Warren Hornung officiating. Interment will follow in Garden of Memories.
Memorial remembrances may be made to the Tivy Child Development Center in Derek’s memory for playground equipment.
On a night when Kasey Keller was honored for his 100th cap and Landon Donovan earned his, the United States answered recent criticism by shutting out world number one Argentina in a 0-0 draw at Giants Stadium.
US and Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard played the full 90, stopping multiple Argentine chances and making seven saves while the US responded with several close shots of their own.
“He saved us and kept us in the game," Donovan said of Howard. "In certain moments, when things aren't really going well for you, you hope that your goalkeeper can make a few saves and Timmy went above and beyond that tonight. We can't rely on that all the time because that's not fair on him, but you hope in certain moments he can make those types of plays. He's shown that he can rise to that level over and over again.”
With both teams looking for the winner late, an odd sequence while the US formed a wall in the 71st minute ended up with Pablo Mastroeni being shown a red card.
Whether a case of mistaken identity or just botched officiating, Mastroeni was off and the US were down to ten men. Argentina would lose a player of their own fifteen minutes later, when Javier Mascherano was shown a second yellow.
The game ended with the United States pushing the attack, as Freddy Adu and Sacha Kljestan got quality looks after coming on as second half subs.
With World Cup Qualifying a week away, the US relocates to the Home Depot Center to prepare for Barbados on June 15th.
After five years of futile efforts to find or confirm sightings of any Caribbean monk seals — even just one — the U.S. government on Friday announced that the species is officially extinct and the only seal to vanish due to human causes.
"Humans left the Caribbean monk seal population unsustainable after overhunting them," Kyle Baker, a biologist for the National Marine Fisheries Service, said in a statement. "Unfortunately, this led to their demise and labels the species as the only seal to go extinct from human causes."
A Caribbean monk seal — the only subtropical seal native to the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico — had not been seen for more than 50 years. The last confirmed sighting was in 1952 at Seranilla Bank, between Jamaica and the Yucatan Peninsula.
The United States listed the species as endangered in 1967. The fisheries service will now have the species removed from the list.
"Caribbean monk seals were first discovered during Columbus’s second voyage in 1494, when eight seals were killed for meat," the fisheries service noted. "Following European colonization from the 1700s to 1900s, the seals were exploited intensively for their blubber, and to a lesser extent for food, scientific study and zoological collection. Blubber was processed into oil and used for lubrication, coating the bottom of boats, and as lamp and cooking oil. Seal skins were sought to make trunk linings, articles of clothing, straps and bags."
Just two other monk seal species remain: Hawaiian and Mediterranean monk seals, both of which are endangered and at risk of extinction. Populations have fallen to below 1,200 and 500 individuals, respectively, the fisheries service stated.
"Worldwide, populations of the two remaining monk seal species are declining," said Baker. "We hope we’ve learned from the extinction of Caribbean monk seals, and can provide stronger protection for their Hawaiian and Mediterranean relatives."
The Hawaiian population is declining at a rate of about four percent per year, with challenges "such as lack of food sources for young seals, entanglement in marine debris, predation by sharks, and loss of haul-out and pupping beaches due to erosion," the service said.
"The Hawaiian monk seal is a treasure to preserve for future generations," said NMFS biologist Bud Antonelis. The "fisheries service has developed a monk seal recovery plan, but we need continued support from organizations and the public if we are to have a chance at saving it from extinction. Time is running out."
"The fate of the Caribbean monk seal is a wake-up call for us to act quickly to protect other endangered monk seal populations. We must learn from our mistakes," Vicki Cornish of Ocean Conservancy echoed in a separate statement. "We must act now to reduce threats to existing monk seal populations before it's too late. These animals are important to the balance and health of the ocean — we can't afford to wait."
Other species of marine mammals that have gone extinct in modern times include the Atlantic gray whale (1700s or 1800s) and stellar sea cow (late 1700s), presumably due to overhunting by whalers, the fisheries service stated.
The Ocean Conservancy said some of the threats, especially erosion and debris, are tied to the El Nino weather pattern and rising sea levels, which in turn is tied to global warming.
"El Nino events, which cause storms similar to those expected to occur with increasing frequency as a result of climate change, drive marine debris closer to monk seal beaches and nearshore waters," it added. "Seal pups play with trash, which can lead to entanglement and eventual death. Increased numbers of Hawaiian monk seals have been found entangled in marine debris after El Nino events."
Entanglement happens even in "one of the best-protected ocean places in the United States," the conservation group said, referring to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands National Monument created by President Bush in 2006.