We lost Blue Angel Number 6, Lieutenant Commander Kevin Davis, on Saturday. “Kojak” was flying his F/A-18 Hornet when something went wrong toward the end of the routine, a routine he’d flown hundreds of times before.
Whatever the reason for the mishap, there is solace of sorts knowing that this fighter pilot died doing what he loved.
“Cho Seung Hui.”
One can only imagine he burns in hell.
My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims as well as the greater Virginia Tech community.
It seems our dark times continue to get darker. May peace find us in time.
Reuters reported early today that Apple, Inc. and EMI were going to announce “an exciting new digital offering,” which the experts were interpreting to mean the Beatles catalog would be available to download digitally very soon. But ultimately, the Apple/EMI deal was struck that excluded the Beatles songs.
Resultantly, the deal, which involves artists like Norah Jones and Coldplay, doesn’t matter.
In a surprise move, early Sunday the White House announced that President Bush asked longtime confidant and political advisor Karl Rove to vacate his position within the administration.
“Effective immediately, Karl Rove is no longer part of the Bush White House,” acting White House spokesperson Dana Perino said in a very brief statement early Sunday.
While the president was unavailable for comment at press time, he did hint at the move during his weekly radio address on Saturday. “A great banjo player once wrote, ‘The times they are a-changing,’” Bush said toward the end of his remarks. “Change is, how do you say . . . good.”
A Bush insider who spoke on the condition of anonymity stated that the president had grown tired of Rove’s polarizing counsel. “The president simply realized he wants to be the decider not the divider,” the insider said. “And so it’s time for Karl to move on.”
The source also mentioned that President Bush didn’t care for how Rove styled his hair: “More than once I’ve heard the president quip, ‘Nice mullet,’ to Karl.”
Rove had no comment for the press corps as he made his way to his courtesy car for perhaps the last time, but he was heard to mumble, “This is either the work of George Wilson or a really obnoxious April Fools joke.”
(Cross-posted at Defense Tech)
Mike D, the co-founder of Newsvine.com played a webby trick on some McCain tech staffers who were a little loose and free with attribution. Dig the payback lowdown here.
Kudos to perma-alterna greats REM for their induction into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame recently. I’ve been a fan since I bought the cassette for “Reckoning” in the ship’s store aboard the USS Independence on my first deployment back in 1984. From that moment on I was hooked. I made it a point to buy 
every subsequent album (until “Monster,” anyway) on the day it came out.
I had the opportunity to give bassist Mike Mills a tour of the F-14 simulator back in 1989 while REM was touring in support of “Green.” He was a super cool guy who said something I’ll never forget regarding his attitude toward fame: “You meet the same people on the way down you met on the way up.”
I ran into Mike some months after that during a cross-country weekend in Atlanta. My pilot and I were staying with my buddies in Drivin’ n’ Cryin’ (who warmed REM up for part of the “Green” tour) who resided in the Virginia Heights section of the city. We were at a bar and Mike walked up and greeted me like we were old friends. My pilot (and his college buddies - all huge REM fans) were blown away.
Mike and I caught up for a time, and I asked him what the band had been up to. He told me they were working on a new album and, although he warned me it was still very hush-hush, he allowed that the title of the album was “Automatic For the People.” “It’s very mellow,” he said. “Don’t expect any ‘Feeling Gravity’s Pull’-type songs.” Well, ”Automatic” is arguably their best ever - a gorgeous album - and my favorite.
So, congrats Mike, Michael, Peter, and Bill. Nice guys can finish first (and stay there).
NEWS RELEASES from the United States Department of Defense
A Statement From Gen. Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
“Yesterday, during a wide ranging interview with the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board, I was asked if I think the current policy as codified in U.S. Code, generally referred to as “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” should still hold.
“People have a wide range of opinions on this sensitive subject.The important thing to remember is that we have a policy in effect, and the Department of Defense has a statutory responsibility to implement that policy.
“I made two points in support of the policy during the interview.One, “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” allows individuals to serve this nation; and two, it does not make a judgment about the morality of individual acts.
“In expressing my support for the current policy, I also offered some personal opinions about moral conduct.
“I should have focused more on my support of the policy and less on my personal moral views.”
Or we could focus on this war going on . . .
(Cross-posted at Defense Tech.)
|
 |
*Why Read When You Can Watch
Tomcat alum Pinch forwarded another shot of me sitting in with Cheap Trick at the Tomcat Sunset concert last September. (Other photos of the show in Gallery 4.)
Al Gore’s Personal Energy Use Is His Own “Inconvenient Truth”
Gore’s home uses more than 20 times the national average
Al Gore’s global-warming documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, collected an Oscar for best documentary feature, but the Tennessee Center for Policy Research has found that Gore deserves a gold statue for hypocrisy.
Gore’s mansion, located in the posh Belle Meade area of Nashville, consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year, according to the Nashville Electric Service (NES).
In his documentary, the former Vice President calls on Americans to conserve energy by reducing electricity consumption at home.
The average household in America consumes 10,656 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, according to the Department of Energy. In 2006, Gore devoured nearly 221,000 kWh—more than 20 times the national average.
Last August alone, Gore burned through 22,619 kWh—guzzling more than twice the electricity in one month than an average American family uses in an entire year. As a result of his energy consumption, Gore’s average monthly electric bill topped $1,359.
Since the release of An Inconvenient Truth, Gore’s energy consumption has increased from an average of 16,200 kWh per month in 2005, to 18,400 kWh per month in 2006.
Gore’s extravagant energy use does not stop at his electric bill. Natural gas bills for Gore’s mansion and guest house averaged $1,080 per month last year.
“As the spokesman of choice for the global warming movement, Al Gore has to be willing to walk the walk, not just talk the talk, when it comes to home energy use,” said Tennessee Center for Policy Research President Drew Johnson.
In total, Gore paid nearly $30,000 in combined electricity and natural gas bills for his Nashville estate in 2006.
(Source: The Tennessee Center for Policy Research)
BOSTON, Massachusetts (AP) — An internal document shows Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign is concerned about his vulnerability to charges of flip-flopping, while suggesting he can differentiate from President Bush with a single word: “intelligence.”
Campaign advisers even fret that the former Massachusetts governor has too perfect hair, according to the 77-slide PowerPoint presentation, a copy of which was obtained by The Boston Globe.
Feb. 24, 2007 - Kevin Felty came back from Iraq in 2003 with nowhere to stay, and not enough money to rent an apartment. He and his wife of four years moved in with his sister in Florida, but the couple quickly overstayed their welcome. Jobless and wrestling with what he later learned was posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Felty suddenly found himself scrambling to find a place for himself and his wife, who was six-months pregnant. They found their way to a shelter for homeless veterans, which supported his wife during her pregnancy and helped Felty get counseling and find a job. A year later, he’s finally thinking his future. “I don’t want to say this is exactly where I want to be—it’s really not,” he says. “But it’s what I can get at the moment.”
Good to see now-retired admiral Vern Clark, the former Chief of Naval Operations, really did “enjoy my take on part of our business.” The book - a first edition hardback - was just sold on eBay for $3.25 (plus, $5.00 shipping). I hope “aqualungnude” (I assume a SERIOUS Jethro Tull fan) enjoys it as much as the admiral did.
{Not the} same as the old blog . . .
So now you can comment right back in a very 21st Century kind of way.
Welcome . . . and stay tuned.
If you want to take a look at my original blog, just click here.
And check out Defense Tech, a great blog I just inherited from the legendary Noah Shachtman.
