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Before Terrorist And 911 There Was… The U. S. Army Air Corp???

Recently a friend got to pilot the “Killer Bee”, a WWII vintage Mitchell B-25 from Titusville to Ft. Myers, Florida to celebrate the opening of the new Page Field Aviation Center.  This flight for my friend, retired U. S. Airways pilot and flight instructor Tony Pomponio was an event that is without hesitation a life achievement for any aviator or student of history.  Not only was he asked to fly down with them, he was placed in the left seat and actually flew them down.  Incidentals included maintaining rudder pressure as the fuselage was bent and direct orders not to touch the brakes as each application cost $20.  Initial start up included using their shoulders to manually turn the props before start up to loosen cylinders and circulate oil.  Start up was a cloud of smoke and sparks from the ignition of unspent fuel.  The entire flight for a seasoned pilot used to GPS and all the modern technologies?  Visual Flight Rules (VFR)!  There was a portable GPS set up on the dash (an act that may account for the compass not being accurate) but most of the flight was done the old fashioned way using maps, landmarks and dead reckoning.  Before final approach, my “Maverick” friend got to buzz the tower.  A fun ending to a ride of a lifetime in a plane full of history, an additional two man crew to hand pump the hydraulic reservoir, a bombay with dummy bombs and turrets with 50 calibers.  And, he was complemented as one of the best landings noted by a long term crew member.  The “Killer Bee” as it is labeled visits air shows.  Keep an eye out for it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In researching to history of the B-25 I was surprised to find an interesting tidbit of history.  On Saturday, July 28, 1945 while en route to LaGuardia Airport on a flight from Boston, Lieutenant Colonel William Franklin Smith, Jr. asked for clearance to land his B-25D but was advised of zero visibility.  At 0940 hours (9:40 AM) after turning right instead of left after passing the Chrysler Building, the “Old John Feather Merchant” he was piloting crashed into the north side of the Empire State Building between the 78^th and 80^th floors.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apart from gouging an 18 by 20 foot whole in the building where the National Catholic Welfare Council offices were located one engine continued through the building and fell onto the roof of another in the next city block where it started a fire destroying the penthouse.  The other engine and landing gear went down an elevator shaft.  Fortunately the ensuing fire was extinguished in only 40 minutes.  Praises to the construction engineering of that day, yay!  I is still the only fire at such height that was successfully controlled.  While fourteen people (including the 3 crew) were killed, Betty Lou Oliver, an elevator operator (yes that was a career position back then) was injured but recovered considering that the elevator she was evacuated in had damaged cables and plunged 75 stories.  This fall is also a survival record.  This was definitely not a day to be in a hurry to get to the office.

Was the Empire State Building demolished?  Was it closed indefinitely?  No.  Remarkably, the Empire State Building was open for business the following Monday.  The structural integrity of the building was not compromised although a whopping one million US dollars’ in damage was done.

In light of this incident it was a consideration in the design and building of the World Trade Centers to withstand the impact of a Boeing 707.  Placing conspiracy theories aside, it is evident the aircraft that hit the towers on 9/11 obviously were of greater mass than a single 707.

 

14000 Year Old Pyramids Submerged Off Coast Of Japan... Yonaguni-jima and the Lost Continent Of Mu?

This is additional discussion on the topic that I reported in a PRIOR BLOG ENTRY.

by Laura Lee

from LauraLee Website
 

YONAGUNI: The ancient underwater pyramid structure off the coast of Yonaguni-jima, Japan

Man-made, made by Nature, or did humankind finish what Nature started? These enigmatic, sunken stone structures off Okinawa, Japan, located 60 to 100 feet beneath the ocean surface, have the Japanese wondering if their homeland was once part of the lost continent of Mu.

Stone terraces, right angled block and walls, and stone circles encompassing hexagonal columns look intriguingly, if not conclusively, man made. A few more clues: an encircling road, what might be post holes supported long-gone wooden structures, what look like cut steps, and castles with similar architecture located nearby and still on land. (see photos; link at end of this article)

The two sites that are getting the most attention: near the city of Naha is Okinawa is what looks like a wall, with a coral encrusted right angled block. Another, just off the southern end of the tiny island of Yonaguni, the southernmost island of Japan, is an extensive site, with five irregular layers that look like ceremonial, terraced platforms. There are eight anomalous, underwater sites found to date.

Prof. Masaaki Kimura, a marine geologist with the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa has spent several years studying all eight sties, especially Yonaguni, which was found 13 years ago, in 1985.

Kimura believes these are monuments made by man, left by an unknown civilization, perhaps from the Asian mainland, home of our oldest civilizations. He reasons that if the five layers on the Yonaguni site had been carved by nature, you would find debris from the erosion to have collected around the site, but no rock fragments have yet been found. He adds that there is what look like a road encircling the site as further indication it was used by man. He believes building this monument necessitated a high degree of technology, and some sort of machinery.

How to date these sites? A few possible scenarios have been suggested. The sites may have been submerged when sea levels rose at the end of the last Ice Age as the continental ice sheets melted. Or, as Japan sits on the Ring of Fire, tectonic activity might have caused subsidence of the land. Or perhaps a combination of subsidence and inundation from rising sea levels, or some catastrophic event, dropped it, intact and upright, into the ocean.

 

Teruaki Ishii, a professor of geology at Tokyo University, believes the site is partly man-made, partly natural, and suggests a date of 8,000 B.C., contemporary to the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley. Others have suggested a date of 12,000 years.

The preliminary reports from the fist Americans to dive the sites:

Just back (May 1998) from diving two of the eight known sites are Mike Arbuthnot, an amateur underwater archeologist adventurer, and Boris Said, Executive Producer of the NBC documentary, "Mystery of the Sphinx." Both are experienced divers. Arbuthnot explored a three-mast schooner wrecked off Grand Cayman Island, and Said has been diving for 40 years.

It was treacherous terrain even for experienced divers. "The Yonaguni site is fairly near the shore, so there was heavy surge (the up and down motion of waves) as well as swift currents, and sharks," says Arbuthnot. "One the up side, the area has the third clearest water in the world, with visibility to 200 feet. And the corals were gorgeous."

"The two sites are very different, though both are at a comparable depth, 60 to 100 feet beneath the ocean’s surface. The Yonaguni site might be ceremonial platforms, and the Okinawa site seems similar to a castle wall, a conjecture that is supported by nearby castles on the island with a similar architectural style," says Arbuthnot.

Arbuthnot says that when he came up after the first dive, at Yonaguni, he found little to suggest that it was man made. It was only after diving the Okinawa site, and interviewing Prof. Kimura for two days, that he began to entertain the notion. The conversations with Prof. Kimura were all the more productive and in-depth, with the translating skills of Corina Tettinger, who speaks fluent Japanese.

 

"The case for the sites being artificial, or modified by man, requires supporting evidence," he says, and "we found very precise rectilinear stone features that seem to be indicative of either artificial tooling, or modifying the natural geology."

 

A particularly intriguing find: holes in the rock platforms. Could these be post holes to support a wooden structure? The terraces are massive, by human standards. But we can imagine naturally terraced platforms easily utilized for ceremonial purposes with the addition of wooden structures built atop them. You’d simply need to insert the supporting beams into the rock, by drilling a few holes.

"What we were able to observe was fascinating and warrants additional research," he says. "There is some false information on the sites out there. We want to bring clarity to the situation, and intend to mount a full-scale scientific expedition to do further investigation."

We'll report new developments on this project as they happen.

Geologist Robert Schoch and Egyptologist John Anthony West (both featured in the NBC documentary "The Mystery of the Sphinx") dove many months ago at Yonaguni, also without arriving at any conclusions, only more questions. Schoch focused on determining what geological forces might have been at work here.

 

While he notes that the strong currents might have cut the terraces out of the layered sediments, he has not ruled out human modification. Schoch says he very much wants to go back to dive again before arriving at any conclusions.

"I have not seen the other sites," he says, "and, not having previous diving experience, I spent much of my time underwater just staying alive."

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It Came From Beneath The Ice? The Beast From 4 Km? You Name The Movie: Russians To Penetrate Antartic Primordial Lake 4 Km Under Ice, 14 Million Years Old!

 

Ancient Antarctic lake may erupt if drilled

Michael Field in Auckland Agençe France-Presse

Wednesday, 20 August 2003

 

The cryobot ice submersible, bound for Jupiter's moon, Europa, which scientists would like to test in Lake Vostok (JPL)

Plans to drill into an ancient lake deep under ice in Antarctica may lead it to erupt in a massive geyser-like explosion, scientists have warned.

Lake Vostok in Antarctica has spent 15 million years under 4 km of ice, its waters sealed off from air and light for all that time under the tremendous pressure of the continental ice sheet. The 14,000 km² lake, about 1,300 km from the South Pole, is one of the world's largest and scientists believe that it could offer unique research opportunities.

But despite opposition from environmentalists who fear drilling into the lake could destroy it, Russian scientists plan to cut through the ice until they come close to the surface of the lake.

U.S. scientists are also interested in drilling into the lake to see if any life forms can exist there, a finding which could lend weight to theories that life exists in other extreme environments such as other planets.

But these projects may be set back by a scientific paper in the latest issue of the journal, Geophysical Research Letters.

Dr Chris McKay at the NASA's Ames Research Centre in California warns that whoever drills into Vostok will have to be extremely careful.

He said the high gas concentrations believed to be present in Vostok "may result in a vigorous gas-driven flow if lake water is brought to the surface. "

He said the concentration of pent-up nitrogen and oxygen in lake water, under a pressure of 2.5 litres per kg, is about equal to that of "an unopened can of Coca Cola".

Burst like a can of soft drink
"The effects of rapid degassing of Coca Cola are well known," McKay said, adding that like the soft drink, the lake can be opened, but very carefully.

"Our research suggests that U.S. and Russian teams studying the lake should be careful when drilling because high gas concentrations could make the water unstable and potentially dangerous," McKay said. Research indicates the oxygen levels in lake water may be 50 times higher than the oxygen levels in ordinary freshwater lakes.

"Lake Vostok is an extreme environment, one that is super-saturated with oxygen," he said. "No other natural lake environment on Earth has this much oxygen."

Research also suggests that organisms living in Lake Vostok may have had to evolve special adaptions, such as high concentrations of protective enzymes, to survive the lake's oxygen-rich environment. Such defence mechanisms may also protect life in Lake Vostok from oxygen radicals, the dangerous by-products of oxygen breakdown that cause cell and DNA damage.

A satellite photo with Lake Vostok highlited

In 1957 the Soviet Union erected its first Antarctic base at Vostok, in part of the territory claimed by Australia. Only in 1994 did they realise they were above a lake equal in area to Lake Ontario, on the border between the U.S. Canada, but up to four times as deep.

The Soviets drilled 3.62 km into the protective shell of ice, but stopped when poised a just few hundred metres above the liquid water. When they pulled out core samples, they filled the hole with kerosene and freon to keep it from collapsing.

Dr David Karl, an oceanographer of the University of Hawaii said the sample, which is still at Vostok, was so clear "you could read a newspaper through this ice core. This is the best sample we have of the open lake, at least until the point the ice is drilled."

Intrusion into unique environment
But some scientists are concerned about intrusions into such a pristine environment. "It doesn't know anything of human beings, fossil fuels or plastics," said Dr Robin Bell, a geophysicist at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, speaking about the lake. "It is a window into life forms and climates of primordial eras."

Environmenatlists have also voiced objections. The Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, a U.S. group based in Washington, called for a moratorium on drilling into Vostok. Any new technology to drill should first be tested on any of the 70 other lakes in Antarctica, they said.

The biggest push to explore the lake comes from the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the its leading space studies centre, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, both of whom want to study the internal environment of Lake Vostok in preparation for a mission to Jupiter's icy-encrusted moon, Europa.

The New Zealand-based Royal Forest and Bird Society is also opposed to the drilling. "It does seem strange to us that in order to find life on another planet they want to drill into Lake Vostok and contaminate it," the society's Barry Weeber said.

Julie Palais, glaciology program manager for the US National Science Foundation's Office of Polar Programs, said it may take more than a decade for drilling to happen.

"As a scientist you don't want your gravestone to read that this is the person who contaminated one of the last frontiers on the planet," she said.

Related Stories

Microbes brave life at the Pole, News in Science 11 Jul 2000

Trip to the coldest, darkest place on Earth, News in Science 4 Oct 1999

 

Coast Guard RDF Station Swamped By Tsunami

 

The Demise Of Scotch Cap Light Station

By Dennis Dowling

About the Author Dennis Dowling RM2c USCGR 1944-46  St. Paul Island winter of '45-46.  He was in the USN (active) 1951-52 at Panama Canal Zone  '51-52

 

Here's the written part.

We were on St. Paul Island on April 1, 1946, at the twin HF/DF station to the HF/DF station on Unimak…We left St Paul on April 20, 1946 and picked up the fellows from the HF/DF station….All of us USCGR had to be out by June 30, 1946.  Our enlistments were for DOW+ six months (duration of war). The war officially ended Dec. 31, 1945..There were 143 passengers on the USCGC Cedar when we got to Ketchikan.
Dennis Dowling RM2c USCGR 1944-1946

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MEMORANDUM KEPT BY CHIEF RADIO ELECTRICIAN HOBAN SANFROD U.S. COAST GUARD

St 0130 Xray, 1 April, 1946, at which time I was awake and reading, a severe earthquake was felt. The building (CG Unit 369 - Unimak A/F station) creaked and groaned loudly. Objects were shaken from my locker shelve. Duration of the quake was approximately 30 to 35 seconds. The weather was clear and calm.

Knowing that the volcanoes to Northward of the building had been active at one time, I immediately looked in that direction for signs of renewed activity and upon seeing none, made a round of the building to see what, if any, damage had been caused by the tremor. Inspection failed to reveal any damage other than objects shaken from locker shelves.  The crew were all awakened by the quake.

Intending to call Scotch Cap Light Station on the phone to ascertain if they had felt, or been damaged by the quake, I went to the phone  in operations but Pitts, RM2c, who was on watch at the Light Station, had said that he was "plenty scared" and was going to call Dutch Harbor Navy Radio to see what information that unit might have regarding the earthquake.

At 0157 Xray a second severe quake was felt. This one was shorter in duration lasting approximately 15 to 20 seconds, but harder than at 0130 Xray.  I again looked towards the mountains for any signs of volcanic activity, but still could see none. I made a second round of the building to see if any damages  had resulted but none was apparent.

The crew was gathered in the Recreation Hall discussing the shocks, their probable cause and location when a crew member stated he had talked with Scotch Cap Light Station after the second shock and they were attempting to contact Dutch  Harbor Radio for any news of the quakes.

At 0218 Xray a terrible roaring sound was heard followed almost immediately by a very heavy blow against the side of the building and about 3 inches of water appeared in the galley recreation hall  and passageway. From the time the noise was heard until the sea struck was a matter of seconds. I should say retentive and ten seconds at most. Ordering the crew to get to the higher ground of the DP/DF building immediately. I went to the control room and, after a couple of calls to Kodiak  and Adak Net Control Stations, broadcast a priority message stating we had been struck by a tidal wave and might have to abandon the station, and that I believed Scotch Cap Light Station was lost.

(Message: PPP NMJ, NNA NNFV NNBE TIDAL WAVE MAY HAVE TO ABANDON THIS PLACE X BELIEVE NNHX LOST INT R INT R XXX)

Received no answer to calls or receipt for message and did not know until daylight that the receiving antennae had been carried away.  electric power was fluctuating badly and starting for the generator room to ascertained cause and extent of damage, I found that D’Agostino, ET, and Campanaro,RM 2c, had voluntarily remained behind to assist.

Water had struck the switchboards through a burst in door, and the voltage control regulator was burning on the back of the board. ET D’Agostino used a CO2 extinguisher while I shut down the generator. This placed the station in darkness.

Campanaro found and lit a kerosene pressure lantern and we proceeded to make emergency repairs. The switchboards were shunted and the generator connected directly to the line. This restored lighting and some power circuits.  Campanaro was sent to call back some members of the crew to get more clothing and canned goods to be taken to the DP building in case of a second wave. While crew member were thus engaged, D’Agostino and myself made a rapid survey of damage. At 0345 I went to edge of hill above Scotch Cap Light Station to observe conditions there. The way was littered with debris, and the Light Station had been completely destroyed. I returned to the DF Station and with D’Agostino, continued cleaning up water and muck about generators. At 0550 had one generator running full power, at this time transmitted a dispatch to the DCGO 17 ND via Kodak re conditions. At 0700 went down to  the site of the Light Station, the sea by this time having receded to its usual limits, and in company with several crew members searched among the debris for any signs of bodies of personnel, on top of hill behind the Light Station we found a human foot, amputated at the ankle, some small bits of  intestine which were apparently from a human being and what seemed to be a human knee cap. Nothing else was found. At 0725 was informed Sarichef Beacon heard. At 0800 sent out searching parties to attempt locate any trace of Scotch Cap personnel. Searching parties later returned and reported no trace of Scotch Cap personnel. Searching parties later returned and reported no trace of the Light Station crew. The crew of the legislation was comprised of Petit CBM, Oinc: Pickering , MoMM2, Dykstra, S1c: Ness S1c, and Colvin F1c

Searching parties were out daily when ever weather permitted until 20 April when CBM, Sievers of CGC CLOVER, which was establishing a temporary light on the site of the destroyed light, located a body which was identified as Paul J Ness S1c, a member of the Light Station crew. The body was viewed by several crew members and myself and all agreed that is was Ness, who had high cheek bones, slightly prominent upper incisor teeth and a small goatee.  The pharmacist mate from unit 368 had been observing the large toes of both feet of Ness and the nails were pared away from the sides. This condition, also existed in the feet of the body. the remains were wrapped in an old blanket and canvas and removed to above the high water mark, pending burial instructions from DCGO 17ND. On 22 April at 1030 CBN Sievers who was conducting a search to eastward, returned to Unit 368 and stated he had found another body. With several crew members I proceeded on to the location, but was unable to identify the body. The body was decapitated, disemboweled, and in a poor state of preservation. A homemade monel ring on the right hand could not be identified by any member of the crew of Unit 368.

At 1100 crew members who had been searching to westward reported they had found the right thigh and foot of a man. The foot could not be identified. these remains were gathered in old mail sacks and placed in a rough coffin. The body of Ness was placed in an individual coffin.

At 1545 23 April, the body of Ness was buried in an individual grave. The unidentified portions of bodies were buried in a common grave adjacent thereto. The graves are at the seaward edge of the western bank of the first ravine to the eastward of Scotch Cap Light Station and are approximately 300 yards from the site of the light, near the graves of two Russian seamen. The graves are plainly marked with white wooden crosses with brass plates securely attached, and are well covered with rocks to discourage depredation by animals.

The area covered by searches was approximately 5 miles eastward, 4 miles westward from Scotch Cap Light Station, and inland to the high water mark of the tidal wave.
 

Photos From The Era

 

 

All Photos By Jeano Campanaro who was stationed at the Unimak HF/DF station that was 35 meters (115 Feet) higher than the sea,

 

 

 

What Happened To The Signers Of The Declaration Of Independence?

 

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men   who signed the Declaration of  Independence ? Five signers were captured by the British as traitors,

and tortured before they died.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.

Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army;

another had two sons captured.

Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or

hardships of the Revolutionary War.

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes,

and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.

Eleven were merchants,

nine were farmers and large plantation owners;

men of means, well educated,

but they signed the Declaration of Independence

knowing full well that the penalty would be death if

they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and

trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the

British Navy. He sold his home and properties to

pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British

that he was forced to move his family almost constantly.

He served in the Congress without pay, and his family

was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him,

and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer,

Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of  Yorktown , Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that

the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson

home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General

George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed,

and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed.

The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying.

Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill

were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests

and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his

children vanished.

So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and

silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they paid.

The Other Side Of History: An Unsung Hero

Courage
 You're a 19 year old  kid. 
 You're critically wounded  and dying in the  jungle somewhere in the Central Highlands of Viet Nam. 
It's  November 11,  1967. 
 LZ (landing zone) X-ray. 
 Your unit is outnumbered 8-1 and the enemy fire is so intense, from 100  yards away, that  your CO (commanding officer) has ordered the MedEvac helicopters to 
stop coming in. 
You're lying there,  listening to the enemy machine guns  and you know you're not  getting out. 
 Your family is half way around the world, 12,000  miles away, and you'll never see them  again. 
 As the world starts to fade  in and out, you know this is the day. 
 Then - over the machine gun  noise - you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter. 
 You look  up to see a  Huey coming in. But ... It doesn't  seem real because no MedEvac  markings are on it. 
 Captain Ed Freeman is coming in for  you. 
He's not MedEvac so it's not  his job, but he heard the radio call and decided he's flying his Huey  down into the machine gun fire anyway. 
 Even after the MedEvacs were  ordered not to come.  He's coming  anyway.
 And he drops it in and sits  there in the machine gun fire, as they load 3 of you at a time on  board. 
 Then he  flies you up and out through  the gunfire to the doctors and nurses and safety.  

And, he kept coming  back!! 13 more  times!! 
 Until all   the wounded were out. No one knew until the  mission was over  that the Captain had been hit 4 times in the legs and left  arm. 
 He took 29 of you and your  buddies out that day. Some would not have made it without the Captain  and his Huey.  
Medal  of Honor Recipient, Captain  Ed Freeman, United States Air Force, died last Wednesday  at the age of 70, in Boise, Idaho . 
   

Some Place Called Monessen... A Mine Disaster Story Near The Area

This is a photo of Powhatan Mine Fire Monument. On the way home from Drs. in Moundsville, WV yestereday, stopped and took this picture.

The Mine Explosion in WV took me back to 1944. In June, we went through the Normandy Invasion; then on the Monday, 5th of July Powhatan had this tragedy.

I can still look down toward the old No. 1 Mine Slope and see the smoke bellowing out of the Portal; the afternoon shift siren rang as usual, execept this time it didn't stop for several minutes.

I was helping Grandma Fellabaum laundry the 'Pit' clothes in the old coal oil, double burner and laundry tub; it entailed 'shaving' bars of Fels Naptha Soap into the wash water. We always did Laundry on Monday.

In a short while Wives of teh miners began walking past the house' Grandma joined then and those ladies who walked the 6 milies out to Cat's Run Portal (which still stands-sealed). But, Grandpa Fellabaum had come out ot the Mine to meet the Afternoon shift Foreman coming on; he advised him the fire was raging out of control. They had tried to put it out by stomping it; but no use, without enoough water it took off down the main haulage road - 6 miles from one end at the river to Cat's Run. Then the mine was sealed. Grandpa didn't come home from work for about 4 days. The Mine was sealed and 2 years later they brougiht the last men out! They were a Father and Son  (Munas') who lived across the road where we had our 'gardens'. We lost the next two neighbors to the North of us in the 'Camp'; Aberegg and Emery. My what a time it was for little ofd Powhatan.

It also took me back to the Evans Mine on Brownsville Rd. (above Piney Fork Beach) where Aunt Florence and I 'drove' Mine Ponies hauling 'empty' and 'full' coal cars out to the Tipple; and those 'craZy' Carbide Lamps, with which I managed to 'singe' Florence's eyebrows and deep red hairline; Aceyline Gas is worse than Methane in the Mine. Not counting the 'flame' hazzard.

Ed Fellabaum

erf_usn@yahoo.com

 

It's A Nice Place To Visit And I Just Might Want To Live There...

This weekend I visited the South Florida Museum in Bradenton.  Included in the museum is the Bishop Planetarium and the Parker Manatee Aquarium.  Quite appropriate considering that Bradenton is located in Manatee county.  Aside from a great dinosaur skeletal exhibit, there is also an aquatic skeletal exhibit and a Florida Wildlife display with a five foot long armadillo.  It's clean, spacious and state of the art.  

The planetarium is state of the art and hopefully the manager will take me up on my offer to start submitting photos and an mp3 of his lectures so I may post them here.  

The aquarium features a manatee tank and you can see the feeding of the manatees their including "Snooty."  No relation to Charles Schultz was intended.  Snooty is a manatee born in captivity at the Miami Aquarium and as such, is totally unable to survive in the wild.  Lessons learned from good intentions.  In the case of a hurricane Snooty will be left in the tank as manatees do not tolerate transport nor can he be released as he has not imprinted as an infant for survival skills.

We were there to see the Clyde Butcher B&W photo exhibit of Everglades habitats and got a real treat.

Check out  www.SOURTHFLORIDAMUSEUM.org

Download Sfm snooty mouthing off

Star Trek: The Next Conspiracy Uncovered: Star Trek Paved Way For Iranian Space Program

While many may not have noticed the similarities, here is the proof...

As you can see, the current Iranian President has an uncanny resemblance to Spock in an alternate universe.  Also, the symbol for the Iranian Space Agency was the prototype used for the Star Trek emblem.  Also, there was a Kahn from the middle east (the "Bush wars on the Asian continent") that the ship found (the Iranian's got to deep space first.)  And, the Supreme Leader of Iran is seen here doing a mind meld just like Spock does and looking much like the alien facade of the Thesarius.  All in all though, Ricardo Montalbon has no equal when it comes to the enemy.

There you have it.  The U. N. needs to stop looking for enriched uranium and start looking for antimatter.  

Series: The Other Side Of History-JFK

If JFK Was Never Assasinated He Would Not Have Been Re-elected To A Second Term

In death did his legacy served to make him look better than he did in life?

The cloud obscurring the Kennedy reality, the cloud of shock, of sympathy, of confusion and delerium has led generations immediate to that event to the romanticiing of his character and the exponential nature of the history of a man that if not rich, nor from a rich family would never have gone to Harvard and probably subsisted as a tavern keeper in New England languishing in the  cast of his character flaws of womanizing and excess.

As a youth I remember the nuns, my parochial instructors, being so proud that one of "us" was there.  I also remember Cape Canaveral being named Cape Kennedy then returned to Cape Canaveral as there were too many items being renamed Kennedy.  Some if not many withheld comment.

JFK squeeking to his presidency by a mafia fix in Chicago was left to that uncontested decision by his opponent Richard M. Nixon.  A wise man that knew not to mess with the mob.  However, there are many mobs and many decisions that will cross someone eventually.  It was a fine rope to walk and a walk that eventually lead to Kennedys demise.

Reviewing the letters that circulated between the participants of the Cuban Missle Crisis in the early sixties as well as noting commentary in Robert Kennedys Thirteen Days in historical retrospect and not revision sheds light on the outcome of that situation and leads to the speculation of the eventual demise of the President that tried to play the game his father played.

The second Godfather movie alluded to the involvment of various crime families and their interest in Cuba.  Cuba, a carribbean island beyond the reach of the internal revenue service and a strong competitor for vacationing and gambling to the other mob run locations in Las Vegas.  With one competing mob funding a revolution, Cuban investments were rendered worthless with the coming of power of Fidel and his associates.  Speculation leads one to view the potential of a fixed presidential election by Chicago crime bosses to hold the expressed interesest in a Castro free Cuba.  

In the course of the blockade and dealing with Castros arms supplier, Russia, conversations suggest that Russia came to the conclusion that the zealousness of Castro might not prove best in the interest of the superpowers of the world.  And, a deal cut by Kennedy with Kruschev not to invade Cuba in exchange for removal of nuclear warheads and missles that would lead to the salvation of the world from nuclear war.  This turn of events led to the extrication of someone that essentially double crossed the very ones that got him into power.  Once in the pocket always in the pocket and in Thirteen Days it is noted that John Kennedy cut short a "vacation" in Chicago to return to deal with the crisis.  Whether there for a trist with Marilyn and/or for additional meetings with mob heads for instructions, the eventual death of Marilyn Monroe could have been just as symbolic a jesture as the horses head in the bed of the movie producer.  Perhaps it was the sign of things to come.  The clicking of the eavedropper on the phone in the "Captains and the Kings" before the candidate is shot.

Kennedy was no dummy.  And while he may have lived through the destruction of his boat in the war in the pacific, he was, as a child of privilage, overconfidnet.  After all, "Senators don't have people killed." Arrogance is not a virtue, it is weakness to be exploited.  A weakness  that emboldens pilots to take flight into inclement weather as well as to take rides in an open touring car that would be diverted to remove the option of evasive maneuvers.  In the face of adversity, the arrogant rush in where angels know better.  This has proven to be a flaw that runs in the  Kennedy family.

And so one mob elects a President and perhaps an enemy mobs purposes are served by the eventual turn of events that serve the greater good of humanity but leave the humanitarian the eventual target for payback from a perceived double cross.  The price one may pay for a rigged election.

To Be Continued...