Wednesday, September 26, 2012

A Few Different Views

First, two political cartoonists take a look at The View... "Featuring BARACK OBAMA!"




Gee... I missed that, somehow.  It's crushed, I am.

A better view:


Air Frame: Spirit of Texas, one of the Air Force's B-2A Spirit stealth bombers, departs Northrop Grumman's facility in Palmdale, Calif., after completion of programmed depot maintenance, June 28, 2012. (Northrop Grumman photo posted on Sept. 24, 2012.) (Click on image above to reach larger version.)
From the Usual USAF Source, of course.  And from the same place...
Flying WiFi Hotspot: The Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman a $20 million contract to add beyond-line-of-sight command and control functions on one of its E-11A communications-relay aircraft, announced the company. BLOS C2 allows the Battlefield Airborne Communications Node-equipped jet to spread "wireless Internet over the battlefield," giving ground forces access to video, imagery, and Internet chat, according to the company's Sept. 24 release. The Air Force's small, combined fleet of BACN-equipped E-11As and RQ-4B Global Hawk remotely piloted aircraft currently provide near-constant communications relay over Afghanistan, said Northrop Grumman. The E-11A slated for the upgrade is one of three Bombardier BD-700 Global Express airplanes already modified with BACN payloads. Technicians at Hanscom AFB, Mass., are scheduled to complete BLOS C2 installation and integration work on this aircraft by next June. The Air Force has a fourth Bombardier aircraft undergoing conversion to the E-11A BACN role.
Who gives ya inter-tubes when ya ain't got none, Bay-Bee?  "You've got mail!"

Update, 1125 hrs:  I posted before I got to the bottom of the AFA Daily Report, which means I hadn't read this:
(U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. John Barton)

World War II Memorial Dedicated in Britain: The British Princess Royal, Princess Anne, dedicated a memorial in Greenham Common, Britain, to the US airmen and troops who were based in the area during World War II and died during the conflict. The princess dedicated three memorial stones at the Greenham Business Park during the Sept. 21 ceremony. One stone honors the 16 airmen who died when two B-17 bombers collided above the area on Dec. 15, 1944, according to a US Air Forces in Europe release. The second stone pays tribute to the 33 airmen who died three days earlier when their Horsa glider crashed on takeoff from Greenham Common, states the release. The third stone remembers the American servicemen who were based there and lost their lives in the war. Greenham Common was one of the main staging points for US troops in the run-up to D-Day, according to the release. (Greenham Common report by SSgt. Brian Stives)
Thank GOD the Special Relationship endures, despite the best efforts of the White House's current occupant to sink it.

4 comments:

  1. That's nice, Buck, but the WW II generation is fast dying off and I'm afraid after our generation of pre baby-boom "war babies" and the first decade of the boomers dies it will sadly ALL be forgotten. For us the memories of those years is almost as strong as that of our Fathers who served, growing up as we did with the war just behind us and hearing of our parents exploits. And the war was all over TV, too; Victory at Sea, Navy Log, The Silent Service, Combat w. Vic Morrow, Ba Ba Black Sheep, comedies based on service life like the Phil Silvers comedy on Army life, You'll Never Get Rich, McHale's Navy, C.P.O Sharky w. Don Rickles, Gomer Pyle, USMC and the TV series 12 o'clock High based on the movie of that name, plus several others whose titles I can't think of off the top of my head bathed the airways. And movies about WWII too numerous to mention--all of which portrayed US sevicemen as the good guys--unlik3e the tripe Hollywood & TV produces today where we're shown to be just the opposite. The saying that radical social/political change only happens when a dominent generation dies out really seems to be true--look at what is happening with our politics today. Could an Obama have EVER been nominated by the Dems in JFK's day, let alone elected? To use a phrase that, imho, CANNOT be overused: "I weep for the future."

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    1. You're fairly pessimistic here, Virgil, but not without good reason. I prefer to think the memory of the greatest Generation will survive, much as the Civil War (or: the War of Northern Aggression; you choose) is still alive in the memories of most Americans, even when the last of the Civil War veterans died lo these many years ago. There's much to despair about these days, but I think these particular memories are lasting ones.

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  2. Memories of WWII will depend upon the "agenda" of the future. If it is convenient to remember that we defeated an evil that should never been seen again, then the memories will endure. If some talking head in the future deems it inconvenient to remember 6 million Jews systematically annihilated or the FACT that the bombs of Nagasaki and HIroshima saved hundreds of thousands of lives ... then the memories will be rewritten and the truth will be lost. Such are the times in which we live.

    The cartoons are classic, particularly the first one with the hair over the face of the only conservative - and one possessing brains - member of that entire pack of cretinous females.

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    1. ...particularly the first one with the hair over the face of the only conservative...

      I saw it as she's the only one looking out the window and noticing the whole freakin' world imploding.

      As for WW II... the POSITIVE memories will endure.

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Just be polite... that's all I ask.