Archive for July, 2005

UAV Successfully Fires Test Rockets

I’m liking the Fire Scout.

U.S. outflanks Kremlin, Beijing on Kyrgyz base

The US military base in Kyrgyzstan is staying put, for now at least:

After meeting with Rumsfeld on Tuesday in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital, Kyrgyz leaders said Rumsfeld convinced them that Afghanistan remains volatile, and that Manas is needed to provide logistical support for operations there.

“The base at Manas will stay as long as the situation in Afghanistan requires,” acting Kyrgyz Defense Minister Ismail Isakov said during a news conference with Rumsfeld. “Once there is stabilization, there will be no need. But now I agree with [Rumsfeld], who said the situation in Afghanistan is far from stable.”

No word on concessions or aid packages.

Light of Soul
The lesson of Freedom. Instead of my autobiography.

Got an email from Jordan in Poland today noting his photo site. He mentioned that recently a blogger in New York wrote him back:

“…you’ve got some interesting work for now but i decided not to link to you because your photography doesn’t quite match my interests and i am a little rejected by the link to the “blood of the heros” since my opinion is different….”

And Jordan wrote

Well., I am sad that he rejected my request for printing the link only because I am justifying the American fight for the freedom.

I am not american and I am justifying the fight against the terror.
He is american and and he isn’t justifying this fight.

Blood of Heroes is here.

You all know I’m a bit of a Poland fan. And the guy has some great pics. So check it out if interested.

For all I know, Jordan here is spamming every blogger he can with requests for a link. Well, he gets one from me.

Fishing Boat Makes Mystery Catch

Via a reader:

BELLINGHAM, Wash. — It was hard to miss. The stubby missile, floating about 14 miles off the Washington coast, was crusted with barnacles, seaweed and seagull droppings and had a live seagull sitting on its nose.

The trawler Windjammer had just pulled its net when skipper Erik Eide spotted the object on Sunday afternoon. He decided to move in for a closer look.

It looked to him like a World War II buzz bomb. “It was kind of freaky at first,” Eide said.

Check out the guy on deck below it to get a sense of scale. This thingy ain’t a small thingy at all. But it’s been in the drink for a while as evidenced by all the growth.

When they scraped off some barnacles and seaweed, they saw Cyrillic letters and that’s when Eide decided they better report their find to the U.S. Coast Guard. Minutes later, the Coast Guard radioed back to say it was coming to take a look.

A helicopter flew over, a vessel pulled alongside, took some digital pictures and then the Navy ordered Eide to head to Port Angeles instead of heading to the Bornstein Seafoods dock in Bellingham, with his perishable cargo of cod and sole.

The KIRO-TV story says the Navy thought it was some sort of Soviet communications device from the Cold War. Check out the link for a video of the story.

According to KING5:

Intelligence agents then seized it further examination. They now say it appears the object is a very old, inoperable sonar once pulled behind a submarine. They describe it as Soviet in origin, likely from the Cold War.

Officials with the Navy said they had no idea where the sonar would have traveled from. They plan to return it to Eide within the next few days.

But what exactly does a person do with a Cold War-era sonar?

“Is there a Russian Consulate in Seattle? They might want it back,” laughed Eide.

This thing is going to end up on eBay soon. Especially if the Russian Consulate gets ahold of it.

They’ve been down. Not sure how long, but I imagine my host disabled them at some point recently while I was getting bombed by trackback spam. Lovely stuff.

Anyway, they’re back. Ping away.

Jane Fonda plans anti-war bus tour

Back in March, Jane Fonda admitted that her visit to a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun during the Vietnam War had been a “mistake”. It only took her 33 years to figure that out, though she still thinks the trip, overall, was a good thing.

In March:

Fonda, whose memoir “Jane Fonda: My Life So Far” comes out next week, said she did not regret meeting with American POWs in North Vietnam or making broadcasts on Radio Hanoi. “Our government was lying to us and men were dying because of it, and I felt I had to do anything that I could to expose the lies and help end the war,” she said.

I hope her admission helped sell books.

But get this:

But she said she wouldn’t make the same sort of broadcasts in Iraq today.

“I don’t think it’s the same situation at all. When I went [to North Vietnam] … we had been fighting in Vietnam for eight years. The majority of Americans … [and] Congress opposed the war. It was a desperate time,” she said, according to CBS News’ Web site.

Apparently she’s had a change of heart. I guess her book isn’t selling as well as hoped.

UPDATE: Smash notes this story as well, and points out Joe Gandelman:

Question: who’s planning this trip? Karl Rove?

UPDATE 2: Here’s the CBS News story on the 60 Minutes appearance by Fonda in March, with the whole quote (the context was Fonda’s Radio Hanoi broadcasts):

What if a young, famous actress went to Iraq, hooked up with the insurgents today, and went on their radio and spoke to our soldiers over there?” asks Stahl.

“I wouldn’t like it. I don’t think it’s the same situation at all,” says Fonda. “When I went there, we had been involved in the war. We had been fighting in Vietnam for eight years. The majority of Americans opposed the war, the majority of Congress opposed the war. It was a desperate time.”

My guess is she isn’t going to be hooking up with many insurgents and doing broadcasts for them.

This. Is. Awesome.

You better go look.

The mine clearing arm of a Buffalo prepares to dig for mines according to the caption:

A mine protection clearance vehicle (MPCV) called ‘Buffalo’ stretches out its automatic arm to dig in the soil to look for possible explosive devices on the road leading from Tikrit to Mosul in 2004

Given where the photographer must be standing to take this picture, I’m thinking the Buffalo is going to dig somewhere else. Or the photographer is a moron.

There won’t be a Murdoc version of this. Unless they scrub.

Good luck, guys. Even harsh Shuttle critics want a successful mission.

UPDATE:

Marines in Iraq ease tension with humor, pranks

Via a reader:

Marines pack boulders in their friends’ backpacks before patrols, then try to suppress laughs as they watch their buddies struggle with the extra weight — as if Marines weren’t laden enough with body armor, weapons, ammunition and other gear.

And

And, during the ride to Iraq’s western border for the Operation Matador offensive on insurgents in mid-May, one Marine from the 3rd Battalion dozed off, prompting the others to quietly put on their gas masks.

“Wake up! Gas attack!” they then screamed.

Good stuff, though I still like this the best:

(Click for bigger image)

That should be a recruiting poster for these days of lean numbers of enlistees.