So, here we are, 53 years later and it didn’t happen…Thank God.

So, don’t worry, be happy, until we find out “Who’s Next?”…

If I’m not there, the PVR is running…

Aviation buff? Curious about what air combat maneuvering (ACM) has been like over the ages? Do you love tactics, espcially ones conducted at high speed and in three dimensions? Do you get “speed is life” or want to?

So, at 10PM each Friday night, you should be tuned to the “History Channel for “Dogfights.”

Using computer gaming simulations software, detailed graphical representations and interviews with some of the actual “players” in many historical air battles, it will give you a dose of detail to round out your comprehension of the “process” of dogfighting….

For the Naval Historians out there, the episode aired 12/22/06, titled “Death of the Japanese Navy” was a well done detailed description of the Battle Off Samar in Oct, 1944. While the show is about air combat, they used the same techniques to tell the story of the clash between Adm Kurita’s Central Force and Taffy 3 in the early hours of 10/25/1944 off of Leyte Gulf. Featured for much of the commentary was James Hornfisher, author of “Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors”. The valiant aviators, who, in many cases with no more ordnance, continued to make passes at the overwhleming force is intermingled with the surface combat between destroyer escorts, destroyers (on the US side) and the battle force lead by IJN Yamato, other battleships, cruisers and destroyers of the Japanese fleet.

So…see about the Flying Tigers, aerial combat between “The Last Gunfighters” F-8 Crusaders and MiGs over Hanoi, Spads (not A-1s!) over the trenches, or the trials of the “Cactus Air Force.”

Several weeks ago, I pondered actually sitting down and toying with a revisionist history piece titled something like “What If There Was No America?” The most difficult part, not being a sociologist, economist, engineer, historian, scientist, etc, would be to find a point in time to “separate” the American experience from the actual history and then commence to postulate on the path “history” would have then taken with some degreee of credibility for the purpose of the article/essay.

I guess it was all spawned by the History Channel “Engineering an Empire” series. What it took, and how nations formed and developed, and then had to come up with innovations to continue their growth is facinating. As I watched the episode “Britian: Blood and Steel,” I began to consider what we have contributed to civilization and the genesis of my essay idea.

Well, as luck would have it, some called about three days ago, while they were discussing the Sandy Berger song writing contest on the Bill Bennett show (this week – and you have until midnite tonight to get your entry in), someone suggested Bill write a book “A World Without America.” Bill’s response was to say he will set up and essay contest for submissions of 1000 word essays for this 4th of July time frame – $1000 to the winner.

So, the question is: Do you have a flair or passion for writing fictional history? Maybe, just maybe, you’ll get rewarded for your efforts…but…based on some of the lyrics submitted for the Sandy Burgler song contest, be ready for some seriously competent competition from the listeners to that show…

Stumbling around looking for a Ted Kennedy picture (you’ll see why this weekend), I find this site for dummied up pictures of news stories: Freaking News…get on it, ok?

“Proud to be everything the Right Wing hates”

This was not technically a bumper sticker, but a rear window of and SUV (Aztek) sticker and it was about 6″x6″, black with small white lettering. I’m wondering, since I had to get within a 1/2 car length to make sure I had it right for the record, how proud this driver actually was…:)

Same car, but one I can consider shaking his hand and buying him a cup of coffee for:

“THINK – It’s not illegal yet.”

We certainly could use some people who believe that right now, and actually start doing it….