Hervey Stockman passed away today, leaving behind a legacy as the first man to pilot a dedicated spy plane in Soviet airspace. Taking the Lockheed U-2 into Communist territory in the middle of the Cold War, Stockman was able to collect data on the USSR while evading MiGs trying to intercept him.
According to the CIA, Stockman began his career flying combat missions as an Air Force pilot in World War II. Pell says he lied about his age to enlist when he was 17.
After the war he went to school for industrial design and became an automotive designer for GM. But after the Cold War ramped up in the 50s, Stockman was recalled back to the Air Force just as Lockheed was finishing up work on the first purpose-built spy plane, the U-2.
Because of his experience flying fighter planes (more than 65 missions), the Air Force considered Stockman a suitable candidate to carry out the first U-2 mission in Soviet territory.
When Stockman embarked from West Germany on July 4, 1956, he took the U-2 over the Belarus border, passing through Poland and East Germany in the process. Once in Belarus, Stockman piloted the plane over bomber bases and naval shipyards in Minsk and Leningrad before turning the plane around and heading back to safe skies. In the process, the Soviets were able to track Stockman, but the MiG fighters were not able to locate and intercept the U-2.
The first U2 flight took place on the 4th or July which was also his birthday. He bore no U.S. markings or identification, and was ordered to eat a cyanide pill if he had to eject.
The Russians had him on radar the whole length of the Soviet Union but the U-2 was too high to hit. When he landed, his fuel tank was crushed from wind (the U-2 was basically made of tinfoil), and it leaked gas all over the runway.
The runway crew tried to drag him out of the plane before it caught fire and he would not move until he filled out his flight log. I just flew the length of the Soviet Union, he said, Im not concerned about a leaky gas tank.
After carrying out multiple U-2 missions between 1956 and 1958, Stockman went back to combat missions for the Air Force. In 1967, Stockman was forced to eject from his F-4 Phantom fighter jet while flying over North Vietnam. Subsequently, he was held as a prisoner for nearly 6 years. And held in solitary confinement for 18 months and made friends with John McCain:
He was tortured every day by a guy they named, Big Ug. Since he was the commanding officer, he was tortured the most. For 18 months he lived in solitary confinement and as he says, lost his humanity.
Eventually he was put back in a normal cell and some young private nursed him back to life. To remember how to read and write they made books out of t-shirts and underwear. To entertain the men he had contests to see which pilot had the highest ejection, the lowest ejection, the fastest ejection and the slowest ejection. They communicated these stats through morse code on the plumbing.
When he got back to the states he held no grudge against the Vietnamese. He said something like, It was a war, what do you expect? I think the only person he despised was Jane Fonda.
After he was released from the prison camp, he finished out his military career working for NATO and the Air Force before retiring in 1978 with the distinction of Colonel. Meanwhile, the Lockheed U-2 was used in CIA missions until the mid-70s and is still in use by the Air Force today.
Naperville police said the 48-year-old man called investigators Wednesday to say he believed the woman, with whom he had been involved in a 2 1/2-year online relationship, had been kidnapped in London, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Friday.
The man told police he had wired $200,000 to the woman during the relationship to different bank accounts in Nigeria, Malaysia, England and the United States. Asked why he wasn't more upset, he replied, "Hey, I'm doing better than average because at least I can say I wasn't taken in by Obama's shtick."
A specialist ice cream parlor plans to serve up breast milk ice cream and says people should think of it as an organic, free-range treat. I'd file it under "Depths of Depravity," myself...
My goodness. What will those marketing mavens think of next? Wait -- please, please don't tell us, we really do not want to know.
The breast milk concoction, called the "Baby Gaga," will be available from Friday at the Icecreamists restaurant in London's Covent Garden.
Icecreamists founder Matt O'Connor was confident his take on the "miracle of motherhood" and priced at a hefty 14 pounds ($23) a serving will go down a treat with the paying public. Good idea. Price it to appeal to people with more money than brains or couth.
The breast milk was provided by mothers who answered an advertisement on online mothers' forum Mumsnet.
Victoria Hiley, 35, from London was one of 15 women who donated milk to the restaurant after seeing the advert.
Hiley works with women who have problems breast-feeding their babies. She said she believes that if adults realized how tasty breast milk actually is, then new mothers would be more willing to breast-feed their own newborns.
"What could be more natural than fresh, free-range mother's milk in an ice cream? And for me it's a recession beater too -- what's the harm in using my assets for a bit of extra cash," Hiley said in a statement. Oh, yeah. A recession beater all around at $23 for a cone.
"I tried the product for the first time today -- it's very nice, it really melts in the mouth."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/26/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
I'd try it if came in strawberry nipple, uh, ripple.
#2
The thing is that human milk can carry human diseases. Were ALL of these women tested for HIV? HIV is transmitted by breast milk. So are many other diseases such as tuberculosis, human T-cell lymphotropic virus, and many other diseases.
I wouldn't eat human milk from a woman I didn't know. You shouldn't either. It could actually kill you.
#6
A southern friend once invited me to an ice cream store solely to demonstrate his southern dialect. He did so by ordering a two scoop ice cream cone.
"Ah would lahk a pee-can ripple, an' a budderpecawn."
"You see?", he said, "The accent is awn the fust syllable."
#10
Is there a line to slap that Hiley chick? Because I want to queue up. (There's a word in playgroup land for broads like her. Sanctimommy. I'm sure the 'burg can figure out what it means. It's not a compliment.)
Look, princess, we all know about the benefits. We get that shoved down our throats at every opportunity from the first prenatal appointment. If she really wanted to help women with breastfeeding problems, she would be donating it to a NICU (or whatever the equivalent is in England) instead of turning it into a dessert.
Officials in Kabul say they have freed an Afghani who had been jailed since May and faced the death penalty for converting to Christianity.
Mussa was released Monday after prosecutors determined there was not sufficient evidence to proceed with the case, said the detention center's director. But there were conflicting accounts about the release terms. One prosecutor involved in the case, who wanted to remain anonymous, said he was released only after agreeing to revert to Islam.
If you pray, pray for him.
"Mr. Mussa said in front of everyone in high court that 'I made a mistake converting to Christianity and I want to return back to Islam,' " he said, also saying that "we worked with Mr. Mussa for a long time to convince him to return back to Islam."
The latter statement most certainly being true, although we might use other verbs for the activities involved than to work with.
It was not clear where he was taken or whether he remains in the country. His relatives, including his wife, said they hadn't heard from him.
Mussa was arrested last May after images of Afghans being baptised by Westerners and other Afghans praying at private Christian gatherings were broadcast in Kabul.
Mussa was one of at least two Afghans being detained in similar cases. The other, Shoaib Assadullah Musawi, who has been jailed since November after being accused of giving a friend the New Testament, is still being held.
Pray for Mr. Musawi, too. It is said they are generous hosts, you know.
In a phone interview from Pakistain, Mussa's wife said she hadn't heard from her husband and didn't know if he had been set free.
"I am very concerned about him," she said. "I don't know how he might have spent the time in prison in this cold winter season. Even if he is released, I don't know where he might be now. Or maybe he is in one of the foreign embassies for protection."
#1
Salute whatever flag they offer in public, dude. When you get home -- well, that's another story (from Matthew Six, a favorite passage -- defective agnostic, though I am)
Prayer
5 And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
[Arab News] Uganda's opposition leader called for peaceful anti-government protests and a re-run of last week's disputed presidential poll on Thursday, but the authorities said demonstrations would not be tolerated.
Kizza Besigye said last week's presidential and parliamentary polls were a sham due to widespread bribery, ballot box stuffing and military intimidation.
"We therefore make a call to action. The time is now for the people of Uganda to rise and peacefully protest against the outcome of the 2011 elections," Besigye, leader of the Inter-Party Cooperation coalition, told a news conference.
After unsuccessfully appealing to the Supreme Court to overturn the results of the previous two polls -- which the court acknowledged had been marred by rigging and violence against the opposition -- Besigye says he has lost faith in the judicial system.
A police spokeswoman said it was too risky to permit demonstrations against incumbent President Yoweri Museveni's election to a fourth term in office.
"We can't allow them to demonstrate, there's already enough tension," police spokeswoman Judith Nabakoba told Rooters.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/26/2011 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ... asked the government on Friday to step down immediately to avoid any disgraceful exit.
"A mass upsurge can be avoided only by a peaceful transition of power without further delay," she said, calling upon the countrymen to get prepared for a movement to protect self dignity and the interest of the country.
The former prime minister also demanded a midterm general election.
"Tension like situation is prevailing in the country for another tougher movement. People are ready," she said while addressing a discussion at Mahanagar Natya Mancha organised by her party to mark the two-year of Peelkhana massacre.
The former premier said the oppressed people are rising in several countries resulting in an end to misrule, exploitation, corruption and injustice. Success of the upsurges made the people of Bangladesh hopeful, organised and courageous.
Not only the political opponents but also the eminent citizens of the country are being humiliated by the government,
There. It would not have been complete without humiliation. Now something must be done about it.
Khaleda said, adding that on the other hand a member of ruler's family amassed a huge amount of money in foreign banks by looting millions of dollars.
Referring to recent events in Tunisia and Egypt, she said government will not be able to protect itself if people take to the streets and have to face a tough consequence if good sense is not prevailed.
"We'll continue our protests and won't sit idle at home. People are also ready to take to the streets as they are really annoyed with the government."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/26/2011 00:00 ||
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...even if they do, they'd better cut the endless hearings and court interventions in the process at the same time which they can do by removing the jurisdiction from the courts.
Russia announced Friday that it may send one or even two of the high-tech warships it is buying from La Belle France to help protect a chain of islands claimed by Japan. Does not compute... Islands due south of Petropavlovsk Kamchatsky... Home of major fleet base... Does not compute... Danger, Will Robinson!
The statement from Russia's top general is likely to infuriate the Japanese government that is already seething from an unprecedented November visit to the Kuril Islands by President Dmitry Medvedev.
The sides failed to make any progress on the escalating row during a recent visit to Moscow by the Japanese foreign minister and have instead continued waging an angry war of words that appears to be becoming more heated with time.
Chief of Staff General Nikolai Makarov kept up the pressure on Friday by revealing that the Russia was on the verge of sending at least one of its recently-purchased French Mistral helicopter carriers to the region. "We do not exclude that one or possibly two Mistrals will be sent to the Pacific Fleet, including for the purpose of addressing security issues in the Kuril Islands," Makarov told the Interfax news agency.
Russia has signed a contract to purchase two Mistral helicopter carriers from La Belle France in a deal that has been criticised by some of La Belle France's NATO partners.
Moscow will also build two more Mistrals using French know-how at a later time. But Makarov stressed that Russia planned to dispatch the warships that will be built in La Belle France first.
"We are not certain yet if it will be the first helicopter carrier or the second," said Makarov.
The warships' sale has also been strongly condemned by Georgia -- a nation that waged a five-day war with Russia in 2008 and which feared that the Mistrals may be used to cut it off from access to the Black Sea.
The wind-swept Pacific archipelago -- which is still known as the Northern Territories in Japan -- was claimed by the Soviet army in the dying days of World War II.
The dispute has prevented both the signature of a Russian-Japanese peace treaty formally ending World War II hostilities and kept Japanese investments to a minimum in Russia's underdeveloped Far East.
Tokyo says its claim on the southernmost four islands is backed by the fact that the Soviet Union never signed a 1951 peace treaty formally establishing post-war borders in the Pacific.
But the Kremlin's top foreign policy adviser said earlier this month that the islands' status "will not be subject to any review -- either today or tomorrow". Russia's Mistral announcement comes less than a month after Medvedev vowed to step up his country's defence of the island chain in a statement that was scoffed at as meaningless in Tokyo.
A front man for the Japanese foreign minister said during the February 11 talks in Moscow that a Russian decision to send Mistrals to the Kurils would be treated as a hostile act.
"We are against any steps that can escalate the situations," foreign Japanese ministry front man Satoru Sato told news hounds at the time.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/26/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
ION TOPIX >[South Korea] GNP REPS WANT RETURN OF US NUCLEAR WEAPONS [Tacnukes] | CHUNG CALLS FOR RE-DEPLOYMENT OF USNUKES IN SOUTH.
ARTICS = denotes the INTENSE DEBATE going on inside SOUTH KOREA as per NEED FOR ROK INDIGENOUS NUCWEAPS + ABOVE + DPRK NUCLEAR THREAT.
#2
This is the elephant in the room that nobody's willing to acknowledge. Multi-culturalism works just fine... as long as you use the right cultures. Some cultures are more compatible than others.
Imam Siraj Wahhaj spoke to a packed room at an event sponsored by the Muslim Student Association at the University of Central Florida. Near the beginning of the imam's speech, someone stood up and said the Pledge of Allegiance.
Earlier in the day, UCF College Republicans, and people from the area gathered to protest the event.
"An unindicted co-conspirator in the World Trade Center attacks in the early 90s, he spoke as a character witness in the ones who were convicted of the attack," said the president of UCF College Republicans. "We're not saying he doesn't have the right to come speak on campus. We're more confused why they went with him."
"There's a label out there, the unindicted co-conspirator, which gets thrown around a lot. That label has no legal significance. Nothing has ever happened to him," said Hazem Bata, the event moderator. "He's a great speaker. He's very motivational. He understands American culture. He understands the problems and challenges that we face."
Alan Kornman, of the Florida Security Council, and Randy McDaniels, of ACT for America, disagreed. "These men represent groups that, in one group speak a message of raising up and killing non-Muslims, yet they come to the university and preach peace and tolerance in a second breath," said McDaniels. Kornman concurred, "At his mosque, it was quoted as saying, 'In time, the so-called democracy will crumble and there will be nothing and the only thing that will remain will be Islam.'"
Addressing the unindicted co-conspiracy allegation, Wahhaj told the crowd it is a charge he has had to bear for 18 years and that he is innocent. He claimed he was neither charged nor interviewed by the FBI.
Student activity funds were used to bring the imam to speak. The Muslim Student Association applied for $6,500 in funding for Islam Awareness Month, $1,250 of that went to the imam.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Naperville police said the 48-year-old man called investigators Wednesday to say he believed the woman, with whom he had been involved in a 2 1/2-year online relationship, had been kidnapped in London, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Friday.
A specialist ice cream parlor plans to serve up breast milk ice cream and says people should think of it as an organic, free-range treat.
Officials in Kabul say they have freed an Afghani who had been jailed since May and faced the death penalty for converting to Christianity. 
Khaleda Zia
