Berta and I leave tomorrow for Anvik, AK, on the Lower Yukon, weather permitting, and return on Monday July 28th. We will have little to no internet access, so there will probably be no posts till we are back. We are helping Christ Church Anvik with Vacation Bible School, and I will be doing “Deacon’s Eucharists” on the 20th and 27th.
This incident happened just before I began my AC-130 tour.
Forty Years Later, U.S. Soldiers to Be Buried
By Ian Shapira Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, July 18, 2008; 1:36 PM
The remains of two U.S. soldiers killed during the Vietnam War when their helicopter gunship was hit by enemy fire have been identified and will be returned 40 years after the men went missing, the Defense Department announced.
The bodies of Warrant Officer Arthur F. Chaney of Vienna and Chief Warrant Officer Bobby L. McKain of Garden City, Kan., will be returned to their families for burial at Arlington National Cemetery in coming weeks with full military honors, the department said yesterday.
Military officials identified the men’s remains after a lengthy investigation.
A U.S. citizen with “ties to Southeast Asian refugees” in 1985 turned over to U.S. officials human remains that he thought originated from the crash of an AC-130 aircraft in Laos, the department said. Officials disproved a link between the remains and the AC-130 crash, but later concluded that some of the remains were those of McKain and Chaney.
From 1989 to 2003, investigative teams from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command searched fruitlessly for the men’s crash site in Laos and Vietnam. But investigators ultimately identified McKain’s and Chaney’s remains using DNA and dental comparisons. Read the rest of this entry »
Today: Overcast with rain showers at times. High 54F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Tonight: Cloudy with showers. Low 48F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Tomorrow: Overcast with rain showers at times. High 58F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
readingeagle.com
By MARY PEMBERTON Associated Press Writer The Associated Press
7/18/2008 8:35:00 AM
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - For years, visitors wanting to see Denali National Park’s grizzly bears, moose, sheep and caribou have had to ride school buses that polluted the air and spoiled the tranquillity with their noisy, carbon dioxide-spewing diesel engines.
Now park officials are testing a hybrid bus that promises to run cleaner, cheaper, and quieter.
The 230-horsepower hybrid bus white and sporting pictures of Denali on its sides went on a drive in the park Thursday. The plan is to test it this summer to determine its potential for replacing the park’s 110 diesel buses.
Park managers do not allow visitors to drive their personal cars the length of the park road. Visitors board the buses near the park entrance. The 92-mile road, much of it unpaved, is the only way in and out of the nearly 6 million-acre park, home to Mount McKinley, at 20,320 feet the tallest mountain in North America.
The hybrid looking a lot like a spiffy school bus comes with a diesel engine but also has a hybrid system, said Keith Kladder, marketing manager for IC Bus of Warrenville, Ill., the manufacturer of the bus.
Production of the hybrid buses began about a year ago, Kladder said. Read the rest of this entry »
Alison Raphael, OneWorld US2 hours, 57 minutes ago
WASHINGTON, Jul 18 (OneWorld) - Street demonstrations, teach-ins, vigils, and “freezes” are among the events planned for this weekend as part of a nationwide protest against what are widely perceived to be moves by the George W. Bush administration toward military conflict with Iran.
“Freezes,” involving a large number of people standing in place for five minutes, are planned for key locations in New York City such as Grand Central Station and Penn Station, as well as Chicago’s Millennium Park and Santa Monica, California.
The term and new form of street action derive from the state of U.S.-Iran relations. The Bush administration says Iran must freeze its uranium enrichment program in order to “defrost” relations between the two countries and avoid further sanctions.
Elsewhere anti-war and religious groups, students, trade unions, and others will participate in “Call to Action: No War with Iran” co-sponsored by New York-based United for Peace and Justice and Washington, D.C.-based Peace Action.
Actions are planned in such diverse locations as Champaign-Urbana, Illinois; Melbourne, Florida; Philadelphia; San Francisco; and Waterloo, Iowa.
Two thirds of Americans asked during a recent Gallup poll whether they favor diplomatic initiatives or military action against Iran said they wanted the U.S. government to pursue peaceful negotiations. Read the rest of this entry »
U.S. and Iraq to set “time horizon” on troop cuts
By Matt Spetalnick 9 minutes ago
President George W. Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki have agreed that a security deal under negotiation should set a “time horizon” for reducing U.S. forces in Iraq, the White House said on Friday.
In the closest the Bush administration has come to acknowledging a need for some kind of timeframe for U.S. troop cuts, the White House said U.S. and Iraqi negotiators would seek “aspirational goals” for withdrawals.
Bush, an unpopular president waging an unpopular war in the twilight of his tenure, has adamantly opposed setting a schedule for scaling back U.S. forces, even as Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has vowed, if elected, to withdraw troops in 16 months.
Trying to play down the notion of a policy shift, the White House insisted Bush and Maliki, in a secure videoconference on Thursday, agreed any troop cuts would be “based on continued improving conditions on the ground and not an arbitrary date for withdrawal.” Read the rest of this entry »
The Top End will be awash with sailors, soldiers and pilots this weekend as a number of defence exercises begin.
Less than a month after the international war games Pitch Black ripped through the skies of Darwin, the roaring sounds of jets are back.
More than 520 US Marine and Navy personnel will be arriving in Katherine to start a month long exercise using 23 fighter jets and two cargo planes.
In Darwin, an estimated 2,000 sailors from ten countries are expected to flood the streets in preparation for sea war games off the coast of north Australia.
At the same time, 2 giant B52 bombers will fly through Top End skies over the next five days. It is the sixth time the US bombers have visited Australia in the last two years.
The Department of Defence says the planes will not be carrying any weapons during the training program.
When I went to Ubon, Thailand for the AC-130, our commander, a Colonel, in the orientation, assured us we would enjoy our stay as much as he did. He lived in a well-maintained air-conditioned trailer; we lived in a dilapidated barracks with outdoor toilets and whose air-conditioning was constantly breaking down. He had a live-in “girlfriend”; we were not allowed this. He had a staff of servants; though there were maids, basically we were on our own. This reminds me a lot of that.
July 18, 2008 UPI
WASHINGTON - Production has begun on “comfort capsules” for top brass on military transport planes, paid for in part with counterterrorism funds, The Washington Post said.
Air Force officials have worked for three years to use counterterrorism funds on the amenities. Officials told the newspaper the capsules are necessary for military and civilian leaders to be productive and get proper rest in flight.
However, some lower-ranking Air Force officers and some Capitol Hill staffers, among other, called the project a waste of public funds.
Air Force documents indicate the capsules are to be “aesthetically pleasing and furnished to reflect the rank of “senior leaders,” the Post said. Specifications call not only for beds, a couch and a table, but also a 37-inch flat-screen TV monitor, with stereo speakers, and a full-length mirror. Read the rest of this entry »
