I finished reading the 5,000 Year Leap yesterday.

This morning I found this video posted at Glenn Beck’s 9/12 Project site. I think it ties in nicely with Human Achievement Hour. America is the 5,000 year leap of  human achievement. Freedom’s Last Stand.

Human Achievement Hour.  YES!  Found at Michelle Malkin.  From the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Check out their video.

I’m a little late in getting this up.  The reason…I just got back from visiting my brother in the hospital.  He had both knees replaced on Monday.  He’s going home tomorrow.  That, I would say, is HUMAN ACHIEVEMENT!!!

When I got home…DH was in full anti-darkness mode.

My little beacon in the darkness.

Earth Hour.  I’d intended to give this much more thought and references and throw in some quotations for good measure…but some pressing issues have intervened and a quick note on the fridge will have to do.

NASA photo

Looking at this photo, a couple of things come to mind.  The brightly lit areas…civilization…people working…living…pretty much in relative comfort.  The dark areas…not so much.  If it makes you feel better…like you’re doing something for the planet…have at it…turn off your lights…sit in the darkness…party like it’s 1099.  The people who are all gung ho for this kind of display go on and on about alternative energy…develop wind power..blah blah blah.  When someone does…they cry that it will harm the “esthetics” of the desert…or screw up the view from their ocean front property.  Can’t have it both ways people.

If I had the time…my house would look like this at 8:30 tonight…with the sound cranked all the way up.

(And that’s Frisco, TEXAS…not the other one.)

Chief Master Sergeant Paul Wesley Airey

“Chief Airey was an Airman’s Airman and one of the true pioneers for our service,” said Gen. Norton Schwartz, Air Force Chief of Staff. “He was a warrior, an innovator… and a leader with vision well ahead of his time. His legacy lives today in the truly professional enlisted force we have serving our nation… and for that we owe him a debt of gratitude.”

Chief Airey was born in Quincy, Mass., on December 13, 1923. At age eighteen, shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December, 7, 1941, Airey quit high school to enlist in the Army Air Forces on November 16, 1942. He later earned his high school equivalency certificate through off-duty study. During World War II he flew as a B-24 radio operator and additional duty aerial gunner. On his 28th mission, then-Technical Sergeant Airey and his fellow crewmen were shot down over Vienna, Austria, captured, and held prisoner by the German air force from July 1944 to May 1945. During his time as a prisoner of war he worked tirelessly to meet the basic needs of fellow prisoners, even through a 90-day forced march.

Chief Airey held the top enlisted from April 3, 1967 to July 31, 1969. During his tenure he worked to change loan establishments charging exorbitant rates outside the air base gates and to improve low retention during the Vietnam Conflict. Chief Airey also led a team that laid the foundation for the Weighted Airman Promotion System, a system that has stood the test of time and which is still in use today. He also advocated for an Air Force-level Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy. His vision became reality when the academy opened in 1973, becoming the capstone in the development of Air Force Senior NCOs. Chief Airey retired August 1, 1970. He continued advocating for Airmen’s rights by serving on the boards of numerous Air Force and enlisted professional military organizations throughout the years. He was a member of the Board of Trustees for the Airmen Memorial Museum, a member of the Air Force Memorial Foundation and the Air University Foundation.

On the north wall of the Air Force Memorial in Washington D.C., Chief Airey’s thoughts on Airmen are immortalized, “When I think of the enlisted force, I see dedication, determination, loyalty and valor.” The Air Force Association honored Airey with its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007.

Chief Airey passed away on March 11, 2009 at his home in Panama City, Florida

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

One of the reasons I love the internet is all the random, interesting, sometimes totally useless (unless you’re trying out for Jeopardy) information you come across.  So I’ve decided to collect some of these tidbits that have caught my attention.

Didja know…

• Carole Lombard (wife of Clark Gable) was a second generation member of the Baha’i faith?
• She was a Hoosier…as are DH and The Daughter
• She was killed in a plane crash, 16 January 1942, while returning from a War Bond Drive.
• In June 1942 a Liberty Ship was christened in her name.
• In December 1945 my father returned home from the Pacific Theater on the S S Carole Lombard.

This is part of a chart he kept on the trip back home.

I may be in Cleveland…but Cincinnati ROCKS!

On one of those link to link to link trails through the intertubes….I came across this site and this video…

7th ANNUAL

RALLY FOR THE TROOPS

SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2009

CLEVELAND PUBLIC SQUARE

11:00 AM to 12:00 NOON

Free Parking will be provided by Forest City in the
Tower City parking lots off Huron Road.

Post Rally Food and Entertainment at

Cleveland Harley-Davidson Sales Company

Every member of the Armed Forces is somebody’s son or daughter, worth of our respect, our pride, our devotion and our never ending streams of support, love and prayers.

There’s so much going on in all of our lives these days…but nothing we do can compare to what these sons and daughters do…for all of us.  At the very least, we can stand on Public Square for an hour to show our love and support.

Taking a late night walk through the intertubes last night I came across The Patriot Room.  Looks like an interesting site that I’ll go back to.  What really got my attention was a picture on their links and about pages.

Max Headroom is one of my favorite shows.  (If only they’d release it on DVD!!)  Considering some of the things being proposed by the great thinkers in Washington, it ocurred to me that I just might want to be a Blank.  Of course, if that comes to pass….won’t be writing here anymore!