This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Author: Hondo

  • Think Lightning Never Strikes Twice? Think Again. (Updated)

    Remember about 6 weeks ago when a former VA employee in Rhode Island got sentenced for stealing VA tombstones awaiting disposition and using them to pave his carport?  Think it couldn’t possibly happen again?

    Well, you’re right.  It didn’t happen again.

    At least not exactly. This time it was a patio and a staircase that were found to be paved with what appeared to be VA-provided veteran’s tombstones.  And it was in Missouri vice Rhode Island.

    I’m dead serious.

     

     

    The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has an article with more details. It’s worth a read.

    Sheesh. You’d think the cheap bastard who did this would have at least had the decency to turn the headstones name side down.

    At least now the matter is under investigation by the VA OIG.

     

    UPDATE:  well, it looks like no investigation will be required.  The owner of the home in question has admitted that the patio was made from discarded headstones he found in a landfill. (A local monument company apparently did at one time did make VA headstones.)  He also went on to say, “I was just making something out of nothing . . . I didn’t know.”

    Presumably he means “I didn’t know that was a bad thing to do.”  Make up your own mind whether you believe the guy or not.

    The guy also indicated he’ll remove the patio.  Presumably that goes for the staircase, too.

     

     

     

  • Ever Wondered “Why Platte River Networks”?

    Ever wonder why Clintoon chose Platte River Networks to host her private email server?  Well, it appears that the UK’s Daily Mail got curious about that too.

    So they tracked down a few former Platte River Networks employees and asked them some questions.

    This is what they found.   I’ll warn ya:  “It ain’t pretty.”  But the article does appear to have a good timeline of what happened when.

    Color me unsurprised.  When it comes to the Clintoons and how they operate, insider connections and plausible deniability seem to be primary concerns.

    The linked article is IMO worth a read.  But after reading it, I can’t say I’ll be surprised if it turns out there really aren’t any existing backups of Clintoon’s server.

  • Here Ya Go – A “Private” Email Update

    Here’s the latest on the continuing saga of the Clintoon “private” email brouhaha.

    • The number of “private” emails in Clintoon’s stash that have been reviewed and found to contain classified information now stands at at least 60.

    • A guy named Bob Woodward says that the whole thing “reminds me of the Nixon tapes” – and he’d probably know a thing or two about the Watergate scandal.

    • The Washington Times also discusses a whole host of procedural irregularities regarding the handling of Clintoon’s “private” emails.

    • And, finally, we have this from ABC News, courtesy of YouTube:

    Might want to tighten up that shoulder harness, Madam Former SECSTATE. It looks like the ride’s about to get bumpy.

    But your husband seems to be handling the stress of the situation fairly well. Maybe you also should hit the links to relax – instead of the campaign trail.

    (Hat tip to Drudge for the first 4 links.)

     

    UPDATE:  later reporting says the number of emails possibly containing classified information now exceeds 300.

  • Domo Arigato, Mori-sama

    On 6 August 1945, the US dropped the “Little Boy” nuclear bomb on Hirsoshima.  Within days, 140,000 Japanese had died at Hiroshima.

    So had 12 Americans.

    The 12 Americans who died at Hiroshima were POWs. They were all US airmen who had been captured after their aircraft had been shot down.

    They were being held POW in Hirsoshima on the day of the bombing. They’d all arrived there within the previous two weeks.

    Most of the US POWs killed at Hiroshima died immediately.  A few – the number seems to be 2 – initially survived, but died within days of the bombing from radiation sickness.

    The fact that US POWs died at Hiroshima wasn’t publicly acknowledged until the 1970s. Even today it’s not a widely known fact.

    That’s unfortunate. But one individual – an individual who you might not expect – has ensured those POWs end will be properly remembered.

    . . .    

    Shigeaki Mori is a hibakusha – a survivor of the nuclear bombings of Japan. He was a resident of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945. At the time, he was an 8-year-old schoolboy.

    Originally Mori attended a school across the street from the Chugoku Military Police HQ in Hiroshima. The Chugoku Military Police HQ was where the US POWs were held captive; it was approximately 820m from ground zero.

    Less than a week before the bombing, Mori was transferred to another school about 1.5 miles away from ground zero. That chance occurrence almost certainly saved his life.  All US POWs that were not killed outright during the Hiroshima bombing died within a week of radiation sickness.

    When the bomb detonated, Mori was crossing a bridge.  He was blown from the bridge into the water.  He was exposed to radiation then, and afterwards.

    However, unlike many in Hiroshima Mori was not fatally injured.  Mori survived, and grew to adulthood.

    He became a historian.

    During the 1970s, Mori learned that 12 US POWs had died in the Hiroshima bombing. As a hibakusha, one might expect Mori to have muttered something like, “Serves them right” – and gone on with his life.

    He did not. Mori also learned something else: none of those US POWs had been formally recognized as Hiroshima dead.

    Japan maintains a register of those who were killed at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, or who later succumbed to delayed effects from the bombings. This register is managed and maintained by the Mayor of Hiroshima.

    Much like the US Vietnam War Memorial, additional names are added as additional individuals are confirmed to have died in the bombing – and as people continue to die from effects related to the bombings. These names are added to the register on the anniversary of the bombing following either documentation of their death during the bombing or their later death from the bombing’s aftereffcts.  As of 6 August 2011, the register contained 275,230 names.

    Initially, all names on the register were Japanese; the POWs who died at Hiroshima were not listed there.  That was the case in the 1970s.

    Mori decided that the 12 Americans who had died at Hiroshima due to the bombing deserved the same recognition. Over a period of many years, Mori worked to make that a reality.

    The process was a slow one. Today, the registration of persons as Hiroshima dead requires documentation – as well as a request from the family of the deceased. Mori thus had to locate and contact the surviving family of each of the 12 US POWs killed at Hiroshima, then convince them to request their deceased relative be listed on the register.

    In 1998, Mori obtained permission and erected a small copper memorial plaque at the remains of the building at which the US POWs had been housed. In 2002, he completed the registration process for 2 of the US POWs killed at Hiroshima; their names were formally entered in the register of Hiroshima dead.

    By 2009, Mori had completed the registration process for all 12 US POWs killed at Hiroshima. Their names and photographs are now on file at the Hall of Remembrance, located at the Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims.

    This year, Mori achieved another of his aims. At his invitation, Susan Archinski – a niece of Airman 3d Class Normand Brissette, who had been shot down and taken prisoner 10 days before the bombing, and who died at Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 – came to Japan.  This August, she and Mori visited Hiroshima.  I’m certain they each said a prayer for the souls of those US POWs killed at Hiroshima, and for the others who died that day as well.

    . . .

    Any member of the military comes to terms with the possibility of death, and accepts that possibility.  However, each member of the military fears being lost and forgotten. Thanks to Shigeaki Mori – a survivor of the Hiroshima bombing – the 12 US POWs who also died at Hiroshima will never be forgotten.

    Rest in peace, men.

    And though thoroughly inadequate:  Domo arigato, Mori-sama.

    . . .

     

    Author’s Notes

    1.   The following US POWs died at Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 or died of radiation sickness within days afterwards.

    Captured crew of USAAF B-24 Lonesome Lady:

    • Co-pilot, 2LT Durden W. Looper, 22, of Arkansas
    • Bombardier, 2LT James M. Ryan, 20, of New York
    • Radioman, SGT Hugh H. Atkinson, 26, of Washington State
    • Nose turret, CPL John A. Long, Jr., 27, of Pennsylvania
    • Engineer, SGT Buford J. Ellison, 22, of Texas
    • Ball turret, SSG Ralph J. Neal, 23, of Kentucky

    Captured crew of USAAF B-24 Taloa:

    • Pilot, 1LT Joseph E. Dubinsky, 27, of Pennsylvania
    • Gunner, SSG Julius Molnar, 20, of Michigan
    • Gunner, SSG Charles O. Baumgartner, 30, of Ohio

    Captured crew of USN SB2C Helldiver from the USS Ticonderoga:

    • Pilot, LT Raymond L. Porter, 24, of Pennsylvania
    • Gunner, PO3 Normand R. Brissette, 19, of Massachusetts

    Captured crew of USN F6F Hellcat from the USS Randolph:

    • ENS John J. Hantschel, 23, of Wisconsin

    2.  In 2008, Mori located wreckage from the US B-24 Taloa that had escaped Japanese wartime confiscation as scrap metal.  With assistance from the Asahi Shimbun Mori located and arranged to send portions of that wreckage to a surviving family member of SSG Charles O. Baumgartner, and to a close living friend of SSG Julius Molnar, as tangible keepsakes.   Both of these individuals died at Hiroshima.

    As of last report, Mori was still searching for relatives of the remaining Taloa crew members.

    3.  In addition to the 12 US POW’s killed at Hiroshima, one US soldier was being held POW at Nagasaki on 9 August 1945.  He survived the bombing.

    This individual was Joe Kieyoomia, a member of the 200th Coastal Artillery Unit, US Army – and a Navajo.  It is believed that the concrete walls of his cell provided enough protection to spare him serious injury from both the Nagasaki bomb’s blast and radiation.

    Kieyoomia had been taken prisoner in the Philippines in 1942. Before the Nagasaki bombing, he had survived the Bataan Death March; 3 1/2 years of captivity as a POW, including torture (the Japanese initially thought he was a Japanese-American vice Navajo); survived additional torture when he could not help the Japanese break the Navajo Code Talker codes.  He then survived both the Nagasaki bombing and being abandoned for 3 days afterwards.

    Kieyoomia died in 1997 – at age 77.  He was the only US POW who was also a recognized hibakusha.

     

    Sources:

    http://www.stripes.com/news/special-reports/world-war-ii-the-final-chapter/wwii-victory-in-japan/after-fight-to-recognize-hiroshima-s-american-victims-historian-meets-one-of-their-relatives-1.360327

    http://www.stripes.com/news/three-u-s-pows-added-to-roster-of-hiroshima-deaths-1.93398

    http://www.stripes.com/news/hiroshima-historian-returns-fragments-of-shot-down-bomber-to-loved-ones-in-u-s-1.85323

    http://www.stripes.com/news/historian-tells-of-americans-pows-killed-at-hiroshima-1.38375

    http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201205160089

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Kieyoomia

  • “Curiouser and Curiouser”, Said . . . Pretty Much Everyone

    By now, I’d guess everybody has heard about former SECSTATE Clinton’s use of a private email server for official business email.

    While Clinton’s private email server appears to have been wiped clean of data before being turned over to Federal authorities, copies of many emails it formerly stored were apparently transferred to a USB “thumb drive”. That thumb drive was in turn apparently transferred to Clinton’s lawyer, David Kendall in December of last year.

    A sample of email stored on that thumb drive was later reviewed by Intelligence Community (IC) officials. Those IC officials determined that some of those emails were contained classified information.

    That determination happened on 22 May of this year. But it wasn’t until early July that Federal authorities delivered a GSA-approved safe allowing proper storage of classified information to Kendall’s offices.

    So, riddle me this. How and where was that classified thumb drive stored between 22 May and early July? Why wasn’t that thumb drive turned over to the government – perhaps in a sealed envelope after a joint inspection by Clinton’s and the Federal government’s lawyers – on or about 23 May in order to ensure it was properly stored and safeguarded?

    And, perhaps most importantly – besides Clinton and her Kendall, who else had access to the device between 22 May and early July?

    Inquiring minds want to know!

     

    FWIW: it also appears that Clinton’s aide and confidante extraordinaire, Huma Abedin, also had and used an account on that email server. And it still remains unclear whether the internet hosting service from which Clintoon rented the server – Platte River Networks – did or did not maintain a backup server that might shed further light on these . . . somewhat unusual goings on.

    I just don’t think we’ve heard the last of this.  Stay tuned.

  • More F-35 “Good News”

    Most TAH readers have heard about that new F-35 “Lightning II” that DoD insists will be ready for prime time “real soon now”.   (Yeah, I know the USMC has accepted it and declared it “operational” – but I won’t consider it truly “ready for prime time” until it can perform its Close Air Support [CAS] role too.  And as I’ll discuss below, right now the F-35 simply can’t do that.)

    Well, it seems that there’s another little minor issue with the platform that’s been made public.

    Jonn’s written previously about how the F-35 is less maneuverable in a dogfight than one of the aircraft it will replace, the F-16.  Others have written elsewhere about the fact that the F-35 will be far less effective at the Close Air Support (CAS) role than the A-10 – if for no other reason than the F-35 is only designed to carry between 15.5% (USAF model, 182 rounds) and 18.7% (USN/USMC model, 220 rounds) as much cannon ammunition as the A-10 can carry (1,174 rounds).

    But it will certainly be better air-to-air against the current aircraft it might face from Russia or China, right?  Well, in a word – no.

    Turns out that the F-35 will also likely be less maneuverable than the current aircraft from Russia and China it’s expected to face.  So it will likely be worse than those aircraft in an air-to-air role, too.

    Yeah, the analysis was done by a progressive think tank.  So?   Remember:  they are capable of telling the truth on occasion, too.  (smile)

    Gee, what a surprise. I mean, the program has been an unmitigated success so far, right?

    So, to recap: the F-35 is hugely expensive – several times more expensive than the aircraft it replaces.  It’s worse as a CAS platform – and, by the way, it won’t even be available for that role for at least 4 years, as performing that role isn’t possible until gun control software which is projected to be available in 2019 is delivered (and only then if that gun control software works correctly).  It is less maneuverable than the F16 it replaces in a dogfight.  And it’s also less maneuverable than the foreign aircraft it may have to face in air-to-air combat.

    So . . . what’s not to like?

    Folks, we’ve seen this “movie” once before.  Specifically, we saw it early in Vietnam – when US aircraft, designed not for maneuverability and depending solely on air-to-air missiles to take out enemy aircraft – got absolutely savaged by more maneuverable Soviet designs.  (The air-to-air loss ratio early during the Vietnam War was about 1-to-1.)  Plus, those aircraft kinda stunk when performing a CAS role, too.

    The “movie” absolutely sucked then.  There’s a damn good chance we’ll see a modern-day sequel if we continue down this path – and it will suck just as badly as the original.

    We learned from that earlier fiasco, though.  The result was a new generation of US military aircraft that took those lessons to heart.  Those aircraft were the F-15, F-16, F/A-18, and the A-10.

    The F-35 is a turkey.  We need to admit that fact, pull the plug on it, and go back to the drawing board.  Yesterday.

  • Seventy Years Ago . . . .

    . . . shortly after noon, Japanese Standard Time, the Emperor of Japan by radio announced Japan’s acceptance of Allied demands for an unconditional surrender.

    The official acceptance ceremony for the Japanese surrender – which formally ended World War II – occurred 18 days later, on 2 September 1945.

    While today doesn’t mark the formal end of World War II, it does mark the substantive end of most hostilities. So it’s IMO worth remembering.

    Thanks Dad, Uncle Stan, Uncle Joe, Uncle Bill, and Uncle Norb. Though only one of you is still here in body, I’m reasonably sure you’re all here today in spirit.

  • About That Clinton “Private Email” Server . . . .

    Well, this just keeps getting “better and better”.

    It turns out that the “private email server” that the former SECSTATE was using for work-related purposes wasn’t a stand-alone machine. Rather, it was apparently a server rented from an internet hosting company named “Platte River Networks”. The physical machinery was located in a data center in New Jersey; the precise ownership of that data center is unclear (hosting vendors sometimes lease physical hardware from other firms).

    And as the old Ronco TV ads said:  “But wait, there’s more!”  It also appears that when initially set up – e.g., for the first 2 to 3 months – the server had abysmally weak security overall, making it vulnerable to potential spoofing, monitoring, and unauthorized access.  And it also appears that the email stored on the server may never have been encrypted while in storage.

    Did I mention that Clinton traveled extensively during her first 3 months in office – including visits to Japan, Indonesia, Korea, China, Egypt, Israel, Belgium, Switzerland, and Turkey?

    The server was picked up by Federal agents on Wednesday of this week. But it seems there’s one last minor issue.

    That issue is that the server has been wiped clean – apparently professionally. There’s no useful information left on it, and the hosting company doesn’t have any backup copies of what it formerly contained.

    Hmm. Stonewall for months, then turn over a machine that has been professionally wiped. Yeah, that sounds completely innocent and aboveboard to me.

    Move along, folks. Nothing to see here.