NewFlyBoy

My father was a U.S. Navy veteran of this battle. Please see story: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/bloody-hell-okinawa-180975148/

Please see article: https://getpocket.com/explore/item/why-the-p-47-thunderbolt-a-world-war-ii-beast-of-the-airways-ruled-the-skies?utm_source=pocket-newtab-global-en-GB

Interesting article -- I just came back from 3 weeks in Scotland and much of this article resonates with what I saw and experienced. I would be interested in what my UK colleagues think about this... https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2022/01/will-britain-survive/621095/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-global-en-GB

I thought this might be of interest.... https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-59838958?utm_source=pocket-newtab-global-en-GB

I thought this might be of interest..... https://warontherocks.com/2021/12/the-unplanned-costs-of-an-unmanned-fleet/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-global-en-GB

NORAD official Santa tracker: https://www.noradsanta.org/en/map ....and in related news, NORAD announces Santa flying around International Space Station (see declassified video below) ! MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY !!!!

Oh my does that bring back memories -- back in the late 1970's a buddy of mine and I would meet once a week for some Richthofen's War followed up by a game of ALNAVCO's Seapower. I suppose Avalon Hill hex board games were the entry point into the hobby for a large group of individuals of a certain age......( I still have my copy of the game, BTW)...

On this, the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, here is an article on how DNA helped solve the remaining mysteries of that day. Today I'd like to remember a Pearl Harbor attack survivor that I worked with many decades ago -- US Navy seaman Art Mooney -- he was having breakfast in the mess hall when the first wave of the attack came in. He spent the rest of the day trying to help others while also trying to stay alive. My Dad, USN Chief Petty Officer George H. Brown -- like many others, went to the recruiting station the Monday after the attack to enlist. I am remembering him today as well. As is documented in first person accounts, Yamamoto was not elated as the successful attack occurred -- when asked why he was not happy, he is reported to have said "Because I fear today all we have accomplished is to awaken a sleeping giant" https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/12/04/pearl-harbor-80-years-uss-oklahoma-523256?utm_source=pocket-newtab

Interesting article on our preconceived perceptions of what "alien" might be; https://nautil.us/issue/42/fakes/is-physical-law-an-alien-intelligence

Strange radio signals coming from the center of the Milky Way Galaxy -- scientists unable to find the source.....I sense an new sci fi game coming.... https://www.aol.com/news/unusual-radio-wave-sent-middle-220012882.html

Author describes what it is like to eject from a jet fighter: https://www.popsci.com/what-aircraft-ejection-is-like/

Yes -- in fact the musical "Come from Away" touches on this subject

Thanks, Pete. Here is the Smithsonian Museum's account of the boat lift: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/911-flotilla-boats-evacuated-500000-new-yorkers-safety-180978614/

Here is a little known story of that day -- the great boat lift (a mini Dunkirk, if you will) -- how civilian boats converged on lower Manhattan to rescue an estimated 400,00 people. Please see story: https://www.nj.com/news/2021/09/the-great-boat-lift-of-911.html?utm_source=pocket-newtab

Marking the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States, the USS Constitution held memorial ceremonies and did a "turnaround" cruise around Boston harbor to honor the 2,997 Americans killed that day. During the cruise an overflight of F-15 fighter jets passed over the ship underway in the harbor. Please see link for more details. Twenty years ago I, my wife, and four children were preparing to fly to Italy out of JFK airport in New York City. I am an academic and I had one of 65 papers accepted for presentation at a special conference at the Vatican on Humanity and Work, the conference to begin on 9/12. Presenters and their families after the conference were to be taken to the Pope's summer residence outside Rome for a private audience. Obviously, we never got off the ground that day. The college at which I teach lost 6 alumni that day in the World Trade Center, 2 of whom were father and son working for the same financial institution. A man I had as a student when I was a high school teacher was also killed that day -- I remember him as a quiet 18 year old, although he was in his 40's on the day of his death. I live in the Hudson River Valley about 90 miles North of New York City -- hundreds of cars were towed away from the commuter train stations in the Valley in the days following -- cars of people who went to work that day and did not return. It is a sad and very somber day for all Americans who remember so vividly what happened on 9/11. https://ussconstitutionmuseum.org/events/september-11/