Engrish.com

Best pick-up line, ever! 

Photo courtesy of David Kesinger.
Sign on laundromat in Utsunomiya, Japan.

WWII WASPS

NewsFirst5

Ten women from Colorado will be honored with the Congressional Gold Medal for their service during World War II as Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs, at a March 10 ceremony at the United States Capitol. Nearly 70 years since their World War II service, they will be honored for the first time for their trailblazing efforts as the first civilian female pilots to fly military aircraft under the direction of the United States Army Air Forces. Of the group of 1,102 WASP, fewer than 300 are still alive.  Nearly half the survivors and more than 1,000 family members will travel to Washington to receive the recognition they deserve.

Women to be honored with the Congressional Gold Medal from Colorado are Lucile Wise, Arvada; Ruth Brown, Aspen; Elizabeth Pfister, Aspen; Grace Lotowycz, Boulder; Millicent Young, Colorado Springs; Annabelle Moss, Grand Junction; Doris Tracy, La Veta; Kathryn Gunderson, Lakewood; Josephine Robinson, Louisville; and Peggy McCaffrey, Montrose.

WASP pilot Elizabeth L. Gardner at the window of her B-26 Marauder during WWII

 Just funnin’ ya.

The tirade was actually directed at the EU President, but the Brits despise Obama (and who can blame them!) and the tirade could have just as easily been directed at Dear Leader.

Just sayin’ is all.

LiveLeak: This is the Tussing Elementary 3rd grade class singing a sincere thank you to our brave and strong soldiers, men and women, past and current, for protecting us in times of war and peace.

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Good job to the adults who taught our American children to sing a song of gratitude to our deserving U.S. military and not to the undeserving anti-American megalomaniac Barack Hussein Obama.

Of course, the teachers will probably get fired for what the Left would call an act of treason. Any songs song by school children must only be in praise of Dear Leader.

By Mail Foreign Service

Claims that British and Irish passport holders are among an alleged 11-man hit squad wanted in Dubai for the apparent assassination of a Hamas commander are tonight being investigated by London and Dublin.

Dubai police say the main suspect is Peter Elvinger, 49, who holds a French passport. He was the gang’s logistical co-ordinator and the one who booked room 237 in Al Bustan Rotana, down the corridor from the victim’s room – 230.

The other suspects were identified as Irish nationals Gail Folliard, Kevin Daveron and Evan Dennings; British nationals Paul John Keely, Stephen Daniel Hodes, Melvyn Adam Mildiner, Jonathan Louis Graham, James Leonard Clarke and Michael Lawrence Barney. Also wanted is Michael Bodenheimer, a German national.

The hit squad was responsible for killing Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in his hotel room last month in a slaying that has brought vows of revenge from the Palestinian militant group, Dubai’s police chief said.

The details given by Lt Gen Dhahi Khalfan Tamim are the most comprehensive accusations by Dubai authorities since the body of al-Mabhouh was found on January 20 in his luxury hotel room near Dubai’s international airport.

Tamim told reporters the alleged assassination team was made up of six British passport holders, three Irish and one each from France and Germany.

But he did not directly implicate Israel – as Hamas has done. The group has accused Israel’s Mossad secret service of carrying out the killing and has pledged to strike back.

Alleged leader Peter Elvinger holds a French passport, while Gail Folliard is Irish

Stephen Daniel Hodes (British)

Paul John Keeley (British)

Michael Lawrence Barney (British)

James Leonard Clarke (British)

Melvyn Adam Mildiner (British)

Jonathan Louis Graham (British)

Kevin Daveron
(Irish)

Michael Bodenheimer (German)

Evan Dennings
(Irish)

Tamim said it was possible that ‘leaders of certain countries gave orders to their intelligence agents to kill’ al-Mabhouh, one of the founders of Hamas’ military wing. Israeli officials have accused him of helping smuggle rockets into Gaza.

He said forensic tests indicate al-Mabhouh died of suffocation, but lab analyses are still under way to pinpoint possible other factors in his death.

Top Hamas figures have denied reports that al-Mabhouh was en route to Iran, which is a major Hamas backer. But the group has not given clear reasons for his presence in Dubai.

Tamim sketched out a highly organized operation in the hours before the killing.

He showed a news conference surveillance video of the alleged assassination team arriving on separate flights to Dubai the day before al-Mabhouh was found dead. The suspects checked into separate hotels.

They paid for all expenses in cash and used different mobile phone cards to avoid traces, he added.

At least two suspected members of the hit squad watched al-Mabhouh check in at his hotel and later booked a room across from the Hamas commander, Tamim said.

He added that there was ‘serious penetration into al-Mabhouh’s security prior to his arrival’ in Dubai, but that it appeared al-Mabhouh was travelling alone.

‘Hamas did not tell us who he was. He was walking around alone,’ said Tamim. ‘If he was such an important leader, why didn’t he have people escorting him?’

Tamim said there was at least one unsuccessful attempt to break into al-Mabhouh’s hotel room. It was unclear whether he opened the door to his killers or if the room was forcibly entered.

The killing took place about five hours after al-Mabhouh arrived at the hotel and all 11 suspects were out of the United Arab Emirates within 19 hours of their arrivals, he added.

Tamim said the suspects left some evidence, but he declined to elaborate. He urged the countries linked to the alleged killers to co- operate with the investigation.

Earlier this month, Hamas said it launched floating explosives into the Mediterranean Sea to drift toward Israeli beaches to avenge al-Mabhouh’s death.

Israeli authorities discovered at least two explosives-rigged barrels and carried out an intensive search for other bombs, closing miles of beaches and deploying robotic bomb squads.

A Hamas statement last month acknowledged al-Mabhouh was involved in the kidnapping and killing of two Israeli soldiers in 1989 and said he was still playing a ‘continuous role in supporting his brothers in the resistance inside the occupied homeland’ at the time of his death.

More than 2,000 mourners attended al-Mabhouh’s funeral and burial at the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk, near Damascus, Syria.

Britain’s Foreign Office declined to comment today on the allegations while officials seek more information on the case and the individuals named by Tamim.

Hamas initially claimed al-Mabhouh was poisoned and electrocuted. But Mohammed Nazzal, a Hamas leader, has given a somewhat different account, saying al-Mabhouh was ambushed by Mossad agents who were waiting for him in his hotel room.

Nazzal said earlier this month that no poison was involved. But he gave no evidence to back up his charge of Mossad involvement.

Top Hamas figures have denied reports that al-Mabhouh was en route to Iran, which is a major Hamas backer. But the group has not given clear reasons for his presence in Dubai.

USASOC News Service

A memorial service is scheduled for Retired Army Col. Robert L. Howard, a Medal of Honor recipient, U.S. Army Ranger and Special Forces veteran Feb. 17, 11 a.m., at the Ranger Memorial.

Howard, born July 11, 1939, in Opelika, Ala., was known throughout the Army and the military’s Special Operations community for his courage and leadership in combat. He entered the service July 20, 1956 and was medically retired Sept. 30, 1992. He died of natural causes Dec. 23 at his residence in San Antonio, Texas.

Howard received the Medal of Honor for actions in Vietnam Dec. 30, 1968. He was nominated three times for the award in thirteen months; the first was downgraded to the Distinguished Service Cross and the last was downgraded to a Silver Star. All three came while he served as a non-commissioned officer in the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam—Studies and Observations Group.

He received a direct commission from master sergeant to first lieutenant in December 1969 and went on to command several units throughout his career.

His military assignments include service with the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions; 2nd Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment; 3rd, 5th, and 6th Special Forces Groups, 5th Infantry Division; 7th Corps and XVIII Airborne Corps.

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FYI: Col. Howard performed all his battlefield heroism as an enlisted Green Beret.

Look up the definition of “Bad Mother Fucker” and there will be a picture of Bob Howard.

Photo by Darren Schone, Minnesota Aviation 

By Tim Engstrom–Albert Lea Tribune

For his wife this Valentine’s Day, a farmer has created a half-mile wide arrow-pierced heart recognizable from the sky about 12 miles southwest of Albert Lea.

Following plans he jotted on scratch paper, Bruce Andersland drove his tractor and manure spreader earlier this week in the special shape for his wife, Beth.

On Thursday afternoon, the Tribune was on the telephone with Beth when she had her first look at the aerial image, taken through Minnesota Aviation by Albert Lea pilot Darren Schone.

With a gasp, Beth said, “Now I’ve got my Valentine! That’s pretty cute.”

She said it was the biggest and most original Valentine she has received in her life.

Bruce said he had the idea because the square-mile, snow-covered field seemed fitting for something.

“There’s such a nice field there. I thought we could just do it for fun,” he said.

Bruce began the project Wednesday and finished Thursday.

Beth first discovered he was working on the heart when he emptied his pockets on Wednesday night. She asked him about the scratch paper with the heart pattern on it, and he explained.

“He thinks of cute things to do once in a while, so I was a little surprised,” she said.

Beth raises purebred Simmentals on their farm. That makes getting a Valentine made of manure actually a good thing.

“That’s just part of farm life. Doing something fun and creative with it makes farming fun,” she said.

The heart, she said, would be darker except for the heavy snowfall in the past week that fell in the cattle pens. The snow mixed with the manure, so the spreader ended up spreading manure and snow.

The heart is in Section 24 of Mansfield Township. The Anderslands, who have been married for 37 years, live just across gravel road 670th Avenue in Nunda Township, near the bottom of the heart. The farm has been in the Andersland family since 1923.

Kathie Hanson of Minnesota Aviation said it was a special assignment the pilot enjoyed fulfilling.

It’s a beautiful thang!