Philip Glass and Ravi Shankar - “Offering”

On September 3, 2007, James Stephen Fossett, an American aviator, sailor, adventurer, and holder of 116 records in five different sports (60 of which still stand), took off in a single-engine Bellanca Super Decathlon airplane from a private airstrip known as Flying-M Ranch near Smith Valley, Nevada. The ranch and airfield (guarded by Blackwater during the later search and rescue effort) are owned by Barron Hilton. The flight was expected to last 3 hours. Six hours after takeoff Fossett was reported missing and a search for him and his plane was begun. Although many privately-funded search efforts have continued, the search was officially called off on October 2nd. One month later, his wife requested that Fossett be declared legally dead and on February 15th of this year her request was granted.

Now, in the mold of the National Enquirer’s dubious claim of John Edward’s mistress and love child, comes the Daily Mail’s strongly-suggested claim of Fossett’s pseudocide, i.e., he faked his death, suggestions also made by many other, and mostly more reliable, sources.

The Daily Mail article does raise some intriguing points. Here are a few of them:

* Despite extensive and sophisticated and hugely expensive searches, no body or plane wreckage has been found.
* He did not file a flight plan (he was not required to do this).
* Although he had always worn it, he left his global positioning system watch, with an emergency transponder, behind. The plane was fitted with a satellite rescue beacon to alert rescuers to his position if he crashed, but no signal was ever received and the beacon has never been located.
* Even with cool weather, and very cold nights, he wore only a T-shirt and shorts and had no parachute or blankets with him. He carried only one bottle of water.
* He left without an emergency kit, something he is not known to have ever done.
* Only one person claims to have seen the flight take off.
* Rescue investigators discovered that Fossett, married for 38 years to childhood sweetheart Peggy, had at least two mistresses and was living a secret double life. There are suggestions that he was in financial trouble and feared a ruinous divorce if his philandering was discovered.

Steve Fossett’s widow has dismissed faked death claims, but there are certainly financial reasons for her to do so.

Here’s more about Fossett, including his possible pseudocide, and a google search for “Steve Fossett, faked death” will keep you busy for a long time. The Chicago Magazine has this article, Without A Trace.

Hey! It’s good to be back home at Blue Herald!

Gone are the days of beatings, (oftentimes fatal), of those amongst us that don’t quite fit in with the straight, white crowd? I don’t think so…

Town struggles with fallout from immigrant’s fatal beating

SHENANDOAH, Pennsylvania (CNN) — By the time help arrived, Luis Ramirez lay convulsing in the middle of the street, foam running from his mouth.

Blows had struck the 25-year-old illegal Mexican immigrant with such force that they left a clotted, bruised impression of Jesus Christ on the skin of his chest from the religious medal he wore.

His attackers were white teenagers, including star students and football players, witnesses told police.

After a night of drinking, the teens taunted the undocumented worker with racial epithets, pummeled him to the ground and then kicked him in the head, court documents charge. He died in a hospital two days later.

Hate isn’t inborn. It’s taught. Imprisoning those who act out on their hate is only part of the solution. Find the teachers of hate these boys have been subjected to and throw their butts in jail too.

Their defense: “Defense attorneys for two of the teens say Ramirez responded to the name-calling with his own insults, which escalated the confrontation into to a fight that got out of hand.”

So he should have stood there and took these bastard’s abuses like a good little Mexican boy? I’m sure these boy’s privileged, white families will fight this tooth and nail - and most likely will win.

Just once I’d like to see a story where some idiot bigot decided to run his racist mouth and take on three or four muscular Mexicans. Chicken shit racists run in packs, like the dogs they are. But there’s a very special place in hell for the racist, bigoted crowd. And knowing that makes me smile.

The Bush team has now taken over McCain’s campaign. I’m hoping this strategy will be why Obama wins. I think overall, Americans are sick of this shit. Although, there’s always that 20 some %…….. NOW I’m going swimming…..

Mr. McCain’s campaign is now under the leadership of members of President Bush’s re-election campaign, including Steve Schmidt, the czar of the Bush war room that relentlessly painted his opponent, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, as effete, elite, and equivocal through a daily blitz of sound bites and Web videos that were carefully coordinated with Mr. Bush’s television advertisements.

The run of attacks against Mr. Obama over the last couple of weeks have been strikingly reminiscent of that drive, including the Bush team’s tactics of seeking to make campaigns referendums on its opponents — not a choice between two candidates — and attacking the opponent’s perceived strengths head-on. Central to the latest McCain drive is an attempt to use against Mr. Obama the huge crowds and excitement he has drawn, including on his foreign trip last week, by promoting a view of him as more interested in attention and adulation than in solving the problems facing American families.

Full article at the NYT

I’ve heard enough bad news already this morning. Here’s some happy news. I’ve been using my sleep machine for awhile now and I feel like a new woman. (I was diagnosed with sleep apnea) I’m back in the water on a daily basis, and I’m back to swimming as many laps as I did 4-5 years ago. Every morning I get out of that pool and say “thank you thank you thank you.” I can’t tell you how good it feels to be able to reclaim my nickname……..Fish. I’ve even got my 84 year old Mom in the water again. I’m having a hard time with keeping her clothed at the pool……all the sudden she wants to be………free. Other than that, it’s all good. I’ve been extremely busy swimming, getting myself back into shape and keeping an eye on the stripper, so it’s not as easy for me to post. Mirth is going to put a post up when the mood strikes her, and I’m grateful to have her do so. So…….welcome back Mirth. Can’t wait for the first one!!

Hope you all have a great day and something good happens for each and every one of you!!

Wiring warning came months before soldier electrocuted

WASHINGTON (CNN) — An Army sergeant complained about faulty wiring in Iraq months before another soldier was fatally electrocuted in a shower in the same quarters, according to documents released Wednesday by a congressional committee. [...]

“I think that the Army has some responsibility in this,” [KBR executive Tom] Bruni said.

“Well, if they have some, who would have the rest?” the Virginia representative [Tom Davis] asked. “Just conceivably, who else could have it, if the Army just has some responsibility? Would KBR have some then?”

“The responsibility lies with the Army,” Bruni replied.

WASHINGTON (AP) Weekly applications for jobless benefits soared to 448,000 last week, highest level since 2003

HOUSTON (AP) Exxon Mobil is reporting second-quarter earnings of $11.68 billion, the largest quarterly profit ever by a U.S. corporation.

ADDENDUM (Buck): That profit works out to $1,485.55 a second!

They say they don’t want foreign troops on their soil, but I think it’s just a simple case of America-hate. That sentiment has been growing strong since 2000. We’ve really got to put idiot republicans in charge more often!

Ecuador to shut down U.S. anti-drug operation

WASHINGTON (CNN) — The United States is losing access to one of its three counternarcotics bases in Latin America, U.S. military officials said Wednesday.

The Ecuadorian government has told the Bush administration it will not renew a 10-year agreement letting U.S. troops conduct anti-drug operations from Manta Air Base, an Ecuadorian Air Force installation, military officials said. [...]

“The Ecuadorian people do not want foreign troops on our soil, and the government has to follow the mandate of its people,” Luis Gallegos, Ecuador’s ambassador to the United States, said Wednesday.

“…the government has to follow the mandate of its people.”

Huh? What does that mean? Is that some new-fangled political ideology not heard of in our part of the world yet? Sounds like radical thinking. It’ll just end up causing them grief in the end.

Your heart has to go out to these poor animals.

Hard times force owners to ditch pets

PASADENA (KABC) — Economic hardships are forcing pet owners to turn their animals over to shelters.

When owners lose their homes so do their pets. During these tough economic times more pets are being abandoned or dropped off at animal shelters.

The Pasadena Humane Society, like others, have seen an increase in dog and cat owners come in with their pet asking if they’ll will take them in.

“These people are sobbing and these are people who don’t feel that they have any recourse. It is tragic for the family and that includes the pet,” said Ricky Whitman from the Pasadena Humane Society.