2013 Draws To A Close

Once again, we have come to the last day of a year.  Like any year, this one has had its share of significant events.  Islamic terrorists attacked the Boston Marathon with bombs made from pressure cookers, and attacked a railroad station and a bus in Volgograd, Russia with suicide bombs.  The United States military pulled out of Iraq, leaving behind a country still under attack from terrorists, but continues its presence in Afghanistan.  The rollout of Obamacare included numerous technical difficulties with its website and numerous cancellations of existing health insurance policies, making the president's promise "If you like the policy you have now, you can keep it" look like a lie, or at best a farce.  The Catholic Church got a new pope, not because the old one died, but because he resigned.  The British royal family got a new heir to the throne when Princess Kate gave birth to Prince George.

During 2013, two new words entered the popular vocabulary.  First, it was "twerk", the result of Miley Cyrus's performance at the Video Music Awards.  Later, it was "selfie", which is short for "self portrait", resulting from the proliferation such pictures on online social media.  One episode of selfie-taking occurred at the funeral of former South African President Nelson Mandela, with President Obama being aided and abetted by Prime Ministers Helle Thorning-Schmidt of Denmark and David Cameron of Great Britain, and then being made to switch seats with (and by) the First Lady.  I must admit, I never thought I'd find myself agreeing with Michele Obama, but in this case, she was right to restrain her husband's behavior.

Unlike 2012, 2013 didn't bring any memorable end-of-the-world predictions, but one member of our solar system did indeed come to an end.  Comet Ison, predicted to possibly become a spectacular sight during the past month, did not survive its encounter with the sun, leaving behind only a cloud of dust.  Meanwhile back on earth, a group of scientists on their way to Antarctica to study the alleged loss of ice around that continent got stuck in the evidence to the contrary.

The last few months of 2013 brought some sadness as my father and three of my friends passed away.  One friend was a man with whom I worked.  Another I had played with in a band back during the 1980's.  The most recent was Internet radio host and Constitutional scholar Tim Kerlin, known as "Loki".

In a few hours, 2014 will be upon us.  With the midterm elections coming up in November and fallout still coming from Obamacare, to name two examples, there will plenty of things for us in the vast rightwing conspiracy to deal with.  Happy New Year, everyone.

Drone Tests Sites Include Virginia Tech Locations

The Federal Aviation Administration has selected six organizations that will develop and test unmanned drone aircraft, one of which is Virginia Tech.  The university has locations in Virginia and New Jersey that may be used to test the drones.  (During my time at VT, there were many students who came from NJ, so my Virginia-based alma mater having a facility up there isn't too much of a surprise.)  So if you're cruising through Blacksburg, VA or somewhere in New Jersey, you might see one of those unmanned craft flying around.

Read the story at USA Today or The Roanoke Times.

Auschwitz Barracks Returns To Poland

Half of a barracks from the Birkenau concentration camp, on loan to the United States Holocaust Museum, has been returned to Poland, arriving at the seaport of Gdynia.  It will eventually undergo conservation and be rejoined to its other half in Birkenau, a process that may take up to three years.  Birkenau started out as a sub-camp of the nearby Auschwitz camp.

Read the story at Fox News.

The 72 Visitors

The following is based on a joke that Loki (Tim Kerlin) once told during one of his Internet radio broadcasts.
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After being killed by the American forces who stormed his compound, Osama bin Laden wakes up to find himself in a place that's even hotter than the deserts of Saudi Arabia.  He finds it hard to either breathe or move, but is still able to cry out, "Allah, where am I, and where are my 72 virgins?"

After some time, bin Laden is approached by an American Indian, who proceeds to shoot an arrow into bin Laden's midsection.  He feels the pain of the arrow penetrating his flesh, but suffers no other effects, because he is already dead.  The Indian draws closer, which causes bin Laden to wonder if he's going to get scalped.

"Who are you?", asks the dead terrorist, wanting to know who has tormented him.

"My name is Powhatan", the Indian replies, "I am the leader of the Powhatan Confederation."

An Update On Tim "Loki" Kerlin

Via a2iggymom's blog:

The Toledo Blade has published an obituary of Tim Kerlin, which contains some information that is more detailed than in my previous post.  There will be two services to celebrate his life, one today in his birthplace of Toledo, OH, and the other on January 11, 2014 in Watervliet, MI, where he lived.  From the obituary:

Timothy's life began April 24, 1958, in Toledo, Ohio.  Timothy died Saturday, December 21, at Lakeland Regional Medical Center in St. Joseph.  He spent his childhood growing up in Ohio, graduating high school in Sylvania, OH.  After high school, Timothy proudly served his country in the United States Navy for eight years.  After the service, a job opportunity at Cook Nuclear Plant brought him to Southwest Michigan.

Friday Links

Here are a few stories in the news during the last day or so:

From Hollywood Reporter, after a backlash from the fans of Duck Dynasty, and perhaps some piping up by a few of my fellow right wingnuts, the head honchos at A&E have decided to bring Phil Robertson back onto the show.

From Reuters, Hyundai Motor Co. has announced that their U.S. chief John Krafcik is stepping down and being replaced by Zuchowski.

From the Chicago Sun-Times, a pregnant teenager was tragically shot and killed, but doctors were able to save her baby.  (via Life News)

From Faith Freedom, how to confront "hired" Muslim missionaries.

From The Guardian, a federal judge in New York has ruled that the NSA's collection of phone data does not violate the Constitution, which contradicts the ruling in a similar case heard in a court in Washington.

From AZ Central, deportations of illegal aliens decreased by 10% in 2013.  (via Weasel Zippers)

From The Washington Times, the U.S. Border Patrol has arrested a 12-year-old illegal alien for smuggling marijuana into the U.S.

From The Blaze, a Piers Morgan video that conservatives such as myself might be able to enjoy.

From Fox News, a California man of Vietnamese descent has pleaded guilty to a terrorism charge.  He had been in Syria providing weapons training to Al Qaeda personnel.

From the Los Angeles Times, a car bomb explosion in Beirut killed five people, including a former Lebanese ambassador to the United States.

From ANI News, Turkish muslims have blamed Santa Claus for booze, drugs and immorality.  (via Jihadwatch, who show pictures from Turkey and Bulgaria of someone punching Santa Claus.)

From ABC News, the international president of the Machinists union has called Boeing's latest offer an improvement of $1 billion.

From The Baltimore Sun, former baseball player Paul Blair died suddenly yesterday while practicing for a celebrity bowling tournament.  During his career, Blair won 8 Gold Gloves playing center field and played in four World Series with the Baltimore Orioles, winning two (1966, 1970).  After the 1976 season, he was traded to the New York Yankees.  Blair spent the 1977 and 1978 with the Yankees as a part-time outfielder, often used as a late-inning defensive replacement for right fielder Reggie Jackson.  The Yankees won the World Series both of those years.  Blair played for the Cincinnati Reds in 1979 and briefly rejoined the Yankees in 1980, before retiring.

And from Motor Authority, the Dubai police force just added a McLaren MP4-12C to their already formidable fleet of vehicles.

Merry Christmas

To all who read this blog and celebrate Christmas, may you have a happy and safe Christmas season.  And to the Person who made it all possible, happy birthday, Jesus.   (While driving down to my mother's house here in Virginia yesterday evening, I actually saw a large display of lights spelling that out.)

Snow Art

Who needs crop circles when you can have snow art?  Simon Beck has created some amazing figures in the snow with just his feet.  While wearing boots, I would hope.

See the snow art at The Blaze and Viralnova.

Tim Kerlin, a.k.a. Loki 1958-2013

I have been informed by friends on Twitter and Blog Talk Radio that the BTR host known as "Loki" has suddenly passed away.  Only within the past few days did I even learn of any concerns about his health.  When I first started listening to BTR in 2008, Loki was one of four co-hosts of the show American Truth Warriors and a contributor to its related blog, A Newt One.  He also created shows entitled Halls Of Valhalla (with a co-host who similarly called himself "Tyr") and Spin This.  Tim Kerlin was dedicated to understanding the United States Constitution and helping others do the same.  To that end, he and two co-hosts created a show (mostly on Talkshoe, but with some episodes on BTR) called Patriot's Pub, on which they studied the creation of the Constitution during the convention in Philadelphia in 1787, but started with some historical background as far back as the French and Indian War.

From listening to Tim's broadcasts, I've learned enough about him to give a brief biographical sketch.  Tim was originally from northwestern Ohio, where his father was a school teacher.  He was a member of his high school's wrestling team.  After graduating, he served in the U.S. Navy, where he learned about nuclear reactors.  After his discharge, he took his skills into the private sector and worked at a nuclear power plant in southwestern Michigan.  He and his wife ran a rescue operation for a breed of dog called the Japanese chin.  He was also, if I remember correctly, the father of 5 children.

Although Tim traveled to Washington, D.C. a few times along with other BTR users, I never had the pleasure of meeting him in person.  But even so, I will be among those in our little section of the conservative side of the blogosphere who will miss him and his constitutional patriotism.  Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.

For more about Tim, go to Holger Awakens and a12iggymom's Blog.

U.S. Sailors Attribute Illnesses To Fukushima

In March 2011, the USS Ronald Reagan and the USS Essex sailed over to Japan so help with rescue efforts after the island nation's east coast had been struck by a tsunami.  Over 50 sailors who had worked aboard those two ships who are now suffering from various forms of cancer have claimed that their illnesses were caused by contamination from the Fukushima nuclear power plant, which was damaged in the aftermath of the tsunami.  According to this claim, when Fukushima went into meltdown, water contaminated by radioactive materials was sent from the plant into the ocean, from which water was subsequently taken into the ships' desalinization systems, which provide water for drinking, cooking and bathing.

Read the story at Fox News.