The Northern Arizona Gazette wishes that you have a Happy and Safe New Year celebration and much prosperity. Please do not drink and drive. Use a taxi or designated driver. Better yet, stay home and be a family.
Monthly Archives: December 2012
Pakistan mob burns man accused of desecrating Koran alive
(Reuters) – A mob broke into a Pakistani police station and burnt a man accused of desecrating the Koran alive, police said Saturday, in the latest violence focusing attention on the country’s blasphemy laws.
The man was a traveler and had spent Thursday night at the mosque, said Maulvi Memon, the imam in the southern village of Seeta in Sindh province. The charred remains of the Koran were found the next morning.
“He was alone in the mosque during the night,” Memon said. “There was no one else there to do this terrible thing.”
Villagers beat the man then handed him over to police. A few hours later, a crowd of around 200 stormed the police station, dragged the man out and set him on fire, said Usman Ghani, the senior superintendent of police in Dadu district.
Read more at Reuters.
Benjamin Franklin Biography.
See the Benjamin Franklin: Citizen of the World at bio.True Story
Semper Fi, Unless It’s Not Convenient
By Bill O’Reilly
Jon Hammar saw combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, but his most brutal foreign experience was in Mexico. Last August, the 27-year-old former Marine corporal was incarcerated by Mexican authorities in Matamoros for trying to register an antique shotgun with customs agents. Foolishly, Cpl. Hammar followed instructions given to him by U.S. Border Patrol agents in Brownsville, Texas. He registered the gun with them and brought the paperwork to the Mexicans to get their stamp of approval in order to carry the gun through the country. Hammar and a friend were driving a Winnebago, hoping to have a nice surfing vacation with some hunting on the side.
Even though the Mexican authorities clearly saw that Hammar was trying to follow the rules, they seized the Winnebago and locked the corporal up in the notoriously corrupt CEDES prison anyway. There he was threatened by other inmates and told by guards that he could buy his way out of the hellhole by paying money to the “right people.”
Hammar’s parents, who live in South Florida, immediately contacted the State Department and were told to be patient. And so they were. Three months later, Hammar was still incarcerated and had not even seen a judge, and things were becoming increasingly desperate.
That’s when his parents gave up on the State Department and contacted the media.
Read more at Townhall.
Air Force launches 3rd X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle
by Maj. Eric Badger
Air Force Public Affairs
12/11/2012 – CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AFNS) — In the next installment to improve space capability and further develop an affordable, reusable space vehicle, the Air Force conducted its third X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle launch here on December 11, officials said.
The launch comes on the heels of the successful flight of OTV-2, which made an autonomous landing at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., June 11 after a record 469 days in space.
“We couldn’t be more pleased with the strides we’ve made in this program and the success of the X-37B vehicle on the first two flights,” said Mr. Richard McKinney, Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force for Space. “However, it is important to keep in mind that this is an experimental vehicle and a third mission is still relatively young for a test program. This is the first re-flight of a vehicle so that is certainly a key objective for us. We have only just begun what is a very systematic checkout of the system.”
Lieutenant Colonel Tom McIntyre, X-37B program manager for the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, explained the third X-37 flight will not only help the Air Force better evaluate and understand the vehicle’s performance characteristics, but this first re-flight is an important step in the program. OTV-1 launched in April 2010 and spent 224 days in orbit before going through the refurbishment process prior to being prepped for this mission, he said.
“This mission will incorporate the lessons learned during the refurbishment process on OTV-1,” said Lieutenant Colonel McIntyre. “As the X-37B program is examining the affordability and reusability of space vehicles, validation through testing is vital to the process. We are excited to see how this vehicle performs on a second flight.”
“The X-37B OTV is designed for an on-orbit duration of approximately 9 months,” said Lieutenant Colonel McIntyre. “As with previous missions, actual duration will depend on the execution of test objectives, on-orbit vehicle performance, and conditions at the landing site.”
The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle is led by the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, and is designed to demonstrate reusable spacecraft technologies for America’s future in space and operating experiments which can be returned to, and examined, on Earth. Technologies being tested in the program include advanced guidance, navigation and control, thermal protection systems, avionics, high temperature structures and seals, conformal reusable insulation, lightweight electromechanical flight systems, and autonomous orbital flight, reentry and landing.
Officials anticipate multiple missions will be required to satisfy the test program objectives, but the exact number of missions has not been determined.
General Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr. dead at 78
Schwarzkopf was born in Trenton, New Jersey, the son of Ruth Alice (née Bowman) and Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf. His paternal grandparents were German. His father served in the US Army before becoming the Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, where he worked as a lead investigator on the 1932 Lindbergh baby kidnapping case before returning to an Army career and rising to the rank of Major General. In January 1952, Schwarzkopf’s birth certificate was amended to make his name “H. Norman Schwarzkopf”. This was done as an act of revenge against the upper class cadets at West Point because his father hated his own first name “Herbert” and when he attended West Point the upper class cadets yelled at him for signing his name “H. Norman Schwarzkopf”. His connection with the Persian Gulf region began very early. In 1946, when he was 12, he and the rest of his family joined their father, stationed in Tehran, Iran, where his father went on to be instrumental in Operation Ajax, eventually forming the Shah’s secret police SAVAK, as well. He attended the Community High School in Tehran, later the International School of Geneva at La Châtaigneraie, Frankfurt High School in Frankfurt, Germany and attended and graduated from Valley Forge Military Academy. He was also a member of Mensa.—Wikipedia
A special forces friend of mine once told me that he met Major Schuwarzkopf in Vietnam. He met him because the Major was out in the field with his men much of the time unlike other officers. Wikipedia recounts one story:
He had received word that men under his command had encountered a minefield on the notorious Batangan Peninsula, he rushed to the scene in his helicopter, as was his custom while a battalion commander, in order to make his helicopter available. He found several soldiers still trapped in the minefield. Schwarzkopf urged them to retrace their steps slowly. Still, one man tripped a mine and was severely wounded but remained conscious. As the wounded man flailed in agony, the soldiers around him feared that he would set off another mine. Schwarzkopf, also wounded by the explosion, crawled across the minefield to the wounded man and held him down (using a “pinning” technique from his wrestling days at West Point) so another could splint his shattered leg. One soldier stepped away to break a branch from a nearby tree to make the splint. In doing so, he too hit a mine, which killed him and the two men closest to him, and blew an arm and a leg off Schwarzkopf’s artillery liaison officer. Eventually, Schwarzkopf led his surviving men to safety, by ordering the division engineers to mark the locations of the mines with shaving cream.
General Schwarzkopf came to national attention during Desert Storm, though that was not his intent. It was known that he desired to be on the ground in Iraq to coordinate efforts, like most good commanders, but was called back to conduct press conferences.
He was offered the position of Chief of Staff of the Army, but declined retiring in August of ’91. In 1992 his autobiography It Doesn’t Take a Hero was published.
The General passed away today in Tampa, Florida suffering complications arising from pneumonia.
SEE ALSO: Lionized for Lightning Victory in ’91 Gulf War
Florida reacts to death of Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf – Tampa Bay Times
Property Tax Assistance
The new application period begins on January 1, 2013 for the following programs:
Senior Value Protection
Disability Exemptions
Widow/Widower’s Exemptions
Religious/Non-Profit Exemptions
For Disability, Widow/Widower’s and Religious/Non-Profit Exemptions, applications must be received between January 1 and March 1 2013. Applications for the 2013 Senior Value protection program must be received between January 1 and September 1, 2013. Each program has qualifications you must meet in order to participate in the program. To find the qualifications and more information on each program, please go to the link Property Tax Assistance or call the Assessor’s office at 928-679-7962.
2013 Business Personal Property Statements
The Assessor’s office will be mailing the 2013 Business Personal Property statements on December 21, 2012. The completed forms and property lists must be signed and postmarked no later than April 1, 2013 to avoid penalties. Businesses are encouraged to EFile their asset lists in Excel Format.
The asset lists for both active and disposed assets are to include:
• Account number (if available)
• Company filing report
• Location Site Address, city and zip code
• Asset description
• Asset acquisition year (format: XXXX)
• Asset acquisition cost (only positive costs, no negative figures)
• Asset number (if applicable)
Email your electronic file to: businessstatements@coconino.az.gov
Two acclaimed actors died Monday
Charles Durning
The New York Times reports, “Charles Durning may not have been a household name, but with his pugnacious features and imposing bulk he was a familiar presence in American movies, television and theater, even if often overshadowed by the headliners.”
That sums up his acting career. While you probably did not know his name, you definitely remember his presence in any film you saw. His sixty year career ended much like his military career. Still working. He was involved in the filming of Scavenger Killers at the time of his death. Wounded in the military during WWII as an Army Ranger, he refused to seek discharge and recovered to resume active duty.
His first acting role was in the 1953 television series You Are There as Colonel John Jameson in The Treason of Benedict Arnold episode. As his career progressed he starred in the short lived The Cop and the Kid television series, which I remember him for. He’s played presidents, captains and king, all the way down to the most corrupt scum you could ever love to hate.
From the “boob tube” to the “silver screen,” he was one of the versatile actors that made “stars” look good. Did he ever have a staring role? In everything he did.
Mr. Durning was 89.
Jack Klugman
Jack Klugman also died Monday at 90 years of age. He started acting in 1950 and is best known for his roles in The Twilight Zone, The Odd Couple and Quincy.
He played four roles in The Twilight Zone, but is probably best remembered for In Praise of Pip with Billy Mummy in which he offered his life for that of his son.
He played the sloven Oscar Madison in the Odd Couple opposite the neat and tidy Felix Unger played by Tony Randall. Klugman was ready to give up his career when he lost his voice due to throat cancer, though he taught himself to speak. Randall convinced him to return for The Odd Couple: Together Again in 1993.
In Quincy M.E. he played an unusual role. A coroner who sought the truth rather than headlines. Every week there was some case that people wanted swept under the rug quickly, but Quincy stepped on the rug to ensure that the case was resolved properly.
Although his acting career was mainly television, he played some memorable roles in movies such as Twelve Angry Men and Goodbye, Columbus. He is one of those actors that seemed to perform for the love of the art rather than the love of the paycheck.
Merry Christmas card from NAG
Merry Christmas from NAG
The Northern Arizona Gazette wishes you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.