Scott Kalita Tribute at NHRA

The NHRA website has a great Scott Kalitta tribute, a portion which is reproduced above.

It's a must for both ardent and casual hot rod fans.

To see the whole thing: Special Section, Scott Kalitta 1962-2008

by Mondoreb & RidesAPaleHorse
images: NHRA

D-Day Video Tribute

Tomorrow is the 64th anniversary of D-Day, the day the Allies invaded France. The further we get from June 6, 1944, the easier it is to forget the lessons learned from the failure of Britain and France to address the problem of Nazi Germany--before it became the very large problem of World War II.

RidesAPaleHorse submits these two videos reminding us of the heroism and sheer logistic problems that had to occur before the Allies could declare D-Day a success.

6 JUNE 1944 - Part 1



As RAPH says, "First of a two part video celebrating the beginning of the end of WWII. The D-Day Landings at Normandy."

And now for part 2.

6 JUNE 1944 - Part 2






Mission accomplished.

by Mondoreb
videos: RidesAPaleHorse
images:
* dwightdeisenhower
* mikekemble

Pearl Harbor: December 7, 1941 - Video

by RidesAPaleHorse




Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

American Daredevel: R.I.P.

The original Extreme Gamesman

Name at birth: Robert Craig Knievel

Evel Knievel brought the spirit of P.T. Barnum to daredevil motorcycle jumps in the 1970s. Dressed in his signature red, white and blue jumpsuit, Knievel would race his motorcycle up steep ramps and over obstacles, including the fountains in front of Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas (in 1968) and a row of 13 double-decker buses at London's Wembley Stadium (in 1975). Often he crash-landed, thrilling viewers while breaking dozens of bones. His most famous stunt was an attempted jump over Idaho's Snake River Canyon in a rocket-powered "motorcycle" in 1974. The attempt failed when the craft's parachute opened prematurely, but Knievel survived. He retired in 1981; his son Robbie Knievel succeeded him as the family motorcycle daredevil. Evel Knievel received a liver transplant in 1999, due to hepatitis C presumably contracted through blood transfusions after his many crashes.

Extra credit: George Hamilton portrayed Knievel in the 1971 movie biography Evel Knievel... George Eads played Knievel in the 2004 TV movie Evel Knievel... Knievel played himself in the 1977 film Viva Knievel.

More Evel photos and career statistics at Evel Knievel
Knievel jumping lorries in Wembley Stadium

The crippled grandfather of extreme sports inhales deeply. He sits in his leather easy chair, mind clouded by meds, bones throbbing with arthritis. As he watches an NFL game, on which he has bet $1,000, the cantankerous stuntman clutches oxygen tubes supplying life to hardening lungs.

It is a shock to the senses, if not the sensibilities, to see ultra-cool Evel Knievel, 68, looking so feeble, so frayed around his graying daredevil edges, right down to his gnarled knuckles and wobbly gait.

His ravaged, 155-pound body isn't composed of original parts. He has a new liver and a replacement hip, and most recently doctors inserted a drug pump in his abdomen. It gives little reprieve from the excruciating pain in a fused spine mangled by hundreds of perilous, cringe-inducing motorcycle jumps from the 1960s and '70s.

"Ever see one of them before?" Evel asks, lifting a pajama top to reveal a pain-relief gizmo under his pale skin. "This sends morphine and synthetic heroin into my back 24 hours a day. It's awfully strong — it affects your thinking, your brain."

by RidesAPaleHorse
note: mondoreb
[graphics: top-RAPH; bbc]
Sources:
Evel Knievel - who2
Evel Knievel, long retired, frail, feisty, still cheating death - USA Today





Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

American Daredevil

by RidesAPaleHorse

[graphics: top-RAPH]





Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Milton Friedman: Ferocious Defender of Capitalism

Milton Friedman passed away a year ago today. He was a ferocious defend of the American Way.

According to Wikipedia's biography:

In 1962, in his first major salvo as a public intellectual, Friedman published "Capitalism and Freedom", a major defense of capitalism and critique of the New Deal and the emerging welfare state. The book would eventually sell half a million copies.

Friedman served as an economic adviser to Barry Goldwater during his failed 1964 presidential campaign. Like Friedman, Goldwater had come to reject the New Deal and called for a return to economic freedom. This position was extreme in 1964, but gained momentum over the next two decades, finally culminating in the presidency of Ronald Reagan.

Friedman's contributions to the defense of our capitalistic system were many.

Don't really understand economics?

It's all a bunch of mumbo-jumbo? Watch a great video of Friedman explaining why capitalism is better than any other system, go on over to Red Planet Cartoons.

The first couple minutes of the video is an Econ 101 mini-lesson on Cooperation in Capitalism.

It will give you a bit of ammunition, next time Harry the Communist starts getting mouthy.

Friedman holds forth on capitalism and Red Planet Cartoons holds forth on other Friedman resources that are listed.

by Mondoreb




Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Veterans Day Video Tribute

A Veterans Day Tribute by RidesAPaleHorse

RAPH writes:

I actually did this video for Memorial day this year but I thought it was also appropriate for Veterans day. I would have re-edited it but somehow, all the files were lost so all I have is this.

I got this from a brother this morning along with the following note:

Fellow Veteran's:
as Bob Hope said. "I just want to show you what your fighting for!". This was Raquel Welch at the 1967 Bob Hope show in Vietnam. I just started walking towards the back of the stage with my camera and no one even questioned where I was going. I ended up backstage with all the brass and the stars.

And one more:
WW I era
During the WW I years, Arthur S. Mole and John D. Thomas made some incredible human pictures by using thousands of sailors or soldiers in uniform to create images.

Enjoy your Vets day brother

WE will never forget

[We know Veterans Day was yesterday, but any day is a good day to honor those who serve our country. We wouldn't worry about the lost files: this is just right. An honestly moving piece by Horse.--Ed.]



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Paul W. Tibbets: A Tribute

Many will not know who this man is.
Many will remember only one thing about him and revile him.
Many others, old warriors, will remember him as the man that saved their lives.
He was called upon to do his duty, a terrible task.
And he did it with no regrets.
General Tibbets now joins his comrades in arms.
Farewell old friend. We are grateful for your service.


On February 25, 1937, he enlisted as a flying cadet in the Army Air Corps at Fort Thomas, Kentucky. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1938 and received his wings at Kelly Field, Texas. Tibbets was named commanding officer of the 340th Bomb Squadron, 97th Heavy Bomb Group flying B-17 Flying Fortresses in March, 1942. Based at RAF Polebrook, he piloted the lead bomber on the first Eighth Air Force bombing mission in Europe on August 17, 1942, and later flew combat missions in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations until returning to the U.S. to test fly B-29 Superfortresses. "By reputation", Tibbets was "the best flier in the Army Air Force". One of those who confirmed this reputation was Dwight Eisenhower, for whom Tibbets served as a personal pilot at times during the war.

In September 1944 he was selected to command the project at Wendover Army Air Field, Utah, that became the 509th Composite Group, in connection with the Manhattan Project's Project Alberta.

On August 5, 1945, Colonel Paul Tibbets formally named B-29 serial number 44-86292 Enola Gay after his mother (she was named after the heroine, Enola, of a novel her father had liked). On August 6, 1945, the Enola Gay departed Tinian Island in the Marianas with Tibbets at the controls at 2:45 a.m. for Hiroshima, Japan. The atomic bomb, codenamed Little Boy, was dropped over Hiroshima at 8:15 a.m. local time, killing about 140,000 Japanese, with many more dying later.

In 1959, he was promoted to Brigadier General. He retired from the U.S. Air Force on August 31, 1966.

--Historical info from Wikipedia.
Tribute and graphic: RidesAPaleHorse



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