Eleven days after his emotional reunion with a Filipino man who helped save his life during World War II, American veteran James Carrington died quietly Sunday at the Destrehan nursing home where he resided. He was 88.
One of thousands of American and Filipino soldiers imprisoned by the Japanese after the fall of the island of Corregidor, Mr. Carrington, a Marine who grew up in New Orleans, escaped from the notorious Bilibid Prison and was given refuge by a group of Filipinos in a passing horse cart.
He later help lead guerrilla fighters based in a mountain hideout who created havoc for the Japanese military before American forces retook the Philippines.
Mr. Carrington's son, James Carrington Jr., said he believes his father rallied in recent weeks to stay alive for a Thanksgiving week visit from Jesus Gonzalez, a native of the Philippines now living in Vancouver.
"It took every bit of strength he had," the veteran's son said. "It kept him alive, in my opinion. That's all he was looking forward to."
Gonzalez, who was 11 years old at the time, was among those who hid Mr. Carrington after the Marine scaled a prison wall in April 1944. His older brother was later arrested by Japanese soldiers for his role in the episode and is believed to have been executed.
Gonzalez's daughter Valerie, a musician who lives in New Jersey, had tracked down the ailing former Marine after her father, a retired engineer, recalled a cigarette lighter left behind by Mr. Carrington that bore his name.
Mr. Carrington had visited with Jesus and Valerie Gonzalez, along with immediate members of his own family, for a few days prior to Thanksgiving Day. He died Sunday morning at the Ormond Nursing and Care Center.
"I'm very glad that we made the effort to go and see him," Jesus Gonzalez said Monday from Canada. "I didn't expect that it would be the last one with him. It was such a joyful moment with me to have met him at last after all those years. I'll see him again somewhere, somehow, up in heaven perhaps. He was a great man. He did a great service to the United States and to the Philippines."
Mr. Carrington, a former Warren Easton student, left high school to join the Marines in 1939. After the war, the man who had been dubbed the "Cajun guerrilla" made a living as an excavating contractor, and he and his wife, Joyce, raised two children in Harahan.
A Marine honor guard will participate in the burial ceremony.
Two Gothenburg-area residents were found alive after spending 17 hours in bitter cold temperatures when the small aircraft they were flying crash landed in icy waters near Iqaluit in northern Canada on Sunday night.
Oliver Edwards-Neil, a 25-year-old Australian and his Danish flying companion, 45-year-old Troels Hansen, were found wandering on a patch of floating ice by a passing fishing boat.
Both men reside in Gothenburg, where Edwards-Neil is studying to be a pilot, according to Australian newspaper, The Age.
"They were wandering around on the ice, are suffering from hypothermia, but are doing well considering the circumstances, said Swedish foreign ministry spokesperson Gufran Ad-Nadaf to the TT news agency.
According to The Canadian Press news service, the twin-engine Cessna Skymaster crashed about 160 kilometers south of Iqaluit shortly after the pair radioed in to say that they were having engine problems after take-off from Baffin Island on their way back to Sweden.
"They'd lost one engine and then, quickly after, lost the second engine and unfortunately ended up crashing into the water, said Halifax rescue centre spokesperson Mike Bonin to The Canadian Press.
A search and rescue operation was launched shortly after the crash and includes both private and military aircraft, as well as a nearby fishing boat.
According to Bonin, the weather is clear but extremely cold and there is a great deal of ice in the area due to global warming, the ghosts of baby harp seals, and drowning polar bears. .
Rare 50 year Arctic Blast Sets Sights On Southern California.
With a week away, and a sure sign of things to come, OWSweather.com is making preparations on the server to handle the traffic from this next event. UJEAS is in line with the majority if not all the other models in keeping a near historical arctic air mass into the Southern California region.
With a warm November, Southern California is finally ready for cold storms to make their way in. Resort level snow will be likely next week, and in pretty hefty amounts if things stay on track.
OWSweather.com Meteorologist Kevin Martin predicts a 50 year event. While Martin is usually conservative on these events, the pattern highly favors it. "We are in a pre-1950 type pattern, "said Martin.
"We know we are due for a winter storm sometime this year. The type we may be dealing with will be ranked up there with the known years before 1950, which set record low daytime temperatures into the forecast region. With this, may come low elevation snow."
Forecaster Cameron Venable is seeing very cold temperatures in the Los Angeles areas as well. Torrance is not usually known for winter weather, thus making this an interesting event for Venable to track.
"Temperatures in Siberia, Russia will be -81 degrees this week, "said Martin. "With those type of temperatures the arctic air mass has to spill somewhere. Our answer of the exact track will become more clear this week. All residents in the mountain communities should prepare this week for very cold, winter weather, with snow."
Indications are a second, colder storm could hit near the 18th-22nd time-frame. The details on that will have to be sorted out.
#9
mild santa ana starting today but I hear rain in the forecast for so cal this weekend and next
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/09/2008 14:42 Comments ||
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#10
There is one relatively reliable (but by no means infallible) computer model which gives detailed pressure and precip up to 10 days from the initialization period.
#11
cool link. I use the Unisys Sat IR and WV pics all the time
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/09/2008 16:14 Comments ||
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#12
What do y'all in SoCal consider 'cold'; besides the Charger's playoff hopes?
We were 65 and calm yesterday and today 28 with 25mph winds, that drastic a change in half a day makes it that much more miserable - hope you all got cold gear stuff ready just in case.
The SA Air Force has lost dozens of top engineers and technicians in just a few months, with ten senior technicians resigning in one week to go to Australia. The ten technicians were offered jobs by an Australian aviation agency. This comes after 20 aircraft engineers were poached by the same agency earlier in May.
Technicians at Ysterplaat air force base say that if management doesn't come up with a solution to the problem soon, the SAAF could lose all its top technicians by December.
A technician with 20 years' experience, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said morale was at an all-time low at all of the country's air force bases. He said "everyone" was talking about leaving the force for more benefits and higher salaries. "Morale is low, and the Australian Air Force's recruitment team will be in the country in two weeks to recruit even more staff."
The source added that although pilots and technical personnel enjoyed their jobs, conditions had worsened over the past five years. "Top management's attitude, the mass retrenchment of skilled technicians in the late 1990s and the hiring of inexperienced senior personnel are just some of the reasons. Crime and the cost of living are the secondary reasons why people want to leave."
The source said senior technicians were paid "peanuts", and were going home with just over R9 000 a month. "Technicians in exactly the same post in Australia go home with anything between R19 000 and R28 000 a month. "The government shouldn't be moaning that such a lot of skilled people are leaving the defence force; they should rather be reviewing their salary scales."
In April, SA's military top brass warned that the rate at which soldiers, sailors, pilots and technicians were being poached from the SANDF posed a serious threat to the country's security. Last week the chief director of the SA Navy's maritime strategy division, Rear Admiral Bernhard Teuteberg, admitted the navy was struggling, mainly because technicians were being poached by international companies.
But the former head of the SA Navy's mechanical operations in Simon's Town, David Nathan, said the skills shortage was created by the retrenchment of nearly 1 000 skilled engineers in the 1990s.
#2
Pay and benefits are always better in the civilian world, yes? You need to give your people a reason to stay. Or become North Korea. That kinda sorta works, at least for the retention problem.
#4
I'm curious if most of these people were white or black or if they were a mixed lot. If they were mostly white, they may have been looking for a chance to get out of SA for a while, so it may not even have been the pay that did it.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/09/2008 17:29 Comments ||
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#7
Pre ANC control, I imagine they had an effective deterrent force
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/09/2008 17:39 Comments ||
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#8
When an organization starts hiring and promoting based solely on skin color, the competent always get the shaft. So, they leave--and expose the affirmative action hires for the toadies and incompetents they are. The organization, of course, completely disintegrates as a functioning entity.
Sorry, South Africa. I was in your country when it was a beautiful and relatively peaceful place, the jewel of Africa. Now it's on the fast toboggan run to being Zimbabwe. May God help any white person who can't get out of there because it's very certain no one else will.
FARGO, North Dakota: Federal Customs and Border Protection authorities are preparing to launch unmanned aircraft patrols from this state, the first time such monitoring will occur along the northern border of the United States.
A Predator B aircraft that can fly at 260 miles an hour - it was delivered to Grand Forks on Saturday - will make runs along the northern edge of North Dakota using sensors that can provide video and detect heat and changes to landscape, customs officials said.
The plane, which is about 66 feet long, or 20 meters, weighs more than 10,000 pounds, or 4,500 kilograms. It can fly as high as 50,000 feet and can stay aloft for 18 hours. The first missions, designed to locate people crossing the border illegally or avoiding ports of entry, are expected to start next month.
Similar aircraft have patrolled the nation's southern border since 2005, where they have helped lead to the discovery of more than 18,000 pounds of marijuana and 4,000 illegal immigrants, a spokesman for the agency said.
John Stanton, executive director of the service's national air security operations, said the authorities decided to move to the northern border because enough aircraft had become available. (The base cost for the Predator is about $10 million.) Everything must be well under control along the Mexican border.
#3
This is way overdue. The actual number of incursions discovered will probably be very informative. You ever been to N. Dakota? How's about northern Montana? I've been on a coupla hunting trips up there years ago. Wide, wide open. Tough terrain, but wide open. We've needed this for a long time.
Actually, given the large number of Muslim transplants allowed into Canada (some of whom eneded up in Gitmo and other capture facilities), and Canada's pantywaist treatment thereof, keeping an eye on that border is importatnt.
#5
It's about time. Several years ago, a news crew and the Minutemen, I believe, set up cameras with night vision to see how much cross border traffic there was. They were astounded, as many were drug couriers freely driving jeeps across, just walking across on the honor system to check in with the BP, and still others taking boats across the Great Lakes. Besides the Muslim population, Canada has very lax immigration policies and has taken many refugees over the decades, with a huge Asian population in the west.
#6
So, when do they start arming those drones? It would add a little spice to things.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
12/09/2008 13:09 Comments ||
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#7
Wel-l-l, the US Govt. = Congress is doing little to nothing serious to stop the flow of illegals into Amerika, so why should Citizens of the USSA = USRofA be surprised when pro-illegal/Hispanic Netters proclaim the HISPANIC-LATINO
"RECONQUISTA" = "ATZLAN" WILL BE OVERT AND ACCOMPLISHED IN APPROXI 20 YEARS, TO INCLUDE AS SUPPOR BY PERVASIVE US TAX-PAYER FUNDED PUBLIC ASSISTANCE TO SAID SAME ILLEGALS, aka GETTING THE ENEMY TO DESTROY HIMSELF???
#8
Lest HISPANIA fergits, CHINA > has declared 1/2 or more of CONUS-NORAM as DESIRED "FUTURE LIVING SPACE"
It could be interesting to see - the future AZTLAN versus future CHINESE STATES OF [NORTH] AMERICA???
ALso, REDDIT [old] > [IIRC]MYSTIFYING THE PIRI REIS MAP - DID MUSLIMS/OTTOMAN EMPIRE ONCE DESIRE THE CONQUEST OF LATIN AMERICA; + [paraph] DID ISLAM/MUSLIMS DISCOVER AND EXPLORE THE SOUTHERN AND EAST COASTS OF THE USA, CARIBBEAN???
Not counting the CHINESE + VIKINGS +............
D *** NG IT, MORIARITY, OUR SCHOOLBOOKS NEVER TOLD US AMERICA = AMERIKA WAS ALSO ISHMAEL!
#9
Joe, why would China oggle a pigeon on the roof (1/2 CONUS),when they almost have a wren in their fist (Siberia). In 20, they'll have it almost by default.
A 21-year old woman Rizwana Bibi became the latest victim of honour killing, succumbing to bullet injuries at the District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) here on Monday. She was shot and wounded by ex-fiance inside the premises of the Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi Bench on December 3.
The woman, admitted to the DHQ hospital after she was attacked by her ex-fiance Ghulam Hussain last Wednesday, battled for life for five days but in vain.
The lady was attacked when she was leaving after attending hearing in a case regarding quashment of an FIR registered against her husband with the Kalar Syedan police station by her brothers for kidnapping her.
As per details Ashfaq and Rizwana claimed to be legally married when they were produced before the court of a judicial magistrate in Rawalpindi district courts. The judge accepted the woman's statement that she is with her husband and she wanted to live with him. The couple married without the consent of their family members on their own free will, which angered the girl's family members who viewed it as against their family honour.
Rizwana's brothers lodged an FIR against Ashfaq, his brother, mother and his sister for collaborating in the 'offence'. The couple had filed a case before the LHC for quashment of FIR. The day when the girl was attacked she attended the proceedings in the court of Justice M A Zafar where she recorded her statement and the police also presented a report before the court. However, the police report presented stated that the 'nikah nama' which was documented in Bhakkar was fake.
Rizwana's brother got registered an FIR against Ashfaq and his family with the Kalar Syedan police station on September 8 under Section 365-B.
On December 3, when Rizwana was coming out of the court, her ex-fiance Ghulam Hussain opened fire on her. She sustained bullet injuries on head, lungs, and belly and on one leg. Police arrested Ghulam Hussain and admitted Rizwana Bibi to the hospital in critical condition where she succumbed to injuries five days later.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/09/2008 00:00 ||
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Link ||
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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Some same-sex marriage supporters are urging people to "call in gay" Wednesday to show how much the country relies on gays and lesbians, but others question whether it's wise to encourage skipping work given the nation's economic distress.
Organizers of "Day Without a Gay" - scheduled to coincide with International Human Rights Day and modeled after similar work stoppages by Latino immigrants - also are encouraging people to perform volunteer work and refrain from spending money.
Sean Hetherington, a West Hollywood comedian and personal trainer, dreamed up the idea with his boyfriend, Aaron Hartzler, after reading online that a few angry gay-rights activists were calling for a daylong strike to protest California voters' passage last month of Proposition 8, which reversed this year's state Supreme Court decision allowing gay marriage.
The couple thought it would be more effective and less divisive if people were asked to perform community service instead of staying home with their wallets shut. Dozens of nonprofit agencies, from the National Women's Law Center in Washington to a Methodist church in Fresno collecting food for the homeless, have posted opportunities for volunteers on the couple's Web site.
"We are all for a boycott if that is what brings about a sense of community for people," said Hetherington, 30, who plans to spend Wednesday volunteering at an inner-city school. "You can take away from the economy and give back in other ways."
Hetherington said he's been getting 100 e-mails an hour from people looking for volunteer opportunities, and that his "Day Without a Gay" Web site has gotten 100,000 hits since mid-November.
Despite Hartzler and Hetherington's attempt to fashion a positive approach, some organizers of the street demonstrations that drew massive crowds in many cities last month have been reluctant to embrace the concept, saying that it could be at best impractical and at worst counterproductive to "call in gay."
"It's extra-challenging for people to think about taking off work as a form of protest, given that we are talking about people who may not be out (as gay) at work, and given the current economic situation and job market," said Jules Graves, 38, coordinator of the Colorado Queer Straight Alliance. "There is really not any assurance employers would appreciate it for what it is."
Graves' group nonetheless is arranging for interested participants to volunteer at the local African Community Center in Denver. The agency said it could find projects to keep 20 people busy, but so far only 10 have pledged to show up, said Graves.
Scott Craig, a fifth-grade teacher at Independence Charter School in Philadelphia, had no problem requesting and being granted the day off. So many of the school's 60 teachers were eager to show support for gay rights they had to make sure enough stayed behind to staff classrooms.
About 25 teachers plan to take Wednesday off and to have their work covered by substitutes while they discuss ways to introduce gay issues to their students and volunteer at the local branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, Craig said. A letter telling parents why so many teachers would be out went home Monday.
"We want to get the conversation going in the community that gay is not bad," Craig said. "For kids to hear that in a positive light can be life-changing."
Join The Impact, the online community that launched protests last month over the passage of gay marriage bans in California, Florida and Arizona, has urged people to withdraw $80 from their bank accounts Wednesday to demonstrate gays' spending power, and to devote the time they might otherwise spend watching TV or surfing the Internet to volunteer work.
Witeck-Combs Communications, a public relations firm in Washington that specializes in the gay and lesbian market, published a study this year that estimated that gay and lesbian consumers spend $700 billion annually.
Bob Witeck, the firm's chief executive officer, said it would be difficult to measure the success of Wednesday's strike since gay employees occupy so many fields. And rather than suspending all consumer spending for the day, gay rights supporters would have a bigger impact if they devoted their dollars to gay-friendly businesses year-round, Witeck said.
"Our community leaders who are running book stores, newspapers, flower shops, coffee houses, bars and many, many other things are hurting right now, so paying attention to their needs during this hard time is an effective form of activism," he said.
Hetherington said he has been careful to design A Day Without a Gay - he came up with the name after the film "A Day Without a Mexican" and liked it because it rhymed - so no one feels excluded or threatened.
He has specifically urged high school students not to walk out of their classes and assured college students they won't be disloyal to the cause if they go ahead and take their final exams. He also has listed opportunities - ranging from writing letters to members of Congress about federal gay rights legislation to spreading the word about Wednesday on social networking sites - for gay marriage backers who cannot miss work.
#3
a day without show tunes, floral shops, dance studios, Film Actors Guild, drama queens in the office? It worked so well for A Day Without A Mexican!
Perhaps they can take their day off and protest black support for Prop *8* in Compton?
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/09/2008 17:32 Comments ||
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#4
"You have one hour to get your butt here, and you will be working two hours past close of business tonight. Or don't bother coming in, and we'll mail you your stuff."
#7
Not only does this sort of "protest" infuriate me - as a gay guy, I find it humiliating. You don't like the way the voters voted, so you throw an economically destructive tantrum at the expense of your society? Hey, I've got an idea for a response. How about do a better job at work and do a bit more for your community as well - without seeking attention and admiration - to show that we are here for our fellow citizens and will not resort to anti-religious bigotry. How about demonstrating that tolerance and respect are a two-way street by setting an example?
You don't like the way people vote? Maybe you could try winning them over by having open-minded discussions free of insults and ad hominem. A dialogue where your mind might be changed as well as theirs. After all, I'm glad that I was raised by a married mother and father. I think it was important for me to understand how male-female relationships work - even as a gay man - how much more so for my heterosexual siblings. I have no problem with a state deciding that it wants to maintain heterosexual marriage as an ideal for raising the next generation of Americans. If those opposed to this standard want to change the minds of voters, they are free to try. But to react in such a hostile manner because they failed to win enough people over to their side is shameful.
Thanks for posting that. I personally don't give a damn how consenting adults get their sexual jollies. That's their business as long as it doesn't involve minors or illegal force. I am, however, EXTREMELY TIRED of having the homosexual agenda shoved in my face and told I'll either be "tolerant" or else.
As for the "Day without a Gay," my response as an employer would be similar to 'Moose's. Straight, gay, black, white, purple polka-dot, whatever, just get in here and do your damned job as we agreed when you hired on. The workplace is a WORKPLACE, not a venue for political expression. Anyone who can't handle that, there's the door and walking ain't crowded. Don't let it hit you in the ass on the way out.
#10
Ryuge, my thanks as well for a thoughtful comment. I (as most of Californians) welcome equal rights for gays in civil unions. I only have an issue with the term "marriage" and how gay activists and judicial activists have jacked it for their own agenda. Their protests, boycotts, and fascism will undo decades of progress for gays. I'd suggest they get their own in control before a century is lost. Then, of course, Islam will kill em
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/09/2008 21:48 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
A 21-year old woman Rizwana Bibi became the latest victim of honour killing, succumbing to bullet injuries at the District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) here on Monday. She was shot and wounded by ex-fiance inside the premises of the Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi Bench on December 3.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Some same-sex marriage supporters are urging people to "call in gay" Wednesday to show how much the country relies on gays and lesbians, but others question whether it's wise to encourage skipping work given the nation's economic distress.
