An Anniversary; An Unserious Person; The Wind Doesn't Blow, It Sucks; and (Wait For It) Hockey

Twenty-five years ago today, from the (other) usual source...

 A 48th Tactical Fighter Wing F-111F aircraft takes off to participate in an air strike on Libya. (photo: Wikipedia & US Air Force)

Remembering Operation Eldorado Canyon: (Ed: link to The Wiki added) Twenty-five years ago on April 15, Air Force and Navy strike aircraft dealt a blow to Libyan dictator Muammar' Qaddafi's arrogance and overt support of terrorism. While a force of F-111s from RAF Lakenheath, Britain, (taking off on April 14, 1986) struck targets in Tripoli, including Qaddafi's headquarters, Navy strike aircraft from the Sixth Fleet pounded sites in Benghazi. A host of USAF and Navy platforms supported the mission, which President Reagan ordered after a string of deadly terrorist attacks were traced back to Qaddafi's regime. The raid came at a cost. Capt. Paul F. Lorence and Capt. Fernando L. Ribas-Dominicci were killed when their F-111 went down, presumably to hostile fire. Noted Air Force author Walter Boyne, in his March 1999 Air Force Magazine article on the raid, said the mission pushed USAF crews and aircraft "to the absolute limits of their capability. Yet they prevailed, destroying key targets and shocking Qaddafi." Fast forward 25 years. Air Force aircraft are once again flying over Libya to deal with his misdeeds, this time against his own people.

RIP, Captains Lorence and Ribas-Dominicci.

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Today's Toon of Note:  

From the usual source, of course.  Choosing today's toon was harder than it normally is, coz there's much goodness on the deficit/budget brouhaha at the link.

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The wind machine is still cranked up, to my great dismay.  Things are supposed to get better in this space later on today and that's great good news, seein' as how I have to get my old ass out to Cannon Airplane Patch to refill my meds in anticipation of next week's final eye surgery installment.  We have been counting the days... two weeks can be a VERY long time!

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Here's your briefest of brief hockey updates...  The playoffs are NOT disappointing us hockey fans.  Well, some of us hockey fans.  I'd wager Flyers and Bruins followers aren't all that happy about the outcome in Game One, Round One but I was certainly pleased... those games were great, compelling examples of the sport.  The games in the Eastern Conference seem to be defensive duels with the Hot Goalie O' The Moment (read as: Lundqvist, Miller, and Price) taking center stage.  All three of the top seeds in the East struggled in the first game, with only the Caps prevailing... and they had to go deep into OT to win.  Oh yeah... the Flightless Birds won, too.  For what THAT'S worth.

It ain't so close out West, what with the Canucks dominating Chicago in the first game (that game was NEVER close), San Jose beating El-Eh (that game WAS close; watch out, Sharks), the Beloved Wings winning easily, and Nashville systematically plucking the Ducks.

I'm not gonna make any predictions this year, mainly coz I suck at predictions (check my April archives in past years for proof in this space; it's embarrassing).  I do have my hopes, though, and those hopes go like this:  Chicago wins in seven, El-Eh wins in seven, the Beloved Wings sweep the Feral Dogs, and the Dicks... err, Ducks... win in seven.  Yes, I AM out of touch with reality, why do you ask?  Never forget that '60s truism: reality is for people who can't handle drugs.

As for the East... who really cares?