Liberty Belle

Buddy Cantu and I took a trip back in time yesterday afternoon, courtesy of the 309^th Bomber Group.

We flew in a restored Boeing B-17-G bomber.
It was amazing.

The strategic bombing of German manufacturing and refining capacity in 1944 and early 1945 were essential for the success of the D-Day invasion. Once air superiority was achieved over Europe, the end of the war was just a matter of time. The B-17 was an integral part of that story, because the raids completely demolished the Nazi ability to wage war.

The 390th Bomber Group flew over 300-missions in WW-2--dropping over 19,000 tons of bombs. 179 of its aircraft were lost, with a total of 378 enemy aircraft destroyed, 78 probably destroyed, and 97 damaged.

The 390^th garnered many commendations and a reputation for bombing accuracy that was reported to be the best in the 8th Air Force. The Group’s aircraft losses the lowest per mission flown/bombs dropped.

This weekend, a piece of history will be in the skies over Texas, with the 390^th Group’s Liberty Belle B-17-G bomber paying a visit…and offering you an opportunity to capture the nostalgia of this magnificent war bird.

Buddy Cantu and I had the honor of meeting Don Brooks, a member of the Board of the 390^th Memorial Museum, as he flew the Liberty Belle into Houston yesterday for a weekend round of warbird flights for the public. With only 14 B-17’s still flying, this was a special event.

Liberty Belle is especially significant to Brooks: his father was a tail gunner on the original B-17 dubbed Liberty Belle, based out of England. The restoration of this airframe was re-named after his dad’s plane. Imagine flying an aircraft your father fought in.

Brooks has spent the past 14-years and $3-million dollars making the ship airworthy.
She is a work of art.

Many men have passed through the hatches of this B-17; they're all veterans of other flights in other planes. This airship never actually saw combat. Everywhere Liberty Belle has flown, she has drawn the curious, the nostalgic, the appreciative.

Many of them have left their names behind on the inside surfaces of those portals, even guys the B-17's fought against. I noted a German flyer, Hermann Hoppe, left his moniker on the inside of the rear hatch on one visit.

Liberty Belle is providing warbird flights this weekend out of Hooks Airport, in Tomball, north of Houston.
Call Scott Maher at 918.340.0243 for arrangements.

If you're reading this from afar, Scott will also be able to tell you where else you may next see Liberty Belle.

Reality

Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.
--Philip K. Dick

Many people like to suspend their recognition of reality, and pretend that it’s somewhere else, or that the the place where they are is safe and insulated from reality, simply because they're there. That is no reality.

No—the best way to deal with reality is to confront it head on: no pretense, no sugar-coating, no dancing around the issue. Deal with your realities today; disbelief is a temporary narcotic against what must eventually be done.

We do not believe if we do not live and work according to our belief.
--Heidi Wills

You may espouse a certain set of ideals, a level of operation, a standard of performance. But unless you live it—follow those ideals, operate at the level you know you should, and maintain that standard of excellence, you’re only fooling yourself, and no one else. The rest of the world sees and observes and notes those who say one thing and do another. It will ultimately show in your work and resonate in the reputation you must carry with you, regardless of where you are.

No one can build his security upon the nobleness of another person.
--Willa Cather

We all have mentors who help us through our careers…and in a very real sense, our personal friends are mentors, too; guiding, sustaining, even daring to accurately criticize those things within us that need correction from time to time. But ultimately, our destiny, our success must rest in our own laps, be carried upon our own backs.

We cannot depend upon the goodness (or badness) of others in order that we might move forward. It is up to each one of us as individuals to shoulder the responsibility for where we go in life, what we achieve, and what our legacy will be. We can watch, and listen, and learn from others, but the final scorecard is our own, and there are no mulligans in real life.
That is reality.

Libby, Labels, and Liabilities

A slight revision to the Libby’s soup jingle from a few years back might be appropriate following yesterday’s conviction of former Vice Presidential helper, Scooter Libby: “If it says Libby Libby Libby on the label label label, it’s guilty guilty guilty…for lying and obstruction of justice in the Valerie Plame CIA leak investigation.

Can’t wait for the DVD of this one…

Did you see all the dour-faced talking heads on the network last night with their “reaction” stories and pontification about what’s next for The Bush Administration in all this. Katie Couric could barely hide her glee, despite the strained expression of concern on her face, and Bob Shieffer was intoning how bad this would be for the White House.

Folks, there’s a whole lot of more important issues on the President’s plate this week…there’s a war (both in Iraq and in Congress) as well as other foreign and domestic issues that truly matter a lot more. The president's plate looks more like a buffet tray.

The political arena is truly becoming a multi-ring circus, with Hillary faking a southern accent as she addressed a church in the south over the weekend…and on the front page today’s New York Times is a piece describing the financial shenanigans of Sen. Obama Barak, who apparently bought stock in two speculative companies who stood to gain from legislation he pushed through Congress…

The Times says Barak apparently purchased more than $50,000 in stock in a satellite communications business whose principal backers include four friends and donors who had raised more than $150,000 for his political committees.
Man, I want the back-scratcher concession business on Capitol Hill…

What would Wall Street be without a soap opera?

A spitting match between Microsoft (MSFT) and Google (GOOG) kept traders entertained... . Like a couple of 5th grade girls competing for attention on the playground, a lawyer for Microsoft accused Google of being one of the "companies that create no content of their own, and make money solely on the back of other people's content, are raking in billions through advertising and initial public offerings."

I’d like to see both attorneys on that new FOX Show, "Are You Smarter than a 5th Grade Student?”


UnitedHealth Group says options backdating issues will result in a $1.5-billion dollar hit to previously reported earnings. Seems some Einstein in the accounting department thought it would be a swell idea to re-price the stock options based on events already transpired.

To me, this is like betting on The World Series outcome the day after the game.


Actually it’s more sinister than that: UnitedHealthGroup was one of a half dozen companies that back-dated stocks to October 2001, so that insiders could profit from depressed markets following the 9/11 attacks. KLA-Tencor is another company that has emerged as an abuser of the system by backdating stocks to take advantage of the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on civilized society.

Speaking of transparency…


Did Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin not tell the whole truth to Congress in testimony meant to gain approval for his bid to merge Sirius and XM Satellite Radio channels? The New York Times says the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Kevin J. Martin, is questioning how Mel said what he said about the proposed merger of the nation’s two satellite radio companies, and that subscribers would both pay the same monthly rate and receive significantly more programming.

Mel promised last week that prices would not be raised and the advantage to listeners would be the combining of the best programming from both satellite radio operators.

Ain’t necessarily so.


You may actually have to pay more than the current monthly rate of $12.95 if you want all the Major League Baseball feeds, which are now only on XM, plus all the pro football broadcasts, which are available only on—surprise!—Sirius.

Mr. Karmazin backpedaled yesterday and said his testimony was not misleading, what he meant to say was two things: a.) subscribers wanting to keep their existing service would not face a price increase—and—b.) listeners who wanted the best of both services would pay less than the combined rate of $25.90.
Smells like a rate increase to me.

FCC Chairman Martin says those nuances of detail were not clear from Mel’s testimony, and that the commission will “need to determine the benefits to consumers of this deal, and in doing that, we will need to carefully look at what price will be frozen and what consumers will be getting for that price.”

So a combined XM and Sirius operation really would be to Radio what Cable has been to TV: Greater choices, yes.
Greater expense, definitely.
Getting what you pay for from Cable and Satellite Radio—priceless, so far…because no one has a clear picture of the structure.