Medicare Part DD

There has been much wailing and gnashing of teeth over the Medicare Part D program. Whether you're for the prescription drug benefit plan for retirees or not, there are a lot of things to complain about. But 93-year old William C. Tinnen has allegedly enacted his own program: Medicare Part DD.

The "DD" stands for "Drug Dealer".

DURHAM, N.C. - A 93-year-old man was charged with cocaine-trafficking Thursday, the same day police netted three other people on charges of possessing heroine, opium and a slew of prescription drugs, police said Friday.

William C. Tinnen, also charged with possession of cocaine with intent to sell, was jailed before being released Friday on $200,000 bond, said Kammie Michael, spokeswoman for the Durham Police Department.

Tinnen also was sentenced for cocaine possession in 2001, and given a suspended sentence, Michael said.

Yeah, that was a deterrent. Note that Tinnen made a $200,000 bail rather rapidly. Apparently, Part DD pays well.

Is It The Grunion?

I first posted about this last year. Three brothers who lost their father in the Second World War have been funding a search for the remains of the submarine their father commanded. USS Grunion was lost sometime after July 30, 1942 when her last report was received. Somewhere in the waters off the Aleutian Island of Kiska, the Grunion disappeared and was presumed sunk. I questioned the find at the time based off a single image that wasn't particularly clear. The family now says they have even more detailed imagery and that they believe they have discovered the badly mangled remains of their father's submarine.

The discovery of the USS Grunion on Wednesday night culminates a five-year search led by the sons of its commander, Mannert Abele, and may finally shine a light on the mysterious last moments of the doomed vessel.

"Obviously, this is a very big thing," the oldest son, Bruce Abele, said Thursday from his home in Newton, Mass. "I told my wife about it when she was still in bed and she practically went up to the ceiling."

A remotely operated vehicle snapped pictures and captured three hours of video footage of the Grunion on a rocky underwater slope north of the volcanic island, according to another brother, John Abele, who was in Kiska Harbor with the search team on Thursday.

The submarine lies 1,000 feet below the surface and had been crushed by water pressure, said Abele. He is director and co-founder of the medical equipment company Boston Scientific Corp. and the youngest of the three brothers.

"The most surprising thing was the damage," he said. "It was much more than we or anyone else imagined. Initially it was very hard to recognize as a ship."

The hull had imploded so severely that the interior, including bunks and a dive wheel, were clearly visible, Abele said. No human remains were found.

The search team hired by the Abeles, Deep Sea Systems International, said no identifying markings or lettering could be seen, however, the location and appearance of the vessel indicate it is the missing sub.

"There's a 95 percent chance that this is the Grunion and a less than five percent chance that it's not," said Christopher J. Nicholson, general manager of the Cataumet, Mass.-based company. "The fact that they actually found this in an expanse of ocean is really pretty spectacular."

For the sake of all of the families who are waiting for news, I hope they have found it. The image galleries they have up over at their blog have some issues and most images are not loading properly, but there certainly appears to be what could only be a submarine prop guard in one picture that loads. That is pretty convincing.

UPDATE: Many thanks to Maggie's Farm for linking this. I thought people jumping over here from that link might also be interested in this post, it's about some new underwater technology.

Tommy

 I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o'beer,
  The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here."
  The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,
  I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:

O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away";
But it's “Thank you, Mister Atkins,'' when the band begins to play,
The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
O it's “Thank you, Mr. Atkins,'' when the band begins to play.

  I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
  They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;
  They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls,
  But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!

For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, wait outside";
But it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide,
The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,
O it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide.

  Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
  Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;
  An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
  Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.

Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy how's yer soul?"
But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll,
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll.

  We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
  But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
  An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints:
  Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;

While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind,"
But it's "Please to walk in front, sir," when there's trouble in the wind,
There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
O it's "Please to walk in front, sir," when there's trouble in the wind.

  You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires an' all:
  We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
  Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
  The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.

For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"
But it's "Saviour of 'is country," when the guns begin to shoot;
An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
But Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool - you bet that Tommy sees!

(Rudyard Kipling, Tommy)

(Rudyard Kipling, Tommy) long time ago, right. It couldn't happen here, right? And they're past all that in Britain, right? Right…..   Yeah, right.

Musseling In

City officials in Escondido, California have issued an emergency ban on boats and personal watercraft for Lake Wohlford for five days. It seems an invasion of Quagga mussels has been detected at a nearby lake. The Animal Uprising™ has sent their mollusk legions to claim the California lakes for their own.

Quagga mussels typically travel on the bottom of boats. They range from microscopic to the size of a fingernail. They are prolific and attach themselves to hard surfaces.

Once quagga mussels are established, they can cause significant maintenance problems for raw-water systems and can cost millions of dollars annually to treat. They also can disrupt natural food chains and release toxins that affect other species.

Escondido officials are meeting state Department of Fish and Game representatives tomorrow to develop an action plan to prevent the spread of the non-native mussel.

Quagga mussels were first discovered in California in Lake Havasu on Jan. 17. The species is native to Russia and Ukraine and is thought to have traveled to the Great Lakes region of the United States on transoceanic ships.

Quagga mussels are like Zebra mussels on steroids. They're bigger, meaner and feed all year, even in the winter months when Zebra mussels are dormant. They have been known to kidnap swimmers and hold them for ransom and can chew through the bottom of a boat to get at the soft, tasty occupants.

Ok, you got us. We made that last part up. They have to come over the side.

?humor. These little suckers are pretty devastating. They apparently excrete large amounts of phosphorous in their waste and filter feed continuously, seriously screwing up the food chain. They are, like Zebra mussels, very hard on water intake structures and can plug systems up very rapidly.

The Grapes Of Stupid

Detroit "school activist" Agnes Hitchcock has been given a $250 fine and six months probation after being convicted on charges of disturbing the peace. Hitchcock is the leader of Detroit's Call 'em Out Coalition disrupted a school board meeting by throwing grapes at the board members. She was led out of the chamber by police.

Agnes Hitchcock, leader of the Call 'Em Out Coalition, said she will not be disruptive at future school board meetings. She said the case, which ended with her conviction and sentence Thursday, gave her a chance to speak about mismanagement in the school district.

"It was worth the risk in order to be able to talk about these things in court," she told the Detroit Free Press.

The grapes she threw April 4 beaned at least one board member before police led Hitchcock out of the auditorium. The board voted 6-5 to close schools because of a budget deficit and declining enrollment.

Apparently, the raisin(to be) d'etre* of the group she leads is to be as offensive as possible.

One such group, the Call 'Em Out Coalition, gave Sambo Sell-Out Awards at a February dinner here in Detroit, where City Council member Sharon McPhail (shame on you!) read the nominees. Winners included the mayor, the superintendent of the city schools, a constantly controversial City Council member and businessman Dave Bing.

Public officials are always fair game. My ire is reserved for an attack on one of our best and brightest, who is neither public nor a sellout.

Bing, an NBA star with the Detroit Pistons before becoming a business star who located his auto-supply company in Detroit instead of, oh, a dozen suburban cities he could have chosen, wants to build a charter high school near his business — a living symbol of what the ancestors wanted. He wants to hire local graduates, but many of the best leave Detroit while many of the rest aren't equipped to start work.

"I'm not anti-public schools," he said in news reports last month. "But I don't think they will fix public schools quick enough to stop the drain. And if parents and children don't have other options, it's a lose-lose proposition for both the public schools and the city of Detroit."

It doesn't hurt Bing
The group is mad because Bing decided to partner with white philanthropist Bob Thompson, whose offer to build $200 million worth of charter high schools was rejected two years ago for fear it might hurt the city schools. The pair isn't recycling Thompson's old offer. Bing wants one school, near his company, one whose graduates could see their future down the street.

Very nice.

* Yes, I am aware of the correct spelling of raison d’être. It was a play on words.

Maybe?

Maybe?

(I still Don't forgive Doug Ross for going "nuc-you-lar" on this.

UPDATE: Caution is in order here, of course. Others: Hot Air, A Blog For All, The Jawa Report, The Van Der Galiën Gazette, The American Pundit, Jammie Wearing Fool,   The American Pundit, Sister Toldjah,

UPDATE: Not to be a party pooper here, but the AP is now reporting that a couple of things may have touched this spate of rumors off. There was apparently a planned meeting of local officials to go over their planning for the real thing. Then there was an unplanned road closure in the Florida Keys that was due to a police standoff - nothing to do with Castro at all. Coupled with the complete lack of Castro sightings on his birthday, there may have been a rumor avalanche. We'll see.

Slithering Trifecta

Three serpentine stories slithering across the wire services should send ophidiophobics scurrying for safety. (We sincerely hope the word police don't come after us for criminal alliteration as well.) First: Snake in School savages student:

DENVER - Students hopped on chairs and screams erupted when a nonpoisonous bull snake wandered into a classroom at Colorado State University Wednesday and bit a student in the hand.

Instructor Stu Field was minutes into his lecture when students noticed the snake slithering near the west doors of the classroom. He said the student who was bitten, who name wasn't released, was attempting to remove the snake from the classroom.

"Class had just started and then one girl stood on her chair and started screaming. Then every girl around it started screaming and all the girls stood on their chairs," Brittanny Bellefeuille, a freshman chemical engineering major, said.

If they had just waited a few minutes, the snake probably would have succumbed to typical student behavior and would have fallen asleep. Next up: Doing a snappy snake stomp:

CINCINNATI - A man who shows snakes and other reptiles at schools, festivals and libraries says a boy who told the man he hated snakes stomped and killed the man's 10-foot-long python. Scott Braunstein said he was showing Popcorn, a nonpoisonous albino Burmese python, Sunday at the St. Bernadette Festival near Cincinnati.

"The next thing I know … the kid raises his leg and stomps down on the snake's head," Braunstein said. "The snake started convulsing."

Braunstein said he saw a man grab the child and say, "This is why I don't take you anywhere," before disappearing.

"I've never, never, had anything like that happen," said Braunstein, who operates House of Reptiles, based in Dry Ridge, Ky.

A story like this usually does not get posted about here, but we made an exception to tell the boy's presumed parent what we think of his parenting skills: They Suck. And finally: Snakes on a Plane - again:

BROOKHAVEN, Miss. — It was no movie moment for a Mississippi doctor who discovered a snake on a recent flight.

Doctor Ed Carruth was flying in a one-seat plane yesterday when he felt something "licking" his arm.

His guest was a gray rat snake.

Carruth said once he and the snake both got their bearings, they came to an agreement to not bother each other. The snake then slithered to the back of the plane.

We suspect that Dr. Carruth must have failed the snaky skyjacker's surreptitious taste test or we'd be reading a whole different story.

Beckham Beware

Mr. David Robert Joseph Beckham, new captain of the Los Angeles Galaxy soccer team had better be careful. A new star is rising. Kariba is coming for you.

Kariba the horse has become a regular Mane Rooney - after his trainer discovered his amazing passion for football.

The troubled stallion was once so unruly, it regularly threw its riders and was nearly left on the bench permanently.

But thanks to horse psychologist Emma Massingale, he has been placated - by his love of soccer.

The 16-year-old animal has mastered passing, shooting, dribbling and hoofing a ball around his field. He has even moved on to nudging his large blue ball with his nose - in a horsey-style header.

Emma, 25, rehabilitates dangerous steeds at her training school, Natural Equine, based in Bradworthy, Devon.

She said: "I'm not interested in football myself. But I looked at the players and thought 'my horse could do that'. "We started by leading him to the ball with a rope and I rewarded him with a pat if he touched or kicked it.

"Horses naturally shy away from unusual, bright objects that move towards them, so that had to be overcome. "Luckily, he is such a show-off, he took to it immediately and there was no looking back.

"He loves to learn new tricks and will parade around showing off his skills without any instruction. If you leave him in the pen with a football, he is happy there for hours kicking and heading it about on his own.

"After England got beaten by Germany again the other night, maybe the team could do with some tips."

Kariba stands 16.2 hands high and is a thoroughbred-Irish draft cross. Our operatives believe Kariba is in secret negotiations with another Major League Soccer franchise and will make his American debut soon. (It should be noted, however, that our operatives also believe in the Tooth Fairy.)

“A Memorable Disaster Shared By Peoples And Cities.”

You ask me to write you something about the death of my uncle so that the account you transmit to posterity is as reliable as possible. I am grateful to you, for I see that his death will be remembered forever if you treat it [sc. in your Histories]. He perished in a devastation of the loveliest of lands, in a memorable disaster shared by peoples and cities, but this will be a kind of eternal life for him. Although he wrote a great number of enduring works himself, the imperishable nature of your writings will add a great deal to his survival. Happy are they, in my opinion, to whom it is given either to do something worth writing about, or to write something worth reading; most happy, of course, those who do both. With his own books and yours, my uncle will be counted among the latter. It is therefore with great pleasure that I take up, or rather take upon myself the task you have set me.

He was at Misenum in his capacity as commander of the fleet on the 24th of August [sc. in 79 AD], when between 2 and 3 in the afternoon my mother drew his attention to a cloud of unusual size and appearance. He had had a sunbath, then a cold bath, and was reclining after dinner with his books. He called for his shoes and climbed up to where he could get the best view of the phenomenon. The cloud was rising from a mountain-at such a distance we couldn't tell which, but afterwards learned that it was Vesuvius. I can best describe its shape by likening it to a pine tree. It rose into the sky on a very long "trunk" from which spread some "branches." I imagine it had been raised by a sudden blast, which then weakened, leaving the cloud unsupported so that its own weight caused it to spread sideways. Some of the cloud was white, in other parts there were dark patches of dirt and ash. The sight of it made the scientist in my uncle determined to see it from closer at hand.

The words of Pliny the Younger in a letter written to Tacitus about the death of his uncle, Pliny the Elder during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. On this date in that year the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum disappeared under a wave of volcanic ash, killing an estimated 20,000 people. (There's an animation at that last link that shows what happened.) There are some interesting photographs here.

The Silence (And Tastiness) Of The Lambs

A bear is being blamed for eating part of a flock of sheep on a Virginia farm. A local official of the US Department of Agriculture says it is because of dry weather.

Katherine Meadows, owner of Springwood Angus Farms, said she has sought help from state and federal officials after seven of her sheep were killed and several more wounded this summer.

"Some of the sheep have been killed and left, and some have just disappeared," Meadows said yesterday. "We're guessing that it's just one bear, and it's just hitting our farm."

Chad Fox, district supervisor in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Christiansburg office, said it's uncommon for bears to kill livestock in Virginia. Fox said he has confirmed that wounded sheep on Meadows' farm were attacked by a bear, most likely a male.

Dry weather, Fox said, cut into the bear's food supply so he started searching around for something else to eat. "The bottom line is, the sheep were available and were within the bear's normal routine. He discovered it and took advantage of it."

Meadows said she keeps a flock of 125 sheep as well as cattle on the farm, west of Buchanan. Two sheep were killed last summer, and Meadows said she now believes they were killed by the same bear, not, as she originally suspected, by a coyote.

There have been multiple reports of bears attacking livestock coming from all over this year. These attacks are, inevitably, blamed on the weather. Which has led us here at Blue Crab Boulevard to a logical conclusion based on all the best recent use of statistics (and especially correlation) to prove scientifical things: Weather causes bears. You heard it here first.

The Good Guys

Peggy Noonan tells the story of a trip to Normandy in 1991. Meeting an old man, he asked if they were American. When they affirmed this, the man insisted on a toast of calvados with the group. Because he remembered Americans. He remembered them liberating France, fighting and dying for people they did not know. He remembered the good guys.

He didn't welcome us because he knew us. He didn't treat us like royalty because we had done anything for him. He honored us because we were related to, were the sons and daughters of, the men of the Normandy Invasion. The men who had fought their way through France hedgerow by hedgerow, who'd jumped from planes in the dark and climbed the cliffs and given France back to the French. He thought we were of their sort. And he knew they were good. He'd seen them, when he was young.

I've been thinking of the old man because of Iraq and the coming debate on our future there. Whatever we do or should do, there is one fact that is going to be left on the ground there when we're gone. That is the impression made by, and the future memories left by, American troops in their dealings with the Iraqi people.

I don't mean the impression left by the power and strength of our military. I mean the impression left by the character of our troops– by their nature and generosity, by their kindness. By their tradition of these things.

The American troops in Iraq, our men and women, are inspiring, and we all know it. But whenever you say it, you sound like a greasy pol: "I support our valiant troops, though I oppose the war," or "If you oppose the war, you are ignoring the safety and imperiling the sacrifice of our gallant troops."

I suspect that in their sophistication–and they are sophisticated–our troops are grimly amused by this. Soldiers are used to being used. They just do their job.

Noonan is quite right. You cannot write positive things about the American troops as the good guys without sounding like a "greasy pol". On the other hand, the anti-war left stridently attempts to impose a different narrative on the troops. Painting them in as bad a light as they can muster. Relentless screeching about Abu Ghraib, despite the fact that the reason that became news is because it was so out of character. Relentless smears of them and their efforts, a la Scott Thomas Beauchamp or Jesse Macbeth.

Noonan points out that there are statues of Russian soldiers in various places in Europe that are locally called "The Unknown Rapist":

But this makes me think of the statue I saw once in Vienna, a heroic casting of a Red Army soldier. Quite stirring. The man who showed it to me pleasantly said it had a local nickname, "The Unknown Rapist." There are similar memorials in Estonia and Berlin; they all have the same nickname.

There is a reason for that, one that isn't talked about.

The first rapes in East Prussia were an eruption of pure rage, bloody revenge for Wehrmacht atrocities on Soviet soil in the march to Stalingrad; soldiers destroyed homes, raped women — some as young as 12 — and killed children. But revenge could not have been the sole motive, for even Soviet prisoners of war and Jewish survivors were not safe; some, as young as 16, were raped by the soldiers who set them free. By the time the first libidinous Soviet wandered into the diarist's cellar a few months later — pointing menacingly to a teenage girl and asking "How many year?" — German women appeared to the Red Army simply as rightful spoils of war.

It was systematic, it was routine. Over and over and over again. And I rather doubt that a Russian balloonist tumbling to earth in those areas would be treated to a toast.

Honesty Deserves Respect

Representative Brian Baird voted against the war in Iraq. He has been an unyielding critic of the conduct of the war. That is why his honesty on the situation in Iraq is an outright disaster for the Reid-Pelosi strategy of failure at all costs. Because he, despite his longstanding opposition to the war, is forcefully arguing for the troops to remain. Because they are really making a difference and really making progress.

The invasion of Iraq may be one of the worst foreign-policy mistakes in the history of our nation. As tragic and costly as that mistake has been, a precipitous or premature withdrawal of our forces now has the potential to turn the initial errors into an even greater problem just as success looks possible.

As a Democrat who voted against the war from the outset and who has been frankly critical of the administration and the post-invasion strategy, I am convinced by the evidence that the situation has at long last begun to change substantially for the better. I believe Iraq could have a positive future. Our diplomatic and military leaders in Iraq, their current strategy, and most importantly, our troops and the Iraqi people themselves, deserve our continued support and more time to succeed.

It is a very, very well written piece and worth taking the time to read in its entirety. Baird makes several important points:

Those problems notwithstanding, to walk away now from the recent gains would be to lose all the progress that has been purchased at such a dear price in lives and dollars. As one soldier said to me, "We have lost so many good people and invested so much, It just doesn't make sense to quit now when we're finally making progress. I want to go home as much as anyone else, but I want this mission to succeed and I'm willing to do what it takes. I just want to know the people back home know we're making progress and support us."

From a strategic perspective, if we leave now, Iraq is likely to break into even worse sectarian conflict. The extremist regime in Iran will expand its influence in Iraq and elsewhere in the region. Terrorist organizations, the people who cut off the heads of civilians, stone women to death, and preach hatred and intolerance, will be emboldened by our departure. In the ensuing chaos, the courageous Iraqi civilians, soldiers and political leaders who have counted on us will be left to the slaughter. No American who cares about human rights, security and our moral standing in the world can be comfortable letting these things happen.

Baird is honest enough to admit what would happen if we pulled out. He is not mincing words here. Read it all. Coming from someone with Baird's credentials the words have added power.

A side note here: Baird also is clearly signaling that any attempt to undermine General Petraeus or Ambassador Crocker by the left is a very, very bad idea, indeed. So that strategy should be abandoned at once. If Reid or Pelosi attempt to attack or disparage Petraeus or Crocker, they may be looking at a full-scale mutiny.

Changed Debate

Charles Krauthammer devotes his column this week to the sudden change in the tone about Iraq coming out of Washington. He calls it the beginning of a rational debate on the war. (I don't know if I would personally go that far just yet.) He notes the sudden veering of many war critics away from the precipice the leftward marching Congressional Democratic leadership has been marching toward.

WASHINGTON — After months of surreality, the Iraq debate has quite abruptly acquired a relationship to reality. Following the Democratic victory last November, panicked Republican senators began rifling the thesaurus to find exactly the right phrase to express exactly the right nuance to establish exactly the right distance from the president's Iraq policy, while Murtha Democrats searched for exactly the right legislative ruse to force a retreat from Iraq without appearing to do so.

In the last month, however, as a consensus has emerged about realities on the ground in Iraq, a reasoned debate has begun. A number of fair-minded observers, both critics and supporters of the war, agree that the surge has yielded considerable military progress, while at the national political level the Maliki government remains a disaster.

The latest report from the battlefield is from Carl Levin, Democratic chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a strong Iraq War critic. He returned saying essentially what we have heard from Michael O'Hanlon and Kenneth Pollack of the Brookings Institution and various liberal congressmen, the latest being Brian Baird, D-Wash.: Al-Qaeda has been seriously set back as Sunni tribal leaders in Anbar, Diyala and other provinces switched from the insurgency to our side.

The song from the Washington politicians has changed. Now there appears to be a growing choir singing the praises of American troops making real progress while simultaneously damning the Maliki government for "doing nothing". (I point out, yet again, that I think that is a really foolish tack for the Congress - either party - to take given their bleak track record of accomplishments.) That appears to be the "rational discourse" that has been settled on. Taking that as a starting point, various people are flogging that in various directions. I suppose it is at least a start. But Krauthammer also points out one undeniable fact:

Serious people like Levin argue that with a nonfunctional and sectarian Baghdad government, we can never achieve national reconciliation. Thus the current military successes will prove ephemeral.

The problem with this argument is that it confuses long term and short term. In the longer run, there must be a national unity government. But in the shorter term, our assumption that a national unity government is required to pacify the Sunni insurgency turned out to be false. The Sunnis have turned against al-Qaeda and are gradually switching sides in the absence of any oil, federalism or de-Baathification deal coming out of Baghdad.

In the interim, the surge is advancing our two immediate objectives in Iraq: (a) to defeat al-Qaeda in Iraq and prevent the emergence of an al-Qaeda mini-state, and (b) to pacify the Sunni insurgency, which began the post-liberation downward spiral of sectarian bloodshed, economic stagnation and aborted reconstruction.

The surge is working despite the lack of progress on the political side. That's an important point to remember when you hear all the pontificating and spin from the politicians. There will be a lot of very serious pronouncements and firm positions taken, but that fact really matters.