Most of us use Google. Many of us really like Google. There are even those who absolutely love Google!
Then there are the people who…well… just flat out worship the search engine:
http://www.thechurchofgoogle.org/
It’s a very funny site and I strongly suggest going and reading the hate mail section…
HILARIOUS!
Wings & Things has closed their doors!!!
Wings ‘n Things, on the corner of I & 5th Avenue (529 I St.), has been an institution since 1983, serving their “Anchorage wings,” submarine sandwiches and burgers. It was the wings in their five flavors, including the notorious nuclear version touted on the menu as “an explosive experience,” that gave the place its fame.
As of Wednesday, August 15th, the restaurant seems to have closed it doors – seemingly forever!
If you call the restaurant there is no discussion of a new location, of if indeed this is the end of one of Anchorage’s favorite “Mom & Pop” restaurants: “We thank God for the opportunity to serve this community for the previous 24 years,” the message said. “We thank you, Anchorage … all Alaskans for all the support you have entrusted to us.”
The message on the also said it would be updated to give customers with gift certificates and other business an address to complete transactions. So hopefully we will get more of why this happened.
My worry is twofold: one being another local favorite is destroyed by competition from a large national franchise or worse - our failing economy has killed another small business.
Here’s my favorite example. How well do you know about our mounting problem with China?
China’s mounting hoard of US dollars represents the most dangerous imbalance in today’s economy. The United States is both importing heavily from China and borrowing heavily from the country to finance those purchases, pushing the dollar down and putting the two economic superpowers on a collision course.
Barring an unforeseen shock to the global trading system, China’s reserve of US currency will continue to rise by roughly $17 billion a month!
So…why should you worry?
If China dumps their near-trillion-dollar reserve of U.S. Treasury bonds, it could trigger a U.S. and global recession. Read more here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/08/07/bcnchina107a.xml
Is the closing of Wings & Things a prelude to something worse? With the problems we’ve seen with the housing and stock market…is it too far a stretch?
I am seriously hoping I’m just bat shit paranoid and I can take off my tin foil hat on this one.
Because I’m involved with the Alaska Air Show: www.alaskaairshow.org, Lynn and I were invited to be DVs (Distinguished Visitors) for the F22 Raptor Arrival Ceremony (sideshow below with the full pictures in the photo gallery).
Needless to say, we had a FANTASTIC time! It was what I would call a “dress up” ceremony (suit or sport coat and tie), but that didn’t make it a boring ceremony by any stretch.
There was even a F22 simulator! Made my ACE, lost only one missile (tapped twice at the same target). I can say that after flying the simulator, I can’t see what the big deal is about being in a 9g inverted turn…I didn’t feel out of sorts at all <LOL>!
The really cool part was that the F22 actually arrived for the ceremony….as in the ceremony was tied to their actual arrival to the state!
There are many reasons for the F22 – the aging of the F15 Eagle (over 36 years), the creation of China’s new Jian-10 Fighter, Russia’s Sukhoi Su-35 as well as their sale to Syria of MiG31Es. With their Russian Vympel R-73 missiles they are deadly adversaries against our air dominance.
As Senator Ted Stevens said at the ceremony…”It’s not who the F22 will come up against, but who will be willing to go against the F22?”
History has taught us that we cannot successfully fight tomorrow’s wars by training to fight today’s enemy. The war on terrorism has challenged our forces in combat with an enemy that uses crude tactics and primitive technology. Who would have guessed 20 years ago we’d have our military riding horses into battle in the 21st century? But that’s exactly what we did in the opening days of the conflict in Afghanistan.
It’s important to note that as our current fight grabs all the headlines, the nature of warfare is constantly evolving on several fronts. We cannot afford to lose sight of the fact that we may be called upon to battle an enemy whose technology and skills more closely mirror our own, and we may have to engage both types of threats simultaneously.
When that time comes, Americans won’t want a fair fight. We carry the expectation of overwhelming combat dominance that makes the fight patently unfair to the other guy. The proof is in the undercurrent of the dialog against the war in Iraq…most Americans are shocked we’re loosing.
So…it’s back to what America is good at – deterrence at it’s highest level.
Standing there looking that the machine gave me a sense that my skies are safe again.
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