From Not A Terrorist Attack To "He Was Totes On His Own" In No Time Flat

So the FBI is now assuring us that not only was the New Orleans Islamic terrorist indeed committing an act of terrorism, but he completely acted on his own.

The Detroit News: FBI says driver in New Orleans rampage acted alone, was '100%' inspired by Islamic State group

Awfully quick and convenient to come to that conclusion, especially as the mosque he attended is telling its members not to talk to the FBI or other investigators.   Especially as up until the narrative needed to be changed they stated he had worked with others.

The mosque officials their post called it a terrible event (much along the lines of some people did something) and put in quotes  that the FBI is now calling it an "act of terror". 

The mosque and imams there are rather interesting, but likely not atypical.

Perhaps the FBI should investigate a bit more before jumping to conclusions, especially as their initial conclusion that it was not a terrorist event was, shall we say, rather missed the plot and was contrary to all evidence.

23 Years Since 9/11

And the FBI is still fundamentally unserious when it comes to Islamic Terrorism.

From Breitbart: FBI: New Orleans Ramming Suspect Identified as ‘Shamsud Din Jabbar’

The suspect accused of plowing a pickup truck through a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing 10 and injuring at least 30 on New Year’s Day, is named Shamsud Din Jabbar, according to a law enforcement source, Nola.com reported.

The outlet also reported the suspect is 42 years old and that he was carrying an Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) flag in the vehicle.

Police shot and killed him after the attack.

The attack occurred around 3:15 a.m.

FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Aletha Duncan first said the attack was not a “terrorist event.”

Not “a terrorist event”.

One wonders what act if any by Islamists would qualify as a terrorist event for the FBI?

Of course, they eventually said that yes, the Islamist running his truck into a crowd, with  IEDs in the truck, and flying an ISIS flag (which interestingly was covered up and concealed by the FBI initially), was indeed a terrorist attack. 

Amazing powers of deduction the FBI has.  Sherlock Holmes would be most impressed.

An Update From Murphy of Lagniappe's Lair

Murph of Lagniappe's Lair  just called.

He has no power or internet connection so don't expect much in the way of posts on his blog for awhile.

He's doing all right and has running water, food, and hot showers.

He and the dogs are doing all right and they're sitting tight. 

No flooding on his street, just a lot of wind damage to power lines etc, and it's going to take a long time to get power back up in New Orleans.

Flight Of The PBJ-1

What's a PBJ-1 you ask?

It looks familiar, doesn't it?

The PBJ-1 is the World War 2 Navy/Marine Corps nomenclature for the B-25 Bomber. In World War 2 there were more B-25s produced than the Army Air Corps needed, so they sent some to the Navy, who then gave them to the Marines. The Marines used them for anti-ship and close air support missions.

The PBJ-1 instead of the clear nose had machine-guns installed for additional firepower for anti-ship and marine close air support missions.

Devil Dog is a B-25 that was restored and converted to the PBJ-1 variant by the Commemorative Air Force as there are no existing original PBJ-1s. The aircraft is named for the original Devil Dog that was lost in the Pacific with all its crew during a night operation.

Original or not, Devil Dog is still an absolutely stunning aircraft.

New Orleans Airshow - Infantry Assault

Not only were there airplanes and vehicles on display, there were also reenactors that put on a show.

A bunch dressed in Marine period uniforms staged an attack on an enemy hay bale strongpoint.

The highlight of the infantry assault was the flame thrower demo. An Amerikaner Flamen Werfer, it werfed a whole lot of flammen.

It lit up the enemy hay bales nicely and completely. Even from quite a distance away, you could feel the heat it gave off. Very impressive.

After the demo, one of the airport fire trucks came and spent quite a time and a considerable amount of spray putting the fire out.

That was a neat display of World War 2 weaponry.

New Orleans Airshow - FIFI

A real crowd-pleaser was at the airshow.

Fifi the B29.

Not content to be static, FiFi's engines were turned over and she took to the sky.

Then back for a landing:

Note the very nose-high attitude on landing to protect the front gear, and check out the skid on the rear to protect the tail from a tail strike.

As she landed, you got a nice idea of her size as she rolled by an 8 seat Cessna 421C.

The presence of a flying B-29 is something to behold. She had a glorious sound and impressive size, watching Fifi fly is experiencing living history at its best.

New Orleans: Apres Swamp Kayak Perambulation

After the visit to the swamp on Sunday we headed off to a nice Vietnamese restaurant nearby for some lunch.

Then after a power nap, we loaded up Murph's Kayak and headed to Bayou St John to go kayaking. I rented a kayak form the vendor there and it was a very smooth transaction.

Running through the city, the Bayou offers a very calming and quiet water experience.

We did a limbo under the first bridge as the water level was pretty high, but from then on it was pretty smooth paddling.

The we carried on up the bayou, passing by some very nice waterfront houses, including some still abandoned since Katrina.

We passed under a bridge where some fellows were fishing for crabs by hanging traps and lines from the bridge.

Then as dusk approached we realized we were about an hour out with 45 minutes remaining in the rental, so we picked up the pace a it.

We made it back with time to spare, beating out some other kayakers that had bene in front of us and returnign the kayak on time.

A darn good time was had, and it was a nice change of pace from the bar-hopping and burlesque shows. Of course, we had to head out for some food and celebratory drinks afterwards.

New Orleans - Sunday Swamp Day

No trip to New Orleans is complete without a journey to its surrounding swamps and bayous.

So we headed off to the Barataria Preserve Sunday, after recovering somewhat from Saturday's rather epic day.

In the preserve, there were gators to see:

One moving through the swamp:

One close to the trail:

The gator stayed there sunning itself without a care or concern for the people walking by along the boardwalk close enough to reach out and pet it, which wisely none did.

Then on the way back along the trail, there was a danger noodle that was danger close:

The water moccasin was right on the trail and would have easily been stepped upon, and did not seem bothered by people walking by and refused to leave.

So Murph, of course, grabbed a stick and chivvied him off

The snake could tell when he wasn't wanted and headed off the trail for the water, flicking its tongue in annoyance.

A very nice walk through the swamp with an opportunity for some good up-close pictures of the native wildlife.

New Orleans Saturday - The Parade For A Cat

After the air show we took a breather and then headed out to a participate in my first Second Line parade ever.

It could have been held by the Crewe of Mew - it was a parade in honor of a cat.

Not just any cat, but an unnamed feline that managed to zap itself and knock out power to 70,000 people on one of the hottest days of the year.

Many in the parade felt the cat was really sticking it to "the man", and the parade was in the cat's honor.

In short, any excuse for a party will do in New Orleans.

So we headed down to where the parade was to start.

The brass band had assembles, and the crowd grew but the parade couldn't start until the police escort arrived.

Some but not all of the police escort arrived, so the starting time of 9:00 pm got pushed back further and further.

There were quite an array of characters ready to go:

The black cat:

People who thought they were cats:

Even dogs were there to honor the Zap Cat.

Then the rest of the escort arrived and the parade got started. The band and the banner led the way.

Quite a crowd paraded to honor the zapped cat.

Much bar-hopping occurred as the parade proceeded in fits and starts over 2 and a half miles.

Lot of fun was hard, my liver was exercised severely once more and thus is growing stronger, and my first second-line parade had taken place.

After such a venture where do you go to get some food to balance out all the alcohol? Why to the Tacocat Food Truck of course!

Those were some tasty, tasty tacos.

New Orleans: Saturday At The Airshow

Why this weekend in New Orleans?

Well aside from cheap airfare and an opening in my schedule to get out for a guy's weekend out, there was something cool going on.

Lots of land vehicles on static displays that would soon be moving in a demonstration.

Aircraft on static display, many of which wpuld be flying in the airshow:

There were interviews with World War 2 veterans, which was quite interesting.

Singers in period costume sang the classic songs of the 40's, and then the airshow kicked off with them leading the crowd in the Star Spangled Banner.

While the ladies sang the national anthem, a pair of F-15s from the 159th Fighter wing came over with perfect timing to do a flyby just as the last note was sung.

They then performed a few passes, including some in the pattern with deliberate missed approaches.

Then they left on afterburner to the delight of the crowd.

A great way to open an airshow.

Many more pics from this airshow to come.

Blogging From The Big Easy

Arrived Friday after work, and a weekend of merriment, fun, stuff to see and do with Murphy's Law, and outright debauchery is well underway.

Good flight in on the Greyhound of the air, Spirit Airlines, but it was on time, passengers were happy and well-behaved and many were well lubricated even before arriving in the Big Easy.

On arrival Murph met me at the airport and we headed off to dinner at Siberia and then to a bar for some drinks.

Then off to a cabaret and burlesque show to enjoy the music, yea that's the ticket.

Actually they are pretty talented musicians and the other talent wasn't bad on the eyes either.

Then a bit of wandering around bar hopping and going to a party held at a bar and drinking until it was well into the wee hours and time to crash and prep for the next day's adventure.

My Liver to me: Remember it’s a marathon, not a sprint.

Me: Shut up and hold my beer.

My Liver: That’s what I’m talking about!

The poor liver is getting quite a workout - more beer has been consumed in two days than I've drank in about 4 months.

Some Random Pics Of New Orleans

Just some random pics from the New Orleans trip.

There used to be a statue upon this pedestal.

That statue is gone now.

At least they haven't gotten around to removing Ben Franklin's statue - yet.

At a fine antique store there were fine antiques aplenty.

In the 1850s, when you can't decide whether to carry a knife or a pistol you can do both.

A $50 Texas banknote with Sam Houston's signature (apparently it wasn't actually signed by Houston but by William G. Cooke).

If you had to ask the price on any of these items, you probably couldn't afford them. The mark-up on the antique firearms and coins were quite high above typical market value, likely to snag visiting tourists with cash and not a lot of market knowledge.

Now, if you could afford those items, you likely would be riding around in this very clean Ferrari:

Then on to the river.

A ship making a 90 degree turn on the river.

A tug and barge meandering down the river.

An abandoned wharf awaiting redevelopment.

'Twas a darn good trip with a fine host.