Chase J. Nielsen, who spent 40 months as a prisoner of war after participating in the daring Doolittle raid that gave a much-needed lift to American morale only four months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, has died. He was 90.

Nielsen, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, died March 23 of age-related causes at his home in Brigham City, Utah, said his wife, Phyllis.

On the morning of April 18, 1942, 80 volunteer airmen on 16 B-25 Mitchell bombers took off from the deck of the aircraft carrier Hornet more than 600 miles from Japan. They took off earlier and about 200 miles farther out than they had planned. They were forced to move up the operation after the U.S. task force was spotted by Japanese patrol boats.

Nielsen, then a 25-year-old lieutenant, was the navigator for Crew No. 6.

Led by Lt. Col. James H. "Jimmy" Doolittle, the 16 planes successfully bombed targets in Tokyo and several other cities.

…

In addition to his wife, Nielsen is survived by three children with his late first wife, Terry, Gregory and Sherrie Wendel; two sisters, Coy Scharp and Colleen Checketts; eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Rest In Peace, Chase.

First aminopterin and now melamine?

Government testing found a chemical used to make plastics in recalled pet food linked to the deaths of dogs and cats, officials said Friday.

The Food and Drug Administration said it found melamine in samples of the Menu Foods pet food, as well as in wheat gluten used as an ingredient. Cornell University scientists also have found the chemical, also used as a fertilizer, in the urine and kidney of a sick cat.

Question… What wasn't in the pet foods?

Yesterday, Dr. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, made a statement that I just could not ignore.

You can hear what was on my mind at the time in the latest episode of Test Pattern. You can subscribe at ISPN Media, or you can click the ODEO player link below.

Yesterday, Dr. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, made a statement that I just could not ignore.

In a phone interview with U.S. News and World Report, in reference to Fred Thompson and his possible bid for President in 2008, Dr. Dobson said,

"Everyone knows he's conservative and has come out strongly for the things that the pro-family movement stands for, but I don't think he's a Christian; at least that's my impression."

Dobson added that such an impression would make it difficult for Thompson to connect with the conservative Christian base and win the GOP nomination.

After a spokeman for Thompson verified that he was indeed a Christian, a spokesman for Focus on the Family said that Dobson didn't believe Thompson was a member of a non-Christian faith, but that he had never known Thompson to be a committed Christian, or someone who talks openly about his faith.

In short, Dr. Dobson said that Fred Thompson was not Christian enough to be President.

The theme music for Test Pattern is "Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 2 K211 (Rondeau_ Allegro)" by Shlomo Mintz from the album, "CD1 Mozart – The Violin Concertos". As usual, all of our music is courtesy of Magnatune.

Download the podcast: Test Pattern – Episode #29

– Powered By Stuffr! –

• Greg Reinacker's Weblog – Try the NewsGator Online Beta!
  Since I am an avid fan of FeedDemon, I had to try this new beta of NewsGator. Two words… HOLY SMOKE!
  (tags: NewsGator aggregator rss software feeds ajax)
• WyaWidget: Google Widget Creator – Googlified
  Nice… Very nice… If you're into widgets… And who isn't?
  (tags: howto Google widget)