4B - The Ridgway Record – The Daily Press, – The Kane Republican, Friday, July 24, 2015 Stealthy jet ensures other war-fighting aircraft survive


JOINT BASE LANGLEY- EUSTIS, Va. (AP) — Screaming through the air along southern Virginia's coast, the Air Force's F-22 Raptor routinely puts on a dazzling show of loops, dives and combat maneuvers designed to bedevil and defeat opponents before they ever know it's there. But in its first months of com- bat in the skies above Iraq and Syria, the stealthy jet's con- tribution has been more of an escort role, using its high-tech sensors and communications to guide and protect other fighters that are actually dropping the bombs.


In the nearly 10 months the Raptor has been flying com- bat missions against Islamic State militants, the F-22 fight- ers have flown just 204 sorties. Of those, the Raptors launched airstrikes in about 60 locations, and dropped 270 bombs, as of July 9. In contrast, the U.S. and coalition aircraft have flown nearly 44,000 sorties since last August, including refueling and surveillance flights, and have conducted airstrikes in close to 7,900 locations.


Air Force leaders and the pi- lots who fly the F-22 say, how- ever, that the Iraq and Syria deployments have given them greater insights into how well it can sweep up information about enemies beyond the horizon and


BEIJING (AP) — Artist and government critic Ai Weiwei has gotten his pass- port back four years after it was confiscated by Chinese authorities and plans to visit Germany for a medi- cal checkup and to see his young son.


Ai posted an Instagram photo Wednesday of himself holding a Chinese passport with the caption, "Today, I got my passport." Ai's sup- porters shared the artist's post and cheered the news. Ai's representative Dar- ryl Leung confirmed the passport had been re- turned, and said Ai planned to visit Germany, where he will have a checkup and to see his son, who has been living abroad for the last 11 months.


Ai was detained by au- thorities for about three months in 2011 but not charged.


His design firm was later slapped with a $2.4 million tax bill, which he fought unsuccessfully in Chinese courts. The persecution is widely seen as punishment


HAVANA (AP) — This week's reopening of embas- sies and resumption of dip- lomatic relations between the United States and Cuba opens a new chapter in the countries' complicated rela- tionship.


But any visitor to the Cu- ban capital can see that con- nections between the two nations run long and deep just by taking stock of all the attractions showcasing American culture and histo- ry. Despite decades of hostil- ity, some of these sites even seem to celebrate Ameri- cans, while others reflect an anti-U.S. point of view. Here's a look: ___


Hemingway


American writer Ernest Hemingway lived in Cuba on and off for years and worked on some of his most famous books here, includ- ing "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "The Old Man and the Sea." One of Havana's biggest tourist attractions is his estate at Finca Vigia, visited by literary pilgrims from around the world and Cubans alike. You can't enter the home, but large open windows provide a good look inside. Liquor bottles and magazines art- fully placed amid sofas and tables suggest Hemingway will be back at any moment. Also onsite is Hemingway's boat, the Pilar.


Photos of Hemingway posing with trophy fish and with revolutionary leader Fidel Castro decorate many bars and hotels, including the Ambos Mundos hotel in Old Havana, where you can tour a room Hemingway


spread that intelligence to the fighters moving in to strike tar- gets on the ground.


"The F-22s make other U.S. aircraft more survivable. It re- ally is enabling all the rest of the team," Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James told The As- sociated Press. "Perhaps this is a good model to think about for the future."


Officials acknowledge that the counterinsurgency fight against IS isn't the main type of com- bat the F-22 was built to wage. The high-performance fighter is designed to excel in more chal- lenging combat situations, with its abilities to evade sophisticat- ed air defense systems and be nearly invisible to other highly capable aircraft. Its advanced engines allow it to fly at faster- than-sound speeds without us- ing afterburners that consume more fuel.


"Flying it where we are now, I would not say is a very dense or a very high threat environment," said Maj. Gen. J.D. Harris, Jr., vice commander of Air Combat Command at Joint Base Lang- ley-Eustis. In Iraq and Syria he said, "its primary role is to make sure that it dominates the sky, so it keeps other air forces down on the ground, keeps them away from our airplanes that are not as good in the air-to-air role." He said the flights in Iraq and


for Ai's outspokenness against the ruling Commu- nist Party and its govern- ment. He has long irked Beijing by using his art and online profile to draw atten- tion to injustices in China. When he was released, he was placed under a trav- el ban. It was partially lift- ed in 2012 that allowed Ai to travel domestically, but authorities kept Ai's pass- port on the grounds that he remained under investiga- tion on suspicion of pornog- raphy and illegal exchange of foreign currency. Ai dis- missed both charges, and he has not been indicted on either charge.


Chinese authorities of- ten deny passports to dis- sidents who might embar- rass the ruling Communist Party overseas.


Ai's work has gotten much attention worldwide, making him one of best- known Chinese dissidents. His work was exhibited often outside China in the past four years, although he could not attend.


Upset over his passport


lived in. And two Havana bars attract a steady stream of tourists in part thanks to Hemingway's famed drink- ing declaration: "My mojito in La Bodeguita, my dai- quiri in El Floridita." The handwritten quote, alleged- ly scribbled by Hemingway himself, is framed over the bar at La Bodeguita del Me- dio. The Floridita features a Hemingway statue.


Other sites include a yacht club named the Hemingway Marina and a Hemingway monument in the nearby fishing village of Cojimar.


___ U.S. presidents


Several sites around Ha- vana reference U.S. presi- dents, but not all are com- plimentary.


Inside the Museum of the Revolution, caricatures of Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush are displayed in "Cre- tins Corner." Outside the museum sits wreckage from a U.S. spy plane shot down over Cuba in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis, a defining moment in John F. Kennedy's presidency. Abraham Lincoln is hon- ored with two statues: a miniature sculpture outside an English-language school, Escuela de Idiomas, on Ave- nida de los Presidentes be- tween 17th and 19th streets in the Vedado neighborhood, and a bust in the Parque de la Fraternidad on the Paseo del Prado.


Even Havana's domed Capitolio building will look familiar to Americans. It was modeled on the U.S. Capitol in Washington.


Syria have reinforced what the aircraft can do as a commander and coordinator on the battle- field — capabilities that will be- come increasingly important as more countries beef up their air defenses.


"This isn't the sort of combat for which the F-22 was con- ceived," said Loren Thompson, head of the Arlington, Virginia- based Lexington Institute, a think tank. "I don't think the war against ISIS is sufficiently challenging to teach F-22 pilots big lessons about the plane." He added that using the F-22 in Syria, including to escort and provide surveillance and pro- tection for other strike aircraft, makes sense because the U.S. may have been unsure what the Syrian regime might do. Syria has fairly sophisticated air de- fenses and the U.S. would want to reduce the risk of any fighters being shot down.


Maj. Cameron, a pilot who deployed to Iraq earlier this year to fly the F-22, is with the Virginia Air National Guard's 192nd Fighter Wing. He flew one combat mission in Iraq, doing a six-hour sortie escorting and guiding other fighters. His last name is being withheld at the request of the Air Force, in order to protect the identity of pilots who fly missions against IS. His job, he said, was to help


confiscation, Ai placed a bouquet of fresh flowers in a bike basket outside his Beijing studio and upload- ed a photo of the flowers to his Twitter account on Nov. 30, 2013.


He said the daily ritual would last until his right to travel was restored. On Wednesday, he noted it was the 600th day of his floral protest when the passport was returned. Britain's Royal Acad-


emy of Arts said Ai would travel to London for a ma- jor exhibition of his work in September. That is a month before President Xi Jinping is to make a state visit to London, and Chi- nese authorities may have not wanted Ai's absence to make headlines.


"This is wonderful news


for Ai Weiwei, his family and for artists worldwide," said Royal Academy direc- tor Tim Marlow. "We are delighted to announce that he will be joining us as we finalize the installation of his exhibition."


Ai's work is very popular


the F-16s and other fighter jets do their strikes. "Their mission is getting the bombs on target, on time, find- ing the right target and mini- mizing collateral damage," said Cameron. "The more time they have to focus on that part of the mission, the more successful we're going to be in the long run. So, the F-22 ... it's another eye in the sky, if you will, to help them focus on the mission."


Conceived decades ago, the F-22 program has had a bumpy history, from massive cost over- runs and design troubles to safe- ty concerns in 2011 when the jets were grounded for four months after pilots complained of dizzi- ness and lack of oxygen. The Air Force later blamed a faulty valve in the pilots' pressure vests. The part was replaced and air flow to pilots was increased.


The aircraft cost an average of $190 million each, and the total program has exceeded $67 billion. The Air Force initially sought to buy more than 400 F- 22s, but that plan was sharply cut back in 2009 by then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates and pro- duction was capped at 187. Never flown during the ini- tial Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the fighter made its combat de- but last September during the second wave of airstrikes over Syria, when the battle against


China returns passport to Weiwei, who plans London trip


in Britain. In 2010 he filled a vast hall at the Tate Mod- ern gallery with 100 million ceramic sunflower seeds. Visitors were initially invit- ed to walk or lie on them, but after a few days the ceramic dust was judged a health hazard and the ex- hibit was cordoned off. It still attracted large crowds. Before his detention, Ai had spoken out about a number of national scan- dals, including the deaths of students in shoddily built schools that collapsed dur- ing a massive earthquake in 2008. The


government has


blacklisted him from any mention in state media, and he is not allowed to post anything on China's social media.


He was also barred from holding exhibits in China, but as a sign that the re- strictions might be easing, Ai was allowed to hold his first solo exhibit in Beijing last month. He has held two more exhibits since then, also in the Chinese capital.


Visitors to Havana can find U.S.-Cuban connections everywhere ___


___


The Rosenbergs Julius and Ethel Rosen- berg were executed by the U.S. government on charges of passing atomic secrets to the Soviet Union. Their deaths were protested around the world; they left behind two young children and newly released 1950 grand jury testimony sug- gests Ethel may have been innocent. In Havana, a brick memorial at Zapata and Paseo streets is deco- rated with their images, a flock of doves and the words, "For peace, bread and roses, we will face the executioner. Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, murdered June 19, 1953." ___


Mobsters, movie stars and baseball players Many hotels display pic- tures and stories from Ha- vana's pre-revolutionary heyday as a glamorous play- ground for mobsters, movie stars and baseball players, from a plaque about Babe Ruth in the Hotel Plaza lobby to a photo exhibit at the Hotel Nacional that in- cludes Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra and Fred Astaire. The Nacional's official his- tory notes that in 1946, it was the site of a meeting of Mafia bosses. The gathering later inspired part of "The Godfather: Part II."


Black-and-white photos also decorate Sloppy Joe's, an Old Havana bar once frequented by Hemingway and other celebs. Sloppy Joe's also figured in a piece of British culture, the book and film "Our Man in Ha- vana,"


Graham Greene's story of a bumbling spy.


John Lennon, honorary New Yorker


John Lennon was British but New Yorkers consider him one of their own: He lived and died in Manhat- tan. One of Havana's pret- tiest parks, John Lennon Park, has a bench where fans can pose with a sculp- ture of the singer. When tourists approach, an atten- dant places spectacles on the statue's face. An inscrip- tion in Spanish quotes from Lennon's song "Imagine": "You may say I'm a dream- er, but I'm not the only one." ___


USS Maine The


Maine was destroyed in an explosion in Havana harbor in 1898 that killed 266 men. "Remember the Maine!" be- came a rallying cry for the Spanish-American War. America's victory over Spain liberated Cuba, which had been a Spanish colony, but also led to U.S. intervention in Cuban affairs. A


IS in Iraq was expanded. During that mission, the F-22 dropped bombs on an IS command-and- control building in Raqqa, de- stroying it.


Out on the flight line at Lang-


ley, F-22s are lined up, waiting for pilots to take their training missions over the ocean. Under a blistering sun last week, four pilots strode out to their fighters and climbed into the cockpits, while crews went through long final checks of its avionics and other systems. As the hatch on one closed and the crew chief sa- luted, one of the pilots pumped both fists into the air as he moved his F-22 into line and out onto the runway. Moments later, they shot into


the air, followed by a number of T-38 Talons, the supersonic jet trainers who were playing the role of enemy fighters in the air- to-air exercise.


"When you're flying, it's like doing any other job. You get fo- cused on the job, the mission. But every so often there's that lull," said Cameron. "So whether you're going to or from the air- space and it's just kind of that quiet part of whatever you might be doing, whether you're sitting at the end of the runway getting ready to take off, you always have those moments ... 'I'm sit- ting in an F-22. I'm pretty darn lucky.'"


Casino deal is latest to separate gambling from real estate


LAS VEGAS (AP) — A deal involving Pinnacle En- tertainment is the latest ex- ample of a casino company separating its gambling op- erations from its real estate to generate cash. Las Vegas-based Pin- nacle announced this week it would sell most of its ca- sino-hotels to a real estate investment trust, Pennsyl- vania-based Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc., in an all-stock deal valued at $4.7 billion.


Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. will then lease the properties for at least 10 years, with five-year renew- als, starting at $377 million a year. It makes Pinnacle a renter responsible for prop- erty taxes, insurance and maintenance costs, with Gaming and Leisure as its landlord.


It's an option consid- ered by companies beset by weighty debt and limited financing options, but Pin- nacle CEO Anthony San- filippo said this deal wasn't about pressure on its bal- ance sheet but more about timing — selling while the real estate is valuable. With this deal, Gam- ing and Leisure will now own 35 casino-hotels in 14 states. The company is also taking on $2.7 billion worth of Pinnacle's debt. Pinnacle shareholders will also get shares of Gaming and Lei- sure.


Analysts say the struc- ture isn't for everyone, and it's time-intensive and com- plex. But for some compa- nies, it frees up cash and makes


future battleship USS more flexible. financing "It's not a thing you snap


your fingers and do," said Keith Foley with Moody's Investors Service.


Some traditional gam- bling companies have faced a challenging


financing


environment. The indus- try struggled through the


monument to the Maine, with two soaring white columns, sits on Ha- vana's seaside boulevard, the Malecon. A bronze eagle that crowned the monu- ment was ripped down dur- ing an anti-U.S. protest in 1961, and the bird's head is now kept inside the dip- lomatic mission that just became the U.S. Embassy. The rest of the eagle is with the office of Havana's city historian. Some say U.S.- Cuba relations will be fully normalized when the eagle is put back together and once again crowns the mon- ument.


FSECURITYROM PAGE 3B


crat and Blahous is a Re- publican.


The basics


Nearly 60 million people receive Social Security ben- efits, including 42 million retired workers and depen- dents, 11 million disabled workers and 6 million sur- vivors of deceased workers. About 55 million retir-


ees and disabled people get Medicare.


The hospital trust fund is only part of the pro- gram. Coverage for outpa- tient care and prescription drugs is covered by premi-


ums and other government spending. Medicare


is adding


10,000 new beneficiaries a day as baby boomers reach age 65.


The administration of- ficials serving as Medicare and Social Security trust- ees are the secretaries of the Treasury, Health and Human Services, and La- bor departments, as well as the Social Security com- missioner.


The trustees provide oversight of the programs' finances.


recession. Since then, com- petition has increased as casinos have spread and betting alternatives have proliferated.


"They've got a lot of debt, and this is basically one way to reduce your debt or finance with more flexibility going forward," Foley said. Pinnacle's situation wasn't as dire, since its debt was already highly rated and the company was in no rush to pay it off, Foley wrote in a March report. Sanfilippo said the deal does give the company the ability to have a long-term strategy and "leaves both companies very healthy." Other casino companies considered making


have


such a shift. Real estate investment trusts, or REITs, benefit from not being taxed on cor- porate income as long as the vast majority of that income is given back to sharehold- ers.


Caesars Entertainment Corp. has said it plans to split its operating division that's


under bankruptcy


protection into a REIT, with one company owning the property and the other pay- ing rent, if its creditors and the court approve its plan. MGM Resorts Interna- tional has said it's looking into whether the structure might work for its business but hasn't decided. Earlier this year, it rebuffed calls from one of the company's investors that said the con- version would make MGM considerably more valuable to investors.


Gaming and Leisure was spun-off from Penn Na- tional Gaming Inc. in 2013, forming an entirely sepa- rate publicly traded compa- ny that has since been Penn National's landlord at 18 casino properties, including the M Resort Spa Casino in Henderson, just outside Las Vegas.


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