Free Republic

American armed forces have begun training Ukrainian soldiers to use advanced weapons systems in Germany, the Pentagon revealed on Friday. In a Washington press briefing, Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby said that the United States had come to an agreement with Germany to begin training programmes for Ukrainian soldiers. The Florida National Guard has been tasked with the “bulk” of the training, which will show a group of Ukrainian troops how to use advanced weapons such as howitzers, radar systems, and armoured vehicles. “Today, I can announce that the United States has commenced training with the Ukrainian Armed...

That the forceful ejection of a United Airlines passenger the Sunday before last proved so newsworthy indicated something that’s largely been ignored by the airline’s myriad critics and “advisers.” What happened was news precisely because it’s so rare. But for a commentariat prone to turning anecdote into statistic, United’s resort to force when it came to properly removing David Dao (more on this in a bit) from one of its airplanes was naturally (to the chattering class, at least) a sign of a tone-deaf airline; one clueless about customer service thanks to a culture within the airline that doesn’t prioritize...

But part of the phenomenon long precedes YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and social media dictating the news. It's the American cult of victimization You’ve been snookered folks! By that poor elderly doctor who was involuntarily dragged from his seat, had his face smashed in, and was beaten unconscious by the evil airport security at the behest of United Airlines. Because there’s no evidence any of that was true. It was in fact a premeditated temper tantrum gone viral, comprising one 69-year-old Vietnamese-American David Dao, a medical doctor who lost his license, planning a lawsuit from the moment United first politely asked...

FULL TITLE: Adding insult to injury: United did NOT take passenger's bags off his plane after he was dragged off - then sent his luggage to the WRONG address hundreds of miles from where he was hospitalized The doctor dragged off a United plane in scenes which created global outrage was further insulted when the airline withheld his luggage, sending it on a convoluted path home. Dr David Dao was accused of refusing to give up his seat on Sunday's United Express flight UA3411 flight from Chicago to Louisville for the airline's staff. Cell phone footage then shows the moment...

Full title..................'United are worse than the Viet Cong': Doctor's daughter and lawyer speaks out and reveals NO one from United has called to apologize and he has lost his teeth, has a concussion and has to undergo reconstructive surgery................The man who was bloodied and dragged from an overbooked United Airlines flight said the treatment he received at the hands of police 'storm troopers' was more horrifying than when he left Vietnam during the fall of Saigon. Attorney Thomas Demetrio launched into an attack on the airline, while defending his client during a press conference in Chicago on Thursday morning. 'Here’s...

f there’s one thing I have learned over the years, it’s that there are always two sides to every story. On April 9th, a very unfortunate incident played out on United Flight 3411, the video of which has since gone viral causing a mass social media uprising with an ‘off-with-their-heads’ mentality. I mean, across the board. Fire ’em all and let the gods sort it out later. Look, I get it. When I first saw the video I was appalled too. To say that it was inflammatory would be putting it mildly. But it was also a situation that was...

New information has been released about the doctor who was forcibly removed from the United Airlines flight 3411. According to information retrieved from TMZ, Dr. David Dao had his license suspended in February of 2005 after he was found to have been illegally prescribing and trafficking drugs in exchange for sexual favors. Several medical board documents indicate that Dao denied paying for sex, but did accepted sexual favors from an associate in exchange for reducing a debt the associate owed him. Dr. was charged with 98 felony drug counts for illegally prescribing and trafficking hydocodone, Oxycontin and Percocet but was...

FULL TITLE: 'We will beat you so badly you will be using your own face as a flotation device': Jimmy Kimmel mocks United Airlines' overbooking controversy with fake ad starring a flight attendant wearing brass knuckles Jimmy Kimmel has mocked United Airlines for allowing a 69-year-old grandfather to be aggressively dragged off the plane. The talk show host blasted the airline on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' Monday with a parody ad during the opening monologue. United landed in hot water after a video showed Dr Dao beaten and forcefully pulled off the overbooked flight from Chicago to Louisville. The chipper flight...

The passenger is being treated for injuries in a Chicago hotelUnited Airlines' parent company CEO Oscar Munoz on Tuesday apologized to the passenger dragged off a flight over the weekend. "Like you, I continue to be disturbed by what happened on this flight and I deeply apologize to the customer forcibly removed and to all the customers aboard," Munoz wrote in a memo to his team. "No one should ever be mistreated this way." Brief Marriage Preceded Fatal Calif. School Shooting The passenger has been identified as Dr. David Dao, of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, NBC News reported. The Associated Press also...

FULL TITLE: United Airlines' stock price falls 2.46% in trading on Wall Street wiping $550MILLION off the company's value after violent eviction of passenger Investors on Wall Street appear to be ready to jump ship from United Airlines in the wake of the public relations debacle triggered by the forced removal of a passenger on Sunday. Shares of United Continental Holdings Inc. fell over 3 per cent in early trading on Wall Street, wiping $800million off the company's value. Just after noon local New York time, the stock recovered somewhat but was still hovering at a loss of 2.46 per...

United's now-infamous slogan, "Fly the friendly skies," is being revamped on social media following the company's latest public relations nightmare. Users took to Twitter Tuesday to post their own ideas of a more suitable slogan for the airline, using the hashtag #NewUnitedAirlinesMottos.

The United Airlines passenger who was hauled off an overbooked plane is a poker-playing doctor from Kentucky with a sordid past. Dr. David Dao, 69, who was captured in a now-viral video being forcibly dragged off the Louisville-bound flight at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport on Sunday, was working as a doctor specializing in pulmonary disease in Elizabethtown when he was convicted of trading prescription drugs for sex favors. According to documents filed with the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure, Dao was arrested in 2003 on the drug-related offenses following an undercover investigation.