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The commanding officer of the guided-missile destroyer John Finn was relieved of command Friday. Cmdr. Angela Gonzales was relieved “due to a loss of confidence in her ability to fulfill her responsibilities in leading the ship,” according to a brief Navy statement issued Saturday. As is the case with nearly every Navy CO firing, no other information was provided regarding the reasons for Gonzales being relieved of command. John Finn is assigned to U.S. 7th Fleet in Yokosuka, Japan. Cmdr. Matthew Hays has assumed interim commanding officer duties, and Gonzales has been reassigned to Naval Surface Force Pacific. US Navy...

The Supreme Court is set to issue its final decisions on a number of cases over the next month, including Biden’s student loan forgiveness program and affirmative action policies within colleges and universities, notably UNC and Harvard. The decision on affirmative action will be based on two parallel cases the court heard together, one regarding public university UNC and the other for private universities, namely Harvard, on whether a student’s race and be considered in admission decisions, according to the Wall Street Journal. Both cases, one against the University of North Carolina, and one against the President and Fellows of...

Longish article. Several embedded videos. Good stuff. Excerpts below. “The latest incident to befall the U.S. Navy’s troubled Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) was an embarrassingly public one, and one that left the brand-new USS Cleveland (LCS-31) damaged in the process of being launched, in front of around 3,000 people, including members of the media. The Navy has now issued a statement providing more details of the collision between the Cleveland — which is the last of the 16-strong Freedom class — and a tugboat involved during the warship’s recent christening.” “No personnel injuries occurred, but there was limited damage” to...

The latest incident to befall the U.S. Navy’s troubled Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) was an embarrassingly public one, and one that left the brand-new USS Cleveland (LCS-31) damaged in the process of being launched, in front of around 3,000 people, including members of the media. The Navy has now issued a statement providing more details of the collision between the Cleveland — which is the last of the 16-strong Freedom class — and a tugboat involved during the warship’s recent christening. "No personnel injuries occurred, but there was limited damage” to the Cleveland, the Navy said, of the April 14...

Flight LogFlight 50 Sol 763 Date April 13, 2023 Horizontal Distance 322 m ~1,056 ftMax. Altitude 18 m ~59 ft Max. Groundspeed 4.60 m/s ~10.3 mph Duration 145.7 seconds Route of Flight from Airfield Lambda to Airfield MuFlights 50 (as of 4/13/23)Distance Flown 11,546 meters (~37,882 ft)Highest Altitude18 meters (~59 ft)Fastest Ground Speed 6.50 m/s (14.5 mph)Flight Time ~89.2 minutes (5,350 seconds)

The medical school at the University of Buffalo earned high marks for its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion from the Association of American Medical Colleges and has incorporated aspects of critical race theory into its curriculum. The University of Buffalo's Jacobs School of Medicine's responses to the AAMC's diversity, inclusion, culture, and equity survey were obtained by the medical watchdog group Do No Harm ... The replies to the survey show the school achieved a score of 90%, indicating "substantial diversity, inclusion, culture, and equity efforts." The medical school affirmed that it ensured a "diverse" student body by implementing...

With everyone distracted by China, skyrocketing crime and inflation, a nonexistent Southern border, and rapidly increasing authoritarianism in Washington, the Islamic State (ISIS) has taken the opportunity to strike again in North America. ... An attack on a transit bus in Surrey, B.C. over the weekend is being treated as terrorism after RCMP national security police took over the investigation.” It seems that the perpetrator, a manifestation of Canada’s deep commitment to diversity and multiculturalism named Abdul Aziz Kawam, was “initially charged with attempted murder for allegedly slashing a bus passenger’s throat on Saturday morning, but prosecutors added four counts...

Flight LogFlight 49 Sol 752 Date April 2, 2023 Horizontal Distance 282 m ~925 ftMax. Altitude 16 m ~52 ftMax. Groundspeed 6.50 m/s ~14.5 mph Duration 142.7 seconds Route of Flight from Airfield Kappa to Airfield Lambda ***Flights 49 (as of 4/2/23)Distance Flown 11,224 meters (~36,826 ft)Highest Altitude 16 meters (~52 ft)Fastest Ground Speed 6.50 m/s (14.5 mph)Flight Time ~86.7 minutes (5,204 seconds)

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is really making a name for himself on a national level, likely much to his eventual regret. After convincing a grand jury to bring preposterous charges against Donald Trump, Bragg had to find something to keep himself busy until Tuesday, and a New York garage attendant named Moussa Diarra offered him that opportunity. Diarra was working the overnight shift yesterday when he spotted Charles Rhodie rooting around the garage with a bag, apparently attempting to steal some of the tools and equipment in the garage. Diarra confronted Rhodie and demanded to inspect the bag. Instead...

Phil Washington, Joe Biden’s embattled nominee to head the Federal Administration Aviation, has withdrawn his nomination ... Reuters’ piece .. didn’t refer to Washington’s miserable performance when questioned by Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC) in which he went 0-for-7 on aviation policy. ... Nor did they refer to the exchange between Washington and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in which it’s quite possible that Washington committed perjury by claiming that a contract at the center of a pay-to-play criminal investigation in California in which Washington is “materially involved” was already in force before Washington became head of LA Metro. ... While the...

As you probably remember, Harvard was sued a few years ago on the grounds that its admissions criteria were unfair to Asian applicants. The trial was held before Judge Allison Burroughs, an Obama appointee who eventually decided in Harvard’s favor. Here’s a bit of her decision.For purposes of this case, at least for now, ensuring diversity at Harvard relies, in part, on race conscious admissions. Harvard’s admission program passes constitutional muster in that it satisfies the dictates of strict scrutiny. The students who are admitted to Harvard and choose to attend will live and learn surrounded by all sorts of...

Russia laid out conditions on Monday for agreeing to any further extension of the Black Sea grain deal, and President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow could send free grain to African countries if those conditions were not met. -snip- Speaking at a Russia-Africa parliamentary conference in Moscow on Monday, Putin said grain exports under the Black Sea deal had unfairly prioritised "well-fed European markets" rather than African countries, and that the renewal of the deal on Russia's terms was in the continent's interests.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded the bulk of grain and fertiliser to be exported under the Black Sea Initiative must be channelled to Africa. -snip- Speaking to African government ministers on Monday during the International Parliamentary Conference, dubbed "Africa in a Multipolar World", in Moscow, Putin said his key demands were that Africans should be the biggest beneficiaries. "We insist on the package nature of this deal - above all, in the interests of African and other developing countries, considering that they need large amounts of food - we insist on full compliance with Russia's key requirements, first of...

Flight LogFlight 48 Sol 741 Date March 21, 2023 Horizontal Distance 398 m ~1,306 ft Max. Altitude 12 m ~39 ft Max. Groundspeed 4.65 m/s ~10.4 mph Duration 149.9 seconds Route of Flight from Airfield Iota to Airfield KappaFlights 48 (as of 3/21/23)Distance Flown 10,942 meters (~35,901 ft)Highest Altitude 14 meters (~46 ft)Fastest Ground Speed 6 m/s (13.4 mph)Flight Time ~84.4 minutes (5,061 seconds)

The Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting, or ARFF, vehicle crossed Runway 15R at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) without authorization on Jan. 12, DC News Now said Tuesday. The Southwest Boeing 737 had just been cleared for takeoff from the same runway and missed the ambulance by less than half the length of a football field, the outlet reported. “The closest estimated horizontal separation occurred at a distance of 173 feet,” the Federal Aviation Administration said in new analysis of the harrowing incident. The ARFF driver was told to “hold short” of the runway, but read back the instruction...

The vast majority of Americans believe U.S. companies should hire executives based solely on merit, character and quality, according to a CRC Research poll shared exclusively with the Daily Caller News Foundation. Among respondents, 87% supported a merit-based approach, compared to 8% who supported a quota system for race and gender and 5% who were unsure or refused to answer, according to the CRC Research poll conducted for the 85 Fund. The pattern held true across political affiliations, with most Democrats, Republicans and independents favoring a merit-based hiring approach for executives. At 93%, Republicans were only slightly more likely to...

Eighteen years ago, I published an article in the Stanford Law Review which documented for the first time the enormous breadth and scale of race-based admissions preferences in law schools. At most law schools, the undergraduate grades (UGPA) and median LSAT scores of enrolled Black students were two standard deviations below those of white students at the same school. Outside of a handful of “Historically Black” institutions (where racial preferences were minimal), Blacks in law school were not faring well. They were failing out of school at more than twice the white rate; half of those who did graduate had...

Biden’s FAA pick Phil Washington knows nothing about aviation safety. "Mr. Washington, can you quickly tell me what kind of airspace requires an ADS-B transponder?” said Senator Ted Budd in a March 1 hearing with Phillip Washington, Joe Biden’s pick to head the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). “Not sure I can answer that question right now,” said Washington. Budd said the answer was a “pretty important part” but quickly moved on. “What are the six types of special-use airspace that protect this national security that appear on FAA charts?” “Sorry senator,” Washington said. “I cannot answer that question.” Budd duly...

In backrooms and dark corners, airline lobbyists, particularly the Regional Airline Association, are scurrying all over Washington, still trying to undo all the hard work that has been done to make air travel the safest form of transportation in human history. They’re doing this for the usual reasons. They want to try to cheapen pilot training and levels of experience for their own financial gain and expedience. They’re trying to do what is easier and cheaper for them, not what is best for passengers or crews, or for their industry. Once again, it is necessary that those of us who...

Fascism involves government control, but not ownership, of the means of production. Private companies exist, but they’re simply arms of the government. That’s pretty much how things work in America today, except that even functions traditionally government-performed in countries like Hitler’s Germany and Mussolini’s Italy have been outsourced to private organizations. ... The Nazis’ program of Gleichschaltung rearranged everything to suit the party’s goals, with the supervision of party officials and government boards. In America, on the other hand, the corporations that control the commanding heights of our national economy do it themselves, following the philosophy of environmental, social and...