Free Republic

COUSHATTA, La. The pilot of an aerobatics plane had to parachute to safety in Red River Parish this morning after the plane developed mechanical problems. Authorities say Sean Tucker had to ditch the plane after the aircraft's control stick broke. Deputies say Tucker landed safely -- despite getting tangled briefly on part of the plane after getting out of the cockpit. The single-engine stunt plane crashed in a field near the Red River-Natchitoches Parish line. Red River Parish Sheriff Johnny Ray Norman says Tucker was in town to visit friends while on his way to a weekend air show in...

Sacramento County plans to burn down Karl Yuki’s home. (LIE LIE LIE) The Yuki family home is on a 90-acre pear orchard near the Sacramento River north of Sacramento International Airport. “Our family had lived there for quite a while, over 50 years. We were leasing it from the airport,” Yuki explained. The family gave up farming and moved to Lodi about a year ago. Although the house is unoccupied, the orchard remains a home for crows, various small birds and squirrels. Occasionally, coyotes and deer are seen. The airport has plans to transform the orchard into an environment specifically...

Officials at San Jose's airport say air travelers weary of standing in long lines at security checkpoints soon will be able to buy their way into a high-tech express lane as part of the federal government's efforts to speed up screening at the nation's airports. The cost is likely to be about $80 a year per passenger -- the amount charged in a test program at Orlando International Airport -- in addition to submitting 10 fingerprints and photographs of both eyes and passing a federal "security-threat assessment." The payoff: spending a mere 14 seconds at an identification-checking kiosk instead of...

OAKLAND – A man linked to a black Muslim group was among two men who turned themselves in to police for their roles in vandalizing a pair of stores for selling alcohol to blacks, authorities said. Investigators said Tuesday it was too soon to say whether the vandals were connected to Monday's fire and kidnapping of clerk at the same store ransacked by a gang of black men in suits and bow ties three days earlier. Yusef Bey IV, 19, and Donald Cunningham, 73, turned themselves in to face charges including robbery, felony vandalism and terrorist threats, Oakland Deputy Police...

We are just getting to the time of year when we should be looking at what we are thankful for and who in our lives has brought us blessings. Let's discuss what makes you Thankful!

There are 25 questions in a quiz on WWII aviation at the above URL. Pick your answer from the four options, then click on "next question". Post your scores here - and your commentary!

Updated: 11:22 a.m. ET Nov. 1, 2005 TIRANA, Albania - Albania’s antiquated air force of Soviet-designed MiG aircraft, which killed 35 Albanian pilots but no enemies, is finally on its way to the museum and the scrapheap, the armed forces chief said on Tuesday. “If anyone wants to buy them, they are welcome,” Gen. Pellumb Qazimi told Reuters. Some potential Western buyers “wanted to turn them into bars,” he said. For the Albanian military, the general said, the future lies in a fleet of modern helicopters able to “interact with the planes of the (NATO) alliance we want to join.”...

@TEOTD At The End Of The Day 14AA41 One for All and All for One 2B or not 2B To Be Or Not To Be 2NITE Tonight 411 it means: info 4ever Forever 86 Out Of or Over it A/S/L Age/Sex/Location AAAAA American Association Against Acronym Abuse AAF As A Friend AAK Asleep At Keyboard AAMOF As A Matter Of Fact AAMOI As A Matter Of Interest AAR8 At Any Rate AAS Alive And Smiling AATK Always At The Keyboard AAYF As Always, Your Friend AB Ass Backwards ABT2 About To ACD Alt Control Delete ACK Acknowledgement ADAD Another...

<p>PARIS — If the French marauders known as The Deflated waged their brand of urban subversion in Southern California, the mecca of the sport utility vehicle, by now they would probably have been jailed, beaten, shot or at least sued.</p>

U.S. National Aerobatic Championships to be held September 25-30 in Texas Sept. 14, 2005 - More than 100 of the nation's most highly-skilled aerobatic pilots will contend in head-to-head competition for the U.S. National Aerobatic Championship title at the Grayson County Airport in Denison, TX, this month. The Championships will be held September 25-30 in Denison, which is one hour north of the Dallas metro area, and are organized by the International Aerobatic Club (IAC), the governing body for aerobatics in the United States. The 2005 National Championships highlight the selection of the U.S. Advanced Team members who will compete...

Their migration speeds up states' population growth and brings vitality back to some areas (vomit-dd) NEWBURGH, N.Y. - Sunday morning in this small Hudson Valley city, more than 1,000 parishioners, most from Mexico, pack Spanish-language Masses at St. Patrick's Catholic Church. Afterward, many families flock to El Azteca for its authentic tacos. If somebody needs a ride home, there are at least a dozen local taxi companies catering to newcomers born in the Mexican states of Puebla and Jalisco. New residents from Mexico have, in the past four years, opened dozens of businesses that have begun to reinvigorate the ailing...

John Gibson of Fox News says that Karl Rove should be given a medal. I agree: Rove should receive a medal from the American Political Science Association for his pioneering discoveries about modern U.S. politics. The medal can, if necessary, be delivered to his prison cell. What Rove understood, long before the rest of us, is that we're not living in the America of the past, where even partisans sometimes changed their views when faced with the facts. Instead, we're living in a country in which there is no longer such a thing as nonpolitical truth. In particular, there are...

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) - Armed bandits in Brazil robbed a vehicle carrying more than 400 breast implants, officials said on Tuesday. "It happened last week, but we only learned about it recently as our clients started complaining. It is the hottest period of the year in terms of implant sales," said Margaret Figueiredo, director of silicone implant manufacturer Silimed. A spokesman for the state Postal Service confirmed that assailants, apparently men, robbed the postal van with implants on Thursday night in Rio de Janeiro. Each Silimed breast implant costs nearly $400. The popularity of Brazil's plastic surgery pioneer...

Eric Laverriere was celebrating last New Year's Eve at a friend's house in Waltham when police broke up the party. They took him into protective custody and kept him locked in a cell for nine hours until the effects of a night of beer drinking wore off. In what legal experts believe to be a first-of-its-kind legal challenge, Laverriere filed suit against the Waltham Police Department in US District Court in Boston, contending that he has a constitutional right to get drunk on private property ''so long as he causes no public disturbance." Laverriere, a 25-year-old computer systems specialist from...

Wanted: Stolen car. Make and model: Ford Crown Victoria. Owner: D.C. police department. Reported stolen by: Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey. So goes the saga of car theft in the District, where even the police chief's department-issued car can get swiped a block from his home. "There is not a whole lot to add to it," Ramsey said. "The car was taken, and there was nothing of real value in it. Cars are getting stolen every day." D.C. police officials said Ramsey's black unmarked car was stolen between Friday night and Sunday morning from a street in Southwest Washington. It...

State Sen. Gil Cedillo is making his fifth attempt in seven years to enact legislation allowing illegal immigrants to get California driver's licenses. This time he's hoping to get a governor's signature that will stick. Former Gov. Davis signed a Cedillo bill legalizing the licenses in 2003, but lawmakers overturned it after Davis was recalled following a campaign in which the license legislation was one of the issues used against him. Davis' successor, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, signed the repeal bill and vetoed another version of the license bill last year, saying it didn't include adequate security provisions. Cedillo is back...

On July 18, 2003, a man (presumably) walked off the streets and joined our little village here at Free Republic. Since that day, he has entertained so many with his wit and his deep emotional support of all of us. To celebrate his (BELATED) Anniversary - I thought we should all join together and ... do what we always do. Have fun!

Tomorrow marks the beginning of a little known international sporting competition. The US Aerobatic Team takes on the world at Burgos, Spain. I would like to share my interest in this sport with my FReeper FRiends. I hope you find this interesting. I am getting updates from three of the team members on a regular basis - plus there is a website that will have scores, updates, pictures, etc. keeping all of us FANS involved in the day to day competition going on in Spain. This competition is held somewhere in the world every other year. Last time (2003), it...

Now that we have heard many of your WORST date stories, let's turn the tables and tell about the BEST dates.

Curtis Pitts, the legendary designer of the Pitts Special, has died today. A brief biography, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the Pitts Special. The Pitts Special is part of American aviation history. An early Pitts Special airplane is in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. Pitts Special airplanes are also in the Experimental Aviation Association Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin as well as the British Museum in London and many other aviation museums around the world. The Pitts Special was designed by Curtis Pitts and is acknowledged as the worlds leading competition aerobatic and airshow...