Free Republic

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson joined the slew of anti-Trump Republicans in attributing Daniel Cameron’s loss in Kentucky to a bigger rejection of former President Donald Trump. “Last night the GOP lost Virginia legislative races and got beat in the Kentucky governor’s election,” Hutchinson began, doubting one of the emerging narratives that Democrats were carried to victory on the issue of abortion. Rather, he believes Republican loss is a reflection of the GOP’s sentiments toward Trump.

Scientists reveal the potential for massive, and potentially destructive, eruptions from the sun. On May 1, 2019, the star next door erupted. In a matter of seconds, Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to our sun, got thousands of times brighter than usual — up to 14,000 times brighter in the ultraviolet range of the spectrum. The radiation burst was strong enough to split any water molecules that might exist on the temperate, Earth-sized planet orbiting that star; repeated blasts of that magnitude might have stripped the planet of any atmosphere. It would be bad news if the Earth’s sun ever...

Rear Admiral "Nasty" Manazir talks about his role in saving an A-6 Intruder attack aircraft after the bombardier/navigator was partially ejected due to a seat malfunction.

A pilot of a Russian Su-25 Frogfoot close air support jet recorded his own ejection in dramatic headcam footage. The aircraft was supposedly brought down by Ukrainian fire this summer. The video originated from the Russian Fighter-Bomber Telegram channel. https://youtu.be/qkT7Q5EHOAc The Frogfoot pilot was flying just hundreds of feet off the deck when the aircraft was supposedly hit. In the video, the jet pitches up violently as it departs from controlled flight and the ejection sequence is activated. As the pilot rockets away from the aircraft in its Zvezda K-36 ejection seat, we get a glimpse of its tail. Its...

In TV and movies, a fighter pilot ejecting from their jet comes across as a cut-and-dry procedure. Although it occurs in only a few seconds, ejecting is a complex and violent process that relies on a lot of luck. Even for fighter pilots who successfully eject, around 20% to 30% of them suffer some sort of spinal fracture. We spoke with Air Force veteran Lt. Col. Pete Smith, one of the few fighter pilots who has actually had to eject, to learn what really happens.

Video making the rounds on social media shows a Miami-Dade police officer’s comments to a man during a traffic stop, News 6 partner WPLG reported. The stop took a threatening turn for the driver, who was heading to work. “Give me your driver’s license, registration and insurance,” the officer says in the video.... The MDPD officer then made a very bold statement to the man. “Simple thing, man. This is how you guys get killed out here, man,” the officer said.

I sense a disturbance in the force. In fact, I’ve been feeling the tremors for a while. Back in January, I wrote a column for American Greatness called “The Coming Dethronement of Joe Biden.” In it, I noted that Biden’s appalling performance as president would sooner or later—and probably sooner, given the ostentatious nature of his multifaceted failure—lead to his removal as president. I should have added that it wasn’t Biden’s performance per se that would lead to his downfall. The problem, rather, was the way his performance was undermining his—and therefore his minders’ and puppetmasters’—political power. As Saul Alinsky,...

The massive, widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election appears to be in the process of finally being exposed. Several jurisdictions are making progress towards audits, and while we are not exactly hopeful that anything will come from it, one never knows. If awareness rises and calls come in for Biden-Harris to be replaced, here are two ways that could happen.The vast majority of Trump-supporters who think (or know with a certainty) that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump have given up hope that the results can be corrected. We’re coming up on three months since Joe...

A surprise company outing to an air base caused a 64-year-old French man so much stress that he flung himself from a fighter jet in midair, grabbing the ejector button in a panic and tumbling through the skies above France before landing in a field. The man had been surprised by fellow employees, who had organized a joyride in a Dassault Rafale B jet for him as a treat. Once the man arrived at the Saint-Dizier air base in northeastern France and realized what his co-workers had arranged, he began to feel extremely stressed, according to a fairly remarkable aviation...

Two Saudi pilots ejected over the Red Sea on Friday after their fighter plane suffered a technical problem and were rescued with US assistance, state media said. "A plane of the F-15S type was stricken by a technical fault yesterday evening over the Red Sea and the two pilots were forced to use their rescue seats," state news agency SPA quoted a defense ministry official saying.

The two-person crew of a Marine Corps jet is safe after a crash Sunday near Statenville, Ga. The F/A-18 Hornet was with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 224 based out of Beaufort, S.C., and was part of the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing at Cherry Point, according to Michael Barton, deputy director of the public affairs office at Cherry Point. The pilot, Maj. Rick Nicka and the weapons officer, 1st Lt. Robert Reynolds, ejected from the jet and were treated for minor injuries at South Georgia Medical Center 19 miles away in Valdosta, Ga., according to a release. Barton said the plane...

The Minnesota State Patrol says a driver who bounced in and out of a highway ditch unknowingly lost her backseat passenger, who was ejected through a broken window. The patrol says the 72-year-old driver, Louise Ericksen, was driving southbound on Highway 72 in Beltrami County Sunday when her car strayed into the ditch, hit a sign and broke a back window. As the car bounced along the rough terrain, 15-year-old Kendall Ericksen was ejected out the broken window. The driver maneuvered her Impala back on the highway and continued southbound without realizing Kendall was missing.

                         

"Brakes, Brakes, Brakes," ordered an urgent voice over the aircraft radio. Unfortunately, Commander Peter Debrass was to recollect this only as, "Some crackling sound which I could not distinguish," and wondered who was conveying a message and to whom. This crackle at noon on 04 March 1976, began the opening chapter of two fateful minutes in the life of this experienced naval aviator. Peter completed his basic flying training at the IAF stations at Jodhpur and Secundrabad. He then came back to the Navy for his operational flying training on the Vampires, soon converting onto the Sea Hawks, the carrier...

CHICAGO (AP) - New York Knicks forward Antonio Davis was ejected Wednesday night after he went up into the stands at the United Center during overtime in a game against the Chicago Bulls. There was no physical confrontation, but several people could be seen pointing and shouting for several moments before security finally arrived and Davis was ejected. During a timeout, Davis jumped over the scorers' table and ascended about ten rows of seats before the confrontation started. A group of people in the area of the confrontation were later escorted from the area by United Center security.

Friday, March 18, 2005 - An Air Force pilot was able to safely eject moments before his F-16 crashed just short of the runway at Nellis Air Force Base. The aircraft was assigned to the 16th Weapons Squadron at the U.S. Air Force Weapons School based at Nellis. The crash occurred about 8:34 a.m., military officials said in a statement. The pilot was taken to a hospital, where he was being evaluated and treated for minor scratches. Officials said a safety board has been formed to investigate the crash.

Rented a late-model Ford Focus in New Jersey a week ago, and got a VERY unpleasant - and very dangerous ! - surprise. When I pressed in the cigarette lighter, it pushed in (exactly as it should have done), energized, and began to heat up. BUT - As soon as it got red hot, the lighter "popped" completely out of the holder, flew away from the dashboard 6 inches, and bounced off my trouser leg (handle end first fortunately!) and (still glowing red-hot) landed on the floor .... where it began melting the carpet. Before I write a safety complaint...

Bill Butler wanted to protect his field. Instead, a tarpaulin dispute turned heated and he became part of baseball lore — a groundskeeper who got ejected. "It was a little bit shocking," Butler said by telephone Saturday. "I couldn't really believe it." Players and managers are regularly tossed from ballgames, and even mascots and broadcasters have been thrown out. But there was no apparent record of anything like this. The episode happened Friday night in Lakewood, N.J., where the BlueClaws were playing Kannapolis in the Class A South Atlantic League. The weather had been spotty for a few days and...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 July 18 Sunspot Region 30 Credit: MDI, SOHO, ESA, NASA Explanation: The solar active region designated number 10030 (or simply region 30) is now appearing on the visible hemisphere of the closest star. Dwarfed by the Sun's disk, the group of sunspots which make up region 30 actually cover an enormous area -- nearly 10 times the size of Earth. The panels above were recorded July 15,...

"This is a true story about my cousin - Keith Gallagher surviving a very unusual and life threatening incident while serving as bombardier / navigator on a A-6 aircraft off the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Indian Ocean on July 9, 1991. Keith would recover from this accident, return to flight status, and complete his service in the Navy. Keith now works for a telecommunications company and lives in Kansas City with his wife Michelle and their two children."