Free Republic

China’s carrier program is accelerating fast, with the Fujian already in sea trials and reporting suggesting a fourth “supercarrier” could follow. -The Fujian’s flat-deck design and electromagnetic catapult approach resemble the U.S. Ford-class, raising concern about how quickly Beijing is closing the capability gap in launch efficiency and sustained sortie generation. -Yet carriers matter only as much as their air wings. China’s current deck-aviation weakness—limited fifth-generation carrier fighters—still constrains near-term combat credibility against U.S. Navy F-35Cs and allied regional AirPower. -The danger is trajectory: mass production, improving catapults, and the J-35 could shift the balance sooner than expected. China is...

The GOP pack leader promises to stay in the 2016 race because he ‘NEVER gives up.’ But his business deals show a knack for spotting a coming decline. After sending mixed signals about what might drive him to withdraw from the presidential race, Donald Trump settled on a definitive answer last month: “I’m never dropping out.” The next day, he tweeted, “I’m leading big in every poll and we are going to WIN! Remember, Trump NEVER gives up!” But, like many successful businessmen, the real estate developer and GOP pack leader—who often espouses his disdain for “losers”—does not see every...

Body-conscious Shakespeare: Sensory disturbances in troubled charactersShakespeare was a master at portraying profound emotional upset in the physical symptoms of his characters, and many modern day doctors would do well to study the Bard to better understand the mind-body connection, concludes an analysis of his works, published in Medical Humanities. Kenneth Heaton, a medical doctor and extensively published author on William Shakespeare's oeuvre, systematically analysed 42 of the author's major works and 46 of those of his contemporaries, looking for evidence of psychosomatic symptoms. He focused on sensory symptoms other than those relating to sight, taste, the heart, and the...