Free Republic

Iraq uncovers al-Qaeda 'chemical weapons plot' The authorities in Iraq say they have uncovered an al-Qaeda plot to use chemical weapons, as well as to smuggle them to Europe and North America. Defence ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari said five men had been arrested after military intelligence monitored their activities for three months. Three workshops for manufacturing the chemical agents, including sarin and mustard gas, were uncovered, he added. Remote-controlled toy planes were also seized at the workshops. Mr Askari said they were to have been used to release the chemical agents over the target from a "safe" distance of 1.5km...

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen was one of the most dynamic preachers of the Catholic Faith in the twentieth century. Anyone familiar with his work in media knows the power of his influence and example. He was clearly one of the most notable products of the American Catholic revival that began in the 1920s, and the strength of his witness continues to impress today. His books remain eminently approachable, an astonishing achievement for one so gifted academically. Shining through his telegenic smile, one could sense the depth of his faith and his holiness. The cause of Sheen’s canonization proceeded on its...

A question for the aviation buffs on this forum. I was told at one time, that the F-16 was an inherently unstable aircraft, and that without assistance from it computers, no human pilot would be able to fly the aircraft. Then I saw this video, (see link below), of a quarter scale, radio controlled F-16, in the colors of the Royal Dutch Air Force demonstration team. I would think that there is not enough room in the model or money in the owner’s bank account to include flight control computers. So my question is; “How is the unstable F-16 model...

DJI Phantom Vision Video drone presentation at Reaganite Republican...

Gene Robinson of Wimberly, Texas, is a licensed pilot and also flies radio-controlled model airplanes—not an unusual combination. About a decade ago, he realized that a model aircraft outfitted to take aerial photos could be enormously useful in locating people who have gone missing—perhaps because they’ve been abducted or maybe just because they are very young and have wandered off into the woods alone. His efforts have paid valuable dividends over the years—helping find the remains of nearly a dozen people. But since late February his search-and-rescue model airplanes have been grounded: That’s when the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration notified...

Need some relief? I guess you could lead them right to where you need them to go... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJ4hmKGKjbM

Peter Michel's Airbus A380 in Hausen flying Etihad Airways 18 foot wingspan Weight: 155 lbs 4xJetCat P-120

Helicopter pilot spots a model plane stuck in trees. What he does next makes one little boy's day.

The retired presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Rt. Rev. Herbert Chilstrom, has delivered a stinging, public critique of his former Roman Catholic counterpart in Minnesota for aggressively campaigning for an anti-same sex marriage amendment on the November ballot. “I recognize your authority in formulating positions for your own flock in Minnesota: That is one thing,” Chilstrom said in a letter to Roman Catholic Archbishop John Nienstedt, published in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “But for you and others to campaign for an amendment that imposes your stance on all citizens in Minnesota — including other Christians,...

Is America ready for its first all-Mormon-raised ticket? We're not talking Romney-Huntsman; we're talking Romney-Rubio. Buzzfeed reports that Marco Rubio, the GOP star senator from Florida, was baptized into the Church of the Latter-Day Saints when he was 8, and remained "active in the faith for a number of years during his early youth," according to family members, and confirmed by the Rubio camp. The family converted after moving near close relatives, the Denises, who had joined the church in the seventies. But Rubio's father, a bartender also named Marco, never converted himself; he "had little use for a religion...

Video only - waaay kewl !!! http://www.wimp.com/mphplane/

I was going to start this column with a quote from St. Thomas Aquinas warning against obedience to church superiors “in all things.” But I am neither a theologian nor a Catholic, so I’d better leave debates about religious dogma to those who know it better than I. What I do know something about are the problems facing Chicago neighborhoods. Crime. Unemployment. Drugs. I have been writing about those things, or more accurately their consequences, for more than three decades now. And that’s why I understand a little bit about the battles that have been fought by Michael Pfleger, the...

Video at link.

Team Black Sheep in New York City flying a remote controlled aircraft with a video camera over the Brooklyn Bridge, Verazano Bridge, Downtown Manhattan, and Statue of Liberty.

Crowds cheered Saturday for the University of Washington Men's rowing team as they pulled far ahead of Syracuse and Oxford. But the little electric helicopter that was speeding low over the water, chasing the rowers, got almost as much attention from the tens of thousands gathered for the race with oohs and aahs trailing the whirring contraption. So what was it all about? Well apparently it is a somewhat secretive camera platform. The operator asked photographers gathered at the Conibear Shellhouse not to take closeups of the prototype helicopter that had just been center stage along the Montlake Cut. This...

To halt this “soul drain,” to answer the fundamentalist challenge and, most of all, to understand our faith better, Peter Kreeft looks at five major points of conflict... Whose Bible is it, anyway? We needn’t be bitter in defending our beliefs. Even though many fundamentalists think the Catholic Church is under the control of Satan and all or most Catholics are headed for hell, not all think that — and we shouldn’t think the same of them. However narrow-minded their faith often is, it’s also usually genuine, both in personal sincerity and in basic Christian orthodoxy. Fundamentalism is not some...

As observers continue to decipher the meaning of Benedict XVI’s latest encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, all appear to agree that the passage of note, the passage that may prove historic in its implications, is the one that is already becoming known as the “world political authority” paragraph: In the face of the unrelenting growth of global interdependence, there is a strongly felt need, even in the midst of a global recession, for a reform of the United Nations Organization, and likewise of economic institutions and international finance, so that the concept of the family of nations can acquire real teeth....

This was just too cool to ignore. The Bolshevik Bashing will resume shortly.

A Roman Catholic adoption agency says it can’t go on finding homes for children because of new ‘gay rights’ laws forcing it to act against its religious ethos. The London-based Catholic Children’s Society, which was founded in 1859, said the Sexual Orientation Regulations (SORs) were to blame for the move. “We do this with deep regret but have been forced into this position,” a spokesman said. “The trustees are convinced that what is best for children is that they be brought up by married couples. This is shown by research but it is also consonant with the teaching of the...

Getting a toy to maintain flight used to be difficult, with the possible exception of some well-folded pieces of paper. Now, would-be miniature aviators have it a lot easier. A number of consumer robotics and toy companies offer products that take little more than a full charge and a clear line of sight to reach flight. Little assembly, but maybe some batteries, required. Here are six of our favorite new flying toys.