Free Republic

Ezekiel, the top-hatted balloonist, has recited his “little poem” on the glories of flight and barely missed the white church steeple more than 20,000 times now. He has called out his warning of white water ahead to the unsuspecting canoeist far below for 36 years. Before giving way to hang gliders, barnstorming pilots and the Navy’s Blue Angels flight team, his silver balloon with the four American flags attached to the gondola has soared above the rolling green Vermont hills and churning, roaring Niagara Falls every single day the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum has been open.

  Woman told she's too big to fly       SAN ANTONIO -- Mary Louise Lozano says she was humiliated after Southwest Airlines told her she was too big to fly. "I felt like there wasn't a big enough rock for me to crawl under," says Lozano. On July 8th, she was supposed to fly to Baltimore - a gift from her brother she hasn't seen in four years. However, when she got to the gate, she was told she'd have to purchase an extra ticket because she wouldn't fit into a seat."It was judgmental," adds Lozano, who weights...