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☆ A busted Russian warship may not have seen an exploding Ukrainian drone boat coming, hinting at problems that have plagued Russia throughout its war
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

A Russian warship was struck by a Ukrainian drone boat that it doesn't appear to have seen coming. Just a few days before this attack, Russian vessels were fighting off drone boats in another incident. "It just seems very strange they didn't respond at all to the incoming drone boats," Clark added. The Russian ship may have assumed it was safe in Novorossiysk, given that the port is roughly 350 miles from the Ukrainian port city of Odessa, but it shouldn't have. The reach of Ukraine's drone boats was hardly a secret.

Persons: Russia's, —, Sutton, it's, Cole, Bryan Clark, Clark, OZAN KOSE Organizations: Service, Ukraine, Russian, —, CNN, US Navy, Navy, Hudson Institute, Getty Locations: Russian, Ukrainian, Russia, Wall, Silicon, Novorossiysk, Moskva, Istanbul, AFP, Sevastopol, Odessa, Ukraine

A House Oversight subcommittee convened Wednesday’s hearing on UFOs, as the lawmakers who pushed for the hearing are calling for the government to be more forthcoming about the unidentified anomalous phenomena. The hearing is the latest push by lawmakers, intelligence officials and military personnel working on unexplained aerial phenomena to probe the issue on a national platform. “This is an issue of government transparency,” said Rep. Tim Burchett, a Tennessee Republican who pushed to hold Wednesday’s hearing. We’re going to uncover the cover up, and I hope this is just the beginning of many more hearings.”No government officials testified at Wednesday’s hearing. Lawmakers have pressed the Department of Defense on the sightings, describing them as potential national security threats.

Persons: CNN —, ”, Ryan Graves, Graves, David Fravor, David Grusch, ” Fravor, Tim Burchett, “ We’re, … We’re, Sean Kirkpatrick, Kirkpatrick, “, Robert Garcia of, Garcia, Jared Moskowitz, ” Moskowitz, ” Graves Organizations: CNN, Navy, Safe Aerospace, US Navy, Air Force, Tennessee Republican, Department of Defense, Democratic, Florida Democrat, House Intelligence Locations: Robert Garcia of California, Florida

☆ Lawmakers and Former Officials Press for Answers on U.F.O.s
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Helene Cooper | More About Helene Cooper | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“I met a fellow who came in here all the way from Denmark to be here for this meeting. So this is huge.”It is not clear, however, that the hearing provided the gentleman from Denmark much more than what has already been reported. The men first described the incidents to The New York Times in 2017 and 2018 in stories that prompted calls from lawmakers for more government transparency. The sightings were reported to the Pentagon’s shadowy Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, which analyzes radar data, video footage and accounts provided by senior officers. Some of the objects in videos released by the Pentagon have been explained as optical illusions or drones, but others remain unexplained.

Persons: ”, “, David Fravor, Ryan Graves Organizations: Navy, New York Times, Pentagon Locations: Denmark

☆ How the wreckage of the Titanic was found during a secret US Navy mission to recover nuclear submarines
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Gabbi Shaw | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

It took 73 years to find the wreckage of the Titanic in the North Atlantic Ocean. Decades later, Ballard revealed that the dive was actually a secret Cold War Navy mission. But the dive initially had nothing to do with the Titanic at all — it was a secret mission to find the wrecks of two nuclear submarines, the USS Scorpion and the USS Thresher. Of course, nobody knew that until 2008, when Ballard revealed the true nature of the mission to National Geographic. So, 23 years later, Ballard revealed the truth about his mission.

Persons: Robert Ballard, Ballard, Jean, Louis Michel, Bettmann, Ronald Thunman, Xavier Desmier Organizations: Navy, Service, Titanic, USS, Geographic, National Geographic, US Navy, Soviet Union Locations: Wall, Silicon, French, Soviet

[1/2] U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) speaks to the media after the weekly Senate Republican caucus luncheon with Republican leadership Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) and John Thune (R-SD), at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., February 14, 2023. It underscored that a high-quality candidate is crucial," Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said in an interview. Thirty-four of the 100 U.S. Senate seats will be up for grabs next year. In the 2022 congressional elections, Trump backed controversial Senate candidates including Oz in Pennsylvania and former football star Herschel Walker in Georgia, who both lost to Democrats. Had Republican candidates prevailed in those races, the party would have emerged with a Senate majority.

Persons: Mitch McConnell, Steve Daines, John Thune, Evelyn Hockstein, Daines, David McCormick, McCormick, Mehmet Oz, Donald Trump, John Fetterman, Dave, He's, Trump, Joe Biden, McConnell, Biden, Herschel Walker, Gary Peters, Ron DeSantis, Tim Sheehy, Sam Bowman, Jim Justice, Sheehy, Jon Tester, Matt Rosendale, David Morgan, Jarrett Renshaw, Will Dunham, Scott Malone Organizations: U.S ., Republican, U.S, Capitol, REUTERS, Democrats, Senate Republicans, Pennsylvania, Republican Senate, Democratic, Reuters, National Republican, TRUMP, Trump, Senate Democrats, Navy SEAL, Bridger Aerospace, Caucus, Senate, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, WASHINGTON, Montana, West Virginia, Nevada, In Pennsylvania, Arizona , Georgia, New Hampshire, Montana , West Virginia, Ohio, Arizona , Michigan, Montana , Nevada , Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, Florida, Washington, Philadelphia

☆ US lawmakers make bipartisan push for psychedelics research in defense bill
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Moira Warburton | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) speaks at a press conference on psychedelics in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in Washington, U.S., July 13, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin WurmWASHINGTON, July 13 (Reuters) - A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers on Thursday pushed to include a provision allowing medical research of psychedelic drugs as part of a sweeping annual defense policy bill, saying it could help treat post-traumatic stress disorder and other ailments despite possible concerns. Veterans' groups have for years been pushing for research into the potential medical benefits of psychedelics - including LSD and magic mushrooms - for their ability to alleviate the effects of PTSD and depression. Republican Representative Dan Crenshaw, a former Navy SEAL and co-sponsor of the amendment, pointed to potential uses for survivors of sexual trauma and law enforcement officers. The measure would direct the Secretary of Defense to conduct a clinical report on the uses of psychedelics in military treatment facilities.

Persons: Representative Alexandria Ocasio, Kevin Wurm WASHINGTON, Alexandria Ocasio, Cortez, Dan Crenshaw, Crenshaw, Kevin McCarthy, Joe Biden, Moira Warburton, Scott Malone, Susan Heavey Organizations: U.S, Representative, psychedelics, National Defense, REUTERS, Democratic, Capitol Hill, Republican, Navy, Defense, Thomson Locations: Cortez, Washington , U.S, U.S

☆ Montana GOP Senate candidate's old Facebook includes lewd photos of women, racist costumes, and homoerotic jokes
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Montana GOP Senate candidate Tim Sheehy's old Facebook profile is full of questionable photos. Screenshot/Tim Sheehy's FacebookOne week earlier, Sheehy posted a photo of a woman posing on exercise equipment with one nipple exposed. Screenshot/Tim Sheehy's FacebookOther photos appear to show Sheehy partying with friends while a student at the Naval Academy. "Well hey, at least you don't look like Sam here [sic]," Sheehy wrote, possibly referring to the woman in the photo. Screenshot/Tim Sheehy's FacebookSheehy (right) and other students posing in a homoerotic manner in a dorm room.

Persons: Tim Sheehy's, Sheehy, Tim Sheehy, They'd, Sen, Jon Tester, who've, Matt Rosendale, That's, Timothy Patrick, —, Carmen Sheehy, Carmen, Sheehy's, carmen, Saddam Hussein, Kim Jong Il, KIM, Hussein, Carmen —, weiner, Sam, Sheehy's Facebook Sheehy, Katie Martin, Tester, Ben Terris, Terris, Martin Organizations: Montana GOP, Facebook, Service, US, Republicans, Navy, Republican, US Army Ranger School, US Naval Academy, Naval Academy, Sheehy's Facebook Locations: Montana, Wall, Silicon, Georgia, Maryland, American, North Korean, Afghanistan, Fort Benning , Georgia

☆ GOP Senate candidate uses Kentucky photo to tout his support for Montana agriculture — then quickly replaces it when asked about it
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

GOP Senate candidate Tim Sheehy's website touts his support for Montana agriculture. But the photo he originally used wasn't taken in Montana — it was taken in Kentucky. After Insider reached out to Sheehy's campaign, the photo — and two others — were quickly replaced. The original portion of Sheehy's website touting his support for Montana agriculture — alongside a photo taken in Kentucky. Reached for comment, Sheehy campaign spokeswoman Katie Martin blamed their campaign's digital vendor, Push Digital, for the "unfortunate error."

Persons: Tim Sheehy's, Tim Sheehy, —, Patrick Jennings, Sheehy, Katie Martin, Martin, Montana, Robert F, Kennedy, Jr, Democratic Sen, Jon Tester, Donald Trump, Matt Rosendale Organizations: Service, Custer Gallatin National Forest, Democratic, Republicans, National Republicans, Navy, Republican Locations: Montana, Kentucky, Wall, Silicon, Russia, Ukraine, Livingston Montana, Custer Gallatin, America

lydia polgreenI’m Lydia Polgreen, and this is “Matter of Opinion.” Today, we’re going to do something a little bit different. And the great sort of brilliant twist of the show is at the end, the winner is chosen by the people that the contestants have voted off. Like, that just seems really, really American. I don’t think we need to go that far, but she is the best version of America, like America as it fancies itself to be. And if they happen to come out while I’m outside, I’m like, you!

Persons: michelle cottle, I’m Michelle Cottle, ross douthat I’m Ross Douthat, carlos lozada I’m Carlos Lozada, lydia polgreen, Lydia Polgreen, ross, departmentwide, carlos lozada, ross douthat, polgreen, ross douthat I’ll, Gatsby, Jay Gatsby, it’s, We’d, carlos lozada I didn’t, Lozada, Michelle, there’ll, you’ve, I’ll, ”, I’ve, lydia polgreen It’s, Lydia, — ross, Sue Hawk, winder, — carlos lozada Wow, Richard Hatch, he’s, Rudy, carlos lozada “, carlos lozada “ Survivor ”, Mark Burnett, — carlos lozada There’s, ” lydia polgreen There’s, ” ross douthat, “, — ross douthat That’s, Ross, you’re, Carlos, carlos lozada You, JD Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald, Tom, TD Fitzgerald, Standish, who’s, ” ross, — carlos lozada, ross douthat —, Donald Trump, JD, ” Michelle, I’m, Dolly Parton, lydia polgreen Legend, She’s, scrappy, she’s, “ Jolene, michelle cottle Don’t, Dolly, Dolly Parton’s, michelle cottle I’m, polgreen It’s, It’s, — carlos lozada Oh, lydia polgreen — Henry Grabar, Mother Teresa, Henry Grabar, carlos lozada Ross, we’re, Sienna, Sienna’s, we’re Honda Organizations: New York, ”, Harvard, “, Blacks, Navy, carlos lozada “ Survivor, Trump, Housewives, HBO, America, Survivor, City Hall, DC Locations: United States of America, America, United States, Trump, Utah, Northern California, Adenville, Lydia, Park City , Utah, West

The Mexico City International Airport (AICM) currently sits under the transportation ministry, though the navy has already taken over security operations, including customs. "There's more security, more certainty, the rules are followed better, there's more discipline," with the navy in charge of the airport, Velazquez told reporters on Tuesday. The money currently goes to a fund to pay off bondholders who financed the construction of an airport canceled by Lopez Obrador in favor of building the Felipe Angeles airport on the outskirts of the capital. The little-used, one-year-old Felipe Angeles airport, one of the president's largest public works projects, is also on an active military base. In May, the AICM moved nearly 4 million passengers, according to data from the national aviation authority, while Felipe Angeles airport's passenger numbers were almost 95% lower.

Persons: Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Carlos Velazquez, Velazquez, Benito Juarez, Lopez Obrador, Felipe, Kylie Madry, Jamie Freed Organizations: MEXICO CITY, Mexico City International, Thomson Locations: MEXICO, Mexico, Felipe Angeles

Some billionaires rocketed into space as Branson and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos have. Other rich travelers journeyed on a submersible to explore the wreckage of the ocean liner Titanic. For $250,000 to $300,000 a trip, Kent sometimes fields unusual requests including helping a Saudi prince fulfill his dream of flying a plane onto and off of an aircraft carrier. The experience was so demanding that Ackman's father expressed concern about the intended trip, not for his son but for another fund manager who had signed up to go. One person familiar with that excursion said it probably wouldn't happen again, in part because it was such a potentially risky undertaking.

Persons: Eric Gaillard, Richard Branson, Branson, Jeff Bezos, ”, Alexandre Cymbalista, Geoffrey Kent, Kent, Goldman Sachs, Monica Heslington, Goldman, Melissa Biggs Bradley, Massimo Bottura, Bill Ackman, Whitney Tilson, Tilson, Ackman, Svea Herbst, Bayliss, Tatiana Bautzer, Julia Harte, Nupur Anand, Paritosh Bansal, Anna Driver Organizations: REUTERS, Twitter, Virgin Galactic, Virgin Group, Amazon, Wall Street, Abercrombie, Kent, Credit Suisse, SPECIAL, Goldman, Art Basel, Rubell Museum, Bank of America, Indagare, Ferrari, Navy, Svea, Thomson Locations: Nice, France, New York City, Branson, safaris, Botswana, Kent, Saudi, Africa, Miami, Art Basel, Modena, Italian, Mongolia, California

☆ What it's like inside the Titan submersible that went missing with 5 people on board
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Emma Tucker | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Though it’s roughly the size of a minivan, with five adults aboard, the Titanic-touring submersible that went missing Sunday may seem small and cramped. ‘Not your grandfather’s submersible’Titan is sparse on the inside, according to CBS correspondent David Pogue, who took a trip on Titan down to the Titanic wreck last year. The interior of OceanGate's Titan submersible, seen in 2018. The game controller is used for wireless control, according to Aaron Newman, an investor in OceanGate who went down to Titanic on Titan in 2021. After boarding the Titan, temperatures inside the vessel get hot quickly before starting to get colder as it descends towards the ocean’s bottom, he said.

Persons: Hamish Harding, Paul, Henri Nargeolet, Shahzada Dawood, Suleman Dawood, David Marquet, David Pogue, Pogue, it’s, ” Rush, “, J, Van Gurley, ”, Gabe Cohen, Aaron Newman, Newman, ” Newman, David Gallo Organizations: CNN, OceanGate Expeditions, Stockton Rush, Navy, CBS, KOMO, ”, Crew, Strategic Initiatives Locations: British, French, Titan, OceanGate

☆ Titan submersible: Search crews heard banging sounds while scouring the Atlantic for manned craft now running out of oxygen
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Nouran Salahieh Ray Sanchez Priscilla Alvarez | Nouran Salahieh | Ray Sanchez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

The banging on Tuesday first came every 30 minutes and was heard again four hours later, according to an internal government memo update on the search. The search for the missing submersible Titan has broadened to an area about two times the size of Connecticut. It was unclear when exactly the banging was heard Tuesday or how long it lasted, based on the memo. We have to keep working until we find the submersible,” Joyce Murray, minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, told reporters Wednesday. If the submersible is intact, the passengers would be dealing with dwindling oxygen levels and fighting cold, he told CNN.

Persons: Jamie Frederick, ”, Frederick, Stone, ” Joyce Murray, “, Ray Scott “ Chip ” McCord, ” Scott, David Hiscock, we’ve, John Mauger, ” Carl Hartsfield, John Cabot –, Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood, Sulaiman Dawood, Paul, Henri Nargeolet, ” David Gallo, John’s, Gallo, ” Gallo, Joe MacInnis, who’s, Frederick didn’t, Mauger, David Lochridge, Lochridge, OceanGate, Oceangate, ” OceanGate, Suleman Dawood, Stockton Rush, J, Van Gurley, Gabe Cohen, ” Cohen, Aaron Newman, ” John “ Danny ” Olivas, ” Olivas, CNN’s Victor Blackwell Organizations: CNN, US Coast Guard, Coast Guard, Fisheries, Canadian Coast Guard, OceanGate Expeditions, Canadian Armed Forces, New York Air National Guard, U.S . Air Force, “ CBS, Naval, Oceanographic Systems Laboratory, USCG, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, Stockton Rush, Strategic Initiatives, Daylight, Horizon Services, US Navy, Facebook, OceanGate, Titan, Manned, Vehicles, Marine Technology Society, New York Times, Times, Stockton, Polar Prince, Navy, KOMO, CBS Locations: Connecticut, Canadian, Everest, NewfoundlandSaturday, Cape Cod , Massachusetts, OceanGate, Rush, Titan

☆ I'm a former Navy SEAL who protects rich people on vacation. I've taken them everywhere from French Polynesia to Mt. Everest.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Claire Turrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

I used to move US Special Forces troops around Iraq and Afghanistan. As a Navy SEAL, I was awarded a Bronze Star Medal in Iraq and a Bronze Star with V for Valor in Afghanistan. While our services are expensive, we can make our clients' travel insurance cheaper. We protect the family, but we can also protect the yacht's contents — some of our client's yachts have multi-million-dollar art collections on board. If we have a guest who has never skydived before, we'll hook them up with a Special Forces instructor.

Persons: Servius, —, They've, — we've, We've, we'll, we're, he's Organizations: Navy SEAL, Special Forces, Service, Valor, Monaco, Navy, Rangers, Marines, Everest Base, ex, extractions Locations: Iraq, Afghanistan, Polynesia, Ivory Coast, Mozambique, South Africa, Miami, South America

☆ A secretive SEAL-like unit is leading Ukraine's shadowy battle against Russia in a vital corner of the country
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The 73rd Naval Center of Special Operations appears to be leading the effort for Ukraine. For Ukraine, the 73rd Naval Center of Special Operations, a secretive SEAL-like unit, is leading the shadowy battle against Russia. Therese PratsThe 73rd Naval Center of Special Operations was based on the Soviet-era 17th Naval Special Purpose Brigade. The 73rd Naval Center of Special Operations could play a significant role in future large-scale fighting. Roxana DavidovitsLike the 73rd Naval Center of Special Operations, most of the Ukrainian military emerged from the Soviet military.

☆ Inside the shameful history of the 'Lavender Scare,' when the US government embarked on an anti-gay witch hunt and purged thousands of employees
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( James Pasley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

In the 1950s, the US government launched a campaign focused on finding and purging gay government employees. It was prompted due to a misguided idea that gay people were vulnerable to blackmail and considered easy targets for Russia. About 10,000 people lost their jobs because of "the Lavender Scare," which had lasting impact on the queer community. During the Cold War paranoia of the late 1940s and 50s, the US government famously led a witch hunt targeting communists leading to a hysteria dubbed the "Red Scare." The hysteria was later followed by a second government campaign prompted by discrimination against gay people in the federal government, which similarly became known as the "Lavender Scare."

Persons: —, Joan Cassidy, Cassidy Organizations: Service Locations: Russia

☆ The NFL Draft’s Best Athlete Is Also Its Greatest Enigma
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Andrew Beaton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Kent Lee Platte is a former Navy cryptologist who also happens to be one of the most useful people decoding one of the NFL draft’s biggest puzzles: Why a quarterback named Anthony Richardson, who had a completely forgettable college career, is one of the hottest prospects in the sport. When Platte applied his coding wizardry to football, he invented a metric that crunches a host of pre-draft testing data into a single number for every player. His formula takes information like how fast a player runs and how high he jumps and distills it into what he calls a Relative Athletic Score, a nifty grade that’s popular among draft pundits and helpful for quantifying someone’s traits compared with his peers.

☆ Ron DeSantis, facing challenges at home, will test presidential ambitions overseas
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Steve Contorno | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

While in Israel, DeSantis will also keynote an event hosted by The Jerusalem Post and the Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem. The trip will spotlight DeSantis’ foreign policy credentials as he inches toward a White House bid. DeSantis’ predecessor, now-US Sen. Rick Scott, embarked on more than a dozen trade missions during his tenure as governor. Eleven Florida Republicans have endorsed Trump over DeSantis so far – including seven last week. State lawmakers have also balked at a provision in DeSantis’ immigration package that would eliminate in-state tuition for undocumented residents.

WASHINGTON, April 19 (Reuters) - A former Venezuelan treasurer, who also served as an aide to late President Hugo Chavez and was convicted in the U.S. of money laundering, was sentenced to 15 years in prison, the U.S. Justice Department said on Wednesday. A Florida jury in December convicted Diaz, as well as her husband Adrian Velasquez, on two counts of money laundering and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering in association with a corruption scheme in Venezuela. U.S. District Court Judge William Dimitroulea in Florida sentenced Diaz and her husband, who also received 15 years, on Wednesday, the Justice Department said. Diaz, Velasquez and Gorrin purchased and paid expenses related to private jets, yachts, mansions, champion horses and a designer fashion line in South Florida, prosecutors said. (This story has been refiled to remove an extraneous word in paragraph 4)Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Cynthia OstermanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ One of the most prolific pro-Russia propaganda channels is run by a former US Navy officer living in Washington
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A popular English language Pro-Russia social media account is run by a former Navy officer, according to online reports. The account helped to spread the leaked Pentagon documents that originated on Discord. Bils told WSJ that 15 other people help her run the account. Bils, who had secret security clearances as a Navy officer, told WSJ she did not help to leak the documents, WSJ reported. Insider reached out to emails associated with Donbass Devushka and Bils but did not immediately receive a response.

☆ Social-Media Account Overseen by Former Navy Noncommissioned Officer Helped Spread Secrets
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Yaroslav Trofimov | Bob Mackin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A social-media account overseen by a former U.S. Navy noncommissioned officer—a prominent online voice supporting Russia’s war on Ukraine—played a key role in the spread of intelligence documents allegedly leaked by Airman First Class Jack Teixeira, reposting files from obscure online chat rooms. A purported Russian blogger known as Donbass Devushka, which translates as Donbas Girl, is the face of a network of pro-Kremlin social-media, podcasting, merchandise and fundraising accounts. But the person who hosted podcasts as Donbass Devushka and oversees these accounts is a Washington-state-based former U.S. enlisted aviation electronics technician whose real name is Sarah Bils.

☆ Another SEAL parachuting death highlights the inherent danger of US special operators' go-to infiltration method
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Deadly accidentsNaval Special Warfare operators perform a free-fall jump in Alaska in September. The incident, which likely happened during as part of a pre-deployment workup, is still under investigation, according to Naval Special Warfare Command. Despite that danger, however, free-fall parachuting is also extremely valuable as an insertion method for special-operations units. The Navy SEAL community — especially the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, formerly known as SEAL Team 6 — is well-versed in free-fall operations. Most US special-operations units have recognized the value of free-fall parachuting and have incorporated it into their training.

☆ Republicans are seeking wealthy, self-funding candidates to help the party win a Senate majority in 2024, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

GOP leaders are seeking out wealthy Senate candidates to counter Democratic fundraising successes. In recent cycles, some GOP candidates have used outside spending to mitigate spending disparities. Last year, Democratic Senate nominees in the six most competitive races outraised their GOP counterparts by $288 million, per Politico. The well-known doctor poured $26.8 million of his own funds into his unsuccessful Senate campaign, according to OpenSecrets. Dolan, who put more than $10.5 million into his 2022 Senate bid, could face Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown.

☆ Senators propose raising US commercial pilots mandatory retirement age
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, March 21 (Reuters) - A group of seven U.S. senators on Tuesday proposed legislation to raise the mandatory commercial pilot retirement age to 67 from 65, in a bid to address airline industry staffing issues. The proposal, which would require pilots over age 65 to pass a rigorous medical screening every six months, follows complaints of pilot shortages by many regional airlines. The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) opposes proposals to increase the retirement age. Graham previously noted that in 2007 the United States raised the mandatory retirement age from 60 to 65, and "the sky did not fall." Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has previously said he does not support raising the pilot retirement age.

☆ Sen. Mark Kelly flew with Russian pilots in the Navy and with NASA, and he said the Russian fighter jet running into a US drone shows 'how incompetent they are'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Sarah Al-Arshani | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A US drone crashed after a Russian fighter jet clipped its propeller over the Black Sea last week. Sen. Mark Kelly, a former Navy combat pilot, said it was an example of Russia's incompetence. He said the incident last week where a Russian fighter jet dumped fuel on and then clipped the propeller of a US military drone shows how "reckless" and "incompetent" they are. I mean, I flew with Russian pilots, fighter pilots who couldn't fly formation. Kelly compared the fighter jet incident to the "incompetence that we see on the battle field every day in Ukraine."

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