https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holden...ghtning_flight

Not-a-fighter-pilot accidentally flies a fighter.

That is an incredible story. I think there's a good chance Taffy just wanted to fly one of these, and afterwards everyone agreed he "inadvertently engaged the afterburner" so his life wouldn't be ruined.

I think he would have waited until the runway was clear in that case.

I agree, great post. Led me on a cascade of aircraft and old RAF bases, some of which I have flown out of.

Garick you son of a gun! You great poster you!

what’s the airplane equivalent of motor boating?

Oh well that makes sense. It's a great story either way.

Had to think about this one for a few mins..

lol

RAF bases I have flown into/out of, most as a crew-member, though one as a passenger on a British C-130 (direct from Turkey, which is a ridiculously long flight on a propeller plane).

I was stationed out of RAF Mildenhall, where the vast majority of my missions began and ended.

Occasionally we had to divert due to weather, or the runway was closed at Mildy, or whatever, adding RAF Lakenheath, RAF Fairford, and RAF Alconbury to the list. And the above mentioned Herc flight (originating in Saudi Arabia, with stops in Abu Dhabi UAE, Akrotiri Crete, and Ankara Turkey) landed at RAF Brize Norton.

So what you're telling me is that you are indeed a propeller flappin' son of a gun!

Well, I didn't flap it personally, but I was along for the ride.


iykwim

Rather morbid but - List of suicide sites

Always love when that outbreak pops in CKII

don't pretend that stuff hasn't stopped

Apparently high levels of Open defecation (aka taking a ***** outside) are linked to high child mortality, poor nutrition, poverty and large disparities between the rich and the poor.

Shocking to see on the chart available on the wiki page linked above that in some countries the majority of the people defecate in the open (68% of the people in Chad and Niger or 76% of Eritreans just to name a few).

In India the open defecation issue was so pressing that the government launched a campaign in 2014 called Swachh Bharat Mission ('Clean India Mission') aimed to achieve an 'open defecation free' (ODF) India by 2019, the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

Objectives of the first phase also included eradication of manual scavenging (a term used in India for manually cleaning, carrying, disposing of, or otherwise handling, human excrement), generating awareness and bringing about a behaviour change regarding sanitation practices.

I found all these articles and went down this rabbit hole after my friend told me about his experience doing number 2 in a public toilet in China. Just thought I'd clarify before people started wondering what it takes for someone to find the wiki article about open defecation...

Wow, India had 522 million people pooping outside in 2014? Must have been feces everywhere.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelorus_Jack A wild dolphin who guided ships through the dangerous cook strait in New Zealand for 20 years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallp...tention_debate

Smallpox is one of the few infectious diseases eradicated in world history, but remnants live on despite protests of some.

In 1904, someone aboard the SS Penguin tried to shoot Pelorus Jack with a rifle.

Nice one.

The whole research of infectious diseases thing is terrifying given the track record of even the most secure labs and the fact that something like the modified h5n1 disease has the potential to end civilisation if it gets out. Covid was just about the most mild disease possible that could trigger a pandemic response and we collectively **** the bed massively dealing with it. No reason why it couldn't have had a 60%mortality rate instead of ~1%.

This podcast is long af but well worth the time investment.

Couple of morbid ones below a friend sent me from a Reddit post, if you're impressionable might want to skip them.

Franklin Delano Floyd, a serial killer from the U.S. that married a girl that he raised as his daughter, kidnapped (and possibly murdered) his 6 year old son and is on death row for the murder of an exotic dancer that worked with his wife/daughter.

Paulette Gebara Farah, a mexican toddler with disabilities who thought to have vanished from her room one night only to be found a week later wrapped in sheets between the mattress and the foot of the bed (the same bed from where her mom sat and gave interviews to the media).

I guess I'm Not reading those.

Yeah I didnt pick the best word, was just directly translating from Spanish in my head. What I wanted to say is that is not for the faint-hearted.

Frank's story is a ****ing trip.