Newly Rediscovered Photo Suggests New Theory in Disappearance of Amelia Earhart

It's considered one of the biggest mysteries of all time, but now a documentary is offering a new explanation for northeast Kansas native Amelia Earhart's disappearance.

A never-before-seen photo, from the National Archives, is believed to show Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, after they crash-landed in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean.

The photo came from a top secret Navy file, according to a new History Channel special.

Earhart vanished 80 years ago while attempting to become the first women to fly around the world.

The prevailing theory about what happened to Earhart and Noonan is that they crashed and sank in the South Pacific on July 2, 1937.

The newly unearthed photo suggests they survived and that decades-old theory is wrong.

The documentary makes the claim she may have been captured by the Japanese military.

The filmmakers also present accounts of locals who claimed to have seen her and use comparative photos of Earhart, Noonan and her plane to support their theory.

Japanese officials have reportedly denied the claims and U.S. officials have not confirmed any of the show's assertions.

Earhart was born in Atchison in 1897 and you can find more information on her life and legacy by visiting the Amelia Earhart Museum.

"Amelia Earhart: The Lost Evidence" airs this Sunday night at 8:00 p.m. on The History Channel.

Comey FBI Testimony

Note: This is an article I wrote for work alongside the help of another reporter who interviewed the professor.  A video of the segment I produced on my show that accompanied it will be attached at the bottom.

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A local political expert is weighing in on former FBI Director James Comey's testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday.

Comey testified under oath on his interactions with President Donald Trump since Hillary Clinton's defeat in the 2016 election.

It was Comey's first public appearance since he was abruptly fired by President Trump on May 9.

Comey spoke of a growing unease between himself and the president. He told senators he believed Trump had both lied to him on multiple occasions and tried to pressure him into dropping the investigation into former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn's connections with the Russian government.

Comey also accused the Trump administration of consciously working to sabotage his public image. "The administration then chose to defame me and more importantly the FBI by saying that the organization was in disarray," Comey said.  "That it was poorly led, that the work force had lost confidence in its leader.  Those were lies, plain and simple.

During the testimony, Comey said he asked a third-party person to leak his memos detailing those conversations with Trump to the press. Comey hoped this would lead to the appointment of a special counsel to handle the investigation into the Trump campaign's interactions with the Russian government.

"I was honestly concerned that he might lie about the nature of our meeting and so I thought it really important to document," the former FBI Director said.

The president fired back through his attorney, saying Comey's admission that he leaked information should lead the former FBI director be investigated for other leaks.

Missouri Western political science professor Melinda Kovacs said she felt it was a smart move by Comey to have the memos leaked to reporters.

"I think that what has come out in public for this particular case is much more substantial and serious than in previous cases in presidential history," Kovacs said.

Kovacs added she believes the next steps in the investigation will most likely not be as public as Thursday's testimony, and will involve work behind closed doors by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

Regardless of how his investigation turns out, Kovacs said she believes today's hearing will have long-lasting effects on the White House.

Election 2016

The only people who are more out of touch than Donald Trump voters are people who think Bernie Sanders would have beat him and people who think Hillary and Bill Clinton give two fucks about inclusivity and good-heartedness.

Tower

Netzach=Hod

The lightning bolt destroys the outworn walls.

Two characters are overthrown; each falls,

Returns to Mother Earth.  The Sacred Mound

Is quickened; there the spark of life is found.

Accept the holy blast that overhauls!

Eleven is when we wave goodbye...

On Monday night, Earth and Mars will become cosmically cozy. The two will be at their closest in more than a decade, separated by just 47 million miles.

Normally, Mars is about 140 million miles from Earth on average, but that gap can widen to as much as 250 million miles when the two planets are on opposite sides of the sun.

The last time Mars snuggled up so closely was in 2005 when the planets were about 43 million miles apart. According to NASA, the red planet really put the squeeze on us in 2003, when it was only 35 million miles away, the tightest hug in more than 60,000 years.

Monday’s celestial embrace will be a great opportunity for skygazers to view the orangey-red orb without a telescope. The planet has been particularly bright since mid-May, when it was approaching opposition, or aligning with Earth and the sun. It will remain similarly big and bright all week and begin to fade in mid-June.

If the weather prevents you from having a clear view, you can watch a live stream by the Slooh Community Observatory, which manages a large network of telescopes across the globe, beginning at 9 p.m. Eastern.

The next time Mars will cuddle Earth this closely will be July 31, 2018.

(courtesy: New York Times)

The Wisdom of Mr. Rogers

I am proud to say that Mr. Rogers was a very big influence on my development as a human being.  Every weekday his calming and deliberately-paced voice taught me about the worlds of fantasy and reality through the television set.  

Not Feeling the Bern

Bernie Sanders has a lot of blood on his hands based on his voting record and I refuse to support him over legitimate candidates like Gary Johnson and Jill Stein based off of that and that alone.

"Not as bad" is still bad and an anti-war stance (backed up by a credible history of following through on those promises) and use of our military in an exclusively defensive manner are the most important qualities I look for in a candidate. From his continued funding of both the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, to his constant support of countless Western nations violent efforts to reshape the political structure of a country for their own gain (even if it means civilian casualties and a mass refugee exodus), to the constant reference to two lame duck votes against starting two wars as the only examples of him having an anti-war stance, it is clear Bernie Sanders does not have the history to back up his claims.

How can I believe he wants to offer what I feel should be basic human rights like medical care and education when he doesn't even have a credible or consistent track record when it comes to an issue as big as war? Obama promised the same stuff and all he did was make sure everyone that can pay for insurance has to, and you have to pay more.