McCain And Rubio Win Their Primaries

Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) won their respective state primaries yesterday, and will face their Democrat rivals in November as they run for reelection.  McCain's main challenger was Kelli Ward, who garnered about 39 percent of the vote.

Read more at CNN, The New York Times, the International Business Times and Fox News.

Colin Kaepernick's Other Outspoken Opinion

There's been quite a bit of reaction to San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick's decision to sit during the national anthem and his reasons for doing so, but something else he recently said appears to have been swept under the rug.  To give a hint, I'll just say that he was quite critical of one particular presidential candidate.  To find out what he said, go to Bizpac Review and read the full story.

Pilot Of Crashed Plane Had Been Promoted Despite Failing Test

Back on March 24, 2015, a Germanwings airplane crashed into an Alpine mountainside in southeastern France after the co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz, reportedly locked the captain out of the cockpit.  As now reported by the New York Post:

The German pilot who deliberately flew his airliner into a mountainside last year had struggled with learning to fly and had failed a key test of his skills during training in the U.S., according FBI interviews with his flight instructors.

Andreas Lubitz was promoted anyway. But his training difficulties were one more "red flag" that should have caused Lufthansa and the airline's Arizona flight school to take a closer look and discover his history of depression, asserted attorneys representing families of crash victims.

Read the full story.

VT Football To Honor Frank Beamer

Virginia Tech football coach Justin Fuente has come up with an interesting way to honor his predecessor Frank Beamer.  For every game this year, someone playing on special teams will wear jersey number 25, which was Beamer's number during his playing days.  Virginia Tech became known for its special teams play during Beamer's coaching years, when his special teams coach was (drum roll, please) himself.  During the last few years, however, the number of kicks blocked by VT has gone down quite a bit.

Read more at The Roanoke Times, the Richmond Times-Dispatch and Hokiesports(dot)com.

Music Break

Once again it's about time I posted a five-song set.  I've run across most of these rather recently, in part thanks to a BlogTalkRadio host who calls himself "Reactionariez", or "RZ" for short.  Although he specializes in conservative politics, he also likes to spin the tunes.  Although I've known about The Guess Who for a long time, it was RZ who introduced me to Rain Dance, written by singer/keyboardist Burton Cummings and guitarist Kurt Winter, and released in 1971.  At this time, the band also included guitarist Greg Leskiw, bassist Jim Kale and drummer Garry Peterson.

Colin Kaepernick Explains Sitting During The National Anthem

San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick has generated some controversy by refusing to stand for the national anthem before yesterday's exhibition game, and for his reasons.  He believes that he could not show pride in a country that "oppresses black people and people of color".  This is not the first time he has sat during the anthem.

Read more at NFL(dot)com, ForTheWin, Fox Sports, NBC Sports and Independent Journal, which presents an Army Ranger veteran's reaction.

Planet Found Around Proxima Centauri

Proxima Centauri is a faint red star a little over 4 light-years from our solar system, and is the closest star to Earth other than the sun.  It is classified as a red dwarf, the smallest, dimmest, and longest-lived type of active star.  (I say "active" to indicate that it is currently producing energy from nuclear fusion, unlike "dead" stars such as white dwarfs and neutron stars.)  It is close to the binary star Alpha Centauri, and might be in orbit around it, but scientists aren't sure whether this is so.  With an apparent magnitude of 11, Proxima Centauri is far too dim to see from Earth, and would have a magnitude of 5 if seen from the vicinity of Alpha Centauri.  (Magnitudes are indicated numerically in a logarithmic manner.  A magnitude 1 star appears 2.51 times as bright as magnitude 2 star, a magnitude 2 star appears 2.51 times as bright as a magnitude 3 star, and so on.  Depending on viewing conditions, stars with a magnitude between 5 and 6 are the faintest that can be seen with the unaided eye.)

Today, astronomers have announced that Proxima Centauri has a planet, which would of course be the closest exo-planet to our solar system.  It orbits the star every 11 Earth days, and lies within the "Goldilocks zone", in which liquid water may exist.  The planet has a mass about 1.3 times that of Earth.  Whether is has an atmosphere or even a solid surface has not been determined.

Read more at European Southern Observatory, Scientific American, Discover and Universe Today; and watch this video from Science News:

Astronomers discovered the planet using ESO's telescopes.

Earthquake Strikes Central Italy

A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck central Italy early today, resulting in at least 73 deaths and extensive damage in several small towns.  The epicenter was about 6.5 miles southeast of Norcia, in the Umbria region.  The towns of Amatrice, Accumoli and Pescara del Tronto were among the most severely damaged.  The quake was felt as far north as Bologna and as far south as Naples.  Around 80 aftershocks have been reported.

Read more at CNN, The New York Times, USA Today, BBC News and The Guardian.

UPDATE:  The outlets are now reporting that "at least 120" are dead.

14,900 More Clinton Emails Found

Just when we thought we had enough of Hillary Clinton's emails, 14,900 more of them from her time as Secretary of State have shown up, found by the FBI even though her lawyers did not disclose them.  The emails are supposed to be released sometime during October.

Read more at The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Washington Times and Business Insider.

"How The Left Is Silencing Free Speech"

This video is of a C-SPAN interview of author Kimberley Strassel discussing her book The Intimidation Game: How The Left Is Silencing Free Speech.  While watching it, I realized that it will make just about everyone angry.  If you're on the right, you will be angry at the actions of the left that Ms. Strassel is pointing out.  If you're on the left, you will be angry that she dares to do exactly that.

You can also watch the video on YouTube.  The video was posted yesterday, but the interview took place this past June 28.