Tea at Trianon: The Black Box

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Monday, February 17, 2025

The Black Box

From Tierney's Real News:

NTSB said this was a “check ride” for the pilot flying the Blackhawk - a practical exam to perform “mission duties.” I’ll talk more about what the mission was but remember this. This allegedly was an “annual” and “night-vision” check-ride for the pilot (who was NOT named by NTSB in this report - BTW.)
The NTSB confirmed that the helicopter crew were likely all wearing night-vision goggles and these did NOT impair their visibility or field of vision. The “instructor pilot” - a male - was allegedly the person mostly transmitting on the radio - according to the Black Box. The maximum altitude for Route 4 is 200 feet.
The helicopter allegedly requested moving from Route 1 to Route 4 to return to Davison Airfield in Virginia after zig zagging around and then, instead of maintaining an altitude of 200 feet, climbed mysteriously to 400 feet. The NTSB did not address this other than to say the “altimeters” were likely not working correctly and were sending different information from different sources.
The NTSB said the PILOT flying the helicopter (Rebecca?) said they were at 300 feet and the INSTRUCTOR PILOT of the helicopter (Eaves?) said they were flying at 400 feet. NTSB does not know why there was a discrepancy between the two altitude readings of the two pilots in the SAME helicopter. Hmm. ODD.
A few minutes later, the INSTRUCTOR PILOT (Eaves?) said they were descending from 300 feet to 200 feet - but the opposite was actually true. They were CLIMBING.
The NTSB also acknowledged that the helicopter moved westward and then back to the east toward DOWNTOWN Washington DC but did not specify why. ODD. (Read more.)