John Thompson

about 16 hours ago

Somebody needs to train the bro on threshold crossing height (TCH). Damn he drug that thing in!

LearnAndFly retweeted

Sharyl Attkisson 🕵️‍♂️💼🥋

@SharylAttkisson

3 days ago

Dying stabbing victim: “I’ve been stabbed.” Police: “I don’t think you have, mate.” (Handcuffs him.)

508

12K

LearnAndFly retweeted

Elon Musk

@elonmusk

3 days ago

Not even 1 story

244K

51K

LearnAndFly retweeted

Tony Seruga

@TonySeruga

5 days ago

🚨 J6 Gallows Mystery Solved? 💥 https://t.co/YJ3cEMSsAu has received a tip identifying the leader of the group that built the J6 gallows, commonly referred to as “Mr. Coffee.” Background The gallows constructed on the Capitol grounds on January 6, 2021, is one of the most potent pieces of propaganda imagery in recent American political history — and the gap between what was presented to the public versus what actually existed is instructive. 🪢 The Physical Structure: What Was Actually There The gallows were not a functional execution device. It was a scaled-down, structurally unserious prop — roughly 8 to 10 feet tall, built from what appeared to be common lumber (2×4s and plywood), hastily assembled with visible hardware-store brackets. The noose hung from a crossbeam that would have snapped under any real weight. The platform, such as it was, lacked any trapdoor mechanism. No counterweights, no release system, no structural engineering of any kind. Anyone who's spent time around actual construction knows the difference between something built to kill a man and something built for theater. This was theater. Crucially, attached to the structure was a “THIS IS ART” sign — a detail that was systematically scrubbed from virtually all mainstream media coverage. The sign explicitly framed the gallows as a symbolic statement, not a functional threat. 📺 The Media Transformation What the public was shown was a carefully curated visual narrative: - Tight-cropped images of the gallows with the Capitol dome in the background, implying scale and menace - Complete omission of the “THIS IS ART” sign in broadcast segments and print coverage - Narrative framing that treated the gallows as evidence of a premeditated assassination plot — “Hang Mike Pence” being the chant attached to it - Prosecutorial use of the gallows imagery during hundreds of trials while systematically withholding the sign and the miniature scale from juries The visual grammar was deliberate. A gallows silhouetted against the Capitol dome is a powerful image. Add context — it’s tiny, it’s labeled as art, it couldn’t hang a golden retriever — and the whole narrative collapses. So the context was removed. ⚖️ The Jury Problem During J6 trials, federal prosecutors introduced the gallows as evidence of intent and premeditation. They showed photographs. They played footage. They asked witnesses about the chanting. What they did not do: - Inform juries about the miniature scale and structural non-functionality - Introduce the “THIS IS ART” sign into evidence or even acknowledge its existence - Allow defense attorneys to contextualize the gallows as political street theater — the kind of symbolic prop that appears at protests across the political spectrum - Permit meaningful cross-examination about whether anyone genuinely believed this structure could be used for an actual hanging This is a textbook example of prosecutorial framing by omission. You don’t need to lie if you can control what the jury sees. The gallows became what the prosecution needed it to be: not a protest prop, but a weapon. Not symbolic speech, but conspiracy evidence. 🎭 The “Art” Defense Nobody Heard The sign itself is the smoking gun. “THIS IS ART” is a declaration of symbolic intent. It’s a statement about meaning, not mechanics. In the context of political protest — where effigies are burned, coffins are carried, and guillotines are wheeled around at various demonstrations going back centuries — a miniature gallows with an art disclaimer is unambiguously political theater. The media’s decision to crop out, ignore, or actively suppress this sign transforms the gallows from a crude piece of protest art into an instrument of attempted murder in the public imagination. That transformation was not accidental. 🔍 Who Was Responsible? Responsibility falls on multiple layers: 1. The builder(s) — There are videos showing the structure being assembled and transported. Multiple individuals were involved in its construction and placement. The gallows was not some spontaneous eruption; someone planned it, built it off-site, and brought it in. Identifying specific builders has been complicated by the fact that the structure was treated as evidence of a crime rather than as protected political speech, which disincentivizes anyone from coming forward to claim authorship. 2. Media outlets — CNN, MSNBC, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and virtually every major outlet ran with the gallows imagery without context. The editorial decision to crop out the art sign and omit the scale was made in newsrooms across the country. This wasn’t one bad actor — it was institutional consensus about what narrative to construct. 3. Federal prosecutors — The decision to present the gallows to juries as evidence of murderous intent, while withholding exculpatory context about its miniature scale and explicit labeling as art, is the most consequential layer. This is where the propaganda became state action with prison sentences attached. 4. The January 6 Committee — The committee’s televised hearings featured the gallows prominently. Liz Cheney and others referenced it repeatedly as evidence of intent to assassinate the Vice President. The committee had access to all the same footage showing the scale and the sign. They chose not to include it. 🎬 The Video Record Hundreds of hours of videos exist. Independent journalists and alternative media have preserved and published footage showing: - The full structure with the “THIS IS ART” sign clearly visible - Wide shots establishing the miniature scale relative to the crowd and surroundings - The gallows being moved and positioned — clearly lightweight, handled by a small number of people without equipment - The surrounding crowd treating it as a photo-op prop, not as a functional device This footage has been available. It simply wasn’t shown on the networks that shaped public perception, and it wasn’t admitted in the courtrooms that determined guilt. The gallows is a case study in how selective visual framing, combined with prosecutorial power and media coordination, can transform a crude piece of protest art into the centerpiece of an insurrection narrative. The sign said it was art. The scale confirmed it. Neither fact was allowed to matter. The identity of the builders remains officially unsolved — but the circumstantial picture is far more interesting than the “we just don’t know” shrug the FBI has offered for years. 🕵️ The Known Unknowns: What the Video Record Shows The House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight, under Chairman Barry Loudermilk, obtained and released Capitol surveillance footage that establishes a precise timeline: - ~6:00 AM, January 6 — A group of five individuals assembles on the National Mall, hours before any rally or crowd has gathered - White van arrival — Three individuals unload pre-fabricated wooden pieces (on wheels) from a full-size white van parked north of Constitution Avenue - Taxi arrival — Two additional individuals arrive separately by cab at 1st and C Streets NW - 6:30–7:15 AM — The group constructs the platform and two main pillars, leaving off the crossbeam and noose - Coffee run — The apparent group leader and one other person walk north on 3rd Street to the only coffee shop open at that hour — located directly across from FBI headquarters ~1:00 PM — The group returns, now five strong, and the leader (having changed from a trench coat/fedora/scarf ensemble into a baseball cap) installs the crossbeam and bright orange noose — precisely as the Capitol breach begins - Immediately after — All five men leave the grounds and are never seen again 👤 The “Group Leader” — Dressed for a Costume Party The man identified in surveillance footage as the apparent leader wore a getup that screams theatricality: - Long trench coat - White scarf - Fedora-style hat - Walking cane This is not standard Trump rally attire. This is central casting for “mysterious provocateur.” He later changed into a baseball cap before the 1:00 PM noose installation — a wardrobe swap consistent with someone who understood cameras were watching and wanted to manage his visual signature. ☕ The Coffee Shop Detail This is the detail that should make anyone’s antenna go up. The group leader and his companion walked to get coffee at the only shop open at that hour — and that shop sits directly across from the J. Edgar Hoover Building, FBI headquarters. Ed Martin, the attorney who has represented over 100 J6 defendants and who first obtained and publicized the surveillance footage, has been blunt: either these men were FBI agents, or they wanted to appear to be FBI. The coffee run wasn’t random. In a city with hundreds of coffee options, at an hour when only one is open, you don’t accidentally end up at the one across from FBI HQ unless you know exactly where you’re going. 🎭 The “THIS IS ART” Sign — A Legal Shield? The sign is not a minor detail. It may have been a deliberate legal hedge. The National Park Service permit regulations for the Mall include language permitting "ethnic arts and crafts" as displays. Labeling the structure as art — however absurd — potentially provided a layer of protection against immediate removal by Capitol Police. And critically: Capitol Police not only did not remove it, but they completely ignored it. Despite explicit regulations prohibiting temporary structures of any kind on Capitol grounds, the gallows sat untouched from 6:30 AM until evening. A structure built in plain view of hundreds of surveillance cameras, on the most heavily policed patch of grass in America, was allowed to remain all day. Either the Capitol Police were catastrophically incompetent that morning, or someone wanted it there. 🔍 The Suspect Pool: Who Benefits? No one has been charged. The FBI, after deploying the full weight of federal law enforcement against ~1,300 J6 defendants — including grandmothers charged with misdemeanor trespassing — has somehow failed to identify five men who built a gallows on camera in front of the Capitol. The question is who had motive and means: 1. Federal Assets or Informants The coffee shop location, the pre-dawn timing (before any MAGA crowd), the pre-fabricated construction (they didn’t build it on-site from raw lumber — they unloaded finished pieces), the costume changes, the disappearance without a trace — this is tradecraft, not amateur hour. The FBI’s complete lack of interest in identifying the builders, despite having facial images and a white van, is either staggering incompetence or something else entirely. 2. Anti-Trump Operatives Ed Martin’s theory — that the gallows was a plant by actors seeking to create the most damaging possible visual for the Trump movement — aligns with the facts as we know them. The gallows were constructed hours before any protesters arrived. It was positioned for maximum photographic impact, perfectly framed by the Capitol dome. The builders left before the crowd formed and returned only to add the noose at the exact moment the breach began — then vanished. The entire operation reads like a psyop designed to produce a single indelible image. 3. The David Dempsey Connection FBI affidavits identify a man known as #FlagGaiterCopHater — later identified as David Nicholas Dempsey — who was filmed in front of the gallows delivering a monologue about hanging politicians. Dempsey was a violent actor at the Capitol that day, attacking police with a crutch, a metal pole, and chemical spray. He’s been charged. But the affidavit treats him as someone who used the gallows as a backdrop, not someone who built it. The builders remain a separate, unidentified group. 🚩 Why No Investigation? Chairman Loudermilk has publicly stated that the FBI has no suspects. The January 6 Committee — which had access to all this CCTV footage — never released information about when or by whom the gallows were built. They simply showed the finished image, spliced it with “Hang Mike Pence” chants recorded elsewhere, and let the implication do the work. If the gallows were genuinely built by Trump supporters as a murder threat, identifying and prosecuting the builders would be the single most damning piece of evidence in the entire J6 narrative. Instead, the people who built the central propaganda image of January 6 remain ghosts — despite being caught on camera, despite arriving in a traceable white van, despite one of them wearing a costume that would make him identifiable at 100 yards. That’s not an investigation that failed. That’s an investigation that was never meant to succeed. GPS—we have known from day one that at least 2 of the 5 regularly use a keycard-required secure parking garage for the J. Edgar Hoover Building. Vehicular entrances are from 9th Street NW and 10th Street NW (not directly from Pennsylvania Avenue, which is the main public facade). It is a secure, restricted facility for FBI employees and authorized personnel only. Public parking is not available there. And now, the https://t.co/YJ3cEMSsAu tip received early this morning sheds additional light on what we have suspected all along. We are vetting the tipster, but they knew details not released to the public, including a party the “Group Leader/Mr. Coffee” had attended in the past, where they wore the same attire, i.e., long trench coat, white scarf, fedora, and a walking cane.

TonySeruga's tweet photo. 🚨 J6 Gallows Mystery Solved? 💥

https://t.co/YJ3cEMSsAu has received a tip identifying the leader of the group that built the J6 gallows, commonly referred to as “Mr. Coffee.”

Background

The gallows constructed on the Capitol grounds on January 6, 2021, is one of the most potent pieces of propaganda imagery in recent American political history — and the gap between what was presented to the public versus what actually existed is instructive.

🪢 The Physical Structure: What Was Actually There

The gallows were not a functional execution device. It was a scaled-down, structurally unserious prop — roughly 8 to 10 feet tall, built from what appeared to be common lumber (2×4s and plywood), hastily assembled with visible hardware-store brackets.

The noose hung from a crossbeam that would have snapped under any real weight. The platform, such as it was, lacked any trapdoor mechanism. No counterweights, no release system, no structural engineering of any kind.

Anyone who's spent time around actual construction knows the difference between something built to kill a man and something built for theater. This was theater.

Crucially, attached to the structure was a “THIS IS ART” sign — a detail that was systematically scrubbed from virtually all mainstream media coverage. The sign explicitly framed the gallows as a symbolic statement, not a functional threat.

📺 The Media Transformation

What the public was shown was a carefully curated visual narrative:

- Tight-cropped images of the gallows with the Capitol dome in the background, implying scale and menace
- Complete omission of the “THIS IS ART” sign in broadcast segments and print coverage
- Narrative framing that treated the gallows as evidence of a premeditated assassination plot — “Hang Mike Pence” being the chant attached to it
- Prosecutorial use of the gallows imagery during hundreds of trials while systematically withholding the sign and the miniature scale from juries

The visual grammar was deliberate. A gallows silhouetted against the Capitol dome is a powerful image. Add context — it’s tiny, it’s labeled as art, it couldn’t hang a golden retriever — and the whole narrative collapses. So the context was removed.

⚖️ The Jury Problem

During J6 trials, federal prosecutors introduced the gallows as evidence of intent and premeditation. They showed photographs. They played footage. They asked witnesses about the chanting.

What they did not do:

- Inform juries about the miniature scale and structural non-functionality
- Introduce the “THIS IS ART” sign into evidence or even acknowledge its existence
- Allow defense attorneys to contextualize the gallows as political street theater — the kind of symbolic prop that appears at protests across the political spectrum
- Permit meaningful cross-examination about whether anyone genuinely believed this structure could be used for an actual hanging

This is a textbook example of prosecutorial framing by omission. You don’t need to lie if you can control what the jury sees. The gallows became what the prosecution needed it to be: not a protest prop, but a weapon. Not symbolic speech, but conspiracy evidence.

🎭 The “Art” Defense Nobody Heard

The sign itself is the smoking gun. “THIS IS ART” is a declaration of symbolic intent. It’s a statement about meaning, not mechanics. In the context of political protest — where effigies are burned, coffins are carried, and guillotines are wheeled around at various demonstrations going back centuries — a miniature gallows with an art disclaimer is unambiguously political theater.

The media’s decision to crop out, ignore, or actively suppress this sign transforms the gallows from a crude piece of protest art into an instrument of attempted murder in the public imagination. That transformation was not accidental.

🔍 Who Was Responsible?

Responsibility falls on multiple layers:

1. The builder(s) — There are videos showing the structure being assembled and transported. Multiple individuals were involved in its construction and placement. The gallows was not some spontaneous eruption; someone planned it, built it off-site, and brought it in. Identifying specific builders has been complicated by the fact that the structure was treated as evidence of a crime rather than as protected political speech, which disincentivizes anyone from coming forward to claim authorship.

2. Media outlets — CNN, MSNBC, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and virtually every major outlet ran with the gallows imagery without context. The editorial decision to crop out the art sign and omit the scale was made in newsrooms across the country. This wasn’t one bad actor — it was institutional consensus about what narrative to construct.

3. Federal prosecutors — The decision to present the gallows to juries as evidence of murderous intent, while withholding exculpatory context about its miniature scale and explicit labeling as art, is the most consequential layer. This is where the propaganda became state action with prison sentences attached.

4. The January 6 Committee — The committee’s televised hearings featured the gallows prominently. Liz Cheney and others referenced it repeatedly as evidence of intent to assassinate the Vice President. The committee had access to all the same footage showing the scale and the sign. They chose not to include it.

🎬 The Video Record

Hundreds of hours of videos exist. Independent journalists and alternative media have preserved and published footage showing:

- The full structure with the “THIS IS ART” sign clearly visible

- Wide shots establishing the miniature scale relative to the crowd and surroundings

- The gallows being moved and positioned — clearly lightweight, handled by a small number of people without equipment

- The surrounding crowd treating it as a photo-op prop, not as a functional device

This footage has been available. It simply wasn’t shown on the networks that shaped public perception, and it wasn’t admitted in the courtrooms that determined guilt.

The gallows is a case study in how selective visual framing, combined with prosecutorial power and media coordination, can transform a crude piece of protest art into the centerpiece of an insurrection narrative. The sign said it was art. The scale confirmed it. Neither fact was allowed to matter.

The identity of the builders remains officially unsolved — but the circumstantial picture is far more interesting than the “we just don’t know” shrug the FBI has offered for years.

🕵️ The Known Unknowns: What the Video Record Shows

The House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight, under Chairman Barry Loudermilk, obtained and released Capitol surveillance footage that establishes a precise timeline:

- ~6:00 AM, January 6 — A group of five individuals assembles on the National Mall, hours before any rally or crowd has gathered
- White van arrival — Three individuals unload pre-fabricated wooden pieces (on wheels) from a full-size white van parked north of Constitution Avenue
- Taxi arrival — Two additional individuals arrive separately by cab at 1st and C Streets NW
- 6:30–7:15 AM — The group constructs the platform and two main pillars, leaving off the crossbeam and noose
- Coffee run — The apparent group leader and one other person walk north on 3rd Street to the only coffee shop open at that hour — located directly across from FBI headquarters
~1:00 PM — The group returns, now five strong, and the leader (having changed from a trench coat/fedora/scarf ensemble into a baseball cap) installs the crossbeam and bright orange noose — precisely as the Capitol breach begins
- Immediately after — All five men leave the grounds and are never seen again

👤 The “Group Leader” — Dressed for a Costume Party

The man identified in surveillance footage as the apparent leader wore a getup that screams theatricality:

- Long trench coat
- White scarf
- Fedora-style hat
- Walking cane

This is not standard Trump rally attire. This is central casting for “mysterious provocateur.” He later changed into a baseball cap before the 1:00 PM noose installation — a wardrobe swap consistent with someone who understood cameras were watching and wanted to manage his visual signature.

☕ The Coffee Shop Detail

This is the detail that should make anyone’s antenna go up. The group leader and his companion walked to get coffee at the only shop open at that hour — and that shop sits directly across from the J. Edgar Hoover Building, FBI headquarters.

Ed Martin, the attorney who has represented over 100 J6 defendants and who first obtained and publicized the surveillance footage, has been blunt: either these men were FBI agents, or they wanted to appear to be FBI.

The coffee run wasn’t random. In a city with hundreds of coffee options, at an hour when only one is open, you don’t accidentally end up at the one across from FBI HQ unless you know exactly where you’re going.

🎭 The “THIS IS ART” Sign — A Legal Shield?

The sign is not a minor detail. It may have been a deliberate legal hedge. The National Park Service permit regulations for the Mall include language permitting "ethnic arts and crafts" as displays. Labeling the structure as art — however absurd — potentially provided a layer of protection against immediate removal by Capitol Police.

And critically: Capitol Police not only did not remove it, but they completely ignored it. Despite explicit regulations prohibiting temporary structures of any kind on Capitol grounds, the gallows sat untouched from 6:30 AM until evening. A structure built in plain view of hundreds of surveillance cameras, on the most heavily policed patch of grass in America, was allowed to remain all day. Either the Capitol Police were catastrophically incompetent that morning, or someone wanted it there.

🔍 The Suspect Pool: Who Benefits?

No one has been charged. The FBI, after deploying the full weight of federal law enforcement against ~1,300 J6 defendants — including grandmothers charged with misdemeanor trespassing — has somehow failed to identify five men who built a gallows on camera in front of the Capitol.

The question is who had motive and means:

1. Federal Assets or Informants

The coffee shop location, the pre-dawn timing (before any MAGA crowd), the pre-fabricated construction (they didn’t build it on-site from raw lumber — they unloaded finished pieces), the costume changes, the disappearance without a trace — this is tradecraft, not amateur hour. The FBI’s complete lack of interest in identifying the builders, despite having facial images and a white van, is either staggering incompetence or something else entirely.

2. Anti-Trump Operatives

Ed Martin’s theory — that the gallows was a plant by actors seeking to create the most damaging possible visual for the Trump movement — aligns with the facts as we know them. The gallows were constructed hours before any protesters arrived. It was positioned for maximum photographic impact, perfectly framed by the Capitol dome. The builders left before the crowd formed and returned only to add the noose at the exact moment the breach began — then vanished. The entire operation reads like a psyop designed to produce a single indelible image.

3. The David Dempsey Connection

FBI affidavits identify a man known as #FlagGaiterCopHater — later identified as David Nicholas Dempsey — who was filmed in front of the gallows delivering a monologue about hanging politicians. Dempsey was a violent actor at the Capitol that day, attacking police with a crutch, a metal pole, and chemical spray. He’s been charged. But the affidavit treats him as someone who used the gallows as a backdrop, not someone who built it. The builders remain a separate, unidentified group.

🚩 Why No Investigation?

Chairman Loudermilk has publicly stated that the FBI has no suspects. The January 6 Committee — which had access to all this CCTV footage — never released information about when or by whom the gallows were built. They simply showed the finished image, spliced it with “Hang Mike Pence” chants recorded elsewhere, and let the implication do the work.

If the gallows were genuinely built by Trump supporters as a murder threat, identifying and prosecuting the builders would be the single most damning piece of evidence in the entire J6 narrative.

Instead, the people who built the central propaganda image of January 6 remain ghosts — despite being caught on camera, despite arriving in a traceable white van, despite one of them wearing a costume that would make him identifiable at 100 yards.

That’s not an investigation that failed. That’s an investigation that was never meant to succeed.

GPS—we have known from day one that at least 2 of the 5 regularly use a keycard-required secure parking garage for the J. Edgar Hoover Building.

Vehicular entrances are from 9th Street NW and 10th Street NW (not directly from Pennsylvania Avenue, which is the main public facade).

It is a secure, restricted facility for FBI employees and authorized personnel only. Public parking is not available there.

And now, the https://t.co/YJ3cEMSsAu tip received early this morning sheds additional light on what we have suspected all along.

We are vetting the tipster, but they knew details not released to the public, including a party the “Group Leader/Mr. Coffee” had attended in the past, where they wore the same attire, i.e., long trench coat, white scarf, fedora, and a walking cane.

641

520

57K

Who to follow

6 days ago

A go to place for my fellow KC-135Q crews. A great home away from home.

6 days ago

MY FAVORITE STOP ON EARTH - THE LEGENDARY “SMOKE HOUSE INN” Mid-1980s. We taxi clear of the runway at RAF Mildenhall, engines spooling down as we pull into our “hard stand” to park our C-141 Starlifter after another long haul across the pond. It’s 0700. The crew bus picks us up after our post-flights, and drops us off in front of the Smoke House Inn — an aircrew refuge in the English countryside. Thatched roof, oak beams, massive Inglenook fireplace crackling away. That was always my welcome sign…a roaring, proper fire, in the lobby of this British country inn. I always felt like I’d been dropped into a medieval classic with wanderers walking the roads of England looking for a warm meat pie, an ale. and a warm place to sleep. Walk into the lobby in the morning, and the smells of fresh coffee, eggs, sausage and beans wafted everywhere. Walk into the lobby in the evening, and you smelled fresh fish & chips mixed with grilled steaks the size of hubcaps. The Smoke House pub is where I learned respect for a good beer. We’d crash in those cozy rooms for crew rest. Later, we’d swap war stories at the pub with fellow airmen, and later, with a buzz, sit in the massive couches in front of the massive fireplace and do the same. For a precious days, the world slowed down. No alerts, no briefings — just laughter, camaraderie, and that unmistakable feeling of being part of something bigger. I’d often run into Air Force friends from my past who were passing through with their crews. It was almost always a reunion party. The Smoke House wasn’t just a hotel… it was home. Sadly, the Smoke House, my favorite home away from home, closed its doors forever. Following a decline in trade after 2001, the site was approved for redevelopment and is now housing. Who else has stories from the Mildenhall Smoke House? Drop ‘em below! 🇺🇸🍺✈️ #C141 #RAFmildenhall #SmokeHouseInn #CrewRest

BuzzPatterson's tweet photo. MY FAVORITE STOP ON EARTH - THE LEGENDARY “SMOKE HOUSE INN”

Mid-1980s. We taxi clear of the runway at RAF Mildenhall, engines spooling down as we pull into our “hard stand” to park our C-141 Starlifter after another long haul across the pond. It’s 0700.

The crew bus picks us up after our post-flights, and drops us off in front of the Smoke House Inn — an aircrew refuge in the English countryside.

Thatched roof, oak beams, massive Inglenook fireplace crackling away. That was always my welcome sign…a roaring, proper fire, in the lobby of this British country inn.

I always felt like I’d been dropped into a medieval classic with wanderers walking the roads of England looking for a warm meat pie, an ale. and a warm place to sleep.

Walk into the lobby in the morning, and the smells of fresh coffee, eggs, sausage and beans wafted everywhere. Walk into the lobby in the evening, and you smelled fresh fish & chips mixed with grilled steaks the size of hubcaps. The Smoke House pub is where I learned respect for a good beer.

We’d crash in those cozy rooms for crew rest. Later, we’d swap war stories at the pub with fellow airmen, and later, with a buzz, sit in the massive couches in front of the massive fireplace and do the same.

For a precious days, the world slowed down. No alerts, no briefings — just laughter, camaraderie, and that unmistakable feeling of being part of something bigger.

I’d often run into Air Force friends from my past who were passing through with their crews. It was almost always a reunion party.

The Smoke House wasn’t just a hotel… it was home.

Sadly, the Smoke House, my favorite home away from home, closed its doors forever. Following a decline in trade after 2001, the site was approved for redevelopment and is now housing.

Who else has stories from the Mildenhall Smoke House? Drop ‘em below! 🇺🇸🍺✈️
#C141 #RAFmildenhall #SmokeHouseInn #CrewRest

370

11K

KC-10 Driver ✈️ 👨‍✈️ B-737 Wrangler

6 days ago

We did that when I was in Instructor Pilot training (CFIC) at Castle AFB in the early 90s.

@MCCCANM

6 days ago

There’s always a few people who wonder if this picture is real, and it very much is. It was kind of a confidence exercise in Air Refueling. Probably during the 1960’s. This kind of thing was eventually banned. Now the maximum bank during refueling is 30°.

923

47K

7 days ago

The police can resolve this simply by releasing the body cam footage.

Basil the Great

@BasilTheGreat

7 days ago

The police chose to believe the Sikh guy over the White guy because they are systemically racist against white people.

123

16K

120

301K

10 days ago

#72 at Newark is my record

Air & Space Forces Magazine

10 days ago

Taxi traffic at DFW. We call it the ”Conga Line.” The dance of inching up a couple of feet, getting constant reroutes and plugging them into the box, and uttering expletives. 🤣 My personal record is being #74 in the cue at JFK. Try explaining that to the passengers. 🤣

BuzzPatterson's tweet photo. Taxi traffic at DFW. We call it the ”Conga Line.” The dance of inching up a couple of feet, getting constant reroutes and plugging them into the box, and uttering expletives. 🤣

My personal record is being #74 in the cue at JFK. Try explaining that to the passengers. 🤣 https://t.co/hVFzRzb6Va

281

16K

LearnAndFly retweeted

TMK

@themagaking

13 days ago

I don’t care what anyone says about Tulsi Gabbard, but she is the only person in all of Washington who had the ovaries to directly call out Barack Obama and lay out, point by point, the grand scheme behind the Russia hoax. For that alone, I will always be one of her biggest fans.

726

31K

225

178K

LearnAndFly retweeted

@ASForcesMag

14 days ago

AETC Preps Next-Gen Simulators for Future Pilots https://t.co/TdJ5uWOX2Z

393

LearnAndFly retweeted

Mr PitBull Stories

@MrPitbull07

21 days ago

So in December 2025 my daughter told us she had melanoma and it had metastasized to her lung, left breast and colon, needless to say we were devastated. She had surgery for the cancer in her colon and it was successful. She started treatment for the cancer in her lung and breast and after 2 treatments the cancer shrunk from 6cm to 4cm, so we had a ray of hope. She began having issues with her hemoglobin dropping after treatments. She had to start blood transfusion to bring her numbers up, this happened after every treatment. This began to take its toll on Natalie. She would visit me at the coffee shop and began to cry and it broke my heart. We have had our church people all praying for her along with hundreds more, including friends and family. Tonight my daughter face timed me (something she never does) and she was crying, my heart almost stopped beating, I was afraid that she was about to tell us the cancer had spread. She wiped her eyes and said the doctor had sent an email to Eddy (her husband) and said he couldn’t wait until tomorrow to tell him that Natalie was 100% cancer FREE. This was incredible news. I made this post just to testify to the glory of God that miracles still happen. We give God all the glory. During the call with my daughter I could see that twinkle back in her eyes, it had not been there for several months. I am beside myself with joy and look forward to seeing her beautiful smile. I want everyone to celebrate with us and give God the glory. Credit: Ronnie Echols via FB

MrPitbull07's tweet photo. So in December 2025 my daughter told us she had melanoma and it had metastasized to her lung, left breast and colon, needless to say we were devastated. She had surgery for the cancer in her colon and it was successful. She started treatment for the cancer in her lung and breast and after 2 treatments the cancer shrunk from 6cm to 4cm, so we had a ray of hope. She began having issues with her hemoglobin dropping after treatments. She had to start blood transfusion to bring her numbers up, this happened after every treatment. This began to take its toll on Natalie. She would visit me at the coffee shop and began to cry and it broke my heart. We have had our church people all praying for her along with hundreds more, including friends and family. Tonight my daughter face timed me (something she never does) and she was crying, my heart almost stopped beating, I was afraid that she was about to tell us the cancer had spread. She wiped her eyes and said the doctor had sent an email to Eddy (her husband) and said he couldn’t wait until tomorrow to tell him that Natalie was 100% cancer FREE. This was incredible news. I made this post just to testify to the glory of God that miracles still happen. We give God all the glory. During the call with my daughter I could see that twinkle back in her eyes, it had not been there for several months. I am beside myself with joy and look forward to seeing her beautiful smile. I want everyone to celebrate with us and give God the glory.

Credit: Ronnie Echols via FB

12K

104

220K

LearnAndFly retweeted

Ari Hoffman

@thehoffather

24 days ago

EXCLUSIVE: Delta Camshaft in Tacoma, the largest custom camshaft regrinding company in America, is moving out after 48 years in Washington. The owner, Jon Bodwell, told me, "I've decided I can no longer compete with the political doom that's come through town. The building is currently active on the markets, as I set my sights on Mesa, AZ. Crime, graffiti, taxes & fees got me on the run. Well over 1 million camshafts to hand pack into boxes for the move, then unload at the new facility, and 4 machines that weigh around 7 tons each. The move alone will cost well over $100K...sadly worth every penny."

thehoffather's tweet photo. EXCLUSIVE: Delta Camshaft in Tacoma, the largest custom camshaft regrinding company in America, is moving out after 48 years in Washington.

The owner, Jon Bodwell, told me, "I've decided I can no longer compete with the political doom that's come through town. The building is currently active on the markets, as I set my sights on Mesa, AZ. Crime, graffiti, taxes & fees got me on the run. Well over 1 million camshafts to hand pack into boxes for the move, then unload at the new facility, and 4 machines that weigh around 7 tons each. The move alone will cost well over $100K...sadly worth every penny."

488

14K

544

360K

LearnAndFly retweeted

Tommy Robinson 🇬🇧

@TRobinsonNewEra

28 days ago

The slithering Starmer refuses to resign after Labour were demolished across the land in the local elections. Instead of taking any responsibility, he shifts blame on to everyone who lost their seats. Pretending he doesn't realise this was the nation making clear we hate him.

53K

10K

586

734K

LearnAndFly retweeted

Chris Martenson

@chrismartenson

29 days ago

Secretary Duffy says we're not going to have oil supply shortages in the US because we produce so much, but that is simply not true. The US is usually a net importer of crude oil because we don't produce the same type of oil that we use. The only reason we're exporting so much at the moment is because we're draining our strategic petroleum reserve. Not good news! Full report: https://t.co/1Pl889LL9B

735

157

42K

KC-10 Driver ✈️ 👨‍✈️ B-737 Wrangler

29 days ago

I would expect they would be extremely difficult and expensive to maintain since almost nobody else flies DC-10s.

@MCCCANM

29 days ago

It would bring Omega Air Refueling – a private, US based company – up to a fleet of 15 tankers. The Saudis & Russians have about 22 & 18, respectively. The French have 15, UK has 9 (can surge to 14), Italy 8, Canada 6, etc.. The U.S. has around 600.

610

58K

LearnAndFly retweeted

about 1 month ago

This is the landing gear on the United Airlines 767 landing on Newark. This dude is incredibly fortunate! Those pilots are in deep shit!

BuzzPatterson's tweet photo. This is the landing gear on the United Airlines 767 landing on Newark. This dude is incredibly fortunate! Those pilots are in deep shit! https://t.co/tLNIOWQhRZ

332

757

258

165K

LearnAndFly retweeted

The Great Gats🐝

@Gardyloo_Alert

about 1 month ago

Starbucks was started in 1971 in downtown Seattle. Howard Schultz bought it in 1987 and took it public in 1992 with 140 stores, then grew it to 677 locations by 1995. Today it has 38,000 stores across more than 80 countries. Katie Wilson was just elected Seattle Mayor on November 13, 2025 when she called for a boycott of Starbucks. Starbucks officially announced their new headquarters with 2,000 employees in Nashville, Tennessee, on April 21, 2026. Another example of how democrat socialist policies actually work out.

22K

873

950K

LearnAndFly retweeted

Enguerrand VII de Coucy

@ingelramdecoucy

about 1 month ago

Spirit hasn’t even been gone for 24 hours and their passengers are already wreaking havoc on other airlines, they’ve breached containment

181

23K

LearnAndFly retweeted

about 1 month ago

President Trump has refused the government bailout of Spirit Airlines. This is the right move.

208

647

57K