A Mission With No Safe OptionFormer Air Force Lieutenant Heather “Lucky” Penney was 26 when she faced an assignment unlike any ordinary flight. Flight 93 had been hijacked and was turning toward Washington, D.C. Military leaders believed they might have to stop it with jets that carried no live missiles and, in Penney’s words, no real weapons for the task. If there was no other way to prevent the attack, the pilots would ram their jets into the commercial aircraft. Penney described it plainly as a suicide mission. The target would be an airliner full of innocent Americans, while the feared next targets included the White House, Congress, and other central institutions of the country.Flight 93 Turned Toward WashingtonFlight 93 was the fourth plane hijacked on September 11, 2001, and the only one that did not reach its intended target. A delay kept it on the ground while the other three planes were already hijacked. After takeoff, the plane flew west for about 46 minutes. Then the hijackers entered the cockpit. Controllers heard a “Mayday” and “Get out of here!” before one hijacker took control and turned the aircraft toward Washington, D.C. That turn forced military leaders to make a…

Kelly Says A Note Appeared After A Restroom Break Sen. Mark Kelly, Democrat of Arizona, posted Wednesday that he was on a flight from Boston to Phoenix when he returned from the restroom and found a note waiting in his seat. According to Kelly, the note came from a young person worried about work, housing, health care, and the future. Kelly used the post to argue that young Americans are facing “massive anxiety and uncertainty,” then blamed the current government for not helping hardworking young people while saying billionaires have benefited under Trump’s “Golden Age.” It was a tidy little political moment, which is often when the internet starts checking the drapes for stage props. https://twitter.com/SenMarkKelly/status/2097810812509270141?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw The Note Read Like A Campaign Mailer With Seat Assignments The note, as shared by Kelly, said the writer was 25 years old, had a college degree, was four years into a career, and was “just barely scraping by.” The person wrote that having children or owning a home felt out of reach, and asked Kelly to fight for affordable housing and health care. It ended, “I’m quite literally begging you,” and was signed “An everyday American.” The problems named in the letter are…