At a time when you can pay bills online and deposit checks remotely using a cell phone, it’s amazing how many Americans don’t have bank accounts.
Marine Guardian Angel
Marine Corporal Jeffery L. Allen, crew chief with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron (HMLA) 469, Marine Aircraft Group 39, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward), provides close air support from the door of his UH-1Y Venom …
BattlelandDefense Contractors
False Ceiling
A “contract ceiling,” to normal people, is an amount a contract cannot exceed. Brilliant metaphor. Monday evening the Pentagon announced an $8.4 million boost to an engineering contract “to increase the ceiling amount.” Then why call it a ceiling?
Watching an American Soldier Die
I don’t enjoy having conversations about Afghanistan with people who haven’t been there.
It is not that I don’t want to share or help others understand the conflict or my experiences. My issue is that the stories I truly want …
Is California’s Democratic Supermajority an Omen for the Rest of the U.S.?
The Republican Party’s troubles in the Golden State began years ago and could not be mended in time for the election. Does the same fate await the GOP nationwide?
MOOC Brigade: Can Online Courses Keep Students from Cheating?
As more colleges debate whether to give students credit for taking massive open online courses, tech companies are looking into using everything from webcam proctors to retina scans to cut down on cheating
U.S. Secession Petitions: Illegal for States Like Texas to Break Away
It’s beginning to feel a lot like the 1860s — and not just because Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln opened nationwide this past weekend.
“Mrs. Kelley has sent his Senate office invitations to social events, but he hasn't attended any.”
— Alex Conant, spokesman for Senator Marco Rubio, R-Fla. on the senator’s failure to show up at any of the events Tampa socialite Jill Kelley invited him to attend. Kelley's complaint to an FBI friend revealed David Petraeus’ affair and forced him to resign as CIA chief. Both Petraeus and Marine General John Allen repeatedly schmoozed at lavish parties at Kelley’s bayside mansion while at U.S. Central Command in Tampa.
50,000
— The number of U.S. sailors currently deployed on 110 U.S. warships around the world, according to Admiral Jonathan Greenert, chief of naval operations.
BattlelandMilitary
An Ex-Army Shrink Ponders Ex-General Petraeus’ Fall
I spent nearly a quarter-century in the Army, serving with David Petraeus. No, I didn’t know him, but like every retired female Army officer I have heard the question repeatedly over the past week: what do I think of the whole …
BattlelandAfghanistan
Highest-Tech War
The U.S. Army is shipping some high-tech stuff off to Afghanistan, apparently for the war effort, even as troops have begun coming home. They won’t say a word about it, but are talking about the custom-built shipping cases they …
Hey China: Can You See Us Now?
A 26-ship fleet of U.S. Navy and Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force vessels steams in the East China Sea at the end of exercise Keen Sword 2013 Nov. 16.
Three Awesome Things You Missed at the American Music Awards
If you didn’t watch the 40th American Music Awards last night, it’s easy enough to look at a list of who won what.