Police say a hostage situation at a bunker in Midland City, Ala., has ended after a seven-day standoff between police and a 65-year-old gunman who kidnapped a 5-year-old boy from a school bus after shooting its driver to death
National
A Cowering Country
Here at Battleland, we continue to believe one of the most insidious impacts of 9/11 was to put the nation into a perpetual defensive crouch that American heroes ranging from Davy Crockett to Sergeant Alvin York to John Wayne …
The Navy Ethos
The accompanying photograph is painful to see. It not only documents the “complete loss” of the $277 million USS Guardian minesweeper, which ran aground off the Philippines last month, but it is likely to signal the end of one or …
Headin’ Home
A Stryker vehicle squeezes through the Dab Pass in the eastern part of the country Jan. 19, preparing to head for home.
Just Who Do They Represent: At Hagel Hearing, Concern for Israel Tops U.S. Troops in Combat
When Senator Mike Lee took his turn to cross-examine defense-secretary nominee Chuck Hagel during last Thursday’s confirmation hearing, he expressed considerable concern for Israel’s security.
“Let’s say those
…
American Cipher: 1 in 2.5 Million
You probably only learned over the weekend about only one of the more than 2.5 million U.S. military veterans who have served in Afghanistan and Iraq since 9/11. That would be Eddie Ray Routh, 25, a onetime Marine who allegedly …
Countdown to Sequestration: One Month to Go!
OK. If you want to get picky about it, this is the same headline we ran two months ago here.
But some things have changed since that original headline went up. Congress, in its infinite wisdom, chose about a month ago to kick …
Chinese Hackers Have Not Attacked Battleland
Actually, they may have, but our crack cyber-security team has kept them at bay, as far as well can tell.
A Father-To-Be, Lost at Sea
You see enough notices and stories about the deaths of young American military men and women, in combat or elsewhere, that your mind sometimes searches for certain words – or the lack of them – while reading …
100 Years: New York City’s Grand Central Terminal
Great public buildings don’t dwarf people; they enlarge them. And for 100 years–it opened on Feb. 2, 1913–one of the greatest has been Grand Central Terminal in New York City
“After a day of Chuck Hagel confirmation grillings, are you sure you want to spend your weekend curled up with this?”
— From the Washington Post's lukewarm review of the new Netflix TV series on capital power games, "House of Cards," premiering Friday.
Turning to a Different Kind of War, For a Moment
That would be Sunday’s Super Bowl XLVII pitting Baltimore’s Ravens against the San Francisco 49ers in New Orleans. It always comes as a welcome respite to the troops in harm’s way.
In the video below, Army General Marty …
Former NYC Mayor Ed Koch, 1924-2013
Flamboyant New York City Mayor Ed Koch, the brash politician who oversaw the city’s financial recovery during three city hall terms, has died at age 88.