Steve Eder asks Did a Queens Podiatrist Help Donald Trump Avoid Vietnam?: In the fall of 1968, Donald J. Trump received a timely diagnosis of bone spurs in his heels that led to his medical exemption from the military during Vietnam. For 50 years, the details of how the exemption came about, and who made the…
Military
America, Foreign Affairs, Military, Putin, Russia, Trump, TrumpRussia
The Return of the Second Fleet
by JOHN ADAMS •
Russia, ruled by a dictator and oligarchs friendly with Trump, has made herself a political and military adversary of the United States. One reads that The Navy is resurrecting a fleet to protect the East Coast and North Atlantic from Russia: The U.S. Navy has reactivated a fleet responsible for overseeing the East Coast and North…
Holiday, Military
Memorial Day 2017
by JOHN ADAMS •
History, Holiday, Military
Memorial Day and Veterans Day, Explained
by JOHN ADAMS •
Foreign Affairs, Military, Russia
Evidence that Russian Military Unit was Behind DNC Hack
by JOHN ADAMS •
Ellen Nakashima reports that a Cybersecurity firm finds evidence that Russian military unit was behind DNC hack: The firm CrowdStrike linked malware used in the DNC intrusion to malware used to hack and track an Android phone app used by the Ukrainian army in its battle against pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine from late 2014…
America, Authoritarianism, Enforcement, Law, Liberty, Military, Tyranny
Gingrich’s Defense of a Self-Pardoning Administration: From Bad (12.19) to Much Worse (12.21)
by JOHN ADAMS •
On the Diane Rehm Show of 12.19.16, former Speaker of the House Gingrich offered that a Trump Administration could simply pardon its own advisors to remove those advisors’ unlawful conflicts of interest: I think in the case of the president, he has a broad ability to organize the White House the way he wants to. He…
Federal Government, Foreign Affairs, Government Spending, Military
How Much, and What Kind, of Military Spending?
by JOHN ADAMS •
Analysts from five Washington policy institutes[1] have published a joint report asking (1) what should American defense strategy be? (2) what capabilities, investments, and force structure might that strategy require? and (3) what would such a military cost? (The five institutes are not of the same views, with the Cato Institute’s Benjamin H. Friedman notable…
History, Military
Kilroy Was Here
by JOHN ADAMS •
Military, Technology
The Rise of the Robo-Cheetahs
by JOHN ADAMS •
Well, we knew it had to happen someday. A DARPA-funded robotic cheetah has been released into the wild, so to speak. A new algorithm developed by MIT researchers now allows their quadruped to run and jump — while untethered — across a field of grass. The Pentagon, in an effort to investigate technologies that allow…
Holiday, Military
Memorial Day 2014
by JOHN ADAMS •
Correspondent Mike Boettcher reported from, and later produced a documentary, The Hornet’s Nest, about American soldiers fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan. The VOA reports about his film, and below in this post I’ve embedded the documentary film’s trailer. Remember. That is the message delivered by war correspondent Mike Boettcher in his gritty documentary ‘The Hornet’s…
Film, History, Military
Film: Free Showing of Honor Flight, Sunday, July 21st at 2:30 p.m.
by JOHN ADAMS •
This Sunday, July 21st, there will be a showing of the film Honor Flight at 2:30 p.m. at Mulberry Glen, 1255 W. Main Street, Whitewater. It is being shown courtesy of Mulberry Glen and Capri Senior Communities. The showing is free and open to the public. Information regarding this film is available at the Internet…
Holiday, Military
Memorial Day 2013
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Voice of America reports from Arlington National Cemetery for the 2013 Flags-In ceremony:
Liberty, Military, Police
Domestic drones as a threat to liberty
by JOHN ADAMS •
America’s use of drones against her foreign enemies, for surveillance and lethal strikes, has been notably successful. We are sure to build new and more advanced drones for similar uses, and to expand our naval power without placing aviators at risk. Yet, something that has served so well in combat was sure to be proposed…
Military
Elkhorn World War II veteran, 91, gets Bronze Star 50 years later
by JOHN ADAMS •
A 91-year-old World War II veteran gets a Kindle reader for Christmas, reads a book his daughter has loaded into it and learns he is a Bronze Star recipient…. Congratulations and many thanks, Ken Quinlan. Via Janesville Gazette.