Texas Attorney General and Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton will have to take his fight over the “gun-free” state fair to the Texas Supreme Court after an appellate court upheld the ban on Thursday. Paxton, along with several individual plaintiffs, filed suit after the State Fair of Texas announced in 2024 that the lawful carrying of firearms would no longer be allowed. The move came after a shooting during the fair in 2023, one that was committed by someone who couldn’t legally carry a gun. The lawsuit contended that the State Fair of Texas and the…
The newly created Military Spouse Commission has opened an online form to allow those with vested interests in the commission to submit comments. President Donald Trump created the commission on Monday via an executive order to support the lives and experiences of spouses of those enlisted in service. The commission will provide recommendations to address themes including housing, employment, health care and childcare. There are more than 1 million military spouses in the U.S. They are affected by numerous issues including disproportionate levels of unemployment, according to Stars & Stripes. The publication reported that 20% of military spouses are unemployed,…
I really get sick of the claim that mass killings with a firearm only happen in the United States. That’s what the phrase “uniquely American” means when describing the phenomenon. To be fair, we do have more than most people, even if you account for population, but we are also a very different country than most. Thailand, however, seems to also be having a bit of a problem. Despite acting to tighten gun restrictions after previous massacres, it doesn’t look like it did a whole lot of good.Not today, at least, as six people are…
Some military photographs make their importance obvious, while others look ordinary until you learn the story behind the image. Five brothers pose aboard a Navy cruiser. Women sort packages in a crowded warehouse. A pilot stands among children near an airfield. At first glance, photographs could be routine snapshots of military life, but once you learn the story that led up to or followed the camera click, you’ll realize they’re anything but. Each image carries a story of survival, loss, courage or deception that the photograph alone cannot explain. Once you know these stories, it becomes impossible to see the…
Widows of service members who died while serving our country are often faced with a difficult choice, years after their loss. By federal law, a financial benefit known as Dependency and Indemnity Compensation or DIC, equating to about $1,700 per month, ends as soon as a surviving military spouse remarries, or stays in place as long as the spouse remains single through age 55. The organization known as the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) has been urging lawmakers to protect the DIC benefit, rather than strip it away, no matter a surviving spouse’s marital status. “The compensation is intended…
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National Purple Heart Day falls on Aug. 7 every year, honoring the men and women wounded or killed while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. It’s an unofficial observance — businesses and government offices don’t close — but it’s marked widely in practice, with states and cities pausing in recognition and Major League Baseball teams routinely honoring local recipients during pregame ceremonies. The Nation’s Oldest Military Decoration On Aug. 7, 1782, Gen. George Washington personally ordered creation of the Badge of Military Merit, meant to recognize bravery in combat at a time when the Continental Army had almost no formal…
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Drones have transformed modern warfare, but the way warfighters control them has changed surprisingly little. Most small, unmanned aircraft still rely on handheld controllers, tablets or virtual reality interfaces that force operators to divert attention from the battlefield. PYRRHUS Aeronautics believes that approach creates a critical vulnerability, and the Georgia-based defense technology company has built a system designed to eliminate it. The company’s flagship & 1st product, LADRS, or Laser Aiming & Drone Remote System, allows troops to control drones directly from a rifle-mounted device rather than a traditional joystick. According to Co-Founder and CEO Elad Amar, the goal is…
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For generations, military families have been among the military’s strongest advocates. They understood the sacrifice, accepted the moves and deployments, and often encouraged their children to follow the same path. Today, that confidence has weakened. Only 37% of military families now say they would recommend military service to their children or another young person, according to Blue Star Families CEO Kathy Roth-Douquet. The figure had fallen to 32% the previous year before rebounding slightly after recent quality-of-life improvements approved by Congress. For Roth-Douquet, the number is about more than recruiting. It is about whether military families believe military life remains…
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As military urban legends go, the Philadelphia Experiment is one of the creepiest and most grotesque ever. It alleges a secret U.S. Navy experiment on the USS Eldridge during World War II, claiming the ship was made invisible or “cloaked” to radar and even teleported or time-traveled. Originating from claims by Carl M. Allen and Morris K. Jessup in the 1950s, proposed explanations include mistaken identity, misinterpretation of real experiments, and fabrication for entertainment. It has endured as an infamous WWII conspiracy theory. But is there any truth to it? Let’s take a look. According to legend, on Oct. 28,…
In 2017, back-to-back hurricanes ravaged Virgin Islands National Park in the Caribbean, destroying structures, docks, and campgrounds. Since then, the National Park Service (NPS) has been trying to restore the facilities in the Caneel Bay area of the park. It’s spent years outlining plans to find a hospitality company or concessionaire willing to take on the lease and all the construction and costs reopening would require. The NPS recently put out an open call for proposals to lease the land. The document would give the eventual leaseholder carte blanche control over wide swaths of public land, prioritizing the developer’s potential…
If you work full- or part-time, go to school or even just need a breather from the pressures of parenting, you know that finding affordable, quality child care isn’t just important — it’s absolutely necessary. Add deployments, training and unpredictable work schedules with long hours into the mix, and you know you’ve got to nail down great child care, and soon. Perhaps luckily for you, the military operates the largest employer-sponsored child care program in the U.S., according to a February 2023 report by the Government Accountability Office, and all DoD-operated and DoD-certified child care must undergo unannounced inspections four…
