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…
WASHINGTON (AP) — A National Guard deployment to Washington, D.C., has ballooned during the celebrations of the country’s 250th anniversary of independence, bolstered in part by contingents from Democratic-led states. That participation has sparked anger among some in the nation’s capital who argue the troops are not just there to assist in securing the festivities but are being drawn into the Trump administration’s ongoing, open-ended Guard deployment to the city. A contingent from Minnesota sent for the 250th is set to depart early. On Tuesday, a coalition of think tanks and civic, labor and civil rights groups asked Michigan Gov.…
Recent military reforms have changed how sexual assault cases move through the justice system, but survivors still face cultural and legal barriers that discourage many from reporting abuse, according to sexual abuse attorney Kayla Onder of Onder Law, who represents survivors in military-related cases across the country. A Survivor’s Perspective on Representing Survivors Onder, who is also a survivor of sexual abuse, said her personal experience helps clients overcome one of the first obstacles they face: the fear that no one will believe them. “When you’re speaking to somebody that can understand, who can relate, I think it helps, she…
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran targeted American military sites in the Gulf on Wednesday after the U.S. launched strikes on several places in Iran and reinstated sanctions on its oil sales. Washington said it was responding to Iranian attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz. The crossfire raised fears that the war in Iran could reignite — and U.S. President Donald Trump fueled those concerns by saying that the interim agreement to pause fighting was “over,” although he added that he would allow negotiations to continue. Attacks have repeatedly threatened the shaky ceasefire, but Trump’s comments add…
An Israeli citizen who worked as a senior manager for an Arizona semiconductor technology company was sentenced to time served after admitting he conspired to steal company trade secrets, a case that shows how small pieces of industrial technology can become part of the broader fight over chip supply chains. Guy Galanti, 48, who lived in Scottsdale, Ariz., was sentenced in late June by U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow to time served and three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to conspiring to steal a trade secret. Galanti had been in custody since his September 2025 arrest. Galanti…
For military families, permanent change of station moves are an expected part of life. The average military child attends six to nine different schools before graduation, building new friendships, adjusting to new teachers and adapting to different graduation requirements with nearly every move. Those challenges become especially significant during high school, when coursework, athletics, leadership positions and college applications can all be disrupted by a last-minute relocation. To help reduce that disruption, the Army and several other military branches offer programs that allow some families to delay a PCS move so a child can finish high school. While each service…
Every summer, thousands of service members leave the military and begin the next chapter of their lives. June is one of the busiest retirement periods of the year, but the reason has less to do with preference and convenience than with military pay. “It is really more of an administrative timing,” said Sarah Roder, Director of Partnerships at Armed Forces Mutual. “June 30 is the last day of the third fiscal quarter. If you retire on June 30, then you would see your pension check immediately on July 1.” For Roder, however, the retirement date is only the beginning. The…
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Watch full video on YouTube
Watch full video on YouTube
Watch full video on YouTube
The death of a young sailor assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman has been ruled a suicide, nearly three weeks after his body was found in the water near the piers at Naval Station Norfolk. Engineman Fireman Apprentice Isaac Benjamin Morris, 22, died from drowning, according to the Virginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. His manner of death was determined to be suicide, according to local media reports on Monday. Morris, from California, was last seen at Naval Station Norfolk on June 14 and was reported missing before authorities found his body on June 19. The…
Sony recently announced that the online storefronts for the PS3 and PS Vita will be shutting down over the course of the next year. As a result, PlayStation users will be losing digital access to a variety of classic PS1 games that are very expensive to purchase physically. In anticipation of this shutdown, there are around 20 games that are worth picking up now to avoid having to pay ludicrous prices for an original PlayStation copy. The shutdown of the PS3 and PS Vita stores will begin in August 2026 in Mexico, Honduras, and Nicaragua, while additional Latin America and…
