The Stars and Stripes repeated a Las Vegas Sun article highlighting Nellis AFB Airmen who feed the homeless through a local ministry on a regular basis:
The airmen and ministry’s tables are crowded with hardboiled eggs, pizza, hot dogs, salad, chili mac, bread, turkey-and-cheese sandwiches and water. McShane blesses the food, and Read more
Michael Weinstein’s need to stroke his ego knows no limits. Glen Doherty was one of the four men killed in Libya when the consulate was overrun. Weinstein has been loudly touting the fact Doherty was a member of his advisory board. Fair enough.
But when invited to speak on cable news about Mr. Doherty, Weinstein did what he is often wont to do: He talked about himself. Interviewing Weinstein in a split screen, Judge Jeanine of “Justice with Judge Jeanine” on FoxNews started with a simple statement: “Tell us about him.” Weinstein’s response mentioned Doherty only once, in the first few words [edited to remove verbal fillers]: Read more
A little-reported side story to the well-known controversy over the Camp Pendleton crosses was that a platoon was going to raise another cross on Pendleton, this time to honor Lance Corporal Benjamin Schmidt, who was killed in Afghanistan. The family and his unit had planned to erect the cross — near other crosses already in place — in connection with an April memorial ceremony.
However, the complaints by atheist activist Jason Torpy, who found out about the crosses on the internet, caused Pendleton to put a moratorium on further memorials. The Read more
The US Air Force Academy Board is “happy” with the results of the USAFA climate survey (PDF), despite a lackluster 15% response rate from the cadet wing
As noted last year when the survey was being conducted, a new agency performed a new survey, which essentially eliminates any ability to track trends from prior years. There were some interesting questions and responses, however: Read more
Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta addressed the DOD and Department of Veterans Affairs Annual Suicide Prevention Conference (in June, though recently re-posted here), describing to the audience his four-point vision for the DoD to become a “game-changing innovator in the field of suicide prevention.”
Panetta’s vision includes vigilance on the part of leaders, improving behavioral healthcare, elevation of “mental fitness,” and increased research on suicide.
What was potentially most notable was what the Secretary didn’t say: He never mentioned Chaplains, religion, faith, or “spiritual fitness,” despite Read more
Update: Terry Jones has indicated his response to General Dempsey was to ask, “How long do we appease Islam? How far do we back down?” He also said he is considering not showing the film, as the public reaction has demonstrated that Islam is “not a religion of peace. It is a very dangerous religion.”
By now, most are probably aware of the murders of American embassy officials and the anti-Islam movie (as well as possible al Qaeda links) that is associated with it.
The Pentagon announced that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, called Pastor Terry Jones (of Koran-burning infamy), who had supported the film, to “express his concerns:”
“In the brief call, Gen Dempsey expressed his concerns over the nature of the film, the tensions it will inflame and the violence it will cause. He asked Mr. Jones to consider withdrawing his support for the film,” Pentagon spokesman Col. Dave Lapan said.
Apparently, General Dempsey told Jones the film was “pornographic,” which is causing Jones to re-evaluate his support for it — meaning he apparently endorsed a film he hasn’t seen.
Meanwhile, US military leadership has received scathing criticism for its decision to engage an American civilian over an issue of American liberties: Read more
Senators Jim Inhofe (R-OK) and Roger Wicker (R-MS) have introduced the “Military Religious Freedom Act” (PDF) which would impact the issue of homosexual marriage and chaplains within the US military:
Specifically, the bill would (1) prevent military chaplains from being forced to perform a marriage ceremony if the chaplain objects for reasons of conscience and (2) prohibit marriage or marriage-like ceremonies at military facilities that are not a union between one man and one woman.
This is the Senate version of the House companion act that was referred to committee in January of this year.
Critics will rightly point out Read more
A USA Today article (reprinted at Stars and Stripes) takes an interesting look at the US military’s war “front” on social media. The topic is obviously how it deals with the enemy who attempts to use social media to its advantage; the application to the military’s “domestic” issues, however, is intriguing [emphasis added]:
Websites associated with militant groups typically take responsibility for attacks whether or not they had anything to do with them.
But most of the information they provide is either exaggerated or false…
“Insurgents have always wanted to make themselves look like winners,” [RAND analyst Christopher] Paul said. “The Internet Read more