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A US soldier accused of plotting an attack on a military base after fleeing his post as a Muslim conscientious objector went on trial Tuesday wearing a surgical mask and manacled to the floor. Courtroom security agents behind him wore protective goggles, an apparent reaction to an incident in which the soldier, Naser Jason Abdo, who claims to be HIV positive, bit his lip and spat blood at law enforcement officers. Prosecutors called the first of 43 witnesses to the stand in a bid to show that Abdo, who fled his post in Kentucky, was gathering bomb-making materials and weapons...

  “Act of Valor” Isn’t About Acting, It’s About Valor David C. Stolinsky Mar. 1, 2012 The film “Act of Valor” opened on Feb. 24. The film is a sort of docudrama. Most of the persons in it are not actors but active-duty SEALs. The film shows episodes that are based on actual SEAL operations, using actual SEAL equipment and tactics. Obviously, I didn’t go to such an unusual − in fact, unique − movie expecting to see polished actors reciting unrealistic dialog written by screenwriters who never heard a shot fired in anger, or fired at all. I...

Yes, Ron Paul has a bead on revamping or dissolving the Federal Reserve (I did read The Creature From Jekyll Island). Lots of corruption, secret undertakings, and opacity dominate the Federal Reserve, but what would be the alternative? A presidential, or congressional commission that oversees the U.S. banking system? No. Elected representatives overseeing the quasi government agency Fed? Not likely. Governments, for eons of time, have been in charge of the coinage, and it cannot be any other way. The Buck does Stop there.Ron Paul has no alternative to the Fed that would guarantee fairness and honesty. Ron Paul...

The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, in a harsh attack on the Obama administration Monday, accused the president of viewing American military power as a negative force in the world, and planning to “gut” defense spending through the congressional deficit-reduction committee. “It is my suspicion that the White House and congressional Democrats” designed the supercommittee process “for one purpose: to force Republicans to choose between raising taxes or gutting defense,” said California Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon, the House Armed Services Committee chairman.

Something may be either helpful or hurtful, depending on the intentions of the user. If I see a man limping, I can offer him a cane to help him get around, or I can use the cane to beat him bloody. An idea can be used to diagnose and treat human suffering, or it can be used to stigmatize and slander the sufferer − and increase the suffering. For example, take PTSD. Dave Grossman, Lt. Col., USA (Ret.) is a former Army Ranger who became a clinical psychologist. Having looked at combat trauma from both sides, he is a true...

In an effort to tap the tea party voter base, Ron Paul announced Tuesday that he will be forming a presidential exploratory committee, offering up a second chance at the Republican presidential bid. Congressman Paul formed a sort of "cult" following during the 2008 election, raising more than $35 million but falling short of wooing any caucasus or primaries. But Paul claims the country has changed since 2008, with "literally millions of more people now concerned about things I talked about four years ago." This may be true, and so far Paul's views on high government spending and the Federal...

According to National Journal, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas will be running for president in 2012: Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, whose outspoken libertarian views and folksy style made him a cult hero during two previous presidential campaigns, will announce on Tuesday that he’s going to try a third time. Sources close to Paul, who is in his 12th term in the House, said he will unveil an exploratory presidential committee, a key step in gearing up for a White House race. He will also unveil the campaign’s leadership team in Iowa, where the first votes of the presidential election will...

Ron Paul, the Texas congressman and libertarian with an army of followers, says he will decide on a third presidential bid "in a month or so." But appearing on the Alex Jones Show, a syndicated radio program, Paul appeared to suggest Tuesday he is ready to take the plunge again "We are getting awfully close, and there is just a few other things that I have to iron out personally to make my final decision. But it has to come," said Paul. Paul's fundraising prowess in 2008 shocked the political establishment, though his legions of supporters failed to translate into...

Public Policy Polling is showing Ron Paul with a surprising showing of strength in early polling for retiring Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's Texas seat: The top two choices of Texas Republicans to be their Senate nominee next year are David Dewhurst...and Ron Paul. The duo is basically tied with 23% saying Dewhurst would be their top pick as the GOP candidate and 21% picking Paul. Maybe a couple years ago the thought of Senator Paul would have seemed ridiculous but after his son breezed through both the Republican primary and the general election in Kentucky last year it seems a...

"From now on I'll be a staff officer without a bunch of people working under me, so I won't have the moral conflict with having to enforce this new policy on them. "...the state is actually standing by my position." The officer, who formerly commanded a battalion-sized unit, has strongly held religious beliefs that homosexual behavior is morally wrong, and he thinks the military will be damaged severely if it implements the Obama administration's plan to allow homosexuals to serve openly....many of the men under his command share his views. "The only real argument the senators made for repealing DADT...

The US government under Obama, through the National Endowment for the Humanities, recently used US taxpayer money to fund a conference that accused the US military of atrocities. Only coming to light in the last several days because of an intrepid professor by the name of Penelope Blake, the anti-American conference was held over the summer in Hawaii and was known by the misleadingly benign title "History and Commemoration: Legacies of the Pacific War." Since this story broke, there have been rightful calls to withhold funding to the NEH, and Professor Blake herself appeared on Hannity last night to discuss...

Note: Chart included. Formatting will be off. Go to the original url to view the chart. NOTE The following text is a quote: FOUR MEN FOUND GUILTY IN MANHATTAN FEDERAL COURT OF PLOTTING TO BOMB SYNAGOGUE AND JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER AND TO SHOOT MILITARY PLANES WITH STINGER MISSILES PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that JAMES CROMITIE, a/k/a "Abdul Rahman," a/k/a "Abdul Rehman," DAVID WILLIAMS, a/k/a "Daoud," a/k/a "DL," ONTA WILLIAMS, a/k/a "Hamza," and LAGUERRE PAYEN, a/k/a "Amin," a/k/a "Almondo," were found guilty today after a jury trial that started on August...

Even though America is fighting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, members of President Obama's Cabinet are three times more likely to have attended law school than boot camp. Only two - Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki - among the 16 Cabinet and six Cabinet-rank officials are military veterans. With last week's departure of National Security Adviser Gen. James Jones, a former Marine, the ranks of vets in Obama's national security inner circle just got thinner. Replacement Tom Donilon is another lawyer (and former lobbyist) with no military training.The Democratic Party has come a long way...

The Republican Party has a history of using desperate times to call for drastic measures and when bailing out AIG, bolstering Medicare or bombing Iraq, that party has always been willing to go big and bold on some of the largest government expansions in this nation’s history. But what about cutting government? You know, that stuff GOP politicians always talk about during election time? One might think that in a political environment in which so many are desperate to reverse what they see as unsustainable government growth, Republican rhetoric might at least attempt to reflect that desperation. But when GOP...

Barack Obama is to go ahead with plans to sell Saudi Arabia advanced aircraft and other weapons worth up to $60bn (£39bn), the biggest arms deal in US history, in a strategy of shoring up Gulf Arab allies to face any military threat from Iran. According to the Wall Street Journal, the administration is also in talks with the Saudis about possible naval and missile-defence upgrades that could be worth tens of billions of dollars more over five to 10 years. Plans to go ahead with the package, which has been under secret negotiation since 2007, have been known for...

A hero soldier who had just arrived home from a tour of Afghanistan was refused service at a supermarket after being told they didn't serve people in army uniform. Sapper Anthony Walls, of the 21 Engineer Regiment, popped into the Co-op in Croydon for some beers after a gruelling 34-hour journey from Kandahar. The 27-year-old, said it was his 'first hour back in the real world' after dodging Taliban bullets for the past four-and-a-half months helping build 'the most dangerous road in Afghanistan'. But when he arrived at the till to pay he was met with a blank stare from...

Why We Must Carry the Fight Forward to Stop Elena Kagan  Move America Forward For our troops, we must fight to keep Kagan off the highest bench in the land Today will be a historic day for our nation as the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote to either send  Elena Kagan to the next step in her appointment process, or send her back to the office of Solicitor General, where she currently resides. Win or lose tomorrow, we must continue the fight to keep activist judges like Kagan, who don’t respect our military or our mission to defeat radical...

Observers have characterized President Obama's many efforts to nationalize industries a systematic form of "wealth redistribution." But the activities instigated by the White House go beyond redistribution and devolve straight into reparations. Consider: Race Gender Quotas in "Financial Reform" Section 342, which declares that race and gender employment ratios, if not quotas, must be observed by private financial institutions that do business with the government. In a major power grab, the new law inserts race and gender quotas into America's financial industry... ...Section 342 sets up at least 20 Offices of Minority and Women Inclusion. Racial Preferences in Obamacare Transfer...

In introducing his last Supreme Court nominee 13 months ago, President Obama gushed forth like an out-of-control oil spill about what he saw as Sonia Sotomayor’s main qualification—her “wisdom accumulated from an inspiring life's journey.” Obama lavishly praised her “distinguished career,” which included having worked “at almost every level of our judicial system.” All this courtroom time, he assured us, provided Sotomayor “with a depth of experience and a breadth of perspective that will be invaluable as a Supreme Court justice.” “Walking in the door,” he continued, “she would bring more experience on the bench and more varied experience on...

The late William F. Buckley, Jr., once famously observed that he would rather be governed by the first 2,000 names in the Boston phone book than by the entire faculty of Harvard. Buckley was prescient and correct about many things, but in this case his wish turned out to be spectacularly wrong: with President Obama’s choice of Elena Kagan for the Supreme Court, Buckley’s nightmare has come true, and the Harvard faculty now really is running the country. Starting with Obama himself, whose transition team alone included 20 Crimson classmates, there are more than 70 graduates of Harvard Law in...