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On a frosty, starlit night, a miracle took place. In 1914, a melody drifted over the darkness of No Man’s Land. First “O, Holy Night,” then “God Save the King.” Peeking over their trenches for what must have been the first time in weeks, British soldiers were surprised to see Christmas trees lit with candles on the parapets of the enemy’s trenches. Then a shout: “You no shoot, we no shoot!” The Christmas Truce was a brief, spontaneous cease-fire that spread up and down the western front of World War I. It’s also a symbol of the peace on Earth...

#MerryChristmas! 🎄 Did you know several big #military events have happened on #Christmas? Find out which ones: http://go.usa.gov/x8eCT

During the American Revolution, Patriot General George Washington crosses the Delaware River with 5,400 troops, hoping to surprise a Hessian force celebrating Christmas at their winter quarters in Trenton, New Jersey. The unconventional attack came after several months of substantial defeats for Washington’s army that had resulted in the loss of New York City and other strategic points in the region. At about 11 p.m. on Christmas, Washington’s army commenced its crossing of the half-frozen river at three locations. The 2,400 soldiers led by Washington successfully braved the icy and freezing river and reached the New Jersey side of the...

COMMANDMENT I: If You Choose To Carry, Always Carry As Much As Possible Hollywood actors get to see the script beforehand, and nothing is fired at them but blanks. You don’t have either luxury. Criminals attack people in times and places where they don’t think the victims will be prepared for them. It’s what they do. The only way to be prepared to ward off such predators is to always be prepared: i.e., to be routinely armed and constantly ready to respond to deadly threats against you and those who count on you for protection. It’s not about convenience; it’s...

MARINE BARRACKS WASHINGTON, D.C. — Cpl. Chesty XIV, also known as Chesty The Bulldog, has been removed from his primary duties as the official Marine Corps mascot following multiple charges of sexual misconduct, sources confirmed today. There were several cases involving accusations of leg humping, unsolicited face licking, and one claim of lewd sexting. “I always suspected Chesty was letting his fame go to his head,” said Pfc. David Trimbull, a member of the Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon. “We all heard rumors, but the command made it perfectly clear they wanted us to keep quiet.” In 2016, a story...

On this day in 1783, General George Washington resigns his commission as Commander-in-Chief of the American army. Okay. So we’ve all heard this story about Washington before. We’ve heard it so often, perhaps it is easy to gloss over the astonishing nature of Washington’s action. Let me emphasize: What Washington did on this day 233 years ago is almost unheard of. Other military leaders have seized power and refused to let it go. But Washington would not be one of these men. When he could have been a King, he decided that he did not want the position. He wanted...

The case for American exceptionalism is often overstated. It is true that our Constitution, at least when it was written, was a revolutionary document, in both senses of the word: it represented a huge shift in the way that the state was conceived, but also an attempt to free a citizenry from perceived oppression. Because of the unique historical circumstances in which it was written, the Constitution put in place laws that appear to be similarly unique. However, when looked at in a historical perspective, many of these (such as the right to free speech) are unique in extent rather...

Today is the anniversary of a day all but forgotten. On this day , Dec 23 1783 , Washington resigned his commission. It would be as if Alexander the Great simply walked from his empire after having won everything.  "They wanted me to be another Washington," said the defeated Napoleon. King George III of England said "If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world.". To find a similar example one has to go all the way to 458 BC. Lucius Quintus Cincinnati after his victory as Rome’s emergency dictator simply went back to his farm. As Good as...

A Minnesota mom got the Christmas present of her dreams Friday when she was surprised by her soldier son at Mall of America. The ruse had been in the works for months. "I just keep telling her that I'm not going to be home until February," Army Pfc. Tim Hofmann said moments before the surprise. He said it was all his dad's idea, adding, "I don't know how she's going to react really." Josephine Hofmann thought she was coming to Mall of America for a head to toe makeover and an overnight stay at Radisson Blu, because she's part of...

A career criminal who was interrupted as he broke into a Wisconsin home is now in custody. Mary Bennett knew something was wrong when her dog barked and her dad hollered her name. "When I came down, my dad is laying on the floor here, and the guy's standing, and my dad's got his arms wrapped around the guy. I just tackled him," Bennett said. Her 95-year-old dad had caught a burglar. Bennett told him to call 911 while she grappled with the guy. "As I was wrestling him in the house I could tell that I could kind of...

...You have probably seen my picture a thousand times. Yes, that picture. .. ... I had not been targeted. I had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time... .... Yet as I look back over a spiritual journey that has spanned more than three decades, I realize the same bombs that caused so much pain and suffering also brought me to a place of great healing. Those bombs led me to Jesus Christ... Christmas is not about the gifts we carefully wrap and place under a tree. Rather, it is about the gift of Jesus Christ, who...

It’s not news that Star Wars has always been derivative. The first trilogy borrowed greedily from Flash Gordon and Japanese samurai movies, and set a precedent for future klepto-cinema. While The Last Jedi continues a similar tradition, it also follows another strange progression—the history of human warfare.

<p>SYDNEY—One of Australia's oldest naval mysteries has been solved after the discovery of the wreck of the country's first submarine more than 103 years after its disappearance in World War I.</p> <p>The AE1 vanished off the New Guinean island of New Britain on September 14, 1914, with 35 crew aboard from Australia, New Zealand and Britain.</p>

VietJetAir surprised passengers on their first Bangkok to Dalat, Vietnam, flight on Monday with a complimentary in-flight bikini fashion show. Did that make cramming in economy seats a little bit more comfortable? The parade of model in floral bikinis was meant to promote the city of Dalat, which is known for its beautiful flower gardens. So upon launching the new route, it makes sense that VietJet Air, a company known for putting scantily-clad women on their planes, would put bikini-clad women — this time with decorative flowers — on the first plane from Bangkok to Dalat. Judging from the reaction...

“Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek was slammed by social media users Tuesday after he asked a contestant if her job as an Army Master Sergeant was hard because she was a woman. Trebek made the comment while asking the show’s three contestants basic questions about their lives to introduce the audience to the participants. Lisa Beth Davis, a retired Army Master Sergeant, took Trebek’s question in stride. Trebek asked the woman: “That must be really tough for a woman because a master sergeant is giving orders most of the time. How was it for you?”

Russia simulated going to war against NATO, bombing Germany and invading Baltic states during Vladimir Putin's 'West 2017' military exercises, analysts have revealed. A massive programme of war games featuring tens of thousands of troops and code named 'Zapad' took place near the Belarus capital Minsk in September.

Introduction: On Deterrence Carl von Clausewitz writes that the nature of war has enduring continuities, but its characteristics change with different circumstances.[1] Similarly, the fundamental nature of deterrence has endured for millennia: a threatened response to an adversary’s prospective provocation causes that adversary to decide against the provocation i.e., the adversary is deterred from attack because it decides that the prospective costs outweigh the gains. The character of deterrence, however, must adapt to different circumstances. In one case, the necessary deterrent threat may be to punish the adversary; in another, to deny the adversary its objectives; in yet another, a...

Partial inhibition of the interaction between calcineurin and FKBP12, with low doses of the FDA-approved compound Tacrolimus, protect neurons against the toxic effects of a-synuclein, a protein critically implicated in Parkinson’s disease. Credit: Northwestern University =================================================================================================================== A new study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), sheds light on a mechanism underlying Parkinson's disease and suggests that Tacrolimus—an existing drug that targets the toxic protein interaction explored in the study—could be used as a novel treatment. Gabriela Caraveo Piso, Ph.D., assistant professor of Neurology in the Division of Movement Disorders, was the first and corresponding author of...

Based on the increase in the Consumer Price Index, there will be a 2.0 percent Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for most retired pay and Survivor Benefit Plan annuities effective Dec. 1, 2017. Retirees will see the change in their Dec. 29, 2017 payment and annuitants in their Jan. 2, 2018 payment.

The two questions most people ask about a new movie are: Do I really want to see it? And, is it worth the price? "Darkest Hour," the film starring Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill, is definitely worth seeing now, not later. It is worth the price. And it is required. Because in a West under siege, in a West -- particularly the European West -- that often seems lost and almost eager to capitulate to a diminished future, "Darkest Hour" isn't merely a good film. It is a necessary film. It reminds us that heroes don't require magic swords, superpowers,...