Free Republic

A majority of American adults would not be willing to serve in the military were the U.S. to enter into a major war, recent polling has found, while public confidence in the armed forces appears to be waning.The figures come as all branches of the armed forces have in recent years struggled to meet their recruitment targets, suggesting a growing apathy towards a career of military service. In 2023, the Army and Air Force fell short of their respective goals by around 10,000 recruits, while the Navy was under by 6,000. Since 1987, the number of active-duty personnel has fallen...

As remarkable as her surgery sounds, she isn’t the oldest Israeli recipient of a pacemaker. Over the last decade, Atar’s team has placed pacemakers inside the bodies of at least three others older than 100. The eldest was 107.... Doctors judge according to biological age, and not chronological age, considering factors like a clear mind, lifestyle and diet, normal or low blood pressure, kidney function, the absence or not of diabetes. “All are predictors of longevity,” said Atar ... “May you live until 120” is a traditional Jewish birthday blessing, and Israelis already enjoy one of the longest life expectancies...

As the US military struggles to fill the ranks with new recruits, a new report from the Department of Defense reveals that the vast majority of Americans aged 17-24 are unfit for military service.Citing a Feb. 16 congressional hearing, a DoD report reveals that 77% of Americans in the above age group could not physically qualify to enter the armed forces - a 6% increase from 2017.A key factor is obesity - which hit nearly 42% in 2020. Meanwhile, a 2022 study cited by the Epoch Times found a link between receiving government food assistance and a greater chance of...

There are lies, damned lies, and MSNBC. On Nicolle Wallace's MSNBC show this afternoon, MSNBC contributor and journalism professor Jason Johnson got off the whopper to end all whoppers. He said: "If you believe the story, which I do, that [Biden] said, I had no intention of running for president. He was, he was the retired war hero out in the mountain, chopping wood. Charlottesville brought him back into the fight that he never thought he'd have to fight again." Fact: Biden never served in the military, let alone having been a "war hero." He got four draft deferments for...

A couple years ago, I took a red-eye flight from Washington Dulles International Airport to London. Standing in line to board, I suddenly spied one of our nation’s most notorious military leaders, David Petraeus. “King David,” as he was known during his tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, curiously walked up to an empty kiosk not far from the gate where we were boarding for London.Within less than a minute, an attendant appeared and started checking him in, ostensibly for our flight. Special service for the former commander, I thought. “Look,” I exclaimed to those nearest to me in line....

When I graduated from college, I decided to serve too. I was first recruited for the Marine Corps in the fall of 1975, right when Hillary Clinton claims to have wanted to join the Marines. I began Officer Candidate School with Company C in Quantico, Virginia the next year. It was the first female class required to do everything that men did, which led to being featured on the cover of Life Magazine. Although a medical issue kept me from completing my training and becoming a Marine officer, my experience doesn’t jibe with the yarn which Hillary Clinton has been...

The defense secretary has an incredible opportunity to usher in the end of legalized sex discrimination in the military. As tens of thousands of women have proved over 13 years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, women are capable of the combat skills necessary to fight alongside their male counterparts. The question now is whether to give women the opportunity to compete for coveted combat arms assignments, such as infantry and special forces. Since the Pentagon formally rescinded the combat exclusion policy in 2013, well over 100 women have successfully passed the Marine Corps’ enlisted infantry school and two female...

Actor Gary Sinise said there is a “serious disconnect” between the average American citizen and its military, emphasizing the need to educate the public about lasting effects of war. “Education, as I was saying, is such a critically important part of letting our young people understand why it’s important to support this 0.1 percent of our population that serves in the military. It’s a very, very small percentage of over 300 million people serving in uniform, defending our country,” Sinise said at the National Press Club. “A lot of young people, if they don’t have a personal connection to somebody...

Here’s a disturbing new idea from some members of Congress: Trade instant citizenship to illegal immigrants if they’ll agree to serve in the U.S. military. Serving in the military is a high calling and a privilege—certainly not something to be treated as a bargaining chip in immigration politics. Yet these congressmen are trying to sneak this provision into the larger National Defense Authorization Act, which lays out the budget for the Department of Defense. What’s more, the immigrants in question would be those who are brought to the U.S. as children—often called DREAMers (after the Development, Relief, and Education for...

When Rabbi David Stav launched his official campaign last month to wrest control of Israel's top religious institution from its longtime hardline leadership, it was a long shot. >>SNIP<< Stav, a 53-year-old father of nine, heads a private network of modern Orthodox rabbis that is virtually an alternative organization to Israel's state-sanctioned rabbinical bureaucracy. It seeks to put a friendly face on Jewish traditions for secular Israeli Jews alienated by the ultra-Orthodox functionaries that regulate religious services. The organization, called Tzohar, has gained popularity among secular Israelis with its program that sends rabbis free of charge to officiate at weddings....

There are too many white men in the U.S. military. So says a report released this week by the Military Leadership Diversity Commission (MLDC), commissioned by Congress to examine ways to "increase diversity" in the military. The MLDC report finds that 77% of active-duty senior officers are white, 8% black, 5% Hispanic, and 16% women (of unspecified race). What's the answer to this "problem"? Is the MLDC recommending that white males stop volunteering for military service? Do they want to start "selecting" who among them volunteers for service? Are they recommending that there be quotas for military service, as with...

The Absurdity of Existence by Ari Bussel It is hot and humid in Israel, the atmosphere pressures all those in this land. Better days are in store and fall will arrive, clouds will fly in from the Mediterranean inland toward Jordan, the temperatures will drop and life will look good once again. Midday on Friday, the country closes down for the Shabbat. In Tel Aviv, young people converge on a bar. Once inside darkness engulfs young men and women with balloons flying overhead. People are smoking and everyone seems to be holding a glass. It is a tasting event of...

It is always dangerous when a politician “goes off script.” Sometimes the truth comes out, like Barak Obama talking to Joe the Plumber about “spreading the wealth around. “ Sometimes, things go a little aglee, leaving the candidate with egg on their face, like every other time that Joseph Biden opens his mouth. And sometimes… sometimes things go very wrong indeed…

I'm trying to determine if a federal law has been broken.

Eunuch regiment needed to protect Indian borders, minister says A regiment of eunuchs should be established to guard India's borders and leading politicians, a state minister said on Tuesday, citing their "loyalty and integrity". Published: 1:59PM BST 11 May 2010 "In my humble opinion, if eunuchs are engaged in policing or paramilitary forces they would do a better service to the nation," said Tako Dabi, home minister of the north-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh. Mr Dabi sent a letter to Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram to offer his idea for the improved defence of the country. "Why can't there be...

The Israeli Military by Ari Bussel A right of passage in Israel, when one turns 18, is being drafted into the military. Men serve three years and women normally serve half that long. Officers (men or women) are signed for an additional year, for the privilege of attending the OfficersÂ’ Training School. Some (men and women) then remain in service as a vocation and are entitled to early retirement at the age of 40, at which time they typically embark on a second career. This was the way the system used to work. After completing the matriculation exams, a young...

Please join us in the campaign to show Gratitude to our US Military. Go the following link to the Gratitude Campaign and email the link to everyone you know: THE GRATITUDE FOR OUR MILITARY CAMPAIGNLet's show our military how grateful we are for their service all over this country. It's a neat video you can download to distribute in emails, thumbdrives, and any other way you can too. Thank you.

Fighting for the First AmericaThis analysis shows that of the 23 states with the smallest percentage of military population, only three were won by McCain (13%). Whereas, of the next 27 states with the largest percentage engaged in military service, 19 were won by McCain (70%). That is obviously not a coincidence.

I am unusual, apparently. It’s not because I am a coffeehouse dweller, or an NPR listener, or prone to wear loafers with jeans. In the world I inhabited until recently, all of these are quite normal. Rather, it is that I am also a field artillery officer in the U.S. Army. Which places me in that subdemographic of New York lawyers who wear suits and work in office buildings until they decide to join the military and blow things up. (Trust me, there are some; just not many.) For this decision, I now endure lingering looks of concern from people...

From ABC's This Week today. GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: One of our viewers wrote in—you talk about service—and asked, Brenda Godfrey Bryan, Marietta, Georgia: did you ever consider joining the armed services to protect and serve our country? If not, why? BARACK OBAMA: You know, I actually did. STEPHANOPOULOS: When? BARACK OBAMA: You know, I had to sign up for Selective Service when I graduated from high school. And I was growing up in Hawaii, and I had friend whose parents were in the military, there were a lot of Army, military bases there. And I always actually thought of the military...