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A friend’s son recently got married and moved out on his own. He’s 20 years old and ready to take on the world. He recently mentioned that he’d never shot anything other than a shotgun and the occasional airsoft gun. This was a situation that was crying out to be remedied. Fortunately I know just the person to do it. So we spent some time at home with an airsoft pistol – going through some basic gunhandling and safety fundamentals – then headed to the range. . . I put an Advantage Arms .22 conversion slide on a G17, showed...

When a state university is embroiled in one of the most heinous scandals in the history of American higher education—and that’s the plane we’re on now; never mind where this stands among college sports scandals—here is what you do not want to hear about the principals involved, two days after felony indictments are handed down … Athletic director requests and is granted an administrative leave. Former vice president is allowed to return to retirement. Legendary football coach: Issues a statement pleading ignorance to the most serious accusation in which he’s directly involved. School president: Issues a statement of his own...

Authorities say an individual has been arrested in the Baltimore area for plotting to blow up a military recruitment center. Marcia Murphy, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Baltimore, confirms to The Associated Press that an arrest has been made and says the individual will appear in court Wednesday afternoon. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Baltimore, a man in that city was arrested this morning in connection with a plot to attack an Armed Forces recruitment station in Catonsville, Md., with what he believed to be a vehicle bomb. There was no actual danger to the...

In the vast majority of C.D.s this year the Republican Party (and Tea Party), and Conservative activists have done a wonderful job of recruiting at least 1 Republican candidate to stand in this year's Nov. 2010 Congressional elections. In a hand full of cases the Republicans either failed to Recruit anyone to stand for Congress, or somehow could not get on the ballot on the Republican line. I have done my homework on two of these races, and NOW any Republicans, Conservatives, disaffected Democrats and Independents living in these districts CAN STILL take party in this year's election FUN, and...

On Friday, United States Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) told a crowd in South Carolina that he supports barring openly gay teachers, as well as sexually active unmarried female teachers, from the school system. “Jim DeMint’s comments can only be described as outrageous and bizarre. The idea that someone who says they believe in limited government would support the government weeding out gay teachers and unmarried sexually active female teachers simply defies logic,” said Christopher R. Barron, Chairman of the GOProud Board. “Jim DeMint is doing his best to make Alvin Greene look sane.” “A real limited government conservative would be...

Young lovers Chris White and Beatrice Mahoney sat down and did the math. He's 20, she's 19. They've been together three years. Neither has a career, and the national unemployment rate is 9.5 percent. Here's what they came up with – the Marine Corps.(Snip)But Gilroy said Army researchers discovered something surprising when they polled new recruits about their reasons for enlisting – "service to country" was the No. 1 response.

The Seduction of China’s Red Carpet By Hua Ming Created: Jul 2, 2010 When foreigners visit China, they may find the red carpet rolled out for them, an actual red carpet. (New Epoch Magazine) When foreigners visit China, they may find the red carpet rolled out for them—an actual red carpet. Behind the flattering attention and well-orchestrated hospitality may lie years of meticulous research aimed at gaining influence over selected visitors. “Doing business in China is the greatest honor in my life,” Steven Miller, director of a private storage company, told a New Epoch Magazine reporter. He was with other...

A couple of gay best friends were voted prom king and queen by such a wide margin at an upstate New York high school that the school didn't even bother with any runners-up. Seniors Charlie Ferrusi and Timmy Howard won their respective crown and tiara by a landslide Saturday. They started thinking about running about a month ago and ran the idea past advisors and the principal, who gave their blessing. One of the hardest parts of the experience, the boys said, was deciding who would be king and who would be queen.

The human battleship that is spearheading the Navy's latest recruitment drive. Picture: Andreas Smetana DESPERATE to attract new recruits, the Navy has spent $53,000 on a photo shoot of a "ship" made from 100 sailors. Top fashion and advertising photographer Andreas Smetana was paid $42,000 for two days' work to snap the image at the HMAS Albatross base at Jervis Bay on the NSW south coast. Defence Force Recruiting also invested $11,000 on a "making of " video showing the 100 sailors from Albatross and Fleet Base East in Sydney making the human ship. Staff costs for the sailors would...

Archie Comic Publications announced it is adding a gay teen to its popular U.S. comic book series. Kevin Keller -- described as openly gay -- will make his debut at Riverdale High Sept. 1 as part of Veronica Comics No. 202, "Isn't It Bromantic?," the New York publishers announced in a news release. Archie Comics Editor Victor Gorelick told The Washington Post, "Everyone seems to know where Kevin is coming from except Veronica." And they don't tell her right away, he added. "They let her stew in it for a while. But he hangs out with Jughead -- they seem...

A Pennsylvania woman known to authorities as "Jihad Jane" was charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, conspiracy to kill in a foreign country, making false statements to a government official and attempted identity theft. The indictment, unsealed Monday, charges that Colleen R. LaRose, and five unindicted co-conspirators recruited men on the Internet to wage violent jihad in South Asia and Europe, and recruited women on the Internet who had passports and the ability to travel to and around Europe in support of violent jihad.

SNIPPET: "Al Qaeda in Yemen is actively recruiting English-speaking individuals, intelligence officials told Fox News on Monday, saying that investigators are looking for people who are more like Americans, having been born in the United States or Canada." SNIPPET: ""Anyone who can fit in and not attract suspicion" is desirable to the terror network right now, said one official. An investigative source also said that among those attracting attention by the intelligence community are women recruits. The next wave of terrorists may include Western women, possibly Canadian, with forged documents. The use of women would be seen an evolution in...

SNIPPET: "Algiers, 11 Feb. (AKI) - Al-Qaeda has launched a new campaign to recruit university students, scientists and IT specialists in Algeria. "We appeal to undergraduates, chemists, doctors and IT specialists to join our ranks," the terror network said in a statement published on jihadist websites on Thursday. "Remember the massacres that take place every day in Palestine, in Cechyna, Iraq and Afghanistan," said the statement signed by 'Abu Muslim al-Jazairi'. Al-Qaeda is seeking new bomb-makers and medics who can help treat fighters wounded in clashes with Algerian security forces, according to daily El-Nahar. Currently, 80 pecent of young people...

A good friend of mine has made the decision to join the military. He is doing this not out of a need for a GI bill (he graduated Magna Cum Laude with a 4 yr degree) or for personal gain. He wants to serve his country and do something for a cause greater than himself. The problem arises from the fact that he is 34 years old and has been diagnosed with ADD. He dropped his medication cold turkey the day he decided to join, but still carries that stigma. He works outside and is in excellent physical condition. I...

On a chilly Saturday morning this month, the future soldiers of the U.S. Army huffed and puffed through push-ups, sit-ups and stretches in Whittier Narrows Regional Park in South El Monte. There was the gangly white kid with the blond buzz cut and the buffed-out Latino dude, head draped in a black bandanna. And then there was Jennifer Ren, small, slight and bespectacled, an immigrant from China who gamely kept up with the guys and sees the Army as a ticket to U.S. citizenship and a job in accounting and finance. Down the training line was Christopher Ly, the son...

Beauty search stirs up anger Created: 2009-12-4 0:29:15 Author:Wang Xiang THE head of a provincial education department in southern China warned local universities to act quickly in order to avoid becoming "wife candidate pools" for bachelors from wealthy families. The reprimand from Wang Yuxue, vice director of Guangdong Province's education department, came after a company started seeking beautiful female undergraduates at six universities who would be interested in marrying one of two bachelors. The bachelors claimed to be "second rich generation," a Chinese term referring to those born into extremely wealthy families. "These people think money is everything and the...

SNIPPET: "ONTARIO, Calif. -- State lawmakers are holding a hearing today in Ontario to discuss the rise in the number of criminal gangs using networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. Officials say the hearing entitled "Gangs 2.0: The Emerging Threat of Cyberthugs" will explore the use of social networking tools in gang recruitment and gang-related crime. Assembly majority leader Alberto Torrico, and attorney general candidate, says gang members both in and out of prison are making more use of technology."

CNN on Monday featured a fifth grade student who is refusing to say the Pledge of Allegiance in his classroom until gays and lesbians have equal rights. Not surprisingly, he was treated with far greater respect by the cable news network than Tea Party and town hall meeting protesters were earlier in the year. The boy and his father appeared on CNN's "American Morning," and John Roberts began the segment: "A 10-year-old boy from Arkansas is taking a stand by sitting down. Will Philips is refusing to pledge allegiance to the flag in his fifth grade classroom until there really...

The anemic job market, an increase in sign-on bonuses and new attitudes towards military service are proving to be a winning combination for recruiting NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The nation's armed services wrapped up a record year for recruiting as a withering job market and bigger bonuses trumped two unpopular wars. The Department of Defense said it met or exceeded recruitment goals for all branches of the armed services for fiscal year 2009, which ended Sept. 30, for the first time since 1973, when the draft ended and U.S. forces withdrew from Vietnam. "We're pleased to report that for the...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Aided by a bleak job market, the U.S. military met all of its recruitment goals in the past year for the first time since it became an all-volunteer force in 1973, the Pentagon said on Tuesday. Military services have been stretched thin by conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, giving added weight to recruitment efforts as President Barack Obama considers sending another 40,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan next year.

Savannah, NY (--The parents of a Central New York soldier who recently finished training at Fort Leonard Wood are seeking to block her overseas deployment, alleging that an Army recruiter misled the family. the parents of Hillary J. Poole of Savannah, filed a federal lawsuit Friday in Springfield, Mo. Poole is scheduled to be shipped Thursday to St. Louis. From there, she is slated to go to Germany before arriving in Afghanistan in October. The suit says Poole's mother signed her name and her husband's name to enlistment papers in February after being told that the paperwork simply allowed the...

A Korean Invasion Blindsides the U.S. Army -- but in a Good Way Immigrants From Peninsula Swamp Program Offering Citizenship; Other Groups Squeezed By MIRIAM JORDAN LOS ANGELES -- Suk Joon Lee, a South Korean immigrant, feared his days in the U.S. were numbered. His ice-cream shop wasn't doing well, and if it failed, his investor visa could be revoked. Then Mr. Lee stumbled upon a Korean-language Web site that described a way out: a program that the Army was about to launch that offered a shortcut to getting U.S. citizenship. The site was created by another Korean immigrant, James...

Amid all the shocking details in the disrupted plot to bomb Bronx synagogues and fire missiles at American military aircraft, one component of the case should come as no surprise - three of the alleged culprits converted to radical Islam in prison. Radical Islamists have targeted prison populations for recruitment for years. That's where Jose Padilla, suspected of plotting to detonate a dirty bomb and convicted of conspiracy to murder people overseas and of providing material support to terrorists, converted and was radicalized. That's where a California man, Kevin James, created his own cell, called the Jam'iyyat Ul-Islam Is-Saheeh (JIS),...

The possibility that the alleged New York bomb plotters converted to Islam in prison and adopted radical views could provide evidence of how the criminal-justice system can be fertile ground for terrorist recruitment. Authorities said they believed all four men charged in the attack were Muslim and that some may have converted in prison. It isn't clear whether these conversions were linked to the radical views officials say they espoused while plotting to bomb two New York City synagogues and shoot down U.S. military planes... According to New York state corrections records, alleged ringleader James Cromitie and David Williams gave...

President Obama's speech on homeland security was 6,072 words long. Curiously, he chose not to spare an "a," "and" or "uh" on the New York City terror bust that dominated headlines the morning of his Thursday address. Did the teleprompter run out of room? After a yearlong investigation launched by the Bush administration, the feds cracked down on a ring of murder-minded black Muslim jailhouse converts preparing to bomb two Bronx synagogues and "eager to bring death to Jews." They also planned to attack a New York National Guard air base in Newburgh, N.Y., where the suspects lived and worshiped...

The possibility that the alleged New York bomb plotters converted to Islam in prison and adopted radical views could provide evidence of how the criminal-justice system can be fertile ground for terrorist recruitment. Authorities said they believed all four men charged in the attack were Muslim and that some may have converted in prison. It isn't clear whether these conversions were linked to the radical views officials say they espoused while plotting to bomb two New York City synagogues and shoot down U.S. military planes. The men were arrested Wednesday in a months-long undercover operation that ended with them allegedly...

The four men charged with plotting to blow up two New York Synagogues and shoot down Military Planes converted to Islam while behind bars, a place terror experts say is a cauldron for islamic radicalism

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. - A suburban Philadelphia man who used to work as a camp counselor is accused of having sex with five teenage boys. Bucks County First Assistant District Attorney David Zellis says the 20-year-old Quakertown man asked two boys at Camp Men-O-Lan about having sex in the summer of 2007.

The Army last month stopped accepting felons and recent drug abusers into its ranks as the nation's economic downturn helped its recruiting, allowing it to reverse a decline in recruiting standards that had alarmed some officers. While shunning those with criminal backgrounds, the Army is also attracting better-educated recruits. It is on track this year to meet, for the first time since 2004, the Pentagon's goal of ensuring that 90 percent of recruits have high school diplomas. The developments mark a welcome turnaround for the Army, which has the military's biggest annual recruiting quota and had in recent years issued...

Greetings fellow South Florida riders, South Floridians, and Americans, here we are for another monthly installment of our Wheels on the Road political assessment. Just have to tell you, I am freaking mad as hell and implore you all to not take this anymore. If this means I shall be castigated as a “right wing extremist” so be it. Today I received an email containing a story on the US Department of Homeland Security unclassified report, dated 7 April, titled, “Right-wing extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment”. Now most of the mainstream media is...

Having forcibly taken over Buner district adjoining Swat Valley, Taliban militants have begun using mosques in the area as "recruitment centres" to attract youths to join their ranks. Almost all mosques in villages in Buner district are being used by the Taliban to recruit local residents for their cause of enforcing Sharia or Islamic law in the Malakand division, which includes Swat, and the rest of the country, media reports said on Monday. The entry of Taliban into Buner, which is just about 100 km from the federal capital, has raised alarm throughout Pakistan as to the intentions of the...

WASHINGTON: For decades, high-skilled professionals from across the world, particularly India, have fought their way to US citizenship through legal immigration channels — a process that can take up to a decade or more. Now, Uncle Sam is making it easy. Fight your way — literally — to American citizenship in as little as six months. In a far reaching proposal, the US military will open its doors to skilled immigrant guest workers (such as those who hold H-1B visas) who have lived in the US for a minimum of two years. The move is aimed at offsetting the poor...

The United States army is to accept immigrants with temporary US visas, for the first time since the Vietnam war, according to the New York Times. Until now immigrants have had to have permanent residency - a "green card" - in order to qualify for the services. But those with temporary visas will be offered accelerated citizenship if they enrol, the Times says. The Pentagon hopes the scheme will cover shortages in areas like medical care and language interpretation. Many temporary immigrants will have been granted visas on the basis of their education or skills, so the defence department expects...

U.S. Military Will Offer Path to Citizenship By JULIA PRESTON Stretched thin in Afghanistan and Iraq, the American military will begin recruiting skilled immigrants who are living in this country with temporary visas, offering them the chance to become United States citizens in as little as six months. Immigrants who are permanent residents, with documents commonly known as green cards, have long been eligible to enlist. But the new effort, for the first time since the Vietnam War, will open the armed forces to temporary immigrants if they have lived in the United States for a minimum of two years,...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 10, 2009 – All active duty U.S. military services and reserve components met or exceeded their January recruiting needs, Defense Department officials reported today. The Army signed up 9,658 new active-duty soldiers, 107 percent of its target number of 9,000 enlistees. The Navy signed up 2,948 new active-duty sailors, 100 percent of its target number. The Marine Corps signed up 3,720 new active-duty Marines, 109 percent of its target number of 3,406 enlistees. The Air Force signed up 2,600 new active-duty airmen, 100 percent of its target number. The active Army, Marines, Air Force and Navy also...

A NEWLY appointed Australian Navy submarine commander is in hot water for suggesting that women sailors wearing bikinis might help to boost recruitment. Commander Tom Phillips, appointed to the helm of Collins class submarine HMAS Farncomb last year, also said the submarine equivalent of the "mile-high club" is the "going down club". In an interview with men's magazine Ralph he revealed the naval uniform works to "either pull a chick or get in a fight", The Daily Telegraph reports.Asked by the magazine "if female sailors all had to be hot and had to wear bikinis, would that help recruitment?", Commander...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12, 2009 – December was a recruiting success for all active-duty and reserve-component U.S. military services, which all met or exceeded their goals, according to a Defense Department news release issued today. -- The Army signed 860 new active-duty soldiers, 115 percent of its target number of 750 enlistees. -- The Navy signed 2,306 new active-duty sailors, meeting its target number of enlistees for the month. -- The Marine Corps signed 2,392 new active-duty Marines, 113 percent of its target number of 2,116 enlistees. -- The Air Force signed 2,967 new active-duty airmen, meeting its target number...

Dozens of young Somali men in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area have disappeared in recent months, causing community members and U.S. intelligence officials to fear that they are joining jihadist groups in Somalia. Officials are especially concerned that some of the men may be destined to return to the U.S. after they have received terrorist training.

11/13/2008 - RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFNS) -- Air Force officials announced Nov. 12 that it will begin a new NASCAR partnership with Gillett Evernham Motorsports when it sponsors the No. 10 car driven by Reed Sorenson for the 2009 NASCAR Nextel Cup season. The Air Force's advertising agency, GSD&M Idea City, organized the sponsorship and will roll out a multimedia advertising campaign to support the partnership in early 2009. The Air Force is both a primary and associate sponsor for the No. 10 car driven by Reed Sorenson, a 22-year-old three-time winner in the Nationwide Series. As a...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 10, 2008 – Recruiting successes in fiscal 2008 continued into the first month of the new fiscal year, with all active and reserve components meeting or exceeding their October goals, defense officials reported today. Recruiting remained solid across the board, with the Army leading the effort by exceeding its active-duty goal by 1 percent, its Army National Guard goal by 16 percent and its Army Reserve goal by 10 percent, officials said. The Army signed on 5,324 active-duty soldiers in October, as well as 6,487 National Guardsmen and 3,049 reservists. The Marine Corps topped its October active-duty...

A wave of public support for the Armed Forces has swelled recruitment and contributions to military charities such as the Poppy Appeal. The number of men and women seeking to join the Army, Royal Navy and RAF rose by about 12 per cent even as British Forces continued to suffer casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq. Thousands of people are attending parades to welcome military personnel home and parish ceremonies to pay their respects to servicemen and women killed in battle. In the 12 months to the end of June, 17,860 men and women joined the Services – 2,250 more than...

All military services, including their reserve components, met their recruiting goals for fiscal 2008, marking one of the strongest recruiting efforts in four years, senior Defense Department officials announced today. “This is the strongest recruiting year we’ve had overall … since fiscal year 2004,” said David S.C. Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness. Notably, the Army and Marine Corps had raised their recruiting goals for fiscal 2008, as both services continue to grow their ranks to meet the demands of the wars on two fronts. In fact, the Army was the sole active-duty service to exceed its goal...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. Army is establishing a suicide prevention board to examine the mental health of its recruiters around the country after the fourth suicide in three years by Houston, Texas-based recruiters, according to Army officials. The board will look at how to handle the high-stress climate facing recruiters who may be both under pressure from their job and victims of post-combat deployment stress, according to Douglas Smith, a spokesman from the U.S. Army Recruiting command. "The United States Army Recruiting Command is deeply concerned by the instances of suicide within the Houston Recruiting Battalion," said a statement...

For years, Veronica Diaz-Guerra had told her mother that she was going to join the military. But when Diaz, still a few weeks shy of her 18th birthday, finally asked her mom to sign the papers permitting her enlistment in the U.S. Marine Corps, Ofelia Guerra was hesitant. "I was hoping that she would change her mind," said Guerra, whose home in West Valley City is adorned with photographs of all of her children, including a large portrait of her stern-faced daughter in her Marine dress blues. "I wanted her to be an attorney."

WASHINGTON, June 16, 2008 – The Army National Guard has been so successful recruiting and retaining citizen-soldiers that officials purposely slowed May enlistments, National Guard Bureau officials reported. The Army and Air National Guard continued a brisk recruiting pace in May that has filled out the ranks of the Guard across the board. A decade-long decline in recruiting doctors, dentists and physician assistants was reversed in 2007, with a 20 percent increase. Recruiters anticipate a 60 percent increase in 2008 as they execute a four-year recovery program for the field. The Army National Guard was at 102 percent of its...

For the American Left, there are many reasons to withdraw from Iraq: we're caught in the middle of a sectarian civil war, the Iraqi government is a perfidious ally, Iraq is a diversion from the real war against al Qaeda in Afghanistan, and so on. Some of these arguments are strategically shortsighted, others are based on false premises (such as the fact that the sectarian civil war is over in Iraq and bin Laden is in Pakistan, not Afghanistan), but at least they are more or less logically coherent. What makes almost no sense is the proposal that we turn...

Hasn't the MSM learned anything from the unfortunate episodes of John "stuck in Iraq" Kerry and Stephen "if you don't read you've got the Army" King? Apparently not. Once again, the liberal media, this time in the form of the AFP, has perpetrated the canard that the our military is the last resort of the poor and uneducated. An AFP article of May 16 reported the story of Army sergeant Matthis Chiroux, who has refused deployment to Iraq, claiming he considers it "an illegal war." Chiroux has said that he was "from a poor, white family from the south, and...

The Department of Defense announced today its recruiting and retention statistics for the active and reserve components for the month of April. Active Duty Recruiting:April Monthly:All services met or exceeded recruiting goals for the month of April (below) and have surpassed goals for fiscal year 2008 to date.April 2008:Army Accessions:5,681 Goal:5,650 101%Navy Accessions:2,905 Goal:2,905 100%Marine Corps Accessions:2,233 Goal:1,577 142%Air Force Accessions:2,435 Goal:2,435 100%Active Duty Retention. Army, Navy, and Marine Corps met or exceeded their active duty retention objectives. Reserve Forces Recruiting: April Monthly. All six reserve components have met or exceeded accession goals through April 2008. April 2008: Army National...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Marine Corps far surpassed its recruiting goal last month and could eventually be more than a year ahead of schedule in its plan to grow the force to 202,000 members. All military services met or exceeded their monthly recruiting goals in April, with the Marine Corps signing 142 percent of the number it was looking for, the Pentagon said. The Army signed 101 percent of its goal, recruiting 5,681 against a goal of 5,650. The Navy and Air Force met their goals — 2,905 sailors and 2,435 airmen. The Marine Corps enlisted 2,233 recruits against a...

(WASHINGTON) — Soldiers who need special waivers to get into the Army because of bad behavior go AWOL more often and face more courts-martial. But they also get promoted faster and re-enlist at a higher rate, according to an internal military study obtained by The Associated Press.