Douglas Ernst

Medal of Honor recipient, Capt. William Swenson, returns to active duty

Only months after receiving the nation's highest award for valor, Capt. William Swenson has left the civilian world and returned to active duty.

April 10, 2014

Marines really are different: Pay cuts would improve discipline, aggressiveness

Sgt. Maj. of the Marine Corps Micheal Barrett, the nation's top enlisted Marine, believes his troops have a love for the Corps — not benefits packages.

April 10, 2014

Iowa town gets giant mine-resistant vehicle for ‘terrorist attack’ or ‘something bad’

The Pentagon declared in January that it wanted to unload 13,000 mine-resistant, ambushed-protected trucks for free to law enforcement agencies, and now an Iowa town with a population of 7,000 people has taken it up on the offer.

April 9, 2014

Army goes to war with National Guard, seizes Apache attack helicopters

The National Guard is following a direct order — but it's not happy with it. All of the Guard's AH-64 Apache helicopters are scheduled to go to the active Army, and there's nothing its top brass can do about it.

April 9, 2014

Prepare for drones that ‘perch’ on power lines to recharge, never have to land

Imagine a world where drones never have to touch the ground after takeoff. That's what MIT PhD. candidate Joseph Moore did, and now he's on the cusp of creating a drone that can "perch" on power lines just like birds to recharge its batteries.

April 9, 2014

Rolling Stone fails U.S. history, puts ‘John Hancock’ on Constitution

On its latest cover, which features "Veep" star Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Rolling Stone put John Hancock's signature on a fake tattoo of the U.S. Constitution covering her back. One problem: he signed the Declaration of Independence.

April 9, 2014

Khamenei: None of Iran’s nuclear achievements can be stopped

Whatever deal the U.S. and its international partners think they agreed to with Iran last November, the Middle Eastern nation's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wants to make one thing clear: Its nuclear research will continue.

April 9, 2014

The death of Archie: Character to ‘heroically’ sacrifice his life in July

Fans of Archie Andrews can go back to 1941 to find his first adventures. This summer, they'll be able to see how he dies.

April 8, 2014

‘Light’ on the surface of Mars gives NASA a new mystery solve

NASA has a new Mars mystery on its hands thanks to one of its rovers — artificial light.

April 8, 2014

Facebook deletes page that advocated raping, murdering troops — but not for content

A Facebook page that smeared soldiers as cowards who deserved to be raped and murdered has been deleted by the social media website because its author hid his real name from the company — not because of the content.

April 8, 2014

Syrian rebels now using American TOW missiles

Videos of American-made anti-tank weapons systems in the hands of Syrian rebels are turning up online, indicating that the Obama administration may be knowingly arming them.

April 8, 2014

Boeing gets permission by Obama administration to sell spare parts to Iran

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has granted permission to the world's largest manufacturer of commercial jetliners and military aircraft to start sending its spare parts to Iran.

April 4, 2014

Russian ambassadors joke that nation should take California and Miami: report

If Russia is upset about economic sanctions placed on it after invading Crimea by the international community, its ambassadors aren't showing it. An unauthenticated conversation between two of them includes a number of jokes about going after California and Miami, Florida.

April 4, 2014

VA paid $200 million in wrongful death cases since 9/11: report

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has paid $200 million to almost 1,000 families in wrongful death cases since 9/11, The Center for Investigative Reporting found through Freedom of Information Act requests.

April 4, 2014

Bloomberg’s worst nightmare: Gunmaker releases ‘New York Compliant’ AR-15

Anti-gun activist and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg probably won't be thrilled with this idea: Gun manufacturer Black Rain Ordnance Inc. has released a "New York Compliant" AR-15.

April 3, 2014

Inkers, beware: French students turn 3D printer into tattoo machine

Tattoo artists may not be dead men walking, but the future is now likely to provide them with robotic competition.

April 3, 2014

House bill aims to halt Hezbollah funding

The House Committee on Foreign Affairs is hoping newly-crafted economic sanctions against the terrorist organization Hezbollah will put a dent in its ability to conduct operations.

April 3, 2014

Mozilla CEO Brenden Eich steps down after Prop 8 donation outcry

Brendan Eich, the co-founder of Mozilla, has stepped down as CEO over the controversy that erupted after his $1,000 pledge in support of California’s anti-gay marriage law Proposition 8 became widely known.

April 3, 2014

I’ll take Alex Trebek’s sweatshop suits for $1000: ‘Jeopardy!’ host hit over clothes

Alex Trebek just wanted to make some small talk with "Jeopardy!" contestants on Wednesday, but instead he found himself in an awkward encounter over sweatshop labor in the U.S. and around the world.

April 3, 2014

Fly the war-torn skies: Syrian commercial airlines to launch in May

Estimates put the death toll of the Syrian civil war at 140,000, but that won't be stopping a new Damascus-based commercial airline from opening next month.

April 3, 2014