USA

Jump out of a perfectly good airplane, charge a machine gun nest, be stationed at Ft. Irwin – these are just three of the myriad miseries American patriots are willing to endure to defend our country. But today’s military is asking too much of our young people, as evidenced by the crashing recruitment rates that threaten to deplete a military already running short of soldiers. Have our young people suddenly turned from heroes to zeros, ne’er-do-well heirs of the brave warriors who confronted the forces of tyrannical gun control at Lexington and Concord?

No. The kids are alright. The problems lie echelons above.

All the best to our American friends.

The Army is at only 40% of its recruiting numbers for the fiscal year despite raising its maximum enlistment bonus from $40,000 to $50,000. It now offers new recruits up to $10,000 for showing up to basic training in 30 days. And is no longer even asking them for a high school diploma.

“We’ve never offered $50,000 to join the Army,” Maj. Gen. Kevin Vereen, head of U.S. Army Recruiting Command, said.

Some people consider July 2 our real Independence Day because it’s the day the vote took place. John Adams refused invitations to celebrate Independence Day on July 4 because he considered July 2 the true holiday.

The founders ratified the Declaration of Independence on July 4, though.

We should just have a national holiday week, dang it! Include July 5 as a recovery day.

More than quarter of Americans – 28 per cent – said that it might ‘soon be necessary to take up arms’ against the US government, according to a new poll released Thursday.

Of those who felt that way, 37 per cent currently own guns, the poll found.

The poll also showed that a majority of Americans – liberal and conservative both – felt that their government was ‘corrupt and rigged against everyday people like me.’

The institutions that used to unite the country now bitterly divide it

Here’s a fun fact: almost half of Americans believe that there will be a civil war in their lifetimes. Less fun fact: they could be right. To observe the United States today is to watch a country that cannot get on with itself. Some people say that it has always been like this – that there was never any chance of a country as wide and big as America being able to agree on things. These people then point to the genius of the federalist system, and the way in which different states could have different arrangements within the union.

Why Middle America is poised to lead an industrial comeback

Out in the rolling country just east of Columbus, Ohio, a new—and potentially brighter—American future is emerging. New factories are springing up, and, amid a severe labor shortage, companies are recruiting in the inner city and among communities of new immigrants and high schoolers to keep their plants running. Two new Intel plants, costing $20 billion, will employ 3,000 workers, generate thousands of jobs, and help make the Midwest an integral part of the high-tech economy.

The technology may be new, but what’s drawing these manufacturers to Ohio is something more traditional: its central location, business-friendly atmosphere, and long-standing industrial culture. “We are still at the edge of the farming areas, and people have a strong work ethic,” suggests Jay McCloy, who runs a plant for Mount Vernon, Ohio–based Ariel Corporation, a maker of natural-gas compressors that employs 1,400. “People here think building stuff is better than selling insurance. On a decent salary, you can live a good life in central Ohio.”