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If not victory, , can there be success in Afghanistan?
WASHINGTON — If you search for the metrics to winning the war in Afghanistan, you will get plenty of results, plenty of metrics — and no victory declared. And that may be the way it will be, indefinitely. At best, the U.S. is seeking success, not victory, experts are now saying. The U.S.-led coalition isRead moreWhat’s in a name? More than you may think — and more than the Pentagon wishes to share
WASHINGTON — When U.S. military leaders decided to make a new spring push against ISIS in Syria, the commanding general, Lt. Gen. Paul Funk, looked to his grade school for guidance on what to call the new offensive. Funk attended elementary school in Roundup, Montana. To Funk, that was the perfect name for an operationRead moreRed Sox powerful Pentagon weapon revealed
WASHINGTON — Top Pentagon officials dogmatically decline to speculate about any future operation, maneuver, deployment or weapons system when asked a question by a reporter. That is, unless it is about the Boston Red Sox. Boldly going where few generals trod, Gen. James McConville says the Red Sox are a lock to win the World SeriesRead moreBerlin airlift 70 years ago saved the city and proved the Air Force was needed
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BEIJING — Defense Secretary James Mattis came to China armed with his knowledge of geography, history and the determination to see — perhaps prove — that retired generals do not fade away, they make the world better. Mattis believed the two superpowers could find common ground, trumpet that duet, and then try to proceed toRead moreWITNESSING A HUMANITARIAN CRISIS: Rohingyas in Bangladesh
Almost every refugee crisis can claim to be the worst. The truth is, they all are. Yet the one now ungluing in Myanmar and Bangladesh has dwarfed most others, the result of sinister, racist corruption that has leveled the crisis of desperate Rohingyas into historic tragedy. To those who are there, trying to help,Read moreSnowflakes reappear in the Pentagon: Rumseld’s musings have life again
WASHINGTON — Very few things send Washington into a tizzy like a forecast of snow. But those palpitations are nothing compared to the tsunami shudder that coursed through the Pentagon at the thought of a ”snowflake” circulating up and down its more than 17.5 miles of hallways. That would be a Donald Rumsfeld snowflake —Read moreNew defense doctrine: Be strategically predictable but operationally unpredictable
By tom On Friday, January 19 th, 2018 · no Comments · In And more news stories ,News stories ,WritingWASHINGTON — Creative approaches, sustained investment and being disciplined and adaptive in execution mark the foundation of the Pentagon’s National Defense Strategy unveiled Friday. In some cases, it is the longtime mantra of “everything old is new again.” In other cases, the strategy document reflects new thinking, new terminology and 21st century realities. For example,Read moreThe next frontier: Time to create a new military branch for space?
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President Trump recently placed a telephone call to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in large part to discuss future steps toward Middle East stability. The call — both the act and any promises made — may turn out to provide something more vital and imperative: a critical rebound in the crucial relationship between the United StatesRead moreFaceoff coming soon for Las Vegas hockey team and Army
WASHINGTON — The Las Vegas Golden Knights, the newest franchise in the National Hockey League, defeated one of the elite teams on Sunday, besting the Washington Capitals 4-3 in a showdown between division leaders downtown in the nation’s capital. The. Knights came back three times to tie and then take the lead for good, perhapsRead more
WASHINGTON — The Las Vegas Golden Knights, the newest franchise in the National Hockey League, defeated one of the elite teams on Sunday, besting the Washington Capitals 4-3 in a showdown between division leaders downtown in the nation’s capital.
The. Knights came back three times to tie and then take the lead for good, perhaps distracted somewhat by a different opponent waiting just across the Potomac River: the U.S. Army.
The arena for this contest will not be on ice but in a courtroom.
The Army has filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Trademark and Patent Office against the Vegas Golden Knights’ ownership group, Black Knight Sports and Entertainment, for using a similar team name — “the Golden Knights” — and a similar color pattern as the service branch’s skydiving team.
To be clear, it is not West Point’s mascot or color — who go by the Black Knights that is at issue. It is the U.S. Army Parachute Team which goes by the Golden Knights. The Army has charged its brand could be “damaged” by the newly franchised NHL team taking a similar name and using a similar color scheme in three ways: Dilution, the false suggestion of connection and the possibility of being brought into disrepute.
As part of its complaint, the Army cited a November interview with Golden Knights owner Bill Foley, a West Point graduate, when he referenced Army as inspiration for the name and explained that the franchise opted not to use “Black Knights” because there is “already a Blackhawks in the league.”
Foley also said that the word “knights” is a play on words for Las Vegas “nights.”
In its only response, the National Hockey League issued a statement “strongly disputing” that complaint that noted, in part, “We are not aware of a single complaint from anyone attending our games that they were expecting to see the parachute team and not a professional hockey game.”
Reports from over the weekend hinted that the two sides may be reaching a settlement. No odds have been given on that.
West Point has a hockey team, established in 1903. It was called the Cadets until 2001, when its name was changed — along with all other sports at West Point — to the Black Knights. In 2007–08 season the Black Knights won their only conference title to date, the Atlantic Hockey Regular Season Championship.
The Las Vegas team is in first place in the Pacific Division of the National Hockey League and has the second highest points among all teams, an astounding feat for a first-year expansion team. With the season just beginning its second half, they have already set the record for wins for an expansion team with 35.
The Las Vegas Golden Knights have until Feb. 19 to respond to the notice or the team will risk forfeiting its trademark. Sportslogos.net was the first to report the filing.
“The public,” the Army asserts in the legal filing, “is likely to be confused as to whether the U.S. Government or the Applicant [Black Knights] controls the quality and nature of the services or endorses or sponsors the Applicant’s services.”
The Army has used the term “Golden Knights” for its skydiving team since 1962. It has also used “Golden Knights” for public relations and recruiting purposes.
The Army may be selective in its ire, however.
For example, in 1993, the University of Central Florida switched its mascot to “Golden Knights.” The mascot of the athletic teams is a black knight with gold armor. Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania, calls its athletic teams the Golden Knights.
The College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York — 102 miles north of West Point — successfully registered “Golden Knights” back in 2006 for “educational services, namely providing courses of instruction at the college level; entertainment services in the form of intercollegiate sports exhibitions.” Saint Rose’s athletic teams, which compete in NCAA Division II, are called the Golden Knights. Fellow New York school Clarkson University, 270 miles north of West Point and whose men’s and women’s hockey teams compete in Division I, does so as well.
The College of Saint Rose recently filed an extension with the trademark office while they decide if they want to oppose the NHL hockey team’s trademark application as well.
Numerous high schools also use the Golden Knights as their names.
The Las Vegas team has some backup names ready, including the Silver Knights and the Desert Knights.