Luke Ryan

Starting Tuesday, thousands of prisoners have been given amnesty from their sentencing in Myanmar/Burma. Many were released from prison, but others were not confined to a jail cell. They had been under strict “conditional release” which sort of acted like a strict probation — the “Article 401 of the Code of Criminal Procedure on Suspensions, […]

The last few years have seen a significant increase in the use of hand grenades for violent crimes in Sweden. The police have responded to several gang-related incidents involving grenades, including two grenades thrown into a nightclub in May, 2015 and a grenade exploding inside a restaurant in April, 2016. In January of this year, […]

Don’t you know it is wrong to kill? Yes. But you do it? Yes. And you still believe absolutely that your cause is right? Yes. It is right, he told himself, not reassuringly, but proudly. I believe in the people and their right to govern themselves as they wish. But you mustn’t believe in killing, […]

The word “troll” has been used to describe many of Russia’s social media efforts to encourage the widening divide in our country. Their campaign’s success is difficult to measure, though it has certainly had some level of success. It would be difficult to argue that the division through the heart of the U.S. is all […]

Chemical weapons have dominated the headlines recently — two Russians were exposed to the Novichok nerve agent in the UK, sparking an international incident; the airstrikes in Syria were spawned from reports of a chemical attack on civilians. In Douma, Syria, the specifics aren’t exactly known about the agents used, but most sources say it […]

Russia has recently begun blocking Amazon and Google IPs en masse — 1.8 million, as of now. The Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, otherwise known as Roskomnadzor, is the governmental body responsible for censorship in the media throughout Russia. On Friday, they began to block the Telegram app, a ruling […]

Athens — Several hundred protesters from the Communist party in Greece gathered on Monday, aiming to topple down the statue of U.S. president Harry Truman. They were there to protest the air strikes on Syria that sent scores of missiles down on chemical weapons targets throughout Syria. The protesters tied ropes to the statue in […]

April 17, 1970 — The lunar and service modules had been jettisoned between Fiji and New Zealand; the three crew of Apollo 13 were barreling back to earth in the command module. After a mission rife with uncertainty, malfunction and extreme danger, the extended communications blackout during reentry had many on edge. Still, the three […]

Along with 57 Tomahawk Land Attack Cruise Missiles (TLAM), 19 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range (JASSM-ER) missiles were fired into chemical weapons targets in Syria this week, in both Damascus and Homs. The JASSM was developed by Lockheed Martin and fielded in 2009 — the extended range varient came into play in 2014. Much of […]

During the recent conflict involving the Myanmar/Burmese government and the Rohingya that has been described as ‘textbook ethnic cleansing,’ the Burmese have continuously denied the UN access to conduct an investigation regarding the claims of genocide. Reports from a myriad of aid organizations have all pointed toward massive amounts of human rights violations, including the […]

April 14, 1865 — The President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, sat in the Ford’s Theatre in Washington D.C. “Don’t know the manners of good society, eh? Well, I guess I know enough to turn you inside out, old gal — you sockdologizing old man-trap!” said an actor playing in “Our American Cousin” for […]

“Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.” – H.L. Mencken Every person has it in them — the demon. I’m not sure what it is exactly, whether it’s some inner spiritual rage or some biological instinct to spur one toward survival […]