Humanity Divided: Seeing the Sunni and Shiite conflict firsthand

Humanity Divided: Seeing the Sunni and Shiite conflict firsthand

The first time I ever heard gunshots take a person’s life, I was in the fourth grade. They would often blow up chunks of the surrounding mountain range with bundles of dynamite, but this sounded different. My Dad would later explain to me that a Sunni had shot a Shiite dead in the bazaar. It […]

Choosing between the AR-15 and the AK-47

Choosing between the AR-15 and the AK-47

The debate between AK-47s and AR-15s is perhaps a bit more civil than the digital spats between the likes of Glock fanboys and 1911 historians in your Facebook newsfeed, but there are certainly some similarities. Arguments about stopping power, reliability, and accuracy get touted about by both sides in such generalized and exaggerated ways that […]

Old Man Fitness: Negativity, elitism and gender shaming in the fitness world

Old Man Fitness: Negativity, elitism and gender shaming in the fitness world

For many of us that are into fitness, our physical interests tend to have a way of bleeding over into our digital leisure time. We “like” pages on Facebook, follow athletes on Twitter, and share our own fitness journey on social media through pictures, statuses, or, if you’re like me… complaining incessantly about how much […]

Killer Robots: Why we might not find Terminator in our near future

Killer Robots: Why we might not find Terminator in our near future

There have been a million movies set in some sort of dystopian or post-apocalyptic future where killer robots are either a serious threat, or have taken over the world already. From humanoid “Terminator” robots to one of the latest “Black Mirror” episodes, “Metalhead,” these robotic organisms seem to have perfected the killing of human beings. […]

Peshmerga look to conduct joint security operations with Iraqi forces

Peshmerga look to conduct joint security operations with Iraqi forces

The Peshmerga are prepared to conduct joint security operations alongside Iraqi counter parts according to officials with the Kurdish security forces. The move to unify their forces comes during the aftermath of the Islamic State conflict. Now that the caliphate has collapsed, ISIS forces are reverting to sleeper cells and insugency based tactics. A series […]

Despite touting advanced missiles, Russia’s drone program lags behind competitors

Despite touting advanced missiles, Russia’s drone program lags behind competitors

The United States has been among the most proficient adopters of drone technology for the battlefield of any national level military. The CIA was using drones for surveillance over conflict ridden areas as far back as the year 2000, and racked up the nation’s first confirmed kill with an unmanned aircraft only two years later, […]

Pages of War: John Donne and ‘For whom the bell tolls’

Pages of War: John Donne and ‘For whom the bell tolls’

No man is an Iland, intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if a Clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were, as well as if a Mannor of thy friends or of thine owne […]

KRG employees conduct protests and strikes amid salary cuts

KRG employees conduct protests and strikes amid salary cuts

Kurdistan’s Regional Government will convene this week to debate altering the current salary-saving system, a concept that has been the subject of controversy and negative feedback since its proposal. The Council of Ministers for the KRG holding a meeting is taking place in the wake of mass protests by government employees demanding an abolition of […]