Why US trade with China is a good thing

Why US trade with China is a good thing

The concern around intellectual property, industrial subsidies, currency manipulation, and forced technology transfers from U.S. companies to Chinese counterparts is real, but America needs to look to the future, not the past. Thinking about what the global economy will look like in the next century is the main reason America should still want healthy trade […]

10 signs you served in a war zone after 9/11

10 signs you served in a war zone after 9/11

Millions of Americans have served at least some amount of time in either Iraq or Afghanistan (or both), since September 2001. Otherwise known as going in-theater, to the sandbox, the show, the dance, the war zone, Asscrackistan, the two-way shooting range, the tax-free zone, and/or countless other affectionate labels, deploying to these areas exposed one […]

Interview with a WWII paratrooper: Jumping into Normandy

Interview with a WWII paratrooper: Jumping into Normandy

World War II paratrooper Tom Rice talks about why he joined the Army, exploring the jungles of Panama, and how being a risk taker led him into the Airborne prior to the Normandy invasion. He also explains the curious history behind the jump towers at Airborne school. While training for combat, Tom also gets into some […]

Interview with a WWII paratrooper: Tom Rice discusses life in the 1930s

Interview with a WWII paratrooper: Tom Rice discusses life in the 1930s

World War II veteran Tom Rice jumped into Normandy with the 101st Airborne Division’s 501nd Parachute Regiment. In the first segment of our interview, Tom talks about what it was like growing up in Coronado in the 1930’s, catching gofers for 25 cents for the fire department, and then using the money to go watch […]

‘El Chapo’ drug lord sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years

‘El Chapo’ drug lord sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years

Notorious Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán was sentenced Wednesday in a New York court to life in prison plus 30 years. Guzmán oversaw the Sinaloa Cartel, a massive drug-running operation that distributed narcotics throughout the United States. He was also something of a folk hero to some people for his multiple prison escapes. The […]

Op-Ed: Why Trump wins again in 2020

Op-Ed: Why Trump wins again in 2020

You don’t have to like it, but it’s coming: another four years of President Trump. His base has never been stronger, he’s got a massive war chest, and he has singular focus. The Democrats are eating themselves alive and the party is at odds with itself. Whatever side of the political spectrum you identify with, […]

Op-Ed: Nike trolls America for profit this 4th of July

Op-Ed: Nike trolls America for profit this 4th of July

News broke Tuesday that Nike cancelled its upcoming Betsy Ross flag-themed sneaker after a consultation with former American NFL quarterback and Nike spokesperson Colin Kaepernick, who told them that some people will find this product offensive because of its connection to an era of slavery. Reported by the Wall Street Journal, the Betsy Ross flag […]

From Navy SEAL to warbird pilot, flying across America in the Epsilon

From Navy SEAL to warbird pilot, flying across America in the Epsilon

My friend Glen (Navy SEAL/CIA, KIA in Benghazi, Libya in 2012) and I departed from Peoria, Illinois and started to pick up ice climbing through 4,000 feet just after losing communications with departure control. Fun meter pegged. I had purchased my first airplane in 2003, a little 1980 Cessna 172 and had this great idea […]

Op-Ed: This Washington Post article about encrypted communications did not age well

Op-Ed: This Washington Post article about encrypted communications did not age well

Looking back at this 2016 article from The Washington Post, one really shouldn’t blame them for their optimism regarding WhatsApp’s “end-to-end encrypted” capabilities. The encryption (e.g. security) behind WhatsApp, owned by Facebook, is actually quite good at its core. But what couldn’t have been so easily predicted by the Post is what I’ll call the […]

America’s war drums beat for Iran

America’s war drums beat for Iran

According to a recent New York Times article, high-ranking U.S. government officials have been briefed over the last few days on contingency plans for Iran, plans that include an invasion force equal to or greater than what it took to topple Saddam Hussein in 2003. These war plans would introduce as many as 120,000 American […]

Op-Ed: Will South Korean soap operas bring democracy to the North?

Op-Ed: Will South Korean soap operas bring democracy to the North?

A recent article confirmed to me something I was told about by a Special Forces sergeant major who once worked in Special Forces Detachment Korea. Today, people living in North Korea know what life is like in South Korea. In previous decades, North Koreans had been so brainwashed, they actually thought they were the lucky […]