Hollywood and the old man warfighter

You probably know the image — a worn and weathered man with salt-and-pepper hair, a gruff 5 o’ clock shadow, and that thousand-yard stare emanating from his aged, experienced eyes. He’s been fighting since he was 18-years-old, and the actor is probably in his 40s. He’s the leading man in the vast majority of action […]

Methods of financing terror: The uses of ‘Hawala’

“Hawala” has long been a method of both legitimate money transfer among Muslim nations, as well as a method of financing terror organizations through illicit and difficult to trace channels. It’s a system based not on checks, balances, account numbers or debts, rather, it’s based on honor. The brokers who operate hawala (hawaladars) base their […]

Analysis: US air support takes out over 220 Taliban fighters

The United States Air Force and Army air support have been busy this week. Ghazni has seen fierce fighting, as the Taliban have been pushing to take the city — to no avail. Fighters from the U.S. Air Force and Army Apache gunships have killed over 220 Taliban fighters in the area since Aug. 10, […]

Analysis: At least 48 killed in suicide attack in Kabul, likely the Islamic State

An explosion ripped through an education center in Kabul, Afghanistan. A suicide bomber detonated an explosive strapped to their person, killing at least 48 and wounding approximately 67 — these numbers are still coming in and will likely change as more details become apparent. The mass majority of the victims, who were civilians, were young […]

22 Sudanese children drown in boat on the way to school

Officials are searching for the bodies of 22 Sudanese children who drowned as they traveled by boat to school on the Nile. Reports indicate some sort of engine failure in turbulent waters, resulting in the sinking of the boat. While headlines are typically dominated with the comings and goings of politicians, violence abroad or some […]

Opinion: The root of the problems in the VA

Personally speaking, I’ve had a great experience at the VA. I’ve taken a couple trips to the ER, had some routine checkups, received quality treatment for a broken finger, and a couple other small things here and there. Many (not all) of the people I have met that complain about the VA are often forgetting […]

Saudi Arabia’s death penalty

Six men were pushed before the watching eyes of countless men, women, and children — they were thieves and murders, and they were set to be executed in public. The style of execution? Beheading. One might expect such a scene from medieval England or ancient China, but this particular anecdote? Early June 2017 in Saudi […]

Myanmar, the US State Department, and the word ‘Genocide’

“Genocide” is a word sometimes used colloquially for conflicts with large, targeted campaigns and high civilian death rates. It is also used in official capacities, with specific definitions — in Article II of the UN’s “Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide,” Genocide is defined: [Genocide is] any of the following acts committed with […]

The American Road: Adapt and Overcome

Life certainly has its ways of throwing curveballs. Sometimes it’s a dramatic, one-time event that feels like a blow to your life, energy and very soul. Sometimes it chips away, day after day, minor events that are but drops in the bucket when they’re thrown at you one by one — however, they often threaten […]

The American Road: Purging material things

I’ve moved across the nation several times. I’ve gone from Arkansas to Oregon for a summer of wildland firefighting in college (wound up just doing prevention instead of fighting fires, though). I’ve gone from Arkansas to Wyoming for an intensive EMT course another summer. I’ve moved from Georgia all the way to San Francisco, passing […]

Analysis: 14 dead in attempted Taliban city assault

The Taliban conducted an all-out assault on Ghazni, the capital of the Ghazni province on Friday. Though the attack failed, they killed at least 14 Afghan police officers in the process, wounding another 20. They hit the city from several points of ingress, attempting to overrun it and expel U.S.-backed forces from the city. The […]

Brazil’s worst recorded year for homicides: 3% increase from previous year

Brazil has historically had a significant problem with violence surrounding gangs, drug trafficking, theft, kidnapping and domestic violence. A recent study has shown that the homicide rate has increased by 3% from 2016 to 2017. In 2017, 63,880 people were killed throughout Brazil. This is a homicide rate of 30.8 per 100,000 people. To put […]