LISTEN TO TLR’S LATEST PODCAST: Ryan Pickrell Seismic activity in North Korea suggests the country just conducted its sixth nuclear test. A 6.3 magnitude earthquake, according to both the U.S. Geological Survey and the China Earthquake Administration, was detected in North Korea Sunday, just hours after the North revealed what it claimed is a thermonuclear device, specifically a hydrogen…
I’ve written versions of this essay for − literally − decades. Predating the War in Afghanistan, the entirely notional War Against Terrorism, and 9-11. War is a problematic thing. There are a zillion ways to fight wars stupidly and ineffectively, only a few ways to fight them properly. US foreign policy has embarked on a…
LISTEN TO TLR’S LATEST PODCAST: On Monday, President Trump announced an increase in troop levels and combat missions for the sixteen-year-old war in Afghanistan. This is a flip flop of epic proportions, which he acknowledges, and runs more in line with Hillary’s defeated strategy. The administration claims he went through a painstaking amount of research…
LISTEN TO TLR’S LATEST PODCAST: The same day neo-Nazis and antifascists clashed in Charlottesville, Michael Oman-Reagan shared on Twitter a 1940s short-film titled “Don’t Be A Sucker.” The film, produced by the U.S. War Department in 1943, depicts an ornery bigot on a soap box seeking to enlist fellow Americans to his cause while…
Ladies and gentlemen of the press… We have recently seen unacceptable events happening in Charlottesville Virginia. Many people have been injured, and at least one has been killed. This is never to be tolerated in the United States. In that regard, many have been demanding that I take a stand against the virulent positions of…
LISTEN TO TLR’S LATEST PODCAST: JONAH BENNETT National Security/Politics Reporter More than 50 Democrats have written a letter urging Secretary of Defense James Mattis ignore President Donald Trump’s announcement banning transgenders from the military. The Democratic House members called the announcement “unconstitutional” and further argued Friday that transgenders do not harm combat readiness. “As…
LISTEN TO TLR’S LATEST PODCAST: If you watched the 2016 GOP Presidential Primary debates who you know, South Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham loves him some war talk. This morning on NBC’s Today Show Graham banged war drums again saying that military experts are wrong [about a North Korea nuclear threat] and that the only solution is…
LISTEN TO TLR’S LATEST PODCAST: Written by Paul Meekin When we assumed the Soldier, we did not lay aside the Citizen. – George Washington Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is enigmatic game and seminal touchstone in modern interactive entertainment history. Released in 2007 as the War in Iraq raged, it was among the first modern…
LISTEN TO TLR’S LATEST PODCAST: By Russ Read Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defense James Mattis “teamed up” to block national security adviser H.R. McMaster’s plan for Afghanistan from reaching the president’s desk, according to a Politico report. Mattis and Tillerson apparently believed that McMaster’s initial plan, which involved a troop increase and four-year…
LISTEN TO TLR’S LATEST PODCAST: By Paul Meekin “You don’t need to be ‘straight’ to fight and die for your country. You just need to shoot straight.” – Barry Goldwater A Transgender Military Ban? Really?! God. The T in LGBTQ is the trickiest letter in the whole post-modern world. When it comes to social issues, public…