Military

From Garand to AR-15: When Service Rifles Stopped Belonging to the Nation and Started Belonging to Lawyers

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When the M1 went ashore in Normandy, no one wondered who owned the blueprints. When the M16 went to Vietnam, arguments over chrome lining, ammunition specifications, and intellectual property simmered behind the scenes. The rifle itself became entangled in acquisition disputes and contract language. Even improvements—like later A2 modifications—unfolded within a world shaped by lawyers as much as logisticians.

Since 1942, the United States Has Been Going to War Illegally — and Everyone Pretends That’s Fine

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Enter the War Powers Resolution — Congress’s attempt to look relevant after Vietnam without actually reclaiming its authority. The War Powers Resolution is often defended as a guardrail. In reality, it’s a constitutional fig leaf stapled to a surrender note.

Stolen Valor Wears Medals — Stolen Charity Wears a Flag and a Suit

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There’s stolen valor — the guy at the bar wearing medals he never earned, hoping nobody asks what unit he was in. Then there’s stolen charity — the polished executive in a tailored suit wearing patriotism like a lapel pin while cashing checks “for the troops.” One lies about serving. The other lies about serving those who served. Both are frauds. Only one gets invited to donor banquets.

Small Nukes, Big Idea: Why SMRs Are the Future Catching Up With the Past

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SMR stands for Small Modular Reactor. The concept is simple: instead of building massive, one-off nuclear cathedrals that take fifteen years, billions of dollars, and three generations of lawyers, you build smaller reactors that are standardized, factory-produced, shipped in modules, and deployed where power is actually needed. They’re designed to be safer, faster to build, easier to scale, and—most importantly—repeatable.

The Ironic Curtain; Europeans who lived under communism hate it. Those spared pursue it.

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s speech at the Munich Security Conference shook up the European leadership by reminding them of the dangers of communism. He did this because his grandpa, Pedro Víctor García, a refugee from Castro’s Cuba, taught him well about the dangers of communism.

The Academy That Wanted to Be Ivy League: West Point, Rankings, and the Cost of Forgetting War

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West Point does not need to be Harvard. America already has Harvard. What it needs—what it has always needed—is an academy singularly focused on producing officers whose primary purpose is to close with and destroy the enemy.

The Day the Fighting Cocks Died: How West Point Traded the Warrior Ethos for Political Safety

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That was 1967. Vietnam was raging. Cadets were not being groomed for cable news panels or Senate confirmation hearings. They were being prepared for jungles, rice paddies, ambushes, and body counts. Humor, especially gallows humor, wasn’t a problem to be solved—it was a survival mechanism. The name “Fighting Cocks” wasn’t vulgar to them; it was irreverent, aggressive, and just juvenile enough to signal that these were young men who understood they were not being trained for polite society. They were being trained for war.

While America Has a Nervous Breakdown, China Is Measuring the Curtains

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History has a sense of humor, and it’s rarely kind. As the United States barrels headlong into a Fourth Turning crisis—complete with generational rage, institutional distrust, ritualized protest, economic anxiety, and ideological self-harm—China isn’t protesting anything. It’s watching. Quietly. Patiently. With a spreadsheet.

Penguins, Treaties, and Radar Dishes: The Quiet Militarization of Antarctica

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There’s a comforting little bedtime story we tell ourselves about Antarctica. Nobody owns it. Nobody fights over it. Scientists in parkas share data and hot cocoa while penguins waddle around like tiny tuxedo diplomats. It’s the one place on Earth where humanity supposedly agreed to stop acting like humanity.

Opinion: Why Tariffs Are Not the Way to Effect Regime Change in Iran

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As part of his strategy for isolating the radical mullah-ruled government of Iran in the world community, President Trump has announced plans to issue a 25% tariff against all countries that continue to do business with the current Iranian regime. This is a counterproductive approach for three reasons. First, and most immediately, this kind of …

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Department of War: The1947 Worst Rebrand in U.S. History (From Hero to Zero)

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“Defense” sounds noble. It sounds like you’re protecting your kids. It sounds like you’re holding the line. It sounds like Mom, apple pie, and a golden retriever that would never bite anybody unless it absolutely had to.

The Three Hour War in Venezuela; Trump won the war first and then had the military fight it.

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While most Americans were sleeping, the American military dropped a few bombs on Fort Tiuna—Venezuela’s largest military base—and arrested Nicolas Maduro and his wife, who face a federal indictment in New York for narco-terrorism and related charges. Peace through strength works best when you add stealth and speed.