Folks, Biggest under-reported story of the week has to be the compound discovered in New Mexico where five adults were starving and abusing 11 underage children with the intent of developing them into school shooters. Hm. Abused children, remote compound, school shooter training…shouldn’t this be clickbait for every eyeball-starved news organization? Well the adults were, ahem,... Continue Reading →
Under The Radar…aka What China’s Surveillance State, ISIS Recruitment, and Oxfam’s Orgies have to do with System of A Down, Ricardo Montalban, and the Fourth Planet Hollywood Investor
Folks, I remember when System of A Down released, “B.Y.OB.” I remember driving along the Pacific Coast Highway, tanned from a day at the beach and a belly full of surf and turf while Serge Tankian screamed, “And we all live in a fascist nation!” This was 2006. I remember thinking I liked SOAD more... Continue Reading →
Under the Radar…aka The Coolest Stories You Missed During the Helsinki Hangover
Folks, The hangover from Helsinki continued this week, meaning most people who were outraged in the first 24 hours after Trump met Putin have now moved on to Tweeting about Justin Bieber’s engagement and Instagramming from the beach to calm their nerves. It’s a pity, because this week was awash in eye-popping stories that didn’t... Continue Reading →
Under the Radar…aka Things That Happened the Week of the Facepalm in Helsinki
Folks, I’m typing this with one hand, since I need the other to press a frozen steak against my still-sore noggin. Such is the price for enforcing my own deadlines while Trump went to Helsinki (which is the sequel to Trump Goes to London — 18 rating on Rotten Tomatoes! Though my favorite of the European Trump-cation series has always... Continue Reading →
Under the Radar News…aka Things that Happened While You Talked about Potential Supreme Court Picks at a BBQ
Folks, Here’s hoping you enjoyed the 4th of July, even if you think that whole American Revolution thing was a mistake. Imagine you have two harmless ingredients which, when combined, become more powerful than VX gas. Imagine it is undetectable in most chemical security testings. Imagine it is deadly to the touch. Imagine it can absorb... Continue Reading →
Under the Radar from the Week of the Red Hen
Anthony Kennedy’s retirement, the World Cup and the Red Hen consumed most of the past week’s news cycle, and the rest was spent on LeBron James, Maxine Waters and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’ surprise primary win. In other words, it wasn’t a real fun week for the foreign intrigue or national security minded among us. So, in... Continue Reading →
Can Only Sean Connery Only Live Twice?
"M: Sit down, 007. James: Thank you, sir. M: No ill effects? James: None at all, sir. M: Well now that you’re dead, perhaps some of your old friends will pay a little less attention to you for a while. Give you more elbow room. You’ll need it, too." - You Only Live Twice (1967)" Journalist Arkady Babchenko had pissed... Continue Reading →
Vladimir Putin: A Lion In Winter
Historically, the countries of the EU have been allies of the US. That’s not to say they didn’t get a little passive-aggressive at times. France, Spain, Germany and Greece could even, at one point or another in the past fifteen years, been classified as a frenemy. Vladimir Putin, however, would like to make the whole... Continue Reading →
Is Vladimir Putin Really Dr. Moriarty?
We know ISIS is bad because it killed people in San Bernardino and Paris. We know Iran is bad because it’s still developing nuclear weapons. We know Russia is bad…because…well, didn’t Charlie Rose once say something about that? Or was it Seth MacFarlane? Either way, as Americans, we know there is a threat from Putin's... Continue Reading →
This Week in Links: Russia, Spooks and Trouble
It's not your imagination, It's been almost two weeks since my "weekly" list of links. Which means I'm still more serious about doing a weekly email than the Russians are about doing a cease-fire. Don't get me wrong, it's not like the Russians aren't serious about a lot of other things. Like flying spy planes over the... Continue Reading →
