This article was originally published by William L. Anderson at The Mises Institute. He spoke with a very thick Sicilian accent.“Ah, young fellow,” he said to Vito. “People tell me you’re rich. You and your two friends. But don’t you think you’ve treated me a little shabbily? After all, this is my neighborhood, and you should let me wet my beak.” — The Godfather, Don Fanucci tries to shake down Vito Corleone In the mid-1990s, Microsoft stood atop the high-tech world, and its founder and chairman, Bill Gates, had guru status among his fellow Americans. Microsoft had recently come out with its…
The Trump administration is no longer defending the ban on lawful carrying at postal facilities, abandoning an appeal to the Fifth Circuit after a district court judge held the ban to be unconstitutional. The decision by the DOJ leaves the district court injunction in place, meaning the individual and organizational plaintiffs can now carry in federal postal facilities. Judge Reed O’Connor’s injunction applies to all members of Firearms Policy Coalition and Second Amendment Foundation, regardless of whether they were members at the time the lawsuit was filed. In a statement, FPC head Brandon Combs declared the…
SpaceX’s mega Starship rocket came within a second or so from blasting off on a test flight Thursday, but some of the engines failed to ignite, triggering a launch abort amid billowing clouds of smoke and vapor. Elon Musk, the company’s founder and CEO, said two engines will be replaced “to be confident of a good flight” before sending Starship from Texas on a space-skimming journey halfway around the world. It will be the 13th flight for Starship, which at 407 feet (124 meters) tall with 33 main engines is the world’s biggest and most powerful rocket. SpaceX’s launch webcast…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to the nation’s capital is being extended by more than two years and will last until the end of his term. The Pentagon confirmed the extension in an email Thursday, saying the mission will continue until Jan. 20, 2029, “or until terminated by the President.” The deployment was set to expire at the end of this year after previously being extended. The deployment in Washington, D.C., has been contentious since Trump issued an executive order in August 2025 to deal with what he called a crime emergency, calling up…
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United States expanded its airstrike campaign against Iran early Friday by hitting more bridges, energy sites and collapsing a tower at a key Iranian port, part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to start striking infrastructure to pressure Tehran to ease its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz. Iran launched new missile attacks against U.S.-allied nations in the Middle East, including Qatar, a key mediator in the war. It also damaged a power and water desalination plant in Kuwait — something crucial in the small, desert nation. The interim ceasefire agreed to last…
The American Legion Department of Texas has broken with the organization’s national leadership over the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act (TCAVA), urging national headquarters to reverse its support for the sweeping veterans’ benefits package. The disagreement became public shortly after the Texas department held its 107th annual convention in Austin from July 7 through July 12. A widely shared post by veteran advocate Elizabeth Hartman said Texas had “split” from national headquarters and was demanding opposition to TCAVA. Commenters praised Texas for challenging national leadership, although others asked whether the action represented formal separation or simply an official statement…
A man with a military spouse collapsed and died earlier this year, highlighting how medical benefits can literally be life-or-death decisions. Derion Blackman had a transplanted heart and the pills that kept his body from rejecting it were not optional, according to reporting earlier this month by the nonprofit KFF Health News. He was rationing them anyway and his coverage was in the process of moving to the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), known as CHAMPVA. During the switch, his anti-rejection medication reportedly went unfilled for about two months even though he qualified…
California has long held a reputation as one of, if not the most restrictive, states in the nation when it comes to the right to keep and bear arms. they have tons of laws that limit what you can buy, who can buy it, where it can be bought, how it has to be bought, where you can have it, and everything except how long your armpit hair has to be while carrying a firearm. That might be coming next session, though.Still, it’s rough there, and while gun rights groups have fought them every step…
The conflict between Iran and the United States has intensified in recent days and an interim deal to end the fighting has collapsed less than a month after it was signed. The Memorandum of Understanding was supposed to halt all military operations and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for global oil and gas. It also set the stage for further negotiations intended to lead to a permanent peace deal and an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program within 60 days. Here’s a look at some of the main clauses of the agreement and the situation on the ground.…
I never thought much about crowd safety until one day, I attended a summer event, and things started to feel wrong. People were so tightly packed that I couldn’t move much on my own. I felt very closed in and close to panic. I eventually moved toward the edge of the crowd and got out. This can happen to anyone. It can be a concert that suddenly gets too packed. Or a show exit that slows to a standstill. Everyone might start moving at once, and no one feels in control at all. The problem is that when things shift…
When LJ Wilde and his family approached the trailhead at Grand Teton National Park, he felt a bit nervous about what park rangers might say to him. After all, Wilde was pulling along his paraplegic daughter in a prototype hiking cart that he’d designed and built. It was the first time testing it in the wild, and he didn’t know how the rangers might react to him taking this one-wheeled contraption into the park. Still, ranger comments or not, he’d spent the last several months working every night on his design so his disabled daughter could join the rest of…
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday convened leaders from more than 60 countries to take part in the Trump administration’s latest effort to quell what it calls “left wing” political terrorism, a marquee issue for Republicans heading into the midterm elections. This focus comes even as studies show that there are very few reported cases of such incidents in the U.S., especially compared to historically higher levels of far-right violence. With sweeping statements about the “alarming rise” of political violence by the left, Rubio and other U.S. officials painted a dark image of the future if the “communists and…
Morale in the United States was lower during the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain. Unfortunately, many Americans were not feeling very festive or positive about the US. Two weeks before the US’s anniversary, The Associated Press published a poll that captured the depth of American anxiety about the ruling class and life in general in the country. The numbers were grim. More than two-thirds (70%) of Americans no longer consider their country the greatest nation on Earth, while 64% believe American democracy is in danger. And 38% don’t believe the United States will survive another…
Trail running shoes should offer grip, cushion, and protection. The priority? To stay comfortable on our feet while we explore everything from mellow dirt paths to rocky, technical terrain. For this update, lead testers Conni Mahoney and Chris Kassar tested six pairs of trail running shoes over six months in Colorado, the Tetons, and southern Utah. We compared options for daily training, race day, technical mountain terrain, road-to-trail miles, and wide-foot comfort. The HOKA Speedgoat 7 stands out as our top overall pick for its versatile mix of cushion, traction, and trail confidence. The Salomon Pulsar is our favorite budget-friendly…
It’s been something watching Colorado’s decline into an anti-gun crapshow. Whereas it was once fairly pro-gun, all things considered, that started to change after the shooting in Aurora. I get that it upset a lot of people, and that’s because anything like that should upset folks. The response, though, was wrong, and while the public responded at the time, I haven’t seen a whole lot of that since then. Instead, voters keep electing the same people who continue to nibble at their rights.At the Denver Gazette, journalist Chris Dorsey makes an argument that I think…
Great Dungeons & Dragons games aren’t in short supply, but we have yet to be blessed with an AAA open-world RPG set in the universe. The upcoming Warlock could fill that void with an action-adventure slant, and Pseudo-open-world masterpieces like Baldur’s Gate 3 can definitely scratch the same itch; however, as of right now, a DnD open-world RPG technically doesn’t exist. Consequently, we need to look elsewhere to find a game that captures the spirit and beautiful chaos of a tabletop campaign. From deep character customization to open-ended gameplay, party management, and tactical warfare, these open-world RPGs share different commonalities…
Support us! GearJunkie may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Learn More Backcountry: 30% Off Danner Trail 2650 Hiking Shoe (Photo/Danner) Danner’s Trail 2650 is the perfect hybrid between a classic boot and a lightweight trail runner. The Vibram 460 outsole offers superior grip, the TPU shank adds protection, and the mesh lining helps with airflow. Best of all, it’s on sale for less than $150. Shop Women’s Shop Men’s REI: 30% Off Arc’teryx Beta SL Jacket (Photo/Arc’teryx) The Beta SL is one of our top-rated rain jackets. As with many Arc’teryx products, it also tends…
The gun control movement is based on a simple premise: more guns lead to more crime, and the only way to truly make the United States safer is to reduce the number of firearms in circulation. When the modern gun control lobby got started in the 1960s, that idea seemed somewhat logical. Violent crime kept going up, and every year more and more guns were added to the mix. In 1991, though, violent crime peaked and then started its decade-long decline, but we continued purchasing millions of firearms each year. From the early 1990s to 2020,…
The recovery process from hard training requires several important factors to be in balance. These are nutrition, sleep, hydration, how your workouts are structured, and how you rest during your non-training time. If any of these is not up to par, the ability to fully recover diminishes, leading to negative results. Overtraining symptoms can even begin to appear. Depending on how you feel, your effort levels, and physical conditioning, you might need complete rest or an active rest option. Complete rest is just eating well, sleeping well, hydrating and doing nothing. Active rest is doing one or two very light,…
It’s not surprising that performance wool has become so popular — the natural fiber offers major benefits over petroleum-based clothing like polyester. It’s better at moisture-wicking and thermoregulation, and it doesn’t leech microplastics into our blood and the environment. That has helped drive a surge in popularity of merino wool garments in the last few years, especially in the outdoor apparel industry. Merino wool, which comes from a particular breed of sheep that originated in Spain, has become increasingly sought-after as more consumers worldwide seek soft, comfortable alternatives to synthetic, plastic-based clothing, according to multiple wool brands interviewed by GearJunkie.…
The shooting on a highway in Cambridge, Massachusetts, could have been bigger news. However, for that to have happened, a lot of innocent people would have had to die, and I’m thrilled that didn’t happen. It should have still been bigger news, though, because of the actions of a man, reportedly a former Marine, who engaged the active shooter. People like that need to be talked about more, because heroism is real and rare, and societies need heroes. They don’t need the self-aggrandizing type that buys into their own BS and tries to cash in…
