Every ski season has a low-tide phase. Sometimes it’s those first few weeks; sometimes it’s a dry spell or a high-pressure system that just won’t pass. The snow gets hard, the rocks emerge. I’m left feeling lost — mid-width freeride skis or narrow carving skis? The former lackluster on the pistes, the latter downright sketchy in the steeps. I snapped into a pair of the ’25/’26 Volkl Revolt 101s last season and pointed them — perhaps recklessly — at the nastiest terrain the “meh” start to the season could muster. A firm edge, generous rockers, and a stiff character opened…

I’ve long argued that none of the “compromises” we’ve made historically on gun rights were ever compromises. They always boil down to the anti-gun side just taking a little less than they originally wanted. We’ve gotten nothing out of the deal beyond losing our rights, just maybe not as many as the other side originally intended…at least for the time being. They always come back for everything else.But we live now in turbulent times where bad things are happening far too often, including politically-motivated attacks such as the assassination of Charlie Kirk, attacks on ICE…

James Ransone, the actor best known for portraying Ziggy Sobotka on HBO’s The Wire and for his role in the military miniseries Generation Kill, has died. He was 46. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed in online records that Ransone died by suicide on Friday. No additional details were immediately released.Ransone built a wide-ranging career across television and film, often playing volatile, troubled, or emotionally complex characters. In addition to his work on The Wire, he appeared in HBO’s Generation Kill, which followed a U.S. Marine reconnaissance battalion during the early days of the Iraq War. The 2008 miniseries marked a turning…

Angry that he didn’t get enough support to actually call a special session of the legislature to try and pass more gun control restrictions, on December 16, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz signed two executive orders on guns. Fortunately, neither is likely to have much impact. Purported to address “gun violence,” gun-ban advocates’ name for criminal violence, the first executive order creates an “educational” campaign to promote the state’s “red-flag” laws, mandatory storage scheme and directs the Department of Commerce to collect data from insurance companies on the “costs of gun violence.” The second order creates a Statewide Safety Council with a…

The Trump administration hasn’t gone nearly as far as some Second Amendment activists would like, at least when it comes to dismantling the federal gun control regime. The administration appears to have backed off its attempt at merging ATF and the DEA, which was roundly criticized on both sides of the gun control debate, and there are no plans to shutter the agency altogether.  The DOJ, meanwhile, continues to defend federal prohibitions on gun possession for “unlawful” users of drugs and those convicted of crimes punishable by more than a year in prison, even when…

Last week, Senate Democrats reintroduced one of the most sweeping federal gun control proposals in years. U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Andy Kim brought back the Federal Firearm Licensing Act, a bill that would require Americans to obtain a federal firearm license before purchasing, receiving, or even possessing a firearm. We must reject division and hate. The ties that bind us are so much stronger than the lines that divide us. pic.twitter.com/93zzcmdIOa— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) December 19, 2025 Supporters are calling it “commonsense.” Gun owners will recognize it for what it is: a national permission slip system enforced by the…

Europe is unleashing tens of billions in new aid for Ukraine as Russia escalates strikes on key infrastructure, raising the stakes for a U.S.-led peace push that in recent weeks has been moving at full speed.Developments framed high-level peace talks in Berlin, where U.S. envoys spent two-and-a-half days with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders pushing a new framework that includes Article 5-like security guarantees, economic recovery plans, and proposed pathways for resolving territorial disputes as Washington seeks to an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine that has persisted since February 2022.European Union (EU) Council President Antonio Costa announced…

By all accounts, Betty Reid Soskin lived quite the life. She was a Civil Rights activist, songwriter, and record shop owner. In her 80s, she became a National Park Service (NPS) interpreter in California and served for 16 years, becoming the oldest park ranger in the country. And on Sunday, Dec. 21, Soskin passed away peacefully at the age of 104 while surrounded by her family at their home in Richmond, Calif. When she became a ranger in 2004, Soskin brought her lived experiences as a Black woman to her work at the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National…

If there’s one thing the United States is good at, according to the mainstream media, it’s exporting problems. That’s especially true when it comes to firearms. No matter where a gun turns up, if it can be linked to the United States in any way, it will be, and it will be chalked up to too few gun control laws here. It’s just the natural order of things, it seems.And, once again, the New York Times has a whole story about the issue of American guns fueling crime in another country. This time, it’s Canada.Guns…

Last week brought headline-grabbing news that had a lot of people celebrating. And a lot of gun owners scratching their heads. President Donald Trump signed an executive order reclassifying cannabis from a Schedule I controlled substance to Schedule III, a move that opens the door to expanded medical research and signals a shift in federal drug policy. But if you’re a gun owner, or hoping to become one, William Kirk, president of Washington Gun Law, says the short answer is simple: This changes nothing for firearms possession. In a recent breakdown, Kirk explains that while cannabis has been reclassified, it…

Federal law enforcement officials said they now have “more tools” to pursue drug traffickers after President Donald Trump last week labeled fentanyl a “weapon of mass destruction,” triggering a broader federal crackdown of the dangerous substance.The designation came through an executive order signed Dec. 16 that classifies illicit fentanyl and related compounds as “weapons of mass destruction,” directing federal agencies nationwide to treat the synthetic opioid as a national security threat under counter WMD frameworks typically reserved for chemical weapons.The White House said the move reflects fentanyl’s extreme lethality, its role in tens of thousands of overdose deaths each year,…

The United States ruling class is not giving up and intends to steal more oil from Venezuela. The US Coast Guard is in “active pursuit” of an oil tanker in international waters near Venezuela as tensions in the region continue to escalate and could ignite a war with the South American nation. US authorities have already seized two oil tankers this month – one of them on Saturday, accoridng to a report by The BBC. Beijing Condemns Trump’s Gunboat Diplomacy After China-Bound Tanker Seizure Sunday’s pursuit of the vessel is related to a “sanctioned dark fleet vessel that is part of…