Trump calls the blockade ‘unbelievably effective’ as Marines fast-rope onto ships and seize Iranian oil tankers On Tuesday, U.S. Marines from USS Tripoli once again fast-roped from their MH-60 Seahawk helicopters onto the deck of a suspicious container ship named Blue Star III heading for Iran. That makes a total of 39 vessels turned back, boarded or seized since April 13. Read here and below. “The blockade has been unbelievably effective,” President Donald Trump said on Sunday. Economic pressure is the main [ Read More…]

Speech was meant to celebrate America’s 250th birthday but arrived at time of tension King Charles III delivered the speech of his life before Congress on Tuesday.  Digging deep into his family history, his Christian faith, and his hopes for the ties between America and Britain, the speech by King Charles was originally scheduled to celebrate America’s 250th birthday.  It might end up saving the world’s most consequential alliance. Read here and below. Great Britain was once indisputably America’s number [ Read More…]

By Paul Steidler: This Wednesday evening, April 29, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) will hold a controversial forum, “The Existential Threat of AI.” As an added draw to the doom and gloom, he has recruited two AI experts affiliated with China’s government, incurred the wrath of U.S. Treasury Scott Bessent, and received much other attention for the event. The forum, though, will do nothing for his Vermont constituents, who are saddled with some of the country’s highest electricity bills and hardly [ Read More…]

The Federal Communications Commission is ready to move satellite internet broadband into the modern era.  “We’re all gas, no brakes, when it comes to the space economy,” FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in an April 14 interview on CNBC.  Now the FCC is taking an important step: updating rules for how communications satellites share the electromagnetic spectrum allocated.  Spectrum deconfliction is based on a measure called Equivalent Power Flux Density (EPFD).  The current EPFD rule was written in 1997 and took effect [ Read More…]

As U.S. Navy forces seized an illicit Iranian oil tanker in the Indian Ocean, President Donald J. Trump authorized the U.S. Navy to “shoot to kill” if Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps navy fast boats try to lay mines or otherwise disrupt operations in the Strait of Hormuz.  “I’m hereby ordering that activity to continue but at a tripled-up level,” Trump posted Apr. 23.  The next morning, FOX News anchor Ashley Strohmier led off the discussion on Iran and China.  Highlights [ Read More…]

By Paul Steidler: Ever wonder where those daily and more frequent scam calls originate from? Increasingly, the answer is a foreign-based, sophisticated, industrialized facility where victims of human trafficking use sophisticated technology in well-organized campaigns to fleece America’s elderly and others. The Wall Street Journal documented these trends in an April 21 front-page story, “How Cybercrime Became a Leading Industry in ‘Scambodia’.” Cambodia is one of several countries with rampant industrialized scam operations. The story said, “U.S. authorities estimated annual [ Read More…]

Why should you read another book about Abraham Lincoln? Because you have never seen him as Matthew Pinsker reveals him in his new, deeply researched, provocative Boss Lincoln: The Partisan Life of Abraham Lincoln. “At times a cold-blooded hatchet man” is how Pinsker describes our 16th President, who is so often portrayed as a lonely, politically naive man, frustrated and hobbled by his cabinet members and his generals. This is a deep dive into the back story of the man [ Read More…]

At this moment in time, President Donald J. Trump has control of the Strait of Hormuz.  His short-term goal, of course, is to pressure Iran’s leaders to give up their nuclear ambitions.  Yet Trump’s blockade is also a major geopolitical hammer on China.  For now, oil and petrochemical shipments will flow out of that waterway only under the rules of U.S. Navy.  All China can do is watch. Read here and below. “If any of these ships come anywhere close [ Read More…]

Acquisition reform at the Pentagon is about to meet a new challenge: the drone gold rush. Already a popular talking point in the building, drones featured prominently in the fiscal 2027 budget. Look no further than the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group (DAWG), which reportedly has a $54 billion budget for the next five years — up from just $226 million in FY26.  Managing major growth in unmanned systems won’t be easy, and will require different thinking. But it won’t require total reinvention, [ Read More…]

Major electricity price problems preceded the AI/data center boom. In fact, data center investments can help reduce consumers’ electricity costs, as has already happened in several states. America’s electric power policy-making process is broken. There are vicious local and national political fights, e.g., natural gas vs. offshore wind.America needs to expand and modernize its electric system. This means rapidly building power plants and transmission infrastructure to increase supply, lower cost, and improve distribution. It means cutting staggering amounts of red [ Read More…]