After significant pushback from both sides of the aisle and many Americans, Kristi Noem’s tenure as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary is at an end. Her time as secretary could be described as turbulent at best, forever stained by the deaths of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis, Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good, whom she called domestic terrorists, and her authorizing the use of $220 million in taxpayer dollars to run ad campaigns for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), many of which prominently depict her. Noem is likely the only one distressed by her dismissal, as even staunch…

The President who vowed to prevent wars has started another one. Over the weekend, President Donald Trump announced U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran, as well as the death of its Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. To justify the airstrikes, Trump cited the Iranian regime’s crumbling legitimacy as well as its nuclear and missile programs. It is unlikely that any American shed a tear for Khamenei, who encouraged his supporters to chant “Death to America,” funded terrorism and used Iran’s attempts to create nuclear weapons as a bargaining chip. However, this is a deeply unpopular war. According to a CNN…

After its artificial intelligence (AI) model Claude beat out OpenAI, xAI, and Google as the most viable candidate for military use, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has given tech company Anthropic an ultimatum: give the government unfettered access to Claude’s models by February 27th, or be deemed a threat to national security. Hegseth has justified this decision by classifying Anthropic as “woke AI,” arguing that the ethical restraints the company has placed on its models, preventing its use for surveillance or war, put Americans at a disadvantage and thus threaten national security.  This would lead you to believe that the…

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Neil Shen, a Chinese billionaire venture capitalist, has channeled billions from U.S. pension funds and endowments into the Chinese AI sector. Many individuals like Shen, who earned his master’s degree at Yale, are educated in the United States, where they develop wealth and connections, only to later leverage those advantages to benefit China. Some even resort to stealing intellectual property and U.S. trade secrets. Even if these Chinese nationals do not initially come to America with such intentions, a 2017 law compels them to cooperate with Chinese intelligence services. While there has been…

The mysterious Havana Syndrome, named for the location of its first reported cases, has captivated the American public since 60 Minutes broke the story in 2019. Around 1,500 Americans serving abroad in diplomatic and security roles have reported experiencing symptoms ranging from head pressure, ringing or popping in ears, dizziness, fatigue, and nausea to vertigo, migraines, impaired vision, and even memory problems. Those reporting these symptoms have also claimed that their onset came after hearing strange noises or feeling struck by an unseen force. The irregular nature of the symptoms and their origin has prompted many of the victims, defense…

The conflict between Hamas and Israel has largely faded from the headlines since the brokered peace deal. However, UN diplomat Nickolay Mladenov, who is responsible for ensuring accountability on both sides, is raising concerns about their compliance with the agreement. Hamas has not disarmed and continues to launch surprise attacks on Israeli troops, while Israel has persisted with airstrikes and has buried over 50 Palestinians without identifying them. It is troubling that international intervention has not effectively halted this conflict, and neither side seems to respect third-party efforts toward peace. While it may be easy for us to forget about…

Since 2016, Americans, particularly those on the right, have felt growing uncertainty about the level of security in our voting process. A 2022 Gallup poll found that while 85% of Democrats and 67% of Independents were confident in the election process only 40% of Republicans could say the same. Recently President Trump validated these concerns suggesting that we should “nationalize the voting,” calling for Republicans to “…take over the voting, the voting in at least many, 15 places.” Nationalizing voting is illegal, as stated expressly in Article I, Section 4, Clause 1 of the Constitution:The Times, Places and Manner of…

The fatal shooting of Alex Pretti this week has dominated our screens, mere weeks after the tragic shooting of Renee Nicole Good.              We have all undoubtedly seen both incidents from countless angles and heard endless debates over the legality or circumstances that led to each. Being bombarded with these disturbing images of violent interactions and protests, it is hard to see Minneapolis as anything other than a war zone. What these images overlook is the daily lives of those who live and work amongst the chaos. To capture the day-to-day for these Minnesotans is to understand the impact ICE is…

The housing crisis keeps many young Americans up at night. Trump’s recent executive order claims to help Americans rest easier by excluding corporate interests from the housing market. But with a problem as complex as the housing crisis, will this be enough to solve the problem?  And what is its root cause? Corporations buying up all the houses as Trump suggests? Lack of construction worsened by COVID-era supply shortages? Or maybe it’s the baby boomers driving up real estate costs? Let’s break it down.The U.S. Chamber of Commerce states that “The housing crisis stems from a fundamental issue: the construction…

It’s been a busy few weeks for the state department. Maduro has been captured. Protests in Tehran signal the current Iranian regime is coming to an end. Cuba is now in crisis after being denied access to Venezuelan oil. And in the midst of all these serious international issues, the President seems to have created another. Seemingly out of the blue, Trump has insisted that it’s “unacceptable”  for the U.S. to not control Greenland, citing the need to secure the country’s supply of rare earths and interests of China and Russia in the region.  Greenland is a Danish autonomous province…