Author: Michael

We are so used to Vladimir Putin leading Russia that it rarely seems that there could be a different president someday. He has created a cult of personality, eliminated all opposition, and limited dissent so well that there is no reason to believe that even a violent coup could take him down. But he can’t live forever. There are usually reports discussing his various health issues, but these are often just internet rumors. Putin just keeps ticking.

He may also be hiding in an underground command center, fearing assassination from Ukrainian drone strikes. He is definitely a marked man.

Ukraine’s forces aim to build on its frontline progress by targeting Russian logistics along its operational depth at the rear.

Global oil markets are behaving as though the Strait of Hormuz crisis is not temporary, despite continued public optimism from the Trump administration about negotiations with Iran, and analysts warn that inventory drawdowns and rising summer fuel demand could bring global oil inventories to “minimum operational levels.

Americans tend to be thought of as gun-toting cowboys with a “big iron” on their hips. This might stem from the nostalgia of the “Wild West” that led to a boom of 1950s and 1960s Westerns in American pop culture. It might also stem from a romanticized version of the actual Wild West of the late 19th century.
Also Read: The Colt Detective Special was America’s concealed carry of choice through Vietnam
In fairness, the U.S. military has had a long-standing relationship with the classic six-shot revolver.

The U.S. Navy plans to fire Castelion’s Blackbeard hypersonic missile from an F/A-18 Super Hornet by 2027. Built by former SpaceX engineers, Blackbeard is a low-cost, Mach 5 weapon designed for high-volume production at a fraction of what Lockheed or Raytheon charge. The Navy has committed roughly $379 million through its MACE program, and the Army is eyeing a HIMARS-launched variant. If successful, the missile could help narrow America’s hypersonic gap with China.

The F/A-18 Super Hornet Goes Hypersonic 

U.S.

With the 2026 Midterms less than six months away, it is high time that the ruling Republican Party, generally, and the “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) coalition, specifically, prepare itself for what is likely to be a decisive defeat at the polls in November.

That’s because the scion of the MAGA movement, President Donald J. Trump, initiated a deeply unpopular war of choice against the Islamic Republic of Iran on February 28.

This morning, I went on my hometown radio station, 99.7 WPRO, in Providence, Rhode Island, to talk about the war in Iran and the opening of the Strait of Hormuz. Let’s just say I was not a fan favorite when I explained that we could soon be looking at $6.00 gasonline prices and a global oil shortage if the situation isn’t resolved soon.

Clearly, time is running out to avoid an energy shock; the American people aren’t feeling it in full just yet, thanks to the drawdown of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

A federal jury has convicted a man for the drug-related killings of a soldier and an Army veteran with ties to elite units at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in 2020 — murdering one during a cocaine deal gone bad and the second deep in the base’s pine woods to cover his tracks. 
Kenneth Maurice Quick, Jr., 26, was convicted May 16 on eight counts related to the shooting deaths of Master Sgt. William “Billy” Lavigne, 37, and Army veteran Timothy Dumas, 44, in December 2020.

Over the last several days, the Russian Federation launched one of the largest combined missile-and-drone attacks on Kyiv (and other Ukrainian cities) seen in months. Western reporting described hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles used, including Russia’s newer Oreshnik intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile system.

Per Reuters, Ukrainian officials claim that the Russian strikes killed civilians, damaged civilian infrastructure in the historic city, and injured many more.

Ukraine launched attack drones and Western-supplied cruise missiles at targets within Russian-occupied Crimea earlier this week, striking several administrative buildings and related infrastructure. The strikes may be part of Kyiv’s wider pressure campaign against entrenched Russian forces on the peninsula. Ukraine is making more progress on the battlefield than perhaps at any time since the 2023 counteroffensive — once again raising the prospect of a Ukrainian recapture of Crimea.

Recent Ukrainian Strikes on Russian-occupied Crimea

Storm Shadow Missile.