It's time for another news roundup of my favorite stories of the past week, as well as our Technical of the week Look at this beauty. A civilian cargo trike with an LMG in the back. This is the African version of me and the other dads slapping a MK-19 on the top of a golf cart before we go mole hunting. No protection for the gunner, no protections for the driver. Just two dudes full of guts. Which is what we'll see if an enemy bullet comes anywhere near these dudes. I will call this technically a Technical since the cargo trikes have an obvious new camo paint job and therefore fits the criter ..read more

Photos by James Stout. Words by Francis Reporter and academic James Stout joined Francis this week to discuss his recent trip to report from the US/Mexico border. It turns out it's a popular crossing spot for people feeling countries America helped wreck. And now that also means Afghan civilians fleeing the Taliban Now I've always had a controversial opinion on Immigration reform in that I believe it should take fifteen minutes to become an American. Renounce your old country, promise to be a good American, and then be given a social security card and sent off to seek their fortunes. Ellis Is ..read more

What better way to kick off an advice column than with one of the most controversial problems plaguing our working class households: The Thermostat *Ideal* is a difficult concept to strive for. What is comfortable for you? Are there parts of your home or apartment which are warmer or colder regardless of the settings? When do you go to sleep and when do you go to work? To answer these questions, I will propose a set of thermostat preset temperatures. The important thing to note is not necessarily the temperature, but the change in the degree ranges. If you like things warmer or colder you can ..read more

This week we got some exciting footage if the first recorded war related drone fight. Unlike what you and your friends do with too much money and alcohol, this drone fight was between Russian and Ukrainian quadcopters vying for uncontested airspace. A good victory, both quick and decisive. However this has brought a few questions my way regarding the status of this as a 'Technical' For those of you wondering what a Technical is, it's any piece of civilian conveyance repurposed for military offensive use. This means using a Silverado to haul around boxes of bullets doesn't count, but welding a ..read more

For the bonus episode this week, Francis did some research (dicked around on Wikipedia) and learned about the time honored tradition of getting pissed off and shooting someone. While the 1800s were a little more gentlemanly than how we do it now, it was no less insane. Take, for example, the French. We have two stories of Frenchmen deciding that using guns to shoot each other is too pedestrian. First we have two men fighting for the affections of a woman. Both liked the IDEA of guns, but the execution of a duel needed to be grander. So they got into balloons, went half a mile up, and shot blun ..read more

This week on the show, Francis discusses sexual health, specifically getting a vasectomy. In the wake of the possible overturn of Roe V. Wade, sexual health is important and dudes don't like talking about any blades near their balls so hopefully this episode can help ease fears if you've been considering one. If you're wanting the short version: Its fairly easy and took maybe three days to feel back to normal. My doctor told me I shouldn't consider it to be reversible since instead of snipping and tying off I had my vas deferens cauterized. Dudes, I understand if all this sounds scary but I pr ..read more

This week Nate and Francis discuss experiences with the VFW and American Legion. Both well established Veterans Service Organizations, the question becomes what use are they on an individual level? We asked on twitter and the responses were...disheartening. The negative experiences from post 9/11 vets was overwhelming. Sexism, racism, gatekeeping from the old guard who don't think our war was as hard as theirs. At the National level these organizations are begging for new members, but if you don't feel welcome then why would anyone join? This is not to say there aren't posts that are very help ..read more

This week, Nate and Francis bring Adrian Bonenberger back to the show. Long time listeners will remember Adrian as one of our former hosts who spent a lot of time in Ukraine after the 2014 invasion. His wife and son are Ukranian, so he has a bit more skin in the game than your average American. In this episode we talk about Adrian's recent time in Ukraine evacuating his in-laws and helping to train civilians in small unit tactics in the event Russia manages to make it to their city. We also discuss the narratives surrounding the war, both the ones we agree with and the ones we don't. War is co ..read more

This week on the show, Francis talks with Task and Purpose journalist Haley Britzky about how the military has managed to dump enough fuel into a Hawaii aquifer that people can nearly light their faucets on fire Some of the finer points of this story: For once the Army was good at communications, literally putting signs on the doors of military families to not drink the tap water and where they could get clean, potable water. The Navy, as usual, dicked around a couple days until they were yelled at enough to put together a PAO package to put out some info. Really all it took was a bunch of ser ..read more

This week on the show, Francis talks with Task and Purpose journalist Haley Britzky about how the military has managed to dump enough fuel into a Hawaii aquifer that people can nearly light their faucets on fire Some of the finer points of this story: For once the Army was good at communications, literally putting signs on the doors of military families to not drink the tap water and where they could get clean, potable water. The Navy, as usual, dicked around a couple days until they were yelled at enough to put together a PAO package to put out some info. Really all it took was a bunch of ser ..read more