You’re either a globalist neocon interventionist‚ or you are a pacifist who will sit idly while attacked. Is that the false choice we want to navigate as conservatives?After years of wasting time‚ talent‚ and treasure on urban renewal projects in Baghdad and Kabul‚ the U.S. military is exhausted and the public’s resolve is depleted when it comes to deploying the military overseas. And rightly so. When we finally divested from the 20-year debacle in Iraq and Afghanistan‚ we immediately barreled headfirst into another long-standing ethnic territorial dispute in eastern Ukraine. As such‚ there are understandably reactionary forces who will oppose any use of the military even when it’s justified. The idiocy of the neocon grift is driving some on the right to treat the Houthi attacks on shipping lanes as another foreign policy debacle we must ignore. Except we cannot ignore it.Until the half-hearted airstrikes last week‚ the Biden administration allowed a two-bit‚ goat-molesting‚ cholera-ridden group of primitives in Yemen to shut down global shipping in the Red Sea‚ endangering global trade‚ raising prices‚ and making products more difficult to come by.Biden’s passive approach to the Houthi declaration of war on shipping is not merely an exercise in weak foreign policy‚ emblematic of a Defense Department whose Cabinet secretary was hospitalized with nobody in the chain of command aware of his dire situation. It is yet another subterfuge to ensure the cost of living domestically remains high. There is simply no other way to interpret how the Houthis can continue their piracy operations in the face of our $1 trillion annual defense spending with the greatest naval and air power the world has seen. According to Port Watch‚ the seven-day moving average of shipping at the Bab el-Mandeb Strait is down a whopping 54% over the past month. Metric tons of trade coming through the strait are down by more than 50% as shipping costs from China to Europe surge uncontrollably. Why would we need a coalition of 13 countries to deal with a bunch of cavemen?At the current trajectory‚ if the Houthis are not stopped‚ shipping at this critical outlet of the Red Sea into the Gulf of Aden will grind to a halt. The Houthis have attacked more than two dozen ships in the Red Sea since November. This has forced most ships to reroute around Africa and the Cape of Good Hope. Given that roughly 30% of global container shipping carrying over 1 billion tons of goods worth $1 trillion per year sails through the Suez Canal‚ this disruption will harm consumers and producers worldwide.In recent years‚ more than twice the tonnage of cargo has traversed the Suez Canal as the Panama Canal‚ which‚ incidentally‚ is also suffering from reduced shipping volume due to a severe drought.Rerouting shipping around the horn of Africa adds up to 22 days of travel for fuel tankers traveling from the Middle East to Europe. Ikea announced that the de facto shipping embargo through the Red Sea “will lead to delays and may limit the availability of some products.”Thus far‚ the Houthis have used anti-ship ballistic missiles‚ drones‚ attack helicopters‚ and old-fashioned piracy tactics to harass and even capture ships traveling the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea. The Houthis have even directly challenged U.S. warships in the region‚ yet the U.S. Navy has so far declined to launch a sustained counteroffensive against Houthi infrastructure. On January 3‚ the United States‚ Australia‚ Bahrain‚ Belgium‚ Canada‚ Denmark‚ Germany‚ Italy‚ Japan‚ Netherlands‚ New Zealand‚ Singapore‚ and the United Kingdom released a statement warning that they are “determined to hold malign actors accountable for unlawful seizures and attacks.” The alliance was designated “Operation Prosperity Guardian.”But these threats ring hollow given how much leeway the Biden administration has given the primitive terrorists for nearly two months. Why would we need a coalition of 13 countries to deal with a bunch of cavemen? For an small fraction of the cost of our aid to Ukraine‚ we could wipe out their capability to launch these attacks. Why else have such an expensive and robust military?Last week‚ Biden ordered the military to lob a few missiles at Yemen‚ a move reminiscent of Bill Clinton’s vanity bombing of an aspirin factory in Sudan on August 20‚ 1998‚ following al-Qaeda’s attack on the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. None of this has deterred the Houthis‚ as they launched a missile at the U.S.-owned‚ Greek-operated Chem Ranger on Thursday. That followed a pair of attacks on the U.S.-owned Gibraltar Eagle and the Genco Picardy earlier in the week.Even Biden conceded‚ “Are they stopping the Houthis? No. Are they going to continue? Yes.” Clearly‚ the Biden administration doesn’t want to antagonize its Iranian friends‚ who are sponsors of the Houthis. Also‚ because the piracy is primarily targeting Israel‚ the Biden administration likely believes that the Houthi attack could become an ancillary benefit in grinding Israel’s offensive in Gaza to a halt. Don’t discount the fact that the Biden administration is also embracing the opportunity to harm American consumers along with Israelis. Roughly 10% of all global oil transports pass through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. A little more than half of all liquid natural gas trade moves east through the Suez Canal. As we saw with the onset of the Ukraine-Russia war‚ the left views an oil crisis as an opportunity to wean us off sustainable and prosperous living in favor of its dystopian dream of carbon-free — aka human-free — living. Early indications show that the U.S.-led coalition letter was all bluster. The crew of a Singapore-flagged ship sailing through the straits earlier this month transmitted a message “no link to Israel” in order to protect themselves. Singapore happens to be one of the coalition members. They are clearly trying to appease the Houthis and Iran by isolating Israel and complying with their demands. Enough of this. Congress needs pass a binding resolution to establish a kill zone perimeter within the straits authorizing the destruction of any Iranian asset that comes near a cargo ship. We don’t need to get involved in the land-based Islamic civil war among the Houthis‚ the Saudi-backed Hadi government‚ and al-Qaeda in Yemen itself‚ as the Wall Street Journal editorial board and neocons are advocating. But we also must not become a bunch of weak pacifists in response to the inane Wilsonian policies of past Republican leaders.Our trillion-dollar military is now immeasurably superior to the small forces that existed when Thomas Jefferson dispatched the Navy to vanquish the Barbary pirates‚ while the Houthis are not any less primitive than their early 19th-century North African predecessors. If we can’t keep the shipping lanes open 200 years later‚ why go deeper into debt to keep funding this military?

A social media account for MSNBC host Joy Reid proved why sexually explicit materials are not acceptable in any environment at any time.On Friday‚ Reid debated Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice over what Reid called "book bans‚" referring to the movement of parents demanding that sexually explicit and woke books be removed from school libraries.At one point during the frustrating interview — in which Reid repeatedly interrupted Justice and barely allowed her to answer questions or make rebuttals — Reid invoked "All Boys Aren't Blue‚" a controversial book replete with abusive and sexually explicit material. Reid claimed that parents are taking "out-of-context" passages from the book to make their removal demands and asserted that such parents do not hold sufficient "expertise" to make clams about the book."What is the expertise that you have and other Moms for Liberty advocates have to decide that a book‚ an award-winning book like 'All Boys Aren't Blue‚' isn't appropriate for students read?" Reid asked."What a tragic story of a young man who is anally raped by his adult family members. So you have incest‚ rape‚ pedophilia‚" Justice responded. "In what context is a strap-on dildo acceptable for public school? That's my question to you."Tell me what context around a strap-on dildo or the rape of a minor child by a teacher —" she continued when Reid interrupted her.The MSNBC host tried to discredit Justice by asking her what the main character's name is in "All Boy's Aren't Blue‚" a question Justice answered correctly. Reid‚ however‚ never answered Justice's question but expressed offense that Justice would dare make an inquiry of her. "What I am saying to you is you are not an expert in this book‚" Reid later said."I don't have to be an expert to know that dildos are not appropriate for public school‚ I mean‚ come on. Let's get real‚" Justice shot back.The X account for Reid's show‚ "The ReidOut‚" later posted the exchange about "All Boy's Aren't Blue." Ironically‚ the post censored the phrase "strap-on dildo" — instead writing "XXXXX-XX-XXXXX" — thus proving Justice's argument that groups of people‚ organizations‚ and society make concerted decisions that some words and content are not appropriate for any and every circumstance. — (@) "If Joy Reid isn't comfortable writing "strap-on dildo" on X‚ why does she demand that it be made available to children in public schools?" activist Christopher Rufo noted. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Wakeman will not only perform music from throughout his lengthy career‚ but will also introduce a new work. The post Rick Wakeman Announces Final Solo Tour appeared first on Best Classic Bands.

The legendary singer-songwriter and performer had posted a brief message on his social media accounts: "Did I wait too long" The post Billy Joel to Release 1st New Song in 17 Years‚ ‘Turn the Lights Back On’ appeared first on Best Classic Bands.

What are the Monopoly Go Ski Stars rewards? There's a fresh new event going on in Hasbro's mobile take on the ever-popular board game‚ and it's a great way to get a bunch of in-game rewards with very little effort. You'll need a lot of rolls to make it happen‚ but in rounding up the benefits and outlining how to make the most of it‚ you'll know what's worth grabbing this time around and when to consider holding out for the next event later in the week. Making the most of any Monopoly Go event means keeping up with the Monopoly Go events schedule. Once you're aware of the release pattern‚ you'll know when to hold your rolls for future events‚ and when to spend them all to take part in multiple promotions at the same time. For example‚ Monopoly Go dice links surface multiple times each day and can go a long way in maximizing your in-game gains. But if you need a break from all the spinning‚ check out the best online board games to play in its place. Continue reading Monopoly Go Ski Stars rewards MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best board games‚ Free PC games‚ Monopoly Go dice

If you don’t have the $60‚000 plus to put down on a Cybertruck in the next few years‚ or just think it’s a profoundly silly vehicle like I do‚ you can take it for a drive at no cost via a brand new Cyberpunk 2077 mod. The Tesla car that looks like Stubbed Toe Central is available across CDPR’s Night City right now‚ and it fits in quite well. Continue reading Cyberpunk 2077 now has the dumbest car of all time‚ saving you $60k MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty review‚ Best Cyberpunk 2077 mods‚ Buy Cyberpunk 2077

From the ‘90s boomer shooter heyday to around the mid ‘00s‚ FPS games on the PC were unstoppable. Inside 15 years you have Wolfenstein‚ Doom‚ Quake‚ Half-Life‚ Unreal‚ No One Lives Forever‚ Counter-Strike 1.6‚ and Half-Life 2. It’s a golden era. Maybe I’m nostalgic and getting a little old‚ but if you want superb‚ single-player shooters‚ that roughly decade and a half between id Software’s first opus and Valve’s groundbreaking sequel is where you need to look. There’s one FPS‚ however‚ that compared to some of its contemporaries has perhaps been a little forgotten. With incredible bullet time effects‚ spectacular body physics‚ and the best shotgun in the business (barring perhaps Doom 2’s double-barreled icon)‚ this superb slice of FPS history is now yours for just over $1. Continue reading One of the greatest FPS games in PC history is basically $1 MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best FPS games‚ Best old games‚ Best horror games

Who is the Palworld Black Marketeer? While it isn’t a fully-formed system just yet‚ there will eventually be a system of contraband in Palworld‚ and even the ability to steal pals from other players. Getting rid of your illegal goods‚ though‚ that’s the tricky part‚ and exactly where the Black Marketeers come in. Life in Palworld is certainly an interesting affair - our very own Nat’s Palworld early access review explains this perfectly. You can live peacefully‚ if that’s your thing‚ or you can stray to the dark side of pals‚ dipping a toe into the illegal. For those two who do stray to the wrong side of the tracks‚ the Black Marketeer is an NPC that will come in very handy‚ especially if you're trying to smuggle the rarest of the Palworld Pals in the early access version of the game. Continue reading Palworld Black Marketeer NPC guide – all locations‚ Pals‚ and items MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Palworld pals‚ Palworld review‚ Palworld system requirements

Fortnite recently left fans confused with how its in-game invites work‚ with players wondering whether a glitch allowed friends to join creative mode games despite them setting their status to private. Following the confusion‚ Epic Games clarifies that the private status system is working as intended and that friends still being able to join in creative mode is in fact‚ not a bug. Continue reading Fortnite’s divisive invite system isn’t “a glitch‚” it’s intended MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Fortnite map - key locations‚ Fortnite skins‚ All Fortnite Chapter 4 weapons

What are the Monopoly Go Jungle Treasures rewards? Capping off the first month of the new year‚ this multi-day event shakes up the typical mobile board game formula with a brand new way to play. It plays out in tandem with your usual dice rolls and board clear ambitions‚ giving you more reasons to roll and plenty more rewards for doing so. Here's how it works‚ what you can earn‚ and when it all ends. Just getting started with Monopoly Go? Pay close attention to our Monopoly Go events page. Not only does it show past and present events to help you weigh up your in-game options‚ but it also sheds light on the patterns present with each in-game promotion. With Monopoly Go dice links coming in multiple times each day‚ it should be everything you need to make a splash. Looking for something new? Check out the best online board games while you're here. Continue reading Monopoly Go Jungle Treasures rewards MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best board games‚ Free PC games‚ Monopoly Go dice