Feb 25, 2022
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Review by Matthew Nielsen War Is Boring: Bored Stiff, Scared to Death in the World’s Worst War Zones is a graphic novel memoir by David Axe and Matt Bors that follows elements of the war jour…
Matthew Nielsen’s newest comic review
War is Boring takes a look at Puerto Rico’s history with this account of the 1950s bombing of a pro-independence uprising:
In November 2017, more than a month after Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, territory residents continue to die due to lack of access to electricity and running water.
The troubled recovery effort highlights questions over U.S. sovereignty over the island. Puerto Ricans are American citizens, and indeed a majority of Puerto Ricans — five million — live on the U.S. mainland.
However, the 3.4 million residing on the archipelago cannot vote for president, do not pay federal taxes are required by law to import all goods from the United States at high prices and do not have any voting representation in Congress.
The population of Puerto Rico exceeds those of North and South Dakota, Vermont, Wyoming and Alaska combined. Those states together have 10 senators and five voting representatives in Congress. Puerto Rico has none.
However, for years Puerto Ricans voted in referendums to maintain the island’s ambiguous status as a commonwealth, or “free associated state”. A nosediving economy caused both by failures in local governance and policy changes in Washington have caused support for statehood to rise in recent years.
But more than a half-century ago, local nationalists staged a dramatic but little-known revolt seeking just opposite — full independence from the United States.
The post In 1950, the Puerto Rican National Guard bombarded a pro-independence uprising appeared first on Pasquines.
On May 30, 2017, the U.S. Army officially asked industry for information on a new 7.62-by-51-millimeter rifle. The request signals the Army’s intention to begin moving away from the 5.56-by-45-millimeter M-16 and M-4 that have been the ground-combat branch’s main firearms for generations. The Army’s RFI comes hot on the...
My latest defence issues piece for War Is Boring, looking at the US Army’s possible interest in a new 7.62x51mm infantry rifle.
Trump’s Foreign Policy
In this editorial, journalist Nick Turse criticizes Clinton’s proposed foreign policy but expresses shock and uncertainty regarding Trump. Turse, like many Americans, believed Trump had no chance of winning. Compared to Clinton, Trump’s foreign policy plans have been much more vague.
Stock for defense contractors shot upward after Trump won, but it’s unclear what this means. He clearly wants to put huge amounts of money into defense spending, but the specifics of his plan are unknown.
Clinton, on the other hand, outlined numerous strategies. The most controversial was the “No-Fly Zone,” which Obama, Sanders, and even Trump all opposed. Al Jazeera calls the decision insane; this would arguably put us directly at war with Russia.
Trump could be better or worse, depending on who you ask. I certainly think Clinton was a better candidate overall (I’m debating whether to voice my thoughts regarding the Muslim registry, the appointment of Stephen Bannon, and the million other things that are raising red flags), but I was not a fan of her military strategy. Some in the media say Trump doesn’t really have a plan - his secret plan to defeat ISIS has been mocked by the left.
One of the NSA's most powerful tools of mass surveillance makes tracking someone’s Internet usage as easy as entering an email address, and provides no built-in technology to prevent abuse. Today, The Intercept is publishing 48 top-secret and other classified documents about XKEYSCORE dated up to 2013, which shed new light on the breadth, depth and functionality of this critical spy system.
Drawing comics about the NSA for The Intercept: the most secret freelance I’ve ever done. (Thanks to collaborator David Axe for working with me on this!)
I designed the cover for a print-on-demand paperback collection of some of the comics that have been featured on War Is Boring. More information on the collection here - it features my work as well as others' - and a link to a few of my recent comics here.
Hey all! I finished a new comic for War Is Boring over Christmas break and it's up on Medium.com! It's a lighthearted piece about drag shows put on by American soldiers in post-WWII Korea. Happy new year!