Civic Essays
What We Owe the Next Generation
There is a kind of conversation that has gone out of fashion in this country, and we are paying for its absence. It is the conversation older people used to [...]
The Havok Journal | Military & Veteran News, Commentary, Culture
- Pulvis et Umbra Sumus: “We Are Dust and Shadow” August 21, 2026There’s a quiet brutality in the Latin phrase pulvis et umbra sumus—we are dust and shadow. It’s not motivational. It doesn’t belong on a recruiting poster or etched above a gym door. It doesn’t promise glory or legacy or meaning. It simply reminds us of the uncomfortable truth: whatever we build, whatever we fight for, […]Charles Faint
- Islamophobia: What If the Fear Isn’t Irrational? August 21, 2026By an Anonymous Veteran I have been thinking lately about the word Islamophobia. It is a powerful word, and nobody particularly wants it attached to them. In modern American conversation, the accusation can sometimes end a discussion almost immediately. Question some aspect of Islam, criticize a practice associated with Islamic law, or express concern about […]Special Guest
- Why You Want a Physicist to Speak at Your Funeral August 21, 2026Author’s Note: the following was written by Aaron Freeman (1956-), an American physicist, writer, broadcast journalist, and standup comedian, noted for his Jun 2005 NPR talk “Eulogy from a Physicist” and follow-up May 2005 essay “My Inner Particle” both of which are ruminations of a “physicist mindset” in respect to what happens to a person […]Michael Bama Katt
- Marx Is Dead but His Middle Managers Are Thriving August 20, 2026America spent half the twentieth century terrified that communists were infiltrating the country, which was awkward because communists were, in fact, infiltrating the country. This remains one of history’s more embarrassing complications. The Soviet Union ran espionage networks inside the United States. American government employees passed information to Moscow. Soviet intelligence penetrated the Manhattan Project. […]Tammy Pondsmith
- Dad, You’re on a List August 20, 2026My son, Hans, sometimes tells me stories of his youth without any warning. He did that today. He is a combat vet from the most recent Iraq War (deployed there in 2011). I’m a veteran too, but I am Cold War vintage. Anyway, out of the blue, he started telling me about how he enlisted […]Frank Pauc
