On October 20, 2025, in a room scrubbed clean for statecraft, the leaders of the United States and Australia announced a pact. The numbers were large, commitments of $1 billion each, a pipeline worth $8.5 billion, and another $2.2 billion in letters of interest. The language was of strategic reassurance: “securing critical minerals,” “building an allied supply chain.” They spoke of a gallium plant in Western Australia, of the Nolans project in the Northern Territory.

What was stated only in the careful argot of diplomacy was the anxiety. The pact was not a gesture of optimism. It was a $10.7 billion hedge against a future held hostage. The objects of this anxiety are the rare-earth elements. They are the “vitamins” of modern technology, a group of 17 soft, silvery metals that, while not strictly rare, are rarely found in concentrations that make extraction anything but a geologic and chemical trial. We seldom see or think about them, yet they are the invisible underpinning of the contemporary world.

For all our talk of the virtual, our civilization runs on materials.

We carry them in our pockets, these bits of refined earth. Neodymium and praseodymium form the tiny, powerful magnets that make an electric vehicle motor turn and a wind turbine spin. Lanthanum and cerium provide the optical clarity for a camera lens. Europium and yttrium are the phosphors that make a smartphone screen vivid. They are virtually indispensable to the high-tech, high-speed, high-definition life we have constructed for ourselves. They are also indispensable to the machinery of modern defense: the precision-guided missiles, the jet engines, the radar systems.

There is a profound cultural dislocation at work here. We have come to believe in the immateriality of our age. We speak of the “cloud,” of data, of software, as if these things were weightless, existing only as light and logic. The rare-earth scramble is a reminder that the most ethereal digital experience is tethered to the physical crust of the Earth. The cloud has a body, and that body is dug from the ground, often with toxic solvents and radioactive tailings.

China has become the center of this industry, not by accident, but by design, and by a failure of Western imagination. Decades ago, Beijing designated rare earths as “protected and strategic minerals,” while the United States, under the sway of environmental regulation and market efficiencies, allowed its own production to atrophy. The Mountain Pass mine in California, once the world’s leader, went dark in 2002, while China embraced the dirty, complex, and unprofitable “downstream” work: the refining and processing of these rare earths.

The result is a near-monopoly.

RELATED: This city bought 300 Chinese electric buses — then found out China can turn them off at will

Photo by VCG / Contributor via Getty Images

By 2025, Chinese firms controlled perhaps 90% of global rare-earth refining and 93% of magnet manufacturing. And with control comes leverage. In 2010, a territorial dispute with Japan was punctuated by China’s abrupt halt of rare-earth exports, sending global prices into panic. By 2025, the mechanism was more refined: new export rules targeting high-performance magnets, rules that, when briefly tightened, shut down supply chains for automakers. This is the power to turn off the assembly line. This is the power to ground the jets.

We have seen this story before. We call rare earths “the new oil,” and in doing so, we betray a certain exhaustion. We are merely rerunning the script of the 20th century. The 1973 oil embargo revealed the strategic peril of relying on a single region for the nonnegotiable fuel of the economy. The current scramble, the U.S.-Australia pact, the Pentagon-funded reopening of Mountain Pass, the talk of “urban mining” to reclaim neodymium from old hard drives, is the same reflex. It is the belated, frantic effort to diversify, to stockpile, to rebuild what was lost, to avoid being held hostage.

The script is older even than oil. It is the story of the Bronze Age, defined by the desperate, sprawling trade networks required to secure tin. It is the story of the Iron Age, where mastery of a new metal conferred dominance. It is, as Plato observed in the Republic, the inevitable story of the “luxurious city.” A simple society, Socrates argued, a “city of pigs,” lives in peace. But the moment a society desires more (fine furniture, luxuries, or, for us, a high-speed data plan), it must expand. It “inevitably goes to war to secure resources.”

Our digital city is the luxurious city. We crave the wind turbine and the EV motor, what we call the “green” transition, but we find it relies on the same “rare green.” We crave the vivid screen and the smart missile. And so we are compelled to scour the globe, to make pacts, to engage in resource diplomacy.

This quest is not a move into a new technological future but a return to the oldest imperatives. It is the hard reminder that for all our talk of the virtual, our civilization runs on materials. The hunt for rare earths forces us to confront the weight of our lightness, to see the shadow that our digital lives cast upon the actual, finite earth. It is, and always has been, a scramble for the dirt.

​Rare earths, Tech, China, Minerals 

I do a lot of things for work. I take photos, I take videos, I write stories, I write columns, I write about style, and I write about life.

I also help guys dress better. Officially it’s called style advising, but down to brass tacks, it means me helping guys get clothes they are happy with. Helping them get rid of the junk that sits in their closet that they never wear and get into clothes that make them look, and feel, their best.

Exercising creative control in the physical space feels good in a way that’s deeper than exercising the same kind of creativity in the digital space.

It’s one of the most rewarding things I do. I know lots of guys dismiss the importance of clothes, but they do so at their peril. Our clothes really do have a huge impact on our psychological state. They can make us pretty unhappy or pretty happy.

Ready to wear

Does that make us “superficial”? No. It’s an acknowledgment of the fact that what we wear represents who we are to others —and to ourselves. If you aren’t happy with how you present yourself, you aren’t going to be happy with yourself. It’s that simple.

So I take personal satisfaction from watching a guy transform his wardrobe over the course of a year or two. What’s particularly satisfying is observing how his attitude toward clothing changes as he overhauls his closet.

The process usually starts with a pragmatic interest in not looking like a slob. Achieving a baseline presentability eliminates any negative attention slovenly dress attracts. From that point he may start to notice that looking a little more “put together” actually attracts positive attention. And once he starts to experience the fruits of dressing decently in public, he’s ready to start enjoying his clothes.

This means he’s comfortable and confident enough that he no longer sees dressing himself as a test to get “right,” but as an opportunity for personal expression and creativity. Clothes finally become what they’re meant to be: fun.

Or as a client deep into his own wardrobe revamp recently told me, “I’m just blown away by how fun this stuff can get.”

What a difference in attitude and mindset. A realization like that is generally a sign that a certain kind of psychological transformation has been completed.

RELATED: Corduroys: The perfect winter trousers

Making the man

I’m aware that the word “fun” may connote something shallow or frivolous — and in some respects clothing can be both. But the pleasure we derive from clothing also derives from its deeper meaning: the way it reinforces the eternal forms of man and woman, emphasizes our dignity as human beings made in the image of God, and reflects our culture, values, and even religious beliefs.

Remember the pastel cars of the 1950s? It’s hard to believe it, but there was a time when when cars weren’t only black, gray, or white. There was a time when cars were fun. Well, it’s the same thing with clothes. If you really look at the stuff the guys were wearing back in those old movies, they were actually having much more fun than the guy who wears dark jeans, a black T-shirt, and a gray hoodie in 2025. Coming to the final realization that clothes should be fun is actually a kind of returning to tradition.

Creative control

The thoughtfully designed, personal interior of your home feels more welcoming than an airport terminal. A carefully cultivated garden is more beautiful than an expanse of artificial turf. And a well-fitting and harmonious combination of shirt, jacket, and trousers is more flattering than a prison-like monochrome sweatsuit.

There’s also a peculiar psychological benefit to embracing clothes as a domain of fun. Exercising creative control in the physical space feels good in a way that’s deeper than exercising the same kind of creativity it in the digital space.

In our screen-dominant era, the experience of joyfully controlling your personal environment is humanizing and refreshing. It’s good to like how you look and know that you are the one responsible for it. It feels like we are actually doing something rather than just moving pixels around.

Of course, it goes without saying that not all fun is good fun. We know that’s true about all sorts of stuff in life. Many a bad decision sure was fun at the time. So it goes with the temporary thrill of donning stupid neon graphic T-shirts, grotesque Crocs, alien-green sweatpants printed with pizza motifs.

Many men today begin their style journey as overgrown children who have enjoyed this “bad” kind of fun for most of their lives: the dumb T-shirts and the stupid shoes. But then they decide to grow up, and after working through their wardrobe, they come to understand that these classic clothes are not just good for the soul or society. They are fun, and they are the right kind of fun, the kind of fun that edifies and enriches us.

​Men’s style, Menswear, Clothing, Lifestyle, Culture, The root of the matter 

Minneapolis is still counting votes in its ranked-choice mayoral race after no candidate received more than 50% of the votes in the first round.

‘Everybody, this city showed up once again. … We got what appears to be near record turnout. And I’ll tell you what — it looks damn good for us.’

Minneapolis residents cast their votes between incumbent Mayor Jacob Frey (D), who is seeking a third term, and over a dozen other candidates. Voters were allowed to rank up to three candidates.

Frey held a 10-point lead over state Sen. Omar Fateh (D), considered his top challenger, in voters’ first-choice results. Frey received approximately 61,000 votes, which accounted for only 42% of the total, not enough to declare him the winner.

The mayoral election will now proceed to a second round of counting to determine the winner. In each round, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and their ballots are redistributed to the next-ranked candidates on voters’ ballots. This process continues until one candidate secures a majority of the votes.

The Minneapolis mayoral races have gone to at least a second round of tabulations since 2013. Frey won after six rounds in 2017 and after two rounds in 2021.

RELATED: Socialist surge: Minneapolis mayor left in the lurch after DFL Party endorses far-left challenger obsessed with race

State Sen. Omar Fateh, Rep. Ilhan Omar. Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

Fateh, a Muslim Somali American and progressive Democrat who has been compared to New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, secured the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party’s endorsement in July, defeating Frey. However, that endorsement was rescinded a month later, citing “substantial failures in the Minneapolis Convention’s voting process.”

Fateh was endorsed by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who hoped to boost his campaign by joining him on the campaign trail.

“I am really excited to have her support,” Fateh said. “Minneapolis seems to be a tale of two cities: one for the wealthy and well-connected and one for everyone else.”

RELATED: The woke party’s favorite costume: Moderation

Jacob Frey. Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

Gov. Tim Walz (D) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D) endorsed Frey.

While it is still possible for Fateh to squeak out a victory over Frey, the current mayor holds a comfortable lead.

“Everybody, this city showed up once again. … We got what appears to be near record turnout. And I’ll tell you what — it looks damn good for us,” Frey stated at an election night party.

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​News, Minneapolis, Minneapolis mayoral race, Minnesota, Jacob frey, Omar fetah, Ilhan omar, Democratic-farmer-labor party, Dfl, Tim walz, Amy klobuchar, Politics 

On November 3, Dick Cheney, former U.S. vice president under George W. Bush, passed away at the age of 84 from complications of pneumonia, compounded by longstanding cardiac and vascular disease.

He is a man who leaves behind a most “complicated legacy,” says Glenn Beck.

In 1989 as the secretary of defense under President George H.W. Bush, Cheney brought the mentality that “a nation that can’t defend itself isn’t going to remain free” to the military. He modernized, refined, and finalized former President Ronald Reagan’s defense revival, leading to a swift and surgical Gulf War victory, all while masterfully navigating post-Cold War budget cuts.

“For the first time in decades, Americans felt pride without apology when it came to our military,” says Glenn.

In 2001, Republican candidate George W. Bush chose Cheney as his running mate — a decision Glenn says secured his presidency, as Americans trusted that Cheney’s military experience and success would balance Bush’s inexperience in national security. On September 11, 2001, when the Twin Towers collapsed while the president was occupied at an event in Florida, Cheney stepped up as the acting president.

“He was steady, emotionless, and firm. He didn’t tremble. He didn’t panic,” says Glenn, “and in those first few hours, America needed that.”

But then Cheney — a key architect of the Iraq War that ensued after 9/11 — started down a dark path. “[The war] just stretched on and on and on, and the mission became blurry. Freedom became a slogan instead of a strategy, and freedom started to take a different meaning here in America,” says Glenn.

Cheney was a pivotal force in the rapid passing of the Patriot Act — a set of policies that expanded federal surveillance, detention, and intelligence-gathering powers — as well as the formation of the Department of Homeland Security and the expansion of FISA surveillance powers.

“None of those things had anything to do with freedom,” says Glenn.

Then when the anthrax attacks started, it was Cheney who insisted the U.S. expand its defensive bioweapons research programs, culminating in Project BioShield, which allocated $5.6 billion to accelerating research, development, and procurement of countermeasures against biological threats.

“So it was Dick Cheney that urged men like Dr. Anthony Fauci to push research further, faster into what we now call gain of function,” says Glenn.

Looking back at the mixed bag of Cheney’s accomplishments, Glenn says his life “offers both a chance to give medals and lessons.”

He teaches us both “the virtue of strength and the peril of excess.”

“He was the iron for many years in America’s spine after decades of doubt. But he was also a reminder that iron rusts if it is left unexamined,” says Glenn.

“Dick Cheney was a conservative for a man of his time, but he lost one of the main principles, and that is: Conservatives believe in the rule of law and the Constitution. He’s a patriot, yes, but he’s also a warning to us. He helped America find its courage, but he also taught us how easily courage can drift into control.”

To hear more of Glenn’s commentary and analysis, watch the clip above.

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​The glenn beck program, Glenn beck, Dick cheney, Blazetv, Blaze media, Cheney 

Nebraska law enforcement officers said a 47-year-old woman early last week informed them that her 31-year-old boyfriend had strangled her five to six times that day and had been preventing her from contacting authorities and leaving his presence.

It turns out the alleged victim was able to finally get the attention of police — with the help of a Walmart employee.

Barnhouse didn’t let her leave for the previous two days, as she was trying to get her belongings from the camper and return home to Kansas, officials added.

Gage County Sheriff’s deputies around 5:45 p.m. Oct. 28 responded to the Diamond T Truck Stop Camper Row on US HWY 77 just north of Beatrice for an assault that had occurred earlier in the day, the sheriff’s office said.

RELATED: Male, 55, accused of grabbing 15-year-old by neck, throwing him to floor of In-and-Out Burger — and it’s all caught on video

Image source: Gage County (Neb.) Sheriff’s Office

Upon arrival, deputies made contact with the 47-year-old woman from Hutchinson, Kansas, who told deputies that her boyfriend — 31-year-old Justis Barnhouse — had strangled her five to six times that afternoon, officials said.

Barnhouse took the woman’s cell phone so she couldn’t contact police about the incident, officials said. Barnhouse didn’t let her leave for the previous two days, as she was trying to get her belongings from the camper and return home to Kansas, officials added.

However, officials said that when the woman and Barnhouse went to the Walmart in Beatrice, she got the attention of a Walmart employee and asked the worker to follow her to the restroom.

The sheriff’s office said that allowed the woman to give the employee details about the strangulation — and the employee notified law enforcement.

When deputies arrived at the Diamond T Truck Stop Camper Row, officials said Barnhouse was there — and deputies arrested Barnhouse for assault by strangulation as well as third-degree domestic assault with two priors.

Barnhouse was lodged at the Gage County Detention Center on his charges, officials said. Jail records indicate Barnhouse was still behind bars Wednesday morning.

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​Crime thwarted, Walmart, Walmart employee, Nebraska, Assault by strangulation charge, Beatrice, Gage county sheriff’s office, Crime