• Psychological warfare, or PsyOps, aims to influence public opinion and wage the war of words.
• PsyOps missions range from leaflet drops to deceiving the enemy and shaping opinion on foreign soil.
•  The US Army, struggling to fill the ranks of its PsyOps units, released a haunting recruitment video.

In late 2021, the Army Special Operations Command leaders and special forces recruiters had a problem: they needed more enlistees for their Psychological Operations groups.

Experts in persuasion and influence, psychological warfare, or PsyOp, soldiers don't often fit the stereotypical mold of an Army recruit. These individuals tend to live and think outside the norm, and recruitment must meet them via non-traditional means.

In May 2022, recruiters released their first eerie recruitment video: "Ghost in the machine: Psywar." Last week, they released their second: "Ghost in the machine 2."

"Ghosts in the Machine 2" takes the viewer on a journey of introspection. Quotes, both spoken and on screen, music, images and ideas are layered on top of one another to create tension and draw the viewer in.

While the first video focuses on psychological warfare and the shadows, "Ghosts in the Machine 2" emphasizes that words and ideas can be powerful weapons.

The final scene in the second video displays the text "See you at Selection" and provides viewers with the web address of the US Army Special Operations Recruiting website (GoArmySOF.com).

"We're all nerds for sure"

The videos are designed to garner curiosity from the specific type of recruit that they're looking for.

"We're all nerds for sure," the Army major who created the ad and a member of the 8th Psychological Operations Group based at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, told the Associated Press. "But we're all nerds in different ways."

Usually, those who are drawn to the job are "planners," he said. "They're writers, they're great thinkers. They're idea people."

He said they are often creative — artists and illustrators — but others are tech experts who can bring ideas to life in online messaging.

Trying to make PsyOps understood by potential enlistees

In March, a report found that due to "burnout" issues among psyop soldiers, units were unable to fight both China and Russia in the information war.

But part of the recruitment issue is that people who could be good candidates don't fully understand what PsyOps is or what it involves.

The video aims to recruit future PsyOps soldiers and show applicants what their jobs will entail.

" 'Ghost in the Machine' tells you what psychological operations is, and shows you it, without telling you in words," Lt. Col. Steve Crowe, commander of the Special Forces Recruiting Battalion, told AP.

"You watch the video, and you're like, OK, this is how I'll influence and change behavior."

Recruiters told AP that about six months after the first video was released, 51% of soldiers who applied for the PsyOps mission and got into the assessment and selection course said the video had a medium to high influence on their decision to try out for the job.

The US has been using PsyOps for years

One of the most renowned psychological operations occurred during World War II. The US Ghost Army deceived the Germans using inflatable tanks, radio deception, disguises, and impersonations.

In what was known as Operation Viersen, they deployed inflatables, sound trucks, and fake headquarters to divert German forces from the actual crossing point of the Rhine River.

PsyOps soldiers have more recently advised Ukrainian troops in their attempts to counter Russian disinformation campaigns since the annexation of Crimea in 2014. 

After the Russian invasion in 2022, Ukrainian forces used a variety of tactics to convince Russian soldiers to surrender. Leaflets and social media posts told Russian troops how and where they could give themselves up.

• LongHorn Steakhouse and Texas Roadhouse are two chains serious about serving the best meat.
• I visited both chains in August to see how each handled the ultimate steak lover's cut, the bone-in rib eye.
• Even though LongHorn delivered the better meal this time, I'd sooner go back to Texas Roadhouse.

It's no secret that Americans love steak.

Look no further than the booming growth of national chains such as LongHorn Steakhouse and Texas Roadhouse, which have both seen substantial gains in new locations and sales in the past year, even as other full-service restaurants are having a rougher time.

Although neither brand has actual origins in the Lone Star state — LongHorn was founded in Georgia in 1981 and Texas Roadhouse in Indiana in 1994 — both have adopted Texas-inspired identities and a mission to serve the best meat.

To put the two porterhouse powerhouses to the test, I visited locations of both chains near Madison, Wisconsin, in August to see how each handles the ultimate steak lover's cut, the bone-in rib eye.

This prime cut is one that every grill master worth their seasoning salt takes great care and pride in getting right, making it a sure measure of a kitchen's talent. Of course, that's only one (obviously important) piece of the puzzle in the restaurant business.

I started off with LongHorn Steakhouse.

This location is open for lunch on weekdays, unlike the Texas Roadhouse nearby.

I was promptly greeted and seated by an exceptionally friendly staff.

My server took my order and quickly brought me ice-cold sweet tea and bread to snack on.

As a Southerner, I like my iced tea with a pronounced flavor, a lot of sugar, and a fresh lemon. LongHorn gets it right.

I had to resist stuffing myself with the bread, which was a warm, fresh multigrain loaf served with whipped butter.

The dimly lit dining rooms in the 572 locations the company operates look about the same.

Darden Restaurants, which also owns Olive Garden, opened 18 LongHorn locations in the past year.

The decor evokes a Western ranch lodge, with cowboy chaps and bull horns adorning the walls.

The styling feels a bit dated compared with recent refreshes at other brands, but other diners seemed comfortable with the consistency.

I was impressed by the size and heft of the steak knife — it was huge!

The blade was a bit cumbersome for spreading butter, but it definitely got me in the mood for meat.

My medium-rare bone-in rib eye landed with a sheen of lemon butter and a side of corn on the cob. It smelled delicious.

I had intended to get fries on the side for a better comparison and to keep the focus on the steak, but this corn simply looked too good to pass up.

The color and char looked just right, and I carved off a large piece to check the temperature.

The pink was more on the "medium" side of "medium rare" but still within the range of what I'd expect from a major chain.

With the first bite, my taste buds were hit with juicy steak flavor, enhanced by bright notes from the peppery rub and citrus butter.

Dubbed the "Outlaw Ribeye," this steak packs a whopping 1,250 calories (790 from fat), according to LongHorn's nutrition guide. The 22-ounce LongHorn porterhouse is slightly larger but leaner.

The texture was nice and firm, with bits of grill char and marbled fat complementing one another.

Turning the bone over, I noticed it was cut to reveal the marrow, which helps transfer some flavor to the meat.

The fire-grilled corn was laden with a crème sauce and panko seasoning, pairing nicely with the steak.

Other sides that caught my eye included the crispy Brussels sprouts, steakhouse mac and cheese, and fried okra. I'll have to go back for those.

Having eaten my fill, I requested the check and a box for the remaining steak.

The steak cost $29.29, plus the tea and a markup for the corn, for a total of $35.47 before tax and tip.

After a genteel pause — about two hours to digest and catch up on emails and phone calls — I headed to Texas Roadhouse for round two.

This location is one of 29 new ones to open in the past year, bringing the total to 647.

Even though it was before dinnertime, the well-staffed restaurant was getting busy with diners.

The average Texas Roadhouse location does roughly $164,000 in weekly revenue, significantly higher than LongHorn's $106,000 average.

The famous display of hand-cut steaks, which are prepared in-house daily, stood near the entrance.

I didn't see a rib eye on display, but the offerings looked tempting.

A host grabbed a basket of warm, sweet rolls and led me to a booth.

Each table had an electronic mini kiosk for ordering, paying, and even playing video games.

The dining-room ambiance was more New Country than Old Western, with exposed wood and neon signs instead of leather and paintings.

The layout was centered on a U-shaped bar, with plenty of TVs showing sports and one playing music videos of the country hits booming over the speakers.

My server brought over an iced tea, which was plenty sweet but less flavorful than the one at LongHorn.

The rolls were also sweeter and less flavorful than LongHorn's loaf, and the steak knife was disappointingly basic, too, but I digress.

My medium-rare bone-in rib eye arrived quickly, with servings of corn and green beans on the side.

I went with corn to try to match the LongHorn meal, but unfortunately, it was not served on the cob. The green beans were generously flecked with pieces of bacon.

The steak had a lighter color, less char, and larger fat portions than the Longhorn version.

Rib eyes get most of their flavor from the marbling of fat, but that can cause the steak to have more gristly bits than some diners like.

A similar initial cut revealed a temperature that was more on the "rare" side of "medium rare."

I interpreted the rareness as a sign the chef was averse to overcooking a steak.

The first bite was phenomenally tender, with an aroma and flavor that had a more pronounced garlic and onion profile.

The seasoning was also a bit salty for my taste, and the sides were somewhat bland.

The restaurant's manager stopped by my table a few minutes later to see how I was enjoying the meal and told me he had cooked my steak personally.

The manager later told me the saltiness of the seasoning is a common critique, but it's one of the only food items that is delivered as is rather than made from scratch in-house. He also said meat prices had been going up, but he was doing his best not to pass that on to customers all at once.

I could also see how the same seasoning and cooking process that would lift a more common steak cut could be a bit of overkill on one as rich as the rib eye.

Plus, I'd bet the seasoning pairs nicely with one of the restaurant's signature margaritas.

At the end of the day, LongHorn came out on top in terms of preparing a more satisfying meal for die-hard steak lovers.

LongHorn's seasoning allowed more of the meat and fire flavors to take center stage, and the sides were more interesting.

The knife wasn't bad, either.

Seriously, just look at that thing.

But when I think about which one I'd rather come back to first — and bring my kids — my choice would be Texas Roadhouse.

The difference between the rib eyes wasn't dramatic, and the prices were comparable. The Texas Roadhouse steak cost $28.99 with two sides — $0.30 less than Longhorn — and the tea was $2.99 for a total of $31.98 before tax and tip. Beyond price, Texas Roadhouse felt more lively and welcoming, with a wider variety of menu options to try for different diners.

That could be why, even as both chains post strong growth, Texas Roadhouse is ahead and extending its lead.

For the most recent quarter, Texas Roadhouse saw same-store sales increase by 8.4% on a 4.3% increase in guest traffic compared with the same period last year. Meanwhile, LongHorn's delivered a very respectable 5.2% sales increase, even with a 2.7% decline in guest counts.

For Texas Roadhouse, the slowdown affecting other casual dining brands is proving to be an opportunity to gain share — and I can definitely see why.

• Alma Rex-Ezonfade took a yearlong sabbatical after years of working non-stop.
• She saved $51,300 for her sabbatical, which she spent on travel and exploring personal interests.
• Despite initial struggles, she found joy in her time off and plans on taking more sabbaticals in the future.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with 31-year-old Alma Rex-Ezonfade based in Toronto, Canada. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

On my 29th birthday, I opened a savings account and put $500 in it. I had told myself that for my 30th birthday, I would gift myself a one-year sabbatical, and this was my first step in making that dream of taking an "adult gap year" a reality.

I was tired of working and always being on top of things. I immigrated to Canada from Nigeria when I was 22 for my master's degree and started working right after graduating. It felt like I had been running on a hamster wheel, and I was just going, going, going, going.

I calculated my budget for the year

Before taking my gap year, I was a customer success manager at Astreya, making around 110,000 CAD ($80,500). I was also a content creator and was making nearly 200,000 CAD ($146,600) a year between my 9-to-5 salary and my income from working with brands and doing campaigns.

I calculated how much I actually needed to save based on my spending at the time.

For necessities like rent, car payments, groceries, gas, phone bill, and utilities, I estimated around 4,200 CAD ($3,100) a month. I also decided I wanted to travel, which I knew would be a bit pricey because I'm not a budget traveler. I planned for 18,000 CAD ($13,200) for two big trips and a number of smaller ones.

Altogether, I calculated that I would need to save around 70,000 CAD ($51,300) for my sabbatical, which I did by putting most of my content creator income into my sabbatical fund. If I didn't have my job as a content creator, I would've picked up a part-time job to generate that supplemental income.

I also cut back on expenses. I was never too shy to just say, "I can't afford that" or "I can't do that activity," because I was planning for something that had way higher priority than going out and spending $200 in one night.

I left my job but struggled to not do anything

Saving up took me a little longer than I had planned, but in April 2023, I quit my job.

The day I quit, I just spent the whole day at home, watching the TV blankly. I didn't do anything else; I just needed my brain to shut off.

On Monday, I woke up at 8 a.m. as usual because I forgot that I didn't have a job. Then I remembered I could sleep in, but I was already awake, so I tried to figure out what my new routine would be.

I started to put together a plan, and then I realized that would just defeat the whole purpose. The plan was to let go.

Still, I didn't feel like I could just not do anything. I found myself planning for my upcoming trips, brainstorming content ideas for my YouTube channel, and posting more regularly on my Instagram page. I had thought about starting my own clothing brand for years, so I started working on ideas for that too.

One of my friends said to me, "The whole point was for you to not work. Why can't you not work?"

The week after I quit, I checked myself into a hotel for a couple of days, ordered room service, and cried the entire time. They were tears of gratitude, tears of exhaustion, tears of relief. I was letting myself feel like, "Okay, I did it, and I'm here."

I was used to being a high performer, managing a team, having deliverables, and doing all these things. I had to get used to the idea of not working and get over feeling like I wasn't useful because I wasn't being productive. I had to shift to having my validation come from my own happiness and seeing my value beyond my work output.

Three weeks into my sabbatical, one of my former bosses reached out to me to tell me about a contract role at Google that she wanted me to interview for. Honestly, I almost took it because I wasn't used to the idea of not having work.

It took some getting used to, but eventually, I was able to go a whole week without doing any work.

Did I make the right decision?

The first few months when I was on sabbatical, I was so sad.

I looked at all the money that I had put in my sabbatical account and thought of everything else that I could have done with that money rather than lounge for a whole year.

Maybe I should just take it out and buy a house, I thought. I even asked my real-estate agent friend to look up properties for me, but I knew that if I bought the house instead, I'd be miserable, always wondering what I could've achieved if I just took the year off.

I remember talking to my therapist and trying to validate the decision time after time. At the end of the day, I realized that I was at the best point of my life to give this gift to myself. And when I settled with that a few months later, I started to have fun with the idea that I was on a sabbatical.

I learned to enjoy myself

I enjoyed having the luxury of time to do whatever I wanted.

I fell in love with working out again. I started coloring, drawing, and doing ceramics. I started reading again and got back into writing. I spent more time with myself and with my family. I picked up childhood hobbies again, like building Legos and taking Polaroid photos. I also cooked more and tried new coffee spots in Toronto.

Some of my favorite memories from my sabbatical are the many days I spent just sitting on my couch watching TV and only getting up to eat. I finished all six seasons of Downton Abbey in one week. I also watched all of Schitt's Creek as well as a lot of Korean shows.

Working on my clothing brand became a passion project. I learned about fabrics and the fashion industry — I enjoyed just learning things for the sake of learning.

I visited friends and family in other countries, did some birthday trips with friends, went on a seven-day cruise to the Caribbean, and spent four weeks traveling Europe.

I plan to take many more sabbaticals

After a full year of my sabbatical, my sabbatical funds are almost fully drained, and my income as a content creator is keeping me afloat now. I thought I would be panicking about my finances, but taking this time off helped me develop a mindset shift; I know I'll figure it out one way or another.

My fashion brand is launching this month, so I'm giving myself until around September to figure out what's next. My plan is to then work in a corporate job for another three years to get more experience and knowledge, and then take another year off at 35, and I'll repeat that cycle until I retire.

One of the biggest things I'm taking away from this sabbatical is realizing that a lot of things are not that serious. When you're an immigrant, a lot of things are that serious; I had to start life over again in Canada and I had to excel at this life. But I realized that I needed to enjoy life.

I've never been this happy, and I'm the most broke I've ever been. To me, this year has really been about redefining what happiness looks like at different points in my life. My loved ones have pointed out that I'm less grumpy and controlling, and I shout less.

I just feel kind of sad that I had to take a whole year off of work to find joy in my life.

If you took a sabbatical and would like to share your story, email Jane Zhang at janezhang@businessinsider.com.

• A military unit called "Bars Kaskad" is recruiting Russia's elite, the UK Ministry of Defence said.
• The unit is mostly involved in drone operations far from the front lines in Ukraine.
• It likely allows recruits to "sidestep" usual service requirements "with guaranteed safety," said the MoD.

A special Russian military unit is recruiting Russian elites, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

According to the department, the unit, called "Bars Kaskad," was created by the Russian State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, and it contains an "unusually high" number of pro-Putin United Russia Party members and sons of Kremlin elites — "up to 10 in total."

The unit is primarily involved in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operations far from the front lines in Ukraine, likely allowing Russian VIPs to "sidestep usual military service requirements with guaranteed safety," the MoD said.

Members of the squadron are also thought to be provided with bodyguards.

Sitting in the rear and drinking tea

Some analysts believe Russian officials see the unit as a way to exploit publicity opportunities.

"Kaskad is specially created for all kinds of famous people and officials who are looking to publicly demonstrate that they have gone to war and stood up for their country," Ruslan Leviev, a military analyst with the Conflict Intelligence Team, told The Guardian.

"You sit somewhere in the rear, drink tea, come back with a medal and titles, and go on to build your political career as a participant in the war," he added.

The unit, which has been active since around October 2022, rose to prominence in April after it emerged that the husband of Russian influencer Yelena Blinovskaya had enlisted to try to prevent her from going to prison on tax evasion charges.

Alexei Blinovsky was pictured serving with Bars Kaskad on April 16, per the MoD.

While thousands of Russian convicts have joined Vladimir Putin's forces in a bid to atone for their crimes and secure their freedom, Blinovsky's case is thought to be the first time someone enlisted in the war to help a family member avoid prison.