Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, December 6, 2024

The Bashar al Assad regime faces an existential threat given the widespread collapse of regime forces and lack of sufficient external backing to bolster these forces.

Syrian Rebels Closing In On Homs, Cutting Off Damascus From Coast An Imminent Possibility

Syrian rebel commander urges Israel to support uprising, strike Iran-backed forces

So this “Iran sent into space on Friday its heaviest-ever payload using the Simorgh carrier rocket including an advanced module for transferring satellites to higher-altitude orbits, state television reported. The Samān-1 transfer module, along with a CubeSat and a research payload “were successfully placed in an elliptical orbit with a high point of 410 km (255 miles) and a low point of 300 km,” said the broadcast.” made me think of this “The geographic area exposed to varying levels of E1 EMP fields can be quite large, as the area of coverage is characterized by the line of sight from where the weapon is exploded to the horizon. For example, a detonation at 200 km can affect a circular area of on the order of 3 million square miles.” I don’t really think they are planning on doing this but they are never going to be able to build a Russian style arsenal. So if they ever wanted to hurt all of the US this would be the only possible way. However, it carries a lot of risks (the science is far from settled and the results are not certain) and not a lot of rewards (sure you take out the US economy but that does not prevent them from turning you to glass). But I can’t help thinking that the last few years have shown that rationality does not have a lot predictive value for what people will actually do.

Related to the above. Iran has ‘dramatically’ increased enrichment to near bomb grade -IAEA

The body responsible for keeping the lights on in Australia’s biggest electricity grids wants emergency powers to switch off or throttle rooftop solar in every state to help cope with the daily flood of output from millions of systems. And it warned that unless it had the power to reduce — or curtail — the amount of rooftop solar times, more drastic and damaging measures would need to be taken. These could include increasing the voltage levels in parts of the poles-and-wires network to “deliberately” trip or curtail small-scale solar in some areas.

Breakthrough in Spinal Cord Injury Recovery: New Brain Stimulation Restores Movement

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, December 5, 2024

North Korean Troops in Ukraine Struggling With Food Shortages

Anti-Assad Forces’ Capture Of Strategic Hama A Critical Stop On Road To Damascus

Who is Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the leader of the Syria rebels?

Iraqi Armed Group Urges Government to Deploy Troops to Syria

The most popular boys’ name in England and Wales in 2023 is ‘Muhammad.’

Preemptive Pardons of Fauci, Cheney, and Others Under Serious Consideration by Biden White House

U.S. math scores show ‘devastating’ decline

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, December 4, 2024

Russia Massing For Possible Cross-River Offensive In South Ukraine

Cuba’s electrical grid suffers another complete collapse, plunges entire nation into darkness

Calls to Boycott Dairy Products From Cows Given Anti-Methane Supplement Grow in UK

Early this morning United Healthcare insurance company CEO Brian Thompson was walking on a New York street headed for the Hilton Hotel in midtown. As security video makes clear, a man in a hoodie then walked up behind him and opened fire. What’s is unusual — and something most corporate media accounts have missed — is the fact that the shooter used a suppressed pistol in the attack. Watch the video in the tweet embedded above. The killer racks the slide of the handgun after each round is fired. At one point the killer has to knock the slide back into battery with the heel of his support hand. That seems to be the result of the use of either a home-made (3D printed?) silencer or something like a “solvent trap” like the kind sold through sketchy outlets like wish.com.

The Navy’s Amphibious Fleet Is In Really Bad Shape

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, December 3, 2024

Russia’s Prized Bases Along The Mediterranean In Syria Could Be At Risk

Claims Swirl Around U.S. Strikes In Eastern Syria

Surprise Martial Law Declaration Throws South Korea Into Turmoil. It was crazy and I still don’t understand it but it is over now. South Korean lawmakers call to impeach President Yoon after back-track on martial law.

China hits US with ban on critical minerals used in tech manufacturing

For Want of an Oiler: The Fragile State of America’s Afloat Logistics Fleet

Many other studies have shown similar things but this is a new one. Infants exposed to animals on farms are less likely to develop allergies

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, December 2, 2024

Ukrainian troops ordered to hold Kursk territory until Trump takes office

Over 100,000 Soldiers Have Deserted Ukrainian Army

Airstrikes Slow Advance Of Anti-Assad Forces In Syria

Israel Gears Up for Military Response as Hezbollah Violates Ceasefire

French government faces collapse in no-confidence vote. As the crisis intensified last week, investors briefly declared France a worse credit risk than Greece, whose debt almost brought the eurozone to its knees just over a decade ago. France is the currency bloc’s second largest economy and the chaos is likely to send shock waves well beyond its borders.

Blizzard’s pulling of Warcraft I & II tests GOG’s new Preservation Program

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, December 1, 2024

Aleppo Has Fallen, Assad’s Forces Regrouping As Rebels Blitz South

Syrian War, 1 December 2024

Biden Pardons Hunter on All Charges and Anything Else He Might Have Committed Since 2014

Upstate NY could get up to 6 feet of snow as NYC braces for cold snap

Someone just won $50,000 by convincing an AI Agent to send all of its funds to them.