Links For Today

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, April 30, 2025

U.S., Ukraine Sign Rare Minerals Deal

Europe lacks resources to field even 25,000 troops for Ukraine peace mission

Oil Plunges On Report Saudis Bracing For Price War, Can “Live With Lower Oil Prices”

Iran Port Blast Was Massive

The massive power outage that wreaked havoc in Europe is being blamed on a pair of likely solar plant breakdowns in southwest Spain

Port of Los Angeles Boss Sees Dramatic Drop in Cargo Volumes

New York Just Took a Big Step Toward State-Sponsored Suicide

Links For Today

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, April 29, 2025

Power Restored In Spain, Portugal But The Situation Reveals A Very Serious Underlying Problem…

The massive blackout that left the Iberian Peninsula in the dark on Monday appears to have been sparked by the unexplained disappearance of 15 gigawatts of power from Spain’s electricity grid.

Pakistan has claimed it has credible intelligence that India is preparing to launch a military strike within the next 24 hours

Trump backs down a bit on auto industry tariffs—but only a bit

Links For Today (Lots of Spain blackout links)

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, April 28, 2025

They are landing shots somewhat close if carriers are zig zagging hard enough to throw a plan overboard. USS Harry Truman Was Evading Houthi Attack When F/A-18 Super Hornet Rolled Off Its Deck

Newly released Hamas documents found in Gaza show that Israel seriously misunderstood the impact of its 2021 operation in Gaza, which the terror group viewed as a victory that encouraged it to launch the October 7 massacre over two years later

No subway, no traffic lights, no elevators and no coverage in Madrid due to the blackout: ‘Can I borrow your phone to call my mom?’ The heart of Spain’s capital is filled with pedestrians looking for a way home, parents trying to pick up their children from school and traffic jams

Spain is about to face the challenge of a “black start”

Why did the lights go out in Spain and Portugal?

Widespread power outage in Spain leaves thousands cut off: Calls and messages nearly impossible

Solar Power Surge Sinks Europe’s Electricity Prices Deep Below Zero

Investigation Reveals Key Errors that Led to Reagan Airport Midair Crash. “Not only was the Black Hawk flying too high, but in the final seconds before the crash, its pilot failed to heed a directive from her co-pilot, an Army flight instructor, to change course.”

Home Health Aides Are Getting New Insurance Coverage — From a Company With a History of Cutting It Off

Links For Today

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, April 27, 2025

Report: Huge Blast at Iran’s Key Port as Chinese Shipment of Missile Fuel Goes up in Flames

China Built More Clean Energy Than Coal—But Can’t Use Half of It

Bombshell new report reveals who made fatal mistake that caused Black Hawk to collide with jet and kill 67

Update: Lumber Prices Up 11% YoY

More Americans are financing groceries with buy now, pay later loans — and more are paying those bills late, survey says

“How did college get so expensive? Nothing has gotten more expensive in the last 40 years than a 4-year degree. Not real estate, not healthcare, not energy, nothing.”

Links For Today

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, April 26, 2025

India, Pakistan Armies Clash Along Border After Deadly Islamic Terror Attack. Pakistan calls Indian’s move to block river water an ‘act of war.’

Bilawal Bhutto says ‘blood will flow if India stops Indus River water’

China Waives Tariffs on Some U.S. Goods, but Denies Trump’s Claim That Talks are Underway

Why is cocaine flooding Germany?

Ontario must pay for surgery to give trans resident both penis and vagina: appeal court

Driverless trucks are rolling in Texas, ushering in new era

AI Goes to College…for the Free Money. The bots’ goal is to bilk state and federal financial aid money by enrolling in classes, and remaining enrolled in them, long enough for aid disbursements to go out. They often accomplish this by submitting AI-generated work. And because community colleges accept all applicants, they’ve been almost exclusively impacted by the fraud.

An updated National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) report card from 2024 shows Mississippi leading the nation in demographic-adjusted 4th- and 8th-grade scores and it went viral on social media.

Maryland’s 24/7 Work Zone Speed Cameras Issued 48,000 Tickets in 2 Months

Why Have Sentence Lengths Decreased?

Links For Today

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, April 25, 2025

Top CIA official’s 21-year-old son killed in Ukraine after joining Russian army

Yascha Mounk, “Yes Virginia, Europe really does have a free speech problem”

Magnitude 6.3 earthquake strikes Ecuador, buildings damaged

US Army Drops Gender-Based Fitness Rules: Women Must Now Meet Male Benchmarks

California’s Refinery Situation Looks Like It Will Get Worse

Tapeworm in fox poop that will slowly destroy your organs is on the rise

Links For Today

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, April 24, 2025

Jordan bans Muslim Brotherhood after alleged sabotage plot against Hashemite Kingdom

India-Pakistan Tensions On Verge Of Erupting After Deadly Terror Attack

Trump seemingly negotiating with itself in public is probably not going to help convince other countries to agree to tough measures on the PRC while they have no idea where the US and China will ultimately land.

U.K. Leaders Plan to Approve Geoengineering Experiments To Dim Sunlight

Turkey: Powerful earthquake shakes Istanbul, injures dozens

Millennials’ appetite for financing is growing. In the past, they mostly used “buy now, pay later” plans for everyday items like beauty products and fast fashion. But in recent years, we’ve seen it creep into larger purchases—think Peloton bikes. Coachella tickets are just the latest milestone. And if current trends hold, Millennials will keep scaling up their purchases through installment plans.

In 2025, an attorney for a government school district is able to make it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court defending exposing children as young as three years old to books about sexuality. Imagine going back in time to any point—even just a few years ago—and explaining that

Links For Today

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, April 23, 2025

Top U.S. diplomats pulled out of a peace conference today as Trump scolded Zelensky, and Vance made it clear that Ukraine will need to accept Russia’s seizure of its land.

India announced a raft of counter-measures in response to the cross-border terror attack. New Delhi recalled its diplomats from Pakistan and ordered Pakistani nationals travelling on visas to leave the country immediately.

Beijing has asked South Korean companies to cease exporting products containing Chinese-originated heavy rare earth metals to U.S. defense firms, warning that Seoul could face sanctions.

41.2% of Vienna Students Are Muslim: ‘No Longer Immigration,’ But ‘Displacement’

LA mayor: $800M deficit, layoffs coming, seeking bailout

A groundbreaking new study suggests that a gut-dwelling bacteria may be behind the recent surge in early-onset colorectal cancer cases. The potential culprit? Colibactin, a toxin produced by certain strains of E. coli that thrive in the colon and rectum.

 At the end of January, the Trump administration pushed out a top Treasury Department official after he refused to give DOGE access to the government’s vast payment system. We’re talking to him today. It’s one of his first public interviews since leaving the civil service.

Links For Today

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, April 22, 2025

North Koreans are not eating your dogs, Russia rushes to reassure citizens

Rapid Strike On Smuggling Ship Off Africa Highlights Increased Authorities Given To Commanders. Giving military leaders in the field more agency to make critical decisions is an initiative of the new Trump administration.

In Israel, there has been deep concern that neither Witkoff nor US President Donald Trump completely understands the importance of the details regarding setting back Iran’s nuclear program in the area of uranium enrichment, including advanced centrifuges, as well as regarding ballistic missile systems, which could be used to deliver nuclear warheads.

At least 26 tourists killed after gunmen open fire at Kashmir resort in ‘devastating’ terror attack

Police have long wanted to read encrypted messages. They now have the backing of the EU’s top brass.

Colombians fighting North Koreans in Ukraine

Colombians fighting North Koreans in Ukraine is one of those stories I would not have found remotely realistic even a couple of years ago. There is still a strong smell of propaganda around this but it is an established fact that at least some Colombians have fought for Ukraine as Latin American countries friendly to Russia have arrested one or two of them on layovers. The part that don’t smell right to me is the idea that there would be even more of them if only the someone could come up with money for a plane ticket. Even given Ukraine’s relative poverty, the price of a plane ticket is not that much if they are at willing an competent. If that is really the constraining factor somebody in the Ukraine government is a fool given their shortage of manpower.