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RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, APRIL 24, 2023

The polity that is Russian markets in everything

Sudan updates: US State Secretary announces 72-hr ceasefire

What’s Keeping Oil From Rallying?

If this is true, they are insane. They just made every conspiracy theory the gospel truth in the minds of those who doubted the preferred narrative. Here’s the Reason Tucker Carlson Is Out at Fox News And here is one of the more restrained reactions that they can expect.

It appears that the crisis facing auto dealerships is far more dire than any of us thought.

In 2 Blue States, Big Government on Cusp of Becoming Big Parent

The increasing threat of blackouts is spurring Texas politicians to consider a plan to fund new natural gas-fired power plants that would provide back-up power to the grid. The plan is to build up to 10 gigawatts to provide backup generation that is weatherized and has on-site fuel, creating an energy insurance fund.

Bird Flu Poised to Become Endemic in the US

The Universe sucks: The mysterious Great Attractor that’s pulling us in

Thralldom to Emperor Bong: this ain’t your grandfather’s weed

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RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, APRIL 23, 2023

A man who knows his business: “Re-creating anything is never an issue, but I wanted to check if it was going to be popular,” says Hussain, standing in front of Philly’s Steak Sandwich, a small cafe in Lahore’s Johar Town, an area packed with schools, universities and hospitals. “I saw the amount of meat and cheese being put in it and knew instantaneously that it is going to be a hit.”

Great Barrier Reef in record coral cover but 97% of Australians don’t know it

De-dollarization?

“Entire Downtown Is Effectively Dead:” Baltimore City Descends Further Into Turmoil

Below her bench that day last June, in a shapeless brown jail uniform, stood Jorge Martinez. For nearly nine years he had been in Cook County limbo: locked up on a murder charge with no trial date in sight.

Sleeping aid may be effective in slowing Alzheimer’s

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RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, APRIL 22, 2023

As NATO-trained Ukrainian units return, their often rumored counteroffensive cannot come soon enough for those still at the frontline.

Everything you want to know about the Pentagon/Discord Leak

Things I don’t understand. China’s 19.6% youth unemployment rate is nearing a record-high and may pose ‘a threat to social stability’
“Fairly Severe” Corporate Credit Crunch Is “Harbinger Of More Stress To Come”

Illegal aliens who are LGBTQ ‘may not be detained’ under Democrats’ new bill

Army, Navy and Air Force predict recruiting shortfalls this year

End of the Fire Logs: Fire Logs #12, #13, and #14 plus closing thoughts

When I first started doing these fire logs in the beginning of the year, I said….

“I intend to do one fire a week from the start of January through the end of March. I am not trying to teach myself anything exotic but rather to see how well what I “know” and what I have carries over to fire starting in winter weather. The goal is to try something new either in terms of conditions or in terms of equipment used every week.”

I was reasonably successful in this goal. Once we got into March, I had a harder and harder time finding time to write up the results of what I did, but technically that was not part of the goal. For almost all of the fires, I was able to spin them as some kind of success even if some of them were pretty lame. Only Fire Log #13 was a complete failure.

I had planned for this to end with March in part because I knew I would be getting busier around then. As that is indeed the case (in fact, most of this was written in the first week of April but I am only now finding the time to put it up) I am going to try to do a briefer then normal overview of the fires that I have not already covered to close out this series of experiments.

Continue reading

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RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, APRIL 20, 2023

In which I am reminded that I need to buy more beans. Farmers ‘crippled’ by satellite failure as GPS-guided tractors grind to a halt

What could go wrong? Massive mosquito factory in Brazil aims to halt dengue

Sudan generals’ deadly fight for power

As bond yields rise in Egypt, so have yields for sovereign bonds for Angola, Kenya, Nigeria and Senegal.

U.S. natural gas production is booming.

Two New Judges Could Mark a Liberal Shift for New York’s Highest Court

A School of Strength and Character

Congratulations SpaceX

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RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, APRIL 19, 2023

Ukraine Situation Report: Patriot Missiles Welcomed By Defense Minister

Nobody in the West will care unless it starts impacting the Red Sea supply lines or speeds up the collapse of Egypt. But that is not out of the question if things get crazy enough. Sudan’s “Deep State” War Could Have Far-Reaching Geostrategic Consequences If It Continues

Why Homelessness Is Worse in California Than in Texas

California Power Companies Proposing Income-Based Rates for Electric Bills

Archaeologists are unlocking the secrets of Maya lime plasters and mortars

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RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, APRIL 18, 2023

China And India Buy Russian Crude Above The Price Cap

Around the world the same issue. Soaring prices pressure Morocco’s agriculture model

‘Crisis’ looms as 800,000 more nurses plan to exit workforce by 2027

Federal Appeals Court Tosses Berkeley’s Ordinance Banning Natural Gas in New Construction

This is only funny if you know REI. REI to close only Portland store, citing break-ins, theft

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RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, APRIL 17, 2023

A Pentagon spokesperson on Monday pushed back against claims that U.S. and Russian forces are directly fighting each other in Ukraine.

South Korea is paying ‘lonely young people’ $500 a month to re-enter society

US Banks Lost Money On Mortgages For The First Time Since The MBA Began Keeping Records in 2008

Warm liquid spewing from Oregon seafloor comes from Cascadia fault, could offer clues to earthquake hazards