Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 18, 2025

Zelensky In Risky Spot As He Meets With Trump In White House

They can’t hear themselves.

A 38.9% increase in prices for fresh and dry vegetables from June to July was the major driver of a higher index for “final demand goods”

Electricity prices are climbing more than twice as fast as inflation

High-Altitude Nuclear Explosions: Myths and Reality

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 17, 2025

Israel, the Syrian Druze, and the Ghosts of the “Responsibility to Protect”

Sunni Arab tribes mobilize against the Syrian Democratic Forces

A startup that built AI tech for car rental and insurance companies is now offering it to the public, to fight back against exploitative damage claims.

Brain’s immune response linked to olfactory problems associated with Alzheimer’s

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 16, 2025

Did Taiwan “Lose Trump?”

I hope it behaves as predicted or we might get wet. After several days of working its way across the open and at times hostile Atlantic Ocean this week, Hurricane Erin found more favorable conditions and exploded in intensity on Friday night.

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 15, 2025

The impressive part is that it was with drone strike (not sabotage) and it was the Caspian Sea. Ukraine Sinks Russian Cargo Ship In Caspian Sea

Hezbollah Refuses to Disarm, Threatens Lebanon With ‘Civil War’

Three-hour flight delays are 4x more common now than 30 years ago

Rabbits With Tentacle-Like Growth Around Head Reported in Colorado Neighborhood. The rabbits are afflicted with cottontail rabbit papillomavirus. The antler-like features gave rise to the jackalope myths.

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 14, 2025

Ukraine’s Patriots Now Struggling To Intercept Enhanced Russian Ballistic Missiles

China falls back on gasoline to drive its global EV conquest

Russia suspected in hack of U.S. federal court filing system

U.S. MQ-9 Drone Just Flew A Mission Deep Into Mexico

In July, JPMorgan Chase announced its intention to charge fintechs for access to so-called Open Banking data. This comes amidst a consortium of banks trying to sue this hithertofore obscure regulation out of existence. Almost all discussions of it center on “data”, but it’s actually a fight about payments, and whether banks have a right to monopolize and charge for all economic activity their users engage in, irrespective of whether the bank operates the payment method.

When Narcan Isn’t Enough: The Rise of Frankenstein Opioids

America’s Drone Crisis: ‘Made in America’ Is Nearly Impossible

Russia achieves its largest advance on the frontlines in Ukraine since 2024

I am so old that I remember when a total fertility rate below 1.5 was considered ultra low. Now we have multiple nations with TFR below 1!!! Taiwanese TFR fell below South Korea thus far 2025

South Korea’s military shrank by 20% in the past six years to 450,000 troops, largely due to a sharp drop in the population of males of enlistment age for mandatory service in the country with the world’s lowest birthrate.

Wikipedia loses UK Safety Act challenge, worries it will have to verify user IDs

Are the Amish the Canaries in the NYS Coal Mine?

The Grid Reliability Crisis Is Here

‘I am a disgrace to my species’: Google’s Gemini suffers self-loathing spiral. Google DeepMind’s group project manager Logan Kilpatrick said, “This is an annoying infinite looping bug we are working to fix! Gemini is not having that bad of a day : )”

I forgot to hit publish. I was doing so well too.

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 10, 2025

Russian occupation authorities publish database of Ukrainian children for adoption, sortable by hair and eye color

With Desertions, Low Recruitment, Ukraine’s Infantry Crisis Deepens

Turkey: 6.1 magnitude earthquake kills 1 in Balikesir

The number of Japanese nationals living in the country fell by over 900,000 last year, a record decline for the aging population.

Mexico Approves Fracking to Reverse Sagging Oil and Gas Production

Trump Reached a Preliminary Trade Deal with the E.U.

Record US Honey Bee Losses And What ‘Mite’ Be Behind Them