Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, January 6, 2025

Ukraine Launches New Offensive In Russia’s Kursk Region

Chechen special forces commander sits down with Russian neo-Nazi paramilitary leader for friendly chat to smooth over ethnic tensions

Israeli soldier flees Brazil amid investigation into Gaza war crimes

EU natural gas storage levels are below average, and Goldman Sachs predicts prices could reach oil-switching levels if the cold weather persists.

Taiwan Accuses Chinese Vessel of Sabotaging Undersea Cable

After nine years we are left with a country in an affordability crisis where food banks are being used in record numbers (two million people in March 2024) and scurvy, thought banished with 18th century sailors, is affecting malnourished Canadians.

Windows 10 still accounts for between one-half and two-thirds of all Windows usage worldwide and in the US, according to admittedly noisy data from sources like Statcounter and the Steam Hardware Survey. Leaving that many Windows PCs potentially unprotected from security threats has the potential to cause big problems, which probably at least partially explains why Microsoft would really like to see lots of upgrades this year. But even if 2025 does become “the year of the Windows 11 PC refresh,” it’s hard to see how it could possibly happen fast enough to get most of those Windows 10 PCs out of circulation.

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, January 5, 2025

Blinken Admits Hamas Hardened Hostage Position Due to U.S. Public Pressure on Israel

Trudeau expected to announce resignation before national caucus meeting Wednesday

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, January 4, 2025

The Darién Gap between South and Central America is exceedingly dangerous, but hundreds of thousands of migrants try their luck every year in an effort to reach the U.S. Now, a drug cartel has turned the jungle crossing into big business – and the refugees profit as well.

Greenland’s Leader Now Calling for Independence from Denmark

How the grooming gangs scandal was covered up

Biden Quietly Bans Most Gas Powered Tankless Water Heaters

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, January 2, 2025

U.S. Reportedly Setting Up New Base In Northern Syria

New estimates gauge that Hamas’s forces are up to between 12,000-23,000.

The raid is old news. What is just coming out is some imagines and videos of what they did. Inside Israel’s Commando Raid On Iran’s Underground Missile Factory In Syria

New Year’s chaos in Berlin: Over 400 arrested, 36 apartments destroyed with ‘ball bomb’ firework mortars

Honda and Nissan in Merger Discussions Amid EV Upheaval

FBI Believes Jabbar Acted Alone in New Orleans Terror Attack

Shamsud Din Jabbar Identified as Suspect in New Orleans Attack

Cybertruck ‘Explosion’ at Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas Being Investigated as Possible Act of Terrorism

Americans still waiting on Biden broadband plan; rural high-speed internet stuck in Dems’ red tape. Republican senators wrote to Mr. Davidson. “NTIA’s failure to resolve these concerns will prolong the digital divide and put billions of scarce taxpayer dollars at risk.” The letter outlines a list of stipulations for obtaining the funds that lawmakers say are not part of the law and should be eliminated. They include: Preference for hiring union workers, who are scarce in some rural areas. Requiring providers to prioritize “certain segments of the workforce, such as individuals with past criminal records,” when building broadband networks. Requiring eligible entities to “account not only for current [climate-related] risks but also for how the frequency, severity, and nature of these extreme events may plausibly evolve as our climate continues to change over the coming decades.”

Joe Biden spent the first half of his presidency enacting plans to steer at least $1.6 trillion to transform the economy and spur a clean-energy revolution — only to watch those programs become afterthoughts in the 2024 election. Now the core of his domestic legacy stands unfinished, with hundreds of billions of dollars left to deploy, and imperiled as Donald Trump prepares to take office.

FDA Says IV Fluid Shortage Will Last until March 2025

Morris Chang and the Origins of TSMC

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, December 31, 2024

Ukraine Situation Report: With weeks left in office, the Biden administration is working to provide as much military aid to Kyiv as it can.

Nearly all of Puerto Rico is without power on New Year’s Eve

CA Gov. Newsom is Banning Gas Cars, Gas Stoves, Gas Furnaces, Gas Water Heaters

The beginning of 2025 will be marked by the year’s first polar vortex, bringing snow, storms, and frigid temperatures that will impact the majority of the country and millions of Americans. The media forecasting company said that it is expected to create a surge in demand for heating, and warned cold air in the Southeast could result in rolling blackouts and power grid issues.

The panic about this is ramping up amongst the great and the good. The Cows in the Coal Mine

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, December 30, 2024

Signs Russian Fighter Jets Still At Syrian Base, Top Rebel Leader Pushes Back On Total Exit For Moscow

Tehran Bazaar Merchants Strike Over Rising Prices and Currency Surge in Iran

U.S. Treasury Reports Cyberattack by Chinese Hackers

New York State’s New Climate “Superfund Law”

Hibernation scientists studying squirrels could get humans to deep space

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, December 29, 2024

NYT noted that Unit 8200 scrambled to save their efforts in September when they collected intelligence that Hezbollah terrorists were concerned enough about the pagers that they were sending some of them to Iran for inspection. This led top intelligence officials to persuade Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to give the order to detonate the pagers, setting in motion the campaign that culminated in the assassination of Nasrallah due to concerns that the operation would be exposed, the report claimed.

China’s Xi orders a stop to a spree of mass killings known as ‘revenge on society crimes’

The Day I Put $50,000 in a Shoe Box and Handed It to a Stranger I never thought I was the kind of person to fall for a scam.

When this came out awhile ago in the Wall Street Journal it made quite the splash. But I could not find a version that was not behind a paywall until now. Honestly, have red it did not seem like news but at the time official sources were not supposed to say these things. How the White House Functioned With a Diminished Biden in Charge

National debt grew by $2.5 trillion in 2024; projected to rise

The New FDA and the Regulation of Laboratory Developed Tests

Former President Jimmy Carter Dead at 100

Dave Berry’s reviews are always the high point of the year ending but this one seemed particularly good to me. Dave Barry Year in Review: 2024 was an exciting year, and by ‘exciting,’ we mean ‘stupid’

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, December 28, 2024

China’s Xi orders a stop to a spree of mass killings known as ‘revenge on society crimes’

Should South Korea make nuclear bombs? Yoon said ‘yes’ in 2023, 73% citizens endorse it now

Afghanistan’s Taliban has targeted a number of points in neighbouring Pakistan, Kabul’s defence ministry said Saturday, in what seems to be a response to an aerial bombardment carried out by Pakistani aircraft on Afghan territory a few days ago.

Egypt’s Suez Canal has seen its revenues nosedive by more than 60 percent in 2024 compared to the previous year, amounting to a staggering $7 billion loss, according to a statement released on Thursday.

Mexico Seems To Drop The Hugs And Embrace The Bullets As Cartel Violence Rages On