RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, APRIL 20, 2024

US House approves major military aid package for Ukraine

Israel used radar-evading missile to hit S-300 defenses near Natanz nuke site

A Dangerous Spiral of Violence in the Middle East

Israel allegedly obtained approval for an operation in Rafah as long as it doesn’t strike Iran

Israel aghast as US said poised to sanction notorious IDF unit

California Fast Food Prices Soar As Minimum Wage Hike Takes Toll on Businesses, Workers, and Customers

I have seen it but did not know it had its own name. What was that falling from the sky Friday morning? Graupel!

Enormous snake in ancient India was longer than a school bus

RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, APRIL 19, 2024

IRAN UPDATE, APRIL 19, 2024

Mystery Weapon Appears In Iraqi Field After Israeli Strike

IMF sounds alarm on ballooning US national debt: ‘Something will have to give’

Assembly Spikes Biggest Climate Proposal in New York Budget

RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, APRIL 18, 2024

Israel really got everyone (including myself) to think that they wouldn’t respond till after Passover. So far nothing about the strike itself is surprising though. The Israel Defense Forces have launched a reprisal operation against Iran five days after Iran launched hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel.

THE RISING RANSOMWARE TIDE, CHINESE SPY CRANES, AND THE BIDEN EXECUTIVE ORDER ON MARITIME CYBER SECURITY

China is a threat to Europe’s gunpowder supply

On the ongoing cocoa boom and what it tells us about the current state (and future) of African agriculture

Wednesday’s dramatic eruption of the volcano on a remote island in North Sulawesi threw a fiery-red column of lava, incandescent rock and ash as much as three km (two miles) into the sky.

Stranded travelers in flooded airport panicking, say they are ‘running out of food’

The Equal Rights Amendment on the ballot in November 2024 would enshrine Diversity Equity & Inclusion into the New York State Constitution, protecting reverse discrimination and other discrimination done in the name of “dismantling discrimination.”

RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, APRIL 17, 2024

Ukraine Situation Report: Russian Air Defense Systems Struck In Crimea

Interesting that China allowed this to be published. But it seems more like a message to the west then its own people given that it was published in the Economist. A Chinese specialist on Russia has delivered a grim forecast for Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine: that it is doomed to fail.

‘Much more unpopular than anyone anticipated’ After months of deliberation and thousands of amendments, Ukraine’s new mobilization law frustrates politicians and soldiers alike

Israel considered striking Iran on Monday but decided to wait, officials say

Will Electric Rates Become the New Gas Price?

Rat urine-related sickness in New York City soared to the highest level ever in 2023.

F-15E Strike Eagle’s Defense Of Israel Bolsters The Case For F-15EX

Attackers are pummeling networks around the world with millions of login attempts

RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, APRIL 16, 2024

Ukraine’s use of drones to compensate for critical ammo shortage isn’t enough to stop Russia’s creeping advance

Could Israel Use Conventionally-Armed Jericho Ballistic Missiles To Strike Iran?

IDF has decided on type, not timing, of counter-strike on Iran. The plain reading of the relevant signals suggests that a major attack is not imminent in the coming days and could even be postponed for longer.

74% of Israelis oppose counterstrike on Iran if it harms security alliances

The Federal Government of Iraq (FGI) centred in Baghdad several weeks ago ordered the speeding up of crucial repairs to its own oil export pipeline into Turkey while keeping its embargo on oil exports from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraqi (KRI) based in Erbil in place

Farmers in Switzerland dumped the carcasses of sheep that were killed by wolves in front of a regional government building last weekend and demanded more action to control the predators’ numbers.

In what is called the first described case of “digits amputation,” Canadian doctors surgically removed two healthy fingers from a young man who was experiencing “body integrity dysphoria.”

US House speaker launches bid to approve aid for Israel, Ukraine in separate votes

Navy is down $1B in munitions from ops in Red Sea, says SECNAV

Framework’s software and firmware have been a mess, but it’s working on them

Your Vision Can Predict Dementia 12 Years Before Diagnosis

Prescription Drugs Are the Leading Cause of Death

Mechanical Watch

RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, APRIL 15, 2024

Intel From Saudi Arabia, UAE Helped Defend Israel Against Iranian Attack

How the US Helped Counter Iran’s Attack on Israel

US, Israel talks on Rafah to resume as early as next week

Pittsburgh bridges close after 26 barges break loose, float uncontrolled down Ohio River

The Adderall Shortage: DEA versus FDA in a Regulatory War

America’s Bonds Are Getting Harder to Sell.

FBI Opens Criminal Probe Into Baltimore Bridge Collapse

NYC block turned into illicit open-air market for migrant crooks, prostitution: ‘It’s relentless’

John Carmack, a key player in Meta’s venture into virtual reality, is coming to the defense of Oculus founder Palmer Luckey — about eight years after the tech giant fired him amid scrutiny surrounding Luckey’s political donations in 2016.

At the cost of taste? Genetic gains underpinning a little-known strawberry Green Revolution

RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, APRIL 14, 2024

Iran’s Attempt to Hit Israel with a Russian-Style Strike Package Failed…for Now

How the modern nation of Israel imagines that it is doing away with leavened products for Passover.

Hamas rejected hostage deal outline, Sinwar uninterested in deal

US drug shortages reach record high with 323 meds now in short supply

What Boeing did to all the guys who remember how to build a plane

RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, APRIL 13, 2024

Macron First Threatens Russia With Troops, Then Buys €600 Million Of Gas From Moscow In Q1 2024

Germany to send Patriot air-defense system to Ukraine but holds out on Taurus missiles

Ukrainian Parliament Passes Mobilization Bill But Punts on Demobilization

Russia floods: Water level reaches new high in Orenburg

Iran has launched a widely expected, but still unprecedented drone and missile barrage from its territory against targets in Israel.

Iran Seizes Portuguese Containership MSC Aries in the Strait of Hormuz

EPA Threatens Locally Produced Beef

Bird flu pushes US dairy farmers to ban visitors, chop trees

Prestigious cancer research institute has retracted 7 studies amid controversy over errors

RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, APRIL 12, 2024

Is Hezbollah’s Barrage On Israel Prelude To Much Larger Iranian Attack?

US intel said to indicate Iran could strike ‘Israeli soil’ in next 24 to 48 hours

Lebanon: Killing of official unleashes fury against Syrians

These issues raise questions about the readiness of many European navies and armed forces

Germany’s transport minister is threatening to ban driving on weekends to meet climate goals if the ruling coalition does not pass reforms to the Climate Protection Act by July.

Europe turning blind eye to Hamas and Hezbollah networks in its territory

The ‘supercore’ inflation measure shows Fed may have a real problem on its hands

Inside the Terrifyingly Competent Trump 2024 Campaign

Not really relevant to world events but it does serve to indicate some of the culture war issues that are lurking underneath the surface of some other countries. An abandoned truck appeared on a New Zealand beach. A father and three kids were missing. Then the story got darker—and stranger.

RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, APRIL 11, 2024

Ukraine Situation Report: Kyiv’s Biggest Power Plant Destroyed

European Gas Prices Soar As Russian Retribution Puts Kyiv in the Dark

American drones aren’t performing as well as those from other countries, like China’s, in Ukraine.

The Biden administration expects Iran’s response in the coming days — as early as this weekend, according to one of the U.S. officials. “We’re still in that window” for an Iranian response, said the second official. But Iran is “looking to calibrate it, so they essentially don’t overplay their hand.”

Drone sights, gunmen on trucks and a deadly mistake: How aid convoy turned into tragedy

Hamas tells negotiators it doesn’t have 40 Israeli hostages needed for first round of ceasefire

Yields Soar After Catastrophic 10Y Treasury Auction

As we pour more of our savings into indexes, we should beware that capital markets may be reaching a tipping point.

Insurers Spy On Houses Via Aerial Imagery, Seeking Reasons To Cancel Coverage

Judging purely on what I see going on around me, it is mostly heroin and other similar drugs. They are a problem in urban areas as well but a lot more likely that emergency services will be on hand to save the day if you overdose in an urban area. Also, a lot of people I know are dying in car accidents after taking drugs and I suspect in urban areas these people would have less lethal commutes. Long drives on twisty roads go really poorly with a drug habit. I am not saying the other things mentioned in the article are not a factor but they have always been true about rural areas, the drug thing is what is new in my lifetime. The urban-rural death divide is getting alarmingly wider for working-age Americans

So many things about this story seem too incredible to be true but Government is backing up her story. Title does not even come close to conveying how strange and incredible this story is. Idaho woman, 85, fatally shot home intruder in ‘heroic’ act of self-defense.

Fairbuds are Fairphone’s proof that we really could make better tiny gadgets