RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, AUGUST 22

The plunge in dry bulk shipping: Ominous signal on China’s economy?

A Petty Squabble Between Serbia and Kosovo Has NATO Preparing to Intervene

Libya’s Oil Production Rebounds To Top 1.2 Million Bpd

Experts Concerned As Americans Are Rapidly Losing Interest In Having Kids

The Executive Army

Evangelical Christian furries are worried they’ll be targeted for their faith

RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, AUGUST 21

For 14 of the past 15 weeks, England and Wales have averaged around 1,000 extra deaths each week, none of which are due to Covid. If the current trajectory continues, the number of non-Covid excess deaths will soon outstrip deaths from the virus this year – and be even more deadly than the omicron wave.

China just ran into something that could be even more devastating for its supply chains than COVID-19 lockdowns: A record heat wave

Good conversations have lots of doorknobs

There’s been a transformation in the last 6 years — the polarization between attitudes of young men and women is expanding like a bubble.

Digital ID in Canada. Is the US Next?

Huge megalithic complex of more than 500 standing stones discovered in Spain

New York governor Kathy Hochul has directed state to investigate pro-life pregnancy centers

German economy minister rules out keeping nuclear plants running to save gas

Massive Review Shows Vitamin D Really Does Seem to Ease Depressive Symptoms

RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, AUGUST 20

Power and gas prices in Germany more than doubled in just two months, with year-ahead electricity at a blazing 570 Euro per megawatt-hour. Two years ago, it was 40 euros. It’s summer but electric heaters sales are already up 1000 percent and online searches for Firewood are running hot. In the UK — householders are facing bills in the order of £5000 a year — (like $10,000, after tax) people are described as being in “pre-panic mode” already. Some are starting to turn off freezers, giving up toast and showering every second day. Shops and Pubs are closing, consumer confidence is at an all time record low, the most depressed in the last 48 years consumer confidence has been measured for.

As FedEx Ground delivery drivers pay the price for soaring inflation and high diesel fuel prices, FedEx’s largest contractor sounded the alarm that at least one-third of the route system is on the brink of collapse.

Non-nutritive sweeteners affect human microbiomes and can alter glycemic responses

Iran nuclear deal Main thing of note: “The idea of keeping the advanced centrifuges in a warehouse, thereby giving Iran an ability to ramp up quickly if the US were to pull out again is what’s known as an ‘inherent guarantee,'” said Mark Fitzpatrick of the International Institute for Strategic Studies. “It’s one reason that the break-out time cannot be brought back to the JCPOA standard of 12 months. Another factor making a 12-month break-out period impossible is the knowledge Iran has gained over the past three years.”

The Unexpected Future

RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, AUGUST 19

How We Have Been Misled About Antidepressants

U.S. Natural Gas Storage Sees Minimal Injection as Exports Rise

To be clear, he is talking his book, but I think his underlying facts are correct even if his interpretation is suspect. To everyone who sees them, the new James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) images of the cosmos are beautifully awe-inspiring. But to most professional astronomers and cosmologists, they are also extremely surprising—not at all what was predicted by theory. In the flood of technical astronomical papers published online since July 12, the authors report again and again that the images show surprisingly many galaxies, galaxies that are surprisingly smooth, surprisingly small and surprisingly old. Lots of surprises, and not necessarily pleasant ones. One paper’s title begins with the candid exclamation: “Panic!”

How Putin’s War Changed My Moscow

RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, AUGUST 18

News you can use. Guessing C For Every Answer Is Now Enough To Pass The New York State Algebra Exam

According to the South China Morning Post, the government’s planned electricity cuts will only last a few hours and focus on industrial areas so that residential power is maintained. However several cities in the area (e.g. Dazhou) have already announced rolling blackouts for a couple of days. Related: China’s Power Crisis Worsens As More Factories Suspend Operations

New AFBF Survey Shows Drought’s Increasing Toll on Farmers and Ranchers A lot of really bad quotes in this article such as “Similarly, 33% of respondents reported destroying and removing orchard trees and other multiyear crops as prevalent or higher, up from only 17% last year.”

Oklahoma Ranchers Predict Beef To Rise To $50 per Pound

France’s fruit and vegetable crops have fallen by nearly 35% due to the extreme drought this summer, Jacques Rouchausse, president of the French national association of vegetable producers, Legumes de France, said on Tuesday. And Italy, and the UK.

The Formula Shortage Isn’t Likely to End Anytime Soon

RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, AUGUST 17

Scientists Have Re-Created The Deadly 1918 Flu Virus. Why?

To know how bad this really is, you would need to know the expected base rate of the people being study (i.e. if the study had a lot of older pregnant woman in it, you would expect an increased miscarriage rate just from that fact alone). Report: 44 Percent of Pregnant Women in Pfizer Trial Lost Their Babies; FDA and CDC Recommended Jabs For Expectant Mothers Anyway

Germany Faces Power Grid Collapse as Demand for Electric Heaters Soar

RAF ‘pauses job offers for white men’ to meet ‘impossible’ diversity targets

Shipping Halted On Rhine Near Kaub Chokepoint Due To Distressed Barge Blocking Waterway

Will Catastrophic Crop Losses In 2022 Lead To Unprecedented Shortages In 2023?

US picks up pace of airstrikes in Somalia

RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, AUGUST 16

Argentina’s black market for cash is embracing crypto — but it’s not what crypto proponents expected.

Trump Accused of Lying Over FBI-Seized Passports, Then He Dropped the Receipts It is being reported that it will take them two weeks to give back the documents they admit they should not have taken in the first place.

U.S. Missiles Sent to Ukraine Aren’t Easily Replaced

California to consider keeping last nuclear plant open

The Drought Is Crippling Tomato Production In California

Rent Is Becoming A Crisis In The U.S.

Wait a minute. A potato shortage? In Idaho? Here’s why.

For the first time, ultra-Orthodox families established yesterday an illegal West Bank outpost.

Shanghai Covid: Ikea shoppers flee attempt to lock down store