Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 2, 2025

Japan, South Korea Issue Alerts Amid Historic Temperature Highs

Confusion and anger in Switzerland – hit by highest tariffs in Europe

Myths and Lessons from a Century of American Automaking

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, August 1, 2025

US imposes 15% tariff on goods from Israel as part of sweeping new trade policy

China has begun construction on the world’s largest hydropower dam, known as the Motuo Hydropower Station, on the eastern rim of the Tibetan Plateau, which will cost $170 billion and is expected to generate 300 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, about the amount of electricity consumed by Britain last year.

Google now spends more on physical capital like datacentres ($85 billion / year) than the entire UK defence budget ($79 billion / year).

ChatGPT users shocked to learn their chats were in Google search results

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, July 31, 2025

Russia’s Jet Powered Shahed Kamikaze Drone Is A Big Problem For Ukraine

Why did such a powerful earthquake produce such a weak tsunami?

New British cars may have to be fitted with breathalyser technology and black box-style recorders under Labour plans to align with EU vehicle safety laws.

St. Paul, MN, was hacked so badly that the National Guard has been deployed

To be fair, this is not all that new. They used to go after drug dealers by monitoring the electric bill that was read the old fashioned way. This just makes it easier. When Your Power Meter Becomes a Tool of Mass Surveillance

Trump suspends trade loophole for cheap online retailers globally

During a major thunderstorm in October 2017, the colossal crack of jagged electricity streaked across the Great Plains of North America for 829 kilometers (515 miles) – a distance that surpassed the previous record by 61 kilometers.

It’s been a joke since the early days of this Trump administration that anything and everything was subject to a court wanting everything to change. I’ve seen jokes about how a federal court ruled that Ozzy Osbourne couldn’t die, for crying out loud. It’s ridiculous what all they’ve done, even after the Supreme Court said that a district court didn’t have the authority to offer nationwide injunctions like that. But now we’ve reached a moment where even the Washington Post is (justifiably) lashing out.

Reactions to Graphic Images of Cincinnati Attack Victim Expose Racial Divide

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, July 30, 2025

Severe Drought Threatens 25% of Crops in Russia’s Agricultural Heartland

Israel faces unprecedented drought crisis as water shortages loom. This winter broke all records, with the Sea of Galilee’s water levels unchanged—an unprecedented event, Lifshitz said. His gravest concern is not war with Iran or ongoing fighting but an earthquake.

Despite landmark legislation to allow massive new borrowing for defense and infrastructure, Germany’s government still faces a spending crunch. The €30 billion gap projected for 2027 is due to increased interest rate payments and to new coalition spending on measures such as the “mothers’ pension”. Even if the necessary cuts are found, the coalition’s spending crunch is not likely to end in 2027. The government will have to close a budgetary gap of approximately €172 billion by 2029.

Tsunami Waves Reach Hawaii, West Coast After 8.8 Earthquake Off Russia. It’s the sixth strongest earthquake on record.

Four earthquakes hit near Bay of Bengal in 90 minutes

Cartel Members Fought In Ukraine To Learn FPV Drone Skills
Meta brought AI to rural Colombia. Now students are failing exams

AI coders think they’re 20% faster — but they’re actually 19% slower

Blood tests for Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers can be used clinically — and can replace expensive brain scans and invasive cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) sampling — as long as they meet strict criteria for sensitivity and specificity, according to a new guideline from the Alzheimer’s Association

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, July 29, 2025

Ukraine Repeatedly Targets Key Rail Line Deep Inside Russia With Drone Strikes

Plague of locusts descends on Ukraine

‘You can’t fake that’: Trump sees ‘real starvation’ in Gaza, says Israel must do more

Israel slams int’l media for misrepresenting Gazan child’s condition as starvation More here: This is a really strange way of saying “We ran a front page blood libel claiming Israel is starving a baby to death, but it’s not true and we actually knew it wasn’t true at the time

Israel’s declining image in the United States poses a strategic threat

China is also Fighting a Trade War with Europe (and Winning)

Toddler in India survives deadly encounter with cobra by biting its head

More interesting then the title suggests. The Future of Immigration Policy in Europe & Africa

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, July 28, 2025

‘Completely compromised’ Ukrainian and Belarusian hackers claim responsibility for IT outage that disrupted over 100 flights in Russia

What is behind the rise of the ‘Japanese First’ far-right?

The EU-USA trade deal

NYC Shooter Killed Four People, Including NYPD Officer

Ugly, Tailing 5Y Auction Sees Lowest Foreign Demand In 3 Years

How Cheaply Could We Build High-Speed Rail?

A secretive space plane is set to launch and test quantum navigation technology

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, July 27, 2025

US ground raid captures Islamic State leader in northern Somalia

Trump, EU Reach Tariff Deal To Avoid Trade War

Physicians removing themselves from traditional Medicare has steadily increased over time and remained elevated after the COVID-19 pandemic, partially due to growing administrative burdens and a shift toward larger, consolidated practice settings.

Gov. Hochul’s latest redistricting threat is dangerous and undemocratic

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, July 26, 2025

Zelensky’s reasons Ukraine’s president claims anti-corruption curbs will counter Russian influence, but a new report alleges he seeks to shield himself and his inner circle

Chinese kindergartens in crisis as enrolments plunge 25% in 4 years

America’s Electricity Demand Just Hit Overdrive

Lumber Prices Up 30% YoY

Kathy Hochul’s Nuclear Vision Faces Big Questions and Bottlenecks. Building nuclear will test whether New York state is still capable of constructing megaprojects as it has done in the past.

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, July 25, 2025

150 THAAD Ballistic Missile Interceptors Fired By U.S. During Iran’s Barrages On Israel. Roughly 25% of all U.S. THAAD interceptors funded to date were reportedly launched in June, and SM-3s. were also expended at a worrisome rate.

Egypt Finally Cleared To Buy AIM-120 AMRAAMs

“States where Democrats would have complete control over any redistricting, such as Illinois and Maryland, are already gerrymandered heavily in their favor. Squeezing more Democratic seats out of those states would be a challenge.”

Will New York follow its climate law, once hailed as one of the most ambitious in the world? That may be up to an Ulster County judge, who on Friday will hear oral arguments in a lawsuit brought by four environmental and climate justice groups over the state’s failure to act on one of the core mandates of the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.

Supply-chain attacks on open source software are getting out of hand

Nothing noteworthy but it was funny. Democrats Delete Post Showing Grocery Prices Skyrocketed Under Biden

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, July 24, 2025

Thai F-16 Strikes As Border Dispute With Cambodia Erupts

U.S. Homes Are Not Selling, and Prices Continue to Rise

The law’s first wave of Medicaid cuts takes effect in January, and new SNAP requirements are projected to take effect in March. New York State officials estimate the initial funding loss at a conservative $750 million. But starting April 1, that shortfall will balloon into a recurring, multibillion-dollar hole