Thursday, March 28, 2024

The Crocus City Hall Attack – An Operational Failure

The Crocus City Hall attack does not appear to have achieved any of its presumed aims, beyond the death count.

Western Wind Turbine Manufacturers Struggle to Compete with Chinese Pricing

The US, UK and Europe fall behind China in a supposed priority area, wind turbines.

2:00PM Water Cooler 3/27/2024

~ Today’s Water Cooler ~

Baltimore Bridge Crash: Risk Management Questions

Why it’s a mistake to think of the Baltimore bridge collapse as catastrophic bad luck.

Links 3/27/2024

Prolegomena to an Understanding of the Replication Crisis in Science

Taking stock of the state of science’s replication crisis on the 20 year anniversary of JPA Ioannidis’ seminal article.

A Weak Spot in Carbon Sequestration: Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells

Carbon stored underground could leak through old wells. How regulators plan to handle that is under scrutiny.

The Evidence on the Crocus Gang Attack in Moscow

An update on information and conjectures about the Crocus City Hall massacre.

2:00PM Water Cooler 3/26/2024

~ Today’s Water Cooler: Open thread ~

Draft UN Report Finds Israel Has Met Threshold for Genocide

“Israel’s genocide on the Palestinians in Gaza is an escalatory stage of a long-standing settler-colonial process of erasure.”

Links 3/26/2024

CIA Chief Pays Argentina Rare Visit Just Three Days Before Anniversary of 1976 Military Coup

Burns’ diagnosis: “we have a short-term problem in the form of Russia; but a bigger long-term problem in the form of China.” Note to readers: this is a bit of a long post, since it is essentially two in one. The first part explores some of the aggressive moves Washington is making against China in […]

Mapping the Economic Costs of War

Looking at the economic impact of war on neighboring countries, including ones not part of the theater of conflict.

Iraq And Iran Will Expedite Development Of Sanctions-Busting Shared Oil Fields

Similar to how US overreach made Russia and China allies, so too have US policies in the Middle East lead Iran and Iraq to team up.

2:00PM Water Cooler 3/25/2024

~ Today’s Water Cooler: Politics, pandemics, Book collecting among the youth, Boeing executives auto-defenestrate, history of blotter, Starbucks map. ~