[Goose]

https://www.reuters.com/world/china-hits...025-04-04/

Looks like rare earths just became lots "rarer". I hope our government has a large stockpile of these materials set aside to allow our industries to continue operations for years until alternatives are brought online :-).

https://www.yahoo.com/news/russia-track-...53523.html
For those that think Russia is running low on artillery shells. Other items as well

"Despite extensive battlefield losses in Ukraine, the Russian military is reconstituting and growing at a faster rate than most analysts had anticipated," Cavoli wrote.

He said Moscow is quickly replacing its forces on all fronts, including ammo, armored vehicles, and troops.

There undoubtedly is a bit of overstatement involved in all of the above designed for the nature of the listeners. However it does appear that despite all kinds of claims to the contrary Russia is staying at least even in armored vehicles and troops. We will know more pretty soon. If Russia starts a serious offensive, we will know they expect to be adequately supplied. If Russia does not, it may be because they are not in as good shape as the article indicates.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/countries-nea...54817.html
Surprising nobody. The Ottawa Convention was never viable in the face of actual war. The problem is that pretending it was has led to a removal of mine stockpiles and manufacturing capability in signatory nations. That needs to be reversed, unfortunately at the same time demand for other military items is outstripping available capacity.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/04/brief...=url-share (gifted)
IMO this article is quite on point. It is often suggested that Europe can step up and replace the potential loss of US support to Ukraine. As I have said before, Europe does not currently have the intelligence collection capabilities (overhead and airborne in particular) the US has, so even best case there are problems there. However as the article points out there are political, social, and economic problems in Europe that may prevent effective support of Ukraine. The lack of the US as "the adult in the room" in Europe not only reduces the thrust for common actions in Ukraine but can eventually have even worse effects.

Rearming in the name of democracy today could leave the far-right governments of tomorrow — many with close ties to Moscow — in charge of big, muscular militaries.

[Goose]

https://www.reuters.com/world/china-hits...025-04-04/

Looks like rare earths just became lots "rarer". I hope our government has a large stockpile of these materials set aside to allow our industries to continue operations for years until alternatives are brought online :-).

https://www.yahoo.com/news/russia-track-...53523.html
For those that think Russia is running low on artillery shells. Other items as well

"Despite extensive battlefield losses in Ukraine, the Russian military is reconstituting and growing at a faster rate than most analysts had anticipated," Cavoli wrote.

He said Moscow is quickly replacing its forces on all fronts, including ammo, armored vehicles, and troops.

There undoubtedly is a bit of overstatement involved in all of the above designed for the nature of the listeners. However it does appear that despite all kinds of claims to the contrary Russia is staying at least even in armored vehicles and troops. We will know more pretty soon. If Russia starts a serious offensive, we will know they expect to be adequately supplied. If Russia does not, it may be because they are not in as good shape as the article indicates.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/countries-nea...54817.html
Surprising nobody. The Ottawa Convention was never viable in the face of actual war. The problem is that pretending it was has led to a removal of mine stockpiles and manufacturing capability in signatory nations. That needs to be reversed, unfortunately at the same time demand for other military items is outstripping available capacity.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/04/brief...=url-share (gifted)
IMO this article is quite on point. It is often suggested that Europe can step up and replace the potential loss of US support to Ukraine. As I have said before, Europe does not currently have the intelligence collection capabilities (overhead and airborne in particular) the US has, so even best case there are problems there. However as the article points out there are political, social, and economic problems in Europe that may prevent effective support of Ukraine. The lack of the US as "the adult in the room" in Europe not only reduces the thrust for common actions in Ukraine but can eventually have even worse effects.

Rearming in the name of democracy today could leave the far-right governments of tomorrow — many with close ties to Moscow — in charge of big, muscular militaries.