I had a handful of y'all point out that not everyone in the recent Chinese purges was targeted for political reasons; instead, many of these folks are facing corruption charges. The level of corruption within the Chinese military is unknown, but I bet it's more...
On Wednesday we had a serious SE blow that gusted to near 70 here. That wind, combined with high tide shortly before 10AM created a lot of damage along the coast, hitting some of the lower lying harbors hard indeed. More than a few buildings floated away and were beaten to death on the shorelines. Rockport is a relatively elevated harbor but SE is the one wind direction that really can do a number on us here. We were relatively lucky.
Watch this Live Stream of the Class A Maine Girls High School basketball game between the Windjammers of Camden Hills and the Eagles of Messalonskee. Game time was 12:30 PM, following the JV game. The commentators are Charlie Crockett and Dave Ridley. The sports videographer is Penny Crockett.
Xi Jinping is doing his best Darth Vader impression and has the Chinese military in a force choke. After purging the system of anyone who can think, all that remains is the shell of a Defense Minister (now a press secretary for military diplomacy) and the “real” decision makers – the Central Military Commission – chaired by none other than Xi himself.
As always, lots of great things to do at the Camden Public Library.
Replay of Live Stream.
In a departure from its post-WWII stance, Germany plans to establish a permanent military deployment in Lithuania. Looks like it might be time to bust out the caution tape…
Germany’s willingness to participate in security matters signifies a shift in military capabilities and ideology. With mounting concerns over Russia’s attack on Ukraine, Germany’s renewed military posture could spell trouble for Putin’s master plan.
Watch this of the Replay of Live Stream of the Class A Maine Girls High School basketball game between the Windjammers of Camden Hills and the Tigers of Gardiner. The Replay includes added coaches’ interviews. This game was played at Camden Hills Regional High School in Rockport on January 9, 2024. The commentators are Charlie Crockett and Dave Ridley. The sports videographer is Penny Crockett.
Construction is set to begin this spring in Gorham on one of New England’s largest battery storage projects, a preview of similar ventures that are seen as a missing link for optimizing the region’s growing fleet of solar and wind power plants.
Big batteries are considered essential to realizing Maine’s climate goals. That’s because the transition from fossil fuels to renewable power leans heavily on solar and wind — notably from proposed floating offshore wind farms — to help energize an electrified economy.
The problem is, solar and wind are intermittent sources of power. When the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow, other sources are needed to make up shortfalls, and balance supply and demand.
Arguably the most brutal battle of the Ukraine War is now in its fourth month: the battle of Avdiivka. Let’s take a deep look at its strategic importance for both sides.
Avdiivka is located in southeastern Ukraine and offers access to vital Ukrainian logistical hubs – so both sides are intent on having control. The Russians have sent waves of troops, tanks and everything else they have into the meatgrinder of Avdiivka, suffering some 40,0000 battle casualties – a ratio of around 5 to 1 compared to the Ukrainian defenders.
As bad as that sounds (and it is, indeed, very bad), in terms of equipment, the Russians are suffering loss ratios twice that. And yet, for the Russians, this isn’t even remotely perceived as a defeat.