Totally rational thing for a US Secretary of State to do in a war zone... I'm disappointed Secretary Austin didn't join him on the Sax...
The 21st-century equivalent of Nero fiddling.


https://www.rightjournalism.com/video-as-russian-troops-advance-in-northeast-ukraine-heres-what-secretary-blinken-was-doing-in-a-bar-in-kyiv-and-people-share-their-opinion/

Taking cold showers in the winter in the northern states is even more important.  I'm sure heating water from those cold waterlines must be even more deadly for everyone.  But the good news is liberals can start their cold-water showers today!  They do take showers, don't they?

The Dubious Dance of Cooling Glaciers in a Warming World
5 hours ago Charles Rotter 16 Comments


In a climate discourse saturated with the axiom that global warming is the harbinger of unidirectional catastrophic changes, a recent study from Nature Geoscience stands out—not for its groundbreaking insights but for the peculiar manner in which it contorts observations to fit the prevailing climate change narrative. The study, focusing on the Himalayan glaciers, notably those around Mount Everest, reveals a cooling phenomenon, where localized areas experience temperature drops despite the global trend of rising temperatures.

The Paradox as Presented
Abstract

Understanding the response of Himalayan glaciers to global warming is vital because of their role as a water source for the Asian subcontinent. However, great uncertainties still exist on the climate drivers of past and present glacier changes across scales. Here, we analyse continuous hourly climate station data from a glacierized elevation (Pyramid station, Mount Everest) since 1994 together with other ground observations and climate reanalysis. We show that a decrease in maximum air temperature and precipitation occurred during the last three decades at Pyramid in response to global warming. Reanalysis data suggest a broader occurrence of this effect in the glacierized areas of the Himalaya. We hypothesize that the counterintuitive cooling is caused by enhanced sensible heat exchange and the associated increase in glacier katabatic wind, which draws cool air downward from higher elevations. The stronger katabatic winds have also lowered the elevation of local wind convergence, thereby diminishing precipitation in glacial areas and negatively affecting glacier mass balance. This local cooling may have partially preserved glaciers from melting and could help protect the periglacial environment.

The authors of the study document a decrease in maximum air temperatures and a reduction in precipitation in the glacierized areas of the Himalayas, a pattern observed over the past three decades. The narrative quickly turns to global warming as the prime mover of this paradox, attributing the local cooling to enhanced katabatic winds driven by increased glacier melt—a consequence of global warming.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-023-01331-y

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/05/14/the-dubious-dance-of-cooling-glaciers-in-a-warming-world/

The X-44 Manta and the Future of Air Dominance
Story by Emma Taylor • 9h


In the high-stakes world of aerial combat, where supremacy in the skies can determine the outcome of conflicts, innovation is not just welcome—it’s essential. The U.S. Air Force’s vision for such innovation was encapsulated in the form of the X-44 Manta, an ambitious project by Lockheed Martin that promised to redefine the boundaries of stealth and maneuverability.

The X-44 Manta, a concept that emerged from the collaboration between Lockheed Martin and NASA, boasted a radical design that did away with conventional tail surfaces altogether. Its “stretched delta-wing mainplane” silhouette aimed to create the ultimate low-visibility fighter, potentially outclassing even the F-22A Raptor.
 
This tailless delta-wing aircraft was designed to be a powerhouse in the sky, equipped with thrust-vector control for exceptional agility. Powered by Pratt & Whitney’s turbofan engines, the X-44 aimed to thrust forward with an impressive 35,000 pounds of power, reaching speeds of about 1,500 miles per hour.

The X-44 Manta was not just about stealth. It was designed to carry a formidable array of weapons, including an internal cannon, AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles, AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles, and GBU-32 JDAMs. This arsenal would have provided the X-44 with both air-to-air and ground attack capabilities, potentially making it an unmatched combatant in the skies.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/the-x-44-manta-and-the-future-of-air-dominance/ar-BB1moTpx?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=bf7e96306516472fa1ed9d5bfda23285&ei=61

Fact check: Biden again falsely claims inflation was 9% when he became president
Story by Daniel Dale, CNN • 12h •

For the second time in less than a week, President Joe Biden falsely claimed Tuesday that the inflation rate was 9% when he began his presidency.

Biden was criticized by many Republicans, including former president and current presidential rival Donald Trump, for telling CNN in an interview last Wednesday: “No president’s had the run we’ve had in terms of creating jobs and bringing down inflation. It was 9% percent when I came to office, 9%.”
 
Biden repeated the claim about the inflation rate, albeit in slightly vaguer form, in a Tuesday interview with Yahoo Finance. This time, he said: “I think inflation has gone slightly up. It was at 9% when I came in, and it’s now down around 3%.”

Facts First: Biden’s claim that the inflation rate was 9% when he became president is not close to true. The year-over-year inflation rate in January 2021, the month of his inauguration, was about 1.4%. The Biden-era inflation rate did peak at about 9.1% – but that peak occurred in June 2022, after Biden had been president for more than 16 months. The March 2024 inflation rate, the most recent available rate at the time Biden made these comments, was about 3.5%, up from about 3.2% the month prior.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/fact-check-biden-again-falsely-claims-inflation-was-9-when-he-became-president/ar-BB1moqey?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=bf7e96306516472fa1ed9d5bfda23285&ei=52