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WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has lifted lightning restrictions for the most widely used version of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, allowing the Lockheed Martin jet to fly in thunderstorms for the first time since 2020, Breaking Defense has learned. The Defense Department formally lifted the restrictions on March 19 after devising a hardware and software fix for the lightning protection system used aboard the F-35A conventional takeoff and landing variant, JPO spokesman Russ Goemaere said in response to a press inquiry. The F-35A had been prohibited from flying within 25 miles of lightning since June 2020, when damaged tubes were...

Although cocaine is consumed in every part of the world, its base, the coca plant, is mainly cultivated in three Latin American countries: Peru, Bolivia and Colombia. The latter made headlines in the fall of 2023 due to a report released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) claiming that the area used for coca crop in 2022 grew to 230,000 hectares, a 13 percent increase compared to 2021, according to Reuters reporting. As our chart shows, this further cements Colombia's spot as the top coca producer in the world.According to figures by UNODC and the Peruvian...

Texas dominates U.S. oil production, contributing 42.6% of the total output, mainly due to the Permian Basin.New Mexico has seen dramatic 190% increase in oil production over the past five years, becoming the second-leading oil producer in the U.S.California faces a 30.7% reduction in oil production over the past five years, largely due to political and geological challenges.U.S. oil production has increased by 21% over the past five years. According to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), earlier this month U.S. oil producers set a new annual production record.This increase is being driven by a surge of production in...

'The White House simply ignores energy realities by once again limiting US energy production opportunities,' .. The Biden administration on Friday finalized a plan to dramatically curb the number of offshore oil and gas lease sales over the next five years as it continues to aggressively push green energy development. The Department of the Interior's (DOI) five-year offshore oil and gas leasing program schedules just three Gulf of Mexico lease sales through 2029, marking the fewest number of sales ever included in such a plan, which the agency is mandated to issue periodically. According to the DOI, holding the sales...

Every day, people across the world wake up to news about climate change affecting their lives. With the seeming randomness of a roulette wheel, the doomsday clique of the climate world daily selects a fresh topic to sow seeds of anxiety among the populace. Popular things easily recognized — even cherished — by people are continually identified as being at risk of being damaged or destroyed by climate change. Coffee, for example, is a commodity experiencing a surge in popularity, and there are no prizes for guessing what climate doomsayers are saying now. Yes, coffee is now said to be...

The American Plant Food Corporation’s fertilizer plant in Bartlett, Texas, near Round Rock, reportedly caught fire around 8:30 p.m. on August 20th. The plant has since burned to the ground.The Bartlett Volunteer Fire Department received a call to come put it out at 9901 North Highway 95. The fertilizer plant is said “vital to the local community” and to Texas state.Because of voluminous hazardous and highly flammable chemicals at the plant, firefighters decided it was best to not try to extinguish the flames with water as they typically would for other types of fires. “Hazard crews were on site all...

Well, its now August 2023 and US Industrial Production for July increased … to 2007 levels. This comes after the massive spending out of Washington DC and massive Federal Rerserve stimulus. Is that all there is?? As I said a couple of days ago, the Obama/Biden economic model is a Soviet/Chinese Communist Party (CCP) style of COMMAND economics, not free market DEMAND economics. As if dimwitted Mean Joe Biden has a clue.

Yesterday, Telsa released production and delivery numbers for the 2nd quarter. Wall Street had been expecting a pretty good result but the company beat those estimates by quite a bit.For the quarter, Tesla reported global production of 479,700 units with deliveries of 466,140. The delivery figure easily topped Wall Street consensus estimates of 448,599 units, as well as the prior quarter’s total of 422,875. Both production and delivery totals for the second quarter were all-time records for Tesla.In case that wasn’t clear, a survey of Wall Street analysts estimated the delivery number this quarter would 448,599 and the actual number...

I was hoping that the week of July 4th would start off with fireworks, but we got bad news about the economy. US factory activity contracted for an eighth month in June, slipping to the weakest level in more than three years as production, employment and input prices retreated. The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing gauge fell to 46, the weakest since May 2020, from 46.9 a month earlier, according to data released Monday. The current stretch of readings below 50, which indicates shrinking activity, is the longest since 2008-2009. The decline in the ISM production gauge, which also stands...

EXCERPTS:If you want to believe America is still the "arsenal of democracy" that Franklin Roosevelt described in 1940, you might want to avoid looking too closely at the U.S. manufacturing sector. China has become the world's premier industrial power, greatly out-producing the United States in everything from steel to smartphones. Germany's machine-tool industry outshines our own. No U.S. shipyard has built a commercial ship destined for international commerce in decades. I toured the last remaining tank plant in America, located in Lima, Ohio. General Dynamics, a donor to my think tank and consulting client, flew me there to see where...

“One day in January, I caught myself mumbling the ‘Ooga Chaka’ chant from Blue Swede’s ‘Hooked on a Feeling” in rhythm with the Beatles’ “Birthday,” and marveled at how well they fit together. I tried it with other songs and realized I could have some on-air fun with it.” Al, who goes by Alan Darsen on air, frequently devotes time on his show to novelty holidays like National Buy a Cupcake Day. “I decided it was time to invent a holiday of our own. So I edited together nine entire songs with the chant, declared January 23 as National Ooga...

After reporting last week that production volume had spooled up at Tesla's new Germany plant, this week we are learning that the Tesla production expansion continues: this time to Mexico.The company is slated to build a new plant in Monterrey, Mexico, it was reported by Bloomberg this week. The announcement comes after weeks of guessing over where the U.S. based EV company would expand its reach next. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced on Wednesday that the facility would help Mexico "build on the millions of combustion-engine vehicles the country already supplies to the US every year," according to Bloomberg....

A cyberattack earlier this month forced produce giant Dole to temporarily shut down production plants in North America and halt food shipments to grocery stores, according to a company memo about the incident obtained by CNN. The previously unreported hack — which a source familiar with the incident said was ransomware — led some grocery shoppers to complain on Facebook in recent days that store shelves were missing Dole-made salad kits. “Dole Food Company is in the midst of a Cyber Attack and have subsequently shut down our systems throughout North America,” Emanuel Lazopoulos, senior vice president at Dole’s Fresh...

A good idea. A long overdue good idea, at that. But even then, Apple apparently can’t entirely quit China as a supplier — or more accurately, a supply management resource.But at least it’s a start … perhaps:In recent weeks, Apple Inc. has accelerated plans to shift some of its production outside China, long the dominant country in the supply chain that built the world’s most valuable company, say people involved in the discussions. It is telling suppliers to plan more actively for assembling Apple products elsewhere in Asia, particularly India and Vietnam, they say, and looking to reduce dependence on...

Following my previous article on U.S. natural gas production, I engaged in a Twitter discussion on the causes of the natural gas price surge over the past two years.What ensued was a discussion of the influences in the natural gas markets in recent years. Indeed, the comment above is correct that most of the demand increase in U.S. natural gas production in recent years has been in power generation, as power plants phased out coal.Over the past 20 years, natural gas devoted to power production has increased from 5.3 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) in 2001 (24 % of production that...

In some of my earliest coverage of the Ukraine war, I noted that just comparing defence spending between countries was extremely difficult and not all budgets are created equal. Today following a Patron vote, I'm going to try and unpack that a little more by diving into the world of defence economics and production 101. In doing so, we're going to try and answer some questions. Why does America dominate the global arms market? How can a 5th generation fighter be cheaper than those decades older than it? And why do so many nations chose to buy in arms rather...

Distillate levels in the United States have plummeted to the lowest levels since 2008.. Low distillate inventories have sent diesel prices soaring. ... The primary distillates are diesel, jet fuel ,and heating oil). However, in 2008 distillate levels were low coming out of spring. Currently, they are low going into fall. That’s far worse than the situation in 2008. Distillate demand generally spikes in spring — when farmers are planting crops — and in fall, when they are harvesting those crops and people start buying fuel oil for winter. Thus, a low distillate inventory in late April 2008 isn’t quite...

President Joe Biden called on U.S. oil refiners to produce more gasoline and diesel Wednesday, warning because they are not doing so their profits have tripled as Americans struggle with record high gas prices. But the federal government that Biden heads reported that refineries are already running at capacity and face other limits following the coronavirus pandemic.

There were seven major farm fires in the United States over a recent 10-day period. In the big picture, they were for the most part relatively small-scale events. But with reports of so many fires at food production facilities, you can’t help but notice. Coincidence? It could be. But it does get your attention. A barn in Hanover Township, Ohio, burned Monday. Officials initially were concerned that a person was in the burning structure but found no people or animals inside, according to the Butler County Journal-News. Saturday was a North Smithfield, Rhode Island, horse farm fire. Thankfully, none of...

“The Late Show” announced Monday afternoon that it will pause production due to host Stephen Colbert showing symptoms of COVID-19. Colbert tested positive for the coronavirus last month but returned to the CBS series last week. “Stephen is experiencing symptoms consistent with a recurrence of COVID. Out of an abundance of caution for his staff, guests, and audience, he will be isolating for a few additional days,” the late-night show tweeted from its official account on Monday.