John T. Reed’s news blog

I have been watching the Smithsonian channel series called Air Crashes. It is documentaries about actual air crashes or near crashes and the ensuing investigation as to the cause and prevention of a recurrence..One case I became aware of intrigued me. I also came up with a number of things I am going to start doing to prevent my family being hurt by being lost in an unpopulated area on a long road or air trip. 1972 Andes rugby team plane crash The case I just finished reading a book about is about the October 13, 1972 crash of a...

Russia said something Ukraine recently did defending itself against the Russian invasion was described by the Russians as “an act of war.” Apparently, Russia has lost all touch with reality. I believe they are also taking umbrage at Ukraine returning fire INTO Russia against weapons launched or fired FROM Russian territory.

The US is sending 155mm howitzers to Ukraine along with 40,000 rounds of ammo for it. Okay, but that is not the route to Ukraine victory over Russia. The range of a 155mm howitzer is 11 to 18.6 miles depending upon the ammunition used. The antidote to the 155mm howitzer: an artillery piece with a greater than 18.6 miles range. The Russian 2S7 Pion self-propelled heavy artillery piece has a range of 29.5 miles. Checkmate..I think NATO members are also giving them tanks. Those require kerosene, benzine, or diesel. Russia is the #2 oil producer in the world. Tough for...

A military question that is about to be answered is the role of drones in modern combat between modern militaries. This may also be the end of tanks which I have said for years appears to be an obsolete fraud. We have a zillion of them. Might as well give them to the Russians. Even the marines are giving them all away to the Army, which does not want them. Give them to the Ukraines and train them to use them..Some readers say tanks are not yet obsolete. We’ll see..The impending battle may be like General Billy Mitchell’s demonstration to...

In spite of my forecasts that we may be on the verge of hyperinflation, the WSJ dollar index has been going up since I first started writing about inflation. When I started in 2010, it was around 73. Now it is around 93. That indicates that the value of the dollar has been going up compared to a basket of foreign currencies the WSJ has picked..I hasten to add that the basket is not the currencies  recommend. I think they pick theirs on market share. In other words, popularity. The WSJ index is composed of: Euro (EUR), 57.6% weight Japanese yen (JPY)...