Just One Thing: Tanks
Multiple news outlets reported yesterday that the US is preparing to send our massively capable M1 Abrams main battle tanks to Ukraine, all but guaranteeing that Germany and other European nations will send their tanks as well. I'm slightly surprised by this. The administration has seemed VERY reticent to send the Abrams, not least because its complexity of operation and maintenance could make it as much of a burden as a benefit over time. It seems that Germany absolutely convinced Biden that they would not approve sending the German Leopard 2 tank to Ukraine without America having similar skin in the game. This armor should scare the bejeezus out of Vladimir Putin. If the Ukrainians can be trained to be good operators of these tanks, they will kill a LOT of Russian armor and personnel.
I asked former NATO Supreme Allied Commander ADM James Stavridis for some quick thoughts. Here's what he told me: "Sending tanks to Ukraine is the right decision for NATO. While US Abraham’s tanks will pose logistic and maintenance challenges for the Ukrainians, the decision will unlock hundreds of German Leopard tanks. With a strong tank force, the Ukrainians can punch through Russian forces to the Black Sea."
(By the way, the tank in today's blog picture is an Abrams but it belongs to Australia, not the US, and probably won't be going to Ukraine.)
U.S. poised to approve sending Abrams tanks to Ukraine (msn.com)
Analysis from ISW: Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, January 24, 2023 | Institute for the Study of War (understandingwar.org)
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Today's Guests
Ed Prather is a valued morning show partner. He joins us for an occasional segment to discuss what's going on in the fascinating and dynamic real estate market. Some of the stuff that interests me most is how buyers are getting sellers to offer a particular kind of concession, a "rate buy-down", whereby the seller pays the buyer's mortgage company some fixed amount of money up front so that the buyer's interest rate is lower, potentially much lower, than it otherwise would be, making the buyer's monthly payment roughly as affordable as it would have been before rates went up.
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Phil Weiser is the Attorney General of Colorado. We'll discuss the new lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice with the support of about 20 states (I think) which claims that Google holds a de facto monopoly over the internet advertising business. The long knives are out on both sides of the aisle against the company and against other big tech. Indeed, Republican Congressman Ken Buck has a new book out called “Crushed: Big tech’s war on free speech.” These companies have very few friends right now.
Justice Department files antitrust lawsuit against Google over digital advertising - ABC News
U.S. targets Google's online ad business monopoly in latest Big Tech lawsuit | Reuters
And from the AG's office:
Lawsuit as filed: US-v-Google_Complaint-stamped.pdf (coag.gov)
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Very few people in Colorado understand property tax issues better than State Rep Lisa Frizell (R-Castle Rock) who served for almost 8 years as the Douglas County Assessor. Lisa joins me to talk about the potential disaster of property tax bills heading our way. Don't think it will only hurt owners; renters will get crushed too. THIS is the reason I opposed Amendment B but Coloradans in their ongoing ballot-measure idiocy passed it.
Lisa Frizell for Colorado House District 45 (frizellfor45.com)
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Other Stuff
A must-read piece about the current state of the discussion over COVID vaccines: https://www.thefp.com/p/the-epidemic-of-diedsuddenly
Meanwhile, the CDC and FDA may soon recommend annual COVID shots, much like a flu shot: https://www.axios.com/2023/01/25/america-rethinks-covid-strategy
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If Democrats do this, they'll be tied up in court for a long time. I think they will do it: Colorado lawmakers to consider ban on semiautomatic weapons (kdvr.com)
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Oops, again: Classified Documents Found at Mike Pence’s Indiana Home
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Love this story: Forget Google Maps: Why Paper Map Sales Are Booming
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I wasn't in a fraternity. Can someone please explain the appeal of a fraternity to me?
Hazing suit at Bowling Green ends with nearly $3M settlement - ABC News (go.com)
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I don't hate Nickelback. Nor do I particularly like them. I don't really understand why they're the butt of so many jokes but it looks like they're going to have the last laugh: Nickelback announces 10th studio album, 38-date summer tour | 9news.com
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I owe you this from a couple of days ago:
Chu-hi-cha – A Unique Type of Tea Brewed From Caterpillar Droppings (odditycentral.com)
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As long as we're talking about little creatures doing interesting things: Ants’ sense of smell is so strong, they can sniff out cancer - The Washington Post
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Yesterday's Show Highlight Video
Thanks to the technical genius of producer A-Rod, we'll be doing more videos (most of them fairly short) during the show and will be sharing them in various places online and occasionally in the blogcast.
Today's Videos
First, just one more reason to be VERY careful where you send your kids to college, or at least to make sure you've given them proper intellectual immunization against this kind of disgusting genocidal nonsense.
Massive accomplishment by Colorado's Mikaela Schiffrin who now has the record for the most World Cup alpine ski race victories (83) by a woman (passing Lindsey Vonn) and she'll likely soon pass Ingemar Stenmark (from Sweden) for the most by anybody...actually she only needs 3 more just to tie him (at 86) so it could happen this season. It's a great comeback after a very disappointing Beijing Olympics in which Schiffrin failed to win a medal despite being the favorite in most of the races she entered. That's some serious mental resilience.
Stenmark told the WSJ by email: “Shiffrin is such a great skier with a fantastic technique and really deserves to break my record. I will be happy for her when she does. She will be the first to reach 100 World Cup victories.”
https://www.axios.com/2023/01/24/mikaela-shiffrin-skiing-vonn-world-cup
American skier Mikaela Shiffrin wins record 83rd World Cup race (dallasnews.com)