Chinese Naval Ships Off Alaska

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A U.S. Coast Guard cutter on routine patrol in the Bering Sea came across several Chinese military ships in international waters but within the U.S. exclusive economic zone, officials said.

The crew detected three vessels approximately 124 miles (200 kilometers) north of the Amchitka Pass in the Aleutian Islands, the Coast Guard said in a statement Wednesday. A short time later, a helicopter aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak spotted a fourth ship approximately 84 miles (135 kilometers) north of the Amukta Pass.

All four of the People’s Republic of China vessels were “transiting in international waters but still inside the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone,” which extends 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from the U.S. shoreline, the statement said. The Chinese vessels told the Coast Guard their purpose for being there was “freedom of navigation operations.”        READ MORE...,

China's Aggressive & Insidious Behavior in the Pacific

Soldiers from Charlie Company, 1st Battalion 69 Infantry Regiment , New York Army National Guard acting as an opposing force defend their positions during the final battle of Exercise Talisman Sabre at the Shoalwater Bay Training Area, Queensland, Australia on July 19, 2017.U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. Michael Tietjen



The US Army is conducting various training and exercises with international partners in the Indo-Pacific region.

US Army Pacific's commanding general said the land power network across the region is stronger than ever.

The increased partnership is the "greatest counterweight" to China's "aggressive, insidious" approaches, he added.


Facing challenges from China and the possibility of a future fight in the Pacific, the US Army is training closer than ever with its international allies and partners to harness the skills needed for land combat across the challenging and diverse region.

Those exercises, from biennial training in Australia to US Army Pacific's new Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center rotations in Alaska and Hawaii, and the "persistent state of partnering" with allies is "the greatest counterweight" against China's "aggressive, insidious" behavior, US Army Pacific's commanding general told Business Insider during an interview at Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks, Alaska.     READ MORE...

Replacing Gas Turbines

Tesla has now deployed and unveiled a big 37-Megapack project in Alaska that will help replace gas turbines with a more sustainable solution.

Homer Electric, a member-owned electric utility cooperative based in Alaska, announced the project based in Kenai Peninsula back in 2019 – shortly after Tesla first unveiled the Megapack.

The Megapack is Tesla’s latest and biggest energy storage product, following the Powerpack and the Powerwall. It is meant as an even bigger option targeting electric utility projects.

According to Tesla, a single Megapack has up to 3 MWh of storage capacity and a 1.5 MW inverter.

With a capacity of 93 MWh, the project in Kenai Peninsula was one of the biggest announced at the time, but Tesla has since delivered bigger 1 GWh Megapack systems.

Homer Electric said that the project would replace gas turbines and enable better deployment of renewable energy:

The BESS also provides a great side benefit of opening the door to renewable intermittent energy projects that would have otherwise stretched current thermal generation assets.

The project has now been deployed, and Tesla wrote about it:

Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula has historically relied on gas turbines to distribute power to the community up to four months out of the year. To reduce the community’s reliance on fossil fuels to power the turbines, Homer Electric installed 37 Tesla Megapacks, providing grid stability even in freezing temperatures.

Tesla also released a new video about the project:

Tesla has now deployed and unveiled a big 37-Megapack project in Alaska that will help replace gas turbines with a more sustainable solution.  READ MORE...

Favorite Places to Live and/or Visit

While my wife and I like East TN as the location in which we live and Myrtle Beach as the location in which we visit...  everyone else, for the most part, has their favorite locations for one reason or another which allows for the rich diversification that makes American Great... 

For example, we have visit several places in Europe, around the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska, and Hawaii and none of those places suit our personalities 100% even though there were aspects of those areas that we really enjoyed as we were experiencing them...

Locations, to us, are not just locations but they consist of:

• travel time to get there
• transportation to get there
• cost of living there
• number of people there
• annual climate there
• things to do there

As we get older, even the 6 hour drive to Myrtle Beach is becoming to long of a time to take just to get someone in which we feel comfortable and know what to expect.  And, it is this knowing what to expect that clinches the deal for us...

COVID has put a damper on our travels and this fear will probably continue until next Summer even if they get a vaccine because we believe vaccines should be tested by others first in case they need to be modified due to side effects...   of course, the FDA would have taken all of that into consideration one would think.

 

COOKING SALMON and steak...

If you want to learn how to cook a perfect steak every time, CLICK HERE...

Personally, I prefer fish and chicken.

When I had my heart attack back in 2007/2008, my Cardiologist was encouraging me to stay away from red meats because of their negative impact on the heart...  Ever since then, I have tried not to eat red meat, especially steaks.

Additionally, when I had previously eaten steak, I NEVER MUCH liked the fat and meticulously would cut that away from my steak before eating the first bite.  Interestingly, it is the fat that gives steak its flavor and keeps it moist when cooking.

Salmon, Cod, Flounder, Grouper, and Tuna are my favorite fish although I also like crab meat and lobster tails.

A couple of years ago, my wife and I took an ALASKAN CRUISE and on the first night in the dinning room, I asked my waiter if I could have SALMON every night except for the night we were scheduled to have lobster tails...  He arranged that but also arranged for me to have both Salmon and Lobster Tail on that special night.   AND, one of our excursions was a Salmon Bake and I had 5 pieces of Salmon that afternoon for lunch.

There ain't nothing like ALASKAN SALMON...

However, the Salmon that you typically are served in restaurants are "Farmed" Salmon which is not as healthy as "Wild" Salmon.