I would say that as a kid, December was much more exciting than it is now. Sometimes as an adult ” Christmas” can be a bit stressful.
I do like church services before Christmas.
Cold here in my part of CO. This morning around 10 degrees. A little snow last week, maybe more on Wed. Mountains are getting snow though. We lots more in the Mountains, that’s where we get our water from to fill the reservoirs.
Re: Ukraine / Putin
I cannot see any reason for Putin to seek a peace deal. As long as he has a market for his oil / gas, it generates the needed revenue to continue prosecuting the war.
The Russian govt. has always seen their citizens as cannon fodder, whose role in life is to serve the govt. If Putin needs more bodies to send into the meat grinder, so be it.
If they do not advance into the enemy lines as ordered, they are shot dead by Russian officers; just as was done during WWII by Stalin’s political Commissars embedded within army units.
If Putin does agree to a peace deal, it will be only a temporary respite as far as he is concerned. At the right time of his choosing, he will invade the Baltics, knowing full well that NATO is a joke.
His strategy is very similar to what Hitler employed. Make a move and then see what the response is. If the response is a joke, then make the next move, and so on.
Here in OKC, it is windy, freezing cold, and we actually got a sprinkling of snow with minor accumulations in the corners of the roofs. Not missing the piles of snow that those in the North are experiencing.
@Shirehome– The local weather-guesser just gave us a shot of “Palisades” (the Lake Tahoe ski resort formerly known as Squaw Valley) and there was no snow. Bare brown ski trails surrounded by varied shades of greenery. The snow pack is our water storage, as with you. This could be a tough year in the foothills.
If Putin does agree to a peace deal, it will be only a temporary respite as far as he is concerned. At the right time of his choosing, he will invade the Baltics, knowing full well that NATO is a joke.
==
Over a period of 45 months, his military has been unable to dislodge the military of a country with 1/10th of Russia’s domestic product. He occupies two oblasts and part of three others, just what he occupied in the spring of 2022. NATO ain’t the joke here.
His strategy is very similar to what Hitler employed. Make a move and then see what the response is. If the response is a joke, then make the next move, and so on.
==
Hitler’s Wehrmacht wasn’t tied up fighting the Schuschnigg ministry’s for three or four years.
Shirehome,
I am a little south of Grand Junction.
One of the dilemmas Ukraine faces is funding for the war.
The 2026 budget deficit of Ukraine is $75 billion. That number will no doubt increase in 2027.
The US is committed to funding Ukraine to the tune of $25 billion in 2026, but if Trump follows through on his campaign promises, that number will be reduced/zeroed out in 2027.
The EU is banking on using the frozen Russian assets of $152 billion as collateral and providing a multiyear loan to Ukraine. Previously they have been using the gains from the frozen assets and sending that to Ukraine.
While the EU says this is just using the frozen assets as collateral, in reality this will amount to confiscation– and Euroclear (the institution holding the Russian assets) had said they will sue to prevent the release of the money. The EU meets on December 18 to determine what and how they will fund Ukraine in 2026. If that Russian money is tied up in the courts, the EU will have to reach into their own budgets to make up a potential $125 billion Ukraine shortfall over the next two years.
In addition Belgium has asked for all the EU countries to share indemnity for the action. Belgium has vetoed the use of the money without that risk sharing.
Ukraine’s military budget in 2026 is $68 billion or 58% of the total government budget.
If the money is used for war fighting, it won’t be available to start putting Ukraine’s economy/infrastructure back together after a ceasefire.
Even if the EU approves funding in 2026, the earliest that money could reach Ukraine would be the second quarter.
The attack on the National Guardsmen by Rahmanullah Lakanwal…who had worked closely with US forces in Afghanistan..reminded me of a passage by Antoine de St-Exupery
I would say that as a kid, December was much more exciting than it is now. Sometimes as an adult ” Christmas” can be a bit stressful.
I do like church services before Christmas.
Cold here in my part of CO. This morning around 10 degrees. A little snow last week, maybe more on Wed. Mountains are getting snow though. We lots more in the Mountains, that’s where we get our water from to fill the reservoirs.
Re: Ukraine / Putin
I cannot see any reason for Putin to seek a peace deal. As long as he has a market for his oil / gas, it generates the needed revenue to continue prosecuting the war.
The Russian govt. has always seen their citizens as cannon fodder, whose role in life is to serve the govt. If Putin needs more bodies to send into the meat grinder, so be it.
If they do not advance into the enemy lines as ordered, they are shot dead by Russian officers; just as was done during WWII by Stalin’s political Commissars embedded within army units.
If Putin does agree to a peace deal, it will be only a temporary respite as far as he is concerned. At the right time of his choosing, he will invade the Baltics, knowing full well that NATO is a joke.
His strategy is very similar to what Hitler employed. Make a move and then see what the response is. If the response is a joke, then make the next move, and so on.
Sorry – I can’t stop laughing at this video…
https://x.com/llandoniffirg/status/1994420487808549098?s=20
Here in OKC, it is windy, freezing cold, and we actually got a sprinkling of snow with minor accumulations in the corners of the roofs. Not missing the piles of snow that those in the North are experiencing.
@Shirehome– The local weather-guesser just gave us a shot of “Palisades” (the Lake Tahoe ski resort formerly known as Squaw Valley) and there was no snow. Bare brown ski trails surrounded by varied shades of greenery. The snow pack is our water storage, as with you. This could be a tough year in the foothills.
If Putin does agree to a peace deal, it will be only a temporary respite as far as he is concerned. At the right time of his choosing, he will invade the Baltics, knowing full well that NATO is a joke.
==
Over a period of 45 months, his military has been unable to dislodge the military of a country with 1/10th of Russia’s domestic product. He occupies two oblasts and part of three others, just what he occupied in the spring of 2022. NATO ain’t the joke here.
His strategy is very similar to what Hitler employed. Make a move and then see what the response is. If the response is a joke, then make the next move, and so on.
==
Hitler’s Wehrmacht wasn’t tied up fighting the Schuschnigg ministry’s for three or four years.
Shirehome,
I am a little south of Grand Junction.
One of the dilemmas Ukraine faces is funding for the war.
The 2026 budget deficit of Ukraine is $75 billion. That number will no doubt increase in 2027.
The US is committed to funding Ukraine to the tune of $25 billion in 2026, but if Trump follows through on his campaign promises, that number will be reduced/zeroed out in 2027.
The EU is banking on using the frozen Russian assets of $152 billion as collateral and providing a multiyear loan to Ukraine. Previously they have been using the gains from the frozen assets and sending that to Ukraine.
While the EU says this is just using the frozen assets as collateral, in reality this will amount to confiscation– and Euroclear (the institution holding the Russian assets) had said they will sue to prevent the release of the money. The EU meets on December 18 to determine what and how they will fund Ukraine in 2026. If that Russian money is tied up in the courts, the EU will have to reach into their own budgets to make up a potential $125 billion Ukraine shortfall over the next two years.
In addition Belgium has asked for all the EU countries to share indemnity for the action. Belgium has vetoed the use of the money without that risk sharing.
Ukraine’s military budget in 2026 is $68 billion or 58% of the total government budget.
If the money is used for war fighting, it won’t be available to start putting Ukraine’s economy/infrastructure back together after a ceasefire.
Even if the EU approves funding in 2026, the earliest that money could reach Ukraine would be the second quarter.
The attack on the National Guardsmen by Rahmanullah Lakanwal…who had worked closely with US forces in Afghanistan..reminded me of a passage by Antoine de St-Exupery
A Murderous Parallel?
https://chicagoboyz.net/archives/75545.html