Santa Claus is Coming to Town(s)

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The Guardian:
US sends first power equipment to Ukraine
The United States has shipped the first part of its power equipment aid to Ukraine, US officials said on Monday, as Washington works to support the country’s energy infrastructure against intensifying attacks from Russia.
The first tranche was power equipment worth about $13m, one of the officials said. Another source familiar with the matter said two more planeloads of equipment would leave from the United States this week.
A US official said the equipment departed from a US military base. The first tranche is part of the $53m aid announced last month, after Ukraine said it needed transformers and generators as well as air defence systems.

Washington Post:

A U.S. shipment of power equipment worth $13 million was on its way to Ukraine on Tuesday, with a handover expected in Poland, as part of the Biden administration’s effort to help rebuild Ukraine’s battered electrical grid. Two additional planes with equipment will depart from the United States this week.

Civil infrastructure is also a focus of an international donor conference Tuesday in Paris, where representatives of dozens of countries are expected to address Ukraine’s need for electricity, heating and water heading into winter.

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42 thoughts on “Santa Claus is Coming to Town(s)”

  1. Presidents Zelenskyy, Biden talk restoring Ukraine’s power grid and air defense | Ukrainian news (ukranews.com)

    In a telephone conversation with U.S. President Joseph Biden, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed the restoration of Ukraine’s power grid and the formation of effective air defense for Ukraine.
    Zelenskyy announced this on Telegram, the Ukrainian News agency reports.
    “We also appreciate the help the United States provides for the restoration of Ukraine’s power grid. I hope for further deepening of cooperation in this area. He emphasized the importance of the formation of effective air defense for Ukraine. It is necessary to do everything possible to protect the civilian population of Ukraine and its critical infrastructure. This is especially important now, when the winter period has begun in Ukraine,” he wrote.
    [continues]

  2. Readout of President Biden’s Call with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine – U.S. Embassy in Ukraine (usembassy.gov)

    President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., spoke today with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine to underscore ongoing U.S. support for Ukraine’s defense as Russia continues its assaults on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure.  President Biden highlighted how the U.S. is prioritizing efforts to strengthen Ukraine’s air defense through our security assistance, including the December 9 announcement of $275 million in additional ammunition and equipment that included systems to counter the Russian use of unmanned aerial vehicles. President Biden also highlighted the November 29 announcement of $53 million to support energy infrastructure to strengthen the stability of Ukraine’s energy grid in the wake of Russia’s targeted attacks.  President Biden welcomed President Zelenskyy’s stated openness to a just peace based on fundamental principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter.  He reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to continue providing Ukraine with security, economic, and humanitarian assistance, holding Russia accountable for its war crimes and atrocities, and imposing costs on Russia for its aggression.

     

     

    By U.S. Embassy Kyiv | 12 December, 2022 

  3. colbert last night

    Stephen celebrates NASA’s successful lunar orbit, puzzles over Marjorie Taylor Greene’s speech to New York’s Young Republicans, and looks at the bizarre circumstances surrounding a coup attempt in Germany.

  4. for Pogo, ms. petri’s

    Opinion | The 100 best Christmas songs, ranked by Alexandra Petri – The Washington Post

    If you are on the Internet long enough, there comes a year when you will be forced to rank something. Now it is my time. So I am taking the liberty of going through the 100 holiday songs being foisted upon us everywhere and ranking them from Most Especially Heinous to Best. This is probably a good idea, and I feel fit and confident! I bet this will be an easy, pleasant process. I’m amazed I haven’t already compiled several lists just like this! See a playlist of all 100 songs on Spotify.

    100. “Little Drummer Boy.” My hatred for this song is well-documented. I think it is because the song takes approximately 18 years to sing and does not rhyme. The concept of the song is bad. The execution of the song is bad. There is not even an actual drum in the dang song, there is just someone saying PA-RUM-PA-PUM-PUM, which, frankly, is not a good onomatopoeia and probably is an insult to those fluent in Drum. I cannot stand it. Nothing will fix it, even the application of David Bowie to it. Every year I say, “I hate this song,” and every year people say, “Have you heard David Bowie’s version?” Yes. Yes, I have. It is still an abomination.

    99. “Do You Hear What I Hear?” A better name for this song would be “I Assume You Cannot Hear Anything I Am Saying and so I Am Going to Repeat All the Words Twice.” This contains things that in another, better song, would be welcome: A star! A star! A shepherd boy! Rhetorical questions! But the problem with this song is the problem that arises any time you are forced to repeat something you said because someone didn’t hear it properly: namely, that you didn’t phrase the thing very well in the first place and having to say it again just makes you more painfully aware of how awkward your wording was. “WITH A VOICE AS BIG AS THE SEA.” What? “WITH A VOICE AS BIG AS THE SEA,” you shout, regretting that you ever thought it was a good idea to introduce a simile here.
    [continues]

  5. one might say our contribution of power equipment to ukraine is a form of sending a rather enlarged proboscis endowed Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

    by the way, ms petri ranks RTRND 97th in her list of christmas songs:

    97. “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” One of my chatters correctly describes this as a song about how differently abled people are bullied until the system finds a way to exploit them for profit. The only good thing about this song is that Rudolph is a reindeer with a people name, and all the other reindeer have dog names. Prancer, Blitzen, Dancer!

  6. I look forward to Alex’s holiday lists, especially the Christmas song list. Her comments give me a lot of chuckles. 

  7. Updates on a couple of sites to replace twit.  Mastodon is building itself well. The issues that continue are the silo effect and difficulty in knowing who to follow/read.  The silo effect is you primarily see inputs to the server you are on and not what is happening on other servers.  The structure is that you will not see others unless you are directed to see them by someone on your server sharing the post. 
     
    Post.news is coming along very nice with frequent updates, fixes and new features.  It is more like the old twit than the new one. It still has a lot of limitations, but is doing very well.
     
    Most of the major media companies are on both, you just have to find them.  People are doing a lot of sharing of who to follow which is very nice.  Both are working hard to get rid of rwnj accounts.  I like both sites and am enjoying watching them evolve to handle those leaving the twit.

  9. Auntie Em! Uncle Henry!  Hoping the power doesn’t go out here…not anything worse.

    I disagree with Rudolph’s placement.  I enjoy shouting “like a lightbulb,” even in the spots where it’s uncalled for, with glee.
     
     

  11. There goes the tornado siren, but they sound it for everything.   Hopefully, it’s just sideways rain.  Ah, they’ve evacuated the terminals at DFW airport. I guess they send folks to a lower level somewhere.

  12. other than turning off all media and social devices, not reading newspapers/mags and limiting social interactions to your dog is there any antidote for this?

  13. BiD, take care.  do you have a storm room or handy basement to run to?

    Watch live: North Texas under tornado watch; potential twister spotted in Tarrant County
    The tornado watch was issued for several North Texas counties, including Dallas, Tarrant, Denton and Collin, and was due to expire around 11 a.m.

  17. Hey… my favorite Christmas song is The Little Drummer Boy.  I like the idea of giving the best of oneself with a little time and no big expensive gift.
     
    I’m with Jack…  I’m sick of watching the political shows that still focus on trumpty Dumpty.

  18. Seasonal fluff from the AP
     

    A girl named Madeline, with a vivid imagination and remarkable awareness of how bureaucracy can dash dreams, got her wish when she asked Los Angeles animal control authorities for a license to own a unicorn — if she’s able to find one.The first-of-its-kind permit came with strings attached, however: The mythical creature must be provided ample exposure to sunlight, moonbeams and rainbows and have its horn polished at least once a month with a soft cloth.The department’s response came after the girl wrote it a brief letter last month: “Dear LA County, I would like your approval if I can have a unicorn in my backyard if I can find one.”

  20. I see from my morning news read that the Crypto currency guy is being charged with multiple counts of wire fraud. 
    Crypto currency and fraud, who would have thunk it.
    Jack

  21. Just wow, Ha!
    From Bloomberg’s, Matt Levine’s newsletter that I get in my email. It is about Musk and his financing arrangement to buy twitter

    $3 billion of unsecured debt on which Twitter pays an interest rate of 11.75%

    No wonder Musk is jumping around acting crazy. I’m not sure but I used to have credit card interest lower than that. And even at that rate the banks aren’t finding any buyers.
    It looks like the smartest man in the world just jumped out of the plane without his parachute. 
    Jack

     

  22. So what does it take to fight a modern war? Light bulbs!

    But supplying the country with 50 million LED lightbulbs, which use less energy than older varieties, would save around one gigawatt of power – reducing the shortfall by about 40%.

    I’ve got a few extra, 
    Jack

  24. jack, truly awesome. i think even ms petri would agree.

     

    renee, your “I’m with Jack…  I’m sick of watching the political shows that still focus on trumpty Dumpty” is spot on to me.  it’s maddening how the media made their monster (i guess because he was an easy low hanging fruit for them day after day or assured the requisite rating clicks) and now they can’t break the habit.  if they’d stop with the free time/limelight and his ability to grift his cult, he’d melt away into oblivion.  

  29. Boom stuff that is old can be exciting.  Same with food rations.  Here is to the (#*&$ russians, hope you enjoy fireworks. 
     
    Although I am less than religious, I am a fan of good sounds even if it is now.  This is in Finnish, with a few English words.  Odds are at least two of them are cousins – in Finland most of us are cousins at some distance.
     
    Oh, Yeah.  I am a minister with Universal Life Church. It is true that all you have to do is join the website.  I consider myself the preacher of last resort.  If all other religions turn you away, I will step in to help. I was surprised at how many “names” are ministers too. 

  31. Fusion and Freezing ………..
    I hope that the Kranes move away from the very idea of the “grid” . That is the blueprint that Westinghouse and Tesla gave us. We have countless examples of why it is not an asset  anymore, but liability . It was perfect for our world , when we built it. 
    But that was before some nut ball with an AK showed that Ten bucks of ammo could put 25,000 in the dark for days. 
    It needs to be rethought , to isolate failures. To defuse the risk facing us.   The idea of how we power our selves .
     
    I love big science , but this fusion news ain’t gonna solve our problems.
    What Ukraine needs tonight is wood burn stoves, and the piping .  
     

  33. On the Border  ……
    Will someone ask  why are these people fleeing their homes ?  And then ask what would drive you from yours. 
     
    How bad would it get ? 

  35. Storms …………
    There is no break on how strong they can reach.
    Take this one , 165 mph gust ,  6 feet of snow , 7 inches of rain. 
    As we heat the seas this gets really out of hand. 
     
    50 dead in the Congo , massive flooding. 

  36. The comedian Fred Armisen made the astute observation, one time, that one can tell when a technological innovation is truly revolutionary when it inspires anger and confusion

  37. My world is a milky haze. My belly is the size of Charles Loughton playing Capt Bligh . My chest is full of 57 years of cigarettes.  My brain has been on a 100 acid trips. 
    Meeting all of you was the best lick I ever hit. 

  38. Bob
    When Miami is covered in water, I am certain fusion will be just 20 years in the future. And somebody will be calling reporters with a great new development because their grant money is running out.
    Jack

  39. fusion is now, jack
     
    this isn’t “fusion is coming”, this is “fusion has been achieved”
     
    scaling it will take probably about 20 years, but this is “star-people” type shit
     
    now if humans can just avoid murdering each other in the meantime…

  40. i am currently conversing with you, now, on a PIECE OF GLASS that fits in the palm of my hand and requires NO WIRES to either operate or CHARGE
     
    THE FUCKING THING CHARGES WIRELESSLY
     
    if you would like, i can use it to transmit to you ANY SONG or VIDEO EVER RECORDED
     
    INSTANTLY

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