Day 1015

Photo c/o abdymok

My Christmas List:

• Water

• Three similar but nonidentical objects snug in a custom-made portable display case

• Cheerios (plain, not honey-nut)

• World rights to the number seven

• A Monotype machine

• Return train tickets to Berlin

• Hot cups of strong, black coffee

• A large air compressor with a variety of accessories for boring and abrasion

• Small boxes of Redbird wooden matches

• Three novels, each one a good read

• A sturdy pair of suede, wool-lined combat boots

• A necktie handpainted by Sisters Feldman

• A metal teapot such as those used in CP hotels

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Trey, of course, has interrupted his coffee-tasting tour in Japan and is now in Seoul talking about President Yoon’s botched power grab.

treyyingst

A post shared by @treyyingst

I know zero about South Korean politics, just like Trey. We look forward to his reports about the coffee scene there.

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NATO is not inviting Ukraine to join. In an ideal world, maybe NATO would, but we don’t live in an ideal world. The Washington Post writes Uncle Joe is rushing more guns and ammo to Kyiv. Unfortunately, forced conscription rates are low and dropping, and Z’s partners fear there will not be enough Ukrainian soldiers to use the gear.

Biden surges arms to Ukraine, fearing Trump will halt U.S. aid. The directive has stirred debate, as some officials worry it will cut too deeply into American stockpiles and jeopardize the military’s needs elsewhere (The Washington Post, December 3, 2024)

Weeks of Z talking about being invited to NATO have, as expected, been ignored. The exercise in futility has, er, sent a strong political signal to some people, maybe.

NATO’s chief avoids talk of Ukraine’s membership. He says the priority is helping Kyiv defend itself (The Associated Press, December 3, 2024)

Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada has asked Defense Minister Rusem Umerov to appear and answer questions about tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, of defective mortar rounds produced domestically. The news coincided with possibly one more mega weapons procurement scam.

And finally, Jack.

Jack sounds reasonable, except for the part about Pete. Maybe he should talk up Trey.

Tommy meets Pete (C-Span, December 2, 2024)

I laughed and laughed. So far, Pam, Pete and Kash are my favorite Donald nominees.

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On the Ukraine jacket, our war map shows Russian invaders continuing to advance and occupy new areas in eastern Ukraine.

Map c/o Deepstate

Z, for the zillionth time, says Ukraine needs more guns and ammo to stop the advances. He leaves out the forced conscription problem.