Holy Sanctuary
Christmas, Chicago style:
A nativity scene so real that even Mary, Joseph and Jesus packed up and disappeared the second ICE rolled through. The church [Urban Village Church] didn’t even bother with subtlety, just left a sign saying they’re hiding. You know it’s bad when even the Holy Family needs sanctuary.
A nativity scene so real that even Mary, Joseph and Jesus packed up and disappeared the second ICE rolled through. The church [Urban Village Church] didn’t even bother with subtlety, just left a sign saying they’re hiding. You know it’s bad when even the Holy Family needs sanctuary.
Seattle Times is reporting that wind gusts in Puget Sound could hit 50-60 mph Christmas Eve.
ReplyDeleteForecasts show strong winds around 30 to 40 mph hitting the Seattle area on Christmas Eve, with the potential for gusts to reach 50 to 60 mph around Puget Sound.
If that happens, National Weather Services Meteorologist Anna Lindeman said that could mean downed power lines, tree limbs, and even whole trees. -- nordy
Get out the flashlights! -- nordy
DeleteSounds like a French Toast run is in order.
DeleteThe Guardian is reporting that the United States has seen a dramatic increase in violence against journalists since Donald Trump again took office.
ReplyDeleteMost of the reporters and photographers who were allegedly attacked by law enforcement officials were covering protests over the Trump administration’s efforts to deport undocumented immigrants, according to the Freedom of the Press Foundation, a non-profit that tracks such incidents.
The US press have suffered about as many assaults this year as in the previous three years combined, the organization states in a new report. -- nordy
Wish I could post the picture. -- nordy
ReplyDeletenordy, I could post it if you email it to me.
Deletej schulte at together dot net
(no spaces)
Slept well last night without meds!
ReplyDeleteHad a dear friend here for afternoon tea.
A good day.
A good day indeed!
DeleteSupreme Court doesn’t let Trump deploy National Guard in Chicago
ReplyDeleteSubtitle: Trump Administration gets court imposed New Year's Resolution:
DeleteComply with Due Process!
Lawmakers raise new questions about Trump after latest Epstein drop
ReplyDeleteUS bans foreign-made drones including those by DJI — here’s what it means for you - Click
ReplyDeleteAt first I thought, Good, they're banning Chinese tech. Then I read this:
This ordeal has been going on for some time now, and this final blow comes shortly after the FCC unanimously voted to give itself the ability to retroactively ban devices and radio components in November.<
It gets worse.
Most of the best drones are made by the likes of DJI, HoverAir, Potensic and Antigravity. These are all Chinese brands, and the FCC's ban will impact them, making existing stock either scarcely available and new stock not available at all.
This will, in time, impact emergency services and first responders who utilize drones to get a bird's eye view on the situation they're tackling.
... The lack of American-made drones makes the situation worse, as there are virtually no alternatives. There are some jarring numbers... too, such as:
"Austin Police Department estimated that replacing its drone fleet — comprised entirely of DJI products — would cost $120,000"
"The cost to replace the grounded drones in Florida is estimated at $200m"
"'Compliant' alternatives are harder to access and can take up to 6 months for delivery."
The drone ban, then, will deprive countless individuals and professionals of essential equipment that has become fundamental to not only workplace safety, but operational efficiency too, and it will cost a lot of money (and time) to replace foreign-made technology.
Bottom line? Degrade localities' ability to protect their residents and provide emergency services, while forcing them to divert large amounts of already-scarce money unnecessarily from current and ongoing uses. It's yet another instence of the regime degrading our national quality of life for no reason other than that they can. As Glenn Kirschner among others often says, "The cruelty is the point."
Seattle forecast: Christmas Eve winds could hit 65 mph in afternoon
ReplyDeleteA weather system tracking up the coast from Northern California could hit Western Washington from Vancouver all the way up to Bellingham with 40 to 50 mph wind gusts Wednesday afternoon and evening, National Weather Service meteorologist Jacob DeFlitch said Tuesday.
An updated forecast Tuesday afternoon suggested the strongest winds could reach 65 mph in Seattle, Everett and along the North Olympic Peninsula.
The strongest winds are forecast around noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday, the weather service said. And given the moistness of the soil after back-to-back atmospheric rivers, downed trees are possible. The weather service has issued a high wind watch for much of Northwest Washington from Wednesday morning through Wednesday evening. -- nordy
May you stay safe, nordy!! 😟
Delete
ReplyDeleteHeather Cox Richardson ~ December 23, 2025 (Tuesday)
On December 24, 2025, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, will celebrate seventy years of tracking Santa’s sleigh.
According to legend, the tradition of tracking Santa’s sleigh began in November 1955, when a child trying to reach Santa on a telephone hotline advertised by a Sears, Roebuck & Co. store in Colorado transposed two digits. It was not Santa who picked up the phone, but Colonel Harry Shoup of Continental Air Defense Command, known as CONAD, located in Colorado Springs.
Shoup was brusque when a small voice asked if he was Santa, but he later recognized that interest in Santa could be an opportunity to call public attention to the air defense system that would shield the U.S. if Soviet bombers were able to reach the country from over the North Pole. After World War II, many Americans were hoping to turn away from world affairs, but U.S. and Canadian leaders worried that North America was vulnerable to an attack from the USSR over the polar region. That wasn’t on many Americans’ radar screens.
A few weeks after the young child’s call, Shoup told his public-relations officer to inform the news wire services that CONAD was tracking Santa’s sleigh as it traveled from his home at the North Pole. Reporters loved the story, and the following year they called to see if the trackers would be operational again.
In 1957,* Canada and the U.S. formed the North American Air Defense Command, or NORAD. By charting Santa’s ride, the agency illustrated the military’s mission to protect the citizens of the continent by tracking an object traveling from the North Pole, over the Arctic Ocean, to Canada, and beyond.
By Christmas Eve 1960, NORAD was posting updates and tracking the flight of “S. Claus.” It reported that the sleigh had made an emergency landing on the ice of Hudson Bay. When Canadian fighter jets stopped by to check on the incident, they found Santa tending to a reindeer’s injured foot. Once the animal was bandaged, the jets escorted Santa’s sleigh as he completed his annual flight. Since then, fighter jets have frequently intercepted the sleigh to salute Santa, who reins in his team to let the slower jets catch up.
Over time, NORAD became the North American Aerospace Defense Command, and its mission expanded to include collecting information about the Earth’s atmosphere, coastal waters, and intelligence. It is still key to U.S. and Canadian defense.
And what began in 1955 as a way to familiarize war-weary Americans with Cold War–era defense systems has become an operation in which more than 1,000 Canadian and American military personnel, Defense Department civilian workers, and local participants near Colorado Springs, where NORAD is headquartered, volunteer to answer the more than 100,000 phone calls that come from children around the world on Christmas Eve. It is a testament to the longstanding U.S.-Canadian friendship.
For one night a year, the hard-edged world of international alliances, intelligence, radar, satellites, and fighter jets turns into a night for adults to create a magical world for children.
Tracking Santa's Sleigh video
DeleteI did wonder if Trump would allow the Santa tracker this year. It also occurs to me to wonder how long the Canadians will be willing to cooperate in this endeavor.
DeleteIf you don't see me tomorrow, you'll know why. -- nordy
ReplyDelete