Balloon Juice - Open Threads Archives

Secular Sunday Sermon Open Thread: An Idiot Detection System

by Anne Laurie| December 24, 20233:35 am| 49 Comments

This post is in: Excellent Links, Proud to Be A Democrat

As we ponder the wisdom of the Gov of Iowa using childhood obesity as an excuse to reject Fed $ to help feed low income kids, remember why we’re Democrats.

@JBPritzker reminds us how to spot idiocy when we see it.#DemCast #DemVoice1 #wtpBLUE pic.twitter.com/B8KQyALQJM

— Scorched Earth Dem (@progavalanche) December 23, 2023

Don’t know if J.B. Pritzker will ever run for President, but this excellent clip shows why his name is usually included when the Democrats’ deep bench is under discussion.

Secular Sunday Sermon Open Thread: An Idiot Detection SystemPost + Comments (49)

War for Ukraine Day 668: The Night Before the Night Before Christmas

by Adam L Silverman| December 23, 20237:23 pm| 13 Comments

This post is in: Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Military, Open Threads, Russia, Silverman on Security, War, War in Ukraine

(Image by My Dog Sighs)

Quick housekeeping note: Bill Arnold, the short answer to your question last night is that no, that won’t work. Decommissioning/demilitarization of weapons systems and munitions is not the same as shipping them to Ukraine and declaring that by doing so you’ve decommissioned them. It would require Congress to pass legislation for this to happen.

First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska’s charitable foundation is participating in the Christmas at the Doorstep Initiative.

Olena Zelenska Foundation, on the eve of Christmas, greeted all foster and big foster families in Ukraine. Ukrainian and international companies contributed to this effort. Thanks to their collaboration, over 3,100 families with over 13,000 children across the country simultaneously received gifts on December 23.

“Today, even during the war, every child, as always, awaits the Christmas miracle. Especially the children for whom a previously unfamiliar family has become their own,” the First Lady said.

Olena Zelenska personally visited a family in Kyiv region with gifts. The Foundation’s team visited this family as one of the first in the spring of 2022, at the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Parents, Anatoliy and Iryna, have been raising children for over 10 years. Since the creation of the foster family, 14 children have lived in it.

“On December 23, Ukrainian celebrities became Christmas St. Nicholases for families across the country: Dmytro Monatik visited families in Kharkiv region, while Volodymyr Dantes greeted a family in Kyiv region. Dmytro Komarov paid a visit to a family in Galicia, Oleksiy Zavhorodniy visited a family in Cherkasy, and Yuriy Tkach and Yevhen Koshovyi together visited two families in Dnipro.

Director of the Foundation Nina Horbachova, jointly with the team, greeted two families in Kharkiv region.

“This project proved to be quite a challenge for the Foundation’s team. Organizing such a large-scale campaign for children in wartime conditions is not easy. But we managed to give the children a holiday! Thanks to our partners from different countries around the world who supported this initiative and sent gifts to our children,” the Foundation’s Director, Nina Horbachova, said.

Gifts were collected jointly with partners over three months. The Christmas sets include Christmas trees, decorations, construction toy sets, puzzles, stationery, creative kits, various toys, sweets, and books for the whole family. Collaboration became possible thanks to Ukraine’s embassies and honorary consuls in Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Germany, and Türkiye.

“The project partner, Nova Poshta, provided their putting together, festive packaging, and courier delivery of holiday sets throughout Ukraine. Within two months, the company received gifts from the Foundation’s partners from different parts of the world and put them together into festive sets. On December 23, couriers all over Ukraine delivered bright Christmas parcels to the doorstep of each foster family.

The Foundation’s team expresses gratitude to all the partners who contributed to the implementation of the “Christmas at the Doorstep” project: Nova Poshta Group of Companies, Epicenter K, Ukrainian Food Bank Federation, Burgenland federal state, The LEGO Foundation, Toms Group, Carletti A/S, DSV A/S, Netcompany-Intrasoft A/S, Room2Play, Leg & idé, MOTTO, Vestergaard Group, SNCF, La région Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, La Région Normandie, BIC, Le Petit Prince, Stellantis, FC Rennes, Loacker, Billa, Handelsverband, FC Bayern München AG, Deutscher Verband der Spielwarenindustrie e.V., Sav-Orbico, Perfetti Van Melle, TOBB, HARIBO Türkiye, and Turkish Football Federation.

Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.

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The eve of Christmas is culminating this week, the week that made our Ukraine stronger – address by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

23 December 2023 – 20:12

I wish you good health, dear Ukrainians!

This week is coming to an end – the week before Christmas. The week that has made all of us, our state, Ukraine, stronger.

It is essential, as always, to express gratitude at the end of the week. There are new support packages. Germany: Gepard SPAAG, anti-aircraft guns, and 155mm rounds – and other necessary weapons. Thank you! The Netherlands: a package of over EUR 100 million that will help our resilience. Thank you! Finland: already the 21st aid package – specifically defense – also over EUR 100 million. I’m grateful!

The potential for U.S. sanctions has been increased. Decisions have been made regarding financial institutions that help Russia bypass sanctions and cooperate with the military-industrial complex of terrorists. There are also new sanctions against those who assist Russia in exporting oil in violation of price caps. Putting pressure on such Russian ties with collaborators is especially crucial. I am thankful for this. We also await the approval of the U.S. support package for the next year, and I am grateful to representatives of both parties for understanding that decisions need to be made.

“This week once again demonstrated the effectiveness of bolstering our air defense. It is not only for protecting cities and villages from Russian drones and missiles but also for frontline operations. The capability to shoot down Russian fighter jets is one of the keys to ending this war justly. I thank all the partners already assisting us with this and preparing for relevant steps in support for the coming year.

And, of course, our warriors. Combat brigades on all fronts, from Kharkiv to Kherson. At the border – those who defend against Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups, those who eliminate Shahed drones, and those who hold our frontlines. I thank each and every one of you!

Today, I want to particularly acknowledge the guys from the 128th Separate Mountain Assault Brigade. Soldier Vasyl Polischuk and Sergeant Oleh Bernadsky – both exceptionally effective, both wounded, both exemplarily brave. Thank you! Rifleman of the 23rd Separate Mechanized Brigade, Soldier Oleksiy Kopytsia – currently near Avdiivka, engaged in defensive battles, with previous heroic storming actions in the south. Thank you, soldier! Warrior of the 56th Separate Motorized Infantry Mariupol Brigade, Senior Soldier Ivan Kireev – thank you for your Cossack bravery, soldier, and for rescuing your comrades! The 92nd Separate Assault Brigade – Soldier Yevhen Lisovenko and Senior Sergeant Kostiantyn Volokonsky. Thank you, guys, for your resolve and actions that save the lives of your comrades! The 28th Separate Mechanized Brigade – Soldier Mykhailo Karpiuk, Senior Soldier Volodymyr Lebedev, and Senior Lieutenant Oleh Kryvenko. Guys, the tank crew, thank you for successfully destroying the occupiers and for being a strong team! Well done!

Another thing.

There are new sanctions decisions from Ukraine: I have signed the relevant decrees, and they have already been published. In total, more than 130 legal entities and over 20 individuals are targeted. Those who work for Russian aggression, those who assist it, those who take the ignoble path of collaboration with the terrorist state. All of them will be held accountable for their actions.

We will defend Ukraine. I thank everyone standing with Ukraine!

Glory to Ukraine!

For those of your marking Advent on your calendars this season:

Ukrainian Advent Calendar: Day 23

Today, we are happy to present to you the M113 tracked armored personnel carrier.

M113 APCs play an important role in #UAarmy. They provide fire support for units in battle, evacuate the wounded soldiers, and also deliver ammunition to the… pic.twitter.com/55zMtVLuym

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) December 23, 2023

Ukrainian Advent Calendar: Day 23

Today, we are happy to present to you the M113 tracked armored personnel carrier.

M113 APCs play an important role in #UAarmy. They provide fire support for units in battle, evacuate the wounded soldiers, and also deliver ammunition to the front line. This helps bring Ukraine’s victory closer and saves the lives of our soldiers.

We are grateful to our partners who have donated M113 APCs to Ukraine, including the United States (@DeptofDefense), Netherlands (@Defensie), Spain (@Defensagob), Portugal (@defesa_pt), Lithuania (@Lithuanian_MoD), Germany (@BMVg_Bundeswehr), Belgium (@BelgiumDefence), Australia (@DefenceAust), Denmark (@Forsvarsmin), and Luxembourg (@Defense_lu). \

Thank you, friends! #StandWithUkraine #UAMoDAdvent

Are you ready for the 24th Weapon of Victory tomorrow? Stay tuned!

For the first time since 1917, Ukraine will celebrate Christmas on 25 December.

Here’s why it’s more than just a change in the calendar👇🏻 https://t.co/OhsPodH7F2

— James Waterhouse (@JamWaterhouse) December 23, 2023

From the BBC:

For the first time since 1917, Ukraine is celebrating Christmas on 25 December.

The move is more than just a change of date from 7 January – the date for Christmas in the Julian calendar, which Russia uses.

It’s the continuation of a significant cultural shift in the country – the latest attempt to eradicate Moscow’s influence in Ukraine.

The adoption of the Western, Gregorian calendar is also a sign of Kyiv’s continuing bid to align itself with Europe.

Whether in war or peacetime, Christmas always comes.

Klavdievo-Tarasove’s decorations factory, in a small town outside Kyiv, used to be one of three which supplied the whole of the Soviet Union.

“We used to have many people – not any more,” Leokadia tells us. She’s worked on this production line since 1978.

She effortlessly blows glass baubles using a gas burner fixed to her desk. It’s a welcome source of heat in these cold, industrial surroundings.

After years of shrinking output, this factory stopped completely when Russian forces occupied this area for a month soon after the start of the country’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

“It was very scary when tanks drove down the street,” Henya, another worker, explains. “We couldn’t go outside. We had no information, we were cut off from the world. It was terrible.”

And yet, despite only a third of the team having returned, decorations are still being made. Small pieces of Christmas cheer are carefully built and sent out around the country.

And what is Henya’s wish for Ukrainians living under Russian occupation this Christmas?

“You have to believe, hope – and liberation will happen, it will be like that.”

Henya works on the more artistic part of the process: she and her colleagues caringly hand paint each individual bauble.

You immediately notice a military theme. Miniature soldiers, MIG fighter jets, even a Ukrainian tractor pulling a Russian tank – all hang from a shelf, destined for a Christmas tree.

“I think that everyone who will take a look at such a bauble will hope for the victory of our country sooner,” says Tamila with a defiant tone now typical here in Ukraine.

Ukraine and Russia share countless cultural ties, and they will always have to live next to each other. Yet the former’s identity is only being strengthened by the latter’s aggression.

Fewer places know that aggression better than the town of Bucha, a couple of miles from the decoration factory.

As the Russian advance towards Kyiv slowed last year, invading troops were accused of killing more than 500 civilians in one of the worst atrocities of the war so far.

Some of their names appear on a silver memorial next to the Church of St Andrew. As its golden domes glisten in the winter sunshine, you can still see where grass has struggled to regrow.

It was here that a mass grave appeared during Russia’s occupation. The bodies of those who died could only be exhumed after they retreated.

“Unfortunately for many people in the world, Ukraine is linked to Russia. And Ukraine is always viewed in the context of being a neighbour of Russia,” explains Father Andriy in the candlelit crypt of St Andrew’s.

“But I think that we are more a neighbour of Europe,” he says. “And the fact that we’ve now changed the calendar is not shifting away from Russia. It is us returning back to Europe, where we belong.”

Evening Open Thread: Recipes and Puppies

by TaMara| December 23, 20236:57 pm| 48 Comments

This post is in: Dog Blogging, Food & Recipes, Open Threads

Busy cleaning for tomorrow night – we were supposed to get snow, but it now looks like that system is staying south of us – and they need it. We’ll get ours, I’m sure, just not for Christmas. Thought I’d post a recipe for you before I check out for the weekend. From my blog:

I’m prepping the traditional (well, traditional because this is what my Christmas Eve guests always want) Spinach Lasagna and Crusty Bread. But, the day after Christmas, I’m hosting another dinner party and making Chicken Parmesan. I’ll post that recipe once I have photos.

I saw a recipe for these rolls and decided to give them a try. I thought they would be a fun change and go well with the Chicken Parm. I made a few significant changes to the first batch and they turned out delicious. Definitely a bit more work than the crusty bread loaves, but in the end, worth the work.

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Garlic Pull Apart Rolls

3½ to 4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 package Instant Yeast
1 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
½ cup milk
½ water
¼ cup butter
1 large egg, at room temperature
Butter and garlic for brushing on rolls

Mixing bowl, mixer, springform pan

In a large mixing bowl, combine 3 cups of flour, sugar, instant yeast, garlic powder and salt.

Place the milk, water, and butter in a microwave safe bowl and heat until very warm (120° to 130°F). Add the butter mixture to the dry ingredients and beat for 2 minutes at medium speed with an electric mixer, scraping bowl occasionally.

Add the egg and an additional ½ cup of the flour. Beat for 2 minutes at high speed. Stir in enough remaining flour (up to ½ cup) to make a soft dough.

Knead with the dough hook for 2 minutes on medium speed or by hand on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes.

Cover; let rest 10 minutes

Prepare a 9-inch springform pan by greasing with butter and adding a circle of parchment paper* on the bottom. Place a 4-ounce ramekin in the center of the pan and grease with butter.

Divide the dough into golf-ball sized balls. Arrange in rows ¼ inch apart in the prepared pan, allowing room to expand.

NOTE: See photos, I had a lot of extra dough, so once I prepped around the ramekin, I removed the bowl and added the remaining dough and once they baked, popped them out and added the butter filled bowl

Cover and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes or until doubled in size.

Once rolls have risen, preheat the oven to 400°F. Bake the rolls for 13 to 15 minutes or until golden brown and 200 degrees F in the center. Brush with garlic butter and serve warm with whipped garlic butter.

* I skipped the parchment and used corn meal sprinkled on the bottom.

==========

Here’s a bonus Scout saying Happy Holidays! (Actually, she’s saying “I was promised cheese”). The other two were being difficult and refused photos.

Santa Scout

I finally got them to settle down enough…but there wasn’t going to be a group photo this year.

Trixiedeer

And she always looks like that when I take her photo, antlers or not…clearly not a fan of paparazzi

Dapper Jasper

And yes, Momsense, that is one of the scarves you made for the ducks. 😁

This is an open thread

Evening Open Thread: Recipes and PuppiesPost + Comments (48)

Saturday Afternoon Open Thread: Crunching Numbers

by Anne Laurie| December 23, 20232:55 pm| 133 Comments

This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat, Show Us on the Doll Where the Invisible Hand Touched You

Just in time for Festivus: Feats of (market) strength!

lol larry looks like he's gonna cry https://t.co/DmnaQ9GL5s pic.twitter.com/gQriJ9xz8N

— Jean-Michel Connard (@torriangray) December 22, 2023

Almost as if the media has a hand in shaping public opinion (something I've been screaming about for years) pic.twitter.com/ehG7Q6e3Ux

— scary lawyerguy (@scarylawyerguy) December 22, 2023

https://t.co/2GwkeTwt9T pic.twitter.com/n6u4rjFgf6

— vocational politics appreciation account (@Convolutedname) December 21, 2023

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Saturday Afternoon Open Thread: Crunching NumbersPost + Comments (133)

Long Live Festivus!

by WaterGirl| December 23, 202310:00 am| 524 Comments

This post is in: Balloon Juice, Open Threads

Let’s be honest, sometimes it seems like every day is Festive on Balloon Juice, but let’s really make today count.

Let the airing of grievances begin.

Long Live Festivus!Post + Comments (524)

Another Saturday Morning Open Thread: Holidaze

by Anne Laurie| December 23, 20237:58 am| 148 Comments

This post is in: Biden Administration in Action, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat, Show Us on the Doll Where the Invisible Hand Touched You

It's time! pic.twitter.com/8TOSAx2aAw

— President Biden (@POTUS) December 21, 2023

Secretary Pete fixed the flight cancellations ?? https://t.co/4e6nB5tkUH

— The okayest poster there is (@ok_post_guy) December 21, 2023

Biden’s historic pay raise for federal workers set to take effect
Since about 85 percent of the federal workforce is outside the Washington region, “ … this pay increase will benefit families and lift economies in every single state,”https://t.co/fWJCugNBmr

— Rachel M. Greenberg (@rachel99marta) December 23, 2023

Bob Crachitt would approve! Paywall-free version of the Washington Post‘s “Biden’s historic pay raise for federal workers set to take effect”:

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Federal employees will receive pay raises averaging 5.2 percent — more in some high-salary areas — under an order President Biden signed Thursday that delivers the biggest increase to U.S. government workers since the Carter administration.

The salary hike for the federal civilian workforce of close to 2.2 million people is the heftiest since a 9.1 percent average raise in 1980. It’s 0.6 percentage points higher than last year’s increase, which itself was the highest in two decades, and will take effect in the first full pay period of 2024, starting Jan. 14 for most federal employees.

The military is set to receive a comparable increase in January in the $886 billion defense bill that Congress approved this month.

Biden’s executive order is the final step in the annual process of determining how much government workers will be paid the following year. That process has often featured a divisive debate in Congress over the value of federal workers and what they should earn compared to their private sector counterparts…

Congress has in some years adjusted the annual White House proposal on federal pay up or down. But this year, after Biden proposed the 5.2 percent raise in March in his budget for fiscal 2024, Republicans in Congress — engulfed for months in a partisan battle over raising the country’s debt limit and then in an internal struggle over the House speakership — have been silent on the raise this year. Absent any action by Congress, the recommended raise goes into effect by default. Most lawmakers have already left Washington for the holidays, signaling the end of the legislative year and allowing Biden to finalize the pay hike with Thursday’s executive order.

Since about 85 percent of the federal workforce is outside the Washington region, “ … this pay increase will benefit families and lift economies in every single state,” Doreen Greenwald, national president of the National Treasury Employees Union, said in a statement. “Higher salaries are essential to keeping these skilled workers in the civil service and helping agencies recruit new employees to their valuable public service missions.” The NTEU represents employees in 35 federal agencies and offices…

Sen. Ossoff’s office always goes the extra mile to solve problems — no matter how big or small.

Wishing everyone across Georgia a merry Christmas, happy holidays, and a happy new year! pic.twitter.com/B3CAopsAFg

— Ossoff's Office (@SenOssoff) December 21, 2023

Happy Holidays from the White House press team! We wish you a JOYFUL new year! pic.twitter.com/rLhFLr1GdG

— Karine Jean-Pierre (@PressSec) December 21, 2023

Or, if you prefer the old ways…

Merry Christmas Eve Eve!
The Mari Lwyd is coming….#christmas pic.twitter.com/z03bzdF2Bv

— Mark Rees (@reviewwales) December 23, 2023

(The Mari Lwyd)

Another Saturday Morning Open Thread: HolidazePost + Comments (148)

Squishable Saturday Morning Open Thread

by Betty Cracker| December 23, 20237:34 am| 71 Comments

This post is in: 2024 Primaries, Open Threads

So, ambulatory cream cheese sculpture Hugh Hewitt interviewed Donald Trump yesterday. I did not listen, but according to Politico’s account of the confab, Trump said his recent Nazi rhetoric was NOT cribbed from Hitler’s playbook because who even is Hitler, and what book anyway?

“First of all, I know nothing about Hitler,” Trump said Friday. “I’m not a student of Hitler. I never read his works. They say that he said something about blood. He didn’t say it the way I said it, either, by the way, It’s a very different kind of a statement.”

I don’t know about y’all, but I don’t find the Republican Party’s once and future nominee’s assertion that he independently came up with a novel version of “blood and soil” ethno-nationalism that only coincidentally resembles Hitler’s terribly reassuring. It was probably good enough for Hewitt though.

Open thread!

Squishable Saturday Morning Open ThreadPost + Comments (71)

The National Guard is not Batman.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

No one could have predicted…

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

So very ready.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

Hell hath no fury like a farmer bankrupted.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

Radicalized white males who support Trump are pitching a tent in the abyss.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.

Books are my comfort food!

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

We can show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

People are weird.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about its history.”

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

Secular Sunday Sermon Open Thread: An Idiot Detection System

War for Ukraine Day 668: The Night Before the Night Before Christmas

The eve of Christmas is culminating this week, the week that made our Ukraine stronger – address by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Evening Open Thread: Recipes and Puppies

Saturday Afternoon Open Thread: Crunching Numbers

Long Live Festivus!

Another Saturday Morning Open Thread: Holidaze

Squishable Saturday Morning Open Thread