It's a Friday, which is a great day to read about how right-wing organization Dallas Justice Now's X/Twitter account has benefitted from various spam-for-hire services.
https://conspirator0.substack.com/p/astroturfing-in-the-lone-star-state

https://www.europesays.com/1706437/ Moet ik een huis kopen? #netherlands

“The far-R Cato Inst. is feeding its poison to Musk/Ramasmarmy, giving them advice on how to disassemble America and sell it off for parts.

1. Raise the retirement age by 3 yrs. Currently, you can take early retirement at 62 -full at 67. Raise: to 65 & 70….

2. Reduce the annual COLA Adjustments. They want to use Chained CPI.

3. 3. Reduce the initial benefits. Cato wants the initial benefit to instead be based on consumer prices….
-DC Petterson

#USPOl #GOPSabotage https://www.cato.org/white-paper/cato-institute-report-department-government-efficiency-doge

Well, do you?

https://www.europesays.com/1706433/ Temu õudused #estonia

#Caturday news just in, direct from your intrepid reporter atop the toaster oven: I am TOTALLY allowed up onto the kitchen counter and especially on potentially hot appliances.

#CatsOfMastodon

Automakers excoriated by Senators for fighting right-to-repair https://arstechnica.com/cars/2024/12/senators-blast-carmakers-over-right-to-repair-opposition/

Ukrainian forces successfully attacked Russian positions using only ground and first person view (FPV) drones
-- instead of infantry, an army spokesperson claimed on Dec. 20.

Speaking on national TV, Sergeant Volodymyr Dehtiarov,
spokesperson for the Khartiia Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine, said
“dozens of units of robotic and unmanned equipment”
supported by surveillance drones
were used in the assault near the village of Lyptsi, north of Kharkiv.

Dehtiarov said the drones included ground systems equipped with machine guns, and kamikaze FPV drones.

Commenting on the reports, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said
the attack highlighted the difference in attitude towards front line troops shown by Moscow and Kyiv.

"Ukrainian officials have repeatedly highlighted Ukraine's efforts to utilise technological innovations and asymmetric strike capabilities
to offset Ukraine's manpower limitations
-- in contrast with Russia's willingness to accept unsustainable casualty rates for marginal territorial gains," the ISW said.

Russian military losses in its full-scale invasion of Ukraine have exceeded 750,000 Russian soldiers,
and are expected to surpass 1 million Russian troops within six months,
U.K. Under-Secretary of Defense Luke Pollard said on Dec. 19.

The U.K.'s latest estimate is in line with figures from Ukraine's General Staff,
which, as of Dec. 19, sits at 768,220 troops lost since the start of the war.

The figures do not specify killed or wounded, though the overall consensus is that it includes dead, wounded, missing, and captured.

"It is highly likely that they have sustained significant combat casualties,
whilst only achieving limited tactical gains," Pollard told British parliamentarians on Dec. 19.

Russia has gained ground in eastern Ukraine and Kursk Oblast in recent months
but at the cost of heavy casualties.

Russian losses reached record highs in November and December,
with a daily high of 2,030 troops lost in November,
marking the highest daily loss since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.

Russian losses exceeded 45,000 troops and $3 billion worth of equipment in November.

👉 Ukraine is developing numerous new types of drone systems.

Military tech developers created a new unmanned ground vehicle (UGV)
with the ability to carry explosives and drive under armored vehicles,
the project's spokesperson, Viktoriia Kovalchuk, told Business Insider on Oct. 25.

The UGV, named Ratel S or "Honey Badger",
was developed as part of the #Brave1 government initiative.

The initiative was launched in April to invest in defense tech innovations
that can be utilized by the Ukrainian military,
as well as serve as a platform to connect the industry's stakeholders.

"The main idea is that the robot (Ratel S) is used as
a mobile warhead
that carries anti-tank mines or other explosive devices,"
said Kovalchuk,
adding that it can run for 40–50 minutes at an average speed
or for up to two hours at a slower speed.
https://kyivindependent.com/for-first-time-ukraine-attacks-russian-positions-using-solely-ground-fpv-drones/

Episode 450: Music for solo piano by Harry Bulow, Frank Horvat, Devonté Hynes, Missy Mazzoli & William C. White - featuring Christina Petrowska Quilico, Adam Tendler, Joseph Vaz & Haewon Yang - on Not Brahms and Liszt Monday (12/23/24) 4-5:30pm ET on WMBR Cambridge 88.1 FM streaming on https://wmbr.org

#Cambridge #Boston #MIT #WMBR #Radio #ModernClassical #Piano

@wmbr @contemporarymusic

https://www.europesays.com/1706431/ Lietuva paminėta LTT #lithuania

Via Kyle Griffin:

The Senate has approved legislation to expand Social Security benefits for workers who received government pensions or disability payments — sending the measure to President Biden's desk to be signed into law.

#Europa #Irland #Dublin #Navan #Bahnen

#Bahnstrecke #M3Parkway #Reaktivierung

Irland -

Beginn der Projektentwicklung für die Bahnstrecke Navan - M3 Parkway:

https://www.lok-report.de/news/europa/item/54875-irland-beginn-der-projektentwicklung-fuer-die-bahnstrecke-navan-m3-parkway.html

Don’t let anybody ruin your day.

It’s your day.

Ruin it yourself.

Dec 21, 1917, the sun's low path on the winter solstice as seen from Government Hill looking south over Ship Creek and towards Anchorage proper. Photo by H.G. Kaiser. #alaskahistory #anchoragehistory #WinterSolstice

Sick of screens, families are giving kids old Walkmen and MP3 players 🎧

Families are turning to classics like cassettes and CDs to separate listening time from smartphones.

Where do kids get MP3s in a post Napster world? Multiple parents we spoke to use free tools that turn YouTube music videos into MP3s, or burn their own old CDs. Local libraries also have free options for downloading music files; all you need is your library card.

🎁🔗: https://wapo.st/41MTX8K

My cat acts as my alarm clock. If I'm not out of bed when I'm supposed to be she yells at me.

Which is less useful on the weekends. #caturday

Via #PhilosophyMatters

https://www.europesays.com/1706348/ Ukrainian drone operators attack North Korean infantry with heavy “Baba Yaga” UAVs during the night in the Kursk Oblast. #CombatFootage #Conflicts

The exaggerated, white-toothed grin, wide eyes, and head bobbing, are all just cooning. Made worse because it's for #Walmart.

#BustaRhymes #Christmas #tv #ad #coon #cooning

https://www.europesays.com/1706427/ Færre afviste asylansøgere venter på at komme hjem #denmark

😂

Via Kyle Griffin:

Failed Arizona Senate candidate and failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake says at a far-right event that she "[doesn't] want to run again" for elected office.

https://www.europesays.com/1706425/ He has to be either AI, or he’s stuck in a «Typical Average American» dungeon against his will. #norway

Ein Ex-Profi ist Staatspräsident, Nationalspieler machen Reklame für die Regierungspolitik. Kritische Stimmen aus dem Sport werden verunglimpft. https://taz.de/!6052811

I swear there’s a portal in the yard.

#BunnyButtFriday #cottontail

It is hard to believe that Spotify thinks it has a promising future as a generated-background-noise company.

https://www.europesays.com/1706423/ Viktor Orbán oświadczył, że jest przeciwny zwiększaniu wydatków na obronność o więcej niż 2% PKB, gdyż zaszkodzi to węgierskiej gospodarce. #polska

Warum steht auf der Verpackung einer Nasendusche, dass diese homöopathieverträglich ist?

https://www.europesays.com/1706421/ Nudím se ve špitále, pojďme si zahrát klasickou reddit hru: #CzechRepublic

And now for some boudiour Caturday shots - Moxie lounging in my underwear drawer. Forgot to close it. Cat hair is no bueno for my unmentionables. #caturday #catsofBlueSky #CatsofMastodon #CatsofFediverse #rescuekitties #meow

https://www.europesays.com/1706419/ És baz’meg, megint… OV sok volt a kumisz tegnap? Hol a részvétnyilvánítás?????? Te lelketlen geci #hungary