happy flower Friday

Pretty good day, reasonable presentations, got things done. Monday I begin a three week training course. It looks like it will be much, much more interesting than I thought it would be. 

Putin pretended to call an Orthodox Christmas truce. Fortunately no one believed him. Russia continued firing. 

Ukraine says it doesn't need a draft, only weapons and equipment. 

The US State Department imposed sanctions on officials at the top of two Iranian organizations providing drones to Russia. 

The US is providing Ukraine's neighbor Moldova with $30 million in aid to help with energy prices. 

Russia has sanctioned 1,271 Americans, from Harvard professors to actors. Some are baffled. Some are proud. Maybe we could all write and ask to be put on the list. The list includes, of course, President Biden and Hillary Clinton but also Ben Stiller, Sean Penn, and Morgan Freeman. 

The US is going to give Ukraine Bradley Fighting Vehicles. This is after months of resisting requests for tanks. Zelensky said the aid package is exactly what Ukraine needs. The decision came along with Germany, which has resisted sending Marders and now will provide some. Marders are infantry fighting vehicles. Armored fighting vehicles are not full fledged tanks but they are faster, more agile, and require less fuel and maintenance. US officials said that providing these shows growing confidence in Ukraine's ability to train on, operate, and maintain the complex advanced vehicles. 


The US is also going to give Sea Sparrow missiles which will help curb Russian missile strikes. 


Ok, you remember that in 2020 the US government let us know that UFOs are real? Newsweek has an article that says Russia shot down a UFO.