The Day After…

Blog Post
Larry-Lambert

It may be the Day After Christmas or Boxing Day, but it’s also the First Day of Kwanzaa! And I turn seventy today. Happy Birthday to me. Jules told me that seventy is the new fifty…she’s kind of like that. It’s as if I were born in 1975!! Nobody wants to celebrate anything on December 26. Mousey Tongue, the famous Chinese dictator, was born on December 26, which may explain his nasty demeanor.

 

Bullet Points

** Did you get what you wanted for Christmas? (below-right) It’s almost as if angry Greta was born the day after Christmas – How dare you! As an aside, I think it’s amusing that even Hamas doesn’t want her.

** In mid-December 2025, Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces claimed to have disabled two Russian cargo ships, the Composer Rakhmaninov and the Askar-Sarydzha, in the Caspian Sea, transporting military equipment with support from a local resistance group, Black Spark, though details on the method and damage were scarce initially. This operation expanded Ukraine’s attacks into the Caspian, following earlier strikes in December on Russian oil rigs and naval targets in the region, aiming to disrupt Russian logistics and energy revenues funding the war. Sitting in an armchair in the US, it’s difficult to determine if the US Intelligence infrastructure identified these targets or if the Ukrainians came up with it on their own.

** It’s about time: The U.S. Department of the Treasury has put more than 100 money service businesses on notice in a cartel money laundering crackdown aimed at severing the cash flow that fuels smuggling and crime. With the reduction in cross-border activity, the narco transactions are more obvious.

** President Donald Trump said the U.S. plans to keep the millions of barrels of oil seized from three tankers that departed Venezuelan ports earlier this month, as well as the ships themselves. They need to be legally condemned by a prize court as we spin that legal process back up in the USA.

** File it under “shit happens” – A Dassault Falcon 50 private jet carrying a high-level Libyan military delegation, including General Mohammed Ali Ahmed al-Haddad, Chief of the General Staff of the Libyan Army, crashed near Ankara, Turkey, killing all eight people on board — five passengers and three crew members. The business jet departed Ankara Esenboğa Airport on the evening of 23 December 2025 en route to Tripoli after high-level defense talks with Turkish officials. Shortly after takeoff, the aircraft reported an electrical malfunction to Turkish air traffic control and requested an emergency landing, but lost radar contact while descending for an emergency return. Turkish authorities located the wreckage near Kesikkavak village in Haymana district, about 70 km south of Ankara, where brutal weather and muddy terrain have complicated recovery operations. There’s a job opening for Chief of the General Staff of the Libyan Army.

 

Identify the Aircraft

1

 

2

 

Identify the Boat

3

 

End

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63 thoughts on “The Day After…”

  1. 1 is Piper PA-23 Apache
    2 is Convair CV-440 (R4Y-2/C-131G)
    3 is USS S-44 was a third-group (S-42) S-class submarine.

  2. Happy anniversary of the day of your birth as my dad used to say. Getting a combo gift for Christmas and your birthday would make a guy cynical and surly for sure.

    1. Witness Mousey Tongue’s Cultural Revolution. We know what lies at the heart of his discontent.

  3. 1 – Piper PA-23 Aztec U-11A
    2 – USN R4Y-1 Convair 240/C-131 Samaritan
    3 – USS S-44 S-class submarine

      1. 🙄

        Spicy.

        I can’t even blame spell check.
        It’s my 70 year old eyes combined with FTS (fat thumb syndrome. After all, I grew up on a manual Royal typewriter. Not fancy dancy gizmo whatchamacallit).

        I think I will change the “well wish” to-

        Stay Healthy my friend.

        Juan

        1. I recall running ink over the old, worn-out typewriter ribbon to try to stretch its life, or just typing in uppercase because the ribbon wasn’t as worn out. I was gently mocked the other day for suggesting a training handout be provided on paper rather than just being transmitted electronically….dinosaur that I am.

    2. PDJT hardly sleeps…always working for We The People and America…something his opposition incredibly manage to overlook because of…gotta be…envy.

    3. Thanks, Ed – yes, the Islamists in Nigeria had it coming. Hellfire coming down the chimney instead of Santa – leaving chunks of coal behind.

  5. My birthday is Dec. 24, and I had a cousin born on the 26th . We agreed, both dates were equally bad !

    1. Which is worse, Jerseygirl? My money is on the day after. I worked with a guy once. When I met him, he said, “I have the worst birthday of the year.” I said, “bet me lunch.” He did and – then he bought. His was December 27. Close but no cigar.

  7. Happy Birthday, Larry! And my Christmas was marred by a Paris pickpocket, who filched my phone. No damage done, as I managed to block the main apps and the Sim card.

    1. In the words of Greta Thunberg – HOW DARE THEY?
      .
      Sorry to hear about the inconvenience. Paris is known for that.

      1. The world’s pickpocket population could be handled quite easily if the foreigners would just let US tourists carry.

  8. Happy birthday LL.
    —
    The terrain and weather around Ankara Esenboğa Airport is challenging. I have flown a C-130 in there a few times. The airport sits in a broad mountain valley with fairly defined routes of ingress and egress that have little room for error. The Turkish ATC is not very good; they once wanted us to take off into a thunderstorm but we finally got clearance to get around it.

  9. Happy Birthday, L-L!
    .
    My Father turned wrenches on the Air Farce “flying classroom” version of the Convair.

  10. Identify the Aircraft:
    1. Piper U-11A
    2. Convair C-131G
    Identify the Boat:
    3. USS S-44, the sinker of the Japanese cruiser Kako after the Battle of Savo Island

    1. Happy birthday to the Proprietor!

      I was reading a book on HMS Belfast last night and now just realized your birthday is also the anniversary of the Battle of the North Cape, which given your interest in history, might be meaningful.

      1. Thank you, Surly.
        .
        Why are (were) people mucking about the Day after Christmas (Boxing Day, End of Hanukkah, First Day of Kwanzaa)?

  12. 70 huh…in the immortal words of Indiana Jones, “It’s not the age but the mileage.”
    No matter the age, we VM’s get to wish you a very Happy Birthday…even if it is on the day after Christmas…not your fault of course, but we have to play the hand dealt…altho, had a friend growing up who was born Christmas Eve, the first one to his Mom and Dad who thought he was ‘a gift’. Him, not so much…maybe that’s why he went off the rails in High School, feeling shorted. At least the day after means you [should] get extra presents and more cake. Just be glad you’re not ‘anything for a party’ Danish…who actually do all twelve days plus Lillejuleaften (Little Christmas Eve, the 23rd)…anyone born around Christmas and their B-day gets overshadowed in a big way. See…always a silver lining somewhere.
    …
    Aside from all that…HAPPY BIRTHDAY, we VM lurkers certainly appreciate you.

    1. Ps. Forget the oddball Boxing Day and Kwanzaa, today is LL-Day! Massively more important, let alone critical to the time space continuum.

  14. Boxing Day puzzled me when I first heard of it, because all I knew about boxing was Cassius Clay and Sonny Liston. It made no sense. Eventually I learned what it really was.
    ~~
    Happy Birthday!

  17. Happy birthday, sir. We wish you many more!

    Hope the oil goes into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

    CJS

    1. President Trump hinted at that destination. It would replace what Creepy Joe sold to the Communist Chinese at a discount.

      2. I’ve read that these vessels and contents are being taken as part of judgment enforcement.
        In the 2000s, under Hugo Chávez, Venezuela seized oil projects owned by foreign companies, including major U.S. firms such as ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips.
        They went to international arbitration and U.S. courts.
        Venezuela lost and was ordered to pay tens of billions of dollars in damages.
        The law allows creditors to seize commercial assets belonging to the debtor outside its borders to satisfy the judgment.
        .
        The problem with this theory is that Trump is doing the seizing and not returning the assets to Conoco, et al.

        1. Pres. Trump hasn’t given any final report as to what’s happening to the ships and cargos after they’re condemned. They should go to plaintiffs first and then to the treasury if they’re prizes of war (following equitable compensation to the sailors who seized them). Traditionally the navy received the prize money.

  18. Happy birthday, sir. Threescore and ten years. May you continue to have good health and an maintain an interest in living!

          3. LL, which part of the day; morning, noon, or evening? Varies for me, but by the end of the day doin’ stuff, my core has semi-collapsed, and most mornings my face is catching up to the coffee working overtime to taking affect. Midday for me, especially if outside having some tractor therapy.

  22. Alles Gute zum Geburtstag! Jules is right as usual and thanks for the best daily read on the intertubes.

  27. Was born mid-December. The quality and quantity of birthday/Christmas gifts in comparison to my two older brothers wasn’t bad, but noticeable.
    –
    Eh, now I get a present from the State every year to renew my auto tags. Yehaw.
    –
    Happy birthday, a day late.

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