Ukraine's rejection of the ceasefire makes Ukraine and @ZelenskyyUa aggressors and portrays Ukraine as non-humanitarian as Ukrainians in Russian-held territory may be harmed by Western munitions violating the ceasefire. #RussiaUkraine
Putin knows history; @ZelenskyyUa understands comedy. Zelensky needs to read a bit of history about the Christmas Truce, a series of widely circulated informal ceasefires on the Western Front of World War I around Christmas 1914.
The truce took place five months after the outbreak of hostilities. There was a lull in the fighting as the armies exhausted materiel and commanders revised strategy after the indecisive result of the First Battle of Ypres with ≈294,717 casualties in 35 days.
A week before Christmas, French, German and British soldiers crossed the front lines to exchange holiday greetings. In some areas, men from both sides went to no man's land on Christmas Eve and Day to exchange food and souvenirs.
There were joint funerals and an exchange of prisoners, and several rallies ended with carols. The men played football with each other, creating one of the most memorable images of the armistice.
In some sectors, the fighting continued, while in others the parties settled only on agreements to remove the bodies.
On Christmas Eve 1914, "A beautiful moonlit night, frost on the ground, almost everywhere white…" Pvt. Albert Morin of the King’s Royal Second Regiment recalled sounds of "Silent Night,” sung in German, echoing across No-Man's-Land between the trenches.
A cross was installed in 1999 in Saint-Yves (Saint-Yvon - Ploegstert; Comines-Warneton in Belgium) to commemorate the site of the Christmas truce.
The inscription reads:
"1914 - Khaki Chams Christmas Truce - 1999 - 85 Years - Lest We Forget"
The most famous monument in Ukraine is the Motherland monument in Kyiv, decorated with the hammer and sickle emblem in honor of the Heroes of the Soviet Union.
Unfortunately, @ZelenskyyUa will miss his chance to erect a monument to the 2023 Christmas ceasefire, showing Ukrainian grace and empathy.
Considering Zelensky is a comedian, the “Brezhnev’s Mother” monument in Ukraine can be used to remember the Christmas Truce.
That's funny.
@ZelenskyyUa has offered peace talks with Russia at least five times in the last year. That Zelenskyy rejects out-of-hand a Christmas Ceasefire makes Zelenskyy look like a war monger, while Putin looks like a peace maker despite the realities.
@JamesClayton5@elonmusk “BBC World Service – In recognition of the vital role the BBC World Service plays in projecting British values and culture overseas, the government will provide £20 million of additional grant funding to the World Service over the next 2 years.”
The BBC is established under a royal charter and operates under its agreement with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. [web.archive.org/web/2019070505…].
Per @IMDb Steven Spielberg explained the names of House members who voted against the 13th Amendment were actually changed in the film to not embarrass living descendants of these men whose reputations might have been stained by their negative vote-casting. #FairUse
The 13th Amendment passed the Senate by a vote of 38-6.
Davis of Ky.
Hendricks of Ind.
McDougall of Calif.
Powell of Ky.
Riddle of Del.
Saulsbury of Del.
Buchalew of Pennsylvania was not able to attend the session, and when his name was called,
Senator Hendricks said: "I desire to say that [sic] Mr. Buckalew is not able to be in his seat today, and he expressed a wish that [sic] I should say that [sic] if he were present he would vote against the proposition.”
Catherine II, born Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 1729 — 17 November 1796, commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter III. #RussiaUkraineWar
Under her reign, inspired by the ideas of the Enlightenment, Russia experienced a renaissance of culture and sciences, leading to the founding of many new cities, universities, and theatres, along with large-scale immigration from the rest of Europe and the recognition of Russia
as one of the great powers of Europe. In her accession to power and rule of the empire, Catherine often relied on her noble favourites, most notably Count Grigory Orlov and Grigory Potemkin. Assisted by highly successful generals such as Alexander Suvorov and Pyotr Rumyantsev,
On December 25, 1868, President Johnson (D) issued "unconditionally, and without reservation...a full pardon and amnesty..and restoration of all rights, privileges, and immunities” to Democrats responsible for the deaths of 1.5M people in order to preserve slavery. #J6
Prior to December 25, 1868, On December 8, 1863, in his annual message to Congress, President Lincoln (R) outlined his plans for reconstruction of the South, which included terms for amnesty to former Confederates. A pardon would require an oath of allegiance, but it
would not restore ownership to former slaves, or restore confiscated property which involved a third party. The pardon excluded office holders of the Confederate government or persons who had mistreated prisoners.
The US releases 1,800 weather balloons across the globe, including 182 wearer balloons over the United States, every day, in sun, sleet, rain, snow, or hail.
Twice a day, every day of the year, @NOAA weather balloons are released simultaneously from almost 900 locations worldwide. This includes 92 released by the National Weather Service in the US and its territories. The balloon flights last for around 2 hours, can drift as far as
125 miles away, and rise up to over 100,000 ft. (about 20 miles) in the atmosphere. Weather balloons, which are made of latex or synthetic rubber (neoprene), are filled with either hydrogen or helium. The sides are about 0.051 mm thick before release and will be only 0.0025 mm
Putin was born on 7 October 1952 in Leningrad, Soviet Union (now Saint Petersburg, Russia), the youngest of three children of Vladimir Spiridonovich Putin (1911–1999) and Maria Ivanovna Putina (née Shelomova; 1911–1998). His grandfather, Spiridon Putin (1879–1965),
was a personal cook to Vladimir Lenin and 👉Joseph Stalin.👈 Putin's birth was preceded by the deaths of two brothers: Albert, born in the 1930s, died in infancy, and Viktor, born in 1940, died of diphtheria and starvation in 1942 during the Siege of Leningrad by Nazi