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In Aleppo, Syria — Darkness comes early to the streets of this ancient city, once a symbol of Syria’s richly storied past and now at the heart of the deepening nightmare that the country’s revolution has become.

By 5 p.m., people are scurrying home, down streets potholed by artillery, past piles of rubble and mountains of garbage that hasn’t been collected in months, to spend the evenings huddled in the cold without heat, light or, increasingly, food.

“We just lie under blankets because it is so cold. We have no work, no money and no life,” said Omar Abu Mohammed, 55, one of the few remaining residents of his badly bombed neighborhood, as he prepared to head indoors for the night.

“It is time to go now because soon there will be snipers,” he added, as a shell boomed softly in the distance.

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My Comment: This is where projections of a million plus refugees fleeing Syria by this spring are accurate .... no food/water/electricity/medical care .... just hunger/disease/bombardment/and death .... the only option left is to flee.

My Comment: A small confession .... when I was young and growing up in Russia I did not only play the piano and guitar, but I was also a professional accordion player and yes .... I did play in a few military halls. So when I see a U.S. soldier playing an accordion .... and a woman at that .... it is a guaranteed 'picture of the day'.

Sighhh .... the memories .... makes me want to pull out the old squeeze box and see if I still 'have it'.

Update: I still have it.

Ankara’s transition process plan for Syria, which was discussed with Russian President Vladimir Putin and which gained his support, calls for Assad to give up power in three months. Details of Ankara’s formula, seen as Assad’s last chance, are slowly emerging. Here is a summary:

The plan Putin termed as “creative”’ foresees ending the clashes in Syria and the start of a transition process. Both sides have to abstain from using guns and Assad has to stop shedding blood. The formula sets out a detailed calendar of six months for the transition process, starting from the first day.

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My Comment: This leads credence to Putin's remarks last week when he stated that his focus was on Syria and not on the Assad family. Will Assad and the Alawite community agree to this proposal .... considering the fact that this is a Russian - Turkish effort, and Russia is the only serious ally to the Syrian government .... I do not see them having a choice. As for the rebels .... I can see the political body and many commanders and soldiers in the FSA agree to this transition process .... especially since it would remove Assad and the Alawites from power. But will the more radical Jihadists agree to this framework .... I doubt it. Are these radicals strong enough to be spoilers .... yes but only to a few limited areas. Will this proposal be adopted ....we shall see in the next few weeks.

The number of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who are homeless or at risk of losing a roof over their heads has more than doubled in the past two years, according to government data.

Through the end of September, 26,531 of them were living on the streets, at risk of losing their homes, staying in temporary housing or receiving federal vouchers to pay rent, the Department of Veterans Affairs reports.

That's up from 10,500 in 2010. The VA says the numbers could be higher because they include only the homeless the department is aware of.

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My Comment: And we wonder why the suicide rate for vets are so high .... it is clear that many are experiencing horrific and depressing financial/debt/money problems. These men (and women) deserve better.

Nearly all the major players in the fiscal cliff negotiations are starting to agree on one thing: A deal is virtually impossible before the New Year.

Unlike the bank bailout in 2008, the tax deal in 2010 and the debt ceiling in 2011, the Senate almost certainly won’t swoop in and help sidestep a potential economic calamity, senior officials in both parties predicted on Wednesday.

With the country teetering on this fiscal cliff of deep spending cuts and sharp tax hikes, the philosophical differences, the shortened timetable and the political dynamics appear to be insurmountable hurdles for a bipartisan deal by New Year’s Day.

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My Comment: The U.S. Senate has not passed a budget for the past 3+ years .... I doubt that they are going to be successful in the next 3 days. Sequestration appears to now be inevitable .... and for the Pentagon/defense budget/defense contractors who need to plan months (if not years) for their programs/procurements/and policy goals .... everything that has been done in the past few years is now on the verge of being thrown out of the window in the next few days.

Who am I to blame for this debacle .... I cannot blame the President or the Democrats for this mess .... I know what they are and what they want (i.e. a smaller defense budget, more taxes, more entitlements, a greater role for government, etc.) .... the group that I am blaming are the Republicans. They signed up to sequestration because they believed that the Democrats would compromise on their principles .... they are now learning that they will not. The question that is now being asked is .... will the Republicans compromise on theirs .... I believe that they will .... but only in the next month or two before the impact of sequestration really starts to hit the economy and the pocketbooks of American taxpayers.

And the sad part of this debacle is that none of the plans offer any real solutions to arresting America's addiction to debt and deficit financing .... thereby guaranteeing the next crisis (and solutions) will be even worse.

MOSCOW, December 26 (RIA Novosti) – Russia will restart production of railway-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), with prototypes to be deployed by 2020, a senior Russian defense industry official said on Wednesday.

Work has already begun on the prototypes, which will utilize exclusively domestically-made components, the official told RIA Novosti on condition of anonymity.

The new missiles will be half the weight of their decommissioned Soviet analogues, allowing them to fit into one railcar, the official added.

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Update: Russia to build new heavy ICBM by 2018 - Karakayev -- Space Daily/Voice of Russia

My Comment: It's back to the past for Russia's nuclear forces. I guess they forgot that the reason why these systems were scrapped in the first place was because of security/technology/maintenance/transportation/etc. problems associated in maintaining such a force. Hell .... this makes more sense than building a fleet of railroad-based ICBM systems.

Mikhail Kalashnikov, the 93 year-old inventor of the world’s most popular automatic rifle, has been admitted to a cardiology hospital in the Russian city of Izhevsk, in the Urals.

The engineer’s health is said to have worsened during a routine check up on December 20, and Kalashnikov has stayed in intensive care ever since.

According to his biographer Aleksandr Uzhanov, the weapons designer, who has until recently regularly attended work at the military plant in named after him, “feels good and plans to leave the hospital in the coming days.”

Doctors confirm the life of the increasingly frail Kalashnikov is not in immediate danger.

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Russia’s Kalashnikov in Intensive Care: Report -- Defense News
AK-47 Gun Designer Hospitalized -- ABC News
Russia's Kalashnikov in intensive care: reports -- AFP

My Comment: Russian media is reporting that his health problems are being exaggerated .... but he is 93 years old .... what do they expect.