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Overnight News Digest for December 21, 2025 (Longest night edition) [1]

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Date: 2022-12-21

Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, eeff, Magnifico, annetteboardman, Besame, jck, and JeremyBloom. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) Interceptor 7, Man Oh Man, wader, Neon Vincent, palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse (RIP), ek hornbeck (RIP), rfall, ScottyUrb, Doctor RJ, BentLiberal, Oke (RIP) and jlms qkw.

OND is a regular community feature on Daily Kos, consisting of news stories from around the world, sometimes coupled with a daily theme, original research or commentary. Editors of OND impart their own presentation styles and content choices, typically publishing each day near 12:00 AM Eastern Time.

x December 21, 2022 — today is the shortest day of the year. The winter solstice marks the exact moment when half of Earth is tilted the farthest away from the sun. Who here enjoys the winter months? pic.twitter.com/lvLY885HZF — Sierra Club (@SierraClub) December 21, 2022

As the country prepares for the holidays, a whole lot of people are preparing for a whole lot of snow, wind, and freezing temperatures, not to mention a travel nightmare. This is just your regular friendly reminder that climate change is throwing our weather system into chaos; in particular, it is disrupting the jet stream and the polar vortex. This means that while the North Pole is basking in unusually warm temperatures (for a place that is undergoing months of perpetual darkness), the air up there is still VERY VERY COLD even by Minnesota standards, and it’s no fun for us down here when that polar air gets sucked down to Minnesota (and Chicago and Denver and maybe even Dallas).

It’s so funny how they can write a headline like “Once in a generation winter storm” every year and… not notice.

A major winter storm and cold blast will impact nearly every state and bring what the National Weather Service is calling a “once in a generation type event” that will cripple travel on some of the busiest travel days of the year. The strengthening storm will bring more than a foot of snow and possible blizzard conditions to the Midwest, as the weather service warns of “life-threatening” wind chills for millions. ...Friday: The storm is expected to become a “bomb cyclone” Thursday evening into Friday. A bomb cyclone is when a storm rapidly intensifies – and drops 24 millibars (a term used to measure atmospheric pressure) in 24 hours.

As with any natural disaster that relates to the weather, it is natural to wonder whether climate change plays a role. Certainly the weather this winter has been extreme, with Texans and Oklahomans being warned of potential tornadoes and Americans everywhere bracing for possible power outages (which on their own can be devastating). Winter storms mean blocked roads, damaged property, crumbling infrastructure and possibly even injuries and deaths. ..."Winter storms develop in a climate change environment: it is warmer and moister," Kevin Trenberth of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) told Salon by email. "But it is plenty cold in winter over the continent. It means snow amounts can be much greater: e.g. see Buffalo recently. They may be more intense: not guaranteed, but more developments ensue. Watch for a bad nor-easter." ..."There's still quite a bit of debate about whether we can expect more events like the Texas cold spell last year due to climate change," Mann wrote to Salon. "On the other hand, there is evidence that warming leads to more powerful, snowier nor'easters—something we've seen quite a bit of in the northeast in recent years." x A major outbreak of Arctic air is forecast for the USA in time for Christmas.



The red/blue colors on the map show how far above or below normal temperatures are expected to be (in °F). Temperatures more than 30 °F below normal will be widespread, with some areas much colder. pic.twitter.com/Mqy2KNJf1o — Dr. Robert Rohde (@RARohde) December 19, 2022

The polar vortex is an enormous, three-dimensional ring of winds that surrounds the North and South poles during each hemisphere’s winter. These winds are located about 10 to 30 miles (16 to 50 kilometers) above Earth’s surface, in the layer of the atmosphere known as the stratosphere. They blow from west to east with sustained speeds easily exceeding 100 mph (160 kph). In the darkness of the winter polar night, temperatures within the polar vortex can easily get lower than minus 110 F (minus 79 C). But sometimes, these weather and jet stream variations can knock the polar vortex off balance, causing significant wobbles in its shape, location, temperatures and winds. When this happens, the structural integrity of the polar vortex begins to break down. If this happens often enough over a period of time, everything can go haywire with the polar vortex as the winds break down and the vortex warms up. … This is precisely what has unfolded [in 2021]: On Jan. 5, the polar vortex was completely thrown out of whack by an event called a sudden stratospheric warming. Sudden stratospheric warming is the technical name for these violent disturbances that severely distort and weaken the vortex, knocking it off of the pole or even ripping it apart. When this happens, temperatures in the normally cold polar stratosphere explosively rise by as much as 90 F (50 C) over the span of a few days – hence the name of these events. x Here is my "official" 3D animation of this year's stratospheric #PolarVortex split. Another beautiful event! pic.twitter.com/ml59N1cDoh — Zac Lawrence (@zd1awrence) January 14, 2019

And then — wow — THIS guy, who actually appears to be even worse than Donald Trump in terms of lying about absolutely everything, turning up with millions of dollars in unexplained wealth, and generally being a dick:

Claims by incoming Republican Rep. George Santos that his grandparents “survived the Holocaust” as Ukrainian Jewish refugees from Belgium who changed their surname to survive are contradicted by sources reviewed by CNN’s KFile including family trees compiled by genealogy websites, records on Jewish refugees and interviews with multiple genealogists. ...The incoming Republican lawmaker has faced scrutiny over his resume since The New York Times revealed on Monday that Santos’ biography appeared to be partly fictional. CNN confirmed details of The New York Times reporting on Monday, including that he may have misrepresented parts of his resume about his college education and employment history. ...“My grandfather grew up Jewish. My grandfather, during the Soviet issues, escaped to Belgium,” said Santos. “And then that was a great move. Met my grandmother, married, and crazy enough, the Nazis became a thing. And that’s when he said, ‘Oh my God, this is all over again.’ They converted to Catholicism, had their kids, raised them Catholic. And I’m Catholic, but that’s pretty much little history of my family into Judaism.” x A big question is where did newly-elected GOPer Goerge Santos get his millions. He had no assets & a $55K salary in 2020 but $3.5m to $11.5m in income in 2021/22. It all has to do with a mystery firm he has not fully explained. Read our scoop:https://t.co/nZIt2Qvqv1 — David Corn (@DavidCornDC) December 21, 2022 x I keep thinking about this story and who failed to catch it before now and why. Newsday? I honestly don't know. NY state party Dems? General incompetence. Santos' opponent? Probably didn't want to pony up for oppo, which isn't free. NYT? uninterested in the race nationally https://t.co/15XVa5rTB6 — Elizabeth Spiers (@espiers) December 21, 2022 x This would all have been exposed before the election if local newspapers were not running on fumes. For most of my career in politics, local journalists would have uncovered this during the campaign…not after votes had been cast. This is a big problem. https://t.co/tyrU5EjLjK — Claire McCaskill (@clairecmc) December 19, 2022

In happier news, the COP15 summit on Biodiversity came out with an historic agreement. Is it perfect? Not by a long shot, but it’s a good beginning.

x The 🆕 global #Biodiversity Agreement will ensure that nature keeps sustaining communities & economies for the next decades



With the Paris Agreement, it paves the way towards a climate-neutral, #NaturePositive & resilient 🌎 by 2050https://t.co/vjEKtJmwuF#EUatCOP15 #COP15 pic.twitter.com/SgOD9wFDX1 — EU Environment (@EU_ENV) December 19, 2022

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived Wednesday at the White House for a meeting with President Biden that is part of his first trip outside Ukraine since Russia’s invasion of his country in February. Biden put his arm around Zelensky as he walked him into the White House. After the two moved to the Oval Office, Biden said he was “delighted” that Zelensky had made the trip. Zelensky offered “all my appreciations from my heart and from the heart of all Ukrainians.” Later, Zelensky is scheduled to address a joint meeting of Congress. Ahead of his arrival, the Biden administration confirmed plans for a new $1.85 billion security assistance package that will include the Patriot missile system. Zelensky’s appearance before lawmakers comes as they work to pass a $1.7 trillion spending package, which includes another $44.9 billion in emergency security and economic assistance for Ukraine. x WATCH: President Biden welcomes Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy to the White House ahead of a joint press conference (via @quicktake) https://t.co/GF98g0Z0e6 pic.twitter.com/9Ql2QA6bZs — Bloomberg (@business) December 21, 2022 x x YouTube Video And then there’s this guy:

x Trump paid ZERO federal income tax in his last year as president. pic.twitter.com/BSIybNN9PS — Jon Cooper (@joncoopertweets) December 21, 2022

x It is a horrible, divisive, and risky precedent to prosecute a former President of the United States. The only precedent that is worse would be to not prosecute a former President just because he is a former President.



In America, no one should be above the law. https://t.co/QK0cd0Lcwc — Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) December 19, 2022

x “To give this man a pass from prosecution simply because a trial would prove divisive is to admit that the rule of law in America has failed.” That cannot be permitted to happen.https://t.co/iyPwWVDUeY — Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) December 21, 2022

Posted without comment:

x How is it that covid cases are on the rise again?

We've tried everything this year, from not talking about it to pretending it never existed. — Kit Yates (@Kit_Yates_Maths) December 19, 2022

Pipelines leak. It’s what they do. That’s why we shouldn’t be making more pipelines to leak and spill and trash the climate of the only planet we’ve got.

Okay, /End of rant.

On December 7, 14,000 barrels of oil spilled from the Keystone Pipeline into Mill Creek in Kansas. But it didn’t just spill any oil—it spilled diluted bitumen, the Environmental Protection Agency said last week. Bitumen from tar sands is dense, and so it is mixed with other products like lighter oils to create diluted bitumen, which can easily move through a pipeline. But when a spill happens, it’s a cleanup nightmare, because diluted bitumen sinks in water rather than floating on the surface. ...Zack Pistoria, Kansas lobbyist for the local Sierra Club chapter, said that this oil spill is a great example as to why we need to quickly phase out pipelines. He says that he and other environmental activists are frustrated that spills are often connected to cracks introduced during the construction of the pipeline, and companies like TC Energy can’t predict when the next spill will happen. “Is it worth the risk?” he told Earther. “It’s always, ‘well, this [spill] is a possibility,’ but when that happens, it’s worse than you could ever expect.” Pistoria is right: This is far from the first time the Keystone Pipeline system has spewed oil into the environment. In November 2017, a Keystone Pipeline in Amherst, South Dakota spilled about 210,000 gallons. Inspections found that the spill was caused by a crack created during the pipeline’s construction. x .@SecretaryPete , @SenatorCantwell , @SenBlumenthal Senator @amyklobuchar and fellow members of the US Senate Committee on Transpotation, Commerce, and Science : Since when may a Canadian firm declare a 'no fly zone' in the US? https://t.co/8wpFKls5UX

#KeystonePipeline spill — BleuZ00m (@BleuZ00m) December 21, 2022

In today’s “Are you too worried about privacy concerns?”:

MIT Technology Review — A Roomba recorded a woman on the toilet. How did screenshots end up on Facebook? ...iRobot—the world’s largest vendor of robotic vacuums, which Amazon recently acquired for $1.7 billion in a pending deal—confirmed that these images were captured by its Roombas in 2020. All of them came from “special development robots with hardware and software modifications that are not and never were present on iRobot consumer products for purchase,” the company said in a statement. They were given to “paid collectors and employees” who signed written agreements acknowledging that they were sending data streams, including video, back to the company for training purposes. According to iRobot, the devices were labeled with a bright green sticker that read “video recording in progress,” and it was up to those paid data collectors to “remove anything they deem sensitive from any space the robot operates in, including children.” … While the images shared with us did not come from iRobot customers, consumers regularly consent to having our data monitored to varying degrees on devices ranging from iPhones to washing machines. It’s a practice that has only grown more common over the past decade, as data-hungry artificial intelligence has been increasingly integrated into a whole new array of products and services. Much of this technology is based on machine learning, a technique that uses large troves of data—including our voices, faces, homes, and other personal information—to train algorithms to recognize patterns. The most useful data sets are the most realistic, making data sourced from real environments, like homes, especially valuable. Often, we opt in simply by using the product, as noted in privacy policies with vague language that gives companies broad discretion in how they disseminate and analyze consumer information. … The data collected by robot vacuums can be particularly invasive. They have “powerful hardware, powerful sensors,” says Dennis Giese, a PhD candidate at Northeastern University who studies the security vulnerabilities of Internet of Things devices, including robot vacuums. “And they can drive around in your home—and you have no way to control that.” This is especially true, he adds, of devices with advanced cameras and artificial intelligence—like iRobot’s Roomba J7 series. “What do YOU want for Christmas, Tammy?”

“Science!”

x Here's the segment from this morning! What was your favourite space thing that happened this year?! https://t.co/ukTbMm6MSu — Kirsten Banks (@AstroKirsten) December 20, 2022

“What do YOU want for Christmas, Timmy?”

“I want a LAVA SAMPLE!”

x How geologists collect lava samples pic.twitter.com/RAqudZ4kQg — Historic Vids (@historyinmemes) December 20, 2022

Happy birthdays!

x Happy 74th Birthday, Samuel L. Jackson

He's one of the finest actors of his generation and his films have collectively grossed over $27 Billion worldwide. Sam's a legend

Enjoy 2 minutes of him elevating the word 'Muthaf**ker' into an art form, Muthaf**ker!#SamuelLJackson pic.twitter.com/7XMsLFXfjS — The Sting (@TSting18) December 21, 2022

x Happy birthday @JaneFonda! 🔥 Thank you for being such a fierce leader in the climate justice movement. https://t.co/BTsVH5elxs — Greenpeace USA (@greenpeaceusa) December 21, 2022

Got anything fun for us? Drop down the chimney and leave it in the comments!

[END]
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[1] Url: https://dailykos.com/stories/2022/12/21/2143149/-Overnight-News-Digest-for-December-21-2025-Longest-night-edition

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