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kevinrothrock.me
Russia watcher supreme. @meduza.io English-language managing editor. Ugly American based in Portland, Oregon. Signal: @KevinRothrock.01 / Find all my junk here: https://linktr.ee/kevinrothrock
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Portland's mayor is optimistic about ending unsheltered homelessness by 2026 despite (checks notes) rising homelessness in each of the past 17 months...

submitted 1 hour ago • 1 comment

"Dude, the Russia–Ukraine thing is the most vicious...," says Vance, commenting on the Trump admin's "actually trying to bring this stuff to some settlement and to some close" efforts, in Ukraine and ... Israel.

submitted 1 hour ago • 0 comments

Playwright Evgenia Berkovich has been barred from participating in further performances while in prison. In April, Soviet dissident Alexander Podrabinek sparked controversy when he accused Berkovich of compromising her political prisoner status by "collaborating" in a prison puppet show.

submitted 2 hours ago • 0 comments

The United States believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin's threatened retaliation against Ukraine over its drone attack last weekend has not happened yet in earnest and is likely to be a significant, multi-pronged strike, U.S. officials told Reuters. www.reuters.com/business/aer...

submitted 16 hours ago • 2 comments

This is my new favorite emoji of all time: 🫩

submitted 1 day ago • 2 comments

Zelensky says the Russian truck drivers who drove the semis packed with drones to Russian airfields last weekend were unwitting accomplices. This declaration will likely only deepen the Russian authorities' suspicion of these drivers. abcnews.go.com/Politics/zel...

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

My mom texted me this joke to tell my son, and I didn't have the heart to inform her that kids today have no idea who Bugs Bunny is.

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

This is the organization that effectively every US-based scholar of Russia/former Soviet Union belongs to

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

If this scandal costs Luiza her job in Paris, she should come to Portland and reopen the little antique store that Stalin's punk-rock granddaughter used to run. (It went out of business during the pandemic, sadly.)

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

Susan Pedersen in @lrb.co.uk reviews Sheila Fitzpatrick's book on Soviet displaced persons. Pedersen takes issue with Fitzpatrick's "lucky victims" framing and levels a polite (albeit rather personal) criticism related to her late husband. The book sounds fascinating. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

Great read by @lalehkhalili.bsky.social in @lrb.co.uk on America's military-industrial complex and Silicon Valley's mission to elbow its way to a better spot at the Pentagon's feeding trough. Big Tech sees itself pioneering a new era, but the continuity screams at you. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

The rate limit screen at Truth Social never gets old.

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

It's supposed to get up to 95⁰ on Sunday. Really annoying that the splash pads aren't opening for another week. Put down your calendars and respond to the heat, bureaucrats!

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

It seems no despot can resist the charms and appeal of the “super-app.” meduza.io/en/feature/2...

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

Goes without saying among parents, but there is exhilaration in sitting down at your desk to begin work after your spouse takes over with the (three small) children. With a pair of headphones, glowing monitors, and time at last, who needs vacations? Who needs nutrition? The universe is at peace.

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

“They gave Putin a reason to go in and bomb the hell out of them last night,” Trump says of Kyiv’s Operation Spiderweb attacks last weekend. So much for the “Putin is crazy” attitude!

submitted 1 day ago • 8 comments

The Telegraph has proved its headlines are hyperbolic

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submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

If Trump decides to have another “51st state” annexation meltdown, the ironies of Zelensky needing his administration’s support to fend off Russia’s invasion may burst irony meters worldwide.

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

The Trump administration is trying to get Senator Lindsey Graham to "significantly weaken his Russia-sanctions bill" while the White House seeks to patch up its relationship with Moscow, reports WSJ. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

submitted 1 day ago • 9 comments

The profiteering opportunities of wartime are wild. I can only imagine the backroom dealing going on now to be tapped to get Lesta's assets. Money for nothing and your chicks for free. meduza.io/en/feature/2...

submitted 2 days ago • 2 comments

Joe Tater, a name that makes me want to pat my belly and belch loudly, has reportedly left Russia after an involuntary stint at a Moscow booby hatch. meduza.io/en/news/2025...

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments