stephenengland.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

14 years ago, while working at CENTCOM, I was asked to do a comparative analysis of the British failure at the Dardanelles to a potential Iranian closure of the Strait of Hormuz. While my discussion of Iran’s capabilities is now outdated, the lessons I identified are still quite relevant (🧵) 1/n

submitted 6 hours ago • 10 comments

“Evil slaves bullying their masters” Lo Ming-Tsai, son of Celestial Alliance godfather Lo Fu-chu says the quiet part out loud and betrays the longstanding viewpoint held by the KMT toward Taiwanese in describing the recall campaign. This [Masters] is how they see themselves.

submitted 22 hours ago • 1 comment

one other side of this is something that I try to emphasize to my students: "what does freedom actually mean" is not a 21stC issue anachronistically read backwards into the 18thC. The US, French, and Haitian Revolutions happened at more or less the same time, with an overlapping cast of characters

submitted 1 day ago • 22 comments

Everyone needs to watch @foldablehuman.bsky.social ‘s documentary on meme stock Apes cause it really lays out a good theory of how all this alt finance stuff is a kind of religion.

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

Congratulations, everyone. We did it. We’ve de-extincted the will’o’the’wisp.

submitted 2 days ago • 2 comments

I suspect that fact that the vast majority of LLM users don’t seem to have received this (really very simple!) message is because the AI companies have a vested interest in us not understanding it. “ChatGPT is smart, it just makes mistakes sometimes” is much more marketable than the truth.

submitted 3 days ago • 143 comments

Because some folks really need this reminder today. . .

submitted 4 days ago • 0 comments

Loved talking to #Andor costume designer Michael Wilkinson about charting Cassian's look towards Rogue One, introducing Dedra's home life style,Mon Mothma's outfits reflecting her state of mind, Kleya's many looks, and more. Likin'/sharin'/subscribin' appreciated! www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vBy...

submitted 4 days ago • 3 comments

You know, as a Warhammer fan, I've always found it really odd that the concept of "humours" made a return in their vision of man's future. It's not seeming so odd just now.

submitted 6 days ago • 0 comments

A 19-century #deerskin #map depicting Forts Zeelandia and Provintia, two sites respectively built by the Dutch East India Company and #Dutch colonists between 1624 and 1653 in #Tainan. Zoom in for details like European masonry architecture and numerous vignettes of daily life in 16-century #Taiwan.

submitted 6 days ago • 1 comment

'But the Hakkas of Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Miaoli were well-versed in organized warfare — whether it be against other ethnic groups or helping the Qing Dynasty quell unrest as “righteous people” (義民).' Some of this “righteous people” resonates in today's politics. www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/ar...

submitted 7 days ago • 1 comment

I just like to post these data from time to time to puncture the mythological aura of mid 20th c protests. They were less popular than pretty much any 21st c mass action & people criticizing them used the same lines. Protest is about people coming together, shaping narratives, & building power.

submitted 8 days ago • 54 comments

In our latest Vatnik Soup video, we discuss how Ukraine planned and conducted Spiderweb, one of the most sophisticated military operations in history: youtu.be/GyIkhwqbF6I

submitted 7 days ago • 10 comments

If someone tells you this charade was to celebrate the military show them this photo. Who and what do you see at the center. This propaganda shot cost millions of dollars to produce. Every element is intentional.

submitted 7 days ago • 196 comments

Hi everyone I was denied entry, detained, and deported from the USA over the last 48 hours because of my reporting on the Columbia student protests I arrived back in Melbourne hours ago and had my phone handed back to me upon landing

submitted 8 days ago • 229 comments

#Taiwan is very precious because it is a rare Chinese society that didn't turn into an authoritarian autocratic shithole but instead created a free democratic society with rule of law for themselves. #InvisibleNation

submitted 7 days ago • 1 comment

Perhaps worth noting that Israel shoots down a lot of "game-changing" drones while also putting "old school" guided bombs launched from fast jets on target in Iran.

submitted 7 days ago • 7 comments

My favorite #Wisconsin #NoKings sign/flag from today. #wipolitics

submitted 7 days ago • 211 comments

Steve Bannon has branded the MAGA movement “Real America” - based on their disfigured version of patriotism. Real America came out to protest today.

submitted 8 days ago • 8 comments

"And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood in the top of mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and said unto them, Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you. 1/5

submitted 8 days ago • 1 comment

Wait a minute… are you telling me that hiring more STEM people is not the national security silver bullet? We need people—probably immigrants or foreign nationals—who can speak foreign languages?

submitted 8 days ago • 5 comments

"The situation as it was on June 9th has in theory the potential to lay the groundworks of realistic carrier exercises reminiscent of the series of US Navy Fleet Problems in the 1920s and 1930s during which the US Navy learned valuable lessons..." www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2...

submitted 8 days ago • 0 comments

RFK Jr.’s political power comes from two things: (1) His last name (2) His leadership of the online anti-vaccination movement. Online conspiracism is so politically powerful on the MAGA right that it landed him a cabinet position. That’s why Trump courted him in 2024. MAGA is fueled by conspiracism.

submitted 9 days ago • 23 comments

This is like when Russian oligarchs and, more recently, Chinese tech billionaires learned the difference between being a fantastically rich person and being in direct personal control of the state and its powers.

submitted 11 days ago • 109 comments

I actually wrote about this before foreignpolicy.com/2020/06/04/t...

submitted 11 days ago • 1 comment