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birthba.bsky.social
Wide eyed wanderer. Opinions are my own, re-post usually mean endorsement.
409 posts 177 followers 105 following
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Ian Fleming's original James Bond novels haven't aged well. For example, Moonraker - published almost exactly 70 years ago in April 1955 - features a villain who's a super-rich industrialist and rocket-maker seeking to cause chaos because he's a secret Nazi. Such a silly idea!

I’d like to think I’m the first person to get into a flame war with VPOTUS from the swimming pool of Woburn Center Parcs at half-term.

This. Nothing is more embarrassing for a high official than to have the time to react on social media. Thanks @shashj.bsky.social for calling Vance’s bs

Worst. Episode. EVER.

It may well be that Trump’s plan has all along been to broker an unacceptably bad deal, so that when Ukraine rejects it with Europe’s support, Trump can say Europe rejected peace and wash his hands off the war and Europe. But it doesn’t matter. What matters is Ukraine’s continued existence.

As it happens, Trump has gone so far off the cliff that Europe isn’t divided but closing ranks. I figured that it’ll become politically difficult for European politicians to try and suck up to him because electorates see what Trump is doing and are very angry. But it’s even better than expected:

🙏On behalf of Hungarian civil society & independent journalism, a huge thanks to all EU countries joining the EU Commission lawsuit against Orbán’s foreign agents law. Here’s who’s in or may join, per @reclaim-eu.bsky.social's Esther Martinez, from our latest newsletter: vsquare.org/goulash-ukra...

Never take investment advice from me, but I think European satellite companies are a smart move right now

Yep. The same people who just reassured allies at MSC about the U.S. commitment to the Alliance, Nuclear Sharing, and Strategic Enablers are now about to get fired. I remember thinking: ‘Sounds nice, but this person might be jobless tomorrow.’ And here we are.

Europe Must Think Long and Move Fast | "Europe must not be paralyzed by the sheer pace and discomfort of events. There’s time to get a good outcome if it moves swiftly and in unison." @samagreene.bsky.social

Trump is now an aide in Russia’s regime change plan for Ukraine. Europeans need to act NOW, not after the German elections, to make sure Ukrainians have an alternative. All the worst came true and there is no other way to put it than that the US is in Russia’s team now.

Not only is this utterly shameful and humiliating for all Americans, his argument that Ukraine needs to have a presidential election to have a seat at the table isn't just absurd, it fails even according to its own logic. When did Russia last have an actual presidential election?

A quote today from the great Julia Davis. If Europe hasn’t figured out that Trump is bringing our 80-year collective security friendship, which has served us all well, to an abrupt and catastrophic end, you know it today. You are on your own. Act accordingly.

Wenn wir alle pro Kopf der Ukraine mehr Waffen im Wert von 1,5 Kaffees monatlich liefern, würde Kiew den Krieg gewinnen, ist MEP Riho Terras überzeugt. Ich traf den estnischen Ex-Oberbefehlshaber im interessanten Gespräch mit MEP @lukasmandl.bsky.social www.derstandard.at/story/300000...

Figuring out how to resist the new US-Russia axis of evil. I wish I was joking.

One of the huge problems in the west is stuff like this being repeated and folks not seeing that it is the whole deal

Russian publics say that 8 Russians went blind because some "good people" put explosives in their FPV goggles. Such cases were recorded in early February in the Kursk region, as well as in the occupied Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

My thoughts on the Russian-American talks on Ukraine, without Ukraine. The simplest interpretation of the available facts is that the Americans are using Russian violence to try to exploit Ukraine. snyder.substack.com/p/peace-or-p...

Imagine Mohammed bin Salman being the good guy in the room

Our one and only ally is that south sudanese rebel militia with whom Ukrainian special forces fought wagner

Yep, DOGE is as incompetent as everyone thought. An $8 million "saving" has been listed as an $8 BILLION saving. That is 14.5% of their total claimed $55 billion in "savings" having been completely made up.

Is it so difficult? Russia's dictatorship attacked Ukraine covertly in 2014 and full-scale in 2022, denying Ukrainian culture and statehood the right to exist. The evidence is clear. There is no "compromise"—unless you've swallowed Russian propaganda🧵

Any politician, analyst, or journalist who's surprised by the speed and scale of the Trump administration's alignment with Russia against Ukraine, shouldn't be - it's always been obvious that this would be the outcome.

Die meisten medialen Analysen von Alice Weidels TV-Auftritten folgen einem bemerkenswerten Missverständnis: Während die Berichte die rhetorischen Siege und Niederlagen im Detail sezieren, verkennen sie den eigentlichen Zweck dieser Auftritte. 🧵 1/4

This is pretty indicative of how leadership in Europe has become more diffuse (and in some ways more equal too) as a result of Russia’s war. The smaller ones are now also at the table when consequential decisions are being made. It’s safe to say that it indeed is the smaller states’ time to shine

One thing that the new US administration probably has no clue of is that in the past 3 years of full-scale war, Ukraine’s place in Europe has changed. Many European countries (even if not all of them) are really invested in supporting Ukraine and consider it a self-evident part of Europe.

Update: Finland also ready to ”participate in an appropriate way” once things become more clear, according to the chairperson of the foreign affairs committee in the Finnish parliament. Similar approach as in Sweden.

Der Anschlag in Österreich beeinflusst die Regierungskrise. Der Innenminister plant „anlasslose Massenkontrollen“, die FPÖ spricht von „Systemversagen“. / für @taz.de

Bang on brand though.

Nur weil die Trump-Admistration jetzt Vorstellungen hat, wie man mit Russland sprechen kann, muss das noch nicht funktionieren. Skepsis ist angebracht. Es wäre nicht der erste US-Präsident, der mit dem Versuch eines "Neustarts" mit Russland scheitert.

You go to war with the politicians you have, not those you want. Elections have consequences.

I wrote this NASA page about wildfires and climate change, and I'm so excited it's finally live. It's a tireless effort to get big pages published at NASA - as it should be! How long will it remain up? Who knows. Check it out while you still can. 🧪 #climatesky science.nasa.gov/wildfires-an...

1-17 This move by the UK - announcing readiness to deploy troops to Ukraine as a future security guarantee - is brilliant, courageous, and timely. It will change the entire conversation. This is the 4th time since January 2022 that the UK has led with a pivotal move that helps Ukraine.

The duality of tankies. A-Russia may use nukes to end humanity if we don't appease it B-Russia would never bomb a nuclear power plant, it's too ethical/sensible.

Ruthless geostrategy game being played? Finnish president Stubb today: We have one message for the Americans. It is not worth looking for an ally in Russia to contain China, because Putin and Russia will betray you anyway. www.iltalehti.fi/politiikka/a...

Democracy consists not in the unadulterated right of the majority to run roughshod over the minority, but in the unassailable right of the minority to live without fear. Odd that this should need to be repeated, in Munich of all places.

CDC source: “We just had word that all our fellows and post doc staff are laid off effective immediately. The famous Epidemic Intelligence Service, aka the Disease Detectives, is no more. That’s 1260 staff. They are calling this ‘Phase 1’.”

🇺🇸🚫🇺🇦 The Americans did not like Kyiv's amendments to the minerals agreement. That is why the meeting between Vance and Zelensky was postponed, - journalist Zabelina. 🤔 Reuters sources stated that the U.S. wanted to force Zelensky to "blindly" sign the minerals agreement.

Well good morning goddamn

It's impossible to overstate the importance of this. Europe not only requires urgent short-term capabilities but must also drastically expand its latent industrial capacity to prepare for conflict. 1/3

If you are interested in the HX-2 drone that will be delivered to Ukraine in even greater numbers than previously announced, this is a very good article by @hartpunkt.bsky.social explaining the weapon system. It's in German, but auto-translate can probably help. www.hartpunkt.de/helsing-baut...

Apologies for my French. But two years ago I said in an unofficial analysis that we are headed for a comprehensive global clusterfuck. It’s starting

Ein guter Tag für Russland. Ein schlechter Tag für Europa.

It’s not that everyone just sat on their hands and tried nothing. It’s that whatever Europeans try to convince Trump of isn’t going anywhere. We have no leverage with him because he’s not interested in allies.

REPLACE EVERY FUCKING MCDONALDS WITH A RHEINMENTALL MANUFACTURING PLANT