A very telling interview from early on in the International Legion days is that the vets with basic infantry experience were gold, but most of the ex-SOF guys cracked psychologically the second they realized they weren't fighting with every single advantage possible.

When Europe shows its true strength, dictators back down. Apply this lesson to Russia.

Tämä. Keksikää uusi pelottelusana.

I wrote *years ago* that Trump is compromised and afraid of what the Russians know about his finances. But that's a long, long way from "Putin gives Trump instructions." The Russians are frustrated with Trump, who could have pulled the plug on Ukraine long ago. This is the boring reality.

“we might go to war with Europe over Greenland” is not normal behavior and cannot be slotted into normal political rhetoric by people who would like to reestablish normal political relations with Europe someday

It really sucks that a lot of dem politicians don’t seem to get that they need to be behaving for a foreign audience as much if not more so than a domestic one on this shit

#Epstein #EpsteinFiles

2026 is seeing that the U.S. Army is mobilizing a unit specialized for winter conditions, but not knowing if the intended mission is violent repression of an American city or stealing territory from a U.S. treaty ally.

GO BILLS!!

”a broader psychological anxiety hamstrings European leaders: an inability to contemplate going it alone — without US support or even against US wishes — where “it” means not just Ukraine and wider security, but technology and the economy. This inferiority complex is unwarranted.” YES

There’s been a lot of good Josh Allen playoff performances, but this one is up there considering they couldn’t run the ball at all + the injuries they had at WR (which even when healthy isn’t a strength of the team). The entire O revolved around Allen against a good & mean defense and he delivered

Regarding the seizure of Russian tankers, the Russians believed that flying the Russian flag and sending a submarine, would deter the US. I wish we still had the Biden administration’s support for Ukraine, combined with Trump’s resolve to act boldly in such situations. No nuclear war followed

EU haluaa päästä käsiksi kaikkien EU-kansalaisten pikaviestimiin sillä verukkeella, että se on välttämätöntä lapon leviämisen estämiseksi, mutta kun X:ssä generoidaan tuhansittain lapsipornoa Grokilla kaiken kansan pällisteltäväksi, EU:n reaktio on, että kattellaan.

These fuckers were on top of the world and their grandfathers had managed to get much of that world to buy in to their being on top and they're now tearing apart the best deal America is ever going to get to make their dicks semi-hard

It’s genuinely wild that the United States spent decades building an elaborate rules-based international order which de facto cemented its permanent status as the dominant global hegemon, sustained by ideology rather than might, and now is just blowing it all up for literally no reason

Many Venezuelan-Americans were initially euphoric thinking Trump was liberating Venezuela from Maduro. Now, especially with Trump unceremoniously kicking Machado to the curb, they realize he only intended to liberate them from their assets and resources.

This is, of course, nonsense; the problem is simply that when some people talk about the United States and say “no other country’s leader does this“, they are still thinking of other countries like France not Turkmenistan.

Agree with reinforcing. But it’s high time to drop this tragic misunderstanding about provoking bullies. Bullies respect strength. They are not provoked by strength and resolve. They are *deterred* by strength and resolve and provoked by *lack* of either. Let’s not repeat this mistake any more.

I'm seriously starting to question the credibility of the FIFA Peace Prize.

Soft handed cowards can of course be immensely dangerous, as we are seeing right now - but they are dangerous in different ways than hard men are

The US capture of Maduro is illegal. It also makes us look even more spectacularly incompetent.

The West didn’t miscalculate russia. We trained it. 🔴 Trained moscow that nuclear threats work 🔴 Trained it that escalation pays 🔴 Trained it that deadlines are meaningless, security assurances are empty promises, and 🇺🇸 deterrence is now, effectively, a joke

US Security guarantees to Ukraine are meaningless if I can lie this blatantly to Donald and he just believes me.

@deadder.bsky.social By Michael de Adder.

A lot of ink has been spilled trying to divine Moscow’s motivations to invade 🇺🇦, commit innumerable war crimes, and burn the remaining bridges with the West. Why? God knows, the largest landmass on our planet, russia, doesn’t need any more territory.. My two cents open.substack.com/pub/chakhoya...

Trump said Ukraine “has nothing unless I approve it”, it is pure arrogance. Ukraine is not a bargaining chip and Zelensky is not a subordinate waiting for permission. People need to understand this invasion is not about Trump’s ego or dealmaking fantasies with Putin. Fuck Trump.

And Russia

Monet suklaavalmistajat jatkavat edelleen liiketoimintaa Venäjällä. Kuluttajilla on paljon valtaa yritysten toimintaan. ✅ Suosi: Fazer, Panda, Cloetta, Lindt, Brunberg. ❌ Vältä: Marabou, Mars, Twix, Dove, M&M’s, After Eight, Kitkat, Kinder.

I'm all for taking off the gloves in the secret war, but the most effective thing we can do to respond to Russian malign activity, is to make them hurt in Ukraine. www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

"Lethal kinetic strikes" are the new "enhanced interrogation."

Wake me up when we’re done negotiating with ourselves and Russia actually joins the table.

I often wish I existed in an era where I could focus all my time on “being really good at writing” (or any other single craft) instead of our present reality of “constantly, frantically improving 25 different skills at once to survive” I do not think this has been good for our mental health

“Two villains, one goal”

Washington’s Wolf Warrior Diplomacy Will Be as Successful as China’s open.substack.com open.substack.com/pub/thilves/...

A friend from 'Straya likes to remind me of this, though

absolutely !

The cowardice is over the top.

How to buy yourself a needy malignant narcissist? Just offer him a phony, made up "Peace Prize" & he's all your's!!! No need for a formal ceremony as he'll snatch from the box & put it on all by himself. Both laughably pathetic AND pathetically laughable. 🤡 🫣

Your daily reminder that peace and unity in Europe will only come with a Russian defeat. It's almost like this is Europe's war of independence. Either we disappear or we win. There isn't really any middle ground.

My answers in English in an interview for a German newspaper (online version will be published a little later): - I think Trump's initiative demonstrates the absolute inadequacy of his administration's expertise on modern Russia: they fundamentally don't understand what they're dealing with. 1/8

It’s unfair that Trump gets to sleep through his presidency and we don’t.

Just leaving this here ..

What happens if Ukraine’s allies push territorial concessions before russia ceases fire? Moscow escalates. Peace becomes unreachable. And the West will have sleepwalked into WWIII through a toxic blend of stupidity, historical amnesia, and a staggering lack of leadership.