Something tells me this Zosimus guy may not be an impartial historian of the Christianizing Roman Empire

I’m not dismissing its significance but I really hope Dems do not coalesce around this DNI whistleblower thing as yet another One Weird Trick to get rid of Trump. The relative absence of natsec-focused “resistance” has honestly been refreshing this go-round.

basically if dishonesty is a loadbearing aspect of a discourse feel free to hit the snooze button on your Good Faith module

this is so funny, god bless louise lucas, Hero of the Commonwealth

“Across Mr. Trump’s administration, racist images and slogans have become common on government websites and accounts, with the White House, Labor Department and Homeland Security Department all having promoted posts that echo white supremacist messaging.” www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/u...

A fitting tribute to a writer rightly described here as the preeminent thinker of “millennial socialism”

I'm back on Substack with reflections on today's very interesting reveal of what appear to have been previously classified U.S. intelligence conclusions about alleged Chinese nuclear-testing activity at Lop Nur panda.substack.com/p/china-us-i...

Pretty funny - Karl Marx argues in favor of a bourgeois republic, only to be rebuked by a left skeptic

The fact that GOP senators are denouncing Trump’s post isn’t a sign that they actually care about racism - but it is a sign that they know Trump’s position is weak and they need to distance themselves. If he was more popular they wouldn’t have said a thing.

Mr. Vice President, does it bother you to be referred to as a "White House staffer"?

Look, the racist post was not made by the president. It was made by a racist who *works* for the president. So obviously everything is fine now.

Response from @ctbto.bsky.social today: www.ctbto.org/resources/fo...

This April 2020 report from the Wall Street Journal hints at the decoupling angle prior to June 2020: "The concerns stem from ... extensive excavations at the site, and Beijing’s purported use of special chambers to contain explosions." www.wsj.com/articles/pos...

New claim on China (most specific to date) and nuclear-testing from Tom DiNanno in Geneva. Decoupling involves muting seismic signatures by testing in an underground cavity; some of the concern around excavation at Lop Nur is likely related. x.com/undersect/st...

The entire anti wokeness nonsense of the past decade was about making this kind of gutter racism broadly acceptable again bsky.app/profile/adam...

VICTORY: After thousands of locals protested, called, and gave public comments, a company halted the sale of a Virginia warehouse to DHS to be used for immigrant detention. DHS wants to buy 23 warehouses nationwide. Resist all of them.

Pretty strong accusation against China on testing. Does this mean the US is now going to have a "yield producing nuclear test" (6 years later?)? Will the US release any supporting evidence?

New START can’t be extended anyway - of course the talks are about a new agreement.

The only thing here that matters: "In Mr. Trump’s second term, Ms. Britt has voted in line with the president 100 percent of the time." So tired of this reputation-laundering nonsense. I don't care what you think - I care what you do. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/u...

Doesn't sound promising: "Middle Eastern officials involved in efforts to de-escalate the tensions had already downgraded their expectations for Friday’s meeting...some were resigned to what appeared to be an inevitable military confrontation." www.wsj.com/world/middle...

On New START, there is precedent re legally nonbinding statements of compliance. Reagan on the unratified SALT II, May '82: "As for existing strategic arms agreements, we will refrain from actions which undercut them so long as the Soviet Union shows equal restraint." share.google/wIgYPIgnLatb...

The Trump administration's arms control strategy (such as it is) seems to be aimed primarily at wasting the time of "RIP New START" op-ed writers.

Wow this is unexpected good news - apparently in the last 24 hours, the US started talking with Russia about a potential "handshake agreement" re: expiration of New START. Sounds like it still needs approval from Putin and Trump, though. www.axios.com/2026/02/05/n...

" The theory is not that abuse did not occur, but that the Constitution requires the state to tolerate it." newrepublic.com/article/2059...

* US Companies Announce Most Job Cuts for Any January Since 2009 @bloomberg.com

In 1992, Mike Diana gained a dubious distinction: the only comic artist ever criminally convicted for artistic obscenity. Thirty years later, he's the subject of a new play that tells his story. The Comics Journal @comicsjournal.bsky.social checks in. www.tcj.com/playing-dirt...

NEW: Abigail Spanberger this afternoon ordered that all state agencies leave ICE's 287(g) program. This means that the state police (and some other agencies) will no longer be empowered to detain and arrest people for ICE. Big, big move by the governor within weeks of coming into office.

February 4, 134 CE: A collective of nine scribes 🖋️ —named Diogenes, Euporos, Mystes, Marion, Sarapion, Sabinus, Herakleides, Harpokration, and Heliodoros—in Ptolemais Euergetis (Roman Egypt) sign a contract to copy gvmt tax & census lists (P. Mich 11 603): papyri-prod.lib.duke.edu/ddbdp/p.mich...

Arms Control Pope

Worth reiterating that Trump *isn't even trying* to replace New START with another agreement. The Russian offer to stay under its limits for a year isn't perfect (no transparency measures), but Trump could respond with a counter-proposal or use the time to pursue negotiations. He's doing neither.

Says a lot that no profession has been more critical of Golden Dome than physicists www.defenseone.com/ideas/2026/0...

"Not to mention, there is growing doubt the US can be relied upon as a responsible power amid the uncertainty generated by its unilateral attacks abroad and withdrawal from scores of international organisations." www.scmp.com/opinion/comm...

My working theory of Trumpism is that he is (among other things) the cutting edge of the bosses' campaign to reassert control over their white-collar workforce. The loss of control provided by the physical office during/after the pandemic would then. be part of what they're pushing back against.

It seems we're entering a fascinating new chapter in the nascent experiment by AIPAC to directly intervene in Democratic primaries, this time around with AIPAC feverishly attacking someone who would traditionally be understood to be on the right flank on the party on Israel.

AIPAC has already spent 2,000,000 USD on attack ads against pro-Israel candidate and former Congressman Tom Malinowski.

"The administration is demanding concessions not only on uranium enrichment, but also on ballistic missiles and support for militias." Will be wild if the Trump regime blows up talks despite the Iranians reportedly being willing to bend on domestic enrichment www.wsj.com/world/middle...

"Q: Were there any candidates who thought that Japan should possess nuclear weapons? A: A total of 24% of candidates standing for Sanseito answered that Japan "should possess nuclear weapons," as did 1% of candidates for the LDP and 2% for the JIP." mainichi.jp/english/arti...

this is exactly right. "popularism" in practice amounts to an abdication of political leadership!

one thing the trump era has made clear, i think, is that the american people themselves are far more committed to the values of our founding documents than our elites

What’s happening at the WaPo has nothing to do with profitability. When you are a billionaire, profitability is—for most of your pet projects—a secondary thought at best.

This makes the case for a successor agreement stronger, as more transparency would be beneficial about these systems.

Good thread. I’d add that while the loss of transparency via inspections is significant, that has not been in effect for years at this point and would be less important anyway as new Russian systems are developed that fall outside the treaty limits.

“The treaty was a huge net benefit for U.S. national security.” - @kingstonareif.bsky.social of RAND, quoted in this @demarest-colin.bsky.social newsletter about the end of New START www.axios.com/newsletters/...

lol rtw is an open shop / free-rider mandate, orthogonal to strikes. Plenty of non-rtw states have no-strike clauses in, eg, teachers contracts but we still find a way to do work stoppages for, eg, unfair labor practices. Mute and unfollow this account. Learn from the 1/23 MPLS general strike.

Obama's biggest sin in the eyes of Washington DC was cutting a deal that objectively did what DC claimed to have wanted.

"The other iron law of reactionary centrism...is that only the left and liberals really have agency. The right just reacts – everything is always backlash, never a self-generated political project." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...