It was actually objectively rational for Trump to put pressure on NATO members to increase their spending on defence. The mistake was then to position the US as hostile to NATO. #NoThisIsNot4DChess

Imagine sacking Jenrick for potentially defecting, rather than at any point in the last couple of years, for being openly racist.

Yes. Yes, it is.

ICYMI there’s a new podcast and it’s moderately interesting.

I'm still wondering how many small criminal groups are pulling fake ICE kidnappings because it's so easy to get away with that kind of thing when no one actually in ICE groups can be identified.

Nope. Never done it.

🔴 Last week the Free Speech Union got a High Court writ to prevent the publication of a list of its donors So we decided to investigate who *does* fund Toby Young's outfit Wanna see? 🫣 New on Democracy for Sale: democracyforsale.substack.com/p/who-funds-...

Seldom has someone's appointment to a peerage been such an emblem of everything bad about a system where it's possible* for privilege alone to guarantee power without accountability. *Possible, not inevitable. I think the HoL has a vital role, which many peers discharge diligently. Just not all.

You have until 5.30 today to write in to the government consultation on these fees. They're trying to price people out of protecting our land and water. While on the other hand they're trying to give corporations an entirely new secret court to sue Ireland through CETA

Very thoughtful thread... and an exemplary acceptance of correction. This is how social media should work. Kudos 👏

I see the UK Govt won't ban Grok because it's being used to "nudify" images, arguing that it is used for other things too. But the Govt is quite happy to contemplate banning social media for particular age groups, despite the many clearly beneficial uses of that. The logic here is... quite unique.

I'm just sitting here, trying to figure out how to threat model for armed, masked thugs who may kidnap you off the street, then steal, and possibly sell your phone.

I find it astonishing that the idea that children should upload selfies to X as part of a state-mandated age verification scheme is still being floated.

A few months ago, ICE hired me I didn't sign and submit any paperwork. I almost certainly failed the drug test. I'm real outspoken about my opposition to the Trump administration, and I am extremely googlable And yet, there it was, in plain English. "Welcome to ICE!" My latest for Slate

Astonishing.

The latest set of updates to the US list of visa-ban countries continues to make the US less useful/attractive as a place to host conferences. I can't justify investing in setting up an international event and then find arbitrary swathes of the participants can't attend. 🤷‍♂️

‘The ethnic cleansing of Palestinians is a long haul for Israel, and every little helps.’ Jeremy Harding revisits Jonathan Dimbleby and Don McCullin’s The Palestinians, originally published in 1979, and reflects on what has got worse since then: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Strange isn't it... the people who actually live in London overwhelmingly think it's safe.... almost like everyone else is falling for a lie

Anti-ICE nationwide protests in photos

"Voters say they have little confidence that government can control borders despite sharp falls in net migration" That's what happens when you let media scream their heads off about things that aren't happening

Farage has declared £9,663 in total payments from X, Tice has earned £5,770, and Lee Anderson £3,871. They are the only MPs who have declared payments from the social media website apart from Rupert Lowe (ex Reform) who has earned £40,000 from posting on X since his election last year.

California answers the question: What if DeleteMe was a public good? privacy.ca.gov/drop/ (You shouldn't have to opt out, everything should be opt in.)

“In the one case where a website voluntarily blocked the UK [to comply with the OSA] the UK now wants to get a blocking order to… block it again?” https://alecmuffett.com/article/140005 #OnlineSafety #OnlineSafetyAct #censorship #ofcom

"The report concluded that it remained unclear whether or not US intelligence would be able to access the data, despite Palantir’s official reassurances otherwise. The 🇨🇭army also found other issues, in terms of its cost & the fact that it might require Palantir specialists to be permanently onsite"

DROP It, If You Live in California California residents can now request deletion of their personal data from over 500 data brokers registered in the state. Do it today! charlesmok.substack.com/p/drop-it-if...

Israel seems to have calculated that it can still ensure Palestinians keep dying despite the "ceasefire": msf.org.uk/article/stat...

The internet is not at root a destructive tool that tears humanity apart, just as knives are not at root tools of violence. The continual allowance for moneyed interests to use the internet for inhumane gain at great cost to the world, the upholding of greedy power, is at issue, not the tech itself.

THREAD: I'll fact-check all the viral misinformation about the US military operation in Venezuela in this thread This image, purporting to show the US military arresting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, is AI-generated. According to Google's SynthID detector, it was created using Google AI.

This is the funniest thing that's ever happened on Threads.

Is it driving anyone else crazy that the press isn’t talking about the absence of Congress? #Venezuela

DOJ is still in violation of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

Sur ordre de Donald Trump, le Venezuela est bombardé par l’armée américaine. Cette attaque constitue une agression manifeste et illégale d’un état souverain, quoique l’on pense du gouvernement de Caracas. (1/3)

Farage seems to think that the question Russia and China will ask themselves, about Venezuela, is "are we next on the list?". He's either a fool or a puppet: the question they are asking is "can we get away with this too?". Farage is a danger to the UK.

In the wake of all the news coming out of the US and the amount of shouting at the TV I've done, I thought everyone else might benefit from one of my favourite photos from 2017 to break up the doom scrolling. I cannot fix the big things, so here's a small thing.

International law is not about rewarding virtue or punishing vice. It exists to restrain power and protect the weak from the strong. When force replaces rules, sovereignty and legitimacy erode. 2/2

the point is not that this draft, or any draft, will be adopted. the point is to force the discussion that trump/rubio/vance don't want us to have. the point is to take charge of the conversation. the point is to assert the rule of law over the rule of corruption and monarchy.

Well, when this is coming direct from Capitol Hill, there's not much excuse for equivocation by heads of government such as Starmer.

Marco Rubio is reportedly saying Maduro will stand trial in US courts. Which means it’s now the US administration’s position that US courts can hold foreign presidents, but not the US president, accountable for crimes.

I re-posted this because it's so tempting and easy to focus on Trump, as the outrageous figurehead of the project. But he wouldn't be there if people hadn't voted for him: this is their fault and their responsibility too.

The man who likes to call himself Mr. Peace, the man who thinks he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, the man who idolizes Putin and Xi, has sent a signal to foreign powers that it is okay to invade other countries….

Bang goes the international rules-based order. Good luck Taiwan.

Trump sent Mar-a-Lago masseuses on Epstein house calls: report www.yahoo.com/news/article...

Classic Gove "I think that the people of this country have had enough of experts" idiocracy. Which is why we here are now. As an ex-librarian (sorry to bang on about that), I have things to say about how people gather information and how we should evaluate sources.

This applies to so much about governments' management of information.

🚨 “Can I tell you how many times in the last 45 years the European Court of Human Rights has ruled against the UK when it comes to deporting people from this country - only 13 times - in 45 years” Please remember this in 2026 when Nigel Farage tells you we must leave the ECHR to control our borders

At a time when billionaires and oligarchs own the majority of our press, when local journalism is in decline, and social media is rife with misinformation and abuse, there has never been a greater need for citizen journalism Who funds us? No one...except you. Become a friends of Bylines supporter:

I know it's a lot to ask, but what I would like from 2026 is fewer people in power not only displaying all the characteristics we were brought up to think of as reprehensible, but also profiting from doing so, and glorying in it. I'd really like them to grow a conscience.

Remember after WWII, when people worked to delegitimize racism - and largely made it socially repugnant? (Not the same as ending racism, but still important) Today's fascists are trying to upend this gain by making openly racist/nationalist statements publicly legit again We must defeat them again

Trump tried to contact Josh Hawley and Bill Haggerty, and then had Rudy try to contact the rest. legacy.www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

Smith: I think who should be accountable for this is Donald Trump. These records exist because, in the case of the senators, Donald Trump directed his co-conspirators to call these people to further delay the proceedings. He chose to do that.