Yes I know about following, algorithms etc but Bluesky is simply missing the shocking developments unfolding in Israel over the last week concerning the IDF Military Advocate General. www.ynetnews.com/article/vjt7...

The diagnosis that USA politics is becoming Latin American may have the broad sweep of Presidentialism correct, but it misses a contrast: LatAm is populist presidents who lack legislative control and therefore can't pass anything. USA is an absent legislature.

Forgotten by whom?

The singularity (Douthat) @nytpitchbot.bsky.social

For the "only Democrats are asked how to pay for it" file (WSJ) www.wsj.com/politics/ele...

@ditzkoff.bsky.social "Mr. Platner said on the podcast, which is hosted by former Obama aides, that he got the [Nazi] tattoo in 2007 in Split, Croatia, ..." www.nytimes.com/2025/10/22/u...

USA Central Command praises Pakistan and Saudi Arabia for the successful boarding and seizure of drug smuggling boats! combinedmaritimeforces.com/2025/10/21/s...

Indonesia & Trump business: "Prabowo then says: "We'll look for a better place," and Trump says again: "I'll have Eric call you." Prabowo says: "Eric or Don Jr." Eric Trump and his brother Donald Trump Jr. both serve as executive vice presidents of the Trump Organization, ..."

"startled" (WSJ) @nytpitchbot.bsky.social

In this Pennsylvania coal mine ... @nytpitchbot.bsky.social

Couldn't get a photo for obvious reasons but on outbound Clara Barton Parkway just past Chain Bridge, someone has (accurately) put up two signs for an imminent pothole in the sequence "Pothole Ahead" and "Fascist Behind."

Sources close to Donald Trump say that he didn't like the Sources close to Jared and Ivanka stories.

The buried lede in this story is that the path for Tony Blair to a role in post-war Gaza began with Jared Kushner. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/u...

@nytpitchbot.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/u...

With the usual "not sure who needs to hear this" proviso, the GenZ protests are clearly a thing (Indonesia, Nepal, Madagascar, Peru, Morocco, more to come); dismissing them with tankie-style crankery about US influence or inchoate demands will result in continuous surprises.

Whether it's ... @nytpitchbot.bsky.social

"mixed messages" @nytpitchbot.bsky.social

Susan Collins "profoundly concerned at Trump using the film Apocalypse Now for reference rather than the underlying novel Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad."

Bobos in Limbo

@nytpitchbot.bsky.social Biden is cogent. The Internet was convinced otherwise.

@nytpitchbot.bsky.social The market for people in Ohio with the mot juste for pundits remains strong (David Brooks). www.nytimes.com/2025/08/21/o...

Rest in Peace Bobby Whitlock, and with him an era of music on broadcast television where something like this brilliant 8 minutes could happen. youtu.be/IW1BFtWPbX4?...

Remember when Elon was going to crack down on engagement farming? #COYS

Azerbaijan / Armenia quick take. 1. Trump correct that transactional approach works. But, 2. Both countries mad at Russia for specific reasons & like the FU of a deal with Trump. 3. Detailed paperwork TBD, track record of seeing the details not good. 4. Erdogan still holding many cards.

Washington DC drivers will spot the problem here. Ask Apple Maps to give directions from Upper NW to Annapolis / Eastern Shore on a weekday afternoon. It will suggest inbound Whitehurst / I-66 / U-turn on Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway. That last step overlooks the afternoon one-way rule on RC&PP.

Sergey Lavrov & the "Global South": "The military official said that according to the Russian demands, the Central African Republic “must not only cover the costs of Africa Corps personnel, but also pay significant sums of money to Russia, amounting to billions of CFAF." apnews.com/article/cent...

Occasional reminder that the person nominally in charge of the USA government role in staging the #FIFA26 World Cup is ... Andrew Giuliani. www.state.gov/releases/off...

David Brooks: "Democrats are the party of the elite managerial class, and it’s hard for us affluent, educated types in blue cities to really understand the gut-wrenching disgust, rage and alienation that envelop the less privileged as they watch their social order collapse."

The past is another country, Iran edition (Robert Wilson obituary, NYT). www.nytimes.com/2025/07/31/t...

Firing the head of a statistics agency that publishes a data release with politically awkward numbers is bad, even if "the markets" don't think it's bad.

About those Trump Switzerland tariffs: www.state.gov/releases/202...

People making the Selzer Poll mistake with economic numbers over and over again ... there's not going to be one number that will validate a co-mingled set of opinions and predictions.

Lesotho & Trump tariffs: "Shelile [trade minister] says a lobbying group that purported to have access to prominent members of Trump’s family asked in a virtual meeting for $1.5 million to campaign for tariff relief. He didn’t identify the lobbyists ..."

Trump is still in a tariff war with penguins, just now they're on the Falklands instead of the Heard and McDonald Islands. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

@nytpitchbot.bsky.social www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

What took the USA two decades in Afghanistan -- military superiority and strategic defeat -- Israel has accomplished in Gaza in 21 months.

Irish political gossip / satirical magazine, The Phoenix, current edition. Alan Shatter is an Irish citizen.

Big "worst person, great point" vibe but Ben Gvir is correct. If Netanyahu is claiming that he kept him & Smotrich out of the Cabinet meeting to relax aid restrictions on Gaza so as not to disturb Shabbat, it's ridiculous. The PM didn't have a majority. www.ynetnews.com/article/0yzm...

Since this topic keeps coming up, here's the 27 April 1950 statement in the House of Commons by the Foreign Office in which the UK recognized Jordanian control of the West Bank and formally recognized Israel. Bonus: Winston Churchill had questions! hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1950...

The consistency of thinking between "the bad stuff in Gaza is the fault of Hamas for not surrendering" and "We're going to do this new crazy thing to pressure Hamas" could use some work.