Interesting conversation on a fascinating subject: the various gods that appear in the Hebrew Bible, and how they would have been understood in the ancient past. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1...

Once again, why are we wasting resources on Israel when Ukraine and the Europeans are left in the cold, literally? Why is the Democratic Party interested in Israel at all, given that Israel supports Trump? The US-Israel relationship is a Republican project.

Between Kyiv and other 🇺🇦 cities enduring daily attacks designed to freeze the population; all the posts I'm now seeing of Iranian civilians who have been murdered, now in addition to Ukrainians; and the endless stream of crap news from our own country... I just don't know, man.

I'm not British, but I will allow myself to venture an opinion here that allowing the PRC to build this spies' nest in the middle of London is a very bad idea, and the UK government should probably get serious about stopping that.

Texas has a lot of conservative-leaning Latinos who voted for Trump, but who are not wedded to Trump and who are primarily economic voters. Many of these people are gettable. If Jasmine Crockett has said they have a "slave mentality", is she the one to bring them into the tent?

Interesting...

I don't know about the niche Alaska issues Mary Peltola is running on, but whatever – I'm glad she's running.

So, let's see: 1. Four years into the full-scale invasion, the Russians continue to bomb Ukrainians' apartment buildings, hospitals, and schools, and are now trying to freeze them to death. The sky remains un-closed. Western forces are not on the ground. Russian oil...

Interesting conversation with Jack Watling from a couple of months ago re: the concerning state of European planning and procurement independent of the United States: podcasts.apple.com/il/podcast/e...

Ein Gefühl der Verbitterung, entstehend von der Erfahrung einer unangenehmen Wahrheit über eine Person. Man beruhigt sich selbst: nichts hat sich an der Welt geändert, außer dem eigenen Bewusstsein.

At the risk of offending Canadians, here, Canada is the most docile and least problematic neighbor we could hope for. I don't understand why we are trashing that relationship.

I'm souring on Latin America. This may not be a region we have much business being involved with.

If there is one book I would devour about this era, it would be the mother of all analyses of the private thoughts, motivations, fears, and priorities of Republicans in the US House and Senate. I want to look the banality of cravenness in the eye.

As bad as today was – and w/ the Venezuela chaos, there wasn't time for enough Ukraine, and I always regret those days – you know what I hardly heard about? Israel. Palestine. The Middle East. It is truly a relief when one doesn't hear about that godforsaken part of the world.

💯👀🇺🇦

Stephanie Baker: "I don't so far see that there's an appetite within policy circles to require Western companies to... ban trade to third countries that happen to be violating Western sanctions on Russia. ...There would be an outcry[, but] I think it does need to happen..." 👇

In the mid-20th century, the remains of dozens of individuals were found at Roopkund Lake in the Indian Himalayas (surface elev. 4536 m / 14,882 ft). Some of the deceased were South Asians dating to the ninth century. But about 14 individuals were Greek, dating to about 1800...

Snow in the Black Forest, winter 2003. The Vosges mountains are visible in the background. These parallel ranges, in Germany and France, respectively, form the boundaries of the Rhine Rift Valley – part of the European Cenozoic Rift System – in this location. (Richardfabi / WC)

Republicans conducting a dignified gubernatorial primary in Florida, as always.

I will support Somaliland only if they give up Djibouti.

Europe, this is what happens in Europe every single day, don't look away... „So for God’s sake forget this word fatigue. Maybe it is not in your yard, but it is in your home.“

7 a.m. in Ukraine. The Russian drone attack that lasted all night has now turned into a morning missile strike.

Great conversation on the Silicon Curtain podcast with Richard Shirreff. Time for Europe, and particularly Western Europe, to get very real about Russia, Ukraine, the Trump administration, and NATO. And we are still far from where we need to be. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/9...

Two Creeks people looking at Two Rivers people like, those posh dicks

Civil war, but between the Mayflower Society and the Daughters of the American Revolution, taking place at a Junior League luncheon.

You guys, I'm beginning to fear the Democrats aren't laser-focused on winning.

One great irony of this administration, and of the America First movement generally, is that bad, absent, and/or abusive fathers probably contributed to much of the psychological weakness of these men.

The reach of conspiracism within the black and Hispanic communities, or parts of them, is seriously underdiscussed.

Everyone apparently memory-holed that Steve Witkoff was a de facto representative of the Kremlin's interests vis-a-vis not only Ukraine, but the president of the United States. Why is he still involved? Where is the pressure?

This stuff is just so tiresome.

Finally read Jacob Savage's 'Compact' piece that everyone is talking about on white millennial men and the job market. As often with an expansive and controversial subject, I found that I had a lot of thoughts, some of them conflicting. In any case, a good read: www.compactmag.com/article/the-...

Re: the border / migration, we've now tried both an open southern border and Stephen Miller's mass deportation program, so we should have concluded that neither of those is acceptable. What else have we learned? 1. The public prefers Trump's hard border to the Biden situation;

Will Sommer on today's Bulwark with Tim Miller. Long and short of it is that the future of the Republican Party is JD Vance, which means that party is absolutely cooked, and so are we to the extent it is not purged from American life. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...

Shashank Joshi on The Secure Line podcast with an interesting end-of-year overview on defense and security issues, with an emphasis on Canada: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

Heard on yesterday's Bulwark, in honor of recent events, and in recollection of the state where I spent four years in college, 'Goin' Back to Indiana' by The Jacksons (1971). youtu.be/nXHmLSOeAxY?...

From a few days ago, a very important discussion on Silicon Curtain with Zarina Zabrisky re: Russia's 'human safari' in Kherson, a war crime and a crime against humanity 👇 Demonstrations are taking place this weekend: humansafari.org #SaveKherson #StopHumanSafari

Interesting conversation on Silicon Curtain with Ben Hodges, raising rumored Trump administration pressure on Belgium re: the frozen funds, and also discussing e.g. the need for total societal mobilization: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/8...

The Southern magnolia (M. grandiflora) is indigenous to the southeastern United States, from North Carolina to east Texas. It is also planted as an ornamental elsewhere where climate permits, such as the specimen below at the botanical garden in Nantes, France. (Pymouss44 / WC)

A small portion of the Goldfields-Esperance (Nullarbor Plain) region of Western Australia operates in its own unofficial time zone, UTC+8:45 (Eucla time). In southern winter, it is 45m ahead of Perth (WA) and 45m behind Adelaide (SA). In summer (current), 45m and 1h45m.

"Was mich einfach so sprachlos macht ist... die Leichtigkeit mit der in kurzen Sätzen über 'Gebietsabtretungen' gesprochen wird. 'Gebietsabtretung' ist ein Euphemismus für fortgesetzte Besatzungsherrschaft. Und die Realität in den besetzten Gebieten für die Menschen dort...

I want his name never to be spoken in public. Only the ruin of the ballroom should be left next to the White House as a solemn monument to the Catastrophe.

Tolles Gespräch mit Simon Strauss im FAZ Podcast für Deutschland über seinen ethnografischen Tauchgang in Prenzlau im Norden Brandenburgs. Stichwörter AfD und der Osten. In vielerlei Hinsicht erinnerten mich seine Aussagen an das, was uns heute über Trump-Wähler erzählt wird:

Perfect time of year in Florida

The long-term non-viability of a Queer / Islamist alliance is obvious to everyone other than the Queer faction (though probably not the Islamists).

Until just now, if you had asked me what Biafra was, I might have described something suspiciously like Biarritz 🤔 TIL.

Great episode of the Bulwark podcast today with Michael Weiss on the "peace deal" and related developments re: Ukraine, Russia, and the Trump administration. Recorded before this afternoon's Witkoff developments, but still helpful. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/m...

I don't like Bari Weiss, and I don't like Tucker Carlson or Nick Fuentes or Hasan Piker, and as far as the right goes, I don't care which of these two factions "wins", but I hope each does a large amount of damage to the other on the way down.

The 🇩🇪 word for Welsh (the language) is Walisisch, though I didn't know (or couldn't remember) the word for Wales, and it is just "Wales", directly from English. Underwhelming 😂 A Welsh person is a Waliser, not to be confused with a Walliser (someone from Canton Valais, 🇨🇭).

JD Vance tried to sell out our allies to an enemy in a dirty deal in the dark of night, behind the backs of his colleagues, Congress, and the American people, but he failed. Stop whining.

Interessantes Gespräch zwischen Ronzheimer und Stephan Grünewald über die Psychologie der AfD-Wähler und die Lehren, die die Regierung daraus ziehen kann. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/m...