I recently watched this video from @elvirabary.bsky.social, and it had me think: Could one reason for Russia's growing influence in the Middle East and larger Muslim world be to legitimize itself amongst its own Muslim community (e.g., Chechens, Tatars, etc.)? 🇷🇺🇸🇦🇸🇾🇦🇪 youtu.be/eiyktjSiX5Y?...

Congratulations to Maria Corina Machado for winning the #NobelPeacePrize. You deserve it. 🇻🇪

Consider this: Given the situation in the French government (coupled with Keir Starmer's declining popularity across the Channel), how would most Americans perceive such events if they had occurred in ANY OTHER continent? bsky.app/profile/nvon...

This weekend, I watched this video from @elvirabary.bsky.social regarding the possibility of an independent Siberian state. 🇷🇺🇨🇳🇯🇵 Here is one question: Do you see the breakup of the Russian Federation as inevitable, or do you think it would just destabilize Eurasia? youtu.be/MbXqY0jG1lc?...

Here is something that this made me think: When Queen Elizabeth died a few years ago, some Britons found it difficult to mourn her because of the monarchy's role in colonialism...and even these more stances illustrated how the monarchy is FAR MORE divisive in the UK than most Americans think.

@dutchannie.bsky.social @pithypacky.bsky.social Here is something that I think you will find interesting.

In case you wanted to know something interesting, today begins the #WeekOfTheDutchLanguage (October 4-12). During this week, just think of the contributions that the Netherlands, Belgium and their people have made to the world (and even the United States). 🇳🇱🇧🇪🇺🇸 www.linkedin.com/posts/nether...

I recently watched this video explaining the geopolitical implications of the recent mutual defense pact between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. 🇸🇦🇵🇰 It had me think: Who else will join? 🇶🇦🇦🇪🇮🇶🇪🇬? youtu.be/bDUyBvTJ27g?...

I recently watched this video (which was (co)incidentally released on #GermanUnityDay). It had me think: After spending the last 80 years being cautiously supervised by outside powers following World War II, Germany has rediscovered its military might. youtu.be/PXlwvJqTkRk?...

This week, I watched this video from the YouTube channel #SearchParty explaining how Russia's War in Ukraine has affected its centuries-long reputation in the chess world. What are your thoughts? youtu.be/f8MQ7A4NSoA?...

@sierranicole1426.bsky.social In case you wanted some context on my question, prior to the 1965 Act, most Francophone and Lusophone immigrants came from, respectively, 🇫🇷🇨🇦🇨🇭🇧🇪🇭🇹 and 🇵🇹🇧🇷 - with African immigrants overall constituting a VERY small minority. Hence, what are your thoughts?

@batgirl2005.bsky.social Here is a book that I think that you might find interesting. Here is a question that reading it made me think about: How do you think the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act allowed for a diversification of Francophone and Lusophone culture in the United States?

@worldofchoices.bsky.social I would like to hear your thoughts on this perspective. Just for context: Prior to the 1965 Act, most of the Francophone and Lusophone immigrants coming to the U.S. came from, respectively, 🇫🇷🇨🇦🇨🇭🇧🇪🇱🇺🇭🇹 and 🇵🇹🇧🇷. bsky.app/profile/thec...

Here is something that this story made me think about, though: Why do you think continental European royalty (e.g., 🇪🇸🇧🇪🇳🇱🇱🇺) receive FAR LESS attention from American news media and the American public than the British royal family? 🇬🇧 🇺🇸🇬🇧🇱🇺🇳🇱🇧🇪🇪🇸

In case you wanted something other than U.S. politics on your feed, here is something: The small European country of Luxembourg has a new Grand Duke, Guillaume, after his father and predecessor, Henri, abdicated. 🇱🇺 I know that most of you knew NONE of that. apnews.com/article/luxe...

In light of this anniversary, I was thinking: How do you think the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 affected French- and Portuguese-language culture in the United States, as it allowed for increased immigration from BOTH Francophone AND Lusophone countries in Africa and Asia?

While watching these videos, it had me think: How many conflicts in the Global South can be traced to Europeans drawing lines on maps of regions that they had never visited...and forcing the people who DID live there to live with the consequences thereof?

I recently watched this video on how the United Kingdom and France, during World War 1, laid the foundations for the modern Middle East by making multiple promises to different parties in the region with VERY different agendas. 🇬🇧🇫🇷🇮🇶🇸🇾🇯🇴🇱🇧 youtu.be/AKaY__9a2Xc?...

Here is a video from @letusvote.bsky.social of independent voters explaining why they identify as such. Even though this video was released in 2024, it caused me to think about an ever-so-salient question: How many Americans can claim that their party represents them? youtu.be/i6mKcFpFp-g?...

Do you want to know something that this map has caused me to think about? In his war in Ukraine, Putin has largely recruited conscripts from the poorer, more remote regions of Russia such as the Caucasus and Siberia as "cannon fodder", since their deaths would go unnoticed by Muscovites. 🇷🇺🇺🇦

Just remember: Last election was the first time that Danica Patrick had voted. Ever. She was 42 years old last year. Let that sink in.

This week, I decided to read the book One Mighty and Irresistible Tide: The Epic Struggle over American Immigration, 1924-1965 by Jia Lynn Yang. I decided to get it partly because of current events, but also because this month marks the 60th anniversary of the 1965 Immigration Act.

Americans say their groceries are more expensive and less affordable today than one year ago. Which is objectively obvious.

Personally, I can see this. Namely, Trump and his Republican Party can use his government shutdown as a way to unilaterally cut programs that are supposedly unpopular with their base, while Democrats can cite the shutdown as an example of Trump's indifference towards the duties of governance.

Here is a better question: Who do you think this government shutdown will benefit more: The Democrats, or the Republicans? Namely, whose political narrative would be strengthened more by this shutdown?

Today, #JaneGoodall has died at 91. She will be remembered as a champion for gorillas and the planet.

As of today, the #TrumpShutdown is now in effect. This is one of MANY failed products with Trump's name for which he will refuse to claim responsibility.

Tonight at midnight of October 1, 2025 is the deadline when the White House and Congress has to meet for an agreement to fund the government, or else a government shutdown occurs. If a government shutdown occurs, it is on Trump.

What do you think the United States should do regarding this trend of more countries recognizing the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan? No, the answer is NOT "invading Afghanistan again". 🇦🇫🇺🇸 youtu.be/4p3qcN2FaJ8?...

Do you want to know something that these photos caused me to think about? In case you had ever wondered why New Jersey is the location of the "New York" Giants and Jets (and the overall ambivalence of the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL towards NJ), this video might help: youtu.be/mlCilDpNo7c?...

Here is a question that the #WarInUkraine (and the recent election results in Moldova) have caused me to think: Even if Moldova's constitution keeps it from joining NATO, do you think that one advantage of NATO in the post-Cold War context is that it helps to keep Europe more peaceful? 🇲🇩🇺🇦🇷🇺🇪🇺🇺🇸

Let me ask you this: If you had traveled back to 1992, and told Americans that Moldova - a former republic of the "Evil Empire" of the USSR - would be a bellwether for the future of Europe, how would they have reacted? 🇲🇩🇷🇺🇺🇦🇺🇸

Let me ask you this: 40 years ago, Moldova was part of the USSR (the "Evil Empire", as Reagan had famously called it), and most (Anglo)-Americans referred to the peoples of the USSR as "Russians" - meaning that most Americans knew nothing of Moldova. Now, Moldova's elections were a bellwether. 🇲🇩🇷🇺🇺🇸

Today, Moldova had its parliamentary elections, which saw the pro-EU Party of Action and Solidarity win over the pro-Russia Patriotic Electoral Bloc. 🇲🇩 How would you interpret this in the grand scheme of things? apnews.com/article/mold...

@sonofsandor.bsky.social What I was trying to ask is: Do you think that the Marshall Plan, by rebuilding Western European countries, unintentionally discredited the 1924 Immigration Act (which was designed to encourage immigration FROM such countries), as Europeans had more economic opportunities?

Here is something that this makes me think: Michael Cohen said that he heard Trump complain that Obama only got into Harvard because of affirmative action. Personally, I think that speaks to how incapable Trump is of understanding the notion of working hard to achieve something.

@sonofsandor.bsky.social In case you were interested, here is a YouTube channel titled #TheColdWar, and here is their video on the Marshall Plan. While watching it, I was thinking: Do you think that the Marshall Plan unintentionally discredited the 1924 Immigration Act? youtu.be/qv5Z0JccHmQ?...

As the possibility of a government shutdown on October 1 increases, it has me thinking: Have you ever thought that Trump's Republican Party, by controlling all 3 branches of government, has deprived Trump of a credible scapegoat on which to blame the failures of his administration's policies?

@tracyhotd.us What are your thoughts on why the United States media rarely covers news related to the Commonwealth of Nations, La Francophonie, the Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa (CPLP), and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation? 🇺🇸🇬🇧🇫🇷🇵🇹🇨🇦🇧🇪🇨🇭🇦🇺🇳🇿🇸🇦🇹🇷

I recently read this article from @beingliberal.bsky.social, and it had me think: What do you think this would entail for the republics of the Russian Federation in Siberia and the Caucasus? beingliberal.substack.com/p/the-echoes...

Here is a question that this week has caused me to think about: What do you think that it says about the media's coverage of the U.S.' foreign policy that more Americans are (somewhat) more familiar with the European Union, NATO, and the UN than the Commonwealth, la Francophonie, CPLP and OIC?

After watching these videos, I was thinking: Could Vladimir Putin's use of conscripts from Siberia and the Caucasus be considered the latest on the part of the Russian state to Russify the non-Slavic ethnic groups from those areas, namely by having them fight for a so-called "Greater Russia"? 🇷🇺🇺🇦

Last night, I watched this video from #TheColdWar YouTube channel (which I highly recommend, by the way). In this video, they discuss attempts of the USSR government to Russify the various ethnic groups there (especially in Siberia and Central Asia). youtu.be/ynA-8oW3b3g?...

Do you want to know something that the recent anti-immigration riots in the Netherlands have caused me to think about? In 2019, 50% of Dutch respondents in a YouGov poll said that they were proud of their colonial past because it was the height of Dutch economic strength. youtu.be/UeuSt8RIYIM?...

Let me ask you this: What do you think it says about the United States' foreign policy interests that you are more likely to hear about the European Union in American news media than the Commonwealth, la Francophonie, CPLP and OIC COMBINED? (Google them.) Why don't you hear about them? 🇺🇸🇪🇺🇬🇧🇫🇷🇨🇦🇧🇪🇨🇭🇵🇹🇦🇺🇳🇿

Let me ask you this: Do you have to be left-wing to recognize that billionaires have NEVER been a global force for good? bsky.app/profile/rbre...

Here is something to consider: 100 years ago, the United States was largely ambivalent towards European affairs (to the point of refusing to join the League of Nations, despite it being advocated by US President Woodrow Wilson). 🇺🇸🇬🇧🇪🇺 What are your thoughts? youtu.be/H7bslZAprR4?...

Do you want to know something ironic about Trump's escalator story this week? It is ironic that this whole political era in American history began on June 16, 2015, when Donald Trump rode down that escalator at Trump Tower to announce his 2016 presidential election. Look at the world now.

Here is something to consider: As early as 2014, Ukraine had considered applying for observer status for the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation - an international organization comprised largely of Muslim-majority states - due to Ukraine's Crimean Tatar populations. 🇺🇦 jamestown.org/program/join...

Here is something else to consider regarding the flag of the United States: What do you think it says about gun violence in America being so frequent that seeing the American flag at half-mast is more common than seeing it at full-mast?