shel silverstein was a prophet

Victor in the Rubble in real life.

A South African national told Reuters that his 20-year-old son was promised elite training as a VIP bodyguard in Russia, but instead he ended up in the trenches in Donetsk region. At least 16 other South Africans had the same experience. Full story: reuters.com/world/europe/s…

It was my joy to join other @engelsbergideas.bsky.social authors in highlighting two books I read this year. Among my favorites, as I note in the article: Proto: How One Ancient Language Went Global, by @laurainparis.bsky.social War and Power: Who Wins Wars—and Why, by @phillipspobrien.bsky.social

I'd like to go back to a time when we satirised an imperfect world, rather than a dystopian one. open.substack.com/pub/arthursn...

Democracy depends on a fearless and free press. Corporations or ultra-wealthy individuals with many other business interests should not be allowed to control our media. They cannot be trusted to prioritize the public’s right to know over their own financial interests.

The protective shield built above the former Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant could collapse following a Russian strike earlier this year, plant director Serhii Tarakanov told AFP in an interview published Dec. 23.

On DOGE’s watch, federal spending did not go down at all. It went up. But is still led to cuts that closed offices, canceled programs and deprived people of food, medicine and other aid. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/23/u...

blue states should create escrow accounts into which citizens pay their federal taxes but are withheld by the state until the federal government stops acting like its only obligated towards states that support the maga agenda

Russia is bringing in large numbers of Indian citizens, explaining this by the need to address a labor shortage. According to preliminary information, about 70,000 Indians are expected to arrive in Russia.

NEW: Todd Blanche, the second-highest official at the DOJ, issued a memo to shut down enforcement against crypto companies while he still held more than $150,000 in crypto investments, ProPublica found. One expert called it “an obvious conflict of interest.”

CBS paid the president of the United States millions in bribe money and now they censor news reports so it does not annoy him. I don’t know how much plainer we can put this.

Putin can’t protect Russian planes, oil refineries, sub stations or apparently its Generals in yet another assignation. Russian chats having a meltdown.

‘60 Minutes’ Pulled a Segment. A Correspondent Calls It ‘Political.’ www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/b...

Now seems like a swell time to point out that Frontline just released this excellent 11-minute mini-documentary about what happened inside CECOT.

Day 1397 of my 3 day war. Prez has honestly lost count of how many Russian generals Ukraine has killed. I remain a master strategist.

Cool

Denmark summons US ambassador after Trump names special envoy to Greenland

CBS News chief Bari Weiss pulls 60 Minutes story Weiss said investigation had to include comments from Trump administration 60M's ⁦‪Sharyn Alfonsi‬⁩ said multiple US agencies refused to comment - and this lets WH veto coverage My NPR story www.npr.org/2025/12/22/g...

A general and two planes and the day isn’t over yet.

HUR reported the destruction of two Russian fighter jets at once - a Su-30 and a Su-27 at an airfield near Lipetsk. The video has subtitles.

A Russian general has been killed by a car bomb in Moscow, the country’s authorities said on Monday. ft.trib.al/kd25Ome

The story is insane. The acting head of cyber security, a Noem crony, repeatedly demanded to see highly classified information he didn’t need access to, and when staff set up a lie detector test as a condition to grant him access, he failed it. So DHS suspended the staffers.

Sharyn Alfonsi is an award-winning journalist who has worked for 60 Minutes for 20 years. Before that she reported for ABC, CBS & local news outlets. If Alfonsi says her story was spiked by Bari Weiss political reasons, that’s exactly what happened. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/b...

‼️Two Russian aircraft, a Su-30 and a Su-27, were destroyed at a military airbase near Russian Lipetsk - Ukrainian Defense Intelligence. The aircrafts were set on fire inside a hangar after several weeks of preparation. They can be worth up to $100 million. Glory!

President Stubb: Russia is not doing well on the battlefield either. Remember that in the past 1,000 days, they have advanced less than one percentage point of Ukrainian territory. So they're not getting through their strategic military aims either.

👀A Russian general was killed in a car bombing ‌in southeastern Moscow this morning, per Investigative Committee: Lt Gen Fanil Sarvarov, who heads the operational training directorate for the General Staff, died in the blast. t.me/sledcom_pres...

Also I'm delighted to say that at 1600 CET, 1500 UK time and 1000 EST I will be holding a s-stak live with Volodomyr Havrylov. He is a retd Ukrainian general, who served as Deputy Minister of Defense from 2022-2023 and is actively involved in Ukrainian affairs. He has some important things to say.

Hi All, Sent out my weekend update yesterday--about the war at sea, European support for Ukraine. It also asks the question if the Trump administration is starting to sabotage existing sanctions against Russia.

“We’ll air it in two weeks.”

Russia is trying to frame Ukraine and the EU as "warmongers", but why is it always Putin who refuses any concessions and rejects all peace and ceasefire proposals?

Reup of this public resource we created Timeline of Jeffrey Epstein-Ghislaine Maxwell Law Enforcement Failures (1996-2025) with links to all the publicly available documents

Welp Time to change out of my daytime jammies into my nighttime jammies

This photo, file 468, from the Epstein files that includes Donald Trump has apparently now been removed from the DOJ release. AG Bondi, is this true? What else is being covered up? We need transparency for the American public.

“For a competent intelligence service, it would be malpractice not to notice his mental blind spots, obsessive need for affirmation, instinct to lie and conceal, and willingness to cut ethical and legal corners for personal gain.” www.kyivpost.com/opinion/66333

Woman comes to US at age 6. Graduates nursing school. Work permit. No criminal record. Snatched and imprisoned by ICE for 6 months now. About to be forced back to Honduras. A life destroyed and one less nurse. Merry Christmas. www.nola.com/news/educati...

US intelligence says Putin still aims to capture all of Ukraine and reclaim former Soviet territories in Europe, six sources told Reuters. www.reuters.com/world/europe...

So last night as I was wondering why Pam Bondi diverted almost 200 National Security attorneys who should be chasing hackers and spies to redact the Epstein files, I remembered that John Eisenberg, who heads it, is the guy who altered the Trump-Zelenskyy transcript.

The Epstein file is the only thing Trump has ever taken his name off of

Once in a while you win one. “The board determined, after careful review, that Sinclair’s offer was not in the best interests of Scripps and our shareholders as well as our employees and the many communities and audiences we serve in the United States." coloradomedia.substack.com/p/colorado-t...

The most powerful force in American politics today is anti-establishment fury at a rigged economic system. To counter Trump’s fake populism and his culture wars, progressives should mount a real battle against economic elites who have shafted America’s middle and working classes.

Peace through being a little bitch.

Insane that Trump’s CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYER is the one managing the release of the Epstein files

Better than nothing, but not a good outcome. Ru intimidated Europe into not touching the frozen assets. It drove a wedge in the EU as some member states are opting out of this plan. Ru will continue its hybrid war and its efforts to divide Europe, trying to get more Orbans elected to do its bidding.

Every year at this time I look back at the piece I wrote for the Independent at the end of the previous year on "what does next year hold for Russia's war on Ukraine and Europe", and realise once again that very depressingly, it was 95% accurate. archive.ph/Abk69

Also, Timothy Snyder.and I will be doing a Substack live today at 10am EST and 4pm CET. We will be discussing the state of the Russo-Ukraine war, and try to tell a more complete story than the destructive and Russian inspired doom narrative being pushed. Come join us.

TikTok will now be owned by the Ellisons, Jared Kushner's firm, and Abu Dhabi's state investment fund.

“Ukraine’s successful sabotage is often framed as an act of “desperation,” rather than yet another inventive and resourceful strategy that displays a host of cards that neither Russia nor the West seemed to realize were even in the deck.” www.policymagazine.ca/russia-has-f...