Just like Russians have saying "это было давно и не правда" (it was a long time ago and not true)

no wayyyyyyy laughing with tears in my eyes. "Congrats on your resurrection. That is always a pleasure."

Birthdays 2026: Khamenei 87 Lula 81 Trump 80 Netanyahu 77 Modi 76 Putin 74 Xi 73 Median age, world: 31

walking out of 2025

Why the Kremlin is now trying to derail the current trajectory of Ukraine-U.S. peace talks. 👇

The main problem is not that Putin lies. He has always lied and always will. The problem is that so many people desperately want to believe him. Putin's lies make their lives more comfortable. They free them from the moral obligation to help Ukraine.

The only true comedy to be had from any conflict between the Saudis and the UAE will be watching the proxy battles play out between American think tanks

will have to go with this

Trump's black hand is lacquered up today (Joe Raedle/Getty)

So if over 2026 it looks increasingly certain that Democrats take control of the House or Senate than watch out for language from Trump, Vance, Miller et al claiming that mid-terms will be "fixed" and Congress "illegitimate". That's a path to armed ICE or CBP goons storming Congress.

The flipside risk though of a mid-terms outcome that enables Congress to constrain Trump's chaotic overreach and Vance's despotic ambitions is the strong likelihood that a MAGA White House talks itself into claiming that US legislatures are illegitimate bodies that must be put down by force

Trump had Mike Johnson remove Turner as House Intel Chair because he was perceived as too sympathetic to Ukraine. Turner was upset at the time and called it out. But now he’s a completely broken and beaten man. bsky.app/profile/atru...

this is going to do numbers on LinkedIn. Series A funding confirmed.

"tell me we didn't just fire a dozen $500,000 missiles at a $200 camel" "sir, no evidence of any camel present, sir!"

Discworld QOTD, from Hogfather

Kuskil oli see meemküsimus, et mis on su kõige reaktsioonilisemad vaated, see tuletab meelde vastuse: ilmselt märkan lihtsalt teiste juures enda vigu, a üks tüütuid asju mingite intelligentsete inimeste juures on pidev eneseanalüüs, mille tulemuseks on vaid eneseimetlus ja -haletsus, häid jõule

Having a normal Christmas morning

jõululugu žanrist "elada tuleb kõigele vaatamata"

A transatlantic showdown over tech policy (as opposed to, say, net zero) could actually have a unifying & galvanising political effect within the EU. The union’s digital regulations are broadly popular and many voters actually want more, not fewer, controls on Big Tech. yougov.co.uk/technology/a...

In a 2020 email released by the Justice Department, a prosecutor informed colleagues that President Trump’s name appeared on the flight logs for Jeffrey Epstein’s private jet “many more times than previously has been reported (or that we were aware).”

Vienna, huh?

Russia already signed a treaty to not attack a NATO or EU member. It’s the UN Charter, and also forbids Russia from attacking anyone else. Plus 1994 Budapest Memorandum and 2014-15 Minsk Agreements promise to not attack Ukraine. Promising to not attack isn’t a concession, it’s baseline obligation.

suspect a big reason why many academics and others who work in areas where getting facts RIGHT is key are disinterested in using LLMs for research: they’ve tried it, they keep noticing major errors in output, and they conclude that having to verify all that doesn’t actually save them time.

Rand Paul: "All these designations are steps towards war -- calling drug runners terrorists, saying, 'Oh, if they have a designation'-- Well, how'd they get it? We gave it to them. Why is the former president of Honduras released? So some narcoterrorists are okay & others we're going to blow up"

Europeans should not get sucked into "America is back" complacency if Trump loses control of Congress in 2026 and MAGA Republicans are defeated in a 2028. In peacetime conditions it will take more than half a decade for future US governments to repair Trump's damage inflicted on US state capacity

"How it started vs. How it's going" -- Federal prosecutor, September 2 How it's going now -- Jury which acquitted the defendant in 3 hours, December 20 www.latimes.com/california/s...

Wednesday’s @thetimes.com cartoon times.newsprints.co.uk/peter-brooke...

The photo below was included in DOJ's data dump yesterday. Once people noticed that Trump was pictured with young girls--children--the photo was deleted. Not only is Trump's DOJ flagrantly violating the Epstein files law, this shows how cynical they are, and how stupid they think Americans are.

Trump is fighting wokeness with everything he has right now

One small way to try to re-establish social trust would be to transparently disclose *in this very column* that you hung out with Jeffrey Epstein. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/21/o...

These are the people who are willing to go on the record. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/u...

Elon Musk and Co. were surprised that X didn’t take off with users and advertisers. After all, everyone hates the super woke government censorship which totally happened at the old Twitter. Most likely, Weiss and Co. thought these town halls would succeed, offering something consumers starved for.

I love the articles with member-states being scared of Russian retaliation and then the articles go on to say that Russia has nothing to retaliate with yet. Reuters implied Moscow is looking at options? They've seen this coming for months and now look at options? Aha. www.ft.com/content/616d...

apparently this is what I woke up for

A lot of military hardware to put into position but not go to war. A lot.

An ICE agent in Minneapolis pinned a pregnant woman’s face into the snow and knelt on her body. She was also dragged across the pavement by her wrist.

Russian defense minister Belousov says that 5.1% of GDP (from the Russian MOD's budget) is spent directly on the war against Ukraine, while other expenditure has been cut to 2.2% of GDP. The total budget of the MOD is 7.3% in 2025. Source: kremlin.ru/events/presi...

LUHAN: Is the FCC an independent agency? CARR: I think th--- L: Yes or no C: There's a test for this in the la--- L: It's yes or no, Brendan! On your website, it simply says, man, 'the FCC is independent.' This isn't a trick question C: The FCC is not L: So is your website lying? C: Possibly

I appreciate the fact that he´s named like a Tarantino character. "My name is Jack Smith and I´ve achieved... well you know."

elutööpreemia

let´s see if a "feral maui hermit" understands US policy better than thinktanks

I'm not sure if people realize the murder strikes are taking place across a large region. It's quite staggering. www.newsweek.com/map-us-strik...

can´t you, though?

Look, I suppose stranger things have happened in world politics — but not that many stranger things. www.politico.com/news/2025/12...

All members are the coalition are willing, but some are more willing than others.

Zelensky together with Merz at the centre. Kuschner and Witkoff get a bit of EUCO feeling. And Meloni always looks grumpy at international meetings.