Author | Lightnews

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Beefeater Fella @beefeaterfella.bsky.social · 14h

3,000 killed, 25,000 repressed, 200,000 refugees.

The lessons of the tragedy remain unlearned. @PM_ViktorOrban is busy selling out to the Kremlin and Beijing - while lining his pockets using family and friends with billions in benefits and property deals, a lifeline when he is ousted.

3/3

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"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 15h

"If you want a picture of the future of war, imagine a guy jumping through a flaming hoop to assuage the masculinity-anxiety of his boss - forever."

Alan Elrod @aselrod.bsky.social · 16h

This has absolutely nothing to do with readiness

Still of Dept of Defense video posted to X showing Pete Hegseth and a marine flipping a tire.

Post text:

Early morning PT with the Secretary of War. This is what READINESS looks like.

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Robin Brooks @robin-j-brooks.bsky.social · 20h

South Korea's exports to tiny Kyrgyzstan just reached half a billion Dollars in one month. This stuff is obviously not headed to Kyrgyzstan but is going to Russia. The West is guilty of a collective failure on Ukraine: chasing short term profits instead of shutting down autocrats. We must do better.

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Kraut @derparrot.bsky.social · 20h

Love that we live in a world where this is great news.

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Lawfare @lawfaremedia.org · 19h

History demonstrates why the administration’s approach of “strategic uncertainty” is unlikely to produce better deals, write Samuel Seitz and @proftalmadge.bsky.social.
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/why-...

Why Trump’s Madman Act Doesn’t Work

The administration’s approach of “strategic uncertainty” is unlikely to produce better deals.

www.lawfaremedia.org

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Janne M. Korhonen @jmkorhonen.fi · Jul 30

My summer project of reading the history of Finnish (military) intelligence approaches its end, so a few things I've learned:

First, Finnish signals intelligence ( #SIGINT) was _very_ good.

During WW2, it was regularly reading not only Soviet codes, but also the diplomatic codes of e.g. the US.

Janne M. Korhonen @jmkorhonen.fi · Jun 27

Been reading some more.

Finnish army intelligence standing order in the 1950s: “Covert operations against USSR are ABSOLUTELY FORBIDDEN.”

Finnish intelligence reports to the president: “…in [a village deep in occupied Karelia], the Soviets have recently repaired the roof of a watch house…”

Janne M. Korhonen @jmkorhonen.fi · Jun 16

Been reading about early #ColdWar #Finnish #intelligence #history and man, it’s _wild._

Like, a Social Democrat officer ran the largely privately funded military intelligence, which (among other things) spied upon both the Communists and the civilian security police (SUPO), ...

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Frank @frank2095.bsky.social · 21h

To resond with Goethe (for all non-Germans: he's somewhat akin to our Shakespeare): Die Botschaft hör ich wohl, allein mir fehlt der Glaube. (I hear the message but cannot believe it.)

Or: Actions speak louder than words. And those of #47 and his ilk are not very ambiguous.

POLITICO Europe @politico.eu · 2d

CIA Director John Ratcliffe made a low-key stop in Brussels this week, meeting top EU foreign and intelligence officials to deliver a not-so-subtle message: You can still trust us.

CIA chief quietly meets EU officials to soothe US intel-sharing fears

Trump administration’s volatile foreign policy has shaken Europe’s confidence in Washington’s intelligence cooperation.

www.politico.eu

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StrictlyChristo 🇺🇦🌻🚫👑 @strictlychristo.bsky.social · 1d

How to answer a loaded question.

(This is Joe Neguse, Congressman for Colorado's 2nd District.)

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Frank @frank2095.bsky.social · 23h

2025 in one picture.

Sardonicus @sardonicus.eu · 1d

When I am asked 'Hows it going?'

the hands in a deep pool of water, they are giving the thumbs up

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H I Sutton @covertshores.bsky.social · 1d

This photos, showing a torpedo launched from an XLUUV (it’s not fully submerged, that’s normal for this stage of trials), puts the Indonesians ahead of all Western countries in this regard! Why are European navies sleeping?!?!

More info:
www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2...

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Nico Lange @nicolange.bsky.social · 1d

Karina Mössbauer zur Debatte um die Wehrpflicht: "In der Wahrnehmung der Bürger gibt es akuten Handlungsbedarf und gleichzeitig politische Akteure, die sich im Klein-Klein aufhalten und nicht zu Potte kommen." Mehr im Zeitenwende-Podcast
@munsecconf.bsky.social

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Wolfgang Schmidt @batteriechef.bsky.social · 1d

Ein halbes Jahr Winter, ein halbes Jahr kalt: die Oberpfalz. www.faz.net/aktuell/feui...

Beim Zoigl in der Oberpfalz: das bessere Oktoberfest

Beim Zoigl in der Oberpfalz wird das Bier seit 600 Jahren gemeinsam gebraut und getrunken. Dabei hat sich eine eigenwillige Kultur bewahrt, die nicht selten an ein Happening erinnert.

www.faz.net

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Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 1d

This might be the one that breaks me. Every federal agency reduced to banana-republic personal fiefdoms where criminal Trump allies loot the public and fire vastly more qualified people for daring to do their jobs. It’s unthinkable. It’s obscene.

Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 1d

Kash Patel was angry about his publicly-available jet logs indicating he’d flown to see his musician girlfriend perform so he forced out a senior FBI official overseeing aviation, Bloomberg reports

news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

The FBI forced out a senior official overseeing aviation shortly after Director Kash Patel grew outraged about revelations of his publicly-available jet logs indicating he’d flown to see his musician girlfriend perform, said three people familiar with the situation.

Steven Palmer, a 27-year veteran of the FBI, became the third head of the critical incident response group—which includes FBI pilots—to be fired or removed in Patel’s short regime, adding to a year filled with retributive terminations.

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Brilliant Maps @brilliantmaps.bsky.social · 1d

Climate Analogues of Australia

brilliantmaps.com/climate-a...

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Jon Cooper @joncooper-us.bsky.social · 1d

Good question, Junior!

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Mark Jacob @markjacob.bsky.social · 1d

It would be wise for us to remember that Trump praised China for the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Trump said China showed 'power of strength' in Tiananmen Square massacre, in newly resurfaced 1990 interview

‘It was a horrible thing. It doesn't mean at all I was endorsing it'

www.the-independent.com

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David Rennie @dsorennie.bsky.social · 1d

Like it or not, Donald Trump is being rewarded for trade bullying-foreign firms are increasing investments in the U.S. and Canada’s PM just apologised for an anti-tariff TV ad. But long-term, America is weakening its hold on industries of future. My column, The Telegram
economist.com/internationa...

Donald Trump’s trade power is vast, but self-defeating

The view from Canada, as Trumpian threats fly

economist.com

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Frank @frank2095.bsky.social · 1d

I have been saying this privately for at least a decade... Today it's more important than ever! 👇

Dan Snow @thehistoryguy.bsky.social · 1d

The generation that experienced WW2 knew how bad things could get. The horrors that they had directly experienced in Coventry, on Omaha, at Belsen, Bastogne, Dresden, Nanjing & Tokyo meant that they understood how dangerous THIS was. This is where all that started.

Matt Steinglass @mattsteinglass.bsky.social · 2d

Dutch anti-Muslim populist Geert Wilders goes full Trump, claiming on X after he lost the election that there are reports of vote fraud. Also claimed the election authority was not neutral. Tearing down the pillars of Dutch democracy. nos.nl/l/2588722

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Brilliant Maps @brilliantmaps.bsky.social · 1d

Map of The Hippie Trail Routes of The 1960s & 1970s

Do you wish it was still an option today?

More about it: brilliantmaps.com/hippie-tr...

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Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.bsky.social · 2d

A horrific mass murder is unfolding in Sudan, where no one can see it. The RSF are murdering civilians in El Fasher, having finally defeated the Sudanese army forces holding out in the city. The BBC has managed to speak to some who escaped

www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7fC...

Sudanese survivors of el-Fasher siege tell the BBC about RSF brutality | BBC News

YouTube video by BBC News

www.youtube.com

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Alex Luck @alxluck.bsky.social · 2d

I dont mean to dunk on Alex here. But there is this persistent misconception that PRC wants to "replace" the US as a global actor, including in naval affairs. This is wrong. Current PLAN priority is to allow dominance in Asia, including potentially having to defeat USN in a related confrontation.

Alexander Clarkson @aphclarkson.bsky.social · 2d

They can dominate their near seas for sure. I just doubt the capacity for global actor beyond them

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Frank @frank2095.bsky.social · 1d

Pro Tip: Der Rassismusvorwurf an Merz sagt mehr über die Vorurteile der "Empörten" als über Merz.

Dass Letzterer gut damit leben kann, da er die Mehrheit des Volkes incl. linker Kommunalpolitiker hinter sich hat, muss besonders weh tun.

Frank @frank2095.bsky.social · 2d

Was darf Satire? 😂

Frank @frank2095.bsky.social · 2d

... and that is a major reason for hope that not all is lost for the former Shining City on a Hill.

Frank @frank2095.bsky.social · 2d

Great idea, but judging by the map colour me doubtful that it addresses all relevant parameters in a reasonable and efficient way...

Alas, one should never lose hope.