@armenfrits.bsky.social
Reposted
I think the answer is "More than we think we can, but less than we need to be able to do". That definitely applies in the NB region, where our NATO Enhanced Forward Presence contribution is underpowered & a long way from potential reinforcements in a crisis.
What I ask every time when I talk to British officials is:
What are you able and willing to do without the US ?
Because that is the no. 1 question on my mind looking at the UK from the Nordic-Baltic region, where faith in the UK is perhaps even a bit unrealistically strong.
What are you able and willing to do without the US ?
Because that is the no. 1 question on my mind looking at the UK from the Nordic-Baltic region, where faith in the UK is perhaps even a bit unrealistically strong.
I agree. I understand the urge to keep trying to stop Trump doing more harm to UK interests, but Starmer & other European leaders need an honest conversation with voters about the effect of US abandonment on our security, & what we now need to do to protect ourselves.
December 10, 2025 at 10:51 AM
I think the answer is "More than we think we can, but less than we need to be able to do". That definitely applies in the NB region, where our NATO Enhanced Forward Presence contribution is underpowered & a long way from potential reinforcements in a crisis.
Reposted
This has been Trump's intention from the start. All he wants is to pursue US (and personal) economic interests in Russia, and Ukraine is currently an obstacle to being able to do this. So the 'Ukraine obstacle' - in his mind - has to be removed and/or neutralised.
The whole draft agreement is full of economic sweeteners for the US and focused on the future development of US-Russia economic ties. This is what Trump keeps coming back to when he talks about the end of the war, so is presumably aimed at keeping him happy.
November 21, 2025 at 11:19 AM
This has been Trump's intention from the start. All he wants is to pursue US (and personal) economic interests in Russia, and Ukraine is currently an obstacle to being able to do this. So the 'Ukraine obstacle' - in his mind - has to be removed and/or neutralised.
Reposted
It's terrifying and fascinating to see that the solution for getting caught with Watergate was just commit 1 to 2 Watergates a day so no can even catch up with all of them
November 18, 2025 at 10:02 PM
It's terrifying and fascinating to see that the solution for getting caught with Watergate was just commit 1 to 2 Watergates a day so no can even catch up with all of them
Reposted
“Tell your children who the cowards were.”
October 27, 2025 at 10:19 PM
“Tell your children who the cowards were.”
Reposted
Give him a follow his Youtube Channel is being attacked by bots liking then unliking. During the length of this video I watched 3 Thumbs up appear and disappear.
If they're spending money on bots to attack a channel you know Joni is doing something right
If they're spending money on bots to attack a channel you know Joni is doing something right
My new video titled "Is Telegram Founder Pavel Durov Secretly Working for Russia?" is out on YouTube!
Watch it and let me know what you think👇
youtu.be/3irHGEGC56c?...
Watch it and let me know what you think👇
youtu.be/3irHGEGC56c?...
Is Telegram Founder Pavel Durov Secretly Working for Russia?
YouTube video by Joni Askola
youtu.be
October 5, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Give him a follow his Youtube Channel is being attacked by bots liking then unliking. During the length of this video I watched 3 Thumbs up appear and disappear.
If they're spending money on bots to attack a channel you know Joni is doing something right
If they're spending money on bots to attack a channel you know Joni is doing something right
Reposted
When authoritarianism is on the rise, you can count on the richest, least vulnerable men on the planet to be the biggest cowards.
September 19, 2025 at 11:46 PM
When authoritarianism is on the rise, you can count on the richest, least vulnerable men on the planet to be the biggest cowards.
Reposted
De reactie op de Russische aanval op Polen zal bepalend zijn voor het tijdschema van de Russische invasie van Estland, Letland, Litouwen en Finland.
Deze aanval was een bewuste provocatie om de dreigende invasie van de Baltische staten af te tasten..
Deze aanval was een bewuste provocatie om de dreigende invasie van de Baltische staten af te tasten..
September 10, 2025 at 9:07 AM
De reactie op de Russische aanval op Polen zal bepalend zijn voor het tijdschema van de Russische invasie van Estland, Letland, Litouwen en Finland.
Deze aanval was een bewuste provocatie om de dreigende invasie van de Baltische staten af te tasten..
Deze aanval was een bewuste provocatie om de dreigende invasie van de Baltische staten af te tasten..
Reposted
Old Soviet joke for today:
A man walks into a newsstand every day, looks around, and leaves.
After a long time of this, the owner says “Can I help you find something?”
“I’m looking for the obituaries.”
“The obituaries are in the back of the newspaper, comrade.”
“Not the one I’m looking for.”
A man walks into a newsstand every day, looks around, and leaves.
After a long time of this, the owner says “Can I help you find something?”
“I’m looking for the obituaries.”
“The obituaries are in the back of the newspaper, comrade.”
“Not the one I’m looking for.”
August 30, 2025 at 5:06 AM
Old Soviet joke for today:
A man walks into a newsstand every day, looks around, and leaves.
After a long time of this, the owner says “Can I help you find something?”
“I’m looking for the obituaries.”
“The obituaries are in the back of the newspaper, comrade.”
“Not the one I’m looking for.”
A man walks into a newsstand every day, looks around, and leaves.
After a long time of this, the owner says “Can I help you find something?”
“I’m looking for the obituaries.”
“The obituaries are in the back of the newspaper, comrade.”
“Not the one I’m looking for.”
Reposted
Got me thinking about this, which still after 16 years is the best video ever posted on the internet.
youtu.be/S-zeCXlFPjk?...
youtu.be/S-zeCXlFPjk?...
Breakin The Law
YouTube video by trumancorgi
youtu.be
August 26, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Got me thinking about this, which still after 16 years is the best video ever posted on the internet.
youtu.be/S-zeCXlFPjk?...
youtu.be/S-zeCXlFPjk?...
Reposted
"With their actions over the past seven months, our leaders in Europe have done perhaps irreparable damage to this continent’s dignity and independence. If the people of Europe were paying attention they would be enraged. But they are not."
My piece on yesterday’s startling Oval Office comments:
My piece on yesterday’s startling Oval Office comments:
Trump: "They call me the president of Europe"
It's no mystery who is the 'they' Trump was referring to in the Oval Office yesterday: Rutte, von der Leyen and our national European leaders who have prostrated themselves before the US president.
davekeating.substack.com
August 26, 2025 at 8:46 AM
"With their actions over the past seven months, our leaders in Europe have done perhaps irreparable damage to this continent’s dignity and independence. If the people of Europe were paying attention they would be enraged. But they are not."
My piece on yesterday’s startling Oval Office comments:
My piece on yesterday’s startling Oval Office comments:
Reposted
Jag tror vi kommer fortsätta glida i den riktningen, men om det ska bli en union så tror jag att en riktig nordisk union skulle vara att föredra. Jag tänker lite typ Tyskland eller USA med ganska mycket självstyre för staterna men gemensamt försvar och utrikespolitik m.m. Dessutom...
August 25, 2025 at 5:09 AM
Jag tror vi kommer fortsätta glida i den riktningen, men om det ska bli en union så tror jag att en riktig nordisk union skulle vara att föredra. Jag tänker lite typ Tyskland eller USA med ganska mycket självstyre för staterna men gemensamt försvar och utrikespolitik m.m. Dessutom...
Reposted
Another busy morning of media reality checks. Still a vast gap between
(a) excitable reporting based on comments from European leaders who are humouring Trump instead of saying "this will never work", and
(b) what anybody who knows Russia and has been paying attention knows is likely to happen.
(a) excitable reporting based on comments from European leaders who are humouring Trump instead of saying "this will never work", and
(b) what anybody who knows Russia and has been paying attention knows is likely to happen.
August 20, 2025 at 9:09 AM
Another busy morning of media reality checks. Still a vast gap between
(a) excitable reporting based on comments from European leaders who are humouring Trump instead of saying "this will never work", and
(b) what anybody who knows Russia and has been paying attention knows is likely to happen.
(a) excitable reporting based on comments from European leaders who are humouring Trump instead of saying "this will never work", and
(b) what anybody who knows Russia and has been paying attention knows is likely to happen.
Reposted
Democratic decline affects Europe too, and what we’ve seen is Europe spectacularly unable to act, and spectacularly unable to understand how to act - namely, by leading and proposing its own table of politics, rather than lamentably trying to influence Trump.
2/4
2/4
August 9, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Democratic decline affects Europe too, and what we’ve seen is Europe spectacularly unable to act, and spectacularly unable to understand how to act - namely, by leading and proposing its own table of politics, rather than lamentably trying to influence Trump.
2/4
2/4
Reposted
Important reminder in the light of Trump's decision to give Putin 50 days of freedom of action
📞🇺🇸 In a July 3 call, Putin told Trump he planned to escalate attacks and push toward full control of key Ukrainian regions within 60 days, - Axios
July 14, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Important reminder in the light of Trump's decision to give Putin 50 days of freedom of action
Reposted
🧵 Several people have raised questions about what I meant by "deservedly so" when referring to the decline of institutional trust. It's a fair question, so I want to explain that, because it sits at the heart of my work on how democracies collapse when their epistemic foundations rot.
The conditions that have led to what’s happening in the US today exist in democracies around the world.
They are an inevitable outcome of our collective failure to adapt to fundamental changes in the information ecosystem on which our democracies were originally built.
They are an inevitable outcome of our collective failure to adapt to fundamental changes in the information ecosystem on which our democracies were originally built.
June 9, 2025 at 7:39 PM
🧵 Several people have raised questions about what I meant by "deservedly so" when referring to the decline of institutional trust. It's a fair question, so I want to explain that, because it sits at the heart of my work on how democracies collapse when their epistemic foundations rot.
Reposted
Just a reminder--it was 13 days ago that Donald Trump said he needed two weeks to decide whether to push for harder sanctions on Russia.
When he, inevitably, fails to do so--can we have a retraction published for every story/commentary that took his BS on this seriously?
When he, inevitably, fails to do so--can we have a retraction published for every story/commentary that took his BS on this seriously?
June 9, 2025 at 11:23 AM
Just a reminder--it was 13 days ago that Donald Trump said he needed two weeks to decide whether to push for harder sanctions on Russia.
When he, inevitably, fails to do so--can we have a retraction published for every story/commentary that took his BS on this seriously?
When he, inevitably, fails to do so--can we have a retraction published for every story/commentary that took his BS on this seriously?
Reposted
OK, this is wild.
In September 2023, geophysicists across the world started monitoring a very odd signal coming from the ground under them.
It was picked up in the Arctic. And Antarctica. It was detected everywhere, every 90 seconds, as regular as a metronome, for *nine days*.
What the HELL?
1/
In September 2023, geophysicists across the world started monitoring a very odd signal coming from the ground under them.
It was picked up in the Arctic. And Antarctica. It was detected everywhere, every 90 seconds, as regular as a metronome, for *nine days*.
What the HELL?
1/
May 12, 2025 at 3:20 PM
OK, this is wild.
In September 2023, geophysicists across the world started monitoring a very odd signal coming from the ground under them.
It was picked up in the Arctic. And Antarctica. It was detected everywhere, every 90 seconds, as regular as a metronome, for *nine days*.
What the HELL?
1/
In September 2023, geophysicists across the world started monitoring a very odd signal coming from the ground under them.
It was picked up in the Arctic. And Antarctica. It was detected everywhere, every 90 seconds, as regular as a metronome, for *nine days*.
What the HELL?
1/
Reposted
In disordered discourse:
Engagement > accuracy
Performance > governance
Emotion > evidence
Identity = target
The logic of the algorithm now structures political speech. It rewards those who dramatise difference and punish deviation from the tribe.
Engagement > accuracy
Performance > governance
Emotion > evidence
Identity = target
The logic of the algorithm now structures political speech. It rewards those who dramatise difference and punish deviation from the tribe.
May 22, 2025 at 5:32 PM
In disordered discourse:
Engagement > accuracy
Performance > governance
Emotion > evidence
Identity = target
The logic of the algorithm now structures political speech. It rewards those who dramatise difference and punish deviation from the tribe.
Engagement > accuracy
Performance > governance
Emotion > evidence
Identity = target
The logic of the algorithm now structures political speech. It rewards those who dramatise difference and punish deviation from the tribe.
Reposted
Putin has no ideology; he is, in fact, an intellectually unsophisticated person. His entire political worldview rests on two very simple narratives. 1/9
May 11, 2025 at 8:32 AM
Putin has no ideology; he is, in fact, an intellectually unsophisticated person. His entire political worldview rests on two very simple narratives. 1/9
Reposted
rabid dog 'really going for it' says man who tossed it into schoolyard
Biden: Fewer than 100 days into this new administration, they have done so much damage and destruction. It is kind of breathtaking it could happen that soon.
April 17, 2025 at 1:37 AM
rabid dog 'really going for it' says man who tossed it into schoolyard
Reposted
It looks like someone has hacked a crosswalk button in Palo Alto to deliver at least two different messages in the voice of Elon Musk.
(They are not complimentary)
(They are not complimentary)
April 13, 2025 at 2:50 AM
It looks like someone has hacked a crosswalk button in Palo Alto to deliver at least two different messages in the voice of Elon Musk.
(They are not complimentary)
(They are not complimentary)
Reposted
"The bond market is not like the Supreme Court, or Paul Weiss, or Columbia University, or any of the other institutions Trump has conquered, co-opted, or corrupted."
"He cannot scare it into submission. He cannot bribe it."
from @jvl.bsky.social
www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-fina...
"He cannot scare it into submission. He cannot bribe it."
from @jvl.bsky.social
www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-fina...
Trump Finally Met an Adversary Totally Immune to His Bullshit
And it’s not the Supreme Court.
www.thebulwark.com
April 12, 2025 at 2:49 AM
"The bond market is not like the Supreme Court, or Paul Weiss, or Columbia University, or any of the other institutions Trump has conquered, co-opted, or corrupted."
"He cannot scare it into submission. He cannot bribe it."
from @jvl.bsky.social
www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-fina...
"He cannot scare it into submission. He cannot bribe it."
from @jvl.bsky.social
www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-fina...
Calling someone a "doomer" kind of lost it's potency as of late.
April 7, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Calling someone a "doomer" kind of lost it's potency as of late.