Barry Beldam
@bbeldam.bsky.social
Dad, husband, software-management-type overhead, painter of little warhammer models, beer appreciator. Highest ranked Apex player, Netrunner worlds 2022. He/him.
Reposted by Barry Beldam
I don't think Trump got tricked here. I think he gave up when it was clear they were not going to budge.
January 22, 2026 at 3:57 PM
I don't think Trump got tricked here. I think he gave up when it was clear they were not going to budge.
Reposted by Barry Beldam
Another friend put it to me like this: "ICE has made the classic Nazi mistake. They've invaded a winter people in the winter."
January 22, 2026 at 3:58 AM
Another friend put it to me like this: "ICE has made the classic Nazi mistake. They've invaded a winter people in the winter."
Reposted by Barry Beldam
Il s’appelle Liam Ramos, il a 5 ans. Il a été enlevé par des agents fédéraux hier après-midi en revenant de l’école.
Pendant 24 heures, sa famille n’a obtenu aucune information quant à l’endroit où leur petit garçon se trouvait.
Pendant 24 heures, sa famille n’a obtenu aucune information quant à l’endroit où leur petit garçon se trouvait.
This picture making the rounds on reddit, Columbia Heights. I'm not OK.
January 22, 2026 at 12:54 AM
Il s’appelle Liam Ramos, il a 5 ans. Il a été enlevé par des agents fédéraux hier après-midi en revenant de l’école.
Pendant 24 heures, sa famille n’a obtenu aucune information quant à l’endroit où leur petit garçon se trouvait.
Pendant 24 heures, sa famille n’a obtenu aucune information quant à l’endroit où leur petit garçon se trouvait.
Reposted by Barry Beldam
Canadians you are not prepared for the temperature he tells you he is experiencing here.
January 21, 2026 at 10:21 PM
Canadians you are not prepared for the temperature he tells you he is experiencing here.
Helping the boy hang his freshly finished model of the Enterprise from the ceiling, because some things are eternal
January 21, 2026 at 12:27 AM
Helping the boy hang his freshly finished model of the Enterprise from the ceiling, because some things are eternal
Reposted by Barry Beldam
This is the best speech, just from a pure rhetoric perspective - its sophistication and persuasiveness - that I've seen a politician deliver in a good long while. Really recommend watching or reading the whole thing.
January 20, 2026 at 11:01 PM
This is the best speech, just from a pure rhetoric perspective - its sophistication and persuasiveness - that I've seen a politician deliver in a good long while. Really recommend watching or reading the whole thing.
Reposted by Barry Beldam
The Old World Order is Dead
Unipolarity was given, not taken
musgrave.substack.com
January 20, 2026 at 5:44 PM
Reposted by Barry Beldam
Well well well. The Danes are weaponising firesales.
January 20, 2026 at 2:26 PM
Well well well. The Danes are weaponising firesales.
Reposted by Barry Beldam
The entire American system of intelligence collection, rapid deployment, and logistics relies on the order the US and its allies created after 1945.
No amount of additional military spending could ever match what our existing investments already provide.
It’s an act of national suicide.
No amount of additional military spending could ever match what our existing investments already provide.
It’s an act of national suicide.
Today would be a great day for CNAS, CSIS, Brookings, Atlantic Council, RAND, IDA, CNA, & every veterans’ advocacy group to say an attack on NATO over Greenland would be a crime under US and international law and it would shatter American military capacity for generations.
They won’t say a word.
They won’t say a word.
January 18, 2026 at 12:40 PM
The entire American system of intelligence collection, rapid deployment, and logistics relies on the order the US and its allies created after 1945.
No amount of additional military spending could ever match what our existing investments already provide.
It’s an act of national suicide.
No amount of additional military spending could ever match what our existing investments already provide.
It’s an act of national suicide.
Cycle my brain goes through frequently
1. Oh, this kit doesn't have enough of this specific part/weapon to make the unit the way I was planning, that's unfortunate
2. There's probably bits I can get somewhere or I can kitbash something?
3. Oh wait, haha, I own a 3D printer. (Brrrrrrrrr)
1. Oh, this kit doesn't have enough of this specific part/weapon to make the unit the way I was planning, that's unfortunate
2. There's probably bits I can get somewhere or I can kitbash something?
3. Oh wait, haha, I own a 3D printer. (Brrrrrrrrr)
January 19, 2026 at 8:34 PM
Cycle my brain goes through frequently
1. Oh, this kit doesn't have enough of this specific part/weapon to make the unit the way I was planning, that's unfortunate
2. There's probably bits I can get somewhere or I can kitbash something?
3. Oh wait, haha, I own a 3D printer. (Brrrrrrrrr)
1. Oh, this kit doesn't have enough of this specific part/weapon to make the unit the way I was planning, that's unfortunate
2. There's probably bits I can get somewhere or I can kitbash something?
3. Oh wait, haha, I own a 3D printer. (Brrrrrrrrr)
Reposted by Barry Beldam
imo many Americans are not prepared for the soft privileges they’ve long enjoyed being removed
i think that you're being an absolute wiener if your key complaint as an American right now is "the Europeans on this niche social media site are being mildly rude to me over the prospect of our mad king going to war with them."
January 19, 2026 at 7:18 PM
imo many Americans are not prepared for the soft privileges they’ve long enjoyed being removed
Reposted by Barry Beldam
You know, as someone who did grad school work on Arctic warfare, reformed DoD policy and readiness on the Arctic on the hill, and even advised OSD on Arctic policy matters….the Arctic is supposed to be the place where all of NATO is in firmest agreement. To call this insanity is to undersell it.
January 19, 2026 at 3:21 PM
You know, as someone who did grad school work on Arctic warfare, reformed DoD policy and readiness on the Arctic on the hill, and even advised OSD on Arctic policy matters….the Arctic is supposed to be the place where all of NATO is in firmest agreement. To call this insanity is to undersell it.
Reposted by Barry Beldam
Deutsche Bank here with the good stuff.
Game on.
Game on.
January 18, 2026 at 6:59 PM
Deutsche Bank here with the good stuff.
Game on.
Game on.
Reposted by Barry Beldam
Also: The Minnesota Historical Society has this flag but *doesn’t keep it on display,* because it’s, you know, a confederate flag and that’s gross.
So deeply Minnesotan. “We humiliated our opponent but the real prize is that we refuse to display the trophy. They know we have it.”
So deeply Minnesotan. “We humiliated our opponent but the real prize is that we refuse to display the trophy. They know we have it.”
A good time to remind everyone of the Minnesota First. One of the earliest state militias to volunteer to fight in the Civil War—three years after joining the Union! Provided one of the essential turning points at Gettysburg. Took the flag of the Virginia regiment they captured AND STILL HAVE IT.
January 18, 2026 at 6:32 PM
Also: The Minnesota Historical Society has this flag but *doesn’t keep it on display,* because it’s, you know, a confederate flag and that’s gross.
So deeply Minnesotan. “We humiliated our opponent but the real prize is that we refuse to display the trophy. They know we have it.”
So deeply Minnesotan. “We humiliated our opponent but the real prize is that we refuse to display the trophy. They know we have it.”
Reposted by Barry Beldam
Buckle up, eh?
January 18, 2026 at 7:41 PM
Buckle up, eh?
Reposted by Barry Beldam
Reposted by Barry Beldam
The US, specifically Trump and his team, pulled support no later than the spring of 2025.
January 18, 2026 at 3:51 PM
The US, specifically Trump and his team, pulled support no later than the spring of 2025.
Reposted by Barry Beldam
they need to make Good Will Hunting 2, where Affleck has done the work to become this character (just add remnants of townie accent) and Matt Damon's character has degenerated into the guy in the 2021 "Fortune Favors The Bold" crypto dot com ad
Insights from Ben Affleck on AI:
• AI can help write scenes but can't create full movies.
• Job loss fears are overblown because adoption of new tech is slow; it's hype for startup valuations.
• ChatGPT v5 is ~25% better but costs 4x.
• Users actually preferred v4's sycophancy for companionship.
• AI can help write scenes but can't create full movies.
• Job loss fears are overblown because adoption of new tech is slow; it's hype for startup valuations.
• ChatGPT v5 is ~25% better but costs 4x.
• Users actually preferred v4's sycophancy for companionship.
January 18, 2026 at 3:56 PM
they need to make Good Will Hunting 2, where Affleck has done the work to become this character (just add remnants of townie accent) and Matt Damon's character has degenerated into the guy in the 2021 "Fortune Favors The Bold" crypto dot com ad
My daughter wanted a colouring book page of the TARDIS so we looked online. She was very concerned about whether some drawings were AI and was actively hostile to ones she thought were. She's 10. I see this a lot in kids her age. They know what AI is and can use it and absolutely do not want to.
January 18, 2026 at 2:13 PM
My daughter wanted a colouring book page of the TARDIS so we looked online. She was very concerned about whether some drawings were AI and was actively hostile to ones she thought were. She's 10. I see this a lot in kids her age. They know what AI is and can use it and absolutely do not want to.
Watching Starfleet Academy and I feel like the biggest challenge it will have is that you sorta should watch Discovery to understand the context and place, and nobody should have to watch Discovery
OK excepting the bits with Pike and the mirror universe episodes, those were okay, but the rest of it
OK excepting the bits with Pike and the mirror universe episodes, those were okay, but the rest of it
January 18, 2026 at 3:47 AM
Watching Starfleet Academy and I feel like the biggest challenge it will have is that you sorta should watch Discovery to understand the context and place, and nobody should have to watch Discovery
OK excepting the bits with Pike and the mirror universe episodes, those were okay, but the rest of it
OK excepting the bits with Pike and the mirror universe episodes, those were okay, but the rest of it
Reposted by Barry Beldam
neolithic guys get pissed if you tell them their cultures are organized by the type of pots and jewelry they made. "we called ourselves the blood hunters" "we conquered villages far beyond this horizon" sorry bud you're the western linear pottery culture now
January 17, 2026 at 2:52 PM
neolithic guys get pissed if you tell them their cultures are organized by the type of pots and jewelry they made. "we called ourselves the blood hunters" "we conquered villages far beyond this horizon" sorry bud you're the western linear pottery culture now
Reposted by Barry Beldam
🧵!!!!!
I saw this take on TikTok a few days ago and wanted to share it here. I had to truncate it because it's a bit longer than 3 minutes. Her central argument is the US govt has a problem in that decades of stochastic terrorism from gun culture has made us less scared of guns.
January 17, 2026 at 11:16 PM
🧵!!!!!
Reposted by Barry Beldam
There is no Golden Dome. It’s a bunch of fancy pitch deck PowerPoint slides & computer generated videos. It doesn’t exist now & it’s never going to exist in the future.
Trump says he'll impose a 10% tariff (rising to 25% in June) on Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and Finland, because they've sent people to Greenland, until the US can buy Greenland.
January 17, 2026 at 5:49 PM
There is no Golden Dome. It’s a bunch of fancy pitch deck PowerPoint slides & computer generated videos. It doesn’t exist now & it’s never going to exist in the future.
Reposted by Barry Beldam
A downside to literally no one in this Administration understanding basic economics is that "we're going to raise tariffs until you give up Greenland" is the econ version of "I'm going to repeatedly kick myself in the testicles until you do what I want"
www.cnbc.com/2026/01/17/t...
www.cnbc.com/2026/01/17/t...
Trump: NATO members to face tariffs increasing to 25% until a Greenland purchase deal is struck
Trump recently hinted that he may pursue a tariff strategy on Greenland similar to the one he used to force foreign countries to change their drug prices.
www.cnbc.com
January 17, 2026 at 5:06 PM
A downside to literally no one in this Administration understanding basic economics is that "we're going to raise tariffs until you give up Greenland" is the econ version of "I'm going to repeatedly kick myself in the testicles until you do what I want"
www.cnbc.com/2026/01/17/t...
www.cnbc.com/2026/01/17/t...