Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

John Culver @johnculver689.bsky.social · 2d

What if Trump calls on the PRC to renounce use of force in exchange for a halt to US arms sales and Trump announces US support for reunification? Still nominating him?

Finbarr Bermingham @fbermingham.bsky.social · 3d

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te:

"We hope Taiwan will continue to enjoy the support of President Trump. If he is able to convince Xi Jinping to permanently renounce the use of force against Taiwan, President Trump will surely win the Nobel Peace Prize"

President Lai interviewed by The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show-News releases-News & activities｜Office of the President Republic of China(Taiwan)

Office of the President Republic of China(Taiwan)

english.president.gov.tw

4

John Culver @johnculver689.bsky.social · 5d

And yet, Ms Parker is not, by far, the worst opinion columnist gracing the pages of the once-venerable Washington Post.

1 2

Reposted by John Culver

Erin Sikorsky @erinsikorsky.bsky.social · 7d

Fascinating look at China's resilience to extreme weather events -- investments in physical adaptation capacity unparalleled and innovative, yet information control that limits local officials' ability to build trust/tell truth limits effectiveness. (1/2)

How China was ready for Super Typhoon Ragasa – and what still needs to be done

Chinese cities have been hit by a series of deadly storms over the decades, but this time no one died on the mainland.

www.scmp.com

1 11 26

John Culver @johnculver689.bsky.social · 7d

Please tell me Bellingcat is working on identifying Goon Squad members and operations.

10

John Culver @johnculver689.bsky.social · 7d

Take a look at their major corporate underwriters.

4

John Culver @johnculver689.bsky.social · 9d

Have you ever heard of Robert Paxton? He is a leading expert on fascism.

2

John Culver @johnculver689.bsky.social · 12d

@radiofreetom.bsky.social curious what you think of George Packer's latest...

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

America’s Zombie Democracy

Its trappings remain, but authoritarianism and AI are hollowing out our humanity.

www.theatlantic.com

2 3

John Culver @johnculver689.bsky.social · 12d

Jesus.

2

John Culver @johnculver689.bsky.social · 13d

@mikeblack114.bsky.social www.wsj.com/politics/nat...

Exclusive | U.S. Military Is Struggling to Deploy AI Weapons

A U.S. plan to field thousands of cutting-edge drones for a potential conflict with China has fallen short of its goal, and the Pentagon is moving the effort to a new warfare group.

www.wsj.com

2 2 18

John Culver @johnculver689.bsky.social · 13d

Command & control of swarms seems non-trivial. If they have an endgame for ground targets, their main utility might be to make TW air defenses go Winchester before high value systems go active.

1 4

John Culver @johnculver689.bsky.social · 14d

They may not be interested in global trends, but GT are interested in them. I recall the last couple that were published forecast these asshole with clarity.

2

John Culver @johnculver689.bsky.social · 14d

Yeah, we know. Someone should tell Chuck, Hakeem, and Nancy. They seem to think the polls indicate Dems will do great in the midterms. They don't know they're going to Gitmo for being ANTIFA.

David Kaye @davidakaye.bsky.social · 14d

bit by bit, the administration is laying the groundwork and actually carrying out a system of repressing democratic life in america. redefining opposition as terrorism, targeting critics, investigating civic funders.

we're so far beyond normal and, again, only eight months in.

5 36 110

John Culver @johnculver689.bsky.social · 17d

Meanwhile...

1

John Culver @johnculver689.bsky.social · 18d

All to bomb Lop Nur, where China neither makes nor stores nukes. Genius. If this idiocy comes to pass, China should let their Taliban friends know that strikes from there will result in a nuke DF-26 hitting Bagram. Nothing personal, just business.

3

John Culver @johnculver689.bsky.social · 22d

Think about this: Will Trump/MAGA peacefully relinquish power?

Ezra Klein @ezrakleinbot.bsky.social · 22d

"I had friends say to me, look, we can oppose political violence without whitewashing this guy. I spent some time thinking about that over the weekend...and my reaction honestly is that it is too little to just say we oppose political violence."

2 7

John Culver @johnculver689.bsky.social · 25d

It's an old model for insurgency and "national liberation" movements. The Political Wing and the Armed Wing, one public-facing, the other welding terror to make the PW look "reasonable." Usually connected at the top. Sinn Féin & IRA being the best know example.

3

John Culver @johnculver689.bsky.social · 26d

Starting to think that the political class is all-in on the great AI race because they know the US has already lost the industrial one.

2 8

John Culver @johnculver689.bsky.social · 27d

I hope some MSM reporters reach out because they are so not up to understanding any of this.

6

Reposted by John Culver

J. C. Cantwell 🌻 @segfaultvicta.aludel.xyz · 27d

last night as i was trying to wind down for bed i had a unified theory of what the fuck just happened, and i wrote it down, and filed it under "well, i can't talk about this on main without sounding insane until and unless the perp gets caught and is provably a groyper"

anyways, great news! (1/X)

88 1.5K 5.1K

Reposted by John Culver

Zack Cooper @zackcooper.bsky.social · 29d

After 14 years, I think the time has come to acknowledge that the "Rebalance to Asia" has failed.

I've spent the last decade writing and thinking about how to make the rebalance successful, so this is a painful realization.

A thread on my new piece for RSIS...

1 21 75

John Culver @johnculver689.bsky.social · Sep 8

Whitey Bulger was an FBI CI. The bureau covered up 16 murders by his mob. Two FBI senior agents went to prison.

John Culver @johnculver689.bsky.social · Sep 5

BTW, I first posted this on the other site five years ago.

John Culver @johnculver689.bsky.social · Sep 5

What Trump wants from the military besides personal loyalty to him is for them to be killers. He has no idea, and would dismiss if explained, the role of laws governing armed conflict or domestic use of armed forces. He likely thinks Russian war crimes in Ukraine are great.

4

John Culver @johnculver689.bsky.social · Sep 5

What Trump wants from the military besides personal loyalty to him is for them to be killers. He has no idea, and would dismiss if explained, the role of laws governing armed conflict or domestic use of armed forces. He likely thinks Russian war crimes in Ukraine are great.

1 5

John Culver @johnculver689.bsky.social · Sep 4

Fun fact: during WW2 the US thought about seizing Taiwan--a Japanese colony since 1895--and decided Okinawa was easier and closer to the home islands. US combat losses on Okinawa and Iwo Jima figured in Truman's decision to use nuclear weapons to end the war.

John Culver @johnculver689.bsky.social · Sep 3

I'm 💯 % sure that if someone asked Trump about the CBI theater of WW2, he'd start talking about Phantom of the Opera and end with hamberders.

1