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Reposted by Simon Frankel Pratt

Ulrike Franke @rikefranke.bsky.social · 9h

“I don’t think the reality of what drones mean on the battlefield has really sunk in for the U.S. Army,” said Lt. Gen. Barno, a former commander in Afghanistan. “We certainly haven’t encountered the psychological impact of having a machine looking at you all the time that’s devoted to killing you”

The Army’s Race to Catch Up in a World of Deadly Drones

www.nytimes.com

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Simon Frankel Pratt @simonpratt.bsky.social · 7h

Fwiw we usually have about 10% attendance in person in my 2nd year undergraduate IR subject. Everyone else watches the recording.

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Simon Frankel Pratt @simonpratt.bsky.social · 8h

That is the logic usually expressed by the people doing the boycotts. I am not sure if their strategy will work, but it is a more plausible pathway to influence than trying to signal more specific policy preferences directly to the Israeli public.

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Simon Frankel Pratt @simonpratt.bsky.social · 8h

Most people in Israel who have an opinion on this have already concluded that.

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Reposted by Simon Frankel Pratt

Cas Ⓜ️udde @casmudde.bsky.social · 1d

I’m happy to see the awful Venezuelan regime being criticized but if “this is an award for an entire movement” (as the committee said), why give it to one specific person? And one with dubious friends and positions? Nobel Prize has been given to groups and movements before. Peace offer to Trump?

Reuters @reuters.com · 1d

BREAKING: Venezuela's Maria Corina Machado wins the Nobel Peace Prize for 2025 reut.rs/42uh3Aw

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Reposted by Simon Frankel Pratt

Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 14h

Soros conspiracy theories are antisemitic, but they aren't just about Jews. They're about politicians like this using the figure of the perfidious Jewish puppet master to explain away all progressive social change, to avoid reckoning with how unpopular their policies really are.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Sen. Roger Marshall: "October 18 is when the protest gets here. This will be a Soros paid-for protest for his professional protesters. The agitators show up. We'll have to get the National Guard out. Hopefully it will be peaceful. I doubt it."

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Reposted by Simon Frankel Pratt

Kelsey Atherton @atherton.bsky.social · 13h

Every ICE Agent is the worst person alive

Ashton Pittman @ashtonpittman.bsky.social · 17h

ICE left David, a 17-year-old boy, stranded on the side of Interstate 20 after pulling over his immigrant father, Hector, in Mississippi.

David began running in the scorching sun after the car and watched as it disappeared from sight—soon headed to a Louisiana ICE prison.

Here's their story.

ICE Stranded a 17-Year-Old on I-20 After Arresting His Father. The Mississippi Dad Now Faces Deportation.

A 17-year-old watched as ICE arrested his immigrant father, Hector, on I-20 in June. The family faces mounting legal fees and the risk of deportation.

www.mississippifreepress.org

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Reposted by Simon Frankel Pratt

Robert Farley @drfarls.bsky.social · 21h

It's fun to teach the Melian Dialogue from the perspective "the Melians are entitled assholes who deserved to die" but I don't think it should generally be treated as a guide to policy...

Anton Gerashchenko @antongerashchenko.bsky.social · 8d

❗️Putin's logic:Poland has provoked Hitler who wanted to find a peaceful solution:

Poland made many mistakes.Germany offered to resolve the issue of Danzig&the Danzig Corridor peacefully.The Polish leadership at the time categorically refused&,in the end, became the first victim of Nazi aggression

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Simon Frankel Pratt @simonpratt.bsky.social · 15h

Good thread

Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 1d

1/ New rare earth restrictions mark escalation in China’s weaponization of interdependence — adopting US extraterritorial permission structures. This is not just an export ban but regulated how global firms use Chinese equipment and material.
www.reuters.com/world/china/...

China expands rare earth restrictions, targets defence, semiconductor users

China tightened its rare earth export controls on Thursday, saying it planned to limit exports to overseas defence firms and semiconductor users and adding five rare earth elements to its list.

www.reuters.com

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Reposted by Simon Frankel Pratt

Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 21h

The war at home is just starting ... "Israeli spyware maker NSO Group has confirmed to TechCrunch that a U.S. investment group has acquired the company." techcrunch.com/2025/10/10/s...

there is no war in ba sing se , a cartoon of a woman with her hair blowing in the wind .

ALT: there is no war in ba sing se , a cartoon of a woman with her hair blowing in the wind .

media.tenor.com

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Simon Frankel Pratt @simonpratt.bsky.social · 16h

😮

Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 18h

New Henry Purcell music just dropped. www.theguardian.com/music/2025/o...

‘Almost unheard of’: experts find more music by English composer Henry Purcell

Printed score and keyboard manuscript by Purcell, who died in 1695, unearthed in Worcestershire and Norfolk

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Simon Frankel Pratt

Ryan @ryanwright.bsky.social · Jun 11

Bagels vs Not Bagels.

Pictures of a NY “bagel style substitute” and a Montreal bagel.

Text:

New York Dough Thing

Not a bagel.
Seriously, it's not a bagel.
It's... fine.

Montreal Bagel

Fantastic bagel.
Seriously, it's delicious.
Don't accept pretenders.

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Simon Frankel Pratt @simonpratt.bsky.social · 1d

Hard to say. Reports were originally that they'd stay in, based on informal 'sources close' reporting. Now they are saying they will leave. But it may just be bluster. They know there is almost no probability of another government including them. At this point I'm just waiting to see.

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Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · 1d

“Comprehensive End of Gaza War," as signed by the mediators in Egypt.

Via Gili Cohen

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Simon Frankel Pratt @simonpratt.bsky.social · 1d

It's all very up in the air, but there's reasons to think that Israel will keep its side of the bargain *if* they are able to get past the main phase 2 challenge of Hamas agreeing to disarm and politically disengage. As for the technocrats, likely WB or Pal diaspora. Israel wants them not to be PA.

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Dan Nexon @dhnexon.bsky.social · 1d

🧵 As an academic whose formative college and graduate experiences took place during the 'modernists' vs. 'neo-primordialist' debates about nationalism, I find the causal ideological & methodological nationalism of even left-wing social media shocking.

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Reposted by Simon Frankel Pratt

Jane Lytvynenko @janelytv.bsky.social · 2d

“There will be no more mercy.”

“No one deserves pity. Spare me your whining.”

Those are captions to videos of Russian drone operators attacking civilians in Kherson city and region.

Living in Kherson means risking execution from the sky.

www.wsj.com/world/russia... (read free)

Russian Drones Turn the Streets of Kherson Into a Civilian Kill Zone

The attacks on Kherson are part of Russia’s growing strategy to terrorize civilians in an effort to sap Ukrainians’ strength to resist in the fourth year of war.

www.wsj.com

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brasidas @brasidas.bsky.social · 2d

This is a great analysis! However, there are a couple of missing factors not being weighed here.

What if Taiwan says no? What's the second move?

War on the Rocks @warontherocks.bsky.social · 2d

What if China doesn’t invade Taiwan the way we expect?

A Wargame to Take Taiwan, from China’s Perspective

In August 2025, 25 international experts gathered at Syracuse University to do something unusual: plan China's invasion of Taiwan. For two days,

warontherocks.com

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Nate Schenkkan @nateschenkkan.bsky.social · 2d

New from me in @foreignpolicy.com: how the US has gone from leading a global push against transnational repression, to proactively supporting it:

foreignpolicy.com/2025/10/08/t...

Trump Is Supporting Transnational Repression

Instead of sheltering pro-democracy dissidents, America is now returning them for arrest.

foreignpolicy.com

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Simon Frankel Pratt @simonpratt.bsky.social · 2d

This is an absolutely fascinating investigation

Jack Sapoch @jacksapoch.bsky.social · 3d

NEW: Since October 2023, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit has released dozens of 3D animations illustrating alleged Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iranian sites

The style is now unmistakable: satellite zoom-ins, black & white wireframes, and red-textured houses - a new visual language of war

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Reposted by Simon Frankel Pratt

Lindsay Beyerstein @beyerstein.bsky.social · 2d

I was wrong, @rickperlstein.bsky.social. I didn't believe Trump could be that out of it. But here we are.

Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 2d

WSJ: President Trump believed his Truth Social post demanding prosecutions of James Comey and other political foes was a private message to his attorney general, and "and was surprised to learn it was public."

www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

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Reposted by Simon Frankel Pratt

Patrick Howell O’Neill @patrickhowelloneill.com · 2d

New: DHS has reassigned hundreds of national security specialists, including cyber personnel from CISA, into jobs that support President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts and said it would fire anyone who refuses to go along. Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Homeland Security Cyber Personnel Reassigned to Jobs in Trump’s Deportation Push

The US Department of Homeland Security has shifted hundreds of national security specialists, including cyber personnel, into jobs that support President Donald Trump’s deportations and said it would ...

www.bloomberg.com

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Simon Frankel Pratt @simonpratt.bsky.social · 2d

Nice to wake up to news that Israel and Hamas have reached an agreement. My pessimism seems not to have been valid and, inshallah, my career as a media talking head will end along with this cursed war.

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Henry Farrell @himself.bsky.social · 3d

"It wanted to signal strength. Instead, it’s revealing its weakness. The administration’s need to break the academy is forcing it to make a desperately risky gamble." www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/o...

Opinion | You Beat Trumpism by Banding Together. It’s as Hard and as Simple as That.

www.nytimes.com

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Cheryl Rofer @cherylrofer.bsky.social · 3d

Always read Henry Farrell

Gift link.

Opinion | You Beat Trumpism by Banding Together. It’s as Hard and as Simple as That.

www.nytimes.com

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