Andrew Farrand
@afarrand.bsky.social
MENA energy analyst | author of The Algerian Dream | American abroad
Reposted by Andrew Farrand
Dictators around the world are celebrating today.
Trump just pardoned Henry Cuellar, the first member of Congress ever charged with acting as a foreign agent for a dictatorship, caught dead to rights working for Azerbaijan.
www.politico.com/live-updates...
Trump just pardoned Henry Cuellar, the first member of Congress ever charged with acting as a foreign agent for a dictatorship, caught dead to rights working for Azerbaijan.
www.politico.com/live-updates...
Trump pardons Texas Democrat Henry Cuellar
Cuellar and his wife were charged in 2024 with accepting $600,000 in bribes from foreign entities.
www.politico.com
December 3, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Dictators around the world are celebrating today.
Trump just pardoned Henry Cuellar, the first member of Congress ever charged with acting as a foreign agent for a dictatorship, caught dead to rights working for Azerbaijan.
www.politico.com/live-updates...
Trump just pardoned Henry Cuellar, the first member of Congress ever charged with acting as a foreign agent for a dictatorship, caught dead to rights working for Azerbaijan.
www.politico.com/live-updates...
Reposted by Andrew Farrand
The refusal to consider DC Statehood is largely a reluctance to give DC two Senators, which itself is a tacit admission that the United States Senate is an anti-democratic institution.
Statehood for D.C. is an ethical obligation at this point, required to protect the rights of our residents to govern ourselves against such out-of-state troops being sent to patrol our city.
NEW: Republican-led states, in a new filing at the D.C. Circuit, say D.C. residents are irrelevant, D.C. belongs to everyone else. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
The filing is led by the South Carolina and West Virginia attorneys general. Both states sent troops to DC.
The filing is led by the South Carolina and West Virginia attorneys general. Both states sent troops to DC.
December 3, 2025 at 4:42 AM
The refusal to consider DC Statehood is largely a reluctance to give DC two Senators, which itself is a tacit admission that the United States Senate is an anti-democratic institution.
No, technologies are tools, and tools serve human needs.
Beware claims that the human users must adapt themselves to their tools' affordances, rather than the other way around.
Beware claims that the human users must adapt themselves to their tools' affordances, rather than the other way around.
Businesses must adapt to reach AI’s promised Plateau of Productivity on.ft.com/4pQjyGx | opinion
Businesses must adapt to reach AI’s promised Plateau of Productivity
Realising the tech’s potential to boost productivity requires a shift in corporate culture and working practices
on.ft.com
December 3, 2025 at 5:53 AM
No, technologies are tools, and tools serve human needs.
Beware claims that the human users must adapt themselves to their tools' affordances, rather than the other way around.
Beware claims that the human users must adapt themselves to their tools' affordances, rather than the other way around.
Reposted by Andrew Farrand
When you ask how Germans became immune to the horrors of Nazism during the 30s, remember that this is now 2025 and this crap is being said in the greatest democracy on the planet.
Fox’s Greg Gutfeld on double tap boat strike: “It's just better for us to kill them in the ocean, make them shark feed, be done with it”
December 3, 2025 at 1:00 AM
When you ask how Germans became immune to the horrors of Nazism during the 30s, remember that this is now 2025 and this crap is being said in the greatest democracy on the planet.
Imagine if Biden had seized this chance way back in 2021 and tapped his VP to make it happen.
"Kamala accounts" and we might have avoided DOGE, tariff insanity, nat'l guard deployments, USAID closure, wrecked alliances, extralegal killings in Caribbean, constitutional crisis and so much more...
"Kamala accounts" and we might have avoided DOGE, tariff insanity, nat'l guard deployments, USAID closure, wrecked alliances, extralegal killings in Caribbean, constitutional crisis and so much more...
December 2, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Imagine if Biden had seized this chance way back in 2021 and tapped his VP to make it happen.
"Kamala accounts" and we might have avoided DOGE, tariff insanity, nat'l guard deployments, USAID closure, wrecked alliances, extralegal killings in Caribbean, constitutional crisis and so much more...
"Kamala accounts" and we might have avoided DOGE, tariff insanity, nat'l guard deployments, USAID closure, wrecked alliances, extralegal killings in Caribbean, constitutional crisis and so much more...
OF COURSE the Democrats didn't jump on this
December 2, 2025 at 1:22 PM
OF COURSE the Democrats didn't jump on this
Reposted by Andrew Farrand
You’ll never guess how the IDF decided to talk about killing these two kids, 8 and 11 years old, in its official statement
Two brothers killed in Israeli drone strike on Gaza
Fadi Abu Assi, 11, and Goma Abu Assi, eight, were gathering firewood at the time, their uncle said.
news.sky.com
December 2, 2025 at 6:49 AM
You’ll never guess how the IDF decided to talk about killing these two kids, 8 and 11 years old, in its official statement
It has the "gourmet kitchen" of every door dasher's dreams
December 1, 2025 at 11:46 PM
It has the "gourmet kitchen" of every door dasher's dreams
Reposted by Andrew Farrand
If the Venezuelan sailors were enemy combatants, then the 2nd strike is a war crime.
If the Venezuelan sailors weren’t enemy combatants, then both strikes are criminal murder.
It’s that simple.
If the Venezuelan sailors weren’t enemy combatants, then both strikes are criminal murder.
It’s that simple.
November 30, 2025 at 8:42 PM
If the Venezuelan sailors were enemy combatants, then the 2nd strike is a war crime.
If the Venezuelan sailors weren’t enemy combatants, then both strikes are criminal murder.
It’s that simple.
If the Venezuelan sailors weren’t enemy combatants, then both strikes are criminal murder.
It’s that simple.
I fear this is our first glimpse of our AI-infused future. Sure hope I'm wrong.
An issue we're seeing at all levels of university is that many students are simply refusing to do *anything*. They aren't reading the syllabus, aren't following assignment guidelines, aren't engaging with material, ignoring deadlines. And this might seem like old news, but it truly has ramped up.
November 29, 2025 at 6:06 AM
I fear this is our first glimpse of our AI-infused future. Sure hope I'm wrong.
Reposted by Andrew Farrand
Hell of a way to tee up America’s 250th year.
November 29, 2025 at 12:24 AM
Hell of a way to tee up America’s 250th year.
Reposted by Andrew Farrand
President Hernandez was serving 45 years in prison for a plot to distribute 400 tons of cocaine before Trump pardoned him. Meanwhile, Trump is murdering fishermen in small boats for allegedly smuggling far smaller amounts.
“Additionally, I Will be granting a Full and Complete Pardon to Former President Juan Orlando Hernandez who has been, according to many people that | greatly respect, treated very harshly and unfairly.”
November 29, 2025 at 12:52 AM
President Hernandez was serving 45 years in prison for a plot to distribute 400 tons of cocaine before Trump pardoned him. Meanwhile, Trump is murdering fishermen in small boats for allegedly smuggling far smaller amounts.
Reposted by Andrew Farrand
The biggest technological revolution of our lifetime is underway and it's not AI:
Official data is in this week, and US solar continues to grow rapidly, with generation up 30% compared to last year!
November 29, 2025 at 12:21 AM
The biggest technological revolution of our lifetime is underway and it's not AI:
Reposted by Andrew Farrand
"a single person of this demographic may have committed a crime, therefore we must punish the entire demographic" is a policy response you may recognize from fascist governments dedicated to ethnic cleansing elsewhere.
November 27, 2025 at 5:52 AM
"a single person of this demographic may have committed a crime, therefore we must punish the entire demographic" is a policy response you may recognize from fascist governments dedicated to ethnic cleansing elsewhere.
"It was Traoré who told his fellow African leaders to 'stop behaving like puppets every time the imperialists pull the strings'. But Sahelian countries are in danger of swapping one kind of imperialism for another."
Jihadism and Russia: a toxic mix in the Sahel
West needs a strategy to counter southern spread of instability into coastal states
on.ft.com
November 27, 2025 at 1:05 PM
"It was Traoré who told his fellow African leaders to 'stop behaving like puppets every time the imperialists pull the strings'. But Sahelian countries are in danger of swapping one kind of imperialism for another."
Reposted by Andrew Farrand
wild that this happened within 24 hours of bolsanaro going to prison. will be a timeless textbook example of what works to save a democracy and what doesn’t
Breaking News: The last pending criminal prosecution against President Trump was dismissed by a judge in Georgia, effectively ending efforts to hold Trump criminally responsible for attempts to overturn the 2020 election. trib.al/EnJu57H
November 26, 2025 at 4:51 PM
wild that this happened within 24 hours of bolsanaro going to prison. will be a timeless textbook example of what works to save a democracy and what doesn’t
Reposted by Andrew Farrand
It's funny to see the tech industry collectively decide, now that securing electricity is crucial to its business success, that it needed to find a more pretentious way of putting it.
So now everyone's in a mad dash for "electrons."
So now everyone's in a mad dash for "electrons."
November 26, 2025 at 12:08 AM
It's funny to see the tech industry collectively decide, now that securing electricity is crucial to its business success, that it needed to find a more pretentious way of putting it.
So now everyone's in a mad dash for "electrons."
So now everyone's in a mad dash for "electrons."
If realized, this will be a great demonstration of transparency by Damascus and a great step for justice in Lebanon.
"During & after the Lebanese civil war, a wave of assassinations targeted militia leaders, intellectual & political figures, & security officials, in the context of the struggle for influence between Syria, other Lebanese actors, & Israel."
english.enabbaladi.net/archives/202...
english.enabbaladi.net/archives/202...
Lebanon: Syria signals readiness to share information on Assad era assassinations - Enab Baladi
Lebanese Justice Minister Adel Nassar said that Syria is showing a positive attitude toward providing his country with information on […]
english.enabbaladi.net
November 25, 2025 at 12:24 AM
If realized, this will be a great demonstration of transparency by Damascus and a great step for justice in Lebanon.
Reposted by Andrew Farrand
For Freedom
Four Freedoms
Four Freedoms
November 24, 2025 at 12:21 AM
For Freedom
Four Freedoms
Four Freedoms
Reposted by Andrew Farrand
Global solar growth is up 64% in the first half of 2025 compared with 2024. Seems like we're at peak emissions in the electricity sector, with new solar+wind > demand growth.
Trumpies will slow it a little in the US, but that hardly matters globally.
ember-energy.org/latest-updat...
Trumpies will slow it a little in the US, but that hardly matters globally.
ember-energy.org/latest-updat...
Global solar installations surge 64% in first half of 2025 | Ember
ember-energy.org
November 24, 2025 at 12:59 AM
Global solar growth is up 64% in the first half of 2025 compared with 2024. Seems like we're at peak emissions in the electricity sector, with new solar+wind > demand growth.
Trumpies will slow it a little in the US, but that hardly matters globally.
ember-energy.org/latest-updat...
Trumpies will slow it a little in the US, but that hardly matters globally.
ember-energy.org/latest-updat...
Essential intel. You don't want to get this wrong.
November 24, 2025 at 1:11 AM
Essential intel. You don't want to get this wrong.
Iranian government looks to abandon Tehran amid climate-induced water crisis.
Why hasn't this gotten more press?
Because it's happening in the so-called "Axis of Evil," where our usual capacity to dehumanize "others" is even more robust.
Why hasn't this gotten more press?
Because it's happening in the so-called "Axis of Evil," where our usual capacity to dehumanize "others" is even more robust.
'Iran’s capital must be moved because the country “no longer has a choice,” President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday in remarks carried by state media, warning that severe ecological strain has made Tehran impossible to sustain'
#Iran 🇮🇷
#Iran 🇮🇷
Iran president says capital move now a necessity as water crisis deepens
Iran’s capital must be moved because the country “no longer has a choice,” President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday in remarks carried by state media, warning that severe ecological strain has mad...
www.iranintl.com
November 23, 2025 at 2:39 AM
Iranian government looks to abandon Tehran amid climate-induced water crisis.
Why hasn't this gotten more press?
Because it's happening in the so-called "Axis of Evil," where our usual capacity to dehumanize "others" is even more robust.
Why hasn't this gotten more press?
Because it's happening in the so-called "Axis of Evil," where our usual capacity to dehumanize "others" is even more robust.
Reposted by Andrew Farrand
Late November 2025.
Mali is still under heavy siege by Al-Qaeda forces.Burkina Faso in quagmire.Niger not any better. And Islamic State is clearly gaining power.
How did we get here? Can Al-Qaeda run the show or cannot as others say?
🧵A three-part thread. Sorry for the delay.
Mali is still under heavy siege by Al-Qaeda forces.Burkina Faso in quagmire.Niger not any better. And Islamic State is clearly gaining power.
How did we get here? Can Al-Qaeda run the show or cannot as others say?
🧵A three-part thread. Sorry for the delay.
November 21, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Late November 2025.
Mali is still under heavy siege by Al-Qaeda forces.Burkina Faso in quagmire.Niger not any better. And Islamic State is clearly gaining power.
How did we get here? Can Al-Qaeda run the show or cannot as others say?
🧵A three-part thread. Sorry for the delay.
Mali is still under heavy siege by Al-Qaeda forces.Burkina Faso in quagmire.Niger not any better. And Islamic State is clearly gaining power.
How did we get here? Can Al-Qaeda run the show or cannot as others say?
🧵A three-part thread. Sorry for the delay.
Reposted by Andrew Farrand
The “peace plan” for Ukraine is just a framework for Russia & the US to take assets away from Ukrainian recovery, and to ensure Russia evades accountability for war crimes
Europe can, and must, craft better with Ukraine
A point by point analysis of the shambles:
www.greatpower.us/p/28-points-...
Europe can, and must, craft better with Ukraine
A point by point analysis of the shambles:
www.greatpower.us/p/28-points-...
28 Points Later
A definitive guide to the Russian zombie diplomacy of Trump’s peace plan for Ukraine — aka what happens when you let the Russians eat your brains
www.greatpower.us
November 21, 2025 at 9:22 PM
The “peace plan” for Ukraine is just a framework for Russia & the US to take assets away from Ukrainian recovery, and to ensure Russia evades accountability for war crimes
Europe can, and must, craft better with Ukraine
A point by point analysis of the shambles:
www.greatpower.us/p/28-points-...
Europe can, and must, craft better with Ukraine
A point by point analysis of the shambles:
www.greatpower.us/p/28-points-...
Reposted by Andrew Farrand
when I was young, i used to wonder how people like this would fare in life, as they didn't seem suited for gainful employment. it turns out, the internet allowed them to accumulate a massive audience of similar idiots, enriching them and turning them into a presidential advisor
November 20, 2025 at 12:58 AM
when I was young, i used to wonder how people like this would fare in life, as they didn't seem suited for gainful employment. it turns out, the internet allowed them to accumulate a massive audience of similar idiots, enriching them and turning them into a presidential advisor