Michael Land
@mland12.bsky.social
Occasionally professional Eastern Europe + Eurasia researcher | PNWer living the DC life | Usual caveats | he/him
Apparently there are retailers now claiming to sell pieces of the doomed Columbia space shuttle (albeit not parts that were part of its last mission). To be clear, Santa, this isn't on my list this year.
December 18, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Apparently there are retailers now claiming to sell pieces of the doomed Columbia space shuttle (albeit not parts that were part of its last mission). To be clear, Santa, this isn't on my list this year.
There is no MAGA. There is only Dubya. There has only ever been Dubya.
Trump on Venezuela: "Getting land, oil rights, whatever we had -- they took it away because we had a president that maybe wasn't watching. But they're not gonna do that. We want it back. They took our oil rights. We had a lot of oil there. They threw our companies out. And we want it back."
December 17, 2025 at 9:56 PM
There is no MAGA. There is only Dubya. There has only ever been Dubya.
If I ever manipulate an ISW map to get a huge payout on Polymarket, I wouldn't tell anyone. But there would be signs...
www.covers.com/industry/sta...
www.covers.com/industry/sta...
December 16, 2025 at 5:01 PM
If I ever manipulate an ISW map to get a huge payout on Polymarket, I wouldn't tell anyone. But there would be signs...
www.covers.com/industry/sta...
www.covers.com/industry/sta...
Here's a puzzle for DC folks: a Red Line Train... to Fort Totten... at West Falls Church Station
December 10, 2025 at 12:32 AM
Here's a puzzle for DC folks: a Red Line Train... to Fort Totten... at West Falls Church Station
Clay Higgins's statement on his sole NO vote on releasing the Epstein files:
November 18, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Clay Higgins's statement on his sole NO vote on releasing the Epstein files:
Georgetown Flea Market rugs go extremely hard
November 16, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Georgetown Flea Market rugs go extremely hard
Tuesday evening: Mamdani wins
My daylist Wednesday morning:
My daylist Wednesday morning:
November 5, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Tuesday evening: Mamdani wins
My daylist Wednesday morning:
My daylist Wednesday morning:
Reposted by Michael Land
Syrian president Ahmed al-Shara'a expected to visit Washington according to US Envoy Tom Barrack
November 1, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Syrian president Ahmed al-Shara'a expected to visit Washington according to US Envoy Tom Barrack
In case anyone was wondering why the Pentagon's budget is so high and where all that money goes:
October 22, 2025 at 2:28 AM
In case anyone was wondering why the Pentagon's budget is so high and where all that money goes:
Reposted by Michael Land
Seattle No Kings from the monorail
October 18, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Seattle No Kings from the monorail
Reposted by Michael Land
ICE is literally shooting priests like it's 1905 or some shit
October 8, 2025 at 2:22 AM
ICE is literally shooting priests like it's 1905 or some shit
"We conducted a seance, and the spirit of Donald Trump confirmed that he is in excellent health and prepared to finish out his term in office."
-Jake Tapper a few years down the road, probably
-Jake Tapper a few years down the road, probably
October 6, 2025 at 6:44 PM
"We conducted a seance, and the spirit of Donald Trump confirmed that he is in excellent health and prepared to finish out his term in office."
-Jake Tapper a few years down the road, probably
-Jake Tapper a few years down the road, probably
Random observation, but El Salvador is considered a level one "exercise normal precaution" country on the State Department advisory list? Safer than France, Denmark, or Sweden?
October 4, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Random observation, but El Salvador is considered a level one "exercise normal precaution" country on the State Department advisory list? Safer than France, Denmark, or Sweden?
Imagine being a terrorist and having the police get a higher body count than you during your own attack. How embarrassing!
Two victims in Manchester attack were shot by police on.ft.com/42KdNBd
Two victims in Manchester attack were shot by police
Greater Manchester police say one of those shot by officers has died
on.ft.com
October 3, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Imagine being a terrorist and having the police get a higher body count than you during your own attack. How embarrassing!
Reposted by Michael Land
There And Back Again: Jabhat al-Nusrah, General David Petraeus, and Ahmad al-Sharaa www.jihadologyplus.com/p/there-and-...
Uncovering a long-forgotten release by 'Abd al-Rahim 'Atun from 2015 in light of the recent event between Sharaa and Petraeus.
Uncovering a long-forgotten release by 'Abd al-Rahim 'Atun from 2015 in light of the recent event between Sharaa and Petraeus.
There And Back Again: Jabhat al-Nusrah, General David Petraeus, and Ahmad al-Sharaa
How times have changed
www.jihadologyplus.com
October 1, 2025 at 7:37 PM
There And Back Again: Jabhat al-Nusrah, General David Petraeus, and Ahmad al-Sharaa www.jihadologyplus.com/p/there-and-...
Uncovering a long-forgotten release by 'Abd al-Rahim 'Atun from 2015 in light of the recent event between Sharaa and Petraeus.
Uncovering a long-forgotten release by 'Abd al-Rahim 'Atun from 2015 in light of the recent event between Sharaa and Petraeus.
Reposted by Michael Land
Trump’s ICE agents tried to kidnap a food delivery worker in Chicago - but the guy was too fast for them.
September 29, 2025 at 6:48 AM
Trump’s ICE agents tried to kidnap a food delivery worker in Chicago - but the guy was too fast for them.
Brutalism is beautiful
September 25, 2025 at 10:07 PM
Brutalism is beautiful
Reposted by Michael Land
I was listening to an old Casey Kasem American Top 40 (I find this soothing these days) from 1985 where he told the story of Wendy Carlos, who scored The Shining and Tron, and her journey to becoming trans. Casey got all the pronouns right and it was presented as a slice of life, feel good story
Cool tip: it actually takes MORE effort to deliberately misgender someone AND it marks you as a total asshole! Pretty cool!
September 13, 2025 at 9:26 PM
I was listening to an old Casey Kasem American Top 40 (I find this soothing these days) from 1985 where he told the story of Wendy Carlos, who scored The Shining and Tron, and her journey to becoming trans. Casey got all the pronouns right and it was presented as a slice of life, feel good story
Reposted by Michael Land
Can’t shake the suspicion that WSJ and other outlets that ran with the incendiary misinformation of Charlie Kirk’s killer’s “transgender ideology” are madder at people pointing out that they royally screwed up than they are at people who fed them bigoted BS.
I hope I’m wrong and they show everyone.
I hope I’m wrong and they show everyone.
September 12, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Can’t shake the suspicion that WSJ and other outlets that ran with the incendiary misinformation of Charlie Kirk’s killer’s “transgender ideology” are madder at people pointing out that they royally screwed up than they are at people who fed them bigoted BS.
I hope I’m wrong and they show everyone.
I hope I’m wrong and they show everyone.
National Guard monitoring HIGHLY SUSPICIONS LOCALS at the crime ridden [checks notes] Georgetown Waterfront. :P
September 3, 2025 at 11:10 PM
National Guard monitoring HIGHLY SUSPICIONS LOCALS at the crime ridden [checks notes] Georgetown Waterfront. :P
The crash in Lisbon today is horrible and surreal. I was on Lisbon's Gloria funicular just this past Sunday. I didn't know about Lisbon's funicular and trams until I visited, and they're a beautiful, quaint, but also very sensible way to get about town. Hope this is a chance at a rebirth.
September 3, 2025 at 8:17 PM
The crash in Lisbon today is horrible and surreal. I was on Lisbon's Gloria funicular just this past Sunday. I didn't know about Lisbon's funicular and trams until I visited, and they're a beautiful, quaint, but also very sensible way to get about town. Hope this is a chance at a rebirth.
Reposted by Michael Land
75% of the National Guard troops deployed to Los Angeles said they will not re-enlist due to the deployment
davisvanguard.org/2025/07/trum...
davisvanguard.org/2025/07/trum...
Opinion: The Soldiers Are Asking Why — And So Should We - Davis Vanguard
President Trump's deployment of National Guard troops and Marines in Los Angeles has resulted in low morale among the ranks and the misuse of federal power, as the troops are not being deployed to pro...
davisvanguard.org
August 15, 2025 at 12:50 PM
75% of the National Guard troops deployed to Los Angeles said they will not re-enlist due to the deployment
davisvanguard.org/2025/07/trum...
davisvanguard.org/2025/07/trum...
Reposted by Michael Land
A useful WaPo map of where Trump Storm Troops are actually operating in DC.
www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
If you know DC, what this map tell you is: They're making the gaudy show of strength in areas where it matters least and will do least good. Except for sheer spectacle.
www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
If you know DC, what this map tell you is: They're making the gaudy show of strength in areas where it matters least and will do least good. Except for sheer spectacle.
August 16, 2025 at 12:51 PM
A useful WaPo map of where Trump Storm Troops are actually operating in DC.
www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
If you know DC, what this map tell you is: They're making the gaudy show of strength in areas where it matters least and will do least good. Except for sheer spectacle.
www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
If you know DC, what this map tell you is: They're making the gaudy show of strength in areas where it matters least and will do least good. Except for sheer spectacle.
Reposted by Michael Land
GPT-5 is a significant downgrade in terms of geolocation capability. Find our latest benchmark update below
Following our earlier investigation into the effectiveness of LLMs for geolocation, we've tested some of the latest LLM updates to see if they're even better.
www.bellingcat.com/resources/20...
www.bellingcat.com/resources/20...
August 14, 2025 at 11:04 AM
GPT-5 is a significant downgrade in terms of geolocation capability. Find our latest benchmark update below