A recurrent theme throughout this war has been that Western decision-makers, driven by inherent risk aversion, are being pushed ever closer to a position where they will sooner or later have to accept tremendous risks to avert Ukrainian defeat and its catastrophic consequences.

For some reason, I was just thinking about how Trump’s former chief of staff tried to warn us right before the election that Trump was a fascist who wanted to rule us like a dictator … and the New York Times put that story on page A12

The latest satellite images show 3 major developments: a large Russian troop buildup in Bryansk Oblast, damage from recent drone strikes in Kyiv, and unusual military activities at Taiwan’s Wangan Airport.

All three have one thing in common - they were generated by AI. 🧵Thread:

In New York, ICE detained a busload of farmworkers that were actively involved in a union drive.

In Washington state, ICE dragged a farmworkers’ rights activist and leader out of his car to detain him.

Be warned: attacking unions is a hallmark of fascism.

If this is true!!! We need to act now!!!

Thinks it’s more a Doolittle Raid comparison.

One thing I haven't seen pointed out, although someone must have said it, is that much of the reported EU surplus is probably a fiction driven by tax avoidance. Ireland supposedly exports 6 times as much to America as it imports; it's 3 percent of EU GDP but accounts for 1/3 the trade imbalance

❗️🇩🇪 Ex-German Chancellor and Putin's friend Schroder finally has his bank account blocked - for transfers from Gazprom.

According to Bild, the money mainly came from the Swiss "subsidiary" of Gazprom, where he still sits on the supervisory board.

The United States abandoning of Ukraine, and that’s what this is, is both the most shameful and stupid move in the history of US foreign policy.

Mike Johnson Insists It's 'Moral' to Throw People Off Medicaid House Speaker Mike Johnson claimed adding a Medicaid work requirement to the Republican spending bill has a "moral component."

"There’s a moral component to what we’re doing."

Watch/Read ⤵️

It Should Not Be Controversial to Plead for Gaza’s Children Israel’s limits on aid have put the region at “critical risk of famine.” Help is within reach. But it’s not enough—and it’s arriving too slowly.

It should not be controversial to say that the starvation of Gaza’s children is wrong, @julieebeck.bsky.social argues:

Ciao Johannes. Mi piacciono molto le tue storie ma in questo formato le trovo poco fruibili.
Ho scritto questo messaggio per darti un feedback che magari può aiutarti a raggiungere più persone.
Non lo intendo minimamente come una critica.
Grazie 🙏

Attack of the Sadistic Zombies The GOP budget is incredibly cruel — and that’s the point

I probably should do more to let people here know about free posts on Substack. So here's today's: paulkrugman.substack.com/p/attack-of-...

“Gaza’s horrific loss since Oct 7th is equivalent to the murder of 1.7 million Brits, yet many support Netanyahu - I fear for the UK.”

Checking back on this…

AMERICANS WON’T ATTEND THE UKRAINE SUPPORT GROUP (ex-Ramstein format).
No US rep will be in attendance for the first time. Not just no SecDef but no one at all is authorised to attend, suggesting complete American disengagement from supporting Ukraine going forward.

Number of F-35 jets ‘missing’ from hangar at RAF base Officials stressed there is no indication of foul play and that the situation is "well understood given the nature of the platform".

Officials stressed there is no indication of foul play and that the situation is "well understood given the nature of the platform".
ukdefencejournal.org.uk/?p=58119

Line graph time series of 2025's daily Arctic sea ice extent compared to decadal averages from the 1980s to the 2010s. The decadal averages are shown with different colored lines with purple for the 1980s, blue for the 1990s, green for the 2000s, and white for the 2010s. Thin white lines are also shown for each year from 2000 to 2024. 2025 is shown with a thick gold line. There is a long-term decreasing trend in ice extent for every day of the year shown on this graph between February and May by looking at the decadal average line positions.

Friday ice update - #Arctic sea ice extent is currently the lowest on record (JAXA data)

• about 600,000 km² below the 2010s mean
• about 1,010,000 km² below the 2000s mean
• about 1,510,000 km² below the 1990s mean
• about 1,890,000 km² below the 1980s mean

Plots: zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-i... 🧪⚒️🌊

🇫🇷🗼🇺🇦

***BREAKING***

Fresh #Russian strike on Ukrainian energy infrastructure in Sloviansk. This comes after US Gov statement that Putin-Trump agreed to 30-day halt on Ukraine energy facility strikes

🕸️👀 Fiber optic drone cables near the front!

there were multiple reporters outside of the institute of museum and library services today as DOGE invaded their headquarters, but not a single elected official.

something to consider when thinking about who’s actually defending democracy.

honestly, great q

Schumer has to go. If he doesn’t want to resign we will make him. An utter disgrace.

I joined Ali Velshi last night on MSNBC’s The Eleventh Hour to discuss the Chief Justice’s rebuke of the President. I explained that America is in a constitutional crisis when, rather than faithfully executing the laws, the President of the United States is defying the laws.

That poor dealer. Stuck with dozens of cybertrucks they couldn’t sell and then a tragic fire took them all away.

Anyhow, leaving a link to this totally unrelated article: www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...

An ICE Contractor Is Worth Billions. It’s Still Fighting to Pay Detainees as Little as $1 a Day to Work. GEO Group, whose stock is valued at $4 billion, says that state minimum wage laws don’t apply to the cleaning services that it’s asked detained migrants to perform at facilities where they’re kept.

NEW: GEO Group, whose stock is valued at $4 billion, says that state minimum wage laws don’t apply to the cleaning services that it’s asked detained migrants to perform at facilities where they’re kept. @mckenziefunk.com

Exclusive: US suspends some efforts to counter Russian sabotage as Trump moves closer to Putin Several U.S. national security agencies have halted work on a coordinated effort to counter Russian sabotage, disinformation and cyberattacks, easing pressure on Moscow as the Trump Administration pushes Russia to end its war in Ukraine.

Ineptitude or malevolence, perhaps both. And Congress asleep at the wheel.

“Several U.S. national security agencies have halted work on a coordinated effort to counter Russian sabotage, disinformation and cyberattacks, easing pressure on Moscow” www.reuters.com/world/us-sus...

Something to think about