If you go back 900 years, then a very high percentage of the people who read this post will also be descended from this man's ancestor.

I'm almost certainly descended from him.

Why don't I get a seat in the House of Lords?

The good news is that by the time this is done I won't be considered the only strategic moron on the global stage

❗️President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev: Russia directly targeted the embassy of Azerbaijan in Kyiv.

Moscow denied this. But we all know the value of their denials.

Russia is ready to discuss "UN-supervised external governance of Ukraine" deputy FM Galuzin says, apparently from some parallel universe. Moscow would also refrain from strikes on election day if "Kyiv dares to vote."

Neutral in Name Only – Riddle Russia Rasmus G. D. Hardt and Lærke Holst on Moldova’s Westward Security Shift and Its Significant Risks

#Moldova is adapting a new security approach backed by EU and NATO. However Russia is spinning it to help convince Moldovan electorate that this approach is the opposite of what ruling party wants to achieve.
ridl.io/neutral-in-n...

Their mom is 35 weeks pregnant, she's in hospital with a blast injury, traumatic brain injury, acubarotrauma, and thermal burns. Doctors are fighting for her life.

This is what Russia does to Ukrainians - destroys. It must be stopped.

Russia sentences 70-year-old pensioner from occupied Tokmak to 15 years for supporting Ukraine All of Russia’s sentences against Ukrainian patriots are shocking, but here the aggressor state first forced Svitlana Loi to take its citizenship and is now almost certainly putting her life in danger

Russia sentences 70-year-old pensioner from occupied Tokmak to 15 years for supporting Ukraine
khpg.org/en/1608815509

The Epstein Revelations Keep Getting Worse (w/ Jane Coaston) | The Bulwark Podcast YouTube video by The Bulwark

“A sultan from the UAE, who sent a “torture video” to Epstein, attended Trump’s first inaugural…The same country where the royal family secretly bought half of the Trump family’s crypto venture. Sultan bin Sulayem was one of six men whose names were redacted...”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sYM...

Bezos isn't destroying the Washington Post because it isn't profitable. He's destroying the Washington Post because he's calculated that a robust free press threatens the ability of his class to warp society around their interests

The guy who owns Amazon shutting down the books section of the Washington Post is beyond parody

The Washington Post dies in broad daylight.

Denmark ahead the US on this sad blacklist!

The per-million chart of coalition deaths in Afghanistan reframes the narrative: smaller allies often paid a heavier human toll relative to population. Source: buff.ly/Tiy86K2

🚨New WP "@Grok is this true?"
We analyze 1.6M factcheck requests on X (grok & Perplexity)
📌Usage is polarized, Grok users more likely to be Reps
📌BUT Rep posts rated as false more often—even by Grok
📌Bot agreement with factchecks is OK but not great; APIs match fact-checkers
osf.io/preprints/ps...

Any news story, blog post, or YouTube video reporting on crime should include a longitudinal view such as this. The US is a much safer place than it was in the 1990s. Source: buff.ly/8Xot3Bt

OTD in 2002 Ukraine dismantled its final Tu-160, supersonic heavy bomber.

Having given up nukes, long range ability to threaten Russia and the entire firing chain, Ukraine was subsequently rewarded with invasion, concern and thoughts & prayers.

OTD in 1920 Soviet Russia signed the Treaty of Tartu with Estonia. We promised that Russia “unreservedly recognizes the independence and sovereignty of the State of Estonia forever”.

Further proof you can trust a treaty we would sign with Ukraine…

Russians are outraged as Elon Musk blocks Starlink use by their forces. Kremlin pundit Solovyov called it a "stab in the back," slamming Musk for cooperating with Ukraine’s Defense Minister Fedorov, whom he labeled a "killer and Russophobe".

France fills intel gap as U.S. aid to Ukraine remains uncertain Ukraine may sharply reduce its dependence on U.S. intelligence within months, Financial Times reported, citing a Western official.

Ukraine may sharply reduce its dependence on U.S. intelligence within months

Trump officials met group pushing Alberta independence from Canada Separatists from oil-rich province try to capitalise on friction between White House and Mark Carney

Source:
www.ft.com/content/11dc...

In Russia, there has been talk about wanting to open the border with Ukraine. Russians who are in Ukraine supposedly cannot leave because their foreign passports have expired.

"People have effectively found themselves trapped due to the lack of valid documents." - said the Russian ombudsman.

German Chancellor called Ukraine’s accession to the EU in 2027 impossible kraine will need to complete the multi-year Copenhagen criteria process before joining the European Union, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said

Germany's Merz shuts down Ukraine's 2027 EU membership hopes: "Out of the question. It's not possible"

Says Copenhagen criteria process takes years, though Ukraine still needs "realistic prospect" of joining long-term
euromaidanpress.com/2026/01/29/g...

You see ICU Nurse Alex Pretti assisting veterans learning to walk again. Donald Trump sees a domestic terrorist and suckers and losers.

Today, the EU provided the first €10 million for a new Special Tribunal to prosecute Russian leaders for their role in Moscow’s war against Ukraine.

Russia’s leaders are responsible for this war, and they must be held accountable. There can be no impunity. (1/2)

Sorry but why the fuck would you *not* want to recreate 2006?Pre-financial crash, pre-austerity, pre-Brexit, pre-inflation. Britain's economically healthy, decent public services, largely competent government, fairly amiable political disputes. What kind of person prefers this period to that?

(POLITICO) - Slovakia’s prime minister told EU leaders last week that a meeting with Donald Trump left him shocked by the U.S. president’s state of mind

Robert Fico said Trump appeared psychologically unstable and described him as “dangerous” after their Jan. 17 meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate

"She was crying and screaming, 'Mom!'"

Radio Liberty war correspondent Marian Kushnir rescued a 4-yr-old girl from a burning residential building hit by a Russian drone in Bilohorodka, Kyiv region

The girl’s mom was killed.