Free: A Child and a Country at the End of History by Lea Ypi Growing Up Albanian in Europe's Last Stalinist Communist State

An Albanian story worth reading.

I don't know but I believe that a US invasion is more likely than not. In Trump's vision, Russia gets Ukraine by right, China gets Taiwan by right, and the US gets Canada and Greenland. It's what he wants, and the supine GOP has no objection. The Canadian war has already begun.

10. Many Canadian police forces fold and acknowledge US occupation.
11. Quebec continues to mount insurgency for years to come.
12. Notwithstanding promise of statehood, the US maintains Canada in a status of territory to avoid upsetting balance of power in House.

8. Canada declares war - the US does not, thereby avoiding need to go to Congress for declaration of war.
9. US forces soon defeat 60,000 soldier Candian defense forces in a series of short sharp military actions.
10. US forces soon occupy major Canadian cities.
(continued)

5. US deploys Special Operations forces over border
6. US mounts two incursions dividing Canada into three regions, West, Central, and East.
7. Canadian insurgents (citizens with guns) respond, giving the US causas belli for increased pace of military operations
(continued)

The Coming US Invasion of Canada
1. US invents and amplifies alleged problems (e.g., "fentanyl).
2. US imposes tariffs, heating up Canadian anti-US rhetoric
3. US begins cyber operations against Canadian infrastructure
4. US increases espionage activities
(continued)

Only Israel had the foresight to understand that the US might not be a trustworthy ally in the future. But they've had experience with that in the past. The Europeans chose to believe that the US alliance was forever. That was a mistake.

You Don't Need A Kill Switch To Hobble Exported F-35s The U.S. doesn't have to rely on a kill switch to rapidly degrade and soon end a foreign country's ability to use its F-35s.

Exactly. We've got something just as good... a supply chain. Europe as a whole and any nation that trusted the US for its defense against Russia is screwed now. www.twz.com/air/you-dont...

“We have been trying to tell people to recalibrate.”... A US administration could put restrictions on kit from the US and that if countries are “deemed not to be doing what you are told you will suddenly find out missiles won’t fire and planes won’t fly. You have got to be careful.”

This is pretty in-the-weeds, but I strongly suspect it is real. Defense experts (governmental or industry not specified) are warning their European colleagues that the US could remotely disable the functionality of missiles or airplanes in a future European conflict. Europe, do not trust the USA.

Exclusive: Hegseth orders Cyber Command to stand down on Russia planning The secretary of Defense has ordered U.S. Cyber Command to stand down from all planning against Russia, including offensive digital actions, sources tell Recorded Future News.

I'm telling you, he (Agent Krasnov) IS a Russian agent. He IS running a Russian penetration operation against the United States. He is a traitor. Now, we'll find out if the GOP is fully onboard with Putin and Agent Krasnov, or not.

Trump Berates Zelensky at White House Meeting: Live Updates

America's eternal shame. Agent Krasnov does Moscow's bidding and turns his back on an ally fighting a war against a truly evil empire. This is a moment of betrayal like none I've ever seen.

www.nytimes.com/live/2025/02...

injunction junction, what's your function?

Jawohl, dieser Plan ist vollständig mit den Gesetzen des Dritten Reiches vereinbar.

More like "fuck you for your service."

... that corruption's gangrene has spread too far to be healed by our scepter, that the triumph over enemy sovereigns has made us the heirs of their long undoing.

Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities

(Apply to your situation as needed.)

... offering in exchange annual tributes of precious metals, tanned hides, and tortoise shell. It is the desperate moment when we discover that this empire, which had seemed to us the sum of all wonders, is an endless, formless ruin,...

... where they are portrayed, and rolls up, one after the other, the dispatches announcing to us the collapse of the last enemy troops, from defeat to defeat, and flakes the wax of the seals of obscure kings who beseech our armies' protection,....

There is a sense of emptiness that comes over us at evening, with the odor of the elephants after the rain and the sandalwood growing cold in the braziers, a dizziness that makes rivers and mountains tremble on the fallow curves of the planispheres...

In the lives of emperors there is a moment which follows pride in the boundless extension of the territories we have conquered, and the melancholy and relief of knowing we shall soon give up any thought of knowing and understanding them.

Calvino, Invisible Cities

Trust the Germans, they know a Nazi salute when they see one.

WA, CA, MA, NJ will be sitting pretty.

Miles's review of Daniel Deronda 5/5: I have very little experience with 19th century English literature, but I picked up George Eliot's Daniel Deronda because it is, famously, a Jewish story, and I was dead curious to see how Jews w...

I read and reviewed George Eliot's Daniel Deronda.
#english #literature #jewish #judaism

Miles's review of Jewish Odyssey of George Eliot 5/5: Having just completed my first time reading of Eliot's Daniel Deronda, I eagerly dived into this review of her relationship to Jews and Judaism, and the critics' relationship to her book. It was ...

Here's my review of Gertrude Himmelfarb's history of the background and critical reception of Eliot's Daniel Deronda. It is a fascinating read for anyone interested in the Jewish dimensions of George Eliot's life and her final novel.
#jewish #literature #judaism

www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

"Excluding Indians": Trump admin questions Native Americans' birthright citizenship in court The Trump admin is leaning on a pre-14th Amendment law in its fight to redefine birthright citizenship.

depravity

www.salon.com/2025/01/23/e...

I kept this screenshot assuming someday we might be asked to forget.

Biological Magnetic Sensing Comes Close to Quantum Limit Researchers find that two types of biological magnetic sensor can sense fields close to the quantum limit, a finding that could guide the design of lab-made devices.

Canada geese are among the species that navigate by sensing small changes in Earth’s magnetic field. Researchers have now calculated bounds on the sensing ability of biological magnetoreceptors and concluded that two types of receptors likely operate close to the quantum limit.