think we need to track how many members of trump's cabinet accept the basic tents of nineteenth century science, because we've got two who reject germ theory
arstechnica.com/health/2025/...
The thing is you have a Secretary of Defense who quite literally does not think germs are real, he explicitly rejects germ theory
The question to ask isn't "why did pete do (x)," it's "why did roger wicker vote to confirm a guy who literally doesn't think germs are real"
"There should be no mystery why younger Americans are as pro-Palestinian today as their forebears were once pro-Israeli. Rabin staked his life on peace. What will posterity say of Netanyahu?" My column on why America is falling out of love with Israel. www.ft.com/content/353e...
A warning by former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev crystallized fears among Gulf states that reopening the Strait of Hormuz may be the most Iran-US talks can achieve, falling short of the broader de-escalation they regard as vital reut.rs/4e5Gijf
Australia has reached an agreement, valued at up to $10 billion, to purchase 11 Japanese-built frigates, underscoring growing defense ties amid concerns about China's military expansion.
From Stars and Stripes' Seth Robson and Hana Kusumoto:
The United States has invested heavily in high-end capability. The war in Iran suggests the harder problem is sustaining that force when losses mount, and logistics become contested.
The list is lengthening
1/2 "When the UGVs reached the school building, the vehicle with rockets opened fire, forcing the Russian troops away from the windows. Two other robots then drove nearby or into the building and detonated, setting off the stored ammunition." www.nytimes.com/2026/04/20/w...
Teachers in Russia’s Chelyabinsk region were instructed to read out an edited version of a speech by Adolf Hitler. Eight out of 12 schools agreed.
The stunt was organized by Belarusian activist Vladislav Bokhan.
He took Hitler’s speech from September 1, 1939,
"Truump has been proven correct not to worry about constitutional checks and balances. He assumes, correctly, that Republicans will let him get away with anything – and, given he was re-elected after inciting the January 6 riots, he has good reason to assume his voters won’t punish him either."
Russian Z-blogger Yevgeny Golman has gone into a meltdown again:
"They [Ukrainians] are surpassing us, flying at 2,000 km, we've f*cked everything up, it’s constant bullsh*t - the country is f*cked."
@pkrugman.bsky.social: “In my view, a full-on global recession is more likely than not if the Strait remains closed for, say, another three months, which seems all too possible.” open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...
There is no doubt that the reliability of the USA since Trump has taken office has massively suffered, politically, economically and militarily. It will eventually lead to more countries detaching themselves from Washington.
A rare public rebuke from a Russian industrialist: Vladimir Boglaev, director of the Cherepovets Foundry and Mechanical Plant, says the country's state authorities have lost touch with reality and that Russia faces upheaval comparable to the Soviet collapse. t.me/Russian_Faus...
FT Exclusive: Stockholm’s military intelligence head said Moscow is systematically manipulating data to fool Ukraine’s western allies into believing its economy has withstood the strain of its lavish war spending and western sanctions. ft.trib.al/uloekqX
🔥🛢️BREAKING: The Russian oil refinery in Tuapse was hit hard overnight, footage shows widespread fires raging across the site, with a lot of separate fire outbreaks visible.
Canada's ties to the U.S. have become a weakness, Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a video message to his country in which he also praised the heroism of military leaders who fought against U.S. invasion in 1812.
Is that bad? Seems bad
Americans are thought to spend billions of dollars a year preparing for emergencies. At the extreme end of the market sits the bunker business
Canadian PM says close economic ties with US have become a ‘weakness’
Canadian PM says close economic ties with US have become a ‘weakness’ https://aje.news/ztplts
Finnish President Stubb:
Ukraine is killing 30–35k Russians a month; Russia can’t replace losses. About 95% of kills are by drones.
Ukraine is retaking ground and in March launched more drones/missiles at Russia than vice versa. This isn’t charity anymore — the West needs Ukraine’s know-how.
Israeli soldier filmed smashing Jesus statue in Lebanon - www.middleeasteye.net/news/israeli-soldier-fil...
Key point: until the IRGC signs off, none of these talks actually matter.
“neither have the authority to independently determine Iran’s negotiating positions nor are driving decision-making in Tehran.”
Trump post on Truth Social: Iran decided to fire bullets yesterday in the Strait of Hormuz — A Total Violation of our Ceasefire Agreement! Many of them were aimed at a French Ship, and a Freighter from the United Kingdom. That wasn't nice, was it? My Representatives are going to Islamabad, Pakistan — They will be there tomorrow evening, for Negotiations. Iran recently announced that they were closing the Strait, which is strange, because our BLOCKADE has already closed it. They're helping us without knowing, and they are the ones that lose with the closed passage, $500 Million Dollars a day! The United States loses nothing. In fact, many Ships are headed, right now, to the U.S., Texas, Louisiana, and Alaska, to load up, compliments of the IRGC, always wanting to be "the tough guy!" We're offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and ! hope they take it because, if they don't, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran. NO MORE MR. NICE GUY! They'll come down fast, they'll come down easy and, if they don't take the DEAL, it will be my Honor to do what has to be done, which should have been done to Iran, by other Presidents, for the last 47 years. IT'S TIME FOR THE IRAN KILLING MACHINE TO END! President DONALD J. TRUMP
Here we go again
Trump is reported close to a "deal" with himself under which US taxpayers would pay him $10 billion.
I served in multiple communist and authoritarian dictatorships, but I never witnessed corruption on this scale or this blatant.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense has set an ambitious goal to transition up to 100% of frontline logistics to robotic systems.
To meet new target, Ukraine’s MoD plans to contract 25,000 UGVs in the first half of 2026, twice as many as were contracted throughout all of 2025.
