New NATO members Sweden and Finland taking on a central role in the alliance’s enhanced deterrence and defense in Northern Europe:
“For the first time in its history, Sweden is set to serve as a Framework Nation within NATO, taking command of FLF Finland this summer”
prediction markets are a public menace
FBI began investigating @nytimes.com reporter Elizabeth Williamson after she wrote about Patel using bureau personnel to provide his girlfriend with security and transportation. DOJ officials were concerned it was retaliation and found no legal basis to proceed. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/22/u...
Holy shit. The FBI raided this woman's house with a helicopter based on the word of a "gait analysis" quack they found on X.
White House staffer Margo Martin tweets "Congratulations, Georgia Women's Tennis" with a photo of Trump and a bunch of dudes and some female heads way in the back
i had to triple check that this wasn't from a parody account
I mean I spent 29 years in markets and know that second-guessing them is frequently, even generally, expensive. But the last time I remember this level of refusal to acknowledge disaster would be 2007-08.
Grim but useful read.
Global energy markets are on the verge of a disaster
economist.com/finance-and-...
(tweet is from yday)
am puzzled
Or in the FT. Because it's a deeply stupid point.
UK nominal GDP has overtaken India, probably temporarily, and driven entirely by exchange rate fluctuations (mostly the fall of the rupee, which has indeed been "sensational").
We have not grown faster than India - quite the opposite.
Russia was forced to reduce oil output (by 300-400k barrels per day) in April due to Ukrainian drone attacks on ports and refineries
Even for a man with no concept or honor, this is unspeakably vile.
"Part of the reason the weaponization work has been difficult is that you need people who are MAGA and who are really competent," said Chad Mizelle, former chief of staff for Bondi. "Many career prosecutors are not interested in this kind of work. It's a very small group of people."
Bondi's former chief of staff Chad Mizelle: "Part of the reason the weaponization work has been difficult is that you need people who are MAGA and who are really competent."
From @paulareidcnn.bsky.social and other @cnn.com folks:
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that the bloc intends to cut funding to the Venice Biennale following a decision by the art exhibition to readmit Russian artists to its 2026 edition.
(FT) - Lufthansa has cancelled 20,000 flights between May and October to save fuel, one of the largest cuts by global airlines as jet fuel prices double following the Iran war.
@financialtimes.com $JETS
www.ft.com/content/bd0e...
Do these guys never look at footage like this and go “actually, I look an utter twat”?
President Trump predicted the US government would have a good relationship Anthropic, a stark reversal in tone toward the artificial company that’s embroiled in a fight with the Pentagon.
First: hilarious.
Second: A core belief of Trump-brand conservativsm is there are and never have been difficult problems, only dumb leaders without the strength to be cruel enough to solve them.
It's why they always look so baffled when pushing the "more cruelty" button doesn't seem to work.
you might be surprised by how often Tesla's data recording systems randomly break, fail to function properly, go missing, or are otherwise mysteriously unable to perform their functions precisely when they are needed most
then again, you might not be surprised at all
electrek.co/2026/04/13/t...
The reason I despise the TACO meme so much is in how it generates a false sense of certainty towards a sociopathically volatile President
Puts British political scandal into perspective
"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...
I think both a cause and effect of the slide towards authoritarianism is information systems slipping from an attempt to inform towards an attempt to enflame; a consequence of slowly losing a world where events are rational, rationality is persuasive, and that persuasion worth engaging in
Online discourse seems powered less by the exchange of ideas than the constant hunt for conceptual objects that the listener can have and express strong feelings about. Indignation Objects, Rage Objects, and Self-Righteousness Objects seem especially highly valued
The FBI reported to the Senate Judiciary Committee that Kash Patel had been successfully targeted in recruitment programs run by both the Russian and the Chinese intel services and that Kash had taken money from each. But then we knew this long ago, and the Senate GOP decided they didn't care
“The military is now broadening its use of Anthropic's tools while simultaneously arguing in court that using those tools threatens U.S. national security.”
“The anti-foreign impulse and the anti-commercial impulse are related. Left and right end up hating the same thing, liberalism, because both movements have at their core a desire to control. To those who think systematically, the city must be offensive.” Super stuff
www.ft.com/content/ba3b... l
