Max

Honorably blocked by Kirill Alexandrovich Dmitriev.

[Max @_Cic3ro]

@foxinsidethebox Det kan ha noe med at det er et veldig dårlig og useriøst spørsmål. Der det derimot er nyttig, er at det fullstendig blottlegger uvitenheten til den som stiller det.

[Robert A. Pape @ProfessorPape]

This morning I was asked on Boston radio about the US–Israel strikes on Iran.

Here is the strategic reality most people are missing:

Airpower alone has never produced positive regime change.

I don’t mean rarely.

I mean NEVER.

[Sarah Longwell @SarahLongwell25]

Today is a good reminder of how Elon Musk absolutely destroyed Twitter’s utility as an information tool.

[Covie @covie_93]

Good thing Congress isn't alive to see this.

[Frank Gardner @FrankRGardner]

Dr.Fiona Hill, co-author of the UK Strategic Defence Review, tells a packed audience at London’s Guildhall she believes WW3 has already begun, just not in the way most people imagine.

[Rutger Bregman @rcbregman]

This is a huge opportunity for Europe. Welcome Anthropic with open arms. Roll out the red carpet. Visa for all employees.

Europe already controls the AI hardware bottleneck through ASML. Add the world's leading AI safety lab and you have the foundations of an AI superpower.

[OSINT Gorilla @GorillaOSINT]

European diplomats schooled at Oxford and Sciences Po watching American officials speak at Davos

[Daractenus @Daractenus]

Somewhat of a random fact: the last time Denmark sold an island to the US was in 1917. That island was Little Saint James, more commonly known today as “Epstein Island.”

[Ulf Kristersson @SwedishPM]

Vi låter oss inte utpressas. Bara Danmark och Grönland bestämmer i frågor som rör Danmark och Grönland. Jag kommer alltid stå upp för mitt land, och för våra allierade grannar. Detta är en EU-fråga som rör många fler länder än de som nu pekas ut. Sverige har nu intensiva diskussioner med andra EU-länder, Norge och Storbritannien för ett samlat svar.

[Don Winslow @donwinslow]

Roy Cohn taught Donald Trump three rules:

1. Never admit when you're wrong
2. Never concede defeat when you lose
3. Attack anyone who attacks you even when you're wrong.

50 years later - in 2026 America - we are living under the insanity and tyranny of those three rules.

[Max @_Cic3ro]

I largely agree with this. I think the argument about electoral and constitutional distortion is correct, but incomplete without examining how political, media, and the information environment interact with those incentives. The recent resurgence of fascist policies and rhetoric, white and religious nationalism and imperialism, are first and foremost a systemic consequence.

The people, leaders and voters, are the “same” as always, their grievances, real and imagined, aren’t new, they are just the latest iteration of the populace that have been set upon those tracks. The human condition, societal structures and the international system inherently contains the necessary ingredients for these movements to appear, given the right catalysts.

I think the catalysts this time around have been:

1) The (mostly) conservative side of American politics has reached a late-stage form of mass mobilization built around perceived grievance and identity threat. The scales finally tipped in the favour of winning (or financial gain) at all costs. Principles that are fundamentally necessary for any political system to really work, such as legitimacy, accountability and integrity were sacrificed on the altar of winning and profit. I think a good example of this, is the (re)emergence of lobbying for foreign governments (Manafort et al. for example) and Newt Gingrich’s conservative revolution. The system is now a late-stage form of political competition where electoral success and revenue extraction completely override institutional norms. The battle cry isn’t “god wills it!”, but “the system allows it!”, there are chilling similarities however.

2) The degradation of the fourth estate (i.e. editorialised media). What should, and must, be a proud and respected profession has been reduced to engagement addicts. Modern profit models don’t facilitate for the most important journalism, and together with the political warfare waged on the press in the name of “winning”, the incentive structures now favour outrage and speed.

3) The information revolution has rolled over society like a tsunami. Consider that the internet might turn out to be the most significant evolution since the alphabet or even spoken language. “Information” has been severely underestimated as a “commodity”, it should have been thought of as water or air; i.e. pollution is detrimental. We, including our children, are now breathing and drinking toxins on a daily basis. The information- and cognitive domains are severely misunderstood and under-regulated. More or less coincidentally this has clashed with the principles of free expression, which has made it incredibly difficult.

Across politics, media, and digital platforms, incentive structures now actively reward behavior that degrades institutional legitimacy rather than sustaining it. Electoral systems privilege mobilization over deliberation, media ecosystems reward outrage over accuracy, and algorithmic amplification selects for content that provokes rather than foster understanding. The result is a self-reinforcing feedback loop.

Political actors, journalists, and platforms are not primarily behaving irrationally or maliciously, they are responding predictably to the systems in which they operate. A system that rewards extraction (in contrast to service and stewardship), outrage, and norm violation will eventually produce leaders and movements optimized for those traits. The outcome is not aberrational. It is the system functioning as designed. Over time, the system ceases to select for democratic competence and instead optimizes for attention, loyalty, and extraction. It’s too simple pointing to a failure of character. It is the logical outcome of incentive structures misaligned with the long-term requirements of a functioning democratic system.

[Max @_Cic3ro]

I think this goes for the whole MAGA movement, and the resurgence of fascism, white nationalism and imperialism. These imagined grievances aren’t new, these are just the latest iteration of the populace that have been duped and captured. The human condition, societal structures and the international system inherently contains the necessary ingredients for these movements to appear, given the right catalysts.

I think the catalysts this time around have been:

1) the (mostly) conservative side of American politics reaching the latest iteration of mass political mobilization built around perceived grievance and identity threat. The scales finally tipped in the favour of winning (or making money) at all cost. Principles that are fundamentally necessary for any political system to really work, such as integrity, humility and honour was sacrificed on the altar of winning and profit. I think a good example of this, is the (re)emergence of lobbying for foreign governments (Manafort for example) and Newt Gingrich’s conservative revolution. The system is now a late-stage form of political competition where electoral success and revenue extraction completely override institutional norms.

2) the degradation of the forth estate (editorialised media). What should be a proud profession of high standing has been reduced to rubble. Several reasons for this, modern profit models don’t facilitate for the journalism that is most important, as well as the political warfare on the press in the name of winning. Incentive structures now favour outrage and speed.

3) the information revolution has rolled over society without anyone being in control. Consider that the internet might turn out to be the greatest invention since the alphabet or even spoken language. “Information” has been severely underestimated as a “commodity”, it should have been understood more like we understand water or air; ie. pollution is detrimental. Coincidentally this has clashed with the idea of free expression, that has made it incredibly difficult.

Algorithmic amplification and incentive structures in both politics, media and social media now actively reward information, developments and movements that are detrimental to the systems we have spent centuries reaching, spilling blood, tears and suffering endless tragedies learning the necessary lessons.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk

[Max @_Cic3ro]

@mikemgz @sentdefender @Cappyarmy No AI was used in this, but I’ll take it as compliment, thank you.

[Max @_Cic3ro]

Well what the fuck did you think it was?

It’s not the same as national law, it’s a different structure and different logic all together, in an anarchic system.

The vast majority of IL is followed every day. IL and the rules based system is perhaps the best invention and development ever, obviously it’s ultimately based on power and majority rule (political consensus). WTH did people think «leader of the free world» meant? If it’s crumbling, it’s because its leader, the US is crumbling.

It’s an obvious crisis going on, but these kinds of takes are seriously talk from the kids table, it’s armchair expertise from mom’s basement, embarrassing and pathetic.

[Douglas Heye @DougHeye]

Wouldn't it be great to have Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty right now?

[Max @_Cic3ro]

@sentdefender @Cappyarmy No, it isn’t. It’s unbelievable how ignorant you people manage to be on almost every single international issue. wtf are you spending all this time on the internet doing

[Max @_Cic3ro]

@robin_tveit Logikken tilsier at vi ikke har noen spesiell grunn til å protestere når Russland vil ha Svalbard.

[Robert Barnes @barnes_law]

People who cite "Monroe Doctrine" are -- like Trump, himself -- historically illiterate & have never even read the statement crafted by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams to Congress that forms its foundation. Guess what it primarily opposed? Regime change by foreign invaders.

[ian bremmer @ianbremmer]

president trump is not joking about greenland (as he was with the canada 51st state commentary).

lots of people in the administration working on what a “deal” for greenland would look like.

the europeans need to take this very seriously.

[Max @_Cic3ro]

@RapidResponse47 @StateDept @SecRubio It’s very important to realise: there are no adults, nobody is taking or feeling the responsibility for this, there is no real plan. It’s all a self-reinforcing loop of assumed responsibility.