Cracklytoes

Human rights, Women's rights, Environment,
Biotech, Astronomy, Oceanography, Geology, Solar System,
FP, Art, Evolution & DevBio

[Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya @Tsihanouskaya]

At the @AspenSecurity Forum today, I stressed that Belarus is not only a humanitarian case. It is central to European security.

As long as the dictator remains in power and subservient to Russia, Belarusian territory will be used to threaten all of Europe.

#AspenSecurity

[Maia Sandu @sandumaiamd]

Honoured to be in Kyiv on Ukraine’s Statehood Day. To the brave Ukrainian people: thank you for the lesson of strength and resilience that you give us every single day — and for showing the world that bombs cannot turn dignity into submission. Slava Ukraini!

[Maia Sandu @sandumaiamd]

Good to sit down with President @ZelenskyyUa in Kyiv. We discussed regional security and crossborder projects that build our shared resilience.

Moldova stands firmly with Ukraine — now also as part of the Coalition of the Willing.

[Shashank Joshi @shashj]

“As of late June more than half of American ambassadorships were vacant … For would-be Africa hands there is a particular opportunity: nearly 80 per cent of US embassies on the continent do not have an ambassador”
https://t.co/mKR2dZRAN5

[nancy @langwiser]

The banks are more risky than ever, and we can’t judge the risk well because of a lack of transpency%. There are far too much interconnected bad debt - it is hard to see how the banks get out of their exposure to private loans, PE, CRE and now AI loans and debt.

[NNZP @nnzp1730]

Things lost…..thought fanciful….then found. How many of these are there out there? More than any thinks, I think.

[nancy @langwiser]

Time to impeach Hegseth!

[Jim Koenigsberger @Jimfrombaseball]

General John J. Pershing served as the American Expeditionary Force commander during WWI.
He received requests for soldiers to support French and British units on the frontlines.
General Pershing ordered US combat units to only fight under the US chain of command.
He also refused to assign Black soldiers to combat units as he believed they were ineffective on the battlefield.
He agreed to assign them to the French Army.
In 1917, Spottswood Poles joined the "369th Infantry", ‘Harlem Hellfighters’, attached to French Army.
The US Army discouraged the French from treating Black soldiers equal to white soldiers.
The French Army ignored this and welcomed the 369th Infantry into their unit.
Poles earned 5 Battle stars and Purple Heart for combat in France as a Sergeant.
The "369th" spent 191 days in combat, more than any other American unit in World War I.
Poles participated in the battles of Chateau-Thierrey, Bellaeu Woods, Champagne-Marne, Meuse-Argonne, and Champagne.
On February 17, 1919, the 369th "Harlem Hellfighters" returned to New York City and were honored with a victory parade.
They marched seven miles from 23rd Steet up Fifth Avenue to 145th Steet and Lenox Avenue in Harlem.
Poles had batting averages of .440, .398, .414 and .487 against all competition. Credited with 2238 hits, 137 home runs, lifetime average over .400.
Poles ran a 100-meter race in less than 10 seconds.
National Leaguer' Sam Streeter, who saw both Cool Papa Bell and Spots Poles play, thought Poles was faster.
Spottswood Poles had a simple answer when asked about never playing in the Majors:
"Maybe old Poles was born before his time.
I never had a chance."
Spottswood Poles Grave In Arlington.
"The Black Ty Cobb."

[Cracklytoes @JohnWold20]

100%

[Bob Holley🇺🇦 @RobertMHolley35]

I think I will say it again because it bears repeating. This is not about immigration. This is about normalizing police state behavior.

[Echoes of War @EchoesofWarYT]

In his free time James Madison, fourth President of the United States and the man who basically wrote the Constitution, was a hardcore chess addict. This was his real passion. He played against people like Benjamin Franklin, who thought so highly of his game that Franklin gifted him a chess set carved from ivory. Madison treated chess as his escape from the stress of running a country.

Here's the part people forget: Madison was tiny. He is the smallest President in American history, standing about 5 foot 4 and weighing around 100 pounds. So picture the physically smallest man to ever hold the office, quietly out-thinking everyone across a chessboard.

He was also low-key obsessed with ice cream. Madison loved it so much he had a two-story ice house built underneath a temple on his Montpelier estate just so he could keep eating ice cream all summer long. His wife Dolley made it the hit dessert of White House parties, and she was so beloved she inspired the term "first lady" that we still use today.

And when he finally retired, his big hobby was nerdy experimental farming. He was inventing crop and soil methods so far ahead of his time that they didn't catch on for another hundred years.

So the real James Madison: the smallest man to ever be President, crushing people at chess with a gifted ivory set, secretly building an underground ice cream vault, and quietly farming a century into the future.

That's a founding father.

[WDI.Afghanistan @WDIAfghanistan1]

💔🚨Afghan women are totally disappointed.
No one hear us.
No action for us.
We are totally removed from the society.
We are totally lonely. where is the international community?
No one count us human in Afghanistan. 💔💔

[Scott Dworkin @funder]

A federal judge just told the New York bar that Todd Blanche may not be fit to practice law. Trump wants that guy running all of law enforcement. Tell the Senate no. 👇
https://t.co/3UI42ydYSq

[#TuckFrump @realTuckFrumper]

Wisconsin Elections Commission sends Elon Musk bribery complaints to prosecutors #UPI https://t.co/TXMARl4dd2

[Voice of Reason @raggapegs]

Lindsey Graham

[Ahmed Baba @AhmedBaba_]

Ossoff makes an important point here that accurately frames Trump’s election fraud lies as racist.

Trump’s 2020 election lies and efforts to overturn its results always target Black voters as illegitimate. The localities Trump challenged were disproportionately majority-Black.

[ZZ Santa Chevy Cruze™️ #SmokeFleet🟦 @Danphillipsresi]

That's the way it works. 😡😜🤣

[BigDaddy @strujillo075]

Pete Buttigieg advocates for abolishing the Electoral College and supports electing the president by national popular vote, emphasizing that "everybody's vote" should carry equal weight. Should we abolish the Electoral College?

[Kęstutis Budrys @BudrysKestutis]

Today, we commemorated the legacy of the Sumner Welles Declaration - one of the most principled acts in democratic diplomacy of the 20th century.

In 1940, when many in the world chose silence, the United States refused to recognize the illegal occupation and annexation of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. That decision preserved the legal continuity of our states, kept hope alive for millions living under occupation, and sent a clear message that aggression cannot create legitimacy.

The Declaration was more than a diplomatic statement. It became a cornerstone of the principle that law must prevail over force. Thanks to this policy, Baltic statehood endured in the eyes of international law, diplomatic missions continued their work in exile, and the cause of Baltic freedom remained alive until independence was restored.

For today’s generation, its message remains just as important: nations cannot be erased by military power, sovereignty is not negotiable, and democratic countries must stand firm in defending international law and the right of people to determine their own future.

The legacy of Sumner Welles reminds us that principled leadership matters, that values shape history, and that freedom ultimately prevails over oppression.

[Visioner @visionergeo]

‼️‼️‼️🇷🇺🇪🇪 BREAKING | Russia conducted an unannounced live-fire military exercise on Lake Peipus, marking the first time such drills have occurred on the lake at Estonia's eastern border

Estonian officials, including Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur, described the event as "extraordinary" and "unprecedented," noting that Russia had not previously conducted live-fire operations on Lake Peipus.

See the latest updates with us: @visionergeo

[Jürgen Nauditt 🇩🇪🇺🇦 @jurgen_nauditt]

Kudos to Estonia, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Sweden, Romania, Finland, and Denmark! 🇪🇪🇳🇱🇱🇹🇱🇻🇵🇱🇸🇪🇷🇴🇫🇮🇩🇰
These nine countries are rightly demanding: Not another cent of EU tax money for the IOC as long as it brings Russia and Belarus back into sports.

The IOC has lost all neutrality. No more 💰

Germany—where do you stand?
Merz, showing weakness again?