mt

Armchair tweet slinger on a wide range of subjects. RT's are not endorsements. Personal views only.

[Kathleen Tyson @Kathleen_Tyson_]

Palantir and Anthropic targeted Minab school, aided by Pentagon stale data and Hegseth psychopathy stripping target review staff.

And it was a triple tap, not a double tap. Children killed on first strike. Parents killed by second strike getting surviving children. Rescue workers killed by third strike rushing in after second strike.

Unforgivable.

[Michael Weiss @michaeldweiss]

I'd encourage everyone to read the Danish military intelligence assessment in full, and not rely on excitable social media upsums.

Here is the top line: "The Danish Defence Intelligence Service (DDIS) assesses that Russia will intensify its hybrid war by carrying out more frequent attacks against the West and NATO, with greater consequences for the targeted countries than in the past. This could include destructive cyber attacks that cripple critical societal functions as well as sabotage attacks that carry a high risk of casualties."

In other words, Russia will continue doing what it's already doing (terrorist attacks against hard and soft targets, cyberoperations), only more so. This is an uncontroversial assessment across Western intelligence services, so far as I've been able to determine.

DDIS continues: "At the same time, there is a low but growing risk that Russia will launch a limited military attack against one or several NATO countries bordering Russia....Such a limited military attack could take the form of isolated strikes with long‑range weapons on infrastructure that is vital to the support to Ukraine. In this situation, Russia might then claim that the weapons only struck NATO territory because they were jammed by Ukraine. It could also be a so-called false flag operation, where Russia uses Ukrainian‑made drones to attack a NATO country."

The scenario envisaged here (a low but growing risk) is a plausibly deniable conventional attack by Russia. The objective would be twofold. First, to sow panic and confusion in the targeted country or countries, and encourage skepticism of the official government version of what just happened. "Maybe it was the Ukrainians." "Maybe it was an accident." "Maybe no attack took place and the deep state is trying to foment World War III."

Thirty seconds on this hellsite should be enough to convince you that counterfactual narratives would be easy enough to amplify, especially in countries with elections forthcoming. A "limited military attack" psychologically would just be a heightened form of "hybrid" war because it's designed to overwhelm and demoralize the population and make its think that supporting Ukraine just isn't worth it since those not at war are now liable to become collateral damage.

The second objective of such an attack would be to gauge NATO's response to it -- and this is key bit, because, as DDIS also states:

"Russia will likely carry out military attacks only if it assesses that such attacks will not result in a war by triggering a collective NATO military response. However, Russia is likely uncertain about what could trigger such a war. Consequently, there is a risk that Russia assesses that the NATO countries will not respond collectively, especially if Russia assesses that the United States cannot or will not support the European NATO countries in a potential war against Russia." (Italics added.)

You wouldn't be wrong to detect a hint of political messaging here. (All intel services deny they do any such thing but they all do.) This is Denmark, a country that just stared down a possible U.S. invasion and annexation of Greenland, which would have meant the disintegration of NATO.

Trump has spent his entire second term (and much of his first term) doubting the Inviolability of Article V. His Pentagon has given NATO allies questionnaires to fill out to prove their worthiness as allies, while it undergoes a force posture review with ominous media leaks about what Bridge Colby and his minion might do (25,000 U.S. troops withdrawn, a scuppered U.S. base in Poland, etc.)

Now comes a frenzy of intelligence reporting across Europe about a possible Russian attack on NATO, all kickstarted by a CIA briefing delivered to the Poles, Scandinavians and Balts months ago with a warning that they're probably on their own if and when such an attack happens.

Never let a good crisis go to waste... Russia isn't sure what would trigger a war with NATO, so how might NATO make it sure? A "limited military attack" can be deterred if Washington telegraphs its intent to enforce Article V in word and deed by stating clearly and repeatedly what would constitute a casus belli in 2026 and, of course, by keeping U.S. troops in Europe.

[Jack Goldsmith @jacklgoldsmith]

San Francisco on Monday sued Trump Media & Technology Group Corp., alleging that its 100k/mo early access feed to Truth Social posts by POTUS violates insider trading laws. I spoke with former SEC GC John Coates about this topic. https://t.co/R6k2s049bb

[The Lincoln Project @ProjectLincoln]

In the past week Trump has banned free press, launched state-run media, attacked the international criminal court, and literally rolled out the red carpet for a communist.

Trump is the communist.

[liminal @Liminal1988]

Six good things hiding in plain sight:

[mustafa yazıcı @myzccc]

“Üstün ırk yoktur.
'Tanrı'nın seçilmiş halkı' yoktur.
Bu ne ABD ne de İsrail'dir.
'Tanrı'nın seçilmiş halkı' tüm insanlıktır.”
— Kolombiya Cumhurbaşkanı Gustavo Petro

[NBC News @NBCNews]

A 36-year-old Costa Rican man whose family says he complained of missing insulin shots and meals to manage his diabetes is the third detainee to die in less than six months at an ICE facility in Louisiana. https://t.co/fQswZocwSP

[Joyce Alene @JoyceWhiteVance]

At what point do we acknowledge what’s happening here? Or do we just stand by like good Germans?

[CSPAN @cspan]

Iranian President Pezeshkian shows photos and accuses U.S. and Israel of bombing children and U.S. delegation walks out: "You see these children? These children perished under bombs with weapons used by the United States and Israel."

[CSPAN @cspan]

Iranian President Pezeshkian says Iran will not be "bullied" by President Trump and will not accept the "language of force," but is ready for diplomacy and negotiations.

[Khary Penebaker @kharyp]

Trump stood at the UN today & called the International Criminal Court "an evil group of people." The ICC has never tried one American service member in 24 years. It has issued arrest warrants for Putin & Netanyahu. He is not protecting our troops. He is protecting his friends.

[Captain Mark Kelly @CaptMarkKelly]

State run media, state owned enterprises, prosecuting political opponents, gifts from foreign countries, selling pardons, massive amounts of money flowing into the President’s bank account, and banners with his head plastered on government buildings. NONE OF THIS IS NORMAL.

[𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀 @Old_But_Gold50s]

Some melodies have a way of making the whole world feel still the moment they begin. Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” is one of them.

[Native Red Cloud🪶Maȟpíya Lúta~Hińhan Wakangli⚡️🦉 @Native3rd]

“I am poor and naked but I am the chief of a nation. We do not want riches but we do want to train our children right. Riches would do us no good. We could not take them with us to the other world. We do not want riches. We want peace and love.”

~ Red Cloud, Maȟpíya Lúta, Oglala Lakota, 1822-1909

[Max Tegmark @tegmark]

I'm delighted to share that @mustafasuleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI, co-founder of Google DeepMind and Inflection AI, has signed the Pro-Human AI Declaration. If you too support it, please join him and over a million others by signing it here – the momentum is building! Let's build tools not beings & keep humans in charge. https://t.co/kWlAqSSkAp

[Roberto🌹🇵🇸 @r0berto_new_6]

This is why you really don’t want ICE at polling places

[Chris Murphy 🟧 @ChrisMurphyCT]

The media keeps reporting Trump's international deals as if they are real. But they never are.

In Trump's China deal, he claimed China would buy $17B of U.S. goods. The media eagerly reported this.

The actual number? $3.9B. No change from pre-deal.
https://t.co/NoK5VHwk5B

[mt @michaeltalbot]

@VinnysCorner1 John Taylor

[𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀 @Old_But_Gold50s]

An 18-year-old girl, a classical guitar, and one of Paganini’s most famous technical challenges. Haruna Miyagawa performs Caprice No. 24 with remarkable finesse, bringing its intricate variations and arpeggios, originally written for violin, into the world of classical guitar.