M.E. Sarotte

A dog shelter in Kyiv during last night's Russian attack.

Hardcoded credentials in the Signal archiving tool used by the White House is a five-alarm security dumpster fire.

Thanks @fbigge.bsky.social for this—and for the work you do @koerberhistory.bsky.social to promote dialogue across borders in these difficult times

@europeatharvard.bsky.social
@financialtimes.com
@belfercenter.bsky.social
@johnshopkinssais.bsky.social

Musk’s SpaceX is frontrunner to build Trump’s ‘Golden Dome’ missile shield SpaceX-led group is pitching the Pentagon on a ‘subscription model’ for missile defense

Listen, we should not let the richest people in the world own a network of globe-spanning surveillance satellites connected to another network of satellites equipped with lasers and missiles that they "rent" to the US military. Come on.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Why They Fight What’s at stake in the blame game over Ukraine.

Now up @foreignaffairs.com

www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/why-...

Congratulations @radchenko.bsky.social !!

This is authoritarianism in operation. Americans don't know what it looks like, but that's it. This is what it looks like.

Europe races to find Starlink alternatives for Ukraine Four satellite operators in talks over back-up for Kyiv if Elon Musk switches off broadband service

Four large satellite operators — Luxembourg’s SES, Spain’s Hisdesat, Viasat, owner of the UK’s Inmarsat, and France’s Eutelsat/OneWeb — have all told @financialtimes.com they’re in talks with governments and EU institutions about how to provide back-up connectivity to Ukraine. on.ft.com/4kyetAE

BREAKING: Elon Musk's rocket explosion nearly hit a commercial flight.

This kind of content is being downranked on X. Please share it here. This is so dangerous.

you’re fired. wait you’re rehired. email us a list of things you’ve done today wait forget it you’re fired again. come back your job was important. you’re fired. or hired. come in to the office. wait the office has no computers go home. we are the department of government efficiency.

Military-size drones have been flying night-time missions over strategic installations in NW Germany last 2 weeks.

Sightings are confirmed by German armed forces. Security sources suspect they came from North Sea or possibly Baltic Sea and are of Russian origin.

Targets: mil bases, ports, LNG.

This piece—“Can Ukraine Hold Out” after Trump stopped US aid—makes clear Europeans need to do:

Use the frozen Russian assets now.

If you don’t know German: worth using Google Translate, as it’s by the second-to-none German military expert @drfranksauer.bsky.social of
@sicherheitspod.de

Being able to drop a quarterly US GDP prediction by 5.1% from +2.3% to -2.8% in a single week is one of the most impressive economic developments in the history of the world.

Opinion | Putin Wins the Trump-Zelensky Oval Office Spectacle Vice President Vance starts a public fight that only helps Russia’s dictator.

Worth reading, from the WSJ: gift link

www.wsj.com/opinion/puti...

👇🎯

I just got fired from NWS . This email is all I know. Read if you want.

Germany‘s got the best US bases in the world. Beautiful bases. Tremendous. Nobody has anything like it. And, frankly, we’re giving them to the US for free. Can you imagine that? For free! It’s nasty what they’re doing to us, really. So we want a better deal. The US‘s gotta pay. They gotta pay.
🫲🫱

European Leaders Meet to Discuss Ukraine War as Trump Officials Prepare For Russia Peace Talks The hastily called gathering was part of a flurry of diplomacy expected to center on Ukraine this week as Trump officials prepare to start talks with Russia on their own.

Good to see @stevenerlanger.bsky.social staying with this story nonstop from #MSC to Paris

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/17/w...

Here is the ad the Washington Post accepted and then rejected:

Google owner drops promise not to use AI for weapons Alphabet guidelines no longer refer to not pursuing technologies that could ‘cause or are likely to cause overall harm’

It’s hard to see where this is going to go. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Trump administration evicts former Coast Guard leader from her house with 3 hours notice Trump fired Linda Fagan, the first female Coast Guard commandant, on his second day in office. A Trump official told her she had three hours to leave her house on Tuesday.

These people are fucking monsters. www.nbcnews.com/politics/don...

Ich sag doch, wird interessant

Every year, LCBO sells nearly $1 billion worth of American wine, beer, spirits and seltzers. Not anymore. Starting Tuesday, we’re removing American products from LCBO shelves. As the only wholesaler of alcohol in the province, LCBO will also remove American products from its catalogue so other Ontario-based restaurants and retailers can’t order or restock U.S. products. There’s never been a better time to choose an amazing Ontario-made or Canadian-made product. As always, please drink responsibly.

BREAKING: Ontario Premier Doug Ford says they are removing ALL American drinks from the market.

The LCBO has a monopoly on drinks distribution in Ontario.

Trump just torched $1 billion of US exports.

Holy shit.

Elon Musk’s Team Now Has Access to Treasury’s Payments System Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gave Mr. Musk’s representatives at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency a powerful tool to monitor and potentially limit government spending.

1/ Musk seeking control over nerve systems of the federal government. As someone who spent a decade studying how centralized information systems are used for coercion this is a five alarm fire. We need to name it, identify risks, and seek to mitigate their impacts.
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/01/u...

Before yesterday's crash, President Trump:

- Fired the heads of the TSA and the Coast Guard
- Pushed out the head of the FAA — leaving no one in charge
- Gutted a key aviation safety group
- Pushed air traffic controllers to quit as he purges the government

He's putting Americans in danger.

Trump fires heads of TSA, Coast Guard and guts key aviation safety advisory committee President Donald Trump has moved quickly to remake the Department of Homeland Security by firing the heads of the Transportation Security Administration and Coast Guard before their terms are up while...

I have not seen people talking about this so far w/ 47's cuts to roles.
"Members of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee received a memo Tuesday" eliminating their role. This is a mandated committee by law dating back to PanAm 103. @jonostrower.com @wandrme.paxex.aero

apnews.com/article/coas...

Judge Blocks Trump’s Effort to Restrict Birthright Citizenship: Live Updates

Well, this is good news for Trump, because otherwise he’d have to send his own Secretary of State back to Cuba. www.nytimes.com/live/2025/01...

Statement from President Joe Biden on the Equal Rights Amendment | The White House I have supported the Equal Rights Amendment for more than 50 years, and I have long been clear that no one should be discriminated against based on their

BIDEN: EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT HAS BEEN RATIFIED www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-roo...

After Australia’s Black Summer it took years for us to rebuild. The realisation that you have to run for your life, that you can be threatened in places you thought were safe, changes you forever. Be gentle with yourselves US friends.