ProfGB profgbarrett - Bluesky Statics

❗️Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been killed in recent US-Israeli strikes, Israel Hayom reports. #Iran

01.03.2026 13:31 — 👍 328 🔁 63 💬 19 📌 46

A big part of the authoritarian playbook is war. War takes over the news. War blots out criticism. War divides a nation’s people, subjecting those against it to being called unpatriotic. War grants leaders all sorts of emergency powers. War consumes everything else.

We mustn’t let this war do so.

01.03.2026 23:01 — 👍 21843 🔁 7371 💬 642 📌 287

Strike on Iranian primary school kills 108, authorities say Girls’ education facility hit as US and Israel launch joint military operation

I preferred Obama’s approach.

Strike on Iranian primary school kills 108 - mostly schoolgirls, authorities say

www.ft.com/content/055d...

28.02.2026 20:47 — 👍 0 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

Juno and the Paycock - Mermaid Arts Centre

Square One Theatre Group presents Juno and the Paycock by Sean O’Casey
📍 Mermaid County Wicklow Arts Centre
📅 Tuesday 14th – Saturday 18th April 2026

Directed by Marie C. McCourt as part of our 50th anniversary celebrations.

🎟 Book here: mermaidartscentre.ie/whats-on/eve...

25.02.2026 11:20 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Washington warns Ukraine over striking US economic interests in Russia Kyiv’s ambassador to Washington asserts state department complained after strike on Russian port in November

Astonishing. Yet “Ukrainian officials have privately expressed frustration over the Trump administration’s relative silence about Russian attacks on US businesses in Ukraine.”

www.ft.com/content/281c...

25.02.2026 04:24 — 👍 0 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

YouTube video by Direkt36 A CSAPDA (THE TRAP) - Az Orbán-korszak elvesztett lehetőségeinek története

Here's the documentary that 1.1 million Hungarians have watched over the past week, documenting the damage that Viktor Orban's regime has done to health, education and public transportation in Hungary
with English subtitles:
youtu.be/9NQEcLIiOpM?...

21.02.2026 22:37 — 👍 3440 🔁 1405 💬 81 📌 56

"silly"
and no, it's not a war over territory

23.02.2026 20:03 — 👍 1316 🔁 322 💬 138 📌 17

Trump announced last weekend he was bumping his global tariffs up to 15% but then never signed the order so it’s 10% today not 15. He also claimed a hospital ship was on the way to Greenland which never actually happened either. Everything is totally fine.

24.02.2026 12:07 — 👍 2185 🔁 563 💬 107 📌 32

On the one hand, the Trump administration is telling Europeans to take care of their own defense. On the other hand, they are supporting leaders and parties who are pro-Russian, opposed to European unity and don't want Europe to defend Ukraine or anything else.
Which is the policy?

24.02.2026 13:58 — 👍 1290 🔁 436 💬 76 📌 22

Four years have passed since Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine. Russia was supposed to win in three days. Instead, Ukraine reinvented modern warfare, built a drone industry, and can destroy a thousand Russian soldiers in a day. Ukraine can win.

24.02.2026 09:58 — 👍 3751 🔁 1029 💬 103 📌 53

Washington warns Ukraine over striking US economic interests in Russia Kyiv’s ambassador to Washington asserts state department complained after strike on Russian port in November

“Ukrainian officials have privately expressed frustration over the Trump administration’s relative silence about Russian attacks on US businesses in Ukraine.”

www.ft.com/content/281c...

25.02.2026 04:17 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

You could make this up, but you don’t need to.

23.02.2026 17:24 — 👍 5518 🔁 2022 💬 257 📌 98

Opinion | Is This the Most Important Supreme Court Case of the Century?

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/22/o... @davidfrenchjag.bsky.social

23.02.2026 23:20 — 👍 1 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa will arrive in Kyiv tomorrow. A trilateral meeting with Zelensky is planned, along with online participation in a Coalition of the Willing session convened by Macron and Starmer. #Ukraine

23.02.2026 21:05 — 👍 213 🔁 34 💬 0 📌 5

From today’s FT. Trump is backing Russia at every hand’s turn against Ukraine…meanwhile, Putin is selling weapons to Iran intended to be used on US forces!!! What kind of Russian ‘policy’ is Trump following? It may suit Trump, but It certainly doesn’t suit America’s.

24.02.2026 08:55 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Also from today’s FT. Trump is backing Russia at every hand’s turn against Ukraine…meanwhile, Putin is selling weapons to Iran intended to be used on US forces!!! What kind of Russian ‘policy’ is Trump following? It may suit Trump, but it certainly doesn’t suit America.

24.02.2026 08:43 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Days after $5M donation, Trump administration backs Crypto.com in lawsuit In a document quietly filed with the Federal Election Commission on Friday night, MAGA Inc., the primary Super PAC supporting President Trump, revealed that it received a $5 million donation from Cryp...

Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social, is also partnering with Crypto.com to launch its own prediction market.

The corruption is breathtaking.

popular.info/p/days-after...

23.02.2026 21:34 — 👍 1353 🔁 589 💬 44 📌 25

I'm old enough to remember when polio ripped through the globe and put my friends into iron lungs.

We dutifully lined up at school to get vaccinated. We eradicated the disease. We protected the common good and saved lives.

RFK Jr. is a disgrace.

23.02.2026 17:02 — 👍 6772 🔁 2470 💬 395 📌 103

Iceland looks to fast-track vote on joining EU A referendum on resuming membership talks had been expected in 2027, but could come as early as this August.

🚨🚨Biggest #EU news of today: #Iceland looks to fast-track vote on joining EU as referendum on EU accession could come as early as August, departing from original plan for 2027 ref. 🧵
www.politico.eu/article/icel...

23.02.2026 14:10 — 👍 1110 🔁 394 💬 22 📌 86

From the FT today. The biggest winners from Trump‘s new 15% tariff are countries he has singled out for criticism like China. The biggest losers are US allies like the UK, the EU and Japan. What kind of incompetent, nonsensical trade policy is this?

24.02.2026 08:02 — 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 0

The grift that keeps on grifting.

23.02.2026 21:47 — 👍 5238 🔁 2007 💬 322 📌 95

Courts have ruled 4,400 times that ICE jailed people illegally. It hasn’t stopped. The decisions amount to a huge legal rebuke, one the administration has ignored.

www.reuters.com/legal/govern...

24.02.2026 00:52 — 👍 2 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

Alain Berset: Four years on – justice, accountability and peace for Ukraine Council of Europe secretary-general Alain Berset reflects on the situation in Ukraine ahead of the fourth anniversary of the Russian invasion tomorrow.

Council of Europe secretary-general Alain Berset reflects on the situation in Ukraine ahead of the fourth anniversary of the Russian invasion tomorrow. @coe.int

23.02.2026 11:18 — 👍 0 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0

I’d like to believe the worst is over. I wish I could tell you (and myself) to relax. But I have to be honest with you: I fear worse is to come.

This means you and I and all sane Americans cannot relax our vigilance. https://robertreich.substack.com/p/sunday-thought-saving-the-last-best

22.02.2026 15:16 — 👍 1687 🔁 457 💬 80 📌 22

DoJ cases against protesters keep collapsing as officers’ lies are exposed in court String of embarrassing defeats for prosecutors as experts condemn DoJ effort to cast people as ‘violent perpetrators’

"In Chicago, of 92 people arrested for assaulting or impeding officers last fall, 74 cases have resulted in no charges; in 13 cases, charges were filed and dismissed; and five charged cases were still pending. . . there have been no convictions.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

22.02.2026 12:13 — 👍 23769 🔁 8395 💬 621 📌 438

The Irish jobs market is slowing and younger people are in the firing line Young people are most exposed by latest jobs-market trends, including the impact of AI on entry-level positions

With the growth of AI, the jobs market is slowing and younger people are in the firing line www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026...

22.02.2026 07:39 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Trump defies Supreme Court tariff ruling, escalates global duties to 15% amid EU push for unity In a bold display of defiance following a major Supreme Court setback, U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that he would raise his newly imposed global tariff from 10% to 15%, invoking an obscure trade law to sidestep the court’s restrictions. The move, detailed in a Truth Social post, comes just a day after the high court invalidated his broader tariff regime under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), deeming it an overreach of executive authority. As Trump vows to press forward with his protectionist agenda, European leaders, led by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, are rallying for a coordinated response ahead of Merz’s March visit to Washington, highlighting deepening transatlantic tensions. The Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision, authored by Chief Justice John Roberts and joined by Trump appointees Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett alongside the liberal justices, struck down tariffs imposed under IEEPA, which Trump had justified by citing trade deficits and the fentanyl crisis. U.S. Supreme Court invalidates Trump’s tariffs: a win for free trade with thorny implications for EU The ruling emphasized Congress’s exclusive power over tariffs, limiting the president’s use of emergency statutes for peacetime duties. Undeterred, Trump swiftly pivoted to Section 122 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, a rarely used provision allowing temporary tariffs up to 15% for up to 150 days without congressional approval. In his post, Trump declared: “I, as President of the United States of America, will be, effective immediately, raising the 10% Worldwide Tariff on Countries, many of which have been ‘ripping’ the U.S. off for decades, without retribution (until I came along!), to the fully allowed, and legally tested, 15% level.” This escalation exempts critical minerals, metals, and energy products, according to White House statements, but applies broadly to imports from all countries, including allies. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer explained on Fox News that existing deals would be honoured, with nations like Malaysia and Cambodia facing negotiated 19% rates, while non-deal countries such as Brazil could see temporary reductions from prior highs. Trump plans to use the 150-day window to craft “legally permissible” alternatives, potentially leveraging national security or unfair trade investigations. A legal nightmare However, experts like former U.S. trade official Wendy Cutler express scepticism, noting the untested nature of Section 122 and potential for further legal challenges. Domestically, Trump’s response has fueled polarization. He lambasted the ruling as a “disgrace,” calling the majority justices “fools” and his appointees “embarrassments.” A Reuters/Ipsos poll shows his economic approval at 34%, with 57% disapproval, as Democrats blame tariffs for inflation ahead of midterm elections. On X, reactions range from criticism—Senator Chuck Schumer likened Trump’s tantrum to a “10-year-old”—to defiance, with users highlighting his rejection of the court’s authority. Conservative outlets like The American Conservative quoted Trump claiming the decision inadvertently strengthened presidential trade powers. Internationally, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling has been welcomed as a check on unilateralism. French President Emmanuel Macron praised it as evidence of democratic “counterweights to power,” urging fair trade rules. For the EU, the decision offers partial relief but underscores ongoing vulnerabilities. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, speaking to ARD after a CDU conference in Stuttgart, expressed hope for a reduced tariff burden on German firms, potentially allowing billions in refunds. Merz, set to meet Trump in early March, emphasized unity: “I will go to Washington with a coordinated European position,” noting that tariff policy is an EU competence, not for individual states. He warned of the “biggest poison” for economies being “constant uncertainty about tariffs,” and in prior statements, asserted Europe’s readiness to defend itself if measures go “too far.” This push for cohesion comes amid strained EU-US relations, exacerbated by Trump’s earlier tariffs and the uncertainty surrounding the Turnberry agreement. Merz plans consultations with leaders like Macron and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni to forge a “very clear European position.” EU officials are assessing implications, with French Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade Nicolas Forissier hinting at retaliatory tools. Analysts warn that Trump’s escalation could ignite a broader trade war, harming global growth and forcing Europe to balance defence of its interests with alliance maintenance. Trump’s Supreme Court setback comes back-to-back with a massive U.S. military buildup in the Middle East, positioning American forces for potential airstrikes against Iran as the U.S. President openly considers limited military action to pressure Tehran into a new nuclear deal. Trump pushes U.S. toward war with Iran as advisers urge focus on economy With Reuters, edited by g.g. Caption: US President Donald Trump turns to talk to the press pool during the Governors Dinner in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 21 February 2026. EPA/Samuel Corum / POOL

Trump defies Supreme Court tariff ruling, escalates global duties to 15% amid EU push for unity

22.02.2026 03:32 — 👍 5 🔁 6 💬 0 📌 0

The press has reported on yesterday’s Supreme Court decision as if it were only about tariffs. Wrong. It’s far bigger and even more important. Let me explain. https://robertreich.substack.com/p/the-supreme-courts-tariff-decision

21.02.2026 20:01 — 👍 3519 🔁 1213 💬 119 📌 64

‘Don’t go to the US – not with Trump in charge’: the UK tourist with a valid visa detained by ICE for six weeks Karen Newton was in America on the trip of a lifetime when she was shackled, transported and held for weeks on end. With tourism to the US under increasing strain, she says, ‘If it can happen to me, i...

‘Don’t go to the US – not with Trump in charge’: the UK tourist with a valid visa detained by ICE for six weeks | ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement) | The Guardian
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

21.02.2026 21:05 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Trump raises global tariff rate on US imports to 15% US President Donald Trump has said he will raise to 15% the temporary global tariff rate on imported goods after the US Supreme Court ruled against the tariffs he imposed under an economic emergency l...

Gosh, given the refunds issue, the outcome of this illegality is really a complete mess.
www.rte.ie/news/world/2...

21.02.2026 17:02 — 👍 0 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

Posts by ProfGB (@profgbarrett.bsky.social)