Richard Knocker

Huge storm around Lake Natron the other day. Lake Natron Camp, a favourite of ours, was pretty much wiped out by wind. They need our help...

www.facebook.com/share/16UfRe...

YouTube video by Gianfranco Rosati OBAMA and MCCAIN, joking and showing respect. When USA politics looked like this. #usapolitics

Obama Mccain double act...

youtube.com/shorts/NZ101...

YouTube video by Democracy Now! Canadian Prime Minister declares that the U.S.-led international order is breaking down

Carney magnificent.

youtube.com/shorts/koRRS...

😆

The bloc could be the new beacon of democracy, now that the US has set aside that mantle. But getting there will require populations to accept hardship and a hit to living standards as they wean themselves off dependency on the US. Persivilience, to quote Alastair. Do they have it?

@rory-stewart.bsky.social @alastaircampbell2.bsky.social
Trip+ member, Tanzania here.

Multi polar world. Spheres of influence...
Surely now is the time for the EU to establish its own sphere?
Population 450 million
GDP 28 trillion
Armed forces that are well integrated under NATO.

‘Nostalgia is not a strategy’: Mark Carney is emerging as the unflinching realist ready to tackle Trump In a speech at Davos, written by Carney himself, the Canadian prime minister laid out his doctrine for a world of fractured international norms

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

"If you're not at the table, you're on the menu"

Trump has growing stranglehold over EU and UK energy supply, study shows European countries now reliant on US liquified natural gas shipments, creating risk of higher bills amid recent tensions

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

Time for the EU to accelerate the transition to energy independence; and act decisively on Ukraine

Time for the EU to implement the Anti Coercion Instrument?

Greenland 'will stay Greenland', former Trump adviser declares Donald Trump's former chief economic adviser said the US president's actions are a negotiating tactic.

BBC News - Greenland 'will stay Greenland', former Trump adviser declares
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

" I think it's a complete canard that the President will be doing this because of the Nobel Prize."

And yet Trump said prettymuch exactly that.

Tell me I'm wrong?

Next, a more unconventional look at how we're screwing up the biosphere in so many ways.

Toilet paper. We just use too much of... everything.

The World Counts - Kilometers of toilet paper used share.google/bcBhdLNRRXcd...

Jevons paradox - Wikipedia

First up is the Jevons Paradox, where increasing efficiency (for instance in energy production) paradoxically leads to increased consumption , including of fossil fuels. I believe you can see this at work right now.

Jevons paradox - Wikipedia share.google/Rp1ZGTLJaUx0...

@rory-stewart.bsky.social @alastaircampbell2.bsky.social greetings again from this Trip+ member in N Tanzania.
I mentioned before that I'm a (strangely cheerful) doomer. Here are 2 ways I illustrate my position.

Hey anybody @GOP, can you explain to me why this is a smart letter to write?

Am i wrong on the above? If so, please help me understand where I've got it wrong.

Happy 2026!

Here's my take: the looming environmental catastrophe demands degrowth. Conventional economics demands growth. At the polls, voters consistently vote for growth. This is why I (unlike you both) am a doomer. A cheerful one but a doomer.

I've just had the chance to catch up on your Climate episode on leading. Excellent series of voices. I'm very much with Caroline Lucad on this - the idea of infinite growth is ludicrous and lulls people into thinking is ok. It's not.

@rory-stewart.bsky.social @alastaircampbell2.bsky.social Hi there, TRIP+ member from Tanzania here, where you have a small but lively following.

Iran Is More Than Just a Target Set Military action—especially unsupported by diplomatic, economic, and information efforts—could make things worse.

Gaining intelligence that provides insights into whether elements of the internal security forces remain cohesive, whether elites are hedging, and whether fractures are emerging inside regime institutions matters far more than symbolic action.

Trump’s Venezuela attack should serve as a warning even to US allies A muted response to events in Venezuela shows allies still want to avoid confrontation with Washington. But that approach cannot last if the president seeks to force them into alignment with MAGA poli...

The hardest challenges 2026 presents will likely be Donald Trump’s insistence that partner countries and allies fall in line with the Trump administration domestic policy.

Oh my god. Music to Putin's ears and to authoritarians everywhere. The schoolyard bully reigns supreme

"Do we truly believe that Nicolas Maduro will be replaced by a modern-day George Washington? How did that work out in… Libya, Iraq or Syria?”

www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/202...

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Ah, gotta love perspective...

Riveting...

Well said Kira Rudik!

In that case, why doesn't he pack up and go home?

The coming years will be even more dangerous than 2025 By Alexander With The war in Ukraine is escalating. While the front line is mostly static, both sides have ramped up their ability to conduct strategic bombing with drones and missiles. The cost of w...

We have some dangerous years ahead in terms of world security, writes Alexander With, a regular contributor to Logic of War. The war in Ukraine is still escalating, pressure on Putin is growing, and a conflict with China is on the horizon. (no paywall)

🙏🏻