I had a fascinating discussion with a US academic who asked his students to use AI to write their assessments which he then marked with AI. He said the whole process was much more efficient.

Contrary to what some will tell you, it *is* actually possible – no, necessary – to call out atrocities by the Iranian, Israeli, Russian, US, and other fascist regimes.

Those who'll do so purely when it's one lot or another are highly dodgy, to say the least.

I wish it were true that "no one is above the law". But while the City of London acts as laundromat for the world's dirty money, as almost all fraud and waste crime go unprosecuted, as no one has gone to jail for the financial crash or the poisoning of our rivers, this is manifestly untrue.

Labour minister falsely linked journalists to ‘pro-Kremlin’ network in emails to GCHQ Exclusive: Josh Simons pressed intelligence officials to investigate reporters, in emails described as ‘McCarthyite smear’

Utterly chilling insight into how Keir Starmer's team has been operating from the beginning. As others have been pointing out for years, the Labour Party and the country have been taken for a ride. There was a coup within the party, using a host of dirty tricks.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Not true - Greta posted about events in Iran.

Hear hear

Also basic decency.

1. Pointing out that the Iranian regime's actions are horrific does not in any way subtract from the horror of the Israeli government's genocide in Gaza, or from other atrocities. There are, unfortunately, plenty here who seem to believe we should be partisan in our denunciations. They are wrong. 🧵

If you denounce the Iranian massacre of protesters, but not the Gaza genocide, you're wrong

If you denounce the Gaza genocide, but not the Iranian massacre of protesters, you're wrong

The very same applies to the US invasion of Iraq, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine

It's called *consistency*.

I don't really think that many people in the west support the Iranian regime.

I think more people realize that attacking it will possibly cause many deaths and suffering.

A brilliant article that everyone commenting about Iran should read. The Iranian government is not your friend, and never will be, unless you happen to be a clerico-fascist enthusiast of mass torture and mass murder. But weirdly, many in the West who claim to be on the left seem to support it.

If only there were other ways the US could provide support to the Iranian people without bombing them - like funding an international radio station to counter press crackdowns, supporting net neutrality and funding global internet freedom, or providing asylum to dissidents.

If only…

Two things are simultaneously true:
1. The Iranian regime treats its people with extreme brutality and cruelty, and we should honour the citizens seeking to overthrow it.
2. A US attack on Iran would turn a crisis into a catastrophe.

BBC: UK has not given US permission to use RAF bases for Iran strikes

Starlink Surprise Ukraine surprised Russia with the Starlink shut off, and they have made the most of that surprise to take back territory. But like all surprises, the time to exploit that opportunity is limited.

"Eventually shock wears off, responses are developed & counterpunches delivered. This will be the case with the Starlink shutdown. Ukraine will have limited time to exploit the opportunities of the degraded C2 environment now endured by Russian ground forces."
mickryan.substack.com/p/starlink-s...

A war foretold: how the CIA and MI6 got hold of Putin’s Ukraine plans and why nobody believed them Drawing on more than 100 interviews with senior intelligence officials and other insiders in multiple countries, this exclusive account details how the US and Britain uncovered Vladimir Putin’s plans ...

“The main thing we took away from all of this was that we need to work with worst-case scenarios much more than we did before.” A war foretold: how the CIA and MI6 got hold of Putin’s Ukraine plans and why nobody believed them.
www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...

Four Years of War, No End in Sight. The Big Five 22 February edition. My regular update on war and great power competition. This week, diplomacy splutters, energy war, Russian mobilisation, StarLink and the Ukraine ground war, as well as my Big Five recommended reads.

"As we approach the fourth anniversary of Russia commencing its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, only one possible conclusion is possible: the Ukraine War will continue through spring 2026 and very likely beyond that." Read my full update here: mickryan.substack.com/p/four-years...

Explosions rock Kyiv as Russia launches ballistic missiles at Ukraine's capital Several rounds of explosions have been reported in Kyiv overnight on Feb. 22 as authorities warn ballistic missiles are heading towards Ukraine's capital.

⚡️Explosions rock Kyiv as Russia launches ballistic missiles at Ukraine's capital.

Several rounds of explosions have been reported in Kyiv overnight on Feb. 22 as authorities warn ballistic missiles are heading towards the city.

Four Years of the War in Ukraine | CSIS Events CSIS experts discuss the last four years of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

This looks interesting.
www.csis.org/events/four-...

🇺🇦💻 Ukrainian hackers have been secretly monitoring Russian UAV operators for over six months and have discovered how Russia is using the territory of Belarus, — InformNapalm.

They managed to hack accounts of Russian military and gain access to the monitoring systems used by drone operators.

🇺🇦 We cannot say that we are losing the war. Honestly, we are definitely not losing it. The question is whether we will win. That is the question — but it is a very high price, — Zelensky

Ukraine rejected the possibility of withdrawing its troops, saying such a move would only embolden Russia.

It's 2026 and we still have to discuss this... :/

We need mitigation and adaptation yesterday (and quite often there is overlap between these).

Here comes the flood Arguing for climate change adaptation doesn't make you a doomer

My latest for Technosphere Earth in which I argue that the biblical rains affecting much of the UK and the wider climate breakdown unfolding over Europe should be the catalyst for accelerating climate change adaptation. Alas, most politicians don't agree.
www.technosphere.earth/here-comes-t...

IMHO Ukrainie can win without troops on the ground but with more weapons and steady flow of ammunition.

When they run out of Patriot missiles or other critical ammunition situation deteriorates.

How Trump/USA Is Helping Putin Kill Ukrainians The Patriot Case Study

Hello All, Just sent out this piece, a case study of how Trump has gone to great lengths to help Russia in its campaign to kill Ukrainian civilians and freeze Ukrainian cities. Trump was deliberate and, sadly all to effective. The USA is helping Putin now. open.substack.com/pub/phillips...

Only once people admit that the entire Ukraine-Russia negotiations process being orchestrated by the USA/Trump is first and last a sham designed to help Putin as much as possible (and provide massive payoffs to the administration), will people be able to discuss it honestly.

Trump's comments here, as at Davos and on many other occasions, raise questions about the extent to which he has the capacity to understand, let alone be actively involved in, his own administration's policy. And if he isn't setting the course for US foreign policy, who is?

List of military aid to Ukraine during the Russo-Ukrainian war - Wikipedia

Mirages? Caesars? AMX-10? SCALPs, Hammer bombs?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...

🇸🇪🇺🇦 25 Tridon Mk2 systems will be delivered to Ukraine as part of the aid package, — Swedish Ministry of Defence.

🇪🇺 EU to adopt 20th package of sanctions against Russia next Monday, — Kallas

💬 Moscow is not invincible. Its army is suffering record losses, and its economy is under great pressure. But Putin will not end this war until the losses outweigh the gains, and that is what we must achieve.

High quality satellite images shared by Exilenova show damage at the Tamanneftegaz oil terminal. One storage tank was completely destroyed, another burned out and a third sustained damage. #Ukraine