@cdlassociates.bsky.social
Watching the Clash of Civilizations, the Fall of Russia and the U.S. Four and a half decades of Foreign Policy & International Security, Intelligence, Crude Oil, Energy. Inside knowledge. All retired or not much.
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21.02.2026 03:21 β π 29029 π 8616 π¬ 732 π 480Itβs worth noting that SEA HORSE isn't sanctioned by the U.S. Of the 9 Venezuela-linked tankers that have been stopped or boarded by the U.S., 8 were sanctioned. The other tanker bound for Cuba, which is currently being escorted by the U.S., is also not sanctioned.
21.02.2026 01:14 β π 13 π 1 π¬ 1 π 0
A tanker carrying nearly 200K barrels of Russian fuel is reportedly en route to Cuba, per Kpler. The vessel, SEA HORSE (IMO 9278686), is currently crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Key question now is whether the United States will attempt to intercept or block the ship.
21.02.2026 01:13 β π 31 π 12 π¬ 3 π 3Zelensky warns Ukrainians would never βforgiveβ US for ceding Donbas to Russia as part of peace deal: βNot fairβ.
He's talking to Trump?
It's both exhausting and frightening - how Trump has zero constraints. He can do whatever he wants without consequence, and he knows that.
21.02.2026 04:37 β π 5 π 1 π¬ 1 π 0
Under Pam Bondi and Todd Blanche, the DOJ is disintegrating. DOJ lost 10,000 employees from Nov 2024 to Nov 2025. US Attorneyβs Offices (which are part of the department) shed 14% of their workforce, a one-year reduction that officials say is unlike anything theyβve seen.
21.02.2026 04:16 β π 147 π 73 π¬ 5 π 4
Less than 1 month before Trump came out against a new bridge connecting Michigan with π¨π¦ Canada, the billionaire owner of an existing bridge donated $1M to the Trump-backed super PAC MAGA | NY Times π
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/20/u...
What should be the mental state of the country that elected such an idiot as president?
21.02.2026 07:05 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0The removal of NicolΓ‘s Maduro was supposed to trigger democratic transition. Instead, Venezuelaβs intelligence networks and security hardliners remain firmly in power. https://www.thecipherbrief.com/washingtons-venezuelan-gamble-the-old-guards-continued-grip-on-power?share_id=9178771
20.02.2026 16:46 β π 3 π 2 π¬ 1 π 0
βRed Notices are now routinely repurposed to pursue dissidents abroad,β write Rhys Davies, a barrister at Temple Garden Chambers, and Ben Keith, a barrister at 5 St Andrewβs Hill, on how Russia exploits Interpol to target Ukrainians and other critics.
kyivindependent.com/how-russia-g...
The Moscow Times The United States bought equipment for hacking phones from a company associated with veterans of the FSB.
Who approved this contract? Multiple U.S. federal agencies (FBI, DEA, ICE & State Department) have signed a three-year contract with Oxygen Forensics, a Russian software co. founded by "former" FSB agents, specializing in software for geolocation & extraction of deleted data from smartphones.
20.02.2026 17:15 β π 12 π 13 π¬ 4 π 2
South Korea is considering joining NATOβs Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) initiative to help finance Ukraineβs purchase of American weapons
20.02.2026 17:24 β π 20 π 5 π¬ 0 π 0Chancellor Merz:
We stand with the Ukrainian people, without any ifs, ands, or buts.
We will never accept how a criminal Russian regime systematically wages war against the civilian population of this country, against the elderly, against women, and against children.
Kherson downtown today...
#RussiaIsATerroristState
100%
20.02.2026 19:36 β π 3 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0Viktor Orban is a traitor to Hungary and to Europe.
The sooner he is out of power, and preferably in jail, the better.
The EU needs to end the farce of consensus voting, it's a gift to corrupt grifters like Orban.
A war foretold: how the CIA and MI6 got hold of Putinβs Ukraine plans and why nobody believed them - this is NOT an intelligence failure, but rather a failure to act on intelligence. There IS a HUGE difference people! www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...
20.02.2026 18:19 β π 2 π 2 π¬ 0 π 0Kavanaugh explained his decision to vote against the Constitution by stating that refunding the illegally charged tariffs will be complicated.
So, the "Kavanaugh Doctrine" is that we should follow the Constitution only when/if it is easy to do so.
William Taylor doesn't understand Putin at all.
20.02.2026 19:10 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0In gasoline, we noted a striking difference between the dynamics of producer prices and consumer prices. Apparently, a Russian phenomenon.
20.02.2026 09:34 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0The only solution.
20.02.2026 08:37 β π 3 π 2 π¬ 0 π 0
βοΈThe π°π΅North Korean army has received a large batch of 50 new 600-mm multiple launch rocket systems based on the KN-25, whose missiles can be equipped with nuclear warheads.
19.02.2026 21:04 β π 33 π 12 π¬ 7 π 0Fascism 101. All that's missing is the swastika.
19.02.2026 20:37 β π 17 π 2 π¬ 1 π 0NEWS: Donald Trump just gave a MASSIVE handout to the richest corporations in America.
How? By delivering them new tax cuts for research they've ALREADY done.
Some billionaire companies will pay a lower tax rate than a public school teacher.
Itβs shameful.
The night of 19 February 2014: Vladimir Putin gave Minister of Defence Sergei Shoigu the nod to inform Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov that the campaign to seize Ukraine's Crimean peninsula could begin at midnight.
The Russian campaign medal is dated 20 Feb 2014 to 18 March 2014.
History will be aghast at how today's Americans tolerated and empowered someone who was this openly corrupt.
19.02.2026 15:02 β π 369 π 146 π¬ 27 π 2Yes, but it's not just about the war in Ukraine. Putin is a total 26-year (for now) disaster for Russia, from which it will never recover and will eventually go to hell, maybe together with him.
19.02.2026 20:37 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
