Catrin Richards

Reform is not a political party in any normal sense. It’s a personality cult around Farage.

Without him it fails and with him it’ll never be able to grow a collective leadership.

LOL

Morning Bluesky! Have you cancelled a planned trip or move – holiday, work, short-term or long-term – to the USA? Fancy chatting to me about for a piece?

@ me or DM if so, especially if you’re located in the UK. (RTs much appreciated too).

Reminder that one of the three great consistent rules of Trump is that he will always back down if directly confronted (the others are that he never keeps a promise and that he will always betray anyone who helps him)

He’s going to be fired because he outed the fact that Musk arranged with Hegseth to get a top secret briefing at the Pentagon. Trump and his Chief of Staff didn’t even know about it. As usual, in Trump World, the person who does the right thing is the one who is punished.

Is it too online to get all your talking points from Ian Miles Cheong? Not for today’s cutting edge Conservative Party.

The FT's deadpan dark commentary hasn't been beaten yet

remember all the conspiracy theories that billionaire George Soros was using his vast wealth to influence our elections?

Well now.

How to Enter the US With Your Digital Privacy Intact Crossing into the United States has become increasingly dangerous for digital privacy. Here are a few steps you can take to minimize the risk of Customs and Border Patrol accessing your data.

Countries that warrant that paranoid approach to travel might include not just Russia and China but also America under the increasingly draconian and unpredictable scrutiny of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), security experts say.

A guide on entering the US with your digital privacy intact:

We've taken the paywall down for this one.

Must be a lot of waste, fraud and abuse in there.

I think we should send in a bunch of middle-aged civil servants from the federal government and give them the power to unplug or destroy whatever looks funny to them until Twitter is finally working efficiently.

What we’re witnessing in America is what happens when disordered discourse captures a political party, then the state itself. The Republican Party was the first to fall - abandoning truth for conspiracy, ideology for grievance, and policy for performative outrage.

🧵 This is a perfect example of what I've be describing as disordered discourse, and it's threat to democracy. Politicians are afraid to speak openly about key issues.

Why? Because disordered discourse has captured the system itself—forcing obedience, punishing dissent, and making truth irrelevant.

Very heartening to see foreign officials mocking him for being a fucking clown. Feels like the garlic to his vampire

The Appointments Clause is what Aileen Cannon used to dismiss the stolen docs case against Trump.

Now, Trump says it doesn't exist.

So, if I’m reading this correctly, Congress appropriated a bunch of funds for specific purposes. Musk will be throwing that out the window and disregarding the law they enacted. But individual legislators can call a hotline and beg for their pet projects to be spared. That’s how we’re doing it now.

Reality check.
Thank you, Financial Times.

Zelensky taking a hard line right now is EXACTLY what the world needs.

Call out their lies, hold them accountable, speak in simple terms, and hold strong.

Kinzinger: Zelenskyy had an opportunity to flee Ukraine when Russia attacked and he stayed. Is there anybody that has any doubt about whether Trump would flee the country if we were attacked.

Trump Fired the People Who Could Dispute His False Claims about Ukraine Aid - emptywheel Barely one month after firing two of the men responsible for overseeing the money the United States has provided Ukraine to stave off Russia, Trump is launched false claims about that spending.

Reupping, bc Bret Baier made it a false issue.

Trump fired the Inspectors General who can prove his claims about Ukrainian corruption are false.

www.emptywheel.net/2025/02/19/t...

As @shashj.bsky.social noted, the shouting match was not just undiplomatically shocking, but also bad analysis. You cannot make a real, lasting peace without security guarantees and no Russia is not 10 feet tall about about WWIII any day. 3/

Two months ago @the-independent.com asked me to look forward and predict what 2025 would bring for Ukraine and Europe. I thought I'd check back and see how well those predictions are holding up now we're six weeks into the year.... oh dear.

www.independent.co.uk/edition/uk.c...

He worked wonders in Atlantic City 🤔

Max Blumenthal and the Convergence of Anti-Zionism with Antisemitism - Conspiracy Watch Max Blumenthal is a maniacally anti-Zionist media activist who spreads conspiracy theories and hate about Israel and Jews, alongside apologies for terrorists, dictators and war criminals from Vladimir...

Exceptionally timed and highly relevant analysis from Emma-Kate Symons in Conspiracy Watch:

“Blumenthal has whitewashed the atrocities of al-Assad’s regime in Syria, dismissing well-documented chemical weapon attacks and other war crimes in his usual style as ‘Western propaganda.’“

Surprise

“I have become a distraction” is a serious contender for a future Strong Message Here episode. It means “I’m bang to rights but I will never, ever admit that”

SLAPPs thwarted attempts to stop Al-Fayed, says MP Reporting on alleged assaults – including against a 15-year-old – were suppressed by legal threats, Parliament heard

'Mohamed Al-Fayed’s sexual abuse could have been stopped were it not for legal threats against journalists'

Coverage of today's parliamentary debate into SLAPPs - prompted by @tbij.bsky.social's Silenced Stories project

www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2024...