Much like in The Spectator yesterday there was also a piece attacking Zelensky in the FT 2 days ago

Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused of authoritarian slide after anti-corruption raids

Check this out

“Taking advantage of the war, Zelenskyy is making his first, yet confident, steps towards corrupt authoritarianism,” wrote the editorial board of Ukrainian Truth, Ukraine’s most-read online news outlet.

“A crackdown on the country’s most famous anti-corruption crusader can’t be happening without at least the silent approval from President Zelenskyy, if not active permission,” the English-language Kyiv Independent said.

The president’s top political rivals followed suit. Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko warned that “under the guise of war, the authorities persecute those deemed inconvenient: political opponents, local governments, experts, journalists and activists”.

To my knowledge this didn't start recently but it's nice that the Ukraine overton window moved to where I can send libs shit like this about Z-man

Lula just said that if he's still healthy by then he'll campaign for re-election in 2026 to stop that "band of crazies". He'll be 80 yo next by then

What do we think? Mistake? Should be propping up a successor like with Dilma?

That was my first thought but when you think about how close the 2022 election was, which pitted Lula, unarguably the left's strongest candidate, against Bolsonaro, arguably a weak candidate for the right, I'm sure there are more palatable bolsonaristas the right could run with, it could really be that the PT won't be able to win without Lula.

From portuguese language twitter sometimes I see news about crazy brazillian right wingers that are apparently popular, but not so much about center-left or left-wing figures that could take Lula's place, I only hear about Guilherme Boulos but he's much to the left of Lula (from what I understand) so he likely wouldn't be the PT's candidate

FBI agents were told to ‘flag’ any Epstein records that mentioned Trump, Sen. Durbin says

Does this mean things are going well? Bolsonaro’s other son — this one a sitting senator, not the congressman conspiring against his country in the US — suggested Trump back off the 50% threat and instead target individual Brazilians for sanction. He has since deleted the tweet

• Tweet

The US leader Donald Trump has ordered the cancellation of the visas of Alexandre de Moraes (the Supreme Court Justice Bolsonaro attempted to kill), his family members and his “allies on the court”. It is not yet known whether by “allies” he means other Justices. Trump, through its Secretary of State Marco Rubio, states that “his administration will hold foreign nationals responsible for censoring protected expression in the United States accountable.”

Rubio: "@POTUS made clear that his administration will hold accountable foreign nationals who are responsible for censorship of protected expression in the United States. Brazilian Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes's political witch hunt against Jair Bolsonaro created a persecution and censorship complex so sweeping that it not only violates basic rights of Brazilians, but also extends beyond Brazil's shores to target Americans. I have therefore ordered visa revocations for Moraes and his allies on the court, as well as their immediate family members effective immediately."

• Telegram

• Tweet + Rubio Tweet

The Spectator: Ukrainians have lost faith in Zelensky

Check out this CRAZY bit

Ukraine’s social media is filled with daily videos of men being bundled into vans by recruitment officers. In the first six months of this year, Ukraine’s Prosecutor’s Office reported that it had opened 107,672 new criminal cases for desertion. Since 2022 some 230,804 such criminal cases have been instigated, suggesting that more soldiers have deserted the Ukrainian army than there are fighting men in today’s British, French and German armies combined

How long can this go on?

Trump's announcement to send Patriots to Ukraine seems to cause confusion:

Trump's mysterious arms "deal" (Süddeutsche Zeitung, in German)

When Trump finally announced that Patriot systems were already on their way to Ukraine, this was immediately denied. According to German government circles: “Nothing is in the bag yet.”

But it is still completely unclear when and from whom Ukraine can receive additional Patriot batteries, unless the USA itself is prepared to hand over its own systems.

It's not even clear how useful these Patriots are. They're not cost effective when shooting down Geran drones, and they can't reliably shoot down Russia's most advanced missiles. I guess they can shoot down something in between, but surely that's not going to make a difference.

Russian forces liberated another ten settlements this week (seven in the Donetsk People's Republic, two in Zaporozhye oblast, and one in Kharkov oblast): https://sputnikglobe.com/20250718/russias-weekly-military-gains-precision-strikes-and-ten-liberated-settlements-1122455709.html

Some combat footage of one of these settlements (Voskresenka, in the DPR) being liberated: https://s5.cdnstatic.space/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/voskresenka.mp4?_=4

Apparently Hersh thinks Zelensky is cooked.

https://seymourhersh.substack.com/p/the-end-for-zelensky Is anyone still subscribed and can get the full article?

Felix Baumgartner has died

https://apnews.com/article/felix-baumgartner-death-paragliding-skydiver-40aee076396adceffdd322d4105af0e4

Czech government takes a stand against cummunism

The only thing that I can say is Hillary 2028!

China-Serbia Peace Guardian 2025 Joint Training to be held this month

BEIJING, June 14 -- Army special operations troops of China and Serbia will carry out Peace Guardian 2025 joint training in North China's Hebei Province in the second half of July, said Senior Colonel Jiang Bin, spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense, at a press briefing on Monday.

"This will be the first joint training between Chinese and Serbian militaries. It will help strengthen combat capabilities of participating troops and deepen cooperation between the two militaries," he stated.

• China's Ministry of National Defense

yemeni missile launched and reportedly intercepted

ansarallah and resistance operations in palestine feel like the only thing keeping me afloat rn

House overwhelmingly rejects Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's amendment to cut funds to Israel 422-6.

The six: Al Green (TX) Green (GA) Lee (PA) Massie (KY) Omar (MN) Tlaib (MI)

https://archive.ph/3pP4t

No time to waste: NATO chief urges rapid industrial mobilization

As the U.S. and its allies in Europe pledge to ramp up defense spending amid mounting global threats, the supreme allied commander of Europe is calling on industry to deliver real capabilities to the field in record time. “We can tell industry exactly what it is that we need for all the leaders that are out there. It’s our job, I think, to hold industry accountable to deliver quickly and to hold ourselves accountable for giving industry the ability to deliver quickly through our acquisition processes,” U.S. Air Force Gen. Alexus Grynkewich said July 17 during his first public speech since taking command at the Association of the U.S. Army’s inaugural LandEuro conference in Wiesbaden, Germany.

"hold industry accountable"? Uh, yeah pal, it's called nationalization and economic planning, but I'm afraid that's all lost technology, even the Adeptus Mechanicus can't figure out what it was all about. We just don't know!

“We’ve got to do this fast. We need real capabilities and we need them delivered as soon as possible. We can’t afford to wait, future pledges are no longer enough,” he said. “To do this, the defense industrial base on both sides of the Atlantic is going to have to become fully activated.” Grynkewich stressed there’s plenty of work to go around, it’s not a matter of investing in one or the other. “It needs to be one seamless industrial base that can deliver capability and capacity for the alliance,” he said. Moving quicker is easier said than done. Every country will have to contend with their own budget approval process and work through red tape across borders.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth made a pledge earlier this year on a trip to NATO headquarters that the U.S. would conduct major foreign military sales reform. Even so, the U.S. military and NATO have developed solid regional plans beginning with a clear one focused on the Baltic States that will help guide government and industry in getting capabilities to units there. The U.S. Army Europe and Africa commander, speaking a day earlier at the conference, said the “Eastern Flank Deterrence Line” plan aims to enhance ground-based capabilities and drive military-industrial interoperability across the alliance.

As part of the plan to counter Russian threats and enable scalable, global deterrence, the Army and its NATO allies are urgently developing standardized, data-driven systems, common launchers and cloud-based coordination. The plan includes a system to share data. NATO has already procured that system – Palantir’s Maven Smart System – an artificial intelligence platform that takes a vast amount of data and rapidly analyzes information to help military commanders make decisions. U.S. Army Europe and Africa officials have also adopted Maven at headquarters, using it for mission command and visibility across the theater. The system has completely replaced PowerPoint briefings and offers information to commanders in real-time.

you know what's going to drag us out of our deindustrialization quagmire? that's right, THE CLOUD! AND AI!

On NATO’s wish list, according to Grynkewich, are capabilities that mirror a Ukrainian brigade. “How do we get our brigades to have the same level of capability where we can match what they’re able to do today?”

ah, so they're finally admitting that the Ukrainians are way ahead of them in terms of adaptation to the modern battlefield... but wait, aren't those guys, like, not doing too good? Uh oh!

Additionally, Grynkewich said he wants to focus on air defense. “There’s never enough air defense. You always want more, but it’s an acute requirement, whether it’s counter-[unmanned aircraft systems] or counter-ballistic missiles,” he said. And there will also be a continued focus on long-range fires, Grynkewich noted. “We need the capability to hold things at risk.”

Industry now has real incentives in place, Grynkewich said, with the new commitment made by NATO nations at the last summit to spend 5% of their gross domestic product on defense by 2035. “I would ask industry folks who are here and elsewhere to realize that sustained commitment should be a powerful signal to do the things you need to do, to expand production lines, to increase [research and development] spending, etc., so that we can get where we need to go,” he said.

"a signal to do the things you need to do" y'know, maybe you shouldn't need to fucking "signal" industry, like "oh pretty please expand your production lines, c'mon guys!", maybe you should be able to, I dunno, order them to do so?

Leadership is now moving to deliver new and emerging technology to the battlefield along with legacy technology that is still relevant and will work to make things interoperable. “I challenge each of the chiefs of defense, land forces commanders and every leader in here to hold themselves to account for that. There’s no time to waste,” Grynkewich said.

this guy really loves holding stuff accountable I guess

https://apnews.com/article/facility-sheriff-los-angeles-dead-explosion-da7ad1fdc444bbb7d8c14f33b44333e6

Lol, lmao