Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 16/08/2026Every time I read "JCPOA" I can't help but pronounce it "Tezcatlipoca" in my head. Does anyone else suffer from this affliction? 000
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 13/08/2026"For every fact-filled story written by seasoned journalists, almost anyone could release an armada of chatbot accounts based on vaporous, cockeyed beliefs, dressed up enough to look like facts, so much so that even the most cynical among us is in danger of being duped."wsj.comEssay | I Write Political Thrillers. Here’s How I Think About Conspiracy Theories.Best-selling author David Baldacci writes that fiction is being underutilized in the fight against unreality 020
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 21/07/2026It's quite a "coincidence" that the first Catholic PM takes office shortly after King Charles III is crowned... 000
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 22/05/2026Anyone else find it hilarious that NATO ended up debating the Iranian Hormuz tolls in the exact location where the Danish Sound Dues were collected?nato.intNATO Foreign Ministers wrap up preparations for Ankara Summit in HelsingborgNATO Foreign Ministers concluded a meeting in Helsingborg, Sweden, on Friday (22 May 2026). Their discussions helped lay the groundwork for the upcoming NATO Summit in Ankara this July. 000
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 12/04/2026Kinda feels like Gandalf just resurrected and things look bright(er) for once 030
Reposted by Jed WillardEdward Wong @ewong.bsky.social · 02/04/2026NEW: Trump aides gutted offices that aimed to counter anti-American disinformation by foreign powers. Now the US finds itself embattled in an info war with Iran, Russia and China. The State Dept. tells diplomats to use X and work with Pentagon psyops teams. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/04/01/b...nytimes.comTrump Officials Try to Fight Foreign Disinformation They Once Dismissed 12322149
Reposted by Jed WillardKnight First Amendment Institute @knightcolumbia.org · 09/03/2026"The administration has clearly found a hammer that it quite likes to suppress speech that it doesn’t like, and that is the threat of detention and deportation," says senior staff attorney @carriedecell.bsky.social. Article by @zjmontague.bsky.social in @nytimes.com. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/09/u...nytimes.comNew Lawsuit Challenges Rubio’s Threats Against Foreign Tech Regulators 096
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 05/03/2026Is the new Acting Secretary planning to challenge immigrants to fisticuffs? Will it be on pay-per-view? Asking for a friend. 000
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 02/03/2026Living without clean running water is remarkably challenging 000
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 17/02/2026Wait... is this the first time EVER that Lunar New Year's, Mardi Gras, and the start of Ramadan are the same day?!? 000
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 16/02/2026"This is where soft power matters. Development co-operation, humanitarian assistance, support for effective institutions and diplomacy reduce the conditions in which conflict, extremism and coercive influence thrive. "Europe definitely has the potential to embrace this approach."ft.comLetter: Europe’s security strategy cannot rest on hard power aloneFrom Lt Gen (Ret’d) Kees Matthijssen (NLD) and others 010
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 16/02/2026"Davie Defense, Inc. will construct two Arctic Security Cutters at Helsinki Shipyard in Finland and three domestically. The... Cutters will defend U.S. sovereignty, secure critical shipping lanes, protect energy and mineral resources, and counter foreign malign influence in the Arctic region."news.uscg.mil 000
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 15/02/2026One of the best things about reading great literature when you're young is being able to re-read great literature when you're old and realizing how much you missed 010
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 11/02/2026I just learned that Genly.ai is owned by someone in Iceland which is of course perfectgenly.ai 000
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 10/02/2026“'The fact that they’ve actually dismantled and defunded the very real, tried and true infrastructure that was in place in 2020 to protect our elections against foreign interference, that speaks for itself about where their focus really is... State officials are all we have left...'"nbcnews.comState officials say the Trump administration has been absent on election securityFunding cuts to a key federal agency have left secretaries of states scrambling to fill in the gaps to ensure the election process is secure. 010
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 09/02/2026Wut "Hungary has answered that call, once again affirming its place as a true leader and defender of persecuted Christians. Today’s signing once again underscores our shared values and affirms that this is indeed a 'golden era of U.S.-Hungary relations.'”state.govUnited States and Hungary Partner on Advancing Religious Freedom in the Middle East and Africa - United States Department of StateToday, Deputy Secretary for Management and Resources Michael J. Rigas and Hungary’s State Secretary for the Aid of Persecuted Christians and the Hungary Helps Program, Tristan Azbej, signed a memorand... 000
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 28/01/2026My favorite propaganda so far this year was a well designed meme blaming the Minnesota protests on the legacy of "Radical '48ers" from the mid-19th century. Referencing 1848 is bold enough in itself but directly linking the protesters to abolitionism and pro-Unionism? Priceless. 000
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 11/01/2026This whole thing puts the lie into Modest Mouse's "Float On" 000
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 07/01/2026The new Food Pyramid reminds of the joke in "The Sleeper" about future doctors recommending steak, cream pies, and hot fudgenytimes.comTrump Administration Live Updates: Kennedy’s Health Department Flips Food Pyramid to Emphasize Red Meat and Dairy 030
Reposted by Jed WillardKaete O'Connell @kaeteoc.bsky.social · 06/01/202685 years ago, #FDR introduced the Four Freedoms in his 1941 State of the Union: freedom of speech, of worship, from fear, and from want. It was a vision that defined national security in terms everyday Americans could understand and aspire to. www.fdrlibrary.org/four-freedomsfdrlibrary.orgFDR and the Four Freedoms Speech - FDR Presidential Library & Museum 143
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 05/01/2026I guess we now know for sure that Trump endorses the filibuster 000
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 06/12/2025"Where previous strategies wrapped U.S. power in the language of democracy promotion and the rules-based order, this one is markedly different... This is an America that is not necessarily retreating from the world stage but consolidating its power through bullying and dealmaking."warontherocks.comTen Jolting Takeaways from Trump’s New National Security StrategyThe new National Security Strategy is out, and it’s a shock to the system. It is not just the latest public articulation of principles, ambitions, and 010
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 03/12/2025Gender, again "Climate skeptics present their position as 'projecting rationality, authority, and masculine self-control' while those who acknowledge global warming 'are depicted through emotionally charged, feminized, and irrational imagery,' and labeled 'alarmists' who propose radical solutions."nytimes.comMany Fighting Climate Change Worry They Are Losing the Information War 010
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 21/11/2025This US State+Ed International Education and Foreign Language Studies Partnership fact sheet has some formatting issues but is worth a read if you're interested America's continuing interest in international education exchanges so long as, the doc clarifies, they have nothing to do with LGBTQ+ed.gov 000
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 21/11/2025"I think we are incredibly good in America at thinking, 'That's what's happening over there, and it has nothing to do with us...' The lesson to everybody — all over the world — is that when you lose high coverage of [vaccination against] measles, the disease comes back."npr.orgAre there lessons for the U.S. in this European country's struggle with measles?In 2024, Romania, an upper middle income European country, had over 30,000 cases — putting it on the world's top ten measles list. Its vaccination rate hovers around 60%. How did this happen? 010
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 23/10/2025"While the law passed by Congress in 2019 to authorize the FMIC stipulates that the center cannot be formally closed until 2028, ODNI’s decision to cripple it now means the United States has effectively ended any meaningful government role in addressing the foreign interference threat." 1/3justsecurity.orgDismantling the Foreign Malign Influence CenterTulsi Gabbard is dismantling the last U.S. government organ dedicated to tracking State-sponsored efforts to interfere in U.S. institutions. 131
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 06/10/2025A hopeful, uplifting, important op-ed. Also impressive that the author manages to not mention FDR once. "America’s dangerous decade led not to fascism and the end of democracy but to the New Deal and the civil rights era... ushered in an era of working-class political empowerment and prosperity."nytimes.comOpinion | How to Save the American Experiment 010
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 29/09/2025"Election monitoring organizations told The Globe and Mail ahead of the vote that Russia’s meddling campaign – which included alleged vote-buying schemes and a wide-scale disinformation campaign about the EU – was worth some US$200-million, or about 1 per cent of Moldova’s gross domestic product." 031
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 28/09/2025"If anything is evident today, it is the need of all groups of Americans to cooperate in all those undertakings which are of common concern to them as citizens and which help make America the land of our dreams."nytimes.comMRS. ROOSEVELT ASKS FOR INTERFAITH AMITY; Urges All 'Good Citizens' Back Christian-Jewish Campaign (Published 1939) 010
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 23/09/2025Whoa! "...the network was capable of sending 30 million text messages per minute, anonymously. The official said the agency had never before seen such an extensive operation... Initial analysis of the data on some of the SIM cards has identified ties to at least one foreign nation..."nytimes.comCache of Devices Capable of Crashing Cell Network Is Found Near U.N. 020
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 22/09/2025This counts as a "vow?" "Asked whether he would help defend the EU members if Russia intensifies hostilities, Trump told reporters: 'Yeah, I would. I would.'"english.alarabiya.netTrump vows to defend Poland, Baltic states if Russia escalatesPresident Donald Trump on Sunday said he would defend Poland and the Baltic states in case of an escalation from Russia, following Moscow’s incursion into 000
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 19/09/2025"Then there is the growing sense within the US that dissidents aren't safe here... people like Russian antiwar activists. There's a real risk the US is going to be cooperating in TNR with other countries like Russia, if it isn't already." Wait, what? Really? thehundred.substack.com/p/how-dictat...thehundred.substack.comHow Dictators Hunt Enemies Abroad#92: With Nate Schenkkan 020
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 17/09/2025Applicable worldwide: "...bread-and-butter issues... get overshadowed by culture war battles... "There's probably broad agreement on many of these economic challenges... "But we can't have those conversations when we're busy trying to destroy each other's livelihoods over social media posts."johannamaska.comWhat Happens When Cancel Culture Comes for EveryoneThe aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s murder is an immediate test case for how we talk to each other. In Iowa, early signs are not good. 000
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 16/09/2025"The past week has shown us, in newly lurid detail, how the online world we inhabit is pulling us deeper into its vortex of blood, rage, lies and loathing. We have all become, with varying degrees of willingness, participants in the grotesque freak show we have created for ourselves."wsj.comOpinion | Charlie Kirk’s Assassination Unleashes the Antisocial MediaOur newly democratized digital discourse seems on track to turn into a French Revolution-style terror. 010
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 12/09/2025Utah Gov. Spencer Cox [GOP]: “'Tremendous amount of disinformation... What we’re seeing is our adversaries want violence... "'We have bots from Russia, China, all over the world that are trying to instill disinformation and encourage violence'... urged the public to take a break from social media."wsj.comWidespread Disinformation Online About Kirk Shooting: Utah GovernorThere’s a “tremendous amount of disinformation” being shared online about the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, some of it coming from overseas, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said. “What we’re seeing is our adv... 000
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 11/09/2025Is it just me or does the 21st-century US look like a reboot of 16th-century Europe only with better special effects? 010
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 10/09/2025I'm impressed Russia managed to wait a full 80 years before attacking Poland again 000
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 05/09/2025What I'm wondering is do we also get back the Navy Department? 000
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 05/09/2025“There’s no upside for anyone to this decision,” [said] Senator Sheldon Whitehouse.... “The economy’s going to be hurt. Consumers are going to see prices go up. There’s massive economic waste in stalling this project that is so nearly concluded.”nytimes.comDonald Trump vs. the Wind Power Industry 000
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 04/09/2025Tidy NOLA response to Guard deployment notion: "[we] thank the federal government for their support... We have consistently worked with our federal partners... This collaborative approach has been instrumental in our ongoing success in reducing crime... [goes on with thanks, no Guard endorsement]wdsu.comPresident Donald Trump considering sending troops to New Orleans. Here's whyPresident Trump said during a news conference Wednesday that his administration is considering sending troops to New Orleans in addition to Chicago. 000
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 29/08/2025“'Any effort to rescind appropriated funds without congressional approval is a clear violation of the law,' Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine and the chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, said in a statement on Friday."nytimes.comDefying Congress, Trump Moves to Cut $4.9 Billion in Foreign Aid 000
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 13/08/2025The 250th anniversary of American independence, ladies and gentlemen!nytimes.comWhite House Will ‘Definitely’ Host a U.F.C. Fight on July 4, U.F.C. Head Says 000
Jed Willard @jedwillard.bsky.social · 06/08/2025They have? "The Chinese government has long struggled to mount information operations targeting other countries, lacking the aggressiveness or effectiveness of Russian intelligence agencies."nytimes.comChina Turns to A.I. in Information Warfare 000