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Machado may be bravely fighting for democracy against a corrupt and brutal dictatorship, which is certainly commendable, and she's clearly a darn sight better than Maduro. But given some of her political positions, I don't think she was really a great choice for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Some of Machado's other positions don't inspire much confidence, either. Like Maduro, she supports irredentist claims to the Essequibo region of Guyana, although she's against seizing it by force. And she has aligned herself with right-wing populist parties such as Vox in Europe.

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And, to be honest, I doubt Trump is upset about Machado winning. She supports his policies, including bombing boats off the Venezuelan coast, and would apparently support a U.S. invasion of Venezuela to overthrow Nicolas Maduro. She's even partly dedicated her prize to Trump.

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People are celebrating because Trump didn't win, even though he was never a serious candidate to begin with. In reality he had about as much chance of being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize as Vladimir Putin, ISIS, or Emperor Palpatine.

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Lyle Austin @lyleaustin.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

It's surreal reading some of the responses to the Nobel Peace Prize announcement by Americans who perhaps hadn't heard of Maria Corina Machado before yesterday.

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It makes no sense to claim to support a two-state solution if you're only willing to recognise one state. And it's disingenuous to claim that recognition has triggered Israel's recent actions in the West Bank, when Israel has been trying to take over the West Bank and undermine the PA for years.

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Lyle Austin @lyleaustin.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

The NZ government has decided not to recognise Palestine. It's a pretty spineless decision, IMO, grounded in fear of retribution by an ailing dictator who couldn't find NZ on a map. www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

rnz.co.nz

NZ not yet recognising Palestinian state, Foreign Minister Winston Peters announces

The government has decided against recognising Palestinian statehood, retaining its "when, not if" position.

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Lyle Austin @lyleaustin.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

It's great to see that France, Luxembourg, Monaco, Malta, and San Marino have now joined the list. Four of the five permanent members of the U.N. security council, most of NATO, and almost half of the members of the E.U. have now recognised Palestine. And I'm sure the number will continue to climb.

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Reposted by Lyle Austin

UNITED24 Media @united24media.com · 22/09/2025

On this day in 1939, German and Soviet forces marched together in a victory parade in Brest-Litovsk. Moscow called it a “liberation campaign.” For Poland, it meant occupation, executions and mass deportations.

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Lyle Austin @lyleaustin.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

Well done Canada, the U.K., Australia, and Portugal for recognising Palestine. I'm hopeful that New Zealand will join the ever-growing list later this week, but Winston Peters likes to keep his cards close to his chest and keep everyone guessing.

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ChrisO_wiki @chriso-wiki.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

1/ South Korean workers who have been deported from the US have spoken of enduring squalid conditions in ICE custody, including being chained, handcuffed and zip-tied, being made to lick up water rather than drink it, and having to menstruate and use the toilet in public. ⬇️

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Lyle Austin @lyleaustin.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

Were any of these acts of government brutality ordered by the "stupid and evil man" mentioned by the OP, or the regime he heads? I have no problem with treating government brutality as a measure of evil. How about you?

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Lyle Austin @lyleaustin.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

Yep. I'd guarantee that Turkey and Saudi Arabia are already making plans to get nuclear weapons, and other countries are sure to follow.

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Lyle Austin @lyleaustin.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

Indeed, we are worse off now, and the effect of the air strikes on Saturday is probably the exact opposite of their claimed objective. This should make us question their real purpose. It's clear what Bibi and US neocons actually want to achieve, and it should be obvious how air strikes fit in.

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It is in this context that Mark Rutte, the Secretary General of NATO, sent this utterly nauseating letter to Trump, praising him for making everyone 'safer'. How can Rutte lead NATO if he writes this about a highly reckless act that could have serious repercussions for the organisation he leads?

The air strikes again Iran threaten to set in motion a chain of events that could, potentially, not only plunge much of Europe and the Middle East into a devastating war in the relatively near future, but they could effectively destroy NATO.

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Imagine if Putin decided to attack one of the Baltic states or Sweden while the U.S. was tied up in Iran. Would there even be any point in invoking Article 5? European members might answer the call, though even that's far from certain, but the U.S., clearly, would not.

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It would obviously be in Putin's interests to divide NATO and lure its most powerful member into a dangerous war in the Middle East, while Russia continues to seize swathes of territory belonging to its neighbours in Europe.

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What makes the prospect of a war in Iran particularly troubling is that Trump's decision to attack may have been influenced in part by Vladimir Putin, who he clearly admires, even though Putin presumably views him as a mere tool and looks on him with contempt.

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Given that most NATO members are already threatened to some degree by a revanchist Russia, it's unlikely they'd be willing to join any war in the Middle East at the present time. They need to shore up security in Europe and dramatically increase support for Ukraine.

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Anton Shekhovtsov @shekhovtsov.substack.com · 24/06/2025

Looking past the next-level sycophancy, what really alarms me about this letter is the praise of the air strikes against Iran. These were clearly dangerous and destabilising, and may lead to a much more serious war that NATO members would almost certainly be asked to join.

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Reposted by Lyle Austin

Rutte’s Peak Sycophancy. truthsocial.com/@realDonaldT...

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Did you read the original thread? They probably still have some facilities operational. And even if they don't, they have the technology and could rebuild within months.

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Unfortunately, I think there are really only two credible regime change scenarios now: 1. A coup by a more hardline, pro-nuclear faction close to the current leadership. 2. A full-scale US invasion leading to a pro-US government being installed by force. This is looking more and more likely.

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There's nothing like that in Iran, and it's not going to suddenly arise because of Israel and the US bombing military or nuclear facilities. Perhaps the US should have looked into this, but it's too late now. The current war will make it harder for ordinary citizens to rise up against the regime.

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I'm afraid this seems unlikely. Syria was actually quite different - the rebel alliance there had controlled a sizable part of the country for years, and they launched a major offensive and managed to wrest control from the Assad regime, which had been weakened due to a number of factors.

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And to add to that, they're much more likely to develop nuclear weapons in the near future, especially if Khamenei is no longer calling the shots.

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Kevork Oskanian @drkevorko.bsky.social · 22/06/2025

That sums up this bunch of clowns. They seem to see intelligence of any kind as irrelevant.

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Reposted by Lyle Austin

"Forget about intelligence". GW Bush, Blair and friends at least had the courtesy to forge or blatantly misrepresent intelligence.

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Of course, that doesn't give someone like Trump the right to launch an illegal, unprovoked war based on fabricated claims against them. He and Bibi are clearly the ones in the wrong here, but no one should really be claiming that the government in Tehran are not utterly vile.

There's plenty of proof that the Iranian govt is evil, including the brutal treatment of young people who protested against government policies a couple of years ago, the insanely high number of executions, and the way they covered up the spread of covid-19 before the election in February 2020.

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It probably should be "anaxiarchy", since rule is "άρχή".

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Eugene Finkel @efinkel.bsky.social · 22/06/2025

Of course he did. He couldn't keep his hands off.

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Reposted by Lyle Austin

Welcome, American foreign policy scholars to the world of Russia experts in late 2021 and early 22, when so many people could not bring themselves to believe that a war would happen simply because it made no sense, there was no real threat, the President wasn't *that* crazy and didn't roll that way

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Kraut @derparrot.bsky.social · 22/06/2025

Now we wait and see if the Iranian regime tries to close the strait of Hormuz.

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"And when you're done rebelling, we've got the son of the former shah ready to take power."

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Judd Legum @juddlegum.bsky.social · 22/06/2025

And New Zealand has been left off the map again

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Reposted by Lyle Austin

I was thinking that maybe, more than 20 years after the start of the Iraq war, media coverage would be more skeptical and less sycophantic No such luck

Analysis: US strikes mark a stunning demonstration of military might and presidential power

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David Faris @davidfaris.bsky.social · 22/06/2025

The only thing standing between us and, potentially, World War III was (and is) the judgement of someone who has no understanding of history or international relations, who compulsively sticks his grubby fingers in every mess, and who is vain, easily manipulated, and as predictable as a leaky pipe.

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Reposted by Lyle Austin

Netanyahu has spent the better part of two decades trying to strong arm the United States into an unprovoked war against Iran and finally found a president stupid enough to do it for him. Unbelievable.

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Michelle Ye Hee Lee @myhlee.bsky.social · 03/06/2025

By far my favorite part of South Korean elections: election night graphics. SBS television station kills it EVERY. TIME. They play these clips all night and they get more and more unhinged and creative as the night goes on.

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Lyle Austin @lyleaustin.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

Saving Ryukyuan cuisine. There's a fairly large Okinawan community in Osaka, and quite a few restaurants that are trying to preserve the traditional cuisine. www.bbc.com/travel/artic...

bbc.com

The women saving Japan's vanishing cuisine

For 450 years, the little-known Ryukyu Kingdom thrived in what is now Japan. Now, after nearly vanishing, its unique fusion cuisine is being revived.