iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Patrick Osgood @patrickosgood.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

NYT here stating what has been apparent for months: within a few weeks of its war, the US durably lost its entire military and naval basing archipelago in and around the Persian Gulf, with no foreseeable prospect of return. Has this humiliating strategic loss really sunk in yet? archive.is/yviFY

NYT: But that has not stopped the Iranians from forcing American aircraft and personnel to flee their once-secure bases — farther and farther from Iran. American personnel were evacuated from bases in Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, all of which were within Iranian missile and drone range.
Some of those bases were so badly damaged that inside the Pentagon there is little interest in rebuilding them; they will be moved farther away, if Congress grants the funding.

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Patrick Osgood @patrickosgood.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

They initially tried harder than that!

NYT: Jack Smith, Who Charged Trump, Testifies in Combative Hearing Republicans have called for the former special counsel to be prosecuted. One G.O.P. senator accused him of perjury, but it appeared to be based on a misunderstanding.

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Patrick Osgood @patrickosgood.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Smoking is stupid, don’t do it etc. But also, look at this - it’s magnificent

A pack of Karelias Special Virginia Filters

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Patrick Osgood @patrickosgood.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Like, this kind of thing, not so much

A retrospectively sad Goldman Sachs chart assuming a recovery of Hormuz crude volumes in March

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Patrick Osgood @patrickosgood.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Look at this shit. Couple of bog-standard panels, basic microinverter, a basic stand and a plug. Maybe £350 to buy, retail, as components. £950! Total rip-off, would take a decade to pay for itself

UKSOL Pro Duo Plug In 890W Solar Kit
Ground Mount £951.60

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Patrick Osgood @patrickosgood.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

They actually did The Onion bit, amazing

Onion: This War Will Destabilize The Entire
Mideast
Region And Set Off A Global
Shockwave Of Anti-
Americanism vs. No It Won't

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Patrick Osgood @patrickosgood.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Even as vaccination was ramping, the government was still flirting with putright disaster - and many died unnecessarily

21. The Omicron variant - less severe but much more transmissible - emerged in the winter of 2021. Despite the protection of the vaccine, the sheer number of cases meant more than 30,000 people died with Covid-19 in the UK between
November 2021 and June 2022.
22. The approach of all four governments in the second half of 2021 had an element of risk. If the vaccines had been less effective or if Omicron was as severe as previous variants, the consequences would have been disastrous.

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Patrick Osgood @patrickosgood.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

We have paid for an exhaustive public inquiry into all this and the findings squarely blame the government

The Inquiry finds that the response of the four governments repeatedly amounted to a case of "too little, too late'. The failure to appreciate the scale of the threat, or the urgency of response it demanded, meant that - by the time the possibility of a mandatory lockdown was first considered - it was already too late and a lockdown had become unavoidable.
That these same mistakes were repeated later in 2020 is inexcusable. While the nationwide lockdowns of 2020 and 2021 undoubtedly saved lives, they also left lasting scars on society and the economy, brought ordinary childhood to a halt, delayed the diagnosis and treatment of other health issues and exacerbated societal inequalities. The Covid-19 lockdowns only became inevitable because of the acts and omissions of the four governments. They must now learn the lessons of the Covid-19 pandemic if they are to avoid lockdowns in future pandemics.

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Patrick Osgood @patrickosgood.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Gold, like Farage, being a mug’s game and yesterday’s news

A six month gold price chart, showing a steep decline

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Patrick Osgood @patrickosgood.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

This sounds like an egregious lie, just totally made up. Implausible to disguise those volumes The Strait is….. e m p t y

Strait of Hormuz: a barren tankerless wasteland

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Patrick Osgood @patrickosgood.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

There you have it. ‘Leave it to the police.’ Appeal for calm. Blandest language possible, doesn’t name perps, ‘background’ re victims. Unacceptable. This is a political crisis, man: act.

Keir Starmer *
@Keir_Starmer • 10m
X
The scenes in Belfast last night were shocking and completely unacceptable.
There is no justification for the violence and disorder that we saw threatening our communities, nor for those who encouraged it, online or elsewhere.
It is clear that people were targeted last night because of their background and I will not tolerate it. Those responsible will feel the full force of the law.
I've spoken to the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland to convey my thanks to them and the frontline emergency services for their bravery in keeping people safe. I've also spoken to the First Minister and Deputy First Minister to discuss the ongoing situation.
Appealing for calm must be the priority, and that is what I urge now. We must let the police get on with their work.

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Patrick Osgood @patrickosgood.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Has Toynbee heard of interest rates? Wouldn’t bet on it

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Patrick Osgood @patrickosgood.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

The special Presidential phone used for these totally real calls

A Fisher-Price Chatter Telephone Vehicle Push-Along Toy With Sounds For Baby & Toddler

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Patrick Osgood @patrickosgood.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

I got this through my letterbox. Never seen the like (have been away from the UK for years). I appreciate the dedication to print. But good grief. Really messed up far-right meltbrain conspiracist nonsense. The UK these days is as bonkers in the corners as the US.

A photo of The Light - a nutbar free newspaper, for nutbars

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Patrick Osgood @patrickosgood.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

The Saudi wheat drive was truly bonkers

A chart of Saudi Arabia’s mad wheat production

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Patrick Osgood @patrickosgood.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

They had to get some of their bullshit in there somewhere

Nyt: Mr. Mamdani, 34, grew up a child of the Manhattan elite, his mother an Oscar-nominated movie director, his father a tenured Columbia professor. But his tax returns show no signs of his parents' success filtering down to his bank account just yet.

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Patrick Osgood @patrickosgood.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

Build it, but first get Trump to sign Stownhenged napkin plans

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Patrick Osgood @patrickosgood.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Imagine reading this Happy Days epilogue shit in a GCC capital, good lord

@realDonaldTrump
A big day for World Peace! Iran wants it to happen, they've had enough! Likewise, so has everyone else! The United States of America will be helping with the traffic buildup in the Strait of Hormuz. There will be lots of positive action! Big money will be made. Iran can start the reconstruction process. We'll be loading up with supplies of all kinds, and just "hangin' around" in order to make sure that everything goes well. I feel confident that it will. Just like we are experiencing in the U.S., this could be the Golden Age of the Middle East!!!
President DONALD J. TRUMP

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Patrick Osgood @patrickosgood.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

Nice write-up of Iraq’s epic road back to the World Cup. Awesome that they’ll be in the same group as the best team in the tournament, and..who knows… www.theguardian.com/football/202...

"I've got to give so much thanks to the players," Arnold said after he had been thrown up into the Monterrey air by members of the squad. "Their work ethic, they showed the real Iraqi mentality and putting their bodies on the line, that's why we won the game. I say to them: I am so happy that we've made 46 million people happy. Especially with what's going on in the Middle East at the moment, I am so happy for them."

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Patrick Osgood @patrickosgood.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

Nice to see the FDD still trying to polish this gargantuan turd

"Once you've once you've achieved those strategic objectives, it naturally follows," said Rich Goldberg, a former Trump National Security Council official now at Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington think tank. "That is when you would focus on the Strait of Hormuz, because you would have done so much damage to their external threat, and you would have reallocated your military resources to that mission."

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Patrick Osgood @patrickosgood.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

This reporting affirms that a U.S. A-10 Warthog slaughtered Iraqi military medics with cannon fire after an airstrike: "We tried to rescue them from under the rubble... but the pilot returned and targeted us directly," he said. "The medics and those who came to rescue the trapped were killed."

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Patrick Osgood @patrickosgood.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

Not 2003: this morning. Purported footage of an A-10 firing cannon on what Iraq’s MoD said is a military clinic in Anbar. After government statements last night attempting to assert control over the escalating U.S.-militia war. Bad bad bad

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