@publicshawnelle
Tea, aviation, and public health obsessed constitutional and civil lawyer with libertarian values and Caribbean flair. Passionate about economic development. Will sit on the floor in my Sunday best to pet random dogs.
The people who spent years defending and even lionizing Kyle Rittenhouse and Ashli Babbitt now want us to believe that an unarmed mother in her car and a disarmed nurse were domestic terrorists who deserved to be murdered by law enforcement.
Liberal democracy is not just a vibe.
Reflecting on people who try to co-opt my libertarianism for their discrimination.
Nationalism is anti-human. Governments entrench inequality by giving unearned benefits to wealthy, well-connected cronies.
I'll never not want to dismantle classism. I'm a first-gen uni attendee and graduate ffs...
Killing someone falls so far outside of that line of civilised behaviour that it should not need to be said.
I hope Charlie Kirk's loved ones can find peace & comfort in their grief. It is awful to die young, to be killed, & especially to be killed for speaking/believing things.
Even if you disagree in substance with him, as I do, there is a baseline level of civilised behaviour that should be maintained.
Y'ALL REALISE THE WORLD CUP IS NEXT YEAR AND IT IS IN THE AMERICAS?
BECAUSE EEEEEEEP!!!!!!!!!!!
A guy tried to tell me to use AI to apply for jobs. He was surprised I actually enjoyed crafting my applications and thinking about my application strategy. I was baffled by how flippantly he made the suggestion.
Feels like a "Duh!" but becoming more of a, "Please remember!" these days.
Currently in this. It's kinda cool.
RIP to the Tim Minchin of the Cold War. Mathematician. Satirist. Pianist. May your memory be for a blessing.
"Political satire became redundant when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize." - Tom Lehrer
youtube.com/watch?v=U_DU...
This was great, @jordanharbinger.bsky.social !!!
open.spotify.com/episode/1tvy...
Hey guys, I'm interested to know what your assessment is of the #Ukraine situation.
What's the background? Whose are the vested interests and what are they?
There's so much noise around everything these days, I wanted to see what the awesome Bluesky hive mind thinks ✊️
So...
... especially ones which have a militaristic slant, I think more than several side eyes are warranted.
In the UK, Elon and Trump have praised Reform. In Germany, Elon and Vance have dined with AfD... Trump is praising Russia while networking with fringe parties on the ground within ally lands.
And, it would be remiss of me not to remind you that US foreign policy thus far has involved funding coups in countries where they dislike the elected leaders. There is no reason to assume they won't do it in allies they're alienating. When you see US officials cosying up to fringe parties...
Civilians continue to be casualties in this global pissing contest.
The tech bros do not care who has global dominance as long as they get a share. It's just like arms dealers who sell to both sides.
Make Zelenskyy look weak, so that Trump's position could seem wise and pragmatic, while Trump is securing his own financial interests and the financial interests of his friends ans sidekicks. Putin and tech bros. It blew up in the US' face. Diplomatic relations with the US remain in limbo.
This is especially true with US corruption increasing/becoming more overt.
Trump is in it for the ego stroke and the money. He views everything economically.
To summarize, the Friday presser was an attempt to get a crucial resource by outsmarting a vulnerable but resilient country, and to...
Coalitions allow new parties to emerge at the helm. To gain dominance through mainly economic strength requires lowish corruption and high production. The coalition has high corruption and production. By preventing the US from having those minerals, it can try to get dominance with corruption.
Two oligarchies are fighting for mineral wealth in Ukraine, while trying to maintain their image and obtain global dominance. The one gunning for dominance is a coalition mainly between Russia and China. National politics works that way, too, when you're in a two-party system.
Elon's behaviour has been very much as if the US is an oligarchy. He has been ending contracts and firing people, save and except for when those contracts and people are in the kickback pipelines to his companies. All those billionaire tech bros behind Trump during his inauguration are oligarchs.
The other two actors relevant to this are Elon, a tech billionaire, and Vance... a proxy for tech billionaire, Peter Thiel. Both of these parties have vested interests in obtaining mineral wealth, and so the imbalanced deal was of value to them.
He values machismo, as does Russia. He finds vulnerability to be scornful. This is why he despises Zelenskyy's pleas for his country, Europe, and Canada. It is why he was insisting on "gratitude," told Zelenskyy not to tell them how they will feel, and began shouting at him during Friday's presser.
I think Trump is bought by Putin. This is clear based on the propaganda he is publicly espousing, how much he is alienating historical allies, and how chaotic his diplomatic (if you can call it that) relations have been, especially in this short time.
BUT that doesn't mean that Trump is thinking on behalf of or for the benefit of the US. Superficially, he is maintaining the image that he is, but I think people are mistaking him being the elected US President with his interests. That's a mistake. I think his interests are anathema to US interests.
The US was trying to get a deal signed without giving anything meaningful in return. i.e. security guarantees. It was trying to make Ukraine believe that it was just a pawn. The US as a regime does not want Russia to get a hold of those minerals, because that's as good as China having them...
Ukraine is rich in these mineral resources. This is a large part of why Russia is aggressive towards it. This is also why the US was trying to get a minerals deal with them. The US does not feel powerful, but it has to maintain the image of power. It is a delicate balance. Pragmatic, except...
China dominates Asia economically. It's an economic colossus. They're also authoritarian, and imperialist, and friends with Russia. Both China and Russia wish to take the Western order down and dominate. This is why China is so keen on developing AI faster than the US etc.
Raw earth/minerals are a resource that the US has a considerably limited supply of within its borders. Those mineral resources are basically what drive the growth in tech, as they're used to make batteries, chips, etc. These essentials are bought from Asia at the moment.