The ISIS attack on Moscow

Relationships There are several major players in this convoluted mess, and each of them has a complex relationship with the other: ISIS Hamas Palestinian Authority Russia Israel Ukraine United States the rest of NATO   ISIS Russia Israel Ukraine United States NATO Hamas Palestinian Authority Syria (Assad) ISIS hostile hostile hostile hostile hostile complicated At …

The whole bus vs train debate

It’s exhausting. On a per-vehicle basis, buses are cheaper to run than trains. On a passenger km basis, if both vehicles are full, the train is cheaper to run than the bus, keeping capacity constant. Buses are great for low-demand routes. Great transit systems use buses extensively for local routes, solving that last mile problem …

The Gaza War is bad for American security

It is obvious to anyone with a passive interest in foreign relations at this point that the Gaza war is a massive humanitarian crisis given how Israel is killing civilians and denying food to enter the region. That by itself should be enough for every democracy to stop providing aid to that rogue nation. But …

Ukraine is right to attack Russian oil infrastructure

Ukraine is right to attack Russian oil refineries. Very few civilian deaths. Handicaps the ability of Russia to provide oil to their military. This saves many civilian lives. Doesn’t harm Ukraine, the EU, or the US at all. Russia is not allowed to export oil to Europe anyways because that money flows right to Putin’s …

Biden should not have run again

https://www.ft.com/content/98f15b60-bc4d-4d3c-9e57-cbdde122ac0c Biden is asking Ukraine to stop attacking Russian military targets inside Russia. This guy totally sucks, he should not have run for reelection. He is currently swinging 0 for 3 in terms of foreign policy crises. He is a mere accelerationist, exactly the thing his ilk thinks all progressives are, where really its only …

American views of China and Russia

The military-industrial complex relishes a potential war with China. It could be long and drawn out, at least from a cursory overview, and their profits would soar. They don’t want to eliminate the Russian plutocracy because if Russia stops invading their neighbors, they will lose money in the near term. Russia is a long-term investment …

2024 European Parliamentary election projection

You can find current polling results and projections at https://europeelects.eu/ep2024/, which I am using for this post. Party 2019 seats 2024 projected seats 2024 projected % Three party coalition Three party percent% LEFT 41 45 6.25% EFA 74 49 6.81% S&D 154 140 19.44% 234 32.50% RE 108 82 11.39% 271 37.64% EPP 182 181 …

Ukraine vs Gaza vs Afghanistan

In 6 months, over 30,000 civilians were killed in the Gaza war, for an annualized rate of 60,000 per year. Over 20 years, 46,000 civilians were killed in Afghanistan by all sides, for an annualized rate of 2,300 per year. Over two years, 10,000 civilians have been killed in Ukraine, for an annualized rate of …