John Sipher
@johnsipher.bsky.social
Former CIA clandestine service. Spycraft Entertainment, Atlantic Council, NAFO. Host of Mission implausible podcast. Friend of dogs everywhere.
🤦♂️ www.reuters.com/world/china/...
EXCLUSIVE: Under Patel, FBI forges unprecedented law enforcement ties with China, Russia
FBI Director Kash Patel says he has forged new law enforcement partnerships with China and Russia, two longtime U.S. rivals, over the past year in hopes of gaining allies in combating transnational cr...
reuters.com
Check out this new op-ed by Ukraine’s leading public intellectuals that takes on the same topic nationalinterest.org/feature/why-...
Why Did ‘The Economist’ Platform a Russian Oligarch?
The magazine’s recent interview discussing the future of Russia merely restated Vladimir Putin’s talking points.
nationalinterest.org
Is it really too much to ask our political parties to stop electing men accused of assault/abuse? I
“The documents suggest that the administration was ‘lying or spreading misinformation about these fantastic public lands’ when it justified cutting the protected areas…” www.nytimes.com/2026/08/03/c...
Documents Undercut Trump’s Claims About Bears Ears National Monument
President Trump said recreation in Bears Ears National Monument was virtually impossible. Documents reviewed by The New York Times show officials knew otherwise.
nytimes.com
“If you are tasked and paid by a Russian state entity to say something, that is not freedom of expression. That is subversion by an enemy state.” open.substack.com/pub/alexzfin...
France Moves to Expel a Russian Propagandist
Will the move set up a court battle to test the line between freedom of expression and protection of the constitutional order?
open.substack.com
“This isn’t about free speech. This is a full information war.” open.substack.com/pub/alexzfin...
France Moves to Expel a Russian Propagandist
Will the move set up a court battle to test the line between freedom of expression and protection of the constitutional order?
open.substack.com
In case you missed it: an interesting case related to Russian propagandists developing in France. substack.com/@alexzfinley...
Alex Finley (@alexzfinley)
This week’s Rant! looks at a potential court battle that (hopefully!) will guide us on how to counter adversarial information operations. In the clash between democracy and autocracy, the info space i...
substack.com
Is Mike Johnson going to throw some more Bible verses at us today while continuing to back Max Miller?
The Heritage Foundation asserts that women never needed sports in the first place. To prove that Title IX has become a tool of “feminist social engineering.” To demonstrate that women don’t need sports and that “clubs, intramurals, and exercise classes” is enough. open.substack.com/pub/jesspipe...
Give Them an Inch...
And they'll take away women's sports...
open.substack.com
“The attacks by the United States and Israel on Feb. 28, followed by Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, immediately stranded some 1,500 ships and nearly 20,000 sailors, according to the International Maritime Organization.” www.nytimes.com/2026/08/04/b...
Sailors Working in Strait of Hormuz Are Caught in Crossfire of Iran War
Thousands of civilian workers remain stranded on ships at risk of attack by Iran. On one vessel, sailors have been held by the Iranian navy for more than three months.
nytimes.com
Via @oliverdarcy.bsky.social: www.status.news/p/david-elli... CNN reporters were not amused by David Ellison's op-ed in the NYT.
![The piece was "insulting," one CNNer told Status, adding, “We all have eyes and ears and see what’s happening at CBS. You can’t just write an op-ed and erase that.” Another CNNer said it was obvious to them Ellison "says whatever is best for him to get the merger through."
"The thing David Ellison seems to be missing is the wild mismanagement and disrespect that Bari [Weiss] has displayed at '60' and CBS," a third CNNer told Status. "These people just simply do not know what they are doing. We see it. And we don’t want it here."
Indeed, several CNNers said that Ellison's stewardship of CBS News had caused them to lose confidence in his ability to run a news organization and sour on his repeated assurances about respecting the independence of newsrooms. In The Times essay, Ellison wrote, "I understand that promises from an executive in the middle of a merger invite skepticism. So judge us by the year we just had."
But the last year at CBS News has been an unmitigated disaster. Most notably, Ellison allowed his handpicked news chief to take a sledgehammer to "60 Minutes," firing multiple correspondents and senior executives from television news' most prestigious broadcast—in most of the cases, without ever stating a cause for the dismissals. Beyond that, Weiss' tenure has been defined by her expunging those she is not ideologically aligned with, presiding over the worst ratings of the century for flagship programs like the "CBS Evening News" and "CBS Mornings," establishing a cozier relationship with an overtly corrupt White House, and sending employee morale cratering to astonishing lows.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:bbp2b224lro3bfnzcqwwnkfo/bafkreicybrw5xm7wnrleduxjtlfwlrcvjzs7qwwjijswwlluzh5x67iadi)
Russia just used a cluster bomb in Kyiv Cluster bombs used against civilians is a war crime This has to end Putin has to be “put away” People can only take so much and there is absolutely no reason for this other than Russia are blood thirsty criminals
“the president has encased himself in the hard amber of irrationality that inevitably surrounds authoritarian leaders. He has become detached from reality—and that detachment is extremely dangerous.” (Gift article) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Trump’s Irrationality Is Dangerous
The president’s recent rant is a sign of serious dysfunction in the Oval Office.
theatlantic.com
Congress: “We’ve tried nothing and we’re fresh out of ideas.”
Trump endorsed both Ashley Moody and James Uthmeier in advance of the August 18 primary yesterday. Both are implicated in the suspected theft of $10M in Medicaid payments to use for political purposes--basically what Trump is trying to frame Tim Walz for. www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/f...
Re-upping my post from a few days ago along with the new article on the questionable editorial judgments by @economist.com 👇 nationalinterest.org/feature/why-...
Why Did ‘The Economist’ Platform a Russian Oligarch?
The magazine’s recent interview discussing the future of Russia merely restated Vladimir Putin’s talking points.
nationalinterest.org
Andrew Chakhoyan 🇺🇦@andrewchak.bsky.social · 4d agorussia is attempting genocide in 🇺🇦 It won't stop until it is stopped! Yet 'diplomacy' is a go to word in our politics. It sounds humane while shifting responsibility from the aggressor to the victim. You don’t have to work for the kremlin to amplify its lies! chakhoyan.substack.com/p/the-london...