Aurélie Basha
@aureliebasha.bsky.social
Historian at University of Kent: US foreign policy, Vietnam War, civil-military relations and now All-Volunteer Force. Author “I Made Mistakes: Robert McNamara and Vietnam” (CUP).
This feels like a visual representation of the AI bubble…
November 11, 2025 at 11:51 PM
This feels like a visual representation of the AI bubble…
This is such an important article. We need to think seriously about what constitutes critical infrastructure and dependencies on non-state actors that are arguably even less constrained than state actors. Would we entrust China with our water supplies? (Admittedly China owns 9% of Thames Water.)
🔴The UK Must Urgently Distance Itself From Elon Musk and Space X, Warns Parliamentary Report
The UK’s infrastructure has become far too reliant on the far-right billionaire, who could ‘politicise’ our reliance upon his companies, the report warns
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/04/t...
The UK’s infrastructure has become far too reliant on the far-right billionaire, who could ‘politicise’ our reliance upon his companies, the report warns
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/04/t...
The UK Must Urgently Distance Itself From Elon Musk and Space X, Warns Parliamentary Report
The UK's infrastructure has become far too reliant on the far-right billionaire, who could 'politicise' our reliance upon his companies, the report warns
bylinetimes.com
November 6, 2025 at 9:57 AM
This is such an important article. We need to think seriously about what constitutes critical infrastructure and dependencies on non-state actors that are arguably even less constrained than state actors. Would we entrust China with our water supplies? (Admittedly China owns 9% of Thames Water.)
Controversial take possibly but he also lived long enough that a sizeable chunk of the US population will now remember him as a patriot who stood up (in the face of conspicuous silences) as he watched the Republican Party that he helped to build disintegrate.
New Cheney Memoir Reveals He's Going To Live Full, Satisfied Life Without Ever Feeling Remorse And There's Nothing We Can Do About It
New Cheney Memoir Reveals He's Going To Live Full, Satisfied Life Without Ever Feeling Remorse And There's Nothing We Can Do About It
NEW YORK—The publication this week of Dick Cheney’s memoir, In My Time, has revealed the former vice president enjoys a fulfilling life unaffected by any sense of guilt or regret and there’s absolutel...
theonion.com
November 4, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Controversial take possibly but he also lived long enough that a sizeable chunk of the US population will now remember him as a patriot who stood up (in the face of conspicuous silences) as he watched the Republican Party that he helped to build disintegrate.
Reposted by Aurélie Basha
"We took the freedom of speech away," says the president
Trump: "We took the freedom of speech away because that's been through the courts and the courts said you have freedom of speech, but what has happened is when they burn a flag it agitates and irritates crowds."
October 8, 2025 at 8:02 PM
"We took the freedom of speech away," says the president
Blistering perfection from Eliot Cohen. “All bad, but—considered in the context of a speech that weaved and staggered like a drunken man in a dark alleyway—less menacing than one might think.”
For a former National Guard major, the chance to lecture hundreds of generals and admirals summoned for the occasion proved irresistible, writes @eliotacohen.bsky.social:
Pete Hegseth Is Living the Dream
A man who retired as a major lectures hundreds of generals about the need to meet his standards
bit.ly
October 2, 2025 at 7:09 AM
Blistering perfection from Eliot Cohen. “All bad, but—considered in the context of a speech that weaved and staggered like a drunken man in a dark alleyway—less menacing than one might think.”
As a one-time international student who watched the last few months in horror, I found this passage moving. And it’s doubly meaningful that it’s a Reagan appointee.
Judge Rules Trump Unlawfully Targeted Noncitizens Over Pro-Palestinian Speech www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/u...
Judge Rules Trump Unlawfully Targeted Noncitizens Over Pro-Palestinian Speech www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/u...
September 30, 2025 at 8:34 PM
As a one-time international student who watched the last few months in horror, I found this passage moving. And it’s doubly meaningful that it’s a Reagan appointee.
Judge Rules Trump Unlawfully Targeted Noncitizens Over Pro-Palestinian Speech www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/u...
Judge Rules Trump Unlawfully Targeted Noncitizens Over Pro-Palestinian Speech www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/u...
Things are so bad, I laughed out loud at the “he knows about rigged elections better than anybody”… Erdogan’s expression is priceless.
Trump to Erdogan: "He knows about rigged elections better than anybody. But when I was in exile, we were still friends."
September 25, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Things are so bad, I laughed out loud at the “he knows about rigged elections better than anybody”… Erdogan’s expression is priceless.
Because somebody got in his ear about how this could make him look better… anyone trying to predict “policies” misses the point that this is all narcissistic ego. So anything can happen and change. His echo chamber will celebrate whichever option he chooses.
Breaking News: After meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky, President Trump suggested that he believed Ukraine could regain all of its territory lost to Russia’s war.
Trump Attacks U.N. and Lectures Nations in General Assembly Speech: Live Updates
President Trump said Ukraine might be able to reclaim all its lost territory in the war against Russia. Earlier, he suggested NATO countries should shoot down Russian military aircraft that enter their airspace.
nyti.ms
September 23, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Because somebody got in his ear about how this could make him look better… anyone trying to predict “policies” misses the point that this is all narcissistic ego. So anything can happen and change. His echo chamber will celebrate whichever option he chooses.
Reposted by Aurélie Basha
The question was basically, “Do you like to sound tough,” and he said yes, but there’s no reason to think he’d back this up in a meaningful way
www.nytimes.com/live/2025/09...
www.nytimes.com/live/2025/09...
September 23, 2025 at 7:17 PM
The question was basically, “Do you like to sound tough,” and he said yes, but there’s no reason to think he’d back this up in a meaningful way
www.nytimes.com/live/2025/09...
www.nytimes.com/live/2025/09...
I’d add the total absence of a sense of social responsibility from major corporations.
I am not surprised that Trump and his gauleiters are killing one element of democracy after the other, but I am struck by two things:
1. The nearly complete absence of GOP courage to stand up for principles.
2. The democrats being totally lost when they should thrive.
1. The nearly complete absence of GOP courage to stand up for principles.
2. The democrats being totally lost when they should thrive.
September 18, 2025 at 10:37 PM
I’d add the total absence of a sense of social responsibility from major corporations.
The tariffs sounded like a shakedown but this is next level mobster speak: The Trump-appointed chair of the FCC, Brendan Carr, went on a conservative podcast and threatened Disney, which owns ABC, saying, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.” www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
The Constitution Protects Jimmy Kimmel’s Mistake
Free speech is under assault.
www.theatlantic.com
September 18, 2025 at 10:28 PM
The tariffs sounded like a shakedown but this is next level mobster speak: The Trump-appointed chair of the FCC, Brendan Carr, went on a conservative podcast and threatened Disney, which owns ABC, saying, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.” www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
A minor, sartorial point but it annoys me that Melania keeps wearing the Dior bar jacket. Christian Dior sought to channel optimism and honor his sister in his fashion as she’d returned from Nazi camps as a member of the resistance. You might even say it’s an antifascist piece of fashion history.
September 17, 2025 at 1:54 PM
A minor, sartorial point but it annoys me that Melania keeps wearing the Dior bar jacket. Christian Dior sought to channel optimism and honor his sister in his fashion as she’d returned from Nazi camps as a member of the resistance. You might even say it’s an antifascist piece of fashion history.
The notion too that JD Vance is grieving a “friend”... This is about positioning himself in the succession line. I’m reminded of this chilling article by a former “friend” David Frum: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
The J. D. Vance I Knew
His abilities, I never underestimated. What he was willing to do for political advancement, I did.
www.theatlantic.com
September 15, 2025 at 9:37 PM
The notion too that JD Vance is grieving a “friend”... This is about positioning himself in the succession line. I’m reminded of this chilling article by a former “friend” David Frum: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
This the same guy who came to Munich to lecture Europeans on freedom of speech. “You can embrace what your people tell you, even when it’s surprising, even when you don’t agree.”
Here is JD Vance today calling on Republicans to call people's employers and get them fired if they are saying things about Charlie Kirk that they don't like. This is the first step in the GOP's weaponization of Kirk's murder to silence dissent. It won't be the last.
September 15, 2025 at 9:13 PM
This the same guy who came to Munich to lecture Europeans on freedom of speech. “You can embrace what your people tell you, even when it’s surprising, even when you don’t agree.”
Reposted by Aurélie Basha
Turns out the 1940s NYC Tax Department photographs (by WPA photogs) include outtakes, and they are so wonderful! 1940s.nyc/outtakes
August 10, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Turns out the 1940s NYC Tax Department photographs (by WPA photogs) include outtakes, and they are so wonderful! 1940s.nyc/outtakes
Reposted by Aurélie Basha
😳 “I’m Not a Crook” – Baby Nixon Tries to Clear His Name 👶🕵️♂️
Straight face. Full diaper.
🍼 Baby Nixon swears he “earned everything he’s got” — meanwhile, the toy box is empty, the juice is missing, and nap time records mysteriously vanished.
Another presidential meltdown, now in Pampers.
Straight face. Full diaper.
🍼 Baby Nixon swears he “earned everything he’s got” — meanwhile, the toy box is empty, the juice is missing, and nap time records mysteriously vanished.
Another presidential meltdown, now in Pampers.
August 1, 2025 at 6:00 PM
😳 “I’m Not a Crook” – Baby Nixon Tries to Clear His Name 👶🕵️♂️
Straight face. Full diaper.
🍼 Baby Nixon swears he “earned everything he’s got” — meanwhile, the toy box is empty, the juice is missing, and nap time records mysteriously vanished.
Another presidential meltdown, now in Pampers.
Straight face. Full diaper.
🍼 Baby Nixon swears he “earned everything he’s got” — meanwhile, the toy box is empty, the juice is missing, and nap time records mysteriously vanished.
Another presidential meltdown, now in Pampers.
Reposted by Aurélie Basha
From @nytopinion.nytimes.com
“There is no excuse for the world to stand by and watch two million human beings suffer on the brink of full-blown famine,” the chef José Andrés writes about Gaza.
“There is no excuse for the world to stand by and watch two million human beings suffer on the brink of full-blown famine,” the chef José Andrés writes about Gaza.
Opinion | José Andrés: People of Good Conscience Must Stop the Starvation in Gaza
www.nytimes.com
July 27, 2025 at 6:25 PM
From @nytopinion.nytimes.com
“There is no excuse for the world to stand by and watch two million human beings suffer on the brink of full-blown famine,” the chef José Andrés writes about Gaza.
“There is no excuse for the world to stand by and watch two million human beings suffer on the brink of full-blown famine,” the chef José Andrés writes about Gaza.
Researching Father Hesburgh (Notre Dame) for my book and this stopped me dead in my tracks. hesburgh.nd.edu/fr-teds-life...
July 9, 2025 at 8:41 AM
Researching Father Hesburgh (Notre Dame) for my book and this stopped me dead in my tracks. hesburgh.nd.edu/fr-teds-life...
Reposted by Aurélie Basha
I don’t think anyone is prepared for what they just did w/ ICE.
This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.
It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.
This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.
It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.
July 3, 2025 at 6:58 PM
I don’t think anyone is prepared for what they just did w/ ICE.
This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.
It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.
This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.
It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.
Reposted by Aurélie Basha
Washington Post publishes an op-ed by Kristi Noem attacking Harvard. I wonder which of the two pillars--"personal liberties and free markets"--Jeff Bezos would say this supports.🤔
If you want independent pro-democracy news, information and analysis, sign up for Democracy Docket. hubs.ly/Q03jcjqP0
If you want independent pro-democracy news, information and analysis, sign up for Democracy Docket. hubs.ly/Q03jcjqP0
June 23, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Washington Post publishes an op-ed by Kristi Noem attacking Harvard. I wonder which of the two pillars--"personal liberties and free markets"--Jeff Bezos would say this supports.🤔
If you want independent pro-democracy news, information and analysis, sign up for Democracy Docket. hubs.ly/Q03jcjqP0
If you want independent pro-democracy news, information and analysis, sign up for Democracy Docket. hubs.ly/Q03jcjqP0
I think we can safely assume Trump bombed because the taco stuff got under his skin… somebody who wanted him to bomb told him the Iranians were assuming he wouldn’t and were playing him.
Trump’s attacks on Iran were based on vibes, not new intel, two administration officials tell Rolling Stone. “There is no intel,” one of the sources says. “The intelligence assessments have not really changed”
'There Is No Intel': Trump's Attacks on Iran Were Based on Vibes, Sources Say
Trump’s decision to strike three Iranian nuclear facilities was not based on new intelligence, administration officials say.
www.rollingstone.com
June 22, 2025 at 9:46 PM
I think we can safely assume Trump bombed because the taco stuff got under his skin… somebody who wanted him to bomb told him the Iranians were assuming he wouldn’t and were playing him.
Wonderful news! The video of his arrest remains one of the most chilling things I’ve ever watched. It was an opening salvo and too many people shut down their humanity - he was in a university building, his American wife was 8 months pregnant - because they didn’t like his political views.
Breaking News: A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to release the pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil on bail. He has not been charged with a crime.
Mahmoud Khalil Must Be Released, Federal Judge Orders
Mr. Khalil, a Columbia University graduate and legal permanent resident, has been held in Louisiana for more than three months. The Trump administration is trying to deport him.
trib.al
June 20, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Wonderful news! The video of his arrest remains one of the most chilling things I’ve ever watched. It was an opening salvo and too many people shut down their humanity - he was in a university building, his American wife was 8 months pregnant - because they didn’t like his political views.
Reposted by Aurélie Basha
𝐍𝐨, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐋𝐋𝐌 𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐋𝐌 𝐮𝐬𝐞.
See our paper for more results: "Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task" : www.brainonllm.com
See our paper for more results: "Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task" : www.brainonllm.com
June 16, 2025 at 9:55 PM
𝐍𝐨, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐋𝐋𝐌 𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐋𝐌 𝐮𝐬𝐞.
See our paper for more results: "Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task" : www.brainonllm.com
See our paper for more results: "Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task" : www.brainonllm.com
Reposted by Aurélie Basha
my soul left my body watching the fox news feed glitching out as the tanks roll past the president’s observation stand and the announcer’s voice echoes across the mostly empty streets, “special thanks to our sponsor, palantir”
June 14, 2025 at 11:23 PM
my soul left my body watching the fox news feed glitching out as the tanks roll past the president’s observation stand and the announcer’s voice echoes across the mostly empty streets, “special thanks to our sponsor, palantir”
That civil-military gap looking wider than ever.
TRUMP: Los Angeles would be burning today, just like their houses were burning months ago. Generations of Army heroes did not shed their blood on distant shores only to watch our country be destroyed by invasion ... as commander in chief, I will not let that happen
FORT BRAGG TROOPS: *Hurrrraa!*
FORT BRAGG TROOPS: *Hurrrraa!*
June 10, 2025 at 9:46 PM
That civil-military gap looking wider than ever.