Birb_at_Arms
@birblib.bsky.social
Skeets about history, politics, martial arts, birbs and post-Soviet space. He/Him
Reposted by Birb_at_Arms
The amount of “this is clearly about oil” posting across all platforms as story after story comes out where the oil industry is saying that the oil isn’t worth extracting is making me feel a little insane
January 4, 2026 at 2:54 PM
The amount of “this is clearly about oil” posting across all platforms as story after story comes out where the oil industry is saying that the oil isn’t worth extracting is making me feel a little insane
Did they trash Caracas just to give everyone in the Venezuelan line of succession an acting promotion?
Marco Rubio said he’s reserving judgment on Venezuela VP Delcy Rodríguez’s denial, saying the U.S. will judge the interim authorities by their actions in the coming days and weeks and urging them to seize a “historic opportunity” to serve the country.-NYT
January 4, 2026 at 12:12 AM
Did they trash Caracas just to give everyone in the Venezuelan line of succession an acting promotion?
Very annoying that we live in a world where a dumber version of Putin has a way more effective military at his disposal
russian war bloggers on telegram are very mad right now, but I suspect it's mostly because russia tried to do the exact same thing in the opening phase of the invasion (see Battle of Hostomel Airport) and failed miserably
January 3, 2026 at 3:13 PM
Very annoying that we live in a world where a dumber version of Putin has a way more effective military at his disposal
Most self-aware Putin apologist
January 2, 2026 at 9:25 PM
Most self-aware Putin apologist
Reposted by Birb_at_Arms
As always, there is an xkcd on the issue. The people who assume social problems are easy are like this but worse.
xkcd.com/793/
xkcd.com/793/
December 31, 2025 at 3:59 PM
As always, there is an xkcd on the issue. The people who assume social problems are easy are like this but worse.
xkcd.com/793/
xkcd.com/793/
This makes it sound like they hit either effectively nothing or literally nothing.
December 30, 2025 at 1:51 AM
This makes it sound like they hit either effectively nothing or literally nothing.
Reposted by Birb_at_Arms
Me communicating with the new Japanese users.
December 25, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Me communicating with the new Japanese users.
This gets absurdly specific, too. Like, when buying training swords for HEMA, I always measure blade length for one-handed swords in inches and two-handed swords in centimeters.
I *think* this is because it used to be easier to source two-handed swords from Europe and one-handed swords from the US.
I *think* this is because it used to be easier to source two-handed swords from Europe and one-handed swords from the US.
Could this be a sign that Canada has somehow discovered the secret, perfect synthesis between Metric and Imperial?
Or is it simply because Canada uses Metric but buys lots of household goods from the US?
We may never know.
Or is it simply because Canada uses Metric but buys lots of household goods from the US?
We may never know.
December 25, 2025 at 4:47 PM
This gets absurdly specific, too. Like, when buying training swords for HEMA, I always measure blade length for one-handed swords in inches and two-handed swords in centimeters.
I *think* this is because it used to be easier to source two-handed swords from Europe and one-handed swords from the US.
I *think* this is because it used to be easier to source two-handed swords from Europe and one-handed swords from the US.
People like to say that the system of measurements they grew up using is "intuitive." It probably feels that way to you, but this is because of your familiarity with it, not because of any objective property of the measuring system.
I know this b/c the "system" below feels totally intuitive to me.
I know this b/c the "system" below feels totally intuitive to me.
The only true way is the Canadian way
(As much as I wish it was a joke, it is in fact not one and this is exactly how it works here)
(As much as I wish it was a joke, it is in fact not one and this is exactly how it works here)
December 25, 2025 at 1:49 AM
People like to say that the system of measurements they grew up using is "intuitive." It probably feels that way to you, but this is because of your familiarity with it, not because of any objective property of the measuring system.
I know this b/c the "system" below feels totally intuitive to me.
I know this b/c the "system" below feels totally intuitive to me.
If it were possible to wish warships into existence long before the necessary technology existed, I think it would be pretty lame to waste that kind of magic on this piece of shit.
December 24, 2025 at 7:00 PM
If it were possible to wish warships into existence long before the necessary technology existed, I think it would be pretty lame to waste that kind of magic on this piece of shit.
Reposted by Birb_at_Arms
welcome to the Second Annual Bluesky Christmas Eve Snowball Fight!
please drop a take in the replies and I or someone else will be along to belligerently interpret whatever you said in the worst possible light
please drop a take in the replies and I or someone else will be along to belligerently interpret whatever you said in the worst possible light
it’s Christmas Eve morning and apparently Bluesky is in a fightin’ mood today.
please drop a take in the replies and I or someone else will be along to belligerently interpret whatever you said in the worst possible light
please drop a take in the replies and I or someone else will be along to belligerently interpret whatever you said in the worst possible light
December 24, 2025 at 2:34 PM
welcome to the Second Annual Bluesky Christmas Eve Snowball Fight!
please drop a take in the replies and I or someone else will be along to belligerently interpret whatever you said in the worst possible light
please drop a take in the replies and I or someone else will be along to belligerently interpret whatever you said in the worst possible light
Reposted by Birb_at_Arms
"It is logically impossible to simultaneously be evil, corrupt, and incompetent" is an absolutely amazing take to have in the year of 2025
December 23, 2025 at 9:51 PM
"It is logically impossible to simultaneously be evil, corrupt, and incompetent" is an absolutely amazing take to have in the year of 2025
I'm sure OKU's academic integrity standards are totally fine with long passages of text that quote the work of biblical scholars* without citations or attribution.
*as filtered through right wing blogs
*as filtered through right wing blogs
December 23, 2025 at 4:05 PM
I'm sure OKU's academic integrity standards are totally fine with long passages of text that quote the work of biblical scholars* without citations or attribution.
*as filtered through right wing blogs
*as filtered through right wing blogs
I'm settling on a belief that small-c conservativism is usually a sound political instinct - change isn't always good and most radical ideas are terrible - but that internalizing it as a guiding principle all but guarantees that you will lose every major cultural argument forever.
It's even simpler than that. Canadian conservatives declined to participate in the creation of Canadian national identity, preferring to emphasize Canada's British character. Once that point of view became unsustainable, they found that their political opponents had created an identity without them.
December 22, 2025 at 3:04 PM
I'm settling on a belief that small-c conservativism is usually a sound political instinct - change isn't always good and most radical ideas are terrible - but that internalizing it as a guiding principle all but guarantees that you will lose every major cultural argument forever.
It's amazing both how much the Trump administration depends on people taking personal initiative to defend them at great personal risk, and how little effort they put into inspiring or rewarding this kind of loyalty.
LOL "Bari killed this meticulous story because it was unfavorable to the Trump administration" is literally the story they're giving to their stenographer
December 22, 2025 at 2:35 AM
It's amazing both how much the Trump administration depends on people taking personal initiative to defend them at great personal risk, and how little effort they put into inspiring or rewarding this kind of loyalty.
"If you acknowledge that the US has any decent cultural output, you have to deny that Canada has any and also support my bid to become the 51st state. My name is J.J. McCullough and I am a serious journalist."
Maybe it’s my complete biased mindset working for the Second City as Producer or at the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame as an Educator.
Learning about the cultural juggernaut of Canadians punching well above their weight in so many facets of culture, sport, science, etc.
JJ is the biggest joke.
Learning about the cultural juggernaut of Canadians punching well above their weight in so many facets of culture, sport, science, etc.
JJ is the biggest joke.
December 21, 2025 at 11:49 PM
"If you acknowledge that the US has any decent cultural output, you have to deny that Canada has any and also support my bid to become the 51st state. My name is J.J. McCullough and I am a serious journalist."
Probably also worth keeping speculation over what someone feels in their hearts separate from the things they say and do.
I suspect Vance, a well-educated man married to a brown woman, is *capable* of realizing the things he says are wrong.
I also can't help but notice that he keeps saying them.
I suspect Vance, a well-educated man married to a brown woman, is *capable* of realizing the things he says are wrong.
I also can't help but notice that he keeps saying them.
Vance is the figurehead for “When a nice successful guy says Nazi talking points, he can’t possibly mean them *that* way. It must be a secret third thing.”
December 21, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Probably also worth keeping speculation over what someone feels in their hearts separate from the things they say and do.
I suspect Vance, a well-educated man married to a brown woman, is *capable* of realizing the things he says are wrong.
I also can't help but notice that he keeps saying them.
I suspect Vance, a well-educated man married to a brown woman, is *capable* of realizing the things he says are wrong.
I also can't help but notice that he keeps saying them.
Reposted by Birb_at_Arms
Yes, it’s entirely true that many of the migrants who came under the Biden admin did not have housing arranged for them when they arrived and so ended up in homeless shelters at first, at times for months, while they got on their feet. This is 100% true, not an anti-immigrant gotcha, just the facts.
The faction of the the left that lives for harassment is just slamming Matt for this, but he’s correct and this has been considered for years a major cause of the recent homelessness spike. Watching people maliciously misread his very short tweet and call him a “Nazi” is something else.
Homelessness increased primarily because of immigration (lots of people came to the US without setting up housing).
December 21, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Yes, it’s entirely true that many of the migrants who came under the Biden admin did not have housing arranged for them when they arrived and so ended up in homeless shelters at first, at times for months, while they got on their feet. This is 100% true, not an anti-immigrant gotcha, just the facts.
It is an unfortunate fact that you actually need to do a bit of work to accommodate immigrants, and that things will go poorly if you don't.
If you invite four people over for a sleepover but only have one spare bed, there will not be enough beds. This doesn't mean you shouldn't have sleepovers.
If you invite four people over for a sleepover but only have one spare bed, there will not be enough beds. This doesn't mean you shouldn't have sleepovers.
Homelessness increased primarily because of immigration (lots of people came to the US without setting up housing).
December 21, 2025 at 7:00 PM
It is an unfortunate fact that you actually need to do a bit of work to accommodate immigrants, and that things will go poorly if you don't.
If you invite four people over for a sleepover but only have one spare bed, there will not be enough beds. This doesn't mean you shouldn't have sleepovers.
If you invite four people over for a sleepover but only have one spare bed, there will not be enough beds. This doesn't mean you shouldn't have sleepovers.
My first reaction was to think this was a risky move on Venezuela's part. Their navy is small and not very capable - they lost a fight with a cruise ship five years ago. An isolated Venezuelan OPV might be a tempting target given that Trump is talking openly of regime change.
Venezuela’s government has ordered its Navy to escort ships carrying oil out of port following Trump's blockade announcement.
This has the potential to go very badly.
This has the potential to go very badly.
December 17, 2025 at 10:39 PM
My first reaction was to think this was a risky move on Venezuela's part. Their navy is small and not very capable - they lost a fight with a cruise ship five years ago. An isolated Venezuelan OPV might be a tempting target given that Trump is talking openly of regime change.
Reposted by Birb_at_Arms
Lengthy Thread (1/xxx) 🧵
It's time to retire "Weapons of Mass Destruction" as a phrase.
It's time to retire "Weapons of Mass Destruction" as a phrase.
December 17, 2025 at 10:51 AM
Lengthy Thread (1/xxx) 🧵
It's time to retire "Weapons of Mass Destruction" as a phrase.
It's time to retire "Weapons of Mass Destruction" as a phrase.
Reposted by Birb_at_Arms
NSF is about to dismantle NCAR at Russell Vought's direction to protect the fossil fuel industry. It's hard to communicate just how much NCAR does, so let's take a look: I've never worked at NCAR, and I've worked with NCAR researchers once ever. What scientific discoveries has NCAR made possible? 👇
December 17, 2025 at 4:14 AM
NSF is about to dismantle NCAR at Russell Vought's direction to protect the fossil fuel industry. It's hard to communicate just how much NCAR does, so let's take a look: I've never worked at NCAR, and I've worked with NCAR researchers once ever. What scientific discoveries has NCAR made possible? 👇
I don't know how much faith to put in Susie Wiles' words. But if Trump really believes that Maduro would surrender to save the lives of random fisherman, he is the dumbest motherfucker to every try his hand at war, and that includes Caligula telling the Roman Army to hit the ocean with their swords.
December 17, 2025 at 3:46 AM
I don't know how much faith to put in Susie Wiles' words. But if Trump really believes that Maduro would surrender to save the lives of random fisherman, he is the dumbest motherfucker to every try his hand at war, and that includes Caligula telling the Roman Army to hit the ocean with their swords.
Reposted by Birb_at_Arms
Somewhat related, but I find the tankie rhetorical tic of citing the weight of bombs dropped during a war to be sort of interesting. You hear it for US operations in Korea and Vietnam, but for some strange reason you won't hear it for US wars from the 1980s or later. Why could this be?
Says all Zionists should be killed, like the Nazis
Calls bombing a Nazi city an American war crime that everyone involved in should be convicted and jailed.
Calls bombing a Nazi city an American war crime that everyone involved in should be convicted and jailed.
December 15, 2025 at 4:12 AM
Somewhat related, but I find the tankie rhetorical tic of citing the weight of bombs dropped during a war to be sort of interesting. You hear it for US operations in Korea and Vietnam, but for some strange reason you won't hear it for US wars from the 1980s or later. Why could this be?