Cheryl Rofer
@cherylrofer.bsky.social
Retired nuclear scientist. Worked in Estonia, Kazakhstan, and Los Alamos.
Posting on nuclear issues, war, nature, science, and women's issues. Also cats. She/her.
Blogs at Nuclear Diner and Lawyers, Guns & Money
Banner: The invincible summer within
Posting on nuclear issues, war, nature, science, and women's issues. Also cats. She/her.
Blogs at Nuclear Diner and Lawyers, Guns & Money
Banner: The invincible summer within
Pinned
Cheryl Rofer
@cherylrofer.bsky.social
· Jan 16
Solidarity, people!
Not recriminations
Not "I told you so."
Solidarity.
Not recriminations
Not "I told you so."
Solidarity.
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
Renata is one of the best historians I know on Latin America’s turbulent history with the US, particularly in the Cold War and beyond, so this thread will be useful for folks that want a longer term perspective and context on the recent events.
Looking to understand the long history behind the US attack on Venezuela? Here are a few introductory-level reading recommendations from a professor and historian of US-Latin American Relations: (1/5)
🗃️ #history
1. Kyle Longley's "In the Eagle's Shadow: The United States and Latin America"
🗃️ #history
1. Kyle Longley's "In the Eagle's Shadow: The United States and Latin America"
January 4, 2026 at 5:29 PM
Renata is one of the best historians I know on Latin America’s turbulent history with the US, particularly in the Cold War and beyond, so this thread will be useful for folks that want a longer term perspective and context on the recent events.
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
Ironically, the same people who are anti-vax are injecting themselves with peptides made in China, with unknown constituents, purity, efficacy, and risk
January 4, 2026 at 5:19 PM
Ironically, the same people who are anti-vax are injecting themselves with peptides made in China, with unknown constituents, purity, efficacy, and risk
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
Hitler alleged all sorts of things against the government and leadership of Czechoslovakia. I would advise the "Maduro's no angel" crowd to just stop. Whatever his personal sins and the government's failings, it just isn't the point.
January 4, 2026 at 11:10 AM
Hitler alleged all sorts of things against the government and leadership of Czechoslovakia. I would advise the "Maduro's no angel" crowd to just stop. Whatever his personal sins and the government's failings, it just isn't the point.
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
Chris Murphy: "Clearly this is wildly illegal. This is a president who has been operating illegally since he was sworn in -- stealing from the American people, seizing spending power, now dragging America into a war overseas ... Donald Trump's entire foreign policy is corrupt."
January 4, 2026 at 2:47 PM
Chris Murphy: "Clearly this is wildly illegal. This is a president who has been operating illegally since he was sworn in -- stealing from the American people, seizing spending power, now dragging America into a war overseas ... Donald Trump's entire foreign policy is corrupt."
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
Abusive father approach
It's not about democracy or elections, it's about compliance. Explicitly under the threat thay they'll just do it again.
Marco Rubio: "It had to be done. And it's been done. And I assure you the people left behind in Venezuela now that are in charge of the police and everything else, I assure you they are gonna probably be a lot more compliant than Maduro was as a result of this."
January 4, 2026 at 3:37 PM
Abusive father approach
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
It's not about democracy or elections, it's about compliance. Explicitly under the threat thay they'll just do it again.
Marco Rubio: "It had to be done. And it's been done. And I assure you the people left behind in Venezuela now that are in charge of the police and everything else, I assure you they are gonna probably be a lot more compliant than Maduro was as a result of this."
January 4, 2026 at 3:35 PM
It's not about democracy or elections, it's about compliance. Explicitly under the threat thay they'll just do it again.
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
Looking back on some of my favourite moments of 2025. These 8-month-old cubs coming to check out the tundra buggy was definitely one of those unforgettable encounters. #mammals 🌿
January 4, 2026 at 3:24 PM
Looking back on some of my favourite moments of 2025. These 8-month-old cubs coming to check out the tundra buggy was definitely one of those unforgettable encounters. #mammals 🌿
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
These efforts not only got rid of sharp people but taught everyone else to be yes-people.
Trump's real talent is finding the most awful people--evil, incompetent, or both--to fill spots. Hegseth is both evil and incompetent. General Caine? Probably just incompetent and a suck up.
Trump's real talent is finding the most awful people--evil, incompetent, or both--to fill spots. Hegseth is both evil and incompetent. General Caine? Probably just incompetent and a suck up.
January 4, 2026 at 3:13 PM
These efforts not only got rid of sharp people but taught everyone else to be yes-people.
Trump's real talent is finding the most awful people--evil, incompetent, or both--to fill spots. Hegseth is both evil and incompetent. General Caine? Probably just incompetent and a suck up.
Trump's real talent is finding the most awful people--evil, incompetent, or both--to fill spots. Hegseth is both evil and incompetent. General Caine? Probably just incompetent and a suck up.
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
Oil companies aren’t going to sink tens of billions of dollars in capital expenditures that will take decades to pay off in order to revive Venezuela’s oil sector when they don’t know what the security situation will look like in 6 days, 6 months, or 6 years from now. They are not charities.
Trump wants U.S. oil companies to revive the Venezuelan oil industry,
but major production increases could require “tens of billions of dollars over multiple years,”
and involvement could be messy.
It won’t be worth it for many U.S.
oil companies.
Gift article:
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/b...
but major production increases could require “tens of billions of dollars over multiple years,”
and involvement could be messy.
It won’t be worth it for many U.S.
oil companies.
Gift article:
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/b...
The Venezuelan Oil Industry Trump Is Planning to Revive
www.nytimes.com
January 4, 2026 at 3:10 PM
Oil companies aren’t going to sink tens of billions of dollars in capital expenditures that will take decades to pay off in order to revive Venezuela’s oil sector when they don’t know what the security situation will look like in 6 days, 6 months, or 6 years from now. They are not charities.
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
This is part of a bigger trend of the political valence of oil disconnecting from the actual economics of O and G. I keep telling people to do a little humorous anthropology and read the industry sub Reddit. Half the posts are joking that the industry boosters are morons or old and out of touch.
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 2:59 PM
This is part of a bigger trend of the political valence of oil disconnecting from the actual economics of O and G. I keep telling people to do a little humorous anthropology and read the industry sub Reddit. Half the posts are joking that the industry boosters are morons or old and out of touch.
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
"Soco" is laboring removing weeds and dry vines in Tulare County, so that the vineyards are ready for the pruning season. She works 8 hours a day, Monday through Friday, earning minimum wage. She is a single mother and works very hard to provide for her children. #WeFeedYou
January 4, 2026 at 3:01 PM
"Soco" is laboring removing weeds and dry vines in Tulare County, so that the vineyards are ready for the pruning season. She works 8 hours a day, Monday through Friday, earning minimum wage. She is a single mother and works very hard to provide for her children. #WeFeedYou
Useful background.
People and organizations in Venezuela are figuring out their options. Nothing is sure at this moment.
Gift link.
People and organizations in Venezuela are figuring out their options. Nothing is sure at this moment.
Gift link.
Trump says Maduro’s VP is cooperating. She’s demanding Maduro’s release.
President Donald Trump said the U.S. would run Venezuela. Delcy Rodríguez, Nicolás Maduro’s vice president, denounced his “illegal kidnapping” as “shameful.”
wapo.st
January 4, 2026 at 2:24 PM
Useful background.
People and organizations in Venezuela are figuring out their options. Nothing is sure at this moment.
Gift link.
People and organizations in Venezuela are figuring out their options. Nothing is sure at this moment.
Gift link.
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
Franklin Graham was previewing the foreign policy of the United States when he called God a “God of war” last month. This is an idol that scripture warned us of. What we believe about God shows us the boundaries of our ethics. God is a God of peace - not war. Reported by @briankaylor.bsky.social
January 4, 2026 at 2:15 PM
Franklin Graham was previewing the foreign policy of the United States when he called God a “God of war” last month. This is an idol that scripture warned us of. What we believe about God shows us the boundaries of our ethics. God is a God of peace - not war. Reported by @briankaylor.bsky.social
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
Absolutely mind-boggling how credulous some of the coverage of Trump's incoherent ramblings about running Venezuela has been.
After a year of three-day boomerang news cycles, makes you worry about these people's cognitive abilities.
After a year of three-day boomerang news cycles, makes you worry about these people's cognitive abilities.
January 4, 2026 at 2:10 PM
Absolutely mind-boggling how credulous some of the coverage of Trump's incoherent ramblings about running Venezuela has been.
After a year of three-day boomerang news cycles, makes you worry about these people's cognitive abilities.
After a year of three-day boomerang news cycles, makes you worry about these people's cognitive abilities.
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
Watching people making the argument that this somehow emboldens Putin to try to kidnap Zelenskyy is bizarre. Russia has been trying to capture or assassinate Zelenskyy since the very beginning of the current invasion. They’ve made multiple attempts.
What a great day for Vladimir Putin! I can picture him in the Kremlin, watching the EU & the UK play dumb while Trump trashes Int. Law, their media reporting Maduro's abduction as an 'arrest'. I bet he's thinking: Should I also detain Zelensky and subject him to Russian justice?
January 4, 2026 at 2:00 PM
Watching people making the argument that this somehow emboldens Putin to try to kidnap Zelenskyy is bizarre. Russia has been trying to capture or assassinate Zelenskyy since the very beginning of the current invasion. They’ve made multiple attempts.
The best analysis I see of this moment is from Elizabeth Saunders. Follow her for more. This article is a great introduction.
This Time Is Not Different (except there are even less competent people in charge, the international order is dead, and we have the foreign policy of a personalist dictatorship).
goodauthority.org/news/what-ha...
goodauthority.org/news/what-ha...
January 4, 2026 at 2:11 PM
The best analysis I see of this moment is from Elizabeth Saunders. Follow her for more. This article is a great introduction.
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
For all that the media has spent years freaking out about what social media does to our brains, I don’t understand why there appears to be little effort to grapple with the fact that these chatbots are, for some not insignificant portion of the population, literally psychosis machines
He put his complete trust in a chat bot that turned him into a savage murderer.
Disturbing Messages Show ChatGPT Encouraging a Murder, Lawsuit Alleges
A lawsuit against OpenAI reveals the chilling ChatGPT messages that drove a middle aged man to kill his 83-year-old mother.
trib.al
January 4, 2026 at 1:32 PM
For all that the media has spent years freaking out about what social media does to our brains, I don’t understand why there appears to be little effort to grapple with the fact that these chatbots are, for some not insignificant portion of the population, literally psychosis machines
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
Deleted a repost of a thread.
Looking closer, the person is comfortable sharing AI images & video. Was the thread also AI? Was it accurate?
I’d rather not take the chance and share it.
Journalists, keep this in mind. “Fun” AI videos & images undercut your credibility.
Looking closer, the person is comfortable sharing AI images & video. Was the thread also AI? Was it accurate?
I’d rather not take the chance and share it.
Journalists, keep this in mind. “Fun” AI videos & images undercut your credibility.
January 4, 2026 at 1:18 PM
Deleted a repost of a thread.
Looking closer, the person is comfortable sharing AI images & video. Was the thread also AI? Was it accurate?
I’d rather not take the chance and share it.
Journalists, keep this in mind. “Fun” AI videos & images undercut your credibility.
Looking closer, the person is comfortable sharing AI images & video. Was the thread also AI? Was it accurate?
I’d rather not take the chance and share it.
Journalists, keep this in mind. “Fun” AI videos & images undercut your credibility.
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
The world spent $2.7 trillion on defence last year.
Just less than 1% of that could help people in crises across the world.
— UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs @unocha.org
Just less than 1% of that could help people in crises across the world.
— UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs @unocha.org
January 4, 2026 at 12:59 PM
The world spent $2.7 trillion on defence last year.
Just less than 1% of that could help people in crises across the world.
— UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs @unocha.org
Just less than 1% of that could help people in crises across the world.
— UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs @unocha.org
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
So the crime, corruption & human rights abuses will continue (in Venezuela, just to be clear - though presumably also in the US), but the Trump administration will now be getting a cut. There's not much European leaders can do to stop this, but they shdn't act as though it's just business as usual.
"his [Trump's] plan appears to be for Venezuela to remain under the day-to-day rule of a senior chavista, with its democratically elected leaders excluded and its wealth controlled by American corporations." www.economist.com/the-americas...
Donald Trump wants to run Venezuela, and dominate the western hemisphere
Snatching Nicolás Maduro and attempting to take control of Venezuela and its oil is an extraordinary display of the new “Donroe doctrine”
www.economist.com
January 4, 2026 at 12:20 PM
So the crime, corruption & human rights abuses will continue (in Venezuela, just to be clear - though presumably also in the US), but the Trump administration will now be getting a cut. There's not much European leaders can do to stop this, but they shdn't act as though it's just business as usual.
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
We arrived at Charles de Gaulle Airport yesterday as news was breaking out and by the time we landed in our transfer in Toronto, Parisians were burning American flags.
This was pretty much me all yesterday and I suspect today the confusion will remain.
This was pretty much me all yesterday and I suspect today the confusion will remain.
January 4, 2026 at 12:24 PM
We arrived at Charles de Gaulle Airport yesterday as news was breaking out and by the time we landed in our transfer in Toronto, Parisians were burning American flags.
This was pretty much me all yesterday and I suspect today the confusion will remain.
This was pretty much me all yesterday and I suspect today the confusion will remain.
Get a long little kitty.
January 4, 2026 at 4:36 AM
Get a long little kitty.
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
This.
If incumbent Democrats won’t stand up and push back, challengers will—and should—fill that space.
If incumbent Democrats won’t stand up and push back, challengers will—and should—fill that space.
This is how it's done. If incumbent Democrats won't do the job, their primary challengers can and will use this to make sure someone else does
The Republican Congress has chosen to give away its authority and power and now we are being told Trump plans to occupy Venezuela. We don't cry for Maduro. We demand the following of our laws and Constitution. He is already threatening Mexico and Cuba will be next. Ann Wagner is silent.
January 4, 2026 at 4:30 AM
This.
If incumbent Democrats won’t stand up and push back, challengers will—and should—fill that space.
If incumbent Democrats won’t stand up and push back, challengers will—and should—fill that space.
Reposted by Cheryl Rofer
Zohran Mamdani, the new mayor of New York City, called President Trump on Saturday to personally object to strikes the U.S. had conducted in Venezuela and to the capture of its leader, Nicolás Maduro. Mamdani accused Trump of violating international law.
Zohran Mamdani Called President Trump to Criticize Venezuela Strikes
Mayor Zohran Mamdani of New York accused President Trump of violating international law. It was the first time he had criticized the president since their White House meeting.
nyti.ms
January 4, 2026 at 12:05 AM
Zohran Mamdani, the new mayor of New York City, called President Trump on Saturday to personally object to strikes the U.S. had conducted in Venezuela and to the capture of its leader, Nicolás Maduro. Mamdani accused Trump of violating international law.