John Ridge 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼
@johnridge.bsky.social
Physics | Weapons Systems | National Security | Foreign Policy | Arms Exports | Security Assistance | Tochnyi Contributor | Donate to Liberty Ukraine Foundation
Pinned
Seems there is a post-election exodus from the other app.
I’m haven’t decided on the disposition of my social media.
Given U.S. security assistance to Ukraine is likely to be terminated come January 20, I’m debating the future value of my Twitter account.
I’m haven’t decided on the disposition of my social media.
Given U.S. security assistance to Ukraine is likely to be terminated come January 20, I’m debating the future value of my Twitter account.
For what it’s worth, I think it’s possible to extract a net win from this situation. European statements are almost all supportive, which is good I suppose.
It’s largely a question of whether the Trump WH can land it, which I am obviously not confident in.
It’s largely a question of whether the Trump WH can land it, which I am obviously not confident in.
I am mostly reserving judgement on Venezuela while things develop. But my initial thoughts.
1) Maduro’s rendition probably doesn’t advance any U.S. foreign policy objectives, per se.
2) It invites significant reputational damage.
3) The WH doesn’t appear to have planned beyond this point.
1) Maduro’s rendition probably doesn’t advance any U.S. foreign policy objectives, per se.
2) It invites significant reputational damage.
3) The WH doesn’t appear to have planned beyond this point.
January 4, 2026 at 12:02 AM
For what it’s worth, I think it’s possible to extract a net win from this situation. European statements are almost all supportive, which is good I suppose.
It’s largely a question of whether the Trump WH can land it, which I am obviously not confident in.
It’s largely a question of whether the Trump WH can land it, which I am obviously not confident in.
Reposted by John Ridge 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼
These online right wing freaks don't just hate their own country in the abstract. If you are reading this here, they hate *you* specifically. I don't know what our future holds for living with these people, but people should remember that toleration in Europe started behind a sword and a shield.
January 3, 2026 at 9:36 PM
These online right wing freaks don't just hate their own country in the abstract. If you are reading this here, they hate *you* specifically. I don't know what our future holds for living with these people, but people should remember that toleration in Europe started behind a sword and a shield.
I am mostly reserving judgement on Venezuela while things develop. But my initial thoughts.
1) Maduro’s rendition probably doesn’t advance any U.S. foreign policy objectives, per se.
2) It invites significant reputational damage.
3) The WH doesn’t appear to have planned beyond this point.
1) Maduro’s rendition probably doesn’t advance any U.S. foreign policy objectives, per se.
2) It invites significant reputational damage.
3) The WH doesn’t appear to have planned beyond this point.
January 3, 2026 at 9:32 PM
I am mostly reserving judgement on Venezuela while things develop. But my initial thoughts.
1) Maduro’s rendition probably doesn’t advance any U.S. foreign policy objectives, per se.
2) It invites significant reputational damage.
3) The WH doesn’t appear to have planned beyond this point.
1) Maduro’s rendition probably doesn’t advance any U.S. foreign policy objectives, per se.
2) It invites significant reputational damage.
3) The WH doesn’t appear to have planned beyond this point.
Reposted by John Ridge 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼
President Zelenskyy on Maduro:
What can I say here? If this can be done to dictators, like that, then the United States of America know what they should do next.
What can I say here? If this can be done to dictators, like that, then the United States of America know what they should do next.
January 3, 2026 at 6:37 PM
President Zelenskyy on Maduro:
What can I say here? If this can be done to dictators, like that, then the United States of America know what they should do next.
What can I say here? If this can be done to dictators, like that, then the United States of America know what they should do next.
Reposted by John Ridge 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼
I am really not used to Rubio looking and sounding this unhinged in pressers tbh. Just another weird detail in a bad, weird event.
January 3, 2026 at 5:39 PM
I am really not used to Rubio looking and sounding this unhinged in pressers tbh. Just another weird detail in a bad, weird event.
Reposted by John Ridge 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼
Told ya we were just running Operation Just Because. With no clue as to why the original Just Cause went off smoothly, with little domestic or international pushback.
New: Trump administration officials are internally pointing to a 1989 legal opinion and the subsequent US invasion of Panama as precedent to justify the operation that was carried out in Venezuela on Friday night without US congressional authorization, per 3 sources.
January 3, 2026 at 4:50 PM
Told ya we were just running Operation Just Because. With no clue as to why the original Just Cause went off smoothly, with little domestic or international pushback.
Reposted by John Ridge 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼
Never forget that the Realists, especially but not exclusively the offensive realists, have predicted 9 of the last 2 nuclear proliferants and 7 of the last zero great power wars, in the post-Cold War era. They're idiots. You can just say that.
an annoying thing about realists insisting they're the no-nonsense reality-based group is that few of their predictions have been based in reality
January 2, 2026 at 8:25 PM
Never forget that the Realists, especially but not exclusively the offensive realists, have predicted 9 of the last 2 nuclear proliferants and 7 of the last zero great power wars, in the post-Cold War era. They're idiots. You can just say that.
Reposted by John Ridge 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼
Its insane this dude was the director of intelligence for CENTCOM, director of intelligence of the Joint Staff, director of intelligence for ISAF, and director of the DIA (under Obama)
1/ In a racist rant supported by a misleading graphic, Flynn proposes sending Obama “back to Africa” and suggests we “prosecute” Somalis on welfare.
December 28, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Its insane this dude was the director of intelligence for CENTCOM, director of intelligence of the Joint Staff, director of intelligence for ISAF, and director of the DIA (under Obama)
Reposted by John Ridge 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼
The reason he got there was patronage. The minute that patronage from McCrystal was gone, he was fired for incompetence.
The American officer corps not reconciling with how a guy like Flynn could reach the highest levels of American military intelligence is part of the reason we’re in this mess
December 28, 2025 at 9:29 PM
The reason he got there was patronage. The minute that patronage from McCrystal was gone, he was fired for incompetence.
Reposted by John Ridge 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼
This whole saga started back in 2023 when I told Konrad I had nothing against Merchant Mariners (they are indeed valuable people who do a tremendous amount of work) and he decided to pivot hard into this being some kind of underhanded antisemitism. His response was insane:
December 27, 2025 at 2:20 PM
This whole saga started back in 2023 when I told Konrad I had nothing against Merchant Mariners (they are indeed valuable people who do a tremendous amount of work) and he decided to pivot hard into this being some kind of underhanded antisemitism. His response was insane:
Reposted by John Ridge 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼
In Konrad’s latest installment, @thrustwr.bsky.social, myself, and Mike Black are apparently responsible for the cancellation of DDG(X).
lol lmao
lol lmao
December 25, 2025 at 3:42 AM
In Konrad’s latest installment, @thrustwr.bsky.social, myself, and Mike Black are apparently responsible for the cancellation of DDG(X).
lol lmao
lol lmao
Reposted by John Ridge 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼
It was entirely predictable but if Kamala D. Harris randomly conjured up a battleship on a wholly unrealistic timeline with weapons not actually in production with the same cost as a carrier, these guys would be hurling slurs not seen since reconstruction, instead it’s just:
December 24, 2025 at 5:55 PM
It was entirely predictable but if Kamala D. Harris randomly conjured up a battleship on a wholly unrealistic timeline with weapons not actually in production with the same cost as a carrier, these guys would be hurling slurs not seen since reconstruction, instead it’s just:
Reposted by John Ridge 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼
CENTCOM finds a way
December 20, 2025 at 2:51 AM
CENTCOM finds a way
Reposted by John Ridge 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼
I think the best parallel is the Iran-Iraq War. It’s a brutal slog between under equipped and exhausted conventional military forces that probably has no real bearing on how other contemporary conventional conflicts be will be fought.
Looking back through history, what war is most relevant for thinking about how the Ukraine war is going or a hypothetical Taiwan war? I’ve heard of people referring to the Ukraine War as “World War 1 with Blade Runner aesthetics” is that a fair characterization?
December 6, 2025 at 1:47 AM
I think the best parallel is the Iran-Iraq War. It’s a brutal slog between under equipped and exhausted conventional military forces that probably has no real bearing on how other contemporary conventional conflicts be will be fought.
Honest to god Landing Ship, Medium should be cancelled.
They should award F/A-XX, retain the first ten Constellation-class vessels, and begin design studies for a new FFG to succeed it
They should award F/A-XX, retain the first ten Constellation-class vessels, and begin design studies for a new FFG to succeed it
December 5, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Honest to god Landing Ship, Medium should be cancelled.
They should award F/A-XX, retain the first ten Constellation-class vessels, and begin design studies for a new FFG to succeed it
They should award F/A-XX, retain the first ten Constellation-class vessels, and begin design studies for a new FFG to succeed it
Reposted by John Ridge 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼
I think I would probably care a lot more about the National Security Strategy if we had an administration that actually cared about acting in line with their own stated policies
December 5, 2025 at 2:01 PM
I think I would probably care a lot more about the National Security Strategy if we had an administration that actually cared about acting in line with their own stated policies
Reposted by John Ridge 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼
Idk why I expected a navy seal to find a backbone tbh
A top admiral is expected to tell lawmakers tomorrow that he and his legal adviser concluded that the two survivors of a boat strike in September were attempting to continue their drug run, making them and the damaged vessel legitimate targets for another attack.
www.wsj.com/politics/nat...
www.wsj.com/politics/nat...
Exclusive | Survivors of Boat Strike Were Actively Continuing Drug Mission, Admiral to Tell Lawmakers
Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley, the commander of the September attack, is set to provide an account of his role for the first time in a closed briefing.
www.wsj.com
December 4, 2025 at 1:22 AM
Idk why I expected a navy seal to find a backbone tbh
Reposted by John Ridge 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼
Ban NSW
I suppose given the choices of
1) Pete told me to do a war crime and I obeyed bc I have no spine,
2) I ordered the war crime on my own bc I have no brain, and
3) actually it was a good shoot and I’d fuckin do it again
…this does seem like the obvious pick
1) Pete told me to do a war crime and I obeyed bc I have no spine,
2) I ordered the war crime on my own bc I have no brain, and
3) actually it was a good shoot and I’d fuckin do it again
…this does seem like the obvious pick
December 4, 2025 at 1:53 AM
Ban NSW
Reposted by John Ridge 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼
Seriously though, this is asshole "analysis" and speaks poorly of the selection criteria for TT faculty at Harvard.
November 25, 2025 at 10:49 PM
Seriously though, this is asshole "analysis" and speaks poorly of the selection criteria for TT faculty at Harvard.
Reposted by John Ridge 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼
The first official confirmation that Noem herself made the decision not to turn the planes around. A couple hundred men were tortured as a result — and soon after, the Supreme Court confirmed that the Trump admin’s Alien Enemies Act process was a total violation of due process.
BREAKING:
“After receiving that legal advice, Secretary Noem directed that the AEA detainees who had been removed from the United States before the Court’s order could be transferred to the custody of El Salvador. “
“After receiving that legal advice, Secretary Noem directed that the AEA detainees who had been removed from the United States before the Court’s order could be transferred to the custody of El Salvador. “
November 26, 2025 at 1:45 AM
The first official confirmation that Noem herself made the decision not to turn the planes around. A couple hundred men were tortured as a result — and soon after, the Supreme Court confirmed that the Trump admin’s Alien Enemies Act process was a total violation of due process.
Reposted by John Ridge 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼
Clearly @uticaeric.bsky.social doesn't have the innovative mindset gene. Get on the grind.
November 25, 2025 at 11:41 PM
Clearly @uticaeric.bsky.social doesn't have the innovative mindset gene. Get on the grind.
This is the stupidest and most self-destructive USN procurement decision in at least a decade.
Constellation was a relatively healthy program and progressing on a realistic budget and schedule, mostly baseless criticism of it notwithstanding.
Constellation was a relatively healthy program and progressing on a realistic budget and schedule, mostly baseless criticism of it notwithstanding.
BREAKING: Navy Cancels Constellation-class Frigate Program, Considering New Small Surface Combatants — USNI News
news.usni.org/2025/11/25/n...
news.usni.org/2025/11/25/n...
Navy Cancels Constellation-class Frigate Program - USNI News
The Navy is walking away from the Constellation-class frigate program to focus on new classes of warships the service can build faster, Secretary of the Navy John Phelan announced Tuesday on social me...
news.usni.org
November 25, 2025 at 8:52 PM
This is the stupidest and most self-destructive USN procurement decision in at least a decade.
Constellation was a relatively healthy program and progressing on a realistic budget and schedule, mostly baseless criticism of it notwithstanding.
Constellation was a relatively healthy program and progressing on a realistic budget and schedule, mostly baseless criticism of it notwithstanding.
Reposted by John Ridge 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼
I have a brilliant idea on how to counter Russia and China. We could focus on building up our partners in Asia and the ongoing conventional fucking war in Europe instead of a pointless war in South America.
Someone make me a senior fellow. This shit's easy as hell.
Someone make me a senior fellow. This shit's easy as hell.
Cracks me up how you could just replace Venezuela and Venezuelans with Iraq and Iraqis and it’d be indistinguishable from something written in 2002
November 23, 2025 at 10:10 PM
I have a brilliant idea on how to counter Russia and China. We could focus on building up our partners in Asia and the ongoing conventional fucking war in Europe instead of a pointless war in South America.
Someone make me a senior fellow. This shit's easy as hell.
Someone make me a senior fellow. This shit's easy as hell.