Justin Ling
@justinling.ca
Uh-oh!!!!!!! Columnist/journalist @thestar.com, sometimes @wired.com, @foreignpolicy.com
Newsletter: www.bugeyedandshameless.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JustinLing
Signal: JustinLing.42
Newsletter: www.bugeyedandshameless.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JustinLing
Signal: JustinLing.42
Pinned
Justin Ling
@justinling.ca
· 21d
The Death of USAID: How Donald Trump and Elon Musk Made the World Poorer, Sicker, and Less Safe
YouTube video by Soft Power with Justin Ling
youtu.be
The second episode of my YouTube series is now out! It's all about the death and destruction brought on by Donald Trump and Elon Musk's closure of USAID — and how the rest of the rich world has refused to help. youtu.be/5XBvai6f0pQ?...
Reposted by Justin Ling
Today I'm going to share the air raid alerts I receive for Zap and Kyiv.
December 26, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Today I'm going to share the air raid alerts I receive for Zap and Kyiv.
Reposted by Justin Ling
Tenet Media founder Lauren Chen, who secretly took money from two people with ties to Russian state media to involve conservative influencers in an unwitting propaganda scheme, is back in the US after being deported to Canada under President Biden. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
December 25, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Tenet Media founder Lauren Chen, who secretly took money from two people with ties to Russian state media to involve conservative influencers in an unwitting propaganda scheme, is back in the US after being deported to Canada under President Biden. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Justin Ling
So I have the cover story in next month's TNR.
I interviewed the heads of police groups; immigration defense attorneys, ex-judges and ex-prosecutors; former DOJ and DHS officials, and the former head of Border Patrol.
They're all horrified at what we've seen, and they all fear what's coming.
I interviewed the heads of police groups; immigration defense attorneys, ex-judges and ex-prosecutors; former DOJ and DHS officials, and the former head of Border Patrol.
They're all horrified at what we've seen, and they all fear what's coming.
Trump’s Immigration Nightmare: It Is Happening Here
With astonishing speed, the administration has toppled the most cherished pillars of a free society. And the experts agree: It’s all going to get much, much worse.
newrepublic.com
December 24, 2025 at 3:08 PM
So I have the cover story in next month's TNR.
I interviewed the heads of police groups; immigration defense attorneys, ex-judges and ex-prosecutors; former DOJ and DHS officials, and the former head of Border Patrol.
They're all horrified at what we've seen, and they all fear what's coming.
I interviewed the heads of police groups; immigration defense attorneys, ex-judges and ex-prosecutors; former DOJ and DHS officials, and the former head of Border Patrol.
They're all horrified at what we've seen, and they all fear what's coming.
Axios' framing makes it sound like it's odd that 60 Minutes didn't include the "over 300-word, on-the-record comment" from a DHS official.
But this isn't weird *at all.* Gov'ts often send verbose bullshit in response to tough questions. It's normal to ignore it unless it answers the questions posed
But this isn't weird *at all.* Gov'ts often send verbose bullshit in response to tough questions. It's normal to ignore it unless it answers the questions posed
Scoop: Bari Weiss plans overhaul of CBS News and "60 Minutes" standards and procedures
Bari Weiss plans overhaul of CBS News and "60 Minutes" standards and procedures
The changes follow a controversy that saw her pulling a story about Trump administration deportations of Venezuelan immigrants to an El Salvador prison.
www.axios.com
December 23, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Axios' framing makes it sound like it's odd that 60 Minutes didn't include the "over 300-word, on-the-record comment" from a DHS official.
But this isn't weird *at all.* Gov'ts often send verbose bullshit in response to tough questions. It's normal to ignore it unless it answers the questions posed
But this isn't weird *at all.* Gov'ts often send verbose bullshit in response to tough questions. It's normal to ignore it unless it answers the questions posed
the perfect journalism job doesn't exi-
December 23, 2025 at 4:10 PM
the perfect journalism job doesn't exi-
Writing "isn't there much more to ask in light of the torture that we are revealing?" and demanding "a voice arguing that Trump...[is] operating within the bounds of his authority" in the same email is world-record-contention bullshit. www.axios.com/2025/12/22/6...
Scoop: Weiss told top "60 Minutes" producers that delayed segment had problems
Her decision to hold the piece caused uproar internally, with at least one correspondent arguing the call was politically motivated.
www.axios.com
December 22, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Writing "isn't there much more to ask in light of the torture that we are revealing?" and demanding "a voice arguing that Trump...[is] operating within the bounds of his authority" in the same email is world-record-contention bullshit. www.axios.com/2025/12/22/6...
Reposted by Justin Ling
Per NY Times’s Michael Grynbaum on X, this is Sharyn Alfonsi’s email to her “60 Minutes” colleagues in full:
December 22, 2025 at 3:37 AM
Per NY Times’s Michael Grynbaum on X, this is Sharyn Alfonsi’s email to her “60 Minutes” colleagues in full:
hi, tank expert here! this is not funny, tanks only do this when they’re in extreme distress.
Russia has begun deploying tanks topped with... shipping containers?
December 21, 2025 at 12:21 AM
hi, tank expert here! this is not funny, tanks only do this when they’re in extreme distress.
Alright, in 2026 we have to stop pretending like there is any Russian willingness to agree to a deal. kyivindependent.com/putin-opens-...
Putin says Russia never attacked Ukraine, outlines conditions for war with Europe
Russian President Vladimir Putin used his annual end-of-year press conference on Dec. 19 to reaffirm the Kremlin's maximalist demands for ending Russia's war in Ukraine, rejecting territorial compromi...
kyivindependent.com
December 20, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Alright, in 2026 we have to stop pretending like there is any Russian willingness to agree to a deal. kyivindependent.com/putin-opens-...
hey congrats, syria www.economist.com/leaders/2025...
The Economist’s country of the year for 2025
Which country improved the most this year?
www.economist.com
December 18, 2025 at 9:06 PM
hey congrats, syria www.economist.com/leaders/2025...
51%(!!!) of the Google Discover feed is now AI. community.marfeel.com/t/google-dis...
Google Discover’s Shift to AI, Youtube and X: What Publishers Are Losing
New data from the Marfeel Discover Monitoring shows Google Discover is no longer a publisher-first surface. It’s becoming an AI platform with YouTube and X absorbing real estate that once went to news...
community.marfeel.com
December 18, 2025 at 5:44 PM
51%(!!!) of the Google Discover feed is now AI. community.marfeel.com/t/google-dis...
Coming soon to Truth+™: Buy a lifetime membership and get a dirty bomb!
Truth Social parent company Trump Media & Technology Group announced a deal on Thursday to merge with nuclear fusion company TAE Technologies. https://cnn.it/4p5Iedp
December 18, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Coming soon to Truth+™: Buy a lifetime membership and get a dirty bomb!
well this address to the nation is off to a "what? wait, what?" start
December 18, 2025 at 2:02 AM
well this address to the nation is off to a "what? wait, what?" start
guess they couldn't get the knob out of the shot
December 16, 2025 at 4:29 PM
guess they couldn't get the knob out of the shot
Reposted by Justin Ling
The bear is now one of the renegades of the Intellectual Dark Web
December 15, 2025 at 9:00 PM
The bear is now one of the renegades of the Intellectual Dark Web
Really good piece.
You can point to Hamas/Hizbollah/Iran's total inability to effectively deploy their supposed arsenal of drones as good evidence for this. The (admittedly superior) Shahed drones that Russia is using to bombard Ukraine were limp against Israel.
You can point to Hamas/Hizbollah/Iran's total inability to effectively deploy their supposed arsenal of drones as good evidence for this. The (admittedly superior) Shahed drones that Russia is using to bombard Ukraine were limp against Israel.
Small drones are playing such a big role in the Russia-Ukraine war not because they've proven superior, but because no one has air superiority, air defense is weak, and attempts at complex combined arms have broken down.
US-China wouldn't look like that.
Very good, timely piece by Justin Bronk.
US-China wouldn't look like that.
Very good, timely piece by Justin Bronk.
America’s Drone Delusion
Why the lessons of Ukraine don’t apply to a conflict with China.
www.foreignaffairs.com
December 15, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Really good piece.
You can point to Hamas/Hizbollah/Iran's total inability to effectively deploy their supposed arsenal of drones as good evidence for this. The (admittedly superior) Shahed drones that Russia is using to bombard Ukraine were limp against Israel.
You can point to Hamas/Hizbollah/Iran's total inability to effectively deploy their supposed arsenal of drones as good evidence for this. The (admittedly superior) Shahed drones that Russia is using to bombard Ukraine were limp against Israel.
Reposted by Justin Ling
Stephen Miller is employing state terror in service of the open goal of shifting the ethnic mix of the country. In numerous ways he's doing this at the expense of public safety.
We spent weeks reporting on Miller's real aims. Here's the result. We hope you'll read:
newrepublic.com/article/2041...
We spent weeks reporting on Miller's real aims. Here's the result. We hope you'll read:
newrepublic.com/article/2041...
Inside Stephen Miller’s Dark Plot to Build a MAGA Terror State
He is descended from Russian Jews—you know, the kind of people who were once denounced as alien and unassimilable. Today, his project is to unleash government persecution of those he deems alien and u...
newrepublic.com
December 15, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Stephen Miller is employing state terror in service of the open goal of shifting the ethnic mix of the country. In numerous ways he's doing this at the expense of public safety.
We spent weeks reporting on Miller's real aims. Here's the result. We hope you'll read:
newrepublic.com/article/2041...
We spent weeks reporting on Miller's real aims. Here's the result. We hope you'll read:
newrepublic.com/article/2041...
concluding that people don't need their newspapers to be accurate is professional self-harm done for no particular reason other than to justify layoffs and satisfy the AI lords
New: When the Washington Post ran tests on its AI personalized podcasts, the paper found that between 68% and 84% (!!) of the pods had potential issues.
Still, the paper decided to release the product anyway, saying it would “iterate through the remaining issues”
www.semafor.com/article/12/1...
Still, the paper decided to release the product anyway, saying it would “iterate through the remaining issues”
www.semafor.com/article/12/1...
December 15, 2025 at 2:26 PM
concluding that people don't need their newspapers to be accurate is professional self-harm done for no particular reason other than to justify layoffs and satisfy the AI lords
Reposted by Justin Ling
It’s been good year for Mark Carney — but he has one weakness critics will try to exploit in 2026, @justinling.ca writes www.thestar.com/opinion/star...
Find out more at nationalnewswatch.com
Find out more at nationalnewswatch.com
Justin Ling: It’s been good year for Mark Carney — but he has one weakness critics will try to exploit in 2026
As 2025 comes to a close, Ottawa and Washington aren’t talking, more tariffs are on the horizon and things are looking dire for CUSMA.
www.thestar.com
December 13, 2025 at 10:35 AM
It’s been good year for Mark Carney — but he has one weakness critics will try to exploit in 2026, @justinling.ca writes www.thestar.com/opinion/star...
Find out more at nationalnewswatch.com
Find out more at nationalnewswatch.com
Meanwhile, Steve Witkoff is too chickenshit to visit Lviv. www.euronews.com/2025/12/12/z...
Zelenskyy appears in Kupyansk after Russia claimed it was occupied
The Ukrainian president published a video Friday from Kupyansk in Kharkiv region, visiting Ukrainian positions less than 2 kilometres away from Russian troops and well within the range of Moscow’s drones and artillery.
www.euronews.com
December 12, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Meanwhile, Steve Witkoff is too chickenshit to visit Lviv. www.euronews.com/2025/12/12/z...
someone needs to rent a box truck and drive around the venue broadcasting this image
December 12, 2025 at 3:59 PM
someone needs to rent a box truck and drive around the venue broadcasting this image
Reposted by Justin Ling
Gigantic decline in foreign aid by USA and others while spending $100s of billions on more military is the inverse of being human. Thank you @justinling.ca for shining a light on the issue and also explaining the Russian/ China factors.
open.substack.com/pub/justinli... #USAID
open.substack.com/pub/justinli... #USAID
Soft Power Episode 2: The Death of USAID
How the President of the United States and the planet's richest man conspired to make the world poorer, sicker, and less safe
open.substack.com
December 11, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Gigantic decline in foreign aid by USA and others while spending $100s of billions on more military is the inverse of being human. Thank you @justinling.ca for shining a light on the issue and also explaining the Russian/ China factors.
open.substack.com/pub/justinli... #USAID
open.substack.com/pub/justinli... #USAID
Destroying USAID will be one of the stupidest, self-sabotaging, destructive things the U.S. government has ever done. www.bugeyedandshameless.com/p/soft-power...
Soft Power Episode 2: The Death of USAID
How the President of the United States and the planet's richest man conspired to make the world poorer, sicker, and less safe
www.bugeyedandshameless.com
December 11, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Destroying USAID will be one of the stupidest, self-sabotaging, destructive things the U.S. government has ever done. www.bugeyedandshameless.com/p/soft-power...