Sabine Nolke 🇨🇦🇺🇦🏳️⚧️🌈
@snolke.bsky.social
Ex-🇨🇦 ambassador (🇳🇱 & OPCW) and Head of Mission a.i. (🇬🇭 & 🇮🇪). Mom; lawyer; foreign policy, security, and democracy wonk; bleeding heart liberal; ally; after-hours nerd; PEC fan (IYKYK); she/her.
Pinned
"THEY LIED TO US"
The story of my family under Fascism
canuck21.substack.com
Lies are everywhere these days. This is the story of how my own family in Germany was irrevocably shaped, and ultimately destroyed, by Nazi fascism and its lies, wars, and land grabs. Some of it rings terribly familiar today.
From my Substack (substack.com/@canuck21)
From my Substack (substack.com/@canuck21)
The Dutch understand gratitude and appreciation for sacrifice, even if the Trump administration does not. #LestWeForget
1/ Eleven Dutch parties across the political spectrum from socialist to conservative have issued a joint appeal to a provincial government to build a memorial to Black American soldiers who died in World War II, to replace one removed from the Netherlands American Cemetery. ⬇️
November 11, 2025 at 5:07 AM
The Dutch understand gratitude and appreciation for sacrifice, even if the Trump administration does not. #LestWeForget
I have had the pleasure of meeting Judge Wolf on a number of occasion, in the context of discussing measures to strengthen the international legal framework for the fight against corruption. Here he is, walking the walk. Chapeau!
Judge Mark Wolf resigns from the District Court of Massachusetts and writes why in a powerful piece in the Atlantic.
One thing he doesn’t mention in his list of reasons but I’m sure is a factor:
Erez Reuveni was one of his law clerks.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
One thing he doesn’t mention in his list of reasons but I’m sure is a factor:
Erez Reuveni was one of his law clerks.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Why I Am Resigning
A federal judge explains his reasoning for leaving the bench.
www.theatlantic.com
November 9, 2025 at 7:55 PM
I have had the pleasure of meeting Judge Wolf on a number of occasion, in the context of discussing measures to strengthen the international legal framework for the fight against corruption. Here he is, walking the walk. Chapeau!
Reposted by Sabine Nolke 🇨🇦🇺🇦🏳️⚧️🌈
Reposted by Sabine Nolke 🇨🇦🇺🇦🏳️⚧️🌈
I want to thank a generation for bringing the expression “cringe” into the mainstream
November 8, 2025 at 10:14 PM
I want to thank a generation for bringing the expression “cringe” into the mainstream
November 8, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Serious question to my USian friends: Why on Earth do you tolerate a system of governance that allows the Government to be in a situation where it is (a) unfunded, like, EVER; and (b) those necessary funding "decisions" are allowed to be subject to political whim and blackmail by one or two people?
November 8, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Serious question to my USian friends: Why on Earth do you tolerate a system of governance that allows the Government to be in a situation where it is (a) unfunded, like, EVER; and (b) those necessary funding "decisions" are allowed to be subject to political whim and blackmail by one or two people?
Little miracles: Close-up of a female cardinal's feathers.
November 8, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Little miracles: Close-up of a female cardinal's feathers.
Excellent summary of the Portland decision, with the judge taking careful note of all the exaggerations, vague allegations, uncorroborated claims, and outright lies in the Trump administration's justification of militarizing the streets of Portland.
BREAKING: Judge Immergut issues a permanent injunction against Pete Hegseth and the deployment of the National Guard to Portland.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
November 8, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Excellent summary of the Portland decision, with the judge taking careful note of all the exaggerations, vague allegations, uncorroborated claims, and outright lies in the Trump administration's justification of militarizing the streets of Portland.
I just watched "House of Dynamite". What I found far more scary than the movie itself, was the knowledge that the current political principals in this scenario would be (1) Donald "We have all these nukes, why don't we use them?" Trump and (2) Pete "Readiness = no facial hair" Hegseth.
November 8, 2025 at 4:22 AM
I just watched "House of Dynamite". What I found far more scary than the movie itself, was the knowledge that the current political principals in this scenario would be (1) Donald "We have all these nukes, why don't we use them?" Trump and (2) Pete "Readiness = no facial hair" Hegseth.
A most excellent question indeed: If a democracy falls when there aren't enough voters who care, does it make a sound?
By that reasoning, America was not a democracy in 1789.
But I'll answer this by asking: How many people have to decide to just stay home and watch TV before it doesn't matter if the institutions of democracy no longer function? Say, 35 or 40 percent? :)
But I'll answer this by asking: How many people have to decide to just stay home and watch TV before it doesn't matter if the institutions of democracy no longer function? Say, 35 or 40 percent? :)
I’m curious - what percentage of people need to be disenfranchised before an “imperfect democracy” is no longer a democracy?
50% (eg only one gender can vote)
Or more like once 75% can’t vote - THEN it’s not a democracy. What’s the number? Where’s the line?
50% (eg only one gender can vote)
Or more like once 75% can’t vote - THEN it’s not a democracy. What’s the number? Where’s the line?
November 7, 2025 at 4:18 AM
A most excellent question indeed: If a democracy falls when there aren't enough voters who care, does it make a sound?
Reposted by Sabine Nolke 🇨🇦🇺🇦🏳️⚧️🌈
CARTOON OF THE DAY
(From @mluckovichajc)
(From @mluckovichajc)
November 7, 2025 at 2:01 AM
CARTOON OF THE DAY
(From @mluckovichajc)
(From @mluckovichajc)
Of course, that will be AFTER shareholders award Musk a trillion dollars worth of compensation, so he can put the billionaires' race behind him once and for all. And none of that money will re-enter the economy in any meaningful way; it'll just go in his money bin.
When Tesla finally collapses, how much of the economy does it take with it?
November 7, 2025 at 12:29 AM
Of course, that will be AFTER shareholders award Musk a trillion dollars worth of compensation, so he can put the billionaires' race behind him once and for all. And none of that money will re-enter the economy in any meaningful way; it'll just go in his money bin.
Lovely, if chilly, afternoon visiting the wildlife around Mud Lake. Everyone was busy looking for food!
November 7, 2025 at 12:24 AM
Lovely, if chilly, afternoon visiting the wildlife around Mud Lake. Everyone was busy looking for food!
Soon to be known as the Gold Leaf House.
The White House is starting to look like a Chipotle bag.
November 6, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Soon to be known as the Gold Leaf House.
Mirror, mirror, on the wall...
It's so confusing ... ICE agents are acting like criminals, and criminals are posing as ICE agents.
November 6, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Mirror, mirror, on the wall...
Reposted by Sabine Nolke 🇨🇦🇺🇦🏳️⚧️🌈
Once upon a time, American soldiers handed out food to Germans because *they* had followed a fascist madman into national ruin.
How times change.
How times change.
NEW: The US Army website for its bases in Bavaria, Germany told its soldiers and employees that it might need to obtain free food from the German government during the US government shutdown.
The Army later altered publication to remove a list of food banks, but we have the original text here:
The Army later altered publication to remove a list of food banks, but we have the original text here:
US Army Tells Soldiers to Go to German Food Bank, Then Deletes It
The initial 'Shutdown Guidance' for the US Army Garrison Bavaria included instructions to go to German food banks.
www.404media.co
November 5, 2025 at 10:52 PM
Once upon a time, American soldiers handed out food to Germans because *they* had followed a fascist madman into national ruin.
How times change.
How times change.
Dementia care in action at the White House.
this looks like a trick daffy duck would put up to get bugs bunny into "the oval office"
November 6, 2025 at 3:41 AM
Dementia care in action at the White House.
That...looks a lot worse than a sandwich.
Excessive force. PERIOD!
They called them “violent mobs,” but the violence came from the guys with badges and body armor.
📌 Keep sharing videos, everyone, because they’re evidence.
They called them “violent mobs,” but the violence came from the guys with badges and body armor.
📌 Keep sharing videos, everyone, because they’re evidence.
November 6, 2025 at 2:41 AM
That...looks a lot worse than a sandwich.
Measuring things in 1,000-year spans seems to be a thing with fascists.
Trump: "After last night's results the decision facing all Americans could not be more clear. We have a choice between communist and common sense. Does that make sense to you? Common sense. It's common sense or communism. Look back 1,000 years. It hasn't worked."
November 6, 2025 at 1:39 AM
Measuring things in 1,000-year spans seems to be a thing with fascists.
Do they have signs for the places where the bitcoins come in, too?
November 6, 2025 at 1:33 AM
Do they have signs for the places where the bitcoins come in, too?
I left a year ago and my stress levels have improved as a result - not hugely, because Trump, but because the daily random monster encounters have gone way down.
Pains me to say it but I think this is true. Some of my colleagues in the media who’ve stayed on X don’t even realize how badly its noxious algorithm is skewing their perception of politics and reality.
Also, that place seems designed to make you miserable unless you’re a Nazi. It’s just wretched.
Also, that place seems designed to make you miserable unless you’re a Nazi. It’s just wretched.
Tonight's even more proof the mainstream reporters who are still on Twitter are suffering from a brain problem akin Havana Syndrome that is preventing them from accurately doing their jobs. They are being cooked alive by a snuff-focused apartheid algorithm.
November 5, 2025 at 3:53 AM
I left a year ago and my stress levels have improved as a result - not hugely, because Trump, but because the daily random monster encounters have gone way down.
Reposted by Sabine Nolke 🇨🇦🇺🇦🏳️⚧️🌈
The factional grifters will hate this, but the Mamdani-Spanberger-Sherrill axis actually suggests the outlines of a broad, emerging Dem coalition organized around both anti-Trump *and* affordability politics, not a party bitterly divided against itself.
These big wins will embolden Dems to take on Trump's lawbreaking and show there's a price for GOP enabling of him. Folks hate to hear this, but normal patterns are asserting themselves: Liberalism isn't dead, Rs are likely to lose in 2026, and Trump is really unpopular, not a magical exception.
November 5, 2025 at 2:48 AM
The factional grifters will hate this, but the Mamdani-Spanberger-Sherrill axis actually suggests the outlines of a broad, emerging Dem coalition organized around both anti-Trump *and* affordability politics, not a party bitterly divided against itself.
I was waiting for this... SIGH. Who will build all those new political and security alliances, and open up all those new trade opportunities, that Canada needs going forward? How can we make the multilateral system work better for us? Without diplomats and diplomatic engagement? I think not.
The seemingly outsized cuts to Global Affairs Canada in Budget 2025 are hard to square with the government’s repeated call to expand and deepen Canada's international partnerships. Reinvesting in the military is welcome – but defence is just one tool of our international policy.
November 5, 2025 at 1:03 AM
I was waiting for this... SIGH. Who will build all those new political and security alliances, and open up all those new trade opportunities, that Canada needs going forward? How can we make the multilateral system work better for us? Without diplomats and diplomatic engagement? I think not.
Reposted by Sabine Nolke 🇨🇦🇺🇦🏳️⚧️🌈
A reminder that less than two months ago, the Trump administration abruptly ended the federal government's 27-year practice of collecting data on hunger and food insecurity.
November 3, 2025 at 12:58 AM
A reminder that less than two months ago, the Trump administration abruptly ended the federal government's 27-year practice of collecting data on hunger and food insecurity.