Whatismoo
banner
whatismoo.bsky.social
Whatismoo
@whatismoo.bsky.social
Transatlantic Doctoral Student covering the Cold War to the present.
Logo adapted from that of the Soviet Army Studies Office
Pinned
Right now it's:
Munitions and HE mobilization (and what does mobilization look like)
Frigates
CVL Thudnerdome
Infantry Small Arms Discourse
Fires and You, Battalion to Corps
Theater Nuclear Forces Are Good, Actually
Joint Force Air Campaign Structures in WESTPAC
Etc
February 14, 2026 at 8:04 PM
Reposted by Whatismoo
Good piece. The idea that Rubio is the 'reasonable one' and Vance is the thug is rather like thinking that the interrogator who offers sympathy and a cigarette is your ally against the knuckle-cracking sadist.
Free piece just released. Marco Rubio called on tolerant, democratic, liberal Europe to destroy itself and embrace a Trump-like future. He received a standing ovation and we are told some people are reassured. If so, Europe will deserve everything coming its way. open.substack.com/pub/phillips...
Rubio Calls For The End Of A Tolerant, Democratic Europe And The Crowd Goes Wild
Just over an hour ago, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called for the end of a tolerant, democratic Europe and its break-up into a disparate group of smaller, Trumpist states, and the Europeans in t...
open.substack.com
February 14, 2026 at 5:32 PM
Reposted by Whatismoo
New Nukesletter out this Valentine's Day: on the cheery topic of compute discontinuities that might emerge from intense great power war (including nuclear war). panda.substack.com/p/thinking-a...
Thinking About Compute and Armageddon
A hidden assumption underlies every optimistic AI forecast. It’s geopolitical, and it’s enormous.
panda.substack.com
February 14, 2026 at 7:03 PM
Reposted by Whatismoo
Yesterday the students in one of my classes discussed this excellent 2018 article by historian Chris Bonner which opens with this incredible story of direct action from 1837 that, sadly, hits especially hard in 2026.
February 14, 2026 at 5:16 PM
Reposted by Whatismoo
In 1854, after watching the federal government deploy 2000 federal troops and spend $40,000 sending Anthony Burns back into slavery, Boston's Amos Adams Lawrence said “we went to bed one night old-fashioned, conservative, Compromise Union Whigs and waked up stark mad Abolitionists.”
Yesterday morning kids were sent running from their bus stop in panic because ICE showed up. This guy at today’s ICE Out of Lindenwold protest is a must watch 😭. @maddow.bsky.social
February 14, 2026 at 5:07 PM
Man when I first heard about Acamprosate and Naltrexone my mind was similarly blown. Crazy there's medication which can treat alcoholism? IDK why it isn't talked about more.
Magic self control drugs are maybe my most surprising positive 2020s development
February 13, 2026 at 7:25 AM
Reposted by Whatismoo
We live in challenging times. But these are also clarifying times, where the choices are clear, and we have examples to admire.

All honor to the Epstein survivors.

All honor to the people of Minneapolis.

All honor to the people of Ukraine.
February 12, 2026 at 12:57 PM
SAY HELLO TO FORD AND CHRYSLER AND GENERAL FUCKIING MOTORS!
February 12, 2026 at 6:08 PM
Reposted by Whatismoo
If you've ever poked your head into the Call of Duty fandom world, there's a lot of extremely homoerotic fanfiction there that is very clearly written by women so "tacticool fujo" is absolutely an untapped market
Military history and tactics are nominally cis male coded, but queers and women will become Napoleon if it means we can make two dolls kiss in a video game. I feel like there has to be a way to weaponize this. Have the Pentagon pay the Jagged Alliance guys to make a game with a romance system.
February 11, 2026 at 10:53 PM
Reposted by Whatismoo
Are we at the point now where -- even if you've "committed" to US manufacturing investment on the threat of tariffs -- you're doing the math on just waiting him out? Or hedging the possibility of a policy pendulum swing?
“.. US manufacturing accounted for 11% of GDP before this one-man war on trade began in 2018. By the second quarter of 2025, manufacturing had shrunk to 9.4% of GDP.” 👀
February 12, 2026 at 4:39 PM
Reposted by Whatismoo
Fundamentally incoherent, as much as one might wishcast Europe carrying more of the conventional burden. This is essentially saying “we’ll increase the odds of conventional deterrence failures that might lead to nuclear deterrence failure, but then we’ll fight a nuclear war for you.”
Colby at NATO: "We will continue to provide the U.S. extended nuclear deterrent. And we will also continue, in a more limited and focused fashion, to provide conventional capabilities that contribute to NATO's defense."
www.war.gov
February 12, 2026 at 4:49 PM
Bloviation tbqh
gotta be honest I don't understand the point of this book
"O’Brien seems skeptical of the idea of predicting who will win any given war at all: 'If there is one general truth in war,' he writes, 'it is that how a war ends bears very little resemblance to how people imagine it will end when it starts.'"
February 11, 2026 at 7:23 PM
Reposted by Whatismoo
Some pretty sordid stuff in here about Trump's weirdo, laughably unqualified Navy Secretary.

www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...
Epstein files expose late sex offender’s connections to members of Trump’s orbit
Rachel Maddow breaks down some of the big names listed in the latest Epstein files drop, including Trump's Navy secretary and Elon Musk.
www.ms.now
February 11, 2026 at 3:14 PM
Reposted by Whatismoo
And it's worth using the term "myth" quite deliberately because of course the reality of as diverse and complex a place like Texas has only a passing resemblance with the fantastical machismo that it has become associated with in the imagination of the MAGA and global Far Right
February 10, 2026 at 8:39 PM
Reposted by Whatismoo
It might even be better for America and the rest of the world if America's soft power is defined less by a myth of Texan machismo and more by an ethos of Minnesotan solidarity
February 10, 2026 at 8:37 PM
Reposted by Whatismoo
From the desk of Douglas Bristol "Everywhere Black Soldiers Went in World War Two, Freedom Followed https://kansaspress.ku.edu/blog/2026/02/10/celebrating-black-history-month/

Order Building Bridges and receive 20% off with code 24BLACKHIST at checkout https://kansaspress.ku.edu/9780700639007/
February 10, 2026 at 5:44 PM
These mixed fleet RCAF proponents are thinking too small. They don't understand that F-35 is the LOW for the mixed fleet. ~88 F-35A and 40 GCAP/Tempest is the high fleet. The RAF is doing this, and Italy too, so it'll be well supported. Oh and Japan.
February 10, 2026 at 5:44 PM
Reposted by Whatismoo
"If the government may simply seize *someone* without due process, there is no check on its ability to seize *anyone*."

Perhaps the most fundamental check against tyranny. And it is gravely threatened.
BONUS RULING: Judge Thomas Johnston, a George W. Bush appoiintee in West Virginia, used a recent ruling to warn of the dangers of defying due process for immigrants because of what it could also mean for Americans. It's worth a read.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
February 10, 2026 at 1:40 PM
I should post more about defense stuff tbh
February 7, 2026 at 12:08 AM
Reposted by Whatismoo
Lmfao.

“How much do we have to beg? RFFs are reneged”

“It was Centcom once again, then it was centcom again and again - f when will it end?”

“Shooting a jassm at little mud huts”

open.spotify.com/track/7HjR4I...
INDO(PAY)COM
open.spotify.com
February 6, 2026 at 11:45 AM
is it even legal to withhold the funding? Anyway, Schumer should have negotiated him down to the Port Authority Bus Terminal before telling him to get stuffed.
February 6, 2026 at 11:37 PM
Reposted by Whatismoo
Meanwhile in the wearable tech/privacy/opsec world....

Good story here from @pattynieberg.bsky.social @taskandpurpose.com taskandpurpose.com/news/air-for...
Air Force bans smart glasses for troops in uniform
The Air Force is banning troops from wearing smart eyewear like Meta AI glasses. Other services allow commanders to dictate device policies.
taskandpurpose.com
February 6, 2026 at 6:35 PM
Sometimes I think about the National Automated Highway System, which AIUI fell apart because nobody wanted to pay for the nails in the road.
February 6, 2026 at 7:18 PM
What's your perfect two-ford garage?
February 6, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Honestly the Chinese position here is why I think the only prudent US nuclear force structure goal is >10,000 warheads.
February 6, 2026 at 6:01 PM