John Hickman
@hickmanaujourdhui.bsky.social
Father, Grandfather, Citizen, Political Scientist. Issues: Democracy, Human Rights, Security, Space, Climate, and Population.
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/John-Hickman?ev=hdr_xprf
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/John-Hickman?ev=hdr_xprf
Too much firepower for drug interdiction and too small a ground force for an invasion. Without a Venezuelan insurgent army to support an air campaign (as in Libya in 2011) is unlikely to achieve regime change. What's the endgame?
www.reuters.com/graphics/USA...
www.reuters.com/graphics/USA...
How the US is preparing a Caribbean staging ground near Venezuela
The US military is upgrading a Cold War base in the Caribbean it abandoned 20 years ago. Experts say it’s a step towards sustained operations in the region.
www.reuters.com
November 3, 2025 at 3:31 AM
Too much firepower for drug interdiction and too small a ground force for an invasion. Without a Venezuelan insurgent army to support an air campaign (as in Libya in 2011) is unlikely to achieve regime change. What's the endgame?
www.reuters.com/graphics/USA...
www.reuters.com/graphics/USA...
However unlikely to stop drug smuggling or achieve regime change in Venezuela, an air campaign would give the Trump admin. momentary relief from the Epstein Files...and allow its officials to posture as tough guys (just like the neocons they once despised.)
www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-...
www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-...
U.S. poised to strike military targets in Venezuela in escalation against Maduro regime
The Trump Administration has made the decision to attack military installations inside Venezuela and the strikes could come at any moment, sources with knowledge of the situation told the Miami Herald...
www.miamiherald.com
October 31, 2025 at 5:46 PM
However unlikely to stop drug smuggling or achieve regime change in Venezuela, an air campaign would give the Trump admin. momentary relief from the Epstein Files...and allow its officials to posture as tough guys (just like the neocons they once despised.)
www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-...
www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-...
Want a higher birthrate? The low hanging fruit of population policy is housing and childcare affordability.
www.npr.org/2025/10/31/n...
www.npr.org/2025/10/31/n...
Families say cost of housing means they'll have fewer or no children
Western states have some of America's lowest fertility rates. The rapidly rising cost of housing is playing a role.
www.npr.org
October 31, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Want a higher birthrate? The low hanging fruit of population policy is housing and childcare affordability.
www.npr.org/2025/10/31/n...
www.npr.org/2025/10/31/n...
KSR's near future projection of a PRC Lunar South Pole and a USA plus allies Lunar North Pole in the 2018 RED MOON seems ever more likely. Striking difference between it and Robert A. Heinlein's 1968 THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS.
October 24, 2025 at 2:37 PM
KSR's near future projection of a PRC Lunar South Pole and a USA plus allies Lunar North Pole in the 2018 RED MOON seems ever more likely. Striking difference between it and Robert A. Heinlein's 1968 THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS.
Reposted by John Hickman
North Korean hackers have pilfered billions of dollars by breaking into cryptocurrency exchanges and creating fake identities to get remote tech jobs at foreign companies, according to an international report on North Korea’s cyber capabilities.
North Korea has stolen billions in cryptocurrency and tech firm salaries, report says
Hackers have pilfered billions of dollars by breaking into cryptocurrency exchanges and creating fake identities to get remote tech jobs at foreign companies, the report found.
nbcnews.to
October 23, 2025 at 11:00 PM
North Korean hackers have pilfered billions of dollars by breaking into cryptocurrency exchanges and creating fake identities to get remote tech jobs at foreign companies, according to an international report on North Korea’s cyber capabilities.
Why is the USA's return to the Moon today a panicked mess? First, NASA spent decades talking international cooperation rather than competition in space. Second, libertarian ideology blinded policy makers to the crucial role of the state in opening frontiers. China was never similarly deluded.
October 22, 2025 at 3:24 AM
Why is the USA's return to the Moon today a panicked mess? First, NASA spent decades talking international cooperation rather than competition in space. Second, libertarian ideology blinded policy makers to the crucial role of the state in opening frontiers. China was never similarly deluded.
Since solar geoengineering is not going to be easy we must do the research...now. UNFCCC climate regime has clearly failed and isn't going to magically succeed due to its baked in collective action problem, we need a Plan B to avert catastrophe.
news.climate.columbia.edu/2025/10/21/h...
news.climate.columbia.edu/2025/10/21/h...
How Hard Is It to Dim the Sun?
Solar radiation management is gaining traction as a climate intervention—but new research warns that real-world constraints make it riskier and more uncertain than most models suggest.
news.climate.columbia.edu
October 21, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Since solar geoengineering is not going to be easy we must do the research...now. UNFCCC climate regime has clearly failed and isn't going to magically succeed due to its baked in collective action problem, we need a Plan B to avert catastrophe.
news.climate.columbia.edu/2025/10/21/h...
news.climate.columbia.edu/2025/10/21/h...
Q: Which is better for the USA, Starship or New Glenn?
A: Both are better than either one alone. Competition and redundancy in space make sense for American national security.
A: Both are better than either one alone. Competition and redundancy in space make sense for American national security.
October 20, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Q: Which is better for the USA, Starship or New Glenn?
A: Both are better than either one alone. Competition and redundancy in space make sense for American national security.
A: Both are better than either one alone. Competition and redundancy in space make sense for American national security.
Note that competition both international and domestic results in humanity doing more and doing it faster in space. The old mantra of cooperation was an excuse for doing less and doing it slower.
www.msn.com/en-us/money/...
www.msn.com/en-us/money/...
MSN
www.msn.com
October 20, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Note that competition both international and domestic results in humanity doing more and doing it faster in space. The old mantra of cooperation was an excuse for doing less and doing it slower.
www.msn.com/en-us/money/...
www.msn.com/en-us/money/...
Typically fun episode of Science VS that can be faulted only for skimming past 'cash for kids' material on incentive payments for reproducing, without examining the price point that would move the needle. #population #birthrate
open.spotify.com/episode/6p9d...
open.spotify.com/episode/6p9d...
Fertility Rates: Are We Running Out of Babies??
open.spotify.com
October 19, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Typically fun episode of Science VS that can be faulted only for skimming past 'cash for kids' material on incentive payments for reproducing, without examining the price point that would move the needle. #population #birthrate
open.spotify.com/episode/6p9d...
open.spotify.com/episode/6p9d...
House Speaker MJ seems unaware freedom of assembly is a liberty guaranteed in the First Amendment. Another liberal democratic institution his authoritarian populists want to eliminate. politi.co/4hmstfK via @politico
Speaker Johnson doubles down on ‘No Kings’ criticism following demonstrations nationwide
He alleged the protests indicate “a rise of Marxism in the Democratic Party.”
politi.co
October 19, 2025 at 4:34 PM
House Speaker MJ seems unaware freedom of assembly is a liberty guaranteed in the First Amendment. Another liberal democratic institution his authoritarian populists want to eliminate. politi.co/4hmstfK via @politico