Scott Hielen
@scotthielen.bsky.social
Geopolitical Risk • Government Affairs • Flew Navy • Veteran • Nebraskan • Kid and Cat Dad • Itinerant by Design 🌍 🇺🇸🇳🇱🇹🇷🇩🇪🇧🇪
📍Brussels
📍Brussels
As very young officers, we were taught about the responsibility that comes with the authorities transmitted down to us. Responsibility comes with accountability. Authorization to shoot survivors would have meant complicity in a war crime. If true, then accountability must come for everyone involved.
November 28, 2025 at 8:48 PM
As very young officers, we were taught about the responsibility that comes with the authorities transmitted down to us. Responsibility comes with accountability. Authorization to shoot survivors would have meant complicity in a war crime. If true, then accountability must come for everyone involved.
Even as the greenest of green officers, we were taught the basics of the Geneva and Hague Conventions, the Law of Armed Conflict, what wrong looks like, and what right sounds like. When a combatant becomes essentially defenseless, they are no longer a legitimate target. Killing them is a war crime.
November 28, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Even as the greenest of green officers, we were taught the basics of the Geneva and Hague Conventions, the Law of Armed Conflict, what wrong looks like, and what right sounds like. When a combatant becomes essentially defenseless, they are no longer a legitimate target. Killing them is a war crime.
This should spice things up around Brussels. www.reuters.com/business/aer... Belgium buys defensive kamikaze drones to counter incursions
November 18, 2025 at 2:59 PM
This should spice things up around Brussels. www.reuters.com/business/aer... Belgium buys defensive kamikaze drones to counter incursions
That was an easy decision. @paramountplus.com's loss is @pbs.org's gain.
July 19, 2025 at 2:53 AM
That was an easy decision. @paramountplus.com's loss is @pbs.org's gain.
On the eve of the Great War, Jules made a pretty good assessment of how Europe would career into catastrophe. It's eerie how much of this rhymes with today.
July 19, 2025 at 1:51 AM
On the eve of the Great War, Jules made a pretty good assessment of how Europe would career into catastrophe. It's eerie how much of this rhymes with today.
Jules Sandoz was also an irascible, combative personality and abusive to a series of four wives and some of his children. On his deathbed, he asked the 2nd of his six children to write his story. Mari Sandoz captured his deep intellect as well as his violent nature in her book titled, "Old Jules."
July 19, 2025 at 1:51 AM
Jules Sandoz was also an irascible, combative personality and abusive to a series of four wives and some of his children. On his deathbed, he asked the 2nd of his six children to write his story. Mari Sandoz captured his deep intellect as well as his violent nature in her book titled, "Old Jules."
Jules Sandoz was a well-born, well-educated Swiss settler in northwestern Nebraska in the 1880s. He was a locator, encouraging and helping other newcomers find and develop parcels available under the Homestead Act. He had a thirst for news, was well-read, and was a meticulous, self-taught botanist.
July 19, 2025 at 1:51 AM
Jules Sandoz was a well-born, well-educated Swiss settler in northwestern Nebraska in the 1880s. He was a locator, encouraging and helping other newcomers find and develop parcels available under the Homestead Act. He had a thirst for news, was well-read, and was a meticulous, self-taught botanist.
If you see this, quote with a time travel movie that's not BACK TO THE FUTURE.
July 15, 2025 at 2:24 AM
If you see this, quote with a time travel movie that's not BACK TO THE FUTURE.
DC friends: looking for a third place with a focus on community, comfort, craft, choice, and convenience? Check out "Henceforth," my friend's new brew pub and wine bar on the 'H' Street corridor. No big screens, no axe throwing, just good vibes in a relaxed space! www.henceforthdc.com
June 26, 2025 at 3:48 AM
DC friends: looking for a third place with a focus on community, comfort, craft, choice, and convenience? Check out "Henceforth," my friend's new brew pub and wine bar on the 'H' Street corridor. No big screens, no axe throwing, just good vibes in a relaxed space! www.henceforthdc.com
“Travel changes you. As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life - and travel - leaves marks on you. Most of the time, those marks - on your body or on your heart - are beautiful. Often, though, they hurt.” - AB
June 25, 2025 at 1:35 PM
“Travel changes you. As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life - and travel - leaves marks on you. Most of the time, those marks - on your body or on your heart - are beautiful. Often, though, they hurt.” - AB
Did U.S. Navy SWOs forget to trademark their jacket?
April 28, 2025 at 9:36 AM
Did U.S. Navy SWOs forget to trademark their jacket?
USD and EUR were so close to parity three months ago. Not a bad thing to boost US exports, if he hadn’t simultaneously laid on tariffs and alienated.. the entire global marketplace. Who happened? Art of the deal. 🗑️
April 26, 2025 at 1:39 PM
USD and EUR were so close to parity three months ago. Not a bad thing to boost US exports, if he hadn’t simultaneously laid on tariffs and alienated.. the entire global marketplace. Who happened? Art of the deal. 🗑️
Worse definitely exists in that universe.
April 21, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Worse definitely exists in that universe.
I just finished this political biography of Sen. Chambers, published right before his return in 2013. It’s “a bit” hagiographic, but rich with stories. Some occasionally found his rhetoric offensive, but far more offensive: racism, sexism, capital punishment, intolerance. He’s a hero to me too.
March 22, 2025 at 9:22 AM
I just finished this political biography of Sen. Chambers, published right before his return in 2013. It’s “a bit” hagiographic, but rich with stories. Some occasionally found his rhetoric offensive, but far more offensive: racism, sexism, capital punishment, intolerance. He’s a hero to me too.
Did you get that from a news source? www.cnn.com/politics/liv...
March 7, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Did you get that from a news source? www.cnn.com/politics/liv...
Whatever goodwill our American forbearers earned from WWI, WWII, & Cold War -- whatever political capital we'd built up (and borrowed from at times), it's GONE. In fact, we're plunging ourselves into debt, which is fairly on brand. Can we save ourselves?
March 7, 2025 at 11:46 AM
Whatever goodwill our American forbearers earned from WWI, WWII, & Cold War -- whatever political capital we'd built up (and borrowed from at times), it's GONE. In fact, we're plunging ourselves into debt, which is fairly on brand. Can we save ourselves?
Difficult to imagine FDR maneuvering to backstab Churchill or undermine Wilhelmina, but seems to be where we're at.
March 6, 2025 at 8:53 AM
Difficult to imagine FDR maneuvering to backstab Churchill or undermine Wilhelmina, but seems to be where we're at.
Well, if they switch to impressment instead of soliciting volunteers, no pay required. And military retirees? Pffft. We're only lethal in the voting booth; provided they're still available in 2026/28.
March 5, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Well, if they switch to impressment instead of soliciting volunteers, no pay required. And military retirees? Pffft. We're only lethal in the voting booth; provided they're still available in 2026/28.
The cabinet members will of course be clapping, but the best reaction to the SOTU address this evening would be abject silence. Starve him.
March 4, 2025 at 6:27 PM
The cabinet members will of course be clapping, but the best reaction to the SOTU address this evening would be abject silence. Starve him.
Excellent perspective. Big takeaways:
February 21, 2025 at 8:09 AM
Excellent perspective. Big takeaways:
Someone should write a book with that theme.
January 25, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Someone should write a book with that theme.
It would’ve been a paragraph too far for the VK, but Aldous Huxley’s deification of Ford in “Brave New World” could easily reflect Musk’s influence today — and a more dystopian future. Our Ford.
January 5, 2025 at 5:38 PM
It would’ve been a paragraph too far for the VK, but Aldous Huxley’s deification of Ford in “Brave New World” could easily reflect Musk’s influence today — and a more dystopian future. Our Ford.
Underrated city. Let’s keep it that way 🤫 Inadvertently visited during women’s fashion week in Feb. Fun watching the kids in their clothes run around town taking pics. Side trip to Bergamo was tops. 🇮🇹
December 22, 2024 at 2:12 PM
Underrated city. Let’s keep it that way 🤫 Inadvertently visited during women’s fashion week in Feb. Fun watching the kids in their clothes run around town taking pics. Side trip to Bergamo was tops. 🇮🇹