J 🇺🇦🇮🇱🇬🇧🇺🇸

@elonmusk Well VHS vs Betamax was pretty important

Yes

If America Leaves NATO, the Bill Lands in Washington “NATO wasn’t there for us. We send billions of dollars to them every year to protect them. We would have always been there for them. But based on their actions, I guess we don’t have to be, do we? Why would we be there for them if they’re not there for us?” That argument sounds airtight. It also gets almost everything backwards. The Industrial Logic No One Wants to Say Out Loud. For decades, NATO membership has functioned as the world’s most effective arms sales platform. When a country joins the alliance, it buys American. F-35s, Patriot batteries, HIMARS, Javelins. It becomes structurally dependent on American spare parts, software updates, and maintenance contracts. It is the most sophisticated captive market in military history. Poland alone devotes 4.7 percent of its GDP to defense. These are not abstract trade figures. They are jobs in Fort Worth, Orlando, and East Hartford. They are the economic foundation of entire congressional districts. A US exit from NATO does not preserve this arrangement. It ends it. Canada and Portugal have already signaled reservations about F-35 commitments worth up to $19 billion, citing political unpredictability in Washington. When two countries walk away from an American platform, others begin running the same calculation. EU member states spent 343 billion euros on defense in 2024, a 19 percent rise from the year before. The political momentum behind “Buy European” is real and growing. The market will remain. NATO gives the United States something no defense budget line can purchase: forward positioning, intelligence integration, and political legitimacy across 30 countries. These are the operating system of American global influence.Without them, the United States becomes alone. The Indo-Pacific pivot is not wrong on its merits. But forward positioning in Europe is not a drain on Pacific readiness. It is the network that makes global power projection coherent. Cut one node and the whole system degrades. The Quiet Withdrawal Already Underway. A formal exit has not happened. But the functional retreat is well advanced. The Trump administration has told European allies the US will no longer serve as NATO’s primary conventional defense provider after 2027. Joint force commands are being transferred to European generals. Intelligence-sharing arrangements built over decades are being quietly renegotiated. Each move is individually defensible. Collectively, they produce the same outcome as a formal withdrawal, without the legal fight or the Senate vote. The irony is considerable. The administration that views NATO as a bad deal for America is dismantling the mechanism that made American arms exports dominant in global defense markets. The alliance was never just a security arrangement. It was the most durable commercial advantage in the history of the defense industry. So back to the question. Why would America be there for allies who aren’t there for America? Because “there for us” included $343 billion in European defense spending flowing toward American suppliers. It included 30 countries hosting American bases and intelligence networks. It included the political architecture that let Washington call itself the leader of the free world and have other governments agree. Not a subsidy to Europe. A return on investment that took 75 years to build. The bill for dismantling it will not arrive in Brussels. It will arrive in Fort Worth.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Stay connected, Follow Gandalv @Microinteracti1

@ZackPolanski Half a million 🤣. Count again numbskull

Half a million people standing against the far right. Half a million people who care about each other and our communities. Half a million people ready to make hope normal again.

@JackWDart The only way to reject any political party is at the ballot box, which has laws to force individuals to vote without coercion, meaning the Green Party won't win any more seats if that is enforced

Rammed! Well done London! Britain rejects the far right! 💪

@AlpayBTC @StateDept @WhiteHouse @grok But @grok, that's not true is it ... you are including the cost of overseas troop bases which aren't included in the costs of contributing to NATO. Can you recalculate the actual financial contribution to NATO

@StateDept @WhiteHouse @grok President Trump criticized NATO for not supporting the U.S. as he claims America has supported them financially—how accurate are these claims, and what obligations and expectations actually govern U.S. involvement in NATO operations?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: NATO wasn’t there for us. We send billions of dollars to them every year to protect them. We would have always been there for them. But based on their actions, I guess we don’t have to be, do we? Why would we be there for them if they’re not there for us?

@StateDept The U.S. has a large, distributed network of bases across Europe •These bases are not owned via NATO, but NATO is the main reason they exist. •If the U.S. left NATO, it wouldn’t automatically lose them, but many would likely be reduced, renegotiated, or eventually closed.

In case @realDonaldTrump doesn't realise The U.S. has a large network of bases across Europe •These bases are not owned via NATO, but NATO is the main reason they exist. •If the U.S. left NATO, many would likely be reduced, renegotiated, or eventually closed.

@EricLDaugh This act would probably kickstart a new European military coalition that would become the largest fighting force in the world. Unfortunately it would never agree on what to ever do with it 🤣

🚨 HOLY CRAP. President Trump just said America no longer has to be there for NATO "We WOULD have always been there for them, but now, based on their actions? I guess we don't have to be, do we?!" "I think a tremendous mistake was when NATO just wasn't there. They just weren't there. It's going to make a lot of money for the United States, because we spent hundreds of billions of dollars a year on NATO, hundreds, protecting them." Trump NEVER FORGETS.

@CuriosityonX Life on stars ? I hope not. Unlikely to be any planets lit up enough to be seen here

There has to be life on one of these dots.

@TheBritLad It's about time for old Lenny to be put out to pasture. He hasn't even been funny in this millennium

Lenny Henry wants Britain to cough up £18 trillion in reparations because 'all black British people personally deserve money for the effects of slavery.' Funny how he skips the part where Britain was the first major power to ban the slave trade in 1807, then sent the Royal Navy's West Africa Squadron to patrol the coast for decades. They seized 1,600 slave ships and freed 150,000 Africans .. at the cost of British sailors' lives and huge expense. Britain didn't just stop its own involvement; it actively fought to end the trade globally. Meanwhile, in Africa today (per the Global Slavery Index), countries like Eritrea, Mauritania, South Sudan, Nigeria and others still have some of the world's highest rates of modern slavery .. forced labour, child soldiers, hereditary servitude, trafficking. Millions trapped right now. And Lenny's own roots? Jamaica (his parents' homeland). It still has notable modern slavery issues too, including forced labour and exploitation. So... demanding trillions from British taxpayers (including black Brits) for 200-year-old history, while African and Caribbean nations haven't fully confronted slavery's continuation on their own soil? That's not justice. That's selective outrage and hypocrisy. Focus on ending slavery today everywhere .. not guilt-tripping one country that helped stop it yesterday.

@Matt_Pinner $28.54

💰How Much Tip Would You Leave On this? Let’s say the server did a very good job.

@elonmusk Love it love it love it !!!

Over 500 rocket landings now

@elonmusk You might want the model confirm what gravity actually is ...

The new Imagine model will be even more beautiful

@speedlinexx If they are expelled from the league, they may apply to join a different one. Be careful what you wish for

🚨 Big developments could be on the horizon for Manchester City… Fresh reports suggest that if the club were to be expelled from the Premier League, there’s no guarantee they’d land in the English Football League structure at all. In a worst-case scenario, City could be forced to restart much lower down the football pyramid , potentially as far as non-league. 😳 There’s also growing speculation around Pep Guardiola and his future. If serious sanctions are confirmed, questions will naturally be asked about whether he stays or walks away from the project. Meanwhile, after recent action taken against Chelsea FC by The Football Association, attention is turning firmly toward when a final decision on City’s case will arrive. For now, it remains a waiting game — but the potential consequences being discussed are massive, and could reshape English football as we know it.

@caughtoffside Because he can't defend.

🚨 *THIS* Trent Alexander-Arnold assist for Real Madrid - but not good enough for England apparently 🙄

@WestHam_Central Non refundable tickets hopefully

An Arsenal fan received this email yesterday for trying to purchase tickets in the West Ham home end. Hahahahaha we love to see it. Good to see we're finally cracking down.

@elonmusk Fantastic 👏🏼

Neuralink is restoring speech to those who have lost the ability to speak

Great scam from @RoyalMail, I ordered something and paid for it to be sent Royal Mail 48 hour tracked. Supplier gave item to Royal Mail on Monday. It only gets scanned into the delivery system on Wednesday evening. And there was me expecting my delivery on the Wednesday

@GazzettaFerrari Should be dsq from the first races if found to breach rules

🚨 | Mercedes may be bypassing FIA sensors with a two-phase wing closure, where the first quick movement meets the 400 ms limit and is registered as closed, while a slower second phase completes the motion. FIA plans detailed checks and aims to clarify and regulate the system before Japan. 📰 @Auto_Racer_it

@Mr_Husky1 Absolutely do NOT hand the money over. That is money for you to leave to any future children, not for him to steal from you

I’m about to get married, and my fiancé knows I have an inheritance that was left to me by my grandparents. It’s in my name only, and I’ve been saving it for years. Now he’s saying that before we get married, I should put the entire inheritance into a joint account so we can “start fresh together,” or he doesn’t think we should go through with the wedding. I’m 36 already and this is something my family worked hard to leave me. I’m torn between wanting to build a life together and feeling like I’m being pressured to give up something important to me. What do you think I should do? By isitmeaitah