i know the cigarettes are in the box hanging below, but i choose to believe that the balloon itself is full of cigarettes and cigarette smoke. just look at that smokey gray balloon bastard
Russia banned Deutsche Welle today, adding it to the ever-growing list of "undesirable agents." That means it's now illegal in Russia to share DW content, work for DW, or even comment to DW for a story. You can still read it, though, if you're able to circumvent the Internet censors.
Interesting framing here from Wapo on Putin's well-documented executive isolation and coterie of yes-men. This information diet (worse now than ever for Putin) is important context for Kremlin policy, but IMO it doesn't mean the yes-men are always wrong, eg "reassuring him that Russia is winning." https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/12/13/russia-putin-yes-men-trump-cabinet/
Always interesting to see how public protests materialize in Russia today and how protesters navigate war politics and the Putin regime. Because these demonstrations ostensibly challenge neither, they generally (and wisely) slip below the global media's radar.
For the latest Naked Pravda episode, I spoke to Nikolay Kononov about his new book on Pavel Durov and Telegram. Tech-bro feudalism, massive cryptocurrency schemes, free speechism, and a never-ending quest to evade regulatory oversight.
