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May 24
1/8
I just finished reading Chris Miller's excellent book on the collapse of the Soviet Economy. Some people might think that the topic is interesting, but largely irrelevant to global economic conditions today. They would be mistaken. This is a very relevant book.
@crmiller1 Image
2/8
Among the important points it makes is this: "The notion that political and economic reforms were separate processes misunderstands Soviet politics. The most decisive debates during the perestroika period were about the distribution of economic resources."
3/8
Miller notes that China's reforms began in the late 1970s, when its economy was in such terrible shape that they resulted in an immediate surge in productivity, the benefits of which could be used effectively to buy off potential elite opposition (especially in the 1990s).
Read 8 tweets
May 24
The UK government loves celebrating how it has halved emissions since 1990. But is it real… or just clever accounting? My new thread exposing how official claims of emissions reduction are cooking the books. (1/8) Image
Official figures show ~49% territorial CO₂ cuts. But look at consumption emissions (what we actually use, including imports): only ~27% reduction. (2/8) Image
Much of the “success” comes from destroying UK industry. Industrial energy use down over 40%. We’re not greening the economy — we’re de-industrialising and both energy and electricity generation are down sharply. (3/8) Image
Read 9 tweets
May 24
1/4🌐🇨🇳🇷🇺Zhirinovsky's Prophecy on the Russian-Chinese Partnership❓: Opportunities, Risks and the Reality of a Global Tandem❗

Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the long-time leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, was one of the politicians who attracted attention with his controversial and often provocative statements. More than a decade ago, he openly spoke about the fact that the future of the world order would be shaped primarily by strategic cooperation between Russia and China.

#GlobalOrder

He emphasized the complementarity of the two countries: Russia has enormous natural resources, energy reserves and military power, while China brings massive economic potential, industrial production and huge human resources.

In one of his typical speeches, he declared:
💬 "I am not interested in your NATO and Europe. We are Russia and China, no one is our competitor or opponent."

At the time these words were uttered, most Western observers considered them primarily part of his political theater. However, subsequent developments in international relations gave some of his predictions unexpected relevance.Image
2/4🌐After the occupation of Crimea in 2014 and especially after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, economic and political cooperation between Moscow and Beijing has deepened significantly. Trade between the two countries has grown from around $100 billion in 2019 to more than $240 billion in 2024. Russia has become a key supplier of oil, gas, coal and other raw materials to the Chinese economy, while China supplies Russia with machinery, electronics, consumer goods and components that Moscow cannot obtain from the West due to sanctions.
3/4🌐The main advantages of this partnership are clear.

For Russia, China represents a stable and growing outlet for its energy raw materials, which has helped compensate for the loss of the European market. Beijing has gained cheap and reliable sources of energy and raw materials that support its industrial development. Together, the two countries have strengthened their influence in multilateral platforms such as BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and the G20. The partnership has also allowed them to support each other in the UN and better resist Western political and economic pressure.

On the other hand, there are significant disadvantages and risks.

The relationship is highly asymmetrical. The Russian economy has become dependent on the Chinese market and imports in many areas, which puts it in the position of a raw material supplier. China is gradually expanding its economic influence in Central Asia, Russia's traditional sphere of interest, which may lead to friction in the future. The two countries also have different long-term priorities: while Russia focuses primarily on military power and territorial issues, China prefers economic expansion and technological development.

Moreover, the partnership complicates Russia's relations with other Asian countries and limits access to Western technology and investment.
Read 4 tweets
May 24
🚨 BREAKING: Claude has a feature called Decision Intelligence Mode.

You can use it to solve any business or career problem using 7 proven frameworks that consultants charge $500/hour to apply.

Here are 7 prompts to access it: 👇
1. First Principles Thinking

Prompt: "I'm dealing with a problem and I want you to help me think through it using First Principles Thinking.

Don't give me advice based on convention or what's normally done. Instead, break my problem down to its most fundamental truths, the things that are undeniably true, and help me rebuild a solution from there.

At each step, challenge my assumptions. If I'm taking something for granted, call it out and ask me to prove it's actually true.

My problem: [DESCRIBE YOUR PROBLEM IN DETAIL]"
2. Inversion

Prompt: "I want you to help me solve a problem using Inversion, the mental model popularized by Charlie Munger.

Instead of asking 'How do I succeed at this?', I want you to start by asking 'How would I guarantee failure at this?'

List every way this could fail, every bad decision I could make, and every assumption that would destroy the outcome. Then flip each one into a concrete action I should take.

My goal: [DESCRIBE WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO ACHIEVE]"
Read 9 tweets
May 24
Fukuyama: The key issue was Taiwan.

A $14B arms package was held up, and Trump seemed to see Taiwan as a “very good negotiating chip” with Beijing — trading an ally’s security for economic advantage while repeating false claims about Taiwan stealing U.S. chip technology. 1/
Fukuyama: The optics showed how far Trump had fallen in Chinese eyes.

Xi did not meet him at the airport, Trump was seated to look smaller, and the worst part was Trump’s constant flattery — calling Xi a great leader, a friend, someone from central casting. 2/
Fukuyama: American decline is a direct product of Trump’s rise since 2016.

It is as if Trump decided to weaken the U.S. against China: polarizing America, attacking universities, cutting science funding, and depleting advanced munitions in the Middle East. 3/
Read 6 tweets
May 24
12 Websites are Paying $80/hr 💼

No Resume or Experience Required. 👇 Image
1. Free Cash:

Free Cash offers easy online tasks to earn extra money.

Hourly pay ranges from $10 to $30, based on the tasks.

No experience is needed, but an account is required. Image
2. TextBroker

Flexible and remote opportunities for freelance writers.

- Get paid per word

- Weekly PayPal payouts
Read 13 tweets
May 24
A Russian drone is still outside my window. And air-defense machine guns are working a hundred yards away.

This night Russia attacked Kyiv again.

For the first time, our university KSE, was hit.

One staff member was injured. No one in our community was killed, thank God. 1/ Image
Windows and doors in two main buildings are shattered.

The team is checking for structural damage.

So far, I have no reports of any more student, staff or faculty injuries. But one apartment and one house are destroyed, another apartment damaged. 2/ Image
Our operations and management teams were on site at 5am, the moment curfew ended, while the attack was still continuing.

We are okayish, but Kyiv is damaged. The death tool is 1 as of writing, I expect it to rise to dozens. 3/ Image
Read 7 tweets
May 24
SitRep - 23/05/26 - Ukraine destroying Russia's rear

An overview of the daily events in Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Drones are targeting Russian logistics and bases across all occupied and Russian territories. Russians have nowhere to hide anymore.

REPOST=appreciated

1/X Image
As usual we start with Russian losses
Read 21 tweets
May 24
Who gave a Parisian clique the moral monopoly to grade the world on press freedom?

Every April, the world bows to the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) World Press Freedom Index like it’s the "Olympic medal table for journalism".

Norway #1. Finland close behind. India? 157th out of 180 in 2026, lumped with autocracies, its score a dismal 31.96.

Brazil scrapes by higher some years, South Africa clings to “satisfactory” on a good day.

The message is clear: the Global South’s democracies are failing the free press test.

Except the test is rigged. RSF’s vaunted ranking rests on two pillars.

One is a tally of “abuses”, real enough in places.

The other?

A qualitative questionnaire answered by a secret handful of “press freedom specialists”: journalists, academics, researchers, human rights defenders.

RSF won’t name them, won’t reveal how many, won’t disclose selection criteria or political leanings.

A seven-member European panel in Paris then crunches the numbers.

That’s it. No transparency.
No peer review. No accountability.

Just a cloistered group of ideologues scoring countries through a Western-liberal lens that treats any pushback against disinformation, foreign-funded NGOs, or elite media cartels as “intimidation.”

This isn’t measurement. It’s narrative enforcement.

India, the world’s largest democracy, with thousands of outlets, hyper-local languages, and raucous social media that bypasses legacy gatekeepers, gets hammered for “highly concentrated ownership” and journalists facing violence. Context?

An explosion of fake news, election meddling, and opposition capture of big media houses that RSF’s experts conveniently frame as plucky independence. Laws to curb it? “Attacks on press freedom.”

Meanwhile, the same Index shrugs at Western social media giants throttling heads of state or European states quietly regulating “hate speech” that somehow always targets the wrong voters.

Cultural bias baked in: the questionnaire, even in 24 languages, was written by Europeans for European norms. Non-Western realities, tribal media wars, post-colonial state fragility, development-first governance, don’t compute. They penalize.

Funding tells the rest. Over half of RSF’s cash flows from public-sector grants: the European Union, French Development Agency, Swedish International Development Cooperation.

The very governments that top the Index bankroll the referee. Past grants from U.S.-linked outfits like the National Endowment for Democracy add the cherry. Coincidence? Hardly.

This is soft-power colonialism dressed as human rights.

The Global South isn’t blameless. But pretending a Parisian echo chamber can fairly adjudicate messy, sovereign democracies fighting for information sovereignty is gaslighting on a planetary scale.

It ignores how the same Index once flirted with funding scandals and founder baggage that reeked of ideological crusading.

It tells emerging powers: your messy pluralism is “problematic.” Ours is pristine.

Enough.

The world doesn’t need another Eurocentric report card. The Global South, and every democracy tired of being lectured, needs its own platforms.

A "just" Global Press Freedom Index. An African Union-led ranking. An Asian/Latin American framework built by journalists who actually live the context: balancing freedom with stability, truth with development, sovereignty with scrutiny.

Transparent respondents. Public methodology. No sacred cows.

One that calls out real repression and the hypocrisy of legacy powers who lecture while their own media consolidates and their algorithms amplify chaos.

The RSF Index isn’t broken.

It’s working exactly as designed: to keep the Global South on the defensive while the North pats itself on the back.

Time to build our own table.

The rest of the world has waited long enough for a seat at it.

FACTS >>> NARRATIVES

Note: If you found this informative, or learnt something new, please share it with your network by reposting/RT. Follow for more such deep dives into history, science, medicine, geopolitics, civilisation, and the stories that must not be forgotten.Image
CC

@HelleLyngSvends @bbcworldservice @TOIIndiaNews @ndtv @SwarajyaMag @BrutIndia @Algemeiner @Jerusalem_Post @haaretzcom @Jedi_Law_Oz @nationalpost @the_hindu @IndianExpress @foIha_sp @Revista_da_TV @OGlobo_Rio @africannewsnet @SaharaWire @decolonialatlas @decolonialatlas @navedaham @TheIndian1954 @krodhrajbhairav
We still await answers from @HelleLyngSvends to the questions raised.

No answers yet.

So where is the free press, when uncomfortable questions are directed at those who claim to defend it?

@krodhrajbhairav

Read 4 tweets
May 24
1/13 Let me POUND this through your damn THICK fucking skull, since you are apparently an IDIOT who has NO fucking idea WHAT you are talking about! It is people like YOU that helps spread this FALSE bullshit. Insider trading? WTF do you think TRUMP and his entire fucking family
2/13 have been doing for the past EIGHT months! INSIDER TRADING! On such a CORRUPT, MASSIVE scale they have made themselves MILLIONS of dollars! IF Donald Trump had not LIED to the American people, and INCITED an ANGRY mob of his supporters he turned into DOMESTIC TERRORISTS,
3/13 sending them to our Capitol to STOP a VALID government function, January 6th would have NEVER happened! DONALD J. TRUMP is SOLELY responsible for January 6th, PERIOD! Blame Nancy Pelosi ALL you want, but you are FULL of SHIT!
#1: For the HUNDRETH time I have had to tell you
Read 14 tweets
May 24
BREAKING: AI can now create dividend portfolios that can generate $100,000 in passive income a year — for free.

Here are 12 powerful Perplexity prompts With which you will find safe + growing dividend stocks.

Save this thread. 🧵 Image
🎁 Bonus - Meco App

Get 100% FREE AI & Tech news delivered to you — no spam, just smart updates.

meco.app/?utm_campaign=…
1. The Berkshire Hathaway Dividend Stock Screener

"You are Warren Buffett evaluating dividend stocks for Berkshire Hathaway's $300B+ equity portfolio — selecting only companies with such durable competitive advantages that they can pay and grow their dividends for the next 50 years without interruption.

I need a complete dividend stock screening analysis that separates safe compounders from dividend traps.

Screen:

- Consecutive dividend increases: how many years in a row has this company raised its dividend (25+ = Aristocrat, 50+ = King)
- Dividend growth rate: annualized dividend growth over 3, 5, and 10 years (I want 7%+ to outpace inflation)
- Payout ratio from earnings: percentage of net income paid as dividends (below 60% is safe, above 75% is danger)
- Payout ratio from free cash flow: percentage of FCF paid as dividends (more reliable than earnings-based ratio)
- Revenue stability: has revenue grown in at least 8 of the last 10 years without major drops
- Earnings consistency: has EPS grown in at least 8 of the last 10 years without wild swings
- Debt-to-EBITDA: can the company pay off all debt within 3 years of EBITDA (low leverage = safer dividend)
- Interest coverage: EBIT divided by interest expense above 5x (debt payments easily covered before dividends)
- Economic moat: does this company have pricing power, switching costs, or scale advantages that protect future profits
- Dividend safety score: rate 1-10 based on all factors with a clear safe, watch, or danger classification

Format as a Buffett-style dividend safety report with a scorecard, red flag checklist, and a buy/hold/avoid recommendation.

The stock: [ENTER TICKER SYMBOL OF THE DIVIDEND STOCK YOU WANT EVALUATED]"
Read 15 tweets
May 24
🚨 BREAKING: Google Gemini can now analyze any stock like a Wall Street analyst (for free).

Here are 10 insane Gemini prompts that replace $4,000/month Bloomberg terminals:

(Save this 🔖 you’ll need it later) Image
1. Full Wall Street–Style Stock Analysis

Act like a senior Wall Street equity research analyst.

Analyze the stock: [TICKER].

Include:
• Business model and revenue streams
• Competitive advantages (moat)
• Industry trends
• Financial health (revenue growth, margins, debt)
• Key risks
• Valuation vs competitors
• Bull, bear, and base case scenarios
• 12–24 month outlook

Explain in simple terms but with professional insights.
2. Deep Financial Breakdown

Analyze the last 5 years of financials for [COMPANY/TICKER].

Break down:
• Revenue growth
• Net income trends
• Free cash flow
• Profit margins
• Debt levels
• Return on equity

Explain whether the company is financially strong or weakening.
Read 11 tweets

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