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David Burbach Profile picture
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13 Mar, 5 tweets, 2 min read
US trying to cause political change in Russia is a fools errand and I largely agree w @DanielLarison and @EmmaMAshford a democratic govt could have similar security interests, but, one w more popular legitimacy might be better on not subverting *other* democracies 1/
Putin's govt has an interest making democracy as a concept appear unstable, weak, ineffective, promoting the notion that there is no "objective" truth to be found, supporting illiberal national & transnational groups, and against anti-corruption and financial transparency 2/
It's possible that if NATO had not expanded, Putin's govt wouldn't care about any of that. I'm dubious. They'd still have popular legitimacy doubts (and would have *less* of a nationalist card to play), and they're interest in personal kleptocracy would be similar 3/
A democratic Russian regime that kept Crimea and wanted to dominate the Caucusus but that did *not* try to export illiberal values, interfere in U.S. and EU politics / media, and cracked down on corruption would still be a big net improvement for the U.S. 4/
and really, I care more about protecting democracy in the Georgia - Atlanta than the Georgia - Tiblisi, much as I'm in favor of it everywhere. 5/5

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More from @dburbach

David Burbach Profile picture
14 Mar
"uniformed military can't comment on military policy bc that's political" is just now how it works

Whether to buy a new ICBM is a very contentious political, even partisan issue, and yet @US_Stratcom and official USAF accounts tweet in support *constantly*.
Liberal TV commentator: "the Ford aircraft carrier does not work and the sailors crewing it are all stupid baby killers"

Navy: "we'll have to let the political debate play out, it would be inappropriate for the Navy to respond"
Q-following GOP official: "the U.S. military is spraying chemtrails that turn people woke!!!"

Reporter: "USAF, is that allegation true?!"

USAF: "we have no opinion on partisan political issues"
Read 4 tweets
David Burbach Profile picture
14 Mar
Well, 19,516 pages later, replaced the laser printer I bought soon after starting at NWC in 2007 -- with more or less the same thing. I guess Brother found if you square off the corners it can print 50% faster, or maybe it's that Moore's Law thing ImageImage
Fwiw the old printer was still running great. But needs toner ($99) and the drum will wear out on the next toner cartridge too, whereas a brand new one is under $200🤷‍♂️
COVID data: I figure I averaged 1,200 pages/yr in normal years, but about 3,500 the last 12 months, which coincidentally, is about the same number of miles I put on my car from March to March.
Read 4 tweets
David Burbach Profile picture
14 Mar
The "lone bomb EMP" concept gets play because:

1. It's a way to turn Iran / NK / Grand Fenwick into existential threats we must invade

2. Masculine fantasies of social collapse but where fallout / plague / etc don't make life impossible no matter your skill with gun and grill
To elaborate #2, EMP is the *perfect* "Prepper" scenario. Society collapses and modern conveniences are gone. But everything else is fine -- no firestorms, no plague, no radiation sickness, sunlight not blocked by asteroid dust / volcanic ash / nuclear soot, etc 2/
EMP essentially resets the world to frontier life in 1850, they imagine, where brawny manly skills like shooting game, chopping firewood, carpentry and blacksmithery, chasing off rustlers, etc are what counts 3/
Read 4 tweets
David Burbach Profile picture
14 Feb
Thread. Q-promoting former high-ranking intel officials, but who like Flynn mostly left on bad terms, include Michael Scheuer, Bill Binney, Kevin Shipp, Larry Johnson, Ed Loomis -- several praised as Bush-era whistleblowers by liberals but now in deep with Dem-hating Q groups 1/
Read the thread. Lots of names familiar to me from their intel work or their whistleblowing 10 to 30 years ago, but who I had no idea were now in the Q stuff like Flynn 2/
A number are linked to a weird group "International Tribunal of Natural Justice", founded in 2015 in part to combat what they claimed was a global elite conspiracy of child sex trafficking, but also just grifting by representing themselves as legit and charging fees 3/
Read 8 tweets
David Burbach Profile picture
13 Feb
Good article illustrating downside of giving the military (including @SpaceForceDoD) broad roles in space, especially Moon and other bodies -- very quickly runs into Outer Space Treaty problems, and pushes away potential international partners

breakingdefense.com/2021/02/darpa-…
I buy that DARPA's intent is to promote general-purpose tech for the use of lunar resources, with the intent of it being available to civil/commercial use too. And only indirectly military, like possibly producing fuel to send to a recon satellite in high orbit 2/
But, the ambiguity of the OST and the sensitivity of the "militarizing space", let alone "militarizing the Moon" debate mean this research grant program faces far more controversy than it deserves, or would have as a NASA, NSF, or Commerce Dept program 3/
Read 5 tweets
David Burbach Profile picture
12 Feb
25 years ago I attended @exploreplanets 's Planetfest '96 in Pasadena for the landing of Mars Pathfinder and had a blast. Attending hasn't been an option other years but since it's an all-virtual world now, this will be a cool Saturday afternoon.
In 1996 there was no "live streaming" of the landing (I think) and certainly no smartphones, and I have NASA TV in my summer apartment. Watching live feeds from nearby JPL in a hall full of space enthusiasts was awesome. 2/
I wish I could find a program. I think (busy!) Matt Golombeck came over from JPL to speak, and I think @TheRealBuzz Aldrin spoke. I know I had books signed by Kim Stanley Robinson and Larry Niven. Great weekend. 3/3
Read 4 tweets

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