Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Dr Emma Salisbury @salisbot.bsky.social · 16h

Bro not now bro

Dr Emma Salisbury @salisbot.bsky.social · 18h

Today marks a year since I was last in the United States, after deciding not to return under this administration both on principle and due to not wanting to police my speech to get a visa.

I still work for Americans and study America, so I didn't think I'd miss it so much, but I really do. 🇺🇸♥️

a man in a suit is waving an american flag while two men sit at a table

ALT: a man in a suit is waving an american flag while two men sit at a table

media.tenor.com

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Dr Emma Salisbury @salisbot.bsky.social · 1d

Naval nerds - check out this cool online discussion about battleships and the Baltic coming up on 23 October, including the former CO of the USS Iowa

eveeno.com/694859523

Battleships and the Baltic: Does maritime strategy need big guns?

eveeno.com

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Dr Emma Salisbury @salisbot.bsky.social · 1d

My current commute audiobook is about WWII tank operations and I'm wondering how it's going to affect my driving style

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Dr Emma Salisbury @salisbot.bsky.social · 1d

Londoners!

There are a few tickets remaining for the Trafalgar Day dinner at the National Liberal Club, where the requirement to sit through me talking about the Battle of Trafalgar will be more than outweighed by the excellent food and sea shanty performance 🇬🇧⚓️⬇️

members.nlc.org.uk/web/pages/ev...

Events Reservation - National Liberal Club

members.nlc.org.uk

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Dr Emma Salisbury @salisbot.bsky.social · 2d

Of course!

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Dr Emma Salisbury @salisbot.bsky.social · 2d

My beloved tells me this is Cold War era from an L1A1.

Always date Army nerds 🥰

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Dr Emma Salisbury @salisbot.bsky.social · 2d

Other people on Sunday walks find cool rocks, mushrooms, flowers...

I find spent blank rifle rounds.

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Dr Emma Salisbury @salisbot.bsky.social · 2d

Do I write a lot about military stuff? Yes.

Do I copyedit specialist military pieces for a living? Absolutely.

Can I spell manoeuvrability (much less maneuverability) without help? Absolutely not.

a woman is laughing with her eyes closed

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media.tenor.com

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Dr Emma Salisbury @salisbot.bsky.social · 3d

A fun (?) naval history fact for your weekend:

During the Battle of the Nile, French Admiral Dupetit-Thouars lost one arm, then the other, then a leg to cannon fire.

He ordered his men to prop him up in a barrel on the deck so he could keep commanding his ship until he died.

two knights are standing in the woods and one of them is saying i 've had worse .

ALT: two knights are standing in the woods and one of them is saying i 've had worse .

media.tenor.com

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Dr Emma Salisbury @salisbot.bsky.social · 3d

Book, page 1: "List of Maps and Diagrams"

Me:

a cartoon of winnie the pooh sitting at a table with a jar of honey

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media.tenor.com

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Dr Emma Salisbury @salisbot.bsky.social · 4d

Me starting a piece about American shipbuilding and USCG icecutters while The Rest Of The News occurs

a man in a plaid shirt and tie is typing on a computer with flames coming out of the monitor

ALT: a man in a plaid shirt and tie is typing on a computer with flames coming out of the monitor

media.tenor.com

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Dr Emma Salisbury @salisbot.bsky.social · 6d

AUKUS may be safe but the US still isn't building enough Virginia-class submarines.

My latest for @fpri.bsky.social

www.fpri.org/article/2025...

AUKUS Still Has a Virginia Problem - Foreign Policy Research Institute

In a move that has likely led to sighs of relief in London and Canberra, the Trump administration has reportedly reaffirmed its commitment to the AUKUS

www.fpri.org

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Dr Emma Salisbury @salisbot.bsky.social · 6d

I realised today that my imposter syndrome has not only gone but entirely reversed.

My response to being approached by a govt as a subject-matter expert in emerging miltech would previously have been "wtf me no" but is now "cool I have a list of things that are wrong, do you have a pen?"

a man in a blue shirt is holding a piece of paper that says write that down .

ALT: a man in a blue shirt is holding a piece of paper that says write that down .

media.tenor.com

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Dr Emma Salisbury @salisbot.bsky.social · 7d

The best thing about AUKUS being back in the news is that I have an excuse to write about these gorgeous beasts, Virginias are for lovers

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Dr Emma Salisbury @salisbot.bsky.social · 7d

Army, Marines, Air Force

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Dr Emma Salisbury @salisbot.bsky.social · 7d

Even aside from the many-layered historical wrongness of that premise, people also need to remember that both the Chinese and the Russian defence-industrial bases have their own special flavours of sclerotic and bloated, we are not ever going to be fighting some perfect war machine

Secretary of Defense Rock @sodrock.bsky.social · 7d

Also they ran just incredibly awful commentary with incredibly shawty evidence (which I’m sure will become feature at CBS now). For example, the author of this piece claimed the Allies won WWII with inferior technology minus the atomic bomb lol

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Dr Emma Salisbury @salisbot.bsky.social · 10d

"We cannot control who sees what, we cannot see what users are doing, and we cannot verify that the software itself is secure," the memo says.

Ah, so it's literally a palantír, let's wrap it up and keep it away from the halflings.

www.yahoo.com/news/article...

Anduril and Palantir battlefield communication system has deep flaws, Army memo says

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The much-needed modernization of the U.S. Army's battlefield communications network being undertaken by Anduril, Palantir and others is rife with "fundamental security" problems ...

www.yahoo.com

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Dr Emma Salisbury @salisbot.bsky.social · 10d

Not only is this a great primer on the lessons of Kasserine, but editing it made me think of my late adopted grandfather, who was one of the Brits there (anti-tank infantry) "teaching the Americans to fight" ♥️

War on the Rocks @warontherocks.bsky.social · 10d

Defeat at Kasserine Pass reshaped how the U.S. Army fought in World War II and how it learns today.

The Importance of the Battle of Kasserine Pass

The Battle of Kasserine Pass in February 1943 was the first significant engagement between German and U.S. forces in World War II. The fight delivered a

warontherocks.com

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Dr Emma Salisbury @salisbot.bsky.social · 11d

THREAD

ريّان نور @noorryan.bsky.social · 11d

Ok.
Let's talk about #SoW (what an apt acronym) #Hegseth's last pronunciamento. As much as I feel nothing but Schadenfreude seeing generals being at the receiving end of a bullshit briefing in a reverse Uno karmic proverbial return of the boomerang, I have a few things to says.

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Dr Emma Salisbury @salisbot.bsky.social · 11d

I recommended two favourites for this, check it out if you need some TBR inspiration for the cosy evenings

Marcel Dirsus @marceldirsus.com · 11d

I asked friends of the newsletter for book recommendations. There were no restrictions, so these books are old and new, fiction and non-fiction. If you like to read, take a look:

(And if you have recommendations yourself, add them in the comments)

thehundred.substack.com/p/the-hundre...

The Hundred 2025 Winter Reading List

Books, Books, Books

thehundred.substack.com

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Dr Emma Salisbury @salisbot.bsky.social · 13d

This entire speech is deeply insulting to every single servicemember who joined the US military to serve and protect their nation.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 13d

Hegseth: "A few months ago I was at the White House when President Trump announced his liberation day for America's trade policy. It was a landmark day. Well, today is another liberation day. The liberation of America's warriors ... you kill people and break things for a living."

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Dr Emma Salisbury @salisbot.bsky.social · 14d

Perfect Germany, no notes

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Dr Emma Salisbury @salisbot.bsky.social · 14d

Now they're quibbling with me over the exact wording of my travel receipts because there's tax added onto my flight ticket cost.

Peak Germany 🤌🏻

Dr Emma Salisbury @salisbot.bsky.social · 27d

The German reputation for efficiency does not survive contact with the Bundeswehr, who just reached out today to finally pay me for something I did in... June.

a cartoon sloth in a shirt and tie stamping a piece of paper

ALT: a cartoon sloth in a shirt and tie stamping a piece of paper

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Dr Emma Salisbury @salisbot.bsky.social · 14d

This is really great news but you also gotta, like, build more Virginias so if you could fix that, cheers

asia.nikkei.com/spotlight/tr...

AUKUS survives Pentagon review, with US submarine sales to proceed

Washington to conclude evaluation ahead of Australian PM's visit on Oct. 20

asia.nikkei.com

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