ilmar
@ilmarinen7.bsky.social
Solely to blame for own opinions.
Not living in the happiest country in the world.
Not living in the happiest country in the world.
Reposted by ilmar
In today’s Vatnik Soup, we introduce our first Czech vatnik, Tomio Okamura. He’s best known for building a political career on xenophobia while being of mixed origins himself, and for pushing Kremlin narratives in Czechia, a country otherwise very supportive of Ukraine.
1/19
1/19
January 3, 2026 at 10:16 AM
In today’s Vatnik Soup, we introduce our first Czech vatnik, Tomio Okamura. He’s best known for building a political career on xenophobia while being of mixed origins himself, and for pushing Kremlin narratives in Czechia, a country otherwise very supportive of Ukraine.
1/19
1/19
Reposted by ilmar
What Philip K Dick, Tim Leary, Coleridge, and Tim Powers have in common--and what they actually don't, to some people's surprise.
Really fun very short piece I strongly recommend:
#sff #PKD
powersonfantasy.substack.com/p/me-and-col...
Really fun very short piece I strongly recommend:
#sff #PKD
powersonfantasy.substack.com/p/me-and-col...
Me and Coleridge -- an Aside
I’ve written a number of books set in historical periods, ranging from 1529 to 1963, and I try hard not to have my plots deviate from the best accounts of what actually happened in whatever situation ...
powersonfantasy.substack.com
December 28, 2025 at 9:17 PM
What Philip K Dick, Tim Leary, Coleridge, and Tim Powers have in common--and what they actually don't, to some people's surprise.
Really fun very short piece I strongly recommend:
#sff #PKD
powersonfantasy.substack.com/p/me-and-col...
Really fun very short piece I strongly recommend:
#sff #PKD
powersonfantasy.substack.com/p/me-and-col...
Reposted by ilmar
Great Russian culture in a nutshell
December 29, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Great Russian culture in a nutshell
Reposted by ilmar
Why does everything feel so fraught right now?
Some thoughts in today's blog on the 2-1 win over Brighton.
Have a read.
👇
Some thoughts in today's blog on the 2-1 win over Brighton.
Have a read.
👇
December 28, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Why does everything feel so fraught right now?
Some thoughts in today's blog on the 2-1 win over Brighton.
Have a read.
👇
Some thoughts in today's blog on the 2-1 win over Brighton.
Have a read.
👇
Reposted by ilmar
Ah now this is very nice from @iandunt.bsky.social share.google/2hUMcy3cQoIj...
The Complete Dunt Awards 2025
Welcome to the second annual celebration of all that is best and worst in our political culture.
share.google
December 26, 2025 at 11:35 AM
Ah now this is very nice from @iandunt.bsky.social share.google/2hUMcy3cQoIj...
Reposted by ilmar
New post just out:
My 2025 audit - looking at what I got right and wrong this year. And picking out lessons to improve my commentary in 2026.
(Free to read)
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...
My 2025 audit - looking at what I got right and wrong this year. And picking out lessons to improve my commentary in 2026.
(Free to read)
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...
The Audit - 2025
What did I get right and wrong?
open.substack.com
December 23, 2025 at 9:44 AM
New post just out:
My 2025 audit - looking at what I got right and wrong this year. And picking out lessons to improve my commentary in 2026.
(Free to read)
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...
My 2025 audit - looking at what I got right and wrong this year. And picking out lessons to improve my commentary in 2026.
(Free to read)
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...
Reposted by ilmar
The doom and gloom about London is ridiculous and harmful. Team FT is Team London - as.ft.com/r/19d3d36d-e...
Don’t believe the fake gloom about London
[FREE TO READ] The UK capital is subject to more than its fair share of misinformation
as.ft.com
December 20, 2025 at 9:21 AM
The doom and gloom about London is ridiculous and harmful. Team FT is Team London - as.ft.com/r/19d3d36d-e...
Reposted by ilmar
Scorpion vows no more stinging if frog treats him with respect.
December 19, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Scorpion vows no more stinging if frog treats him with respect.
Reposted by ilmar
Reposted by ilmar
A quick 🧵
Hounslow has a large Polish community & the experience & the treatment of this issue really does tell a story about we talk about asylum, migration & our history.
The UK welcomed over 140,000 polish citizens in the UK after WW2; many had served in the war.
Hounslow has a large Polish community & the experience & the treatment of this issue really does tell a story about we talk about asylum, migration & our history.
The UK welcomed over 140,000 polish citizens in the UK after WW2; many had served in the war.
December 15, 2025 at 11:27 AM
A quick 🧵
Hounslow has a large Polish community & the experience & the treatment of this issue really does tell a story about we talk about asylum, migration & our history.
The UK welcomed over 140,000 polish citizens in the UK after WW2; many had served in the war.
Hounslow has a large Polish community & the experience & the treatment of this issue really does tell a story about we talk about asylum, migration & our history.
The UK welcomed over 140,000 polish citizens in the UK after WW2; many had served in the war.
Reposted by ilmar
Every few months now I re-read this "Who Goes Nazi?" piece from 1941 and am blown away by how it captures the people we are dealing with 80 years later.
harpers.org/archive/1941...
harpers.org/archive/1941...
Who Goes Nazi?, by Dorothy Thompson
harpers.org
October 1, 2025 at 11:59 PM
Every few months now I re-read this "Who Goes Nazi?" piece from 1941 and am blown away by how it captures the people we are dealing with 80 years later.
harpers.org/archive/1941...
harpers.org/archive/1941...
Reposted by ilmar
Talking With Adam Tooze
open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...
open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...
Talking With Adam Tooze
About Europe, Germany's malaise, and more
open.substack.com
December 13, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Talking With Adam Tooze
open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...
open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...
Reposted by ilmar
>The officer then said that even a swift return of America to its former role won’t matter.
>Because “we will never fucking trust you again.”
Accurate.
www.readtheline.ca/p/matt-gurne...
>Because “we will never fucking trust you again.”
Accurate.
www.readtheline.ca/p/matt-gurne...
Matt Gurney: 'We will never fucking trust you again'
Some blunt talk for our American neighbours at the Halifax International Security Forum.
www.readtheline.ca
December 13, 2025 at 11:48 AM
>The officer then said that even a swift return of America to its former role won’t matter.
>Because “we will never fucking trust you again.”
Accurate.
www.readtheline.ca/p/matt-gurne...
>Because “we will never fucking trust you again.”
Accurate.
www.readtheline.ca/p/matt-gurne...
Reposted by ilmar
🚀 Members! Don't forget to come join us this Friday 12 December at the Dorich Arch in Euston. We will be there from 7pm to 9pm.
Raise a glass with fellow BSFA members and if we are lucky, former chair, Allen Stroud and current chair, Stewart Hotston will be there too 🎄
Raise a glass with fellow BSFA members and if we are lucky, former chair, Allen Stroud and current chair, Stewart Hotston will be there too 🎄
December 9, 2025 at 6:27 PM
🚀 Members! Don't forget to come join us this Friday 12 December at the Dorich Arch in Euston. We will be there from 7pm to 9pm.
Raise a glass with fellow BSFA members and if we are lucky, former chair, Allen Stroud and current chair, Stewart Hotston will be there too 🎄
Raise a glass with fellow BSFA members and if we are lucky, former chair, Allen Stroud and current chair, Stewart Hotston will be there too 🎄
Reposted by ilmar
What an obsequious, toadying, servile, brown-nosing, corrupt little cunt Gianni Infantino is.
The FIFA 'peace prize' is the most cringe-worthy, pathetic thing I've ever seen in my life.
Football deserves better than this travesty of a ceremony and ruling body.
The FIFA 'peace prize' is the most cringe-worthy, pathetic thing I've ever seen in my life.
Football deserves better than this travesty of a ceremony and ruling body.
December 5, 2025 at 5:43 PM
What an obsequious, toadying, servile, brown-nosing, corrupt little cunt Gianni Infantino is.
The FIFA 'peace prize' is the most cringe-worthy, pathetic thing I've ever seen in my life.
Football deserves better than this travesty of a ceremony and ruling body.
The FIFA 'peace prize' is the most cringe-worthy, pathetic thing I've ever seen in my life.
Football deserves better than this travesty of a ceremony and ruling body.
Reposted by ilmar
A Magical Scottish Christmas- One Year Later
YouTube video by Eleanor Morton
youtube.com
December 5, 2025 at 9:37 AM
Reposted by ilmar
A few thoughts on the new US national security strategy that was released today.
🧵
www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...
🧵
www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...
December 5, 2025 at 9:49 AM
A few thoughts on the new US national security strategy that was released today.
🧵
www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...
🧵
www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...
Reposted by ilmar
The British army wanted an armoured monster truck with a gun on it. £6 billion and 31 hospitalised soldiers later, they got one of the biggest procurement fuckups of all time defence-blog.com/insider-says...
Insider says only hull redesign can save British Ajax
The British Army’s troubled Ajax armoured fighting vehicle has returned to the centre of national criticism in recent days, after new noise-related injuries forced the suspension of training and sent ...
defence-blog.com
December 4, 2025 at 9:21 PM
The British army wanted an armoured monster truck with a gun on it. £6 billion and 31 hospitalised soldiers later, they got one of the biggest procurement fuckups of all time defence-blog.com/insider-says...
Reposted by ilmar
How does the Finnish Defence Forces mass manufacture combat units?
An earlier thread showcased what the #FDF teaches to every conscript through some examples from the English version of the Soldier's Guide. (Free download below!)
Let's take a look at the whole assembly line next. (A Thread.)
An earlier thread showcased what the #FDF teaches to every conscript through some examples from the English version of the Soldier's Guide. (Free download below!)
Let's take a look at the whole assembly line next. (A Thread.)
If you've ever wondered what Finnish conscripts are taught during basic training, we've got you covered! #FDF produces its Soldier's Guides in English as well. Here's the 2024 edition.
Come for the security policy lessons, stay for an authentic Finnish hot beverage recipe! intti.fi/documents/19...
Come for the security policy lessons, stay for an authentic Finnish hot beverage recipe! intti.fi/documents/19...
December 3, 2025 at 11:39 AM
How does the Finnish Defence Forces mass manufacture combat units?
An earlier thread showcased what the #FDF teaches to every conscript through some examples from the English version of the Soldier's Guide. (Free download below!)
Let's take a look at the whole assembly line next. (A Thread.)
An earlier thread showcased what the #FDF teaches to every conscript through some examples from the English version of the Soldier's Guide. (Free download below!)
Let's take a look at the whole assembly line next. (A Thread.)
Reposted by ilmar
Pleased to discover that slightly misnaming the national chess championship you won as a school child is a much more serious offence than repeatedly racially abusing your fellow pupils and telling them they should go to the gas chamber
December 3, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Pleased to discover that slightly misnaming the national chess championship you won as a school child is a much more serious offence than repeatedly racially abusing your fellow pupils and telling them they should go to the gas chamber
Reposted by ilmar
For anyone who missed it below, here's a takedown of the seriously dodgy maths used to get to that false figure: benefitsinthefuture.com/lies-damned-...
Lies, Damned Lies and the Telegraph – Benefits in the Future
“Working families £18k worse off than benefit claimants after Budget” Telegraph November 29th 2025 The abolition of the two-child benefit limit in the budget attracted a lot of comment. From the Gove...
benefitsinthefuture.com
December 3, 2025 at 11:48 AM
For anyone who missed it below, here's a takedown of the seriously dodgy maths used to get to that false figure: benefitsinthefuture.com/lies-damned-...
Excellent Post by The Secret Barrister.
Gives concrete examples of the causes of delay in The Courts system that could be fixed without removing Trial by Jury.
Should all be at min considered by MoJ before current "reform" that seeks to shorten waits by cutting rights rather than MoJ doing its job
Gives concrete examples of the causes of delay in The Courts system that could be fixed without removing Trial by Jury.
Should all be at min considered by MoJ before current "reform" that seeks to shorten waits by cutting rights rather than MoJ doing its job
NEW BLOGPOST
Abolishing trial by jury: why is the government overlooking the obvious?
thesecretbarrister.com/2025/12/02/a...
Abolishing trial by jury: why is the government overlooking the obvious?
thesecretbarrister.com/2025/12/02/a...
Abolishing trial by jury: why is the government overlooking the obvious?
Today, the government has confirmed that it intends to remove the right to trial by jury in the vast majority of cases in the Crown Courts. Serious criminal allegations, carrying up to three years …
thesecretbarrister.com
December 3, 2025 at 7:27 AM
Excellent Post by The Secret Barrister.
Gives concrete examples of the causes of delay in The Courts system that could be fixed without removing Trial by Jury.
Should all be at min considered by MoJ before current "reform" that seeks to shorten waits by cutting rights rather than MoJ doing its job
Gives concrete examples of the causes of delay in The Courts system that could be fixed without removing Trial by Jury.
Should all be at min considered by MoJ before current "reform" that seeks to shorten waits by cutting rights rather than MoJ doing its job
Reposted by ilmar
NEW BLOGPOST
Abolishing trial by jury: why is the government overlooking the obvious?
thesecretbarrister.com/2025/12/02/a...
Abolishing trial by jury: why is the government overlooking the obvious?
thesecretbarrister.com/2025/12/02/a...
Abolishing trial by jury: why is the government overlooking the obvious?
Today, the government has confirmed that it intends to remove the right to trial by jury in the vast majority of cases in the Crown Courts. Serious criminal allegations, carrying up to three years …
thesecretbarrister.com
December 2, 2025 at 4:38 PM
NEW BLOGPOST
Abolishing trial by jury: why is the government overlooking the obvious?
thesecretbarrister.com/2025/12/02/a...
Abolishing trial by jury: why is the government overlooking the obvious?
thesecretbarrister.com/2025/12/02/a...