Generally puzzled. Specifically too.
Joined October 2011
- Tweets44.2K
- Following3.6K
- Followers606
- Likes15K
Michael Younger retweeted
It's becoming nightmarish... for the Finns.
Happy Halloween from the Embassy of Finland! 🎃
Been on Twitter 15 years. Wow. Initially just looking around. Found some great correspondents to follow. Then the language community (mostly gone now). Today feels like an entirely different, less hospitable place. :-(
Michael Younger retweeted
At this moment 25 years ago, online readers of the New York Times were shown stories about tax cuts, school dress codes, Michael Jordan, and stem cells. In less than an hour, everything changed. In horrifying fashion.
(Thanks to the @nytimes archive, you can still click on the the links to those articles.)
archive.nytimes.com/www.nyti…
Michael Younger retweeted
Franciscan priest and NYFD chaplain Mychal Judge was the first officially recorded death on 9/11.
The coroner marked his body “DM [Disaster Manhattan] 0001-01.”
He died giving last rites to the dead and dying at the North Tower.
He was a gay man.
Interesting! Here's my American English dialog map. Check yours at mydialect.us/ .
Just in the past few days a couple of "old guard" language YouTubers came back with new videos, and it's so cool to see them again. I'm off doing my own thing nowadays, but I have such respect and appreciation for them.
Nice compilation in "Spy Novels: A Starter Pack" by @mccloskeybooks, including "The Peacock and the Sparrow" by @isberryauthor
nytimes.com/2025/08/23/books…
Michael Younger retweeted
We need art now more than ever. There’s a reason we turn to books, music, movies, and poetry in difficult times. Because someone took their pain and turned it into something beautiful. Art is how we process, survive, and connect. A world without art isn’t a world at all.
This is an interesting and important conversation:
Listen to the full episode: youtube.com/watch?v=wCtWgj6A…
Retired Space Force Colonel and Sentinel Podcast host Bree Fram sits down Julia Curlee, a former CIA analyst with 25 years of experience who served as an National Security Council (NSC) director in the Biden and second Trump White Houses.
Curlee offers her expert analysis on Trump's disastrous foreign policy decisions. She sheds light on the strategic and military actions of our adversaries and allies and why the United States is at risk of falling behind.
Unexpected!
28 episodes of the Arabic version of SNL (Saturday Night Live): youtube.com/watch?v=Jjfuc5OF…
Michael Younger retweeted
We stand firmly behind @KristenhCNN and reject these attacks in the strongest possible terms.
.@KristenhCNN: Someday, your children will come across your disgusting and inhumane question. They will be sickened and embarrassed to have a parent be so callous and vindictive. It’s quite troubling.
Michael Younger retweeted
Please take a moment out of your day to marvel at the balletic poise, calm elegance and graceful athleticism of the panda.
Michael Younger retweeted
The Hormuz Escalation Cycle Keeps Repeating 🛢️⚠️
The pattern is simple
A trigger event hits shipping or military assets
Then the cycle accelerates
🔹 Iran or proxy forces hit a ship
🔹 The US strikes IRGC-linked targets
🔹 Iran responds with missiles, drones, cyber operations or proxy attacks
🔹 Gulf states and energy infrastructure become exposed
🔹 The US conducts limited follow-on strikes
🔹 Mediation brings a temporary pause
🔹 Shipping resumes, but under higher security costs
🔹 The underlying disputes remain unresolved
🔹 A new trigger event restarts the cycle
This is why the Strait of Hormuz never returns to “normal” immediately
Even after de-escalation, the risk remains embedded in the system
🔹 Higher insurance
🔹 Military escorts
🔹 Slower vessel movement
🔹 Freight volatility
🔹 Energy price risk
🔹 LNG and crude flow uncertainty
The headline may be ceasefire
But the structure is still escalation risk
Until the root causes are resolved, Hormuz remains a recurring geopolitical pressure point
In response, I expect Trump will announce the construction of a new Decagon on his way back from Turkey, to be constructed on the site of the Pentagon, which will have to be demolished. Construction of the new site not expected to take more than 6 weeks.
jpost.com/middle-east/articl…
