Some quick X threads from the last few days, mostly about news in National Security. We do the scrolling so you don’t have to. This post also serves as an open thread. I welcome readers to post comments or additional links related to national security or history, even if they are not directly related to the links below.
🇺🇸🇨🇳USS Nimitz is moving through the South China Sea near the Spratly islands, and China Coast Guard ships are already holding their positions in the same waters. Something about this setup makes you wonder what comes next. pic.twitter.com/LhqBk76oPD
— Defense Intelligence (@DI313_) November 11, 2025
I don’t really think there is news here, just a reminder of the stakes at play in the South China Sea North Philippine Sea.
How China quietly built the biggest trade and infrastructure network in modern history and left the U.S. in the dust.
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has rewired global power since 2000, a thread:🧵 pic.twitter.com/W3k3JO2p7p
— Green Beret Nap Time (@GBNT1952) November 11, 2025
This is what economic imperialism looks like without the messiness of governance. Green Beret Nap Time provides an excellent overview of The Belt and Road Initiative. Some reports recently indicate a slowing of BRI progress, but the size and scale cannot be ignored. China has a nearly unmatched economic clout that cannot be ignored.
BREAKING: 758-metre-long Hongqi bridge collapses in southwest China, months after opening pic.twitter.com/5XPidizPaG
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) November 11, 2025
While not part of the BRI, this type of failure is one of the main criticisms of their infrastructure projects. They can build things incredibly fast, but the quality is sometimes lacking.
An Argentine Navy aircraft keeping a watch on Chinese fishing militia vessel operating illegally inside the country’s waters.
The menace of Chinese fishing militia is spreading like wildfire. They are destroying fishing resources all over the world! @poyjampoy @Jay83214566 pic.twitter.com/xlIVCEanG7
— Isabella Anderson (@IsabellaAn67) November 10, 2025
The Chinese fishing militia is a scourge and needs to be wiped out.
This story is completely insane. A random Chinese couple supposedly wandered into rural Missouri via Canada because they always dreamed of running an RV park in the middle of nowhere, right next to the Air Force base with the B2 bomber fleet. https://t.co/y5C6rxSwsi
— Hans Mahncke (@HansMahncke) November 11, 2025
This story has been making the rounds for the last couple of days. Basically, a Chinese couple went to great lengths to obscure the true ownership of the RV park that just happens to be located near one of the most important strategic bases in the US. We are simply not prepared for this type of warfare.
BREAKING 🔴
CNN: Britain has stopped sharing intelligence with the United States on suspected drug-smuggling ships in the Caribbean, citing concerns that U.S. military strikes on those vessels are unlawful. pic.twitter.com/CPXkC0C9XH
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) November 11, 2025
I am seriously questioning that ‘special relationship’ with the British.
A terror attack that could have killed 250,000 people was just stopped in India. Why haven’t you heard about it?
ISIS-K terrorists were just caught with 4KG a ricin mash. That’s enough to wipe out the entire city Richmond, VA.
Wake up. https://t.co/iXnLhi5XgF
— Matt Tardio (@angertab) November 10, 2025
An incredibly huge disaster was averted here. The terrorism threat has not gone away since we stopped participating in the GWOT.
June 8, 1968.
When Kate O’Hare-Palmer stepped off the plane in Vietnam, the first thing that hit her wasn’t gunfire. It was the heat—heavy, choking—and the smell of war. She was just 22 years old, wearing a neat summer Army Nurse Corps dress uniform that made her look impossibly… pic.twitter.com/14cxZivQ5g— Mike Netter (@nettermike) November 9, 2025
A good Veteran’s Day story.
So it’s 1779, and this absolute lunatic named John Paul Jones decides he hasn’t pissed off the British Navy enough.
He’s sailing a busted old French ship called the Bonhomme Richard which roughly translates to “Good Ol’ Dick.”
He runs into the HMS Serapis, a proper British… pic.twitter.com/Jf0C2IZPCU
— Michael DiMercurio (@MikeyDiMercurio) November 11, 2025
Read it. If this doesn’t make you chuckle a bit, I don’t know what will. Indominable spirit is the phrase I think best describes this.