Some X threads from the last few days. For the most part, these posts are 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.
An interesting aside. China continues to be the top reader of this site by an almost 3-1 margin over the second-place US, and the city that pops up most is Lanzhou. I know absolutely nothing about Lanzhou, so I asked Grok: Are there intelligence-gathering agencies there? This was the response:
- Gansu Province (where Lanzhou is the capital) has a Gansu Provincial State Security Department.
- Lanzhou specifically includes local State Security Bureaus, such as in Lanzhou New Area (a national-level development zone under Lanzhou’s administration), which engages in national security activities like public education and counter-espionage efforts.
- Municipal government divisions in Lanzhou explicitly include oversight of national security matters, aligning with MSS functions.
These local MSS entities conduct intelligence gathering, including monitoring potential threats to state security, counter-espionage, and related political security work.
Interesting. We will continue to monitor…
LA IZQUIERDA RETROCEDE
LA LIBERTAD AVANZA
VLLC! pic.twitter.com/TfXucNdCJY— Javier Milei (@JMilei) December 14, 2025
“The Left retreats, freedom advances!” – Javier Milei.
This is a big deal. As South America turns right, its relationship deepens with the US. This is huge. The newly elected President of Chile vows a crackdown on crime and illegal immigration, which ties into the next story, as most of the illegals in Chile are from Venezuela.
Margaret Brennan expected Venezuela’s opposition leader to push back on President Trump.
She got the opposite.
As Brennan questioned Trump’s aggressive strategy against the Maduro regime…María Corina Machado made it clear that this is EXACTLY what Venezuela needs right now.… pic.twitter.com/YN0XHEP0no
— Overton (@overton_news) December 14, 2025
I wouldn’t go as far as the tweet would in saying that Brennan was ‘stunned’ at any point, but I would note that Machado is out of power and she sees Trump as her best way to get into power. I support that. However, if the Maduro regime is as complex as she states, this could be very difficult. Her words:
“This is a very complex criminal structure that has turned Venezuelan into a safe haven of international crime and terrorist activities.”
“Starting with Russia, Iran, Cuba, Hezbollah, Hamas, the Colombia guerilla, the drug cartels operating freely and directly in partnership with Maduro and his regime.”
“And as every criminal structure suffers is when the inflows from the criminal activities are cut. And these in the Maduro regime comes from the oil black market, the drug trafficking, gold smuggling, arm smuggling, even human smuggling and trafficking.”
If that many countries/organizations are going to suffer, there will be a backlash. It will be interesting to see how destabilizing this will be. Again, I support this. I think Venezuela is the key to regional stability.
HISTORY AS A WEAPON: WHY CHINA FEARS THE PH–JAPAN ALLIANCE
🎥 Watch the full video.
By the end, you’ll understand why Beijing keeps repeating World War II talking points—and why those messages are aimed at Filipinos today.China doesn’t invoke WWII to honor Asian victims. It… pic.twitter.com/aLZMHV2qV7
— BRP Sierra Madre (@BRPSierraMadre) December 14, 2025
This is such a good video. If you can watch. Key quote:
“If militarism means using force and fear to redraw maps and silence neighbors – that is not Japan. That is China. This is why China attacks our partnership with Japan: Because a united front of democracies- Philippines, Japan, and our allies exposes this myth.”
They finish with, “Know the facts. Question the propaganda. Decide with clarity.”
China’s 2025 fishing ban on its neighbors is the year’s biggest irony.
Sold as “protecting fisheries for everyone,” it somehow never applies to China itself, whose distant-water fleets are emptying oceans from Africa to South America with total impunity. pic.twitter.com/MTGIWc8LD6
— Nguyen Ho (@NguyenHo1096438) December 13, 2025
If China says anything about protecting the environment, know that it is in reality the exact opposite. This is propaganda for leverage.
I’m about 1/3 of the way through Craig Symond’s, “Nimitz at War”, and after the Japanese, the #1 problem he faced fighting in the Pacific? A shortage of….wait for it…tankers and oilers.
— cdrsalamander (@cdrsalamander) December 13, 2025
Facts.
🚨 🇺🇸 SENATE DEMS BLOCK BILL TO STOP FUNDING THE TALIBAN: YES, REALLY
Rep. Tim Burchett just dropped a bomb: Senate Democrats blocked a bill that would’ve cut off U.S. funding to the Taliban and corrupt NGOs funneling money into terrorist hands.
According to Burchett, the U.S.… pic.twitter.com/Goap0CJrCf
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) December 14, 2025
I just don’t have words. If we had an honest press, we would no longer be funding the Taliban.
🚨🇫🇷 All across France today French Farmers have been telling the EU to “Eat Shit” whilst spraying Government Buildings with literal shit.
The EU actively works against the interests of European people including the Farmers. pic.twitter.com/MDlYkPaVbd
— Concerned Citizen (@BGatesIsaPyscho) December 12, 2025
The French know how to protest! This is glorious. I support French Farmers.