“If Trump does give an order to attack civilian targets that have no military value as a means of collectively punishing the Iranian people - and make good his threat to begin a genocide - Marco Rubio should resign and the military must refuse the order.” - @radiofreetom.bsky.social

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/04/trump-truthsocial-destruction-iran/686716/?gift=otEsSHbRYKNfFYMngVFweOZ2ACsYtzYQB-Clgym7_50&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

#GiftLink

Did Trump Just Threaten to Use Nuclear Weapons in Iran?

If such an order comes to pass, the military can and must refuse.

The Atlantic

“General Caine also flagged the enormous difficulty of securing the Strait of Hormuz and the risks of Iran blocking it. Mr. Trump had dismissed that possibility on the assumption that the regime would capitulate before it came to that.

“The president appeared to think it would be a very quick war.”

#GiftArticle #GiftLink

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/07/us/politics/trump-iran-war.html?unlocked_article_code=1.ZFA.7NpX.TDs22BlR3ndq&smid=url-share

How Trump Took the U.S. to War With Iran

In a series of Situation Room meetings, President Trump weighed his instincts against the deep concerns of his vice president and a pessimistic intelligence assessment. Here’s the inside story of how he made the fateful decision.

The New York Times

4) We made a really good pasta primavera dish the other night! Have been stuck in a cooking rut but really wanted something that had a fresh feel with lots of veggies.

Gift link: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1025478-pasta-primavera?unlocked_article_code=1.ZFA.JPE-.-qJUzVYblE2Q&smid=share-url

Not very difficult and felt very fresh, despite all the cheese. A keeper for sure.

Ok, that's some good stuff. Crossing fingers that my service appointment, which I just booked for this afternoon, goes well.

#GiftLink #Cooking

Pasta Primavera  Recipe • 5★ • 45 min (Gift Recipe)

This vegetarian pasta is a great way to use all of your fresh vegetables from the farmer’s market (or even the ones still hanging on in your fridge). The vegetables are cooked until they are just tender and still crisp, then coated in a delicate, lemony cream sauce and sprinkled with fresh Parmesan and herbs. Originally, this recipe was made with spaghetti, but a shorter pasta shape that’s the same size as the vegetable pieces provides a more enjoyable bite.  “Primavera” means spring, but any vegetable from the spring and summer season is welcome in this dish. Feel free to add asparagus, cherry tomatoes, carrots and  more — just note which vegetables cook faster than others and adjust as needed. 

NYT Cooking
"The buck stops with Slot. The ease with which opponents are able to play through Liverpool points to glaring tactical issues. He’s been unable to find solutions to the problems that have dogged his soon-to-be-deposed Premier League champions all season and excuses are wearing thin." #GiftLink 🎁

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:4i7xwq5tgasaziqv3klq2cn7/post/3mitdsl7zwc2u


Slot's future was never relian...
Trump Administration Pulls Out of Civil Rights Settlements Backing Trans Students

The Education Department said there was no precedent for the federal government terminating settlements stemming from civil rights investigations into schools.

The New York Times

[#GiftLink] "A friend told me a story recently about her son. He’s about 9 years old and doesn’t have much access to #socialmedia. One day this past fall, he came home from school and told his mom that kids there were saying “6-7.” He wanted to know what it meant. So she pulled out her phone and looked up an explainer video that tells, for those who have been similarly perplexed, a familiar story: A rapper named Skrilla said it on a song called “Doot Doot”; audio from the song started being used in TikToks about LaMelo Ball (who is 6-foot-7); some goofy kid yelled it at a high school basketball game, which became another #TikTok; and it went from there, aided no doubt by the fact that six and seven are statistically quite likely to appear in that particular order.

“But what does it mean?” my friend’s son asked.

“Well,” she told him, “it doesn’t really mean anything.”

This did not go over well. He was so upset that he couldn’t get to sleep that night. The realization that this thing — this thing everyone was saying — could be meaningless genuinely rattled him. His heart and mind, still innocent of #theinternet, were simply unprepared for the possibility that it could do this to people."

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/06/magazine/ai-apocalypse-brain-rot-memes.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Y1A.Rx37.ojSUCVw-u09Q&smid=url-share

Forget the A.I. Apocalypse. Memes Have Already Nuked Our Culture.

From our jokes and slang to the White House’s policy messaging, internet “brain rot” has escaped our phones to take over … well, everything.

The New York Times

#GiftLink

"Three ICE agents arrived. They first encountered Ms. Rickling and her husband in the lobby. They told us that they didn’t have a choice, they said they had to take Annie,” recalled Ms. Rickling. She said they apologized.

“I begged them not to take her,” Ms. Rickling said. “They said the higher-ups made them do it.”"

**ICE Agents Detain Newlywed Spouse of Soldier Training to Deploy** - The New York Times

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/05/us/ice-detains-military-wife-soldier-deployment.html?unlocked_article_code=1.YlA.XKkT.blanaePOShOc&smid=url-share

ICE Agents Detain Newlywed Spouse of Soldier Training to Deploy

The 22-year-old wife of an Army staff sergeant came to the U.S. as a toddler. She was taken from a military base where the couple planned to live.

The New York Times
A Food Pantry Network Suddenly Shuttered, Leaving Thousands Scrambling

Ruby’s Pantry had 85 locations in communities in Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota and Iowa.

The New York Times

"Open source is cruciaal als je digitale soevereiniteit wil bereiken. En het is ook de sleutel tot economische groei in Europa. Want het stimuleert concurrentie, innovatie en delen van kennis."

"Intussen wordt de vervanging van Microsofts besturingssysteem Windows naar het opensourcesysteem #Linux voorbereid."

Overigens, ik ben het lang niet met alles en iedereen in het artikel eens.

https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2026/04/03/het-kan-de-afhankelijkheid-van-amerikaanse-tech-doorbreken-deze-hobbels-nam-de-duitse-deelstaat-om-microsoft-te-dumpen-a4924375?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=clipboard&utm_campaign=share&utm_term=share-modal&gift_token=4924375~1776008981~bJWrFJ0IEeKfgABQVoV_mg~Cf3-_bc6WurVlBag8HoPGxTk3eNguosqqkmI3603g2g

#opensource #FOSS #digitalesoevereiniteit #Duitsland #giftlink

Het kan: de afhankelijkheid van Amerikaanse tech doorbreken. Deze hobbels nam een Duitse deelstaat om Microsoft te dumpen

Digitale soevereiniteit: Het overheidsapparaat van de Duitse deelstaat Sleeswijk-Holstein is bezig alle software van Microsoft te vervangen door ‘open source’ alternatieven. Dat gaat niet van een leien dakje. „We moeten niet te ideologisch zijn. Belangrijk is vooral dat we ergens beginnen.”

NRC

[#GiftLink] #Anne_Applebaum's conclusion is precise: #Trump doesn't connect what he does on one day to what happens weeks later. Allied leaders have drawn their conclusions. #Therupture, as #MarkCarney called it, isn't coming. It already happened.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/03/trump-iran-war-allies/686423/?gift=hVZeG3M9DnxL4CekrWGK3wsM-mNGvnN32f98z3zNons&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

Everyone but Trump Understands What He’s Done

Allied leaders know that any positive gesture they make will count for nothing.

The Atlantic