Edgars Lapins

Screenshot of a statement posted on CIA.gov reading as follows: *** One of CIA’s oldest and most recognizable intelligence publications, The World Factbook, has sunset. The World Factbook served the Intelligence Community and the general public as a longstanding, one-stop basic reference about countries and communities around the globe. Let’s take a quick look into the history of The World Factbook. Over many decades, The World Factbook evolved from a classified to unclassified, hardcopy to electronic product that added new categories, and even new global entities. The original classified publication, titled The National Basic Intelligence Factbook, launched in 1962. The first unclassified companion version was issued in 1971. A decade later it was renamed The World Factbook. In 1997, The World Factbook went digital and debuted to a worldwide audience on CIA.gov, where it garnered millions of views each year. The World Factbook appealed to researchers, news organizations, teachers, students, and international travelers. Some readers even inquired whether their preferred geographic designation or world entity could be included on the high-profile site. Finally, only CIA insiders would know that officers donated some of their personal travel photos to The World Factbook, which hosted more than 5,000 photographs that were copyright-free for anyone to access and use. Though the World Factbook is gone, in the spirit of its global reach and legacy, we hope you will stay curious about the world and find ways to explore it… in person or virtually.

The CIA World Factbook, a reliable source of information about the countries of the world, has been publicly available since 1997. It is now going away.

Please consider supporting @wikipedia.org and @ourworldindata.org. The world desperately needs trustworthy data.

www.cia.gov/stories/stor...

Here is a collection of sworn testimonies from detainees being held in ICE custody. Until reading these testimonies, I wasn't fully aware of what is happening. Please read them yourself. We need to know this. We need to understand the consequences of ICE/CBP arrests. assets.aclu.org/live/uploads...

Vai esi jaunais talants, kas vēlas uzrunāt auditoriju Eiropā ar savu stāstu par to, kas notiek Latvijā? Tad šī ir tava iespēja piedalīties starptautiskā projektā kopā ar žurnālu “Ir”!

Pilno aprakstu par to, kā pieteikties, meklē ir.lv/te-ir-darbs 👈

Iesūti video līdz 13. februārim.

Near the front line, Russians are growing tired of war A report from Belgorod, where not all residents see Ukrainians as enemies

Belgorod. 'In a reader survey conducted in January by Fonar, a local news publication, a quarter of respondents felt “devastated and disappointed” ... Only 6% said they gave aid to participants in Russia’s “special military operation”.' www.economist.com/europe/2026/...

US links security guarantees for Ukraine to peace deal ceding territory Washington signalled Kyiv would receive more backing after any withdrawal from the Donbas, say people familiar with talks

FT reports that US is bullying Ukraine to withdraw from the Donbas territory it controls

US links security guarantees for Ukraine to peace deal ceding territory - giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... via @FT

kremlin bots are boosting brainrot pop. Why?

The orcs' hybrid tactics are increasingly innovative, tapping into pop, memes the manosphere.

One goal is to seed division. Alienate youths, polarize boys & young men, have them lean far right.

It's a medium/long term game, and it's working.

Arī #VissIrSlikti topā esam gandrīz pēdējā vietā! Ārprāts! Kā tas var būt!? Atlaist Saeimu! #CiturVissIrSliktāk‼️

Mieriņai pēc šī ir jāatkāpjas. Ja cilvēks šādos laikos nesaprot, ka viņa ir amatpersona un nevar savu parakstu privāti "izmēģināt" uz dažādām vēstulēm, tad ir laiks atpūsties.

No longer world's most insane Prez.

Most Americans oppose military action in Greenland Our polling with YouGov shows interventions in Iran and Venezuela had far more support

Americans are lukewarm about a purchase of Greenland—and are firmly against using force. Even among Republicans just 22% were in favour of military intervention, while 52% were opposed

An earlier version of the NSS specifically said that the US should try to pry Italy, Austria, Poland and Hungary away from the EU
www.defenseone.com/policy/2025/...

BTW ja Rinkēvičs šo neizdarītu šodien, tad Mieriņa kā turpmāko dienu prezidenta pienākumu izpildītāja varētu likumu arī izsludināt.

Pamatojoties uz Latvijas Republikas Satversmes 71. pantu, prasu likuma “Par izstāšanos no Eiropas Padomes Konvencijas par vardarbības pret sievietēm un vardarbības ģimenē novēršanu un apkarošanu” (likumprojekta Nr. 1058/Lp14) otrreizēju caurlūkošanu.

🐟 🥗 🍷 Vai te ir kāds Vidusjūras diētas sekotājs, vai pazīstiet tādu?

Meklēju Vidusjūras diētas sekotāju, kurš būtu gatavs izteikties publiski 🤞 #BlueSkySpēks

@mistralai.bsky.social CEO @arthurmensch.bsky.social announces Magistral, an upcoming multi language reasoning model at London Tech Week.
Supposedly highly capable at reasoning across coding, maths, and multiple large European languages. 🚀
🧐 Benchmarks in the studio!

Gaza worse than hell on Earth, Red Cross chief tells BBC as aid centres close for day - live updates The president of the ICRC tells the BBC's international editor Jeremy Bowen Palestinians have been stripped of human dignity.

Unprecedentedly strong intervention by ICRC. “Palestinians, she says, have been stripped of human dignity. International humanitarian law is being hollowed out. What is happening in Gaza, she says, surpasses any acceptable legal, moral and humane standard” www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cv...

Vai pareizi saprotu @knabgovlv.bsky.social: žurnālista raksts, kas eksponē iespējamus likumpārkāpumus, ir priekšvēlēšanu aģitācija?
No kā izriet, ka priekšvēlēšanu laikā politiķis varētu darīt jebkādu šmuci. Jo mediji nedrīkst par to rakstīt.
Padomājiet ar galvu. Un cieniet Latvijas likumus, lūdzu.

‼️Esam saņēmuši KNAB prasību skaidrot, kāpēc pētījumos par gaidāmajām pašvaldību vēlēšanām pievērsāmies tikai trīs pilsētām.

KNAB vēlas zināt, kurš pieņem lēmumus rakstu veidošanā un kurš par to maksā.

Pieprasījums ir iejaukšanās redakcionālajā darbā un grauj preses brīvību.

"Russia Has Started Losing the War in Ukraine"
The narrative is finally changing. It was always clear Russia would lose the war. Now it is also being said by analysts.

Golubevu par mirušās Aizsilnieces nopelšanu izslēdz no "Jaunās Vienotības" To, ka vīrietis izslēgts no partijas, aģentūrai LETA apstiprinājusi arī politiskā spēka komunikācijas vadītāja Agnese Rozentāle.

Aizsilniecei bija/ir mega fanu pulks. Daudzi viņai jūtas pateicīgi.
Taču ar zinātnes noliegšanu, covid dezinformāciju, homeopātijas reklamēšanu un savējo interešu aizstāvniecību viņa nodarīja neizmērojamu ļaunumu sabiedrības veselībai Latvijā. www.delfi.lv/193/politics...
@lastguru.net

Varbūt "KNAB neredz" rodas no tā, ka jātērē resursi šādu pēc būtības nepieņemamu pieprasījumu rakstīšanai medijiem? Laikam jāatbild ar lekciju par to, ko nozīmē redakcionāla neatkarība, un principu, ka valsts iestāde nevar prasīt informāciju, ko var dabūt mūsu mājas lapā, t.i.,publiski pieejama.

Just your regular metro ad in Stockholm: “Now we have close to 600 soldiers in Latvia - For freedom’s sake”

“We are, each of us, largely responsible for what gets put into our brains, for what, as adults, we wind up caring for and knowing about. No longer at the mercy of the reptile brain, we can change ourselves.”

- Carl Sagan, Cosmos

and yet they come to Europe and lecture everyone on free speech

Our leader this week is 👊🇺🇸🔥. "It’s hard to know which is more unsettling: that the leader of the free world could spout complete drivel about its most successful and admired economy. Or the fact that on April 2nd, spurred on by his delusions ... " www.economist.com/leaders/2025...

Witkoff's repeating of Kremlin lies about "russian-speakers" wanting to "join Russia" is truly chilling. This is nothing less than carte blanche for Putin's genocidal imperialism. Hearing Americans talk like this should be an electric shock for Europe, not a wakeup call.

The disturbing bit isn’t that he thinks or posts this—that’s unsurprising. He's a regular RT columnist. It’s that this is what the director of national intelligence is consuming. This is the person she amplified just yesterday. This is the worldview what will be shaping the assessments she oversees

1) Kā noteikt robežu starp: viņam ir veselīgs ego, pašnoteikšanās VS. viņš ir narciss?
2) Kā būšana vienīgajam bērnam korelē ar būšanu narcisam (hipotēze: biežāk?) Kas vēl?
3) Ar kādām metodēm/rīcībām iespējams narcisam likt kļūt empātiskākam? Sevišķi interesē darba vidē.