Tom Cross 🇨🇦🇺🇸
@decius.bsky.social
Republics are systems that require people to compromise with each-other.
Pinned
Tom Cross 🇨🇦🇺🇸
@decius.bsky.social
· Oct 22
DEF CON 32 - Counter Deception: Defending Yourself in a World Full of Lies - Tom Cross, Greg Conti
YouTube video by DEFCONConference
www.youtube.com
Video from our Defcon talk is now available:
The highest purpose of computers is to augment human intelligence, and to do so, our computers must be designed to challenge the way we think.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHqD...
The highest purpose of computers is to augment human intelligence, and to do so, our computers must be designed to challenge the way we think.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHqD...
Reposted by Tom Cross 🇨🇦🇺🇸
Only Known Copy of UNIX V4 Recovered From Tape
Only Known Copy of UNIX V4 Recovered From Tape
Hackaday Article
hackaday.com
December 29, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Only Known Copy of UNIX V4 Recovered From Tape
I think taxing unrealized gains is a terrible idea that will do permanent harm to innovation and technological progress.
After the past year, I also have a lot of sympathy for the idea that the current crop of silicon valley leadership ought to go down in a fire of nonsensical tax policies.
After the past year, I also have a lot of sympathy for the idea that the current crop of silicon valley leadership ought to go down in a fire of nonsensical tax policies.
There’s a Silicon Valley billionaire freak out happening about a potential wealth tax ballot initiative in California.
I hope everybody understands—the only way to make billionaires pay a similar *income* tax rate as their secretaries is via taxing unrealized cap gains or wealth
I hope everybody understands—the only way to make billionaires pay a similar *income* tax rate as their secretaries is via taxing unrealized cap gains or wealth
December 29, 2025 at 3:18 AM
I think taxing unrealized gains is a terrible idea that will do permanent harm to innovation and technological progress.
After the past year, I also have a lot of sympathy for the idea that the current crop of silicon valley leadership ought to go down in a fire of nonsensical tax policies.
After the past year, I also have a lot of sympathy for the idea that the current crop of silicon valley leadership ought to go down in a fire of nonsensical tax policies.
Political tribes like to bully people on social media as a means of enforcing ideology purity. That behavior should be totally disdained. Fuck bullies.
Ideological purity is not very useful for getting actual things done in real world legislatures, and it also marginalizes critical thinking.
Ideological purity is not very useful for getting actual things done in real world legislatures, and it also marginalizes critical thinking.
December 28, 2025 at 3:14 AM
Political tribes like to bully people on social media as a means of enforcing ideology purity. That behavior should be totally disdained. Fuck bullies.
Ideological purity is not very useful for getting actual things done in real world legislatures, and it also marginalizes critical thinking.
Ideological purity is not very useful for getting actual things done in real world legislatures, and it also marginalizes critical thinking.
Reposted by Tom Cross 🇨🇦🇺🇸
And… TRO granted!
A sweet Christmas present for @imranahmed.bsky.social, @counterhate.com--& for their mission of fighting antisemitism & protecting kids online. Also nice for our all-star legal team.
A lump of coal in the stockings of authoritarians & the merchants of disinformation
A sweet Christmas present for @imranahmed.bsky.social, @counterhate.com--& for their mission of fighting antisemitism & protecting kids online. Also nice for our all-star legal team.
A lump of coal in the stockings of authoritarians & the merchants of disinformation
December 25, 2025 at 4:17 PM
And… TRO granted!
A sweet Christmas present for @imranahmed.bsky.social, @counterhate.com--& for their mission of fighting antisemitism & protecting kids online. Also nice for our all-star legal team.
A lump of coal in the stockings of authoritarians & the merchants of disinformation
A sweet Christmas present for @imranahmed.bsky.social, @counterhate.com--& for their mission of fighting antisemitism & protecting kids online. Also nice for our all-star legal team.
A lump of coal in the stockings of authoritarians & the merchants of disinformation
It is really confusing to me that so few people look at the past 400 years and recognize that technological progress is the central force driving improvements in standard of living and general welfare.
December 25, 2025 at 3:24 AM
It is really confusing to me that so few people look at the past 400 years and recognize that technological progress is the central force driving improvements in standard of living and general welfare.
Reposted by Tom Cross 🇨🇦🇺🇸
low stakes posting today reminds me that 1) Facebook is for talking to people you know IRL but don’t like and 2) microblogging sites are for talking to people you don’t know but do like.
we forget these things at our peril
we forget these things at our peril
December 24, 2025 at 9:11 PM
low stakes posting today reminds me that 1) Facebook is for talking to people you know IRL but don’t like and 2) microblogging sites are for talking to people you don’t know but do like.
we forget these things at our peril
we forget these things at our peril
Anyone who leaves X for Bluesky is welcome but given everything that has happened on X in the past few years this is a weird place to draw the line.
“Nazis are cool but how dare you use computers to help people with no artistic training edit images.”
“Nazis are cool but how dare you use computers to help people with no artistic training edit images.”
BREAKING: sparked by a mass exodus of X users in protest of a new function that feeds images to Generative AI for other users to edit, for the first time since April 8th, Bluesky gained more than 55,000 new users in a day.
There are still 6.5 hours to go before the @bskycheck.com counter resets.
There are still 6.5 hours to go before the @bskycheck.com counter resets.
Bluesky Growth Tracker - Live User Activity Dashboard
Track Bluesky growth as it happens with our real-time dashboard. See live user sign-ups, monitor current growth rate, and explore verified domain handles across government, education, commercial and o...
bskycheck.com
December 25, 2025 at 2:49 AM
Anyone who leaves X for Bluesky is welcome but given everything that has happened on X in the past few years this is a weird place to draw the line.
“Nazis are cool but how dare you use computers to help people with no artistic training edit images.”
“Nazis are cool but how dare you use computers to help people with no artistic training edit images.”
Reposted by Tom Cross 🇨🇦🇺🇸
took a peek at the groupings of posts on bluesky over the past 48 hours
December 22, 2025 at 6:02 AM
took a peek at the groupings of posts on bluesky over the past 48 hours
Reposted by Tom Cross 🇨🇦🇺🇸
Robert Fripp: Silent Night - originally released as a flexi-disc with Chicago based Praxis Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 3 December, 1979 www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFAE...
Robert Fripp - "Silent Night" a' la Frippertronics
YouTube video by ScootTheCat
www.youtube.com
December 24, 2025 at 11:23 AM
Robert Fripp: Silent Night - originally released as a flexi-disc with Chicago based Praxis Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 3 December, 1979 www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFAE...
Reposted by Tom Cross 🇨🇦🇺🇸
12/In the US, it is unclear what national interest is being served by sanctioning EU officials. Increasingly, it looks like hyper elites (think Big Tech) is driving the bus. The result: an acceleration in the breakdown of transatlantic relations.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Further Back to the Future: Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging International System | International Organization | Cambridge Core
Further Back to the Future: Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging International System - Volume 79 Issue S1
www.cambridge.org
December 24, 2025 at 1:43 PM
12/In the US, it is unclear what national interest is being served by sanctioning EU officials. Increasingly, it looks like hyper elites (think Big Tech) is driving the bus. The result: an acceleration in the breakdown of transatlantic relations.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Alito’s dissent, man … he accuses the court of “legislating from the bench” by assuming that Congress intended that President’s use of the military be *lawful.*
How dare these crazy judges assume that Congress wanted the President to comply with the law!
How dare these crazy judges assume that Congress wanted the President to comply with the law!
December 24, 2025 at 2:21 AM
Alito’s dissent, man … he accuses the court of “legislating from the bench” by assuming that Congress intended that President’s use of the military be *lawful.*
How dare these crazy judges assume that Congress wanted the President to comply with the law!
How dare these crazy judges assume that Congress wanted the President to comply with the law!
Reposted by Tom Cross 🇨🇦🇺🇸
Marco Rubio's using the "foreign policy" provision in the INA again.
For the history of this provision and its limited intended use, check out this article I wrote with @tylermcbrien.com in @lawfaremedia.org ⬇️🗃️
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-...
For the history of this provision and its limited intended use, check out this article I wrote with @tylermcbrien.com in @lawfaremedia.org ⬇️🗃️
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-...
December 23, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Marco Rubio's using the "foreign policy" provision in the INA again.
For the history of this provision and its limited intended use, check out this article I wrote with @tylermcbrien.com in @lawfaremedia.org ⬇️🗃️
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-...
For the history of this provision and its limited intended use, check out this article I wrote with @tylermcbrien.com in @lawfaremedia.org ⬇️🗃️
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-...
The United States is not a “free” country.
To show America's commitment to free speech, I, Marco Rubio, am punishing people for their free speech.
The US government is a bunch of performative 🤡s
The US government is a bunch of performative 🤡s
December 24, 2025 at 12:06 AM
The United States is not a “free” country.
Reposted by Tom Cross 🇨🇦🇺🇸
The US State Department is now going to be deporting people and/or revoking visas over Benz, Taibbi, and Shellenberger’s “censorship industrial complex” hoax.
Let that sink in. This is what the Twitter Files pretext was actually about. Water boys for authoritarians.
www.state.gov/releases/off...
Let that sink in. This is what the Twitter Files pretext was actually about. Water boys for authoritarians.
www.state.gov/releases/off...
Announcement of Actions to Combat the Global Censorship-Industrial Complex - United States Department of State
The State Department is taking decisive action against five individuals who have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to censor, demonetize, and suppress American viewpoints they oppose....
www.state.gov
December 23, 2025 at 8:13 PM
The US State Department is now going to be deporting people and/or revoking visas over Benz, Taibbi, and Shellenberger’s “censorship industrial complex” hoax.
Let that sink in. This is what the Twitter Files pretext was actually about. Water boys for authoritarians.
www.state.gov/releases/off...
Let that sink in. This is what the Twitter Files pretext was actually about. Water boys for authoritarians.
www.state.gov/releases/off...
Reposted by Tom Cross 🇨🇦🇺🇸
NOTED: In Kavanaugh's Illinois National Guard solo concurrence, he adds footnote that seems to try to calm outrage over his solo opinion in the CA ICE emergency ruling that led to some calling race-based immigration arrests "Kavanaugh stops." Earlier: www.politico.com/news/2025/09...
December 23, 2025 at 9:09 PM
NOTED: In Kavanaugh's Illinois National Guard solo concurrence, he adds footnote that seems to try to calm outrage over his solo opinion in the CA ICE emergency ruling that led to some calling race-based immigration arrests "Kavanaugh stops." Earlier: www.politico.com/news/2025/09...
Reposted by Tom Cross 🇨🇦🇺🇸
The crux of the majority’s reasoning is here. The issue was barely touched in the lower courts but @martylederman.bsky.social highlighted it in amicus brief to SCOTUS, prompting the justices to invite supplemental briefing from the parties.
December 23, 2025 at 8:25 PM
The crux of the majority’s reasoning is here. The issue was barely touched in the lower courts but @martylederman.bsky.social highlighted it in amicus brief to SCOTUS, prompting the justices to invite supplemental briefing from the parties.
Reposted by Tom Cross 🇨🇦🇺🇸
Wow. Genuinely shocked, and a hugely consequential decision.
Importantly, this is a case where @martylederman.bsky.social's amicus brief appears to have made a MAJOR impact. Before he wrote it, courts were sidestepping the "regular forces" issue entirely. And that's what the Trump admin lost on.
Importantly, this is a case where @martylederman.bsky.social's amicus brief appears to have made a MAJOR impact. Before he wrote it, courts were sidestepping the "regular forces" issue entirely. And that's what the Trump admin lost on.
NEW: By a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court blocks Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to Chicago to assist immigration agents. A majority holds that he likely lacks authority to do so. Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch dissent. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...
![The Government asked this Court to stay the District Court's order. After the response and reply were filed, JUSTICE BARRETT referred the application to the Court. We directed the parties to file supplemental letter briefs on an issue that the District Court had addressed but the parties' initial briefs had not: the meaning of the term "regular forces" in §12406(3). In its supplemental brief, the Government argues that the term refers to civilian law enforcement officers, such as those employed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Federal Protective Service.
Respondents, echoing the District Court, maintain that the term refers to the regular forces of the United States mili-tary.
We conclude that the term "regular forces" in §12406(3) likely refers to the regular forces of the United States mili-tary. This interpretation means that to call the Guard into active federal service under §12406(3), the President must be "unable" with the regular military "to execute the laws of the United States." Because the statute requires an assessment of the military's ability to execute the laws, it likely applies only where the military could legally execute the laws. Such circumstances are exceptional: Under the Posse Comitatus Act, the military is prohibited from "execut[ing] the laws" "except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress."
18 U. S. C. §1385. So before the President can federalize the Guard under §12406(3), he likely must have statutory or constitutional authority to execute the laws with the regular military and must be "unable" with those forces to perform that function.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:6h7b2i6ttw3l4t7pvbvxdith/bafkreiftbhzwvn3vgwhqsi7k2paizvdw4t26ailljvovso3chqupnmj364@jpeg)
December 23, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Wow. Genuinely shocked, and a hugely consequential decision.
Importantly, this is a case where @martylederman.bsky.social's amicus brief appears to have made a MAJOR impact. Before he wrote it, courts were sidestepping the "regular forces" issue entirely. And that's what the Trump admin lost on.
Importantly, this is a case where @martylederman.bsky.social's amicus brief appears to have made a MAJOR impact. Before he wrote it, courts were sidestepping the "regular forces" issue entirely. And that's what the Trump admin lost on.
Reposted by Tom Cross 🇨🇦🇺🇸
Interesting perspective but I think that he is too quick to dismiss the efforts that the Trump Admin is currently engaged in to establish the first, third, and fourth dimensions of authoritarianism that he describes.
He seems too happy about a “return to normalcy” to see that his soul has a price.
He seems too happy about a “return to normalcy” to see that his soul has a price.
December 23, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Interesting perspective but I think that he is too quick to dismiss the efforts that the Trump Admin is currently engaged in to establish the first, third, and fourth dimensions of authoritarianism that he describes.
He seems too happy about a “return to normalcy” to see that his soul has a price.
He seems too happy about a “return to normalcy” to see that his soul has a price.
Everyone in America needs to understand that our government sent innocent people to be tortured in CECOT prison in El Salvador, and our tax dollars paid for that.
December 23, 2025 at 1:05 AM
Everyone in America needs to understand that our government sent innocent people to be tortured in CECOT prison in El Salvador, and our tax dollars paid for that.
Reposted by Tom Cross 🇨🇦🇺🇸
1/More head scratching over Trump Greenland threats. Remember there is nothing about great power politics or spheres of influence that says you antagonize an ally/other great power (Europe). The motivation and goal is about neo-royalism: assert dominance/extract resources for the insider clique.
Trump says he’s appointing Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry as “special envoy” to Greenland.
Landry has previously expressed support for Trump’s plan to invade Greenland.
Landry has previously expressed support for Trump’s plan to invade Greenland.
December 22, 2025 at 1:28 PM
1/More head scratching over Trump Greenland threats. Remember there is nothing about great power politics or spheres of influence that says you antagonize an ally/other great power (Europe). The motivation and goal is about neo-royalism: assert dominance/extract resources for the insider clique.
It is important that everyone in America understand CECOT.
Now seems like a swell time to point out that Frontline just released this excellent 11-minute mini-documentary about what happened inside CECOT.
Surviving CECOT (full documentary) | Deported to a Maximum-Security Prison | FRONTLINE + ProPublica
YouTube video by FRONTLINE PBS | Official
m.youtube.com
December 22, 2025 at 3:24 AM
It is important that everyone in America understand CECOT.
Reposted by Tom Cross 🇨🇦🇺🇸
Streisand effect strikes again. I didn't even know they were going to air this. Now I know.
December 21, 2025 at 11:31 PM
Streisand effect strikes again. I didn't even know they were going to air this. Now I know.
Given that Schulz has been dead for more than 20 years, doesn’t it seem odd that corporations are paying millions for exclusive legal rights to create “Schulz style” artworks? Does it make sense for the government to protect a corporation’s exclusive right to imitate a dead artist?
Sony is acquiring control of the 'Peanuts' franchise
The deal is worth $457M
The deal is worth $457M
December 20, 2025 at 4:37 AM
Given that Schulz has been dead for more than 20 years, doesn’t it seem odd that corporations are paying millions for exclusive legal rights to create “Schulz style” artworks? Does it make sense for the government to protect a corporation’s exclusive right to imitate a dead artist?
Reposted by Tom Cross 🇨🇦🇺🇸
Pennsylvania's Supreme Court rules that police can get Google search data without a warrant; an expert warns it may encourage warrantless searches nationwide (Suzanne Smalley/The Record)
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
December 18, 2025 at 11:32 PM
Reposted by Tom Cross 🇨🇦🇺🇸
A memo from AG Bondi has given federal law enforcement marching orders to go after anti-government groups, alarming legal experts and former FBI agents who say it could jump-start deep surveillance aimed at political opposition. Archive, no paywall: archive.ph/FEub4
archive.ph
December 18, 2025 at 4:34 PM
A memo from AG Bondi has given federal law enforcement marching orders to go after anti-government groups, alarming legal experts and former FBI agents who say it could jump-start deep surveillance aimed at political opposition. Archive, no paywall: archive.ph/FEub4