Dean Baratta
@twsisu.bsky.social
Three decades (😱) as an intelligence analyst with portfolios ranging from the 8th Guards Army to the Bloods street gang to domestic terrorism of various stripes. Pro 🇺🇸, NATO, 🇺🇦 and the US Postal Service.
Oh boy…it’s always fun when people who don’t know the first thing about Machiavelli try to call on him to justify their tyrannical leanings…
This Claremont twit is so fearful of “wine moms” with cell phones and whistles that he’s demanding Trump crush them with violence.
Or rather, more violence.
Or rather, more violence.
February 4, 2026 at 11:47 PM
Oh boy…it’s always fun when people who don’t know the first thing about Machiavelli try to call on him to justify their tyrannical leanings…
It’s almost like someone took every kooky accusation about the “New World Order” from the Far Right (detention camps! Rejecting the 2nd amendment! Mysteriously cabals of rich pervs! Undermining family values!) and figured out how to make those same people go “Yeah, I’m ok with that”
Remarkable: Trump's planned migrant prison camps are hitting deep resistance in red areas. In Virginia's partly rural Hanover (+26 Trump) opposition is intense. GOP leaders in other states are opposed.
Voters are rejecting mass deportations big time. 1/
(new piece)
newrepublic.com/article/2060...
Voters are rejecting mass deportations big time. 1/
(new piece)
newrepublic.com/article/2060...
Trump’s New “Prison Camp” Threat Unleashes Fury Even in MAGA Country
The next phase of ICE’s big ramp-up: a nationwide network of vast detention facilities. But guess what? Even parts of Red America are saying no.
newrepublic.com
February 4, 2026 at 6:19 PM
It’s almost like someone took every kooky accusation about the “New World Order” from the Far Right (detention camps! Rejecting the 2nd amendment! Mysteriously cabals of rich pervs! Undermining family values!) and figured out how to make those same people go “Yeah, I’m ok with that”
“I don’t want any more embarrassing cancellations of performers at the Kennedy Center!”
The monkey paw curls another finger…
The monkey paw curls another finger…
Trump: "I have determined that the fastest way to bring The Trump Kennedy Center to the highest level of Success, Beauty, and Grandeur, is to cease Entertainment Operations for an approximately two year period of time, with a scheduled Grand Reopening that will rival and surpass anything."
February 1, 2026 at 11:37 PM
“I don’t want any more embarrassing cancellations of performers at the Kennedy Center!”
The monkey paw curls another finger…
The monkey paw curls another finger…
I oppose Amon Bundy on everything…but I’ll at least say he’s a man of his principles…unlike just about every other militia weirdo from the 2010s
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Ammon Bundy Is All Alone
The anti-government militia leader can’t make sense of his allies’ support for ICE violence.
www.theatlantic.com
February 1, 2026 at 6:33 PM
I oppose Amon Bundy on everything…but I’ll at least say he’s a man of his principles…unlike just about every other militia weirdo from the 2010s
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
By the time this is done, some intern is going to get blamed
Katie Miller is now jumping in to blame CBP and defend her husband.
(All of this shows how vulnerable Stephen Miller is, so we need to keep the pressure on to get him out of the administration.)
(All of this shows how vulnerable Stephen Miller is, so we need to keep the pressure on to get him out of the administration.)
January 27, 2026 at 11:56 PM
By the time this is done, some intern is going to get blamed
Just imagine if FIFA used this as justification for withdrawing their peace prize…Trump would have bombers in the air within the hour
![NEW: @potus letter to @jonasgahrstore links @NobelPrize to Greenland, reiterates threats, and is forwarded by the NSC staff to multiple European ambassadors in Washington. I obtained the text from multiple officials:
Dear Ambassador:
President Trump has asked that the following message, shared with Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, be forwarded to your [named head of government/state]
“Dear Jonas: Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America. Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a “right of ownership” anyway? There are no written documents, it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also. I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States. The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland. Thank you! President DJT”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:hbpefio3f5csc44msmbgioxz/bafkreie7itpptx3xbxhpsnlaqmwk752h7pcrion5ija2apksljtax2adx4@jpeg)
January 19, 2026 at 2:17 PM
Just imagine if FIFA used this as justification for withdrawing their peace prize…Trump would have bombers in the air within the hour
Somewhere in hell, Osama bin Laden is looking up and saying “At least it’s another real estate guy realizing my dream of destroying America”
January 17, 2026 at 7:17 PM
Somewhere in hell, Osama bin Laden is looking up and saying “At least it’s another real estate guy realizing my dream of destroying America”
Just saying…if I was the Danish Ministry of Defense, I’d be putting together classes on IED construction and emplacing arms caches.
January 14, 2026 at 5:47 PM
Just saying…if I was the Danish Ministry of Defense, I’d be putting together classes on IED construction and emplacing arms caches.
The only Peanuts Christmas special I want to see…
December 23, 2025 at 3:28 AM
The only Peanuts Christmas special I want to see…
Over the past few months I’ve spoken to a number of intelligence analysts in the private sector about their use of LLMs in their work.
A number of concerning observations 🧵
1) Overwhelmingly, LLMs are thrust upon them by management with no training or direction other than ‘use it somehow’.
A number of concerning observations 🧵
1) Overwhelmingly, LLMs are thrust upon them by management with no training or direction other than ‘use it somehow’.
December 20, 2025 at 11:07 PM
Over the past few months I’ve spoken to a number of intelligence analysts in the private sector about their use of LLMs in their work.
A number of concerning observations 🧵
1) Overwhelmingly, LLMs are thrust upon them by management with no training or direction other than ‘use it somehow’.
A number of concerning observations 🧵
1) Overwhelmingly, LLMs are thrust upon them by management with no training or direction other than ‘use it somehow’.
December 10, 2024 at 12:27 PM
Some people commit violence to further an ideology…
Some people adopt an ideology to commit violence…
Some people adopt an ideology to commit violence…
December 9, 2024 at 9:25 PM
Some people commit violence to further an ideology…
Some people adopt an ideology to commit violence…
Some people adopt an ideology to commit violence…
Followed one account yesterday and got blocked by 125. Not for anything I posted or liked…just for following an account.
That’s what social media takfir looks like…
That’s what social media takfir looks like…
December 9, 2024 at 7:40 PM
Followed one account yesterday and got blocked by 125. Not for anything I posted or liked…just for following an account.
That’s what social media takfir looks like…
That’s what social media takfir looks like…
Big opportunity to make money now in Syria for anyone who can sell Harlan Crow an Assad statue to go with his “garden statues of dictators”.
December 9, 2024 at 7:25 PM
Big opportunity to make money now in Syria for anyone who can sell Harlan Crow an Assad statue to go with his “garden statues of dictators”.
Bonus points if there’s a Mario accomplice…
December 9, 2024 at 7:22 PM
Bonus points if there’s a Mario accomplice…
Someone at McDonald’s deserves a HUGE raise for identifying the shooter.
Also, another datapoint that “see something say something” really does work.
Also, another datapoint that “see something say something” really does work.
December 9, 2024 at 7:13 PM
Someone at McDonald’s deserves a HUGE raise for identifying the shooter.
Also, another datapoint that “see something say something” really does work.
Also, another datapoint that “see something say something” really does work.
True! And the exact same happens with any platform that becomes (through accident or design) an ideological echo chamber.
You can still have robust TOS and active Trust & Safety policies but diverse voices are essential for conversations.
You can still have robust TOS and active Trust & Safety policies but diverse voices are essential for conversations.
i suspect that with no liberal presence on X and more far-right ones to the same degree the right will slowly work their way into more and more extreme positions on the border and post-constitutional governance
i wonder what a year of stewing their brains on contemporary groyper X is going to do to the brains of GOP elites
(reading Sunstein's "Going To Extremes" rn)
(reading Sunstein's "Going To Extremes" rn)
December 8, 2024 at 11:45 PM
True! And the exact same happens with any platform that becomes (through accident or design) an ideological echo chamber.
You can still have robust TOS and active Trust & Safety policies but diverse voices are essential for conversations.
You can still have robust TOS and active Trust & Safety policies but diverse voices are essential for conversations.
Had HAMAS not attacked Israel, Hezbollah and Iran would have been in better positions to make up for the loss of Russian support in Syria.
Nobody should have been surprised at how strategically stupid the Oct 7 attack was (or the cost to Palestinian civilians).
Nobody should have been surprised at how strategically stupid the Oct 7 attack was (or the cost to Palestinian civilians).
"With the defeats of Hamas and Hezbollah, and with the collapse of the Assad regime, Iran has suffered irrecoverable losses," writes Eliot A. Cohen:
Khamenei Loses Everything
The October 7 attack on Israel has now cost Iran its regional proxy forces.
www.theatlantic.com
December 8, 2024 at 6:33 PM
Had HAMAS not attacked Israel, Hezbollah and Iran would have been in better positions to make up for the loss of Russian support in Syria.
Nobody should have been surprised at how strategically stupid the Oct 7 attack was (or the cost to Palestinian civilians).
Nobody should have been surprised at how strategically stupid the Oct 7 attack was (or the cost to Palestinian civilians).
Interesting watching people who spent the past decade praising institutions and the legal system, and decrying violent extremism now cheering on a murderer.
Folks trying to make this guy their own version of “Saint Elliot”. I’ll pass.
Folks trying to make this guy their own version of “Saint Elliot”. I’ll pass.
December 8, 2024 at 12:46 AM
Interesting watching people who spent the past decade praising institutions and the legal system, and decrying violent extremism now cheering on a murderer.
Folks trying to make this guy their own version of “Saint Elliot”. I’ll pass.
Folks trying to make this guy their own version of “Saint Elliot”. I’ll pass.
It’s getting lonely being lawful good in the U.S….
Internet sleuths are actively avoiding the United Healthcare CEO story, with some of the top true crime influencers saying they won't help find the suspect
www.nbcnews.com/tech/interne...
www.nbcnews.com/tech/interne...
Why top internet sleuths say they won't help find the UnitedHealthcare CEO killer
TikTok users who would normally leap at the chance to identify an alleged criminal are standing down during the manhunt for the killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
www.nbcnews.com
December 7, 2024 at 9:08 PM
It’s getting lonely being lawful good in the U.S….
The answer is encapsulated in one of my final arguments with my father who, explaining why he, an educated, upper middle class man who suffered financially from Trump’s financial shenanigans, supported him to the hilt said:
“Because they take us seriously and don’t look down at us!”
“Because they take us seriously and don’t look down at us!”
either people specify what they mean when they say “elite” or the term is just meaningless pejorative. both parties are dominated by elites in any conventional sense of what that means! the question is: why are right-wing elites more palatable to voters than liberal ones?
November 10, 2024 at 3:11 PM
The answer is encapsulated in one of my final arguments with my father who, explaining why he, an educated, upper middle class man who suffered financially from Trump’s financial shenanigans, supported him to the hilt said:
“Because they take us seriously and don’t look down at us!”
“Because they take us seriously and don’t look down at us!”
The lesson I don’t think Democrats will accept (yet) is that the emphasis on racial/gender/orientation identities has clearly outrun its relevance. I suspect most people just don’t think primarily in terms of BIPOC, LatinX, LGBTQIA+, etc (including themselves!)
November 10, 2024 at 3:00 PM
The lesson I don’t think Democrats will accept (yet) is that the emphasis on racial/gender/orientation identities has clearly outrun its relevance. I suspect most people just don’t think primarily in terms of BIPOC, LatinX, LGBTQIA+, etc (including themselves!)
The war won’t end until one of the belligerents has had enough.
And as both Hamas and the Israeli government see this conflict as existential, and neither prioritizes the safety of the Palestinian people, people will continue to die, regardless of what the U.S. does.
And as both Hamas and the Israeli government see this conflict as existential, and neither prioritizes the safety of the Palestinian people, people will continue to die, regardless of what the U.S. does.
November 10, 2024 at 2:51 PM
The war won’t end until one of the belligerents has had enough.
And as both Hamas and the Israeli government see this conflict as existential, and neither prioritizes the safety of the Palestinian people, people will continue to die, regardless of what the U.S. does.
And as both Hamas and the Israeli government see this conflict as existential, and neither prioritizes the safety of the Palestinian people, people will continue to die, regardless of what the U.S. does.
Fascinating watching the comments on this video on Mastodon which pinball between “hilarious mocking of Trump!” and “you’re spreading fascist propaganda!”
youtu.be/3BrCvZmSnKA
youtu.be/3BrCvZmSnKA
The Kiffness - Eating the Cats ft. Donald Trump (Debate Remix)
YouTube video by The Kiffness
youtu.be
September 14, 2024 at 12:07 PM
Fascinating watching the comments on this video on Mastodon which pinball between “hilarious mocking of Trump!” and “you’re spreading fascist propaganda!”
youtu.be/3BrCvZmSnKA
youtu.be/3BrCvZmSnKA