iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 49m

Once again pointing out that these guys never seem to grapple with the fact that "Rome" included Syria, Egypt, etc.

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 1h

www.theguardian.com/world/blog/2...

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Dr. Chance Bonar @chancebonar.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Love googling Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus only to have a picture of Jeb Bush come up

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James Ryan @jdryan08.bsky.social · 6h

Today I announced MERIP’s fall fundraising campaign with a special note. It’s been truly invigorating to be leading this small organization through a new period of growth and relevance, and to see support come from truly wide corners where friends and comrades are standing up for us.

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#StupidSuez @diplomatofnight.com · 2h

🚨 Joaquin Castro will introduce tomorrow the "STOP THE SETTLEMENTS ACT", the first ever bill which would ban trade with all illegal Israeli settlements, as well as impose sanctions on any foreign entity or individual which supports settlements in any way after Sept 30th 2026. It has 40 cosponsors.

castro.house.gov

Castro, Dean, Beyer, Casar, Jacobs, Escobar to Introduce Sanctions on Drivers of Settlement Expansion | U.S. Congressman Joaquin Castro

The Official U.S. Congressional website of Congressman Joaquin Castro

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 3h

"It’s a dark irony that the constitution’s expropriation article was inserted at the insistence of the early postwar SPD, to keep the door open for socialization down the road. In the decades that followed, the party veered away from old-school socialism." foreignpolicy.com/2026/09/30/b...

foreignpolicy.com

Populism’s New Rallying Cry Is ‘Expropriation’

Germany’s leftist party swept to victory in Berlin by vowing to confiscate and socialize housing.

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 4h

Wild quote from the Japanese Defense Minister: "The idea that we aren’t even allowed to have a discussion on this matter is a bit at odds with my sense of crisis" www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/09...

japantimes.co.jp

Japan defense chief again puts ‘nuclear taboo’ in spotlight

Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi says the country must possess the capabilities needed to counter threats directed at it.

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Jim LaPorta @jimlaporta.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Def. Sec. Hegseth signed a memo today that CBS News obtained two months ago eliminating civilian tenure at military service academies. The Daily Wire was first to report on Tuesday that Hegseth signed the memo CBS News first reported on. Story: www.cbsnews.com/news/dod-pen...

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Henry Snow @henrys.now · 28/09/2026

Five months ago I was fired by the US government. Now, one of the biggest categories on the academic job market is "being right wing." I wrote about what's at stake. buttondown.com/anotherway/a...

buttondown.com

The "free speech" government fired me

"Free speech" advocates are killing free speech

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

"In the latest outburst of violence that began late on Monday, the settlers set fire to Palestinian homes and wounded three Israeli border police officers when the soldiers tried to return the family, the Toubassis, to their home" www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/w...

nytimes.com

Israeli Settlers Stop Soldiers From Returning Palestinians to Their Home

The Supreme Court had ordered the military to ensure a West Bank family that fled violence could go back. But settlers blocked the effort, with the authorities accused of not doing enough to confront ...

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

So much for MAGA's much-vaunted isolationism: "69% of MAGA Republicans say going to war was the right decision, compared with 30% of non-MAGA Republicans." yougov.com/en-us/articl...

yougov.com

Half of Americans expect the Iran war to continue for at least another year

As the war has lasted longer, Americans' expectations for how much longer it will last have grown

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

You rarely hear this stated outright - but a lot of elected officials believe it www.washingtonsun.com/congress/sen...

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

"This is a transparent and despicable attempt to once again drive the victims of the Nazis in Heidenau out of the city and dispose of them where, in the AfD’s view, remembrance has long belonged: in the cemetery." Local CDU councilors backed the AfD in this effort. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/28/w...

nytimes.com

German Town Votes to Stop Adding Memorials Outside Homes of Slain Jews

Councilors in an eastern German town voted to stop installing memorial plaques outside homes of Holocaust victims, saying they would instead build a memorial at a cemetery.

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Harrison Mann @harrisonmann.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Jake Sullivan had his spokesperson call into NPR *during @akbarshahidahmed.bsky.social's interview* to complain he was treated unfairly in Ahmed's book about how the Biden administration fathered the Gaza genocide. Sullivan wants us to know he was in fact "working tirelessly" to help Gaza.

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

"Democratic lawmakers have questioned how the Trump administration could permit a deal that opens the door to 20% enrichment when it so harshly criticized President Barack Obama’s 2015 Iran nuclear deal that capped enrichment at 3.67% for 15 years." www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

washingtonpost.com

Saudis have not ruled out developing nuclear weapons, U.S. intelligence assesses

The sobering outlook has compounded concerns from some U.S. lawmakers about President Donald Trump’s agreement to assist the kingdom with establishing a civilian nuclear program.

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Protests break out in Spain after forced eviction of an elderly woman - also: "A party on which Mr. Sánchez has repeatedly depended to pass legislation is more supportive of landlords’ rights." www.nytimes.com/2026/09/24/w...

nytimes.com

Forced Eviction of 87-Year-Old Woman Spurs Outrage in Spain

Demonstrations broke out across the country over the woman’s eviction in Madrid, putting rising rents and affordability at the top of the political conversation.

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

"The Houthis’ ability to target Taif and Yanbu, cities that are far from the Yemeni border with Saudi Arabia, underscores how the militia’s arsenal and its ambitions have grown since the war between the two sides flared up in recent weeks." www.nytimes.com/2026/09/24/w...

nytimes.com

Saudi Arabia Downs Houthi Missiles Targeting Kingdom, Official Says

The Iran-backed militia in Yemen fired six ballistic missiles at cities in Saudi Arabia, a military spokesman said. There was no immediate comment from the Houthis.

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Ned Resnikoff @resnikoff.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

My hot take on the NYT list of the century's top 100 TV shows is that I wish the biggest newspaper in the United States was investing more in serious arts criticism and less in listicles.

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

This Rubio statement just shows how low the bar is for talks with Iran: "I don’t want to mischaracterize this as a major breakthrough. But at the same time, I think it was significant that at least there was a conversation." www.nytimes.com/2026/09/23/u...

nytimes.com

Trump Aides Seek to Jump-Start Diplomacy With Iran as Crisis Widens

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that U.S. negotiators had restarted conversations about Iran’s nuclear program, but that there were no breakthroughs.

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

There's been speculation that Guetlein may be scaling back Golden Dome's more exotic elements - but Assistant Secretary of Defense Dale Marks is talking about directed energy weapons as if they're still part of the plan. www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/se...

washingtontimes.com

Pentagon eyes energy solutions for ‘power hungry’ Golden Dome missile shield

It’s a crucial but often overlooked consideration at the heart of the proposed Golden Dome missile shield: How much power will it take to operate?

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

"After more than two decades in which the United States has welcomed OSCE observers to its federal elections, this decision represents a significant departure from an established democratic practice." odihr.osce.org/odihr/667722

odihr.osce.org

ODIHR and OSCE Parliamentary Assembly regret the absence of invitation to observe U.S. mid-term elections

WARSAW/COPENHAGEN, 23 September 2026 – The decision not to invite the OSCE to observe the 2026 mid-term congressional elections in the United S...

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Modi's India: "The revision process involved several decisions by the commission, including the addition of a stringent step to the registration of new voters, despite two of the commissioners’ deeming it “unauthorized and illegal,” according to The Indian Express." www.nytimes.com/2026/09/23/w...

nytimes.com

India’s Election Panel Faces New Scrutiny Over Voter Roll Revisions

An explosive news report says election commission members objected to the measures that excluded millions of people from voting, which critics say favor the government.

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

"Because many AfD officials, including some of its top figures in Saxony-Anhalt, maintain strong ties with Moscow, German leaders believe it is a near-certainty that the AfD would pass intelligence related to Russian threats and the war in Ukraine back to the Kremlin" www.nytimes.com/2026/09/22/w...

nytimes.com

German Leaders Prepare to Deny Far Right Access to Secret War Plan

With the Alternative for Germany party close to power in a German state, federal officials are planning to limit the group’s access to classified intelligence.

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Dan Greene @dmgreene.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Is it good to have had to develop a form response to international PhD applicants explaining exactly how hostile the US is to immigrant scientists rn, with reference to abductions carried out by security services in their country as comparisons

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#StupidSuez @diplomatofnight.com · 21/09/2026

"I reveal in this book for the first time that Jake Sullivan personally questioned whether Palestinians were starving in Gaza...in the Biden era, there were fewer than five U.S. officials who were regularly in contact with Palestinians." - @akbarshahidahmed.bsky.social

npr.org

'Crossing the Red Line' examines the Biden administration and Israel's war in Gaza

NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with Akbar Shahid Ahmed, author of "Crossing the Red Line: Biden, His Advisors, and Israel's War in Gaza"

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

"Most of the people The Times spoke to at the pool said they were Israeli settlers. Many said that knowing the water came at the expense of local Palestinian farms was part of the draw." www.nytimes.com/2026/09/20/w...

nytimes.com

Israeli Tourist Trap ‘Herod’s Pool’ Is Draining Palestinians’ Land Dry

Israeli lawmakers have promoted visits to an ancient reservoir in the West Bank that was refilled this summer with water diverted from Palestinian-owned farms.

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

"It’s clearly a suggestion that there was sort of faction forming going on behind the scenes...that they were trying to make sure that they could retain some level of influence even after retirement by having their protégés put in charge of important positions.” www.nytimes.com/2026/09/21/w...

nytimes.com

Ex-Commander of China’s Military Accused of Corruption and Expelled From Party

Zhang Youxia, once the People’s Liberation Army’s top uniformed commander, and another general had taken “exceptionally large” bribes, investigators said.

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

"Honorable rivalry with the past is a fine thing." - Tacitus

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

I appreciate that the author ends this comprehensive piece filled with incontrovertible evidence with a quote from the administration that claims Iran is "desperate for a deal" and that an "inevitable Iranian collapse" is on the way. foreignpolicy.com/2026/09/17/t...

foreignpolicy.com

By Nearly Every Metric, the U.S. Is Losing the Iran War

“It’s irrefutable that the U.S. failed in its main strategic goals,” one expert said.

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Kelsey Davenport of the Arms Control Association notes here that the US criticized Iran when it enriched uranium to 20% - yet Trump's proposed deal would open the door for Saudi Arabia to do exactly that abcnews.com/Politics/dem...

abcnews.com

Democrats propose bill to strike down controversial Saudi nuclear deal

Congress has 90 days to review the agreement on nuclear energy projects.

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

"In most previous cases, earthquakes triggered by underground nuclear tests declined relatively quickly after the initial disturbance,” Park said in an email. “Here, the opposite seems to be happening: seismicity has persisted and even increased over time.” www.cnn.com/2026/09/17/s...

cnn.com

Area near North Korean nuclear site has experienced nearly 1,400 quakes | CNN

Seismic activity has increased around North Korea’s Punggye-ri nuclear test site since the country’s last and most powerful test in 2017, research suggests.

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#StupidSuez @diplomatofnight.com · 18/09/2026

It should invite some serious introspection and critical examination that almost all of Biden's most important Middle East foreign policymakers and advisors are also functionally totally supportive of Trump's own program.

jewishinsider.com

Biden envoy Amos Hochstein defends Trump admin’s nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia

Hochstein, who negotiated civil nuclear issues with Riyadh under Biden, said the alternative is Saudi Arabia turning to China or Russia

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Some real smoking gun material here: "According to the documents, when a staffer wrote Greg Brockman, OpenAI’s president, and told him about developing “a hack to get around nytimes paywall,” Mr. Brockman responded “ah nice.” www.nytimes.com/2026/09/17/t...

nytimes.com

Microsoft and OpenAI Workers Worry About ‘Largest Theft of Labor’ in History

Newly unsealed court documents showed concern within Microsoft and OpenAI over the use of millions of news articles to develop A.I. systems.

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

In South Korea, the Lee government is expressing support for a bill that would remove restrictions on civilian contact with North Koreans. Advance reporting would still be required, but the government won't be able to block requests for contact. en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN2026...

en.yna.co.kr

Gov't supports bill easing restrictions on civilian contact with N. Koreans: lawmaker | Yonhap News Agency

SEOUL, Sept. 17 (Yonhap) -- The government has expressed support for a bill that would eas...

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Erdogan’s Turkey: "The arrests began early Sunday, when the security forces in Istanbul, Ankara and other Turkish cities detained more than 60 people in their homes, and raided gay bars and the offices of gay rights organizations."

nytimes.com

Turkey Begins Broad Crackdown on L.G.B.T.Q. Community

The government has called the campaign an effort to protect families. Rights organizations have accused the authorities of criminalizing L.G.B.T.Q. people and of seeking to thwart political activism.

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

"Gen. Michael Guetlien said the first operational version of the system will rely on hardware and technology that the military already owns." In other words, it will not be Golden Dome in any real way. gazette.com/2026/09/15/g...

gazette.com

Golden Dome chief expects early version could come online in 2028

The general charged with overseeing Golden Dome, a new missile defense system, expects an early version of the system will be in place by 2028. Gen. Michael Guetlien said the first operational versio...

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

"the U.S. nuclear security score fell by 10 points to 66 on a scale of 100, the biggest decline the organization has ever recorded for any country." www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

washingtonpost.com

Expert report notes ‘dramatic deterioration’ in U.S. nuclear security

The country’s score fell by 10 points to 66 on a scale of 100, the biggest decline the Nuclear Threat Initiative has ever recorded.

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