iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by John Carl Baker

Judah Grunstein @judah-grunstein.bsky.social · 16h

Also, and this is a topic for another day, the CRS (France's riot police) need to be dismantled and rebuilt from the ground up under new doctrines of crowd control. They are responsible for clear human rights violations that have radicalized every major protest movement of the past decade.

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Reposted by John Carl Baker

Judah Grunstein @judah-grunstein.bsky.social · 16h

"But if the center is now fragmented, it is also due to the corrosive effects of Macron’s style of governance, which he sold in both 2017 and 2022 as conciliatory, but which in practice has proved to be hyper-polarizing. The degree of that polarization is ... on display today." Gift link.

worldpoliticsreview.com

France’s Student Protests Raise the Heat on Macron

The demonstrations make for a volatile political cocktail amid other popular grievances, just as the campaign for next year’s presidential election kicks into gear.

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 17h

"In one constituency in the southern state of Karnataka, nearly 2,000 such forms were filed on a single day late last month...Nearly half of those were filed by five individuals, and the voters they were disputing were overwhelmingly Muslim." www.nytimes.com/2026/10/06/w...

nytimes.com

India Cut 130 Million From Voter Roll, Fueling Protests Against Modi

Public anger is growing over an exercise that critics say undermines the world’s largest democracy, particularly disenfranchising Muslims under the Hindu nationalist government.

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 18h

Well this took a turn: "Adding to the drama was the revelation, from prosecutors, that the investigation had origins in a separate, high-profile investigation into an alleged attempt by a German steakhouse heiress to kidnap her children from her estranged husband." www.nytimes.com/2026/10/06/w...

nytimes.com

German Officials Arrest Former Spy Chief on Espionage Charges

August Hanning is accused of helping foreign governments. His arrest shook the German political world and had roots in a steakhouse-heiress kidnapping plot.

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 18h

Defund the war? Best I can do is force the administration to hold classified briefings

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Unions are expressing support for the student protests in France: “Today’s high school and college students are tomorrow’s workers; they should not have to pay the price for austerity policies.“ - CGT statement www.nytimes.com/2026/10/06/w...

nytimes.com

Protests Spread Across France, Growing From School Demonstrations

The rallies are a test of the strength of the student-led protest movement that has escalated at French high schools since late September.

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Oh wait this one’s better for October

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

It's wild to me that we've had decades of criticism of horserace coverage - and yet...it continues

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Bring back naming plagues after the emperor in charge when they break out.

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Reminds me of this piece from 2022, which argued for supporting Meloni on economic grounds - despite the fact that "in the long term, Meloni may harm Italy’s democracy." www.foreignaffairs.com/europe/italy...

foreignaffairs.com

Italy’s Election Paradox

America and the EU should root for a far-right populist.

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Yet another example of "the world is collapsing into fascism and markets couldn't be happier"

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Reposted by John Carl Baker

VHS Vault @vhsvault.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

シャープ VC-20P CM/Sharp VHS-C Camcorder (1982) : 10s

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Reposted by John Carl Baker

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 04/10/2026

Breaking news: A U.S. Marine has been arrested on suspicion of killing and robbing a Japanese woman in Okinawa, officials say, prompting Tokyo to lodge a protest with the United States.

washingtonpost.com

U.S. Marine accused of killing woman in Japan, drawing official protest from Tokyo

Devin Jacob Ballard was arrested in the killing and robbing of Anna Yagi, police told Japan’s public broadcaster. He denied the allegations, a spokesman said.

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

"We’re the heirs of May ’68," said a banner outside a third school, referring to student-led protests in 1968 that nearly toppled the government and helped transform French society." www.nytimes.com/2026/10/02/w...

nytimes.com

Student Protests Rattle France as Police Clashes Bring Blockades and Tear Gas

Days of unrest have affected more than 1,000 schools across France as high school students push for better standards.

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Hey @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social - thought you might be interested to hear that today's episode of NYT's The Headlines discusses how some Trump voters feel "almost like a kind of shame" about their 2024 vote www.nytimes.com/2026/10/02/p...

nytimes.com

Where Voters Are Abandoning Trump, and Barriers to New Cancer Treatments

Plus, the Friday news quiz.

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

reminds me of this bsky.app/profile/john...

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

The "I almost resigned" of international relations.

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

"If the Washington stays after the Roosevelt arrives it will bring the region to three carrier strike groups for the first time since April, before Iran and the U.S. clinched a fragile ceasefire that temporarily ended fighting that began on Feb. 28." www.wsj.com/politics/nat...

wsj.com

U.S. Sending Third Aircraft Carrier, Up to 10,000 More Troops, to Middle East

The deployments come as President Trump weighs resuming bombing Iran after the midterms.

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Some grim stats here: During the World Cup, "lower-income households in Brazil gambled on average 196% of their monthly income." Today, 67% of patients at one Sao Paolo compulsive gambling clinic are online gambling addicts. In 2020, that number was 1%. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/01/w...

nytimes.com

One Issue Hanging Over Brazil’s Presidential Election: Online Gambling and Record-High Debts

Just days before Sunday’s election, President President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva banned online gambling. But record-high debt is upending millions of lives.

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

This, to me, is a pro-deterrence reason to avoid making nuclear threats. When you mean it, you want to be taken seriously!

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

It's funny because these toothless threats arguably do increase risk over the long-term because Russia is becoming the State That Cried Wolf. In a future crisis, states may view Russian nuclear threats--which could hypothetically be real--as lacking credibility.

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

REPORTER: Secretary Hegseth, could you weigh in on the christological controversies of late antiquity? Where does the administration stand on the monophysites? HEGSETH: No beardos.

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

some grad student is very mad there are now jokes about his research project, the philosophy of anthems

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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

*confusing everyone as I campaign for US president* We must defend Mediterranean civilization!

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Reposted by John Carl Baker

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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Reposted by John Carl Baker

James Ryan @jdryan08.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

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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John Carl Baker @johncarlbaker.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

"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 · 29/09/2026

wouldn't be far off from the reality

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Reposted by John Carl Baker

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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Reposted by John Carl Baker

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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