iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 16/10/2026

Football, MMA, and more gives you CTE. Golf destroys the environment. A gun range exposes you to lead dust. Video games are only childish if you ignore the consequences of "adult" sports.

Michael Feinberg
‪@michael-feinberg.bsky.social‬
I’m sorry, but adults who play video games should have no say in governance. Put aside childish things.

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 14/10/2026

I'm absolutely horrendous at art, but I've been enjoying the push and prompts my daughter gives me to practice. This one is titled "Baltimore County Council dines on the Anduril plate special." Not coincidentally, it was finished during a meeting of said council.

A very amateur attempt at drawing a slug climbing a clay pot to reach bird droppings and mildew for lunch. In the foreground are three awkwardly drawn blades of grass placed by the illustrator to avoid their inability to draw a slug in motion. Similarly, a hilariously shaded grey-blue rock is dubiously placed in front of the grass to hide the fact the illustrator can't join the grass to the ground correctly.

We're not even going to talk about whether the other object in the picture is a rock or a roly-poly.

The picture was prompted by the illustrator's very young daughter after she learned how slugs become infected with parasites and why we don't eat them.

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 07/10/2026

www.wypr.org/wypr-news/20... This isn't going to benefit Baltimore or Maryland, just enrich assholes and cause another environmental disaster that sickens my neighbors. Fuck this shit and veto it.

Text from within the WYPR article:

"The military technology company Anduril Industries’ announcement Tuesday comes hours before President Trump will be at Tradepoint Atlantic, to announce that the sub components will be built there.

As part of the deal, Baltimore County and the state are being asked to provide hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks and incentives."

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 29/09/2026

Is this the look of every customer who purchased this hilarious junk? Angry entitled white guy who now squeaks with every millimeter of movement?

Another all leather coat and suit, including shirt, but this time with a disturbingly angry white guy. Maybe it's because his nipples are being chaffed by the shirt? Maybe because the coat has two random pockets that lead to nowhere like women have been forced to deal with?

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 29/09/2026

They say "distressed leather," but I'm fairly sure the person wearing a leather coat, pants, and shirt would be more distressed to the point they'll have PTSD walking. Oh, and have to love the pointless arm zippers, as-if it's a motorcycle jacket.

So much bland, brown leather in a trench coat and shirt AND pants that a small herd of cows might be missing.

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 29/09/2026

I don't even know if this coat exists in real life, but it looks like someone was sentenced to a firing squad shooting pockets.

A gaudy great coat with 13 randomly assorted pockets, presumably more behind zippers, and a host of gun shell and ring clip attachment pointsb with no discernable reason for their location.

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 29/09/2026

Family day at a Rennfair and I need to look up some historical items to cobble together a costume. AIslop is absolutely hitting Etsy. Apparently humans had an extra meter of legs in the 19th century.

A picture of an Etsy seller's grey colored great coat with a circus stilt performer's worth of extra leg length and matching coat coverage.

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 17/09/2026

We're really not seeing enough information about the genocide in Sudan and other regions. Ukraine and Gaza should never be downplayed, but we cannot forget others either. All genocides must be understood and ended.

A screenshot of a phone showing Google aggregated news sorted from most recent to older about the Sudan genocide.

The top three results are from four days, two weeks, and a approximately a month ago. One website is explicitly related to Sudan news.

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 16/09/2026

That fall feeling when you need a blanket to sleep, but it's still too hot to let the toe beans stay under.

A picture of a cat sleeping under a blanket in a dark room. The cat's two back feet, one white, one white and chocolate, have black toe beans on full display. Adjacent to the blanket/bed is a cedar chest with laundry and a backpack. Further behind is an open door and an antique wood kitchen cart used to store various tools and hardware.

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 15/09/2026

In fact, I even had this thread drop that same error. On the other hand, a post about boiling water safety sailed right on through and landed (probably largely ignored in most folks' feeds). If my suspicions are true, then Bluesky's automoderation system is actively censoring reasonable speech.

An image of two different types of "connection errors" that occur when attempting to post about politics. Ignoring repeating text, the errors read [paraphrased] "Please check your internet connection and try again."

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 09/09/2026

Since being boarded, he's been unable to relax due to his step-sister's food and toy anxiety. Good to see things slightly back to normal.

A tabby cat lounging, stretched, sleepy, with paws sticking out from in a simple pet bed sitting on top of a set of tall, pale cubbies. Behind him is a window framing a porch and overgrown rododendron, rough hewn log walls, and a vaguely visible second hand painting of a black woman airly and sensuously dancing to a rhythm all her own.

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 02/09/2026

This simple, lovely bird brought to you by 25 years of cooking experience, the shoulders of giants (ethnic parents), and a desire to feed family and friends. Vegetarian you say? Why this is a Persian-Lebanese house, we can whip up fatayer, hummus, kousa and more.

A perfectly roasted, crispy, golden whole chicken sits, wings gently tucked and legs slightly up, in a basic white dish.

In the background, the jus in the baking pan is still only for the camera, but otherwise bubbles with dangerous delight.

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 28/08/2026

*Sees news about Yiannopoulos* I really should've posted my most recent draft on how fascists eat their own yesterday...but Milo is a great example of exactly this.

A draft comment, saved 22 hours ago.

"
"I won't be hurt by my overlord, even when I challenge their preferred hierarchy!" the overseer says.

"My emperor will save me from the angry mob that I created doubling down on their edicts!" the soldier says.

But in a world of rage, targets are how the upper class maintain power.
"

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 18/08/2026

The only downside to this place is that the pastries really are "best fresh" day of. No preservatives, no pretending that it's going to go big commercial and ship out to half the state. You really need to be in Baltimore to enjoy them properly.

A quarter slice of a richly purple looking blueberry and cherry sauce filled brioche pastry with a light salt and oat crumb top. The slice shows the pillowy, thick interior of the brioche. Beneath the pastry is a simple green cafe plate and beneath that a well worn wood table.

The texture of the pastry is neither tough nor airy, but wonderfully balanced. The flavor is full and rich, but not overwhelmingly buttery or sweet.

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 03/08/2026

One week boarded and he's decided "never again." Cuddles until the end of time.

A tabby cat under blanket and on top of a blue and orange plaid shirt (currently worn by its owner). Only the side of their head is visible and they appear content.

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 01/08/2026

It's not a pilgrimage, but it's necessary history on how hard fought equal rights are.

The graves of John Brown and his wife, two of his sons, and their wives. Around the graves are well trimmed grass. Behind the graves a small iron fence, and further beyond their farmhouse. All members of a family who equally dedicated themselves to equal justice.

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 30/07/2026

This is the epitome of bullshit assumptions about human culture. I'm not an academic expert and can admit that. He thinks he can deduce complex questions down to assumed statistics. Correlation is not causation and lack of sources is not source enough to assume a negative.

A post from one Holzman-Tweed, regarding a discussion on lack of education on a topic and statistical assumptions on can make from what one isn't ignorant about.

"You don't need a graph. We're discussing orders of magnitude here. If religions permitted, let alone encouraged or required evangelism you would experience more religions evangelizing you. It grows sufficient to take your ignorance seriously as honest. Goodbye."

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 10/07/2026

And I have no idea if this helps at all, but hopefully a ridiculous pic of one of my cats sleeping might at least distract from your current maladies.

A very fuzzy and slightly rotund tabby cat sleeping awkwardly, head first into a couch arm and belly slightly up, to the back cushion. Her tail is curled up against the arm of a person she's purposely squashed herself up against.

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 05/07/2026

An Analysis of Volcanic Lightning and its Controlling Factors Nathan Stamford, Bucknell University digitalcommons.bucknell.edu/cgi/viewcont... Page 8 on plume lightning as one potential example.

Plume Lightning: Plume lightning is the largest and most powerful electrical
discharge generated during an eruption and can be generated up to 100 kilometers away
from the vent. This type of lightning occurs when the plume or umbrella cloud extends
high into the atmosphere (>10km), or when it crosses the -20°C isotherm (Cimarelli et
al., 2021). Ice-ash interactions are the primary charging mechanisms for plume lightning.
This occurs when water vapor from the atmosphere or from the eruption coats ash
particles. These particles act as nuclei, allowing ice, supercooled water, and graupel to be
formed. Interactions between these mixed-phase particles generate charge, and as the
plume reaches its natural buoyancy and spreads out horizontally, extensive layers of
positively and negatively charged regions form. This results in powerful lightning strikes
that can reach several kilometers in length (Cimarelli et al., 2021). Notably, plume
lightning can be generated after the eruption is over, as long as the volcanic plume and
umbrella cloud linger in the atmosphere.

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 29/06/2026

There's an ongoing issue with Bluesky/Blacksky videos playing and Waterfox browser on mobile (no issues on Windows, but Pixel/Android can't handle it). This isn't surprising given multiple factors, but it's been oddly refreshing to have just still images on my feed.

A screenshot of an error code:

This video can't be played on your device. Your browser or system may be missing the required video codecs (H.264/AAC).

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 26/06/2026

Not sure if their parents are coming back to the moved nest (probably 100 ft away and under our front porch), but hopefully they'll take care of the babies. The alternative was major deck repair knocking the nest down, so relocation was my best guess at the right thing to do.

Two baby birds in their original nest, temporarily moved atop an old hanging planter. Pine needles and sticks have been placed around the top in an attempt to shade them from too much sun.

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 26/06/2026

The best part about this little kit is it's grab and go, so I can keep it in a backpack, my car, or even my jacket pocket.

A small white canvas bag covered by a smaller notepad and pen on a food court table. Beside it is a small tin filled with ink cartridges and nibs for the pen, and separately, a tiny straight ruler.

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 25/06/2026

Lumberqueering with my wife again. The nail polish is remarkably durable. I'm willing to bet the manosphere would love to claim they can machete brambles and chainsaw trees "better," but I want to see Hegseth or Fuentes do this without removing their own legs.

A picture of a hand in front of a large quantity of cut overgrowth and downed invasive trees. The hand has a wedding ring and metallic black and green nail polish from a well regarded company.

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 18/06/2026

Found outside of Costco, nowhere near any of the local Chick-fil-A franchises. Proof as always that the Christian Right thinks that their variation of God will magically forgive them despite their impeccable level of sin.

A picture of a Chick-fil-A cup left behind as garbage, on a cart return fence. in a public parking lot far from any place it would have been ordered from.

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 13/06/2026

#Mooncat nails survived an unexpected day of lumber removal despite not having time for the top coat. Very minor chips at the edge, but that's it. Sadly, this is not an endorsement of the chainsaw in the background (it works, but the batteries drain very fast).

An image of a hand with an ornate ring on it and vibrant, color changing nails in blue and purple.

In the background is the back of a chainsaw on top of a cut log.

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 08/05/2026

In terms of both accessibility problems and chronic software bugs, this is why STEM shouldn't get fancy with fonts. Given I don't know if this was an LLM problem somewhere in the pipeline or a standard bug, I won't presume, but I can hazard a guess.

$A Google news feed with a Nature Portfolio journal article heading that contains HTML/CSS errors. The mess of code and text reads " $${\bf{Micro}}{{\{{\mathbb{S}}}{\bf{plit}}$$ " instead of "MicroSplit" as intended.$ $A Nature Portfolio journal article heading using a non-standard system font that caused HTML/CSS display errors on Android (May 08, 2026 version). The mess of code and text on a news feed read " $${\bf{Micro}}{{\{{\mathbb{S}}}{\bf{plit}}$$ " instead of "MicroSplit" as intended in the website.$

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 07/04/2026

Goth night at Metroshock was fun, and even more so with a friend bold enough for these heels. If you know how tall the bar divider wall is, you'll understand how impressive it is to dance in them.

A picture of high heeled, pointed shoes on top of a wall at a club. The club is dark except for green tinted strobe lighting.

The wall is covered in the stickers various bands from goth to metal.

While not visible contextually, the photographer can assure that the heels fit their intended recipient, a tall trans woman, well...albeit not the best for dancing. The heels did not fit the photographer.

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 30/03/2026

This write-up was in response to comments from Erik Prince on Threads (posted by another individual tracking OSINT there).

Two, subset, quotes, the primary one reads: "Erik Prince advises against Iran war. (Also notes “these are not Arabs, they are Aryans”).

Video: https://www.threads.com/@echoesofstreet/post/DWhBmoWCvVX "

The secondary (sub) quote reads:
"[Threads User] Echoes of Street
"Erik Prince, founder of Blackwater is also warning against a US ground invasion of Iran."

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 30/03/2026

A write-up I just did on the @bellingcat.com discord on how White Supremacists (and other ethnosupremacists) have co-opted the use of the term "Aryan" for racist conflict. I've posted parts of this previously, but here's a "mostly" comprehensive review.

Max Muller (see the links below) was a 19th century German scholar who studied languages of Central and South Asia (Indo-Iranian/Indo-Aryan). Linguistically, there's a lot of nuance here as "Indo-Aryan" language hews closer to Sanskrit while "Indo-Iranian" (or "Indo-Iranic") is the language of the Iranian (self-named Aryan) people. Aryan itself isn't actually the sum total ethnicity of that group as the prior kingdoms and eventual Achaemenid Empire were built from a large number of ethnic groups who all eventually encompassed the ethnonym.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Müller
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_peoples
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achaemenid_Empire#History
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan

Muller was a far from perfect individual (see his opinions on Islam and India), and certainly a man of his times, but his initial classification of Aryan was built from the linguistic and cultural premise rather than from a genetic one. However, Vacher de Lapouge and similar writers took this in a Darwinist trajectory until eventually we get the "popularization" [sic] of it via the Nazis.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Müller#Opposition_to_Aryanism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryanism

When Prince, those within the Christian Nationalist, and other Ethnosupremacist groups talk about Arabs (semitic peoples alongside Jews) vs. Iranians (Aryan), they're bringing up antisemitic and racist concepts built off of centuries of bad science that conflated the [erroneous] concept of a "Caucasian race" with superiority over others.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race

In these Ethnosupremacist groups, which can also include some Iranians who followed propagandized versions of history via the 20th century/Pahlavi revival of ancient Iranian cultural tropes (which is a deep dive unto itself), the goal is to 1) create a line between "allowed races" and "degenerate races" and 2) assure that conflict is managed in such a way that the "allowed races" are the ones supported.

Anytime someone conflates modern Iran with Aryan with a false sense of superiority, it's from this original track of thinking. However, by virtue of how hate groups evolve, the original track is far from the full path and subdivisions have spawned a toxic rainbow of beliefs that can claim anything from "Europeans are the true Aryans and Iranians are just sub-racial stock" to "Europeans and Aryans share the same path."

There's a lot more there, but that (long) statement is as short as you can get for a general mapping of the concept's evolution.

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 21/03/2026

What is it with assinine folks, greasy hairdos, and mob style suits? A little too on the nose for caricatures. Image from: www.wypr.org/wypr-news/20...

A picture of Republican Maryland State Delegate Nino Mangione in slicked back hair.

Sourced from this WYPR article: https://www.wypr.org/wypr-news/2026-03-19/mangione-vs-le-gardeur-a-baltimore-county-council-race-to-watch

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 17/03/2026

The line goes up as the predators ignore growing signs of disaster and continue to feast on the remains of the US body politic. The toxins already swirling in their blood mean they do not understand the compounding poisons that wash over them. They can understand the violent delight of their meal.

A snapshot of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), a common non-professional indicator of stock market sentiments and US economy.

The line appears to be trending up from ~32,000 points on July 2023 to 47,285 points on the morning of March 17, 2026. This is despite serious concerns for the world economy due to a major crisis in hydrocarbon accessibility after the current US President (Donald Trump) started another war in the Middle East.

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 11/03/2026

A post from BBC Verify's @shayan86.bsky.social on Twitter. It's imperative that anyone sharing material about the war, regardless of which side you're rooting for (if any), contact groups who can keep individuals safe from government abuse. I trust @bellingcat.com among others.

A Twitter/X post from BBC Verify's Shayan Sardarizadeh, as copied from Bellingcat's public discord stream:

https://fxtwitter.com/Shayan86/status/2031459245686714741?s=20

To reiterate this point, the IRGC's intelligence unit has published two videos today in which they arrest several Iranians for filming and sharing videos of US/Israeli strikes from the windows of their homes.
︀︀
︀︀Open source investigators have a moral duty to protect Iranians who are trying to document this conflict despite knowing the potential risk to their safety.
︀︀
︀︀Please refrain from posting the POV coordinates of videos filmed from Iranian homes that could reveal people's addresses. The coordinates you post might be later used by the government to find and arrest people.

A Twitter/X post from BBC Verify's Shayan Sardarizadeh, as copied from Bellingcat's Public Discord stream:

A kind note to fellow open source researchers:

Do not post the coordinates of videos from Iran that reveal the home addresses of people, particularly if they're chanting anti-government slogans or showing dissent.

It could put them at risk of being identified and detained.

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 10/03/2026

Please tell me these folks understand the parody they and their attire represent.

An image from the video game Command and Conquer, Red Alert depicting the [live action] character and series antagonist Yuri. Yuri is a bald man with a soviet era (brown with red highlights) uniform, barely trimmed mustache, and rounded goatee. A metallic looking band covers the top of his head and three strange markings are on the center of his forehead. He appears to be staring deeply and disturbingly into the camera.

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 09/03/2026

I'm not sure how on earth the market is taking Trump's word on this given that he always lies and this war will not end just on his say-so. Israel is still a malicious actor here. Even if they stop bombing Iran, they've re-engaged Hezbollah and the Houthis. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

A snapshot image of the website "Marketwatch" showing the current state of the market as of 7:38 PM EST on March 09, 2026.

The headline, "Trump announces sanctions relief to ease oil prices, says Iran war to end ‘very soon’" is prominently displayed below the closing numbers of the DOW, NASDAQ, and S&P500 going up.

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 09/03/2026

FYI, there's footage on Instagram and possibly linked in other sources that shows the death of a child in the Iran war. This is a separate strike from the mass murder of the girl's school in Minab. Please click links carefully. Source: Bellingcat Public Discord.

A post from the Bellingcat Discord noting that the New York Times has seen documented footage of the death of a child. The direct instagram hyperlink showcasing the child's death has been altered by me to avoid accidentally activating it.
From User/Moderator "ShuckyDucky" on Bellingcat's Discord:
"
New NYT-verified security footage from an elementary school in Abyek, Iran captures the moment a strike on a nearby communications tower sent debris through the schoolyard on Feb. 28. Iranian state media has reported a child died.

Link to NYT article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/09/world/middleeast/iran-video-explosion-boys-school.html

Link to Video shared on Instagram analyzed by the NYT:

⚠️ Content warning: footage shows explosion in near vicinity of a school and a casualty.
https://www.instagram.com/kashowra/reel/
DVjcFZUgtRY
/
"

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 06/03/2026

If anyone can provide a complete translation of this Twitter/X post on the school bombing, Bellingcat's discord folks would appreciate it. Note: We're trying to avoid auto-translate/paraphrases for better accuracy. See alt text for an easy copy/paste version.

A twitter post with Persian (Farsi?) text that requires proper translation for OSINT folks on Bellingcat's Discord server:

بامداد جمعه ۱۵ اسفند:
«میناب کوهستک صدای انفجار شدید میاد.»
[مکان آپدیت‌شده فعالیت‌های موشکی سپاه؟]

+ پیام‌های مهم دیگه از میناب:

۱. «مدرسه میناب شامل ۲ مدرسه بوده دخترانه پسرانه. حدود ۱۹۰ نفر جنازه امده بیرون ک روز سه شنبه خاک شون کردن. حدود ۹۰ مجروح خیلی بد هست همه بچه کوچیک. اینجا پادگان قدیمی موشکی بود و کلا ۲۰ سالی بود تخلیه بود. این ساختمان مدرسه ساختمان ستاد گذشته شون بود بغل شم درمانگاه بود مدرسه درسته مال سپاه بود ولی همه مدلی ادم بچه هاشون تو این مدرسه بود خلاصه ک خیلی این چند روز میناب همه چی غم انگیزه همه مردم عزادار هستن کاش نمیزد مدرسه رو ۲ مرتبه هم زد یک مرتبه ک اول کار مرتبه دوم وسط اوار برداری امد درمانگاه بغل زد ک یک پرستار مرد فوت شد»

«کار جنگنده امریکا بود یا شایدم اسرائیل چون تابلو بزرگی سردرش بود زده بود تیپ موشکی عاصف. صدا غرش جنگنده امد اینا نمیدونستن اینجا مدرسه هست اخه کی میدونه مدرسه تو سپاه؟»

۲. «حتی تو حیاط مدرسه برجک دیدبانی و رادار بود ما خودمون رفتیم با چشم دیدیم»

۳. «ساعت ۱۰ از آموزش و پروش به مدرسه زنگ میزنن که مدرسه تخلیه کنین. مدیرهای مدرسه هم شروع می‌کنن به زنگ زدن به خانواده‌ها که بیاین بچه‌هاتون رو ببرین. هنوز نمی‌فهمم چرا با اتوبوس نبردن بچه‌ها رو. یا حتی ندوییدن توی خیابون. چون خیلی وقت داشتن. ساعت انفجار ۱۱:۳۰ بوده»
«پدر مادرهایی که این بین رفته بودن دنبال بچه‌هاشن متاسفانه کشته شدن به شکل‌های بسیار دردناکی»

۴. «دکل رو از روی مدرسه برنداشتن»

مسئولیت مرگ این کودکان و مردم میناب با کسیه که توی تیپ موشکی، مدرسه زده و بدتر از اون در شرایط جنگی و در حالیکه سایت‌های موشکی در کشور هدف حمله قرار دارند، بچه‌ها رو از اون فضای سپاهی بیرون نبرده.

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 04/03/2026

Iraq's power grid has shut down. Also confirmed via US' Baghdad embassy post. #Iran Sourced via the Bellingcat public discord thread.

A Twitter/X post from Rudaw's English news service
"
#BREAKING: Iraqi eletricity ministry spokesperson tells Rudaw the nation's power network has shut down, but the cause of the outage remains unknown.
"

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 03/03/2026

From a contributor to the @bellingcat.com discord, confirmation from Dubai's official media office of an attack on the US Consulate there. Further attribution here as well. www.yahoo.com/news/article...

A message from the Government of Dubai Media Office on a recent drone attack on the US Consulate, as posted on Facebook in Arabic, translated to English: "Dubai authorities have confirmed that a fire resulting from a drone-related incident near the US Consulate has been successfully contained. Emergency teams responded immediately. No injuries have been reported."

Note: I [person who snapshot the image] cannot confirm the exact translation from Arabic to English and advise against using AI translations to do so.

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 02/03/2026

He usually gets cuddle time during the day, but I've been rushing to clean after doing reading time at daycare, so he's forcing the matter... Plus it's chillier than usual with the snow falling outside.

A tabby cat tucked into a wool sweater until it's almost bursting while it's worn by an indistinguishable person. The person wears an olive green tshirt and plaid-red collared shirt beneath the cat and sweater.

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 02/03/2026

She knows it's sous vide chicken time. She's going to raid the pot when I step away for a moment. She was only foiled last time because I didn't leave the silicon bag open.

A fluffy kitten stares longingly into the distance while sitting atop a high bookshelf. Behind her is a window showing the nighttime hour. Adjacent is a pet bed.

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 02/03/2026

From @bellingcat.com's discord Israel-Iran channel, a quick note on some AI generated footage or images that may be circulating. Note: I am not the individual quoted, but did get permission to distribute his post.

A description from Bellingcat discord member and staff Trevor, talking through a fake image that's been circulating social media.

"Fake AI video claiming to be dubai airport is going around. Couple posts I've seen have been deleted but here's a screenshot of it. Two of the tells, man (red) walks through the barrier. Bag (yellow ) also looses physical features throughout the video, like the handle."

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 27/02/2026

I've lost all respect for @wbur.org and Meghna Chakrabarti with this. It's an astroturfed paid promotion disguised as an interview. Southern is clearly as narcissistic as ever, to the point she admits doing B roll footage with her staff that's absurdly dangerous and there's no remorse.

A quote from the WBUR/NPR interview between racist Lauren Southern and NPR host Meghna Chakrabarti:
Souther - "Oh, and also just, I just want to clarify, you were asking, do I feel I need to apologize or this or that? My memoir, one thing I make very clear in it is it's not, I'm not looking to clear my name or come back, or I'm progressive now, or this, it's literally just me being honest. And you don't have to like me at the end of it. That's fine. I'm the villain of my own book in some ways."

https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2026/01/23/lauren-southern-alt-right-influencer-real-life

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 24/02/2026

While I understand the game system is about lies and secret societies, this is not ground that should be tread on lightly in most circumstances, but especially not when trying to embody an individual who's already suffering through social connection difficulties.

A series of text on a 'character trait' attempting to gamify ASD from the 1991 TTRPG manual Vampire: The Masquerade.

"
Autist: You must hide your secrets from others.
Even more importantly, you hide your true self. Anyone who understands you can hurt you, so no one must ever see the real you, no one can come close. Give away as little of yourself as possible - adopt a false personality if you like - but just make sure no one gets hold of the truth about you.
Knowledge is power, and those who know you can do anything they like to you.
- Regain one Willpower point whenever another character confesses they are unable to understand you, and whenever someone makes a false assumption about you which gives you an advantage.
"

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 23/02/2026

Because we all know how much obligate carnivores need hummus... (I say this, and yet the kitten was trying to eat blueberry pancakes yesterday.)

An AI generated image of an anthropomorphized lion in army cargo shorts running across a desert looking comically fierce. The image is part of a common series of pseudo-science ads used to sell badly designed health and wellness material to people while also often being used to gather financial data that may be later abused.

Notable in this ad is that the foods advertised involve things like pear, toast, hummus, and cucumber, all items an obligate carnivore (like a cat) would be gastrointestinally opposed to.

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 12/02/2026

Naughty Character Wisdom: On the dangers of the thrill of battle. A good warrior does not pitch tents in combat for, whether they stand out on pelvis or torso, they become targets for an infamous incision. Image sent from a friend who saw the comment from @rebell.bsky.social

Bluesky comment from one @rebell.bsky.com, itself referencing an image from a video game (likely Elder Scrolls though unconfirmed). The game text reads, "You cannot pitch a tent in combat" The commenter cheekily notes, "you don't know me"

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 09/02/2026

Re #Discord, age verification, and user tracking: This means they've already put money into this system and intend to use it to sell user data. The reason they're insisting on IDs is because they want better tracking data to sell, not because they care about our privacy.

However, some users may not have to go through either form of age verification. Discord is also rolling out an age inference model that analyzes metadata like the types of games a user plays, their activity on Discord, and behavioral signals like signs of working hours or the amount of time they spend on Discord.

“If we have a high confidence that they are an adult, they will not have to go through the other age verification flows,” Badalich says.

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.myatproto.social · 01/02/2026

Mr. Pachucki here is helping to circle the wagons and perpetuate the myth of "struggling pioneers of science." Whether he's done anything wrong himself has no bearing on what he's doing, which is perpetuating an abusive group and overall system. Simply put, he's an easy block.

Mark Pachucki defends Nicholas A. Christakis, named in the Epstein files for soliciting funding from Jeffrey Epstein after Epstein had been convicted of abusing a minor.

"I've known @nachristakis.bsky.social, a scientist and humanist, virtually my entire professional career in the context of being a strong educator, devoted spouse and parent. He’s always struck me as a kind, thoughtful, curious, and humane person. (2/8)"

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