Dean Baratta بطبطبط / is on Nostr

Intel nerd, veteran, Gen X. ‘I didn't spend all those years playing Dungeons and Dragons and not learn a little something about courage.’ #intelligence #intelligenceanalysis #natsec #leadership #extremism #history #dogs #science #nature #books

Last Notes

2024-09-07 13:10:21

We made it Ma! New #dnd stamps at the post office.
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/113/096/429/433/134/578/original/10904c9ebac7ee04.png

2024-08-04 21:28:36

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@npub1u4k…vxe4 wait, what? Is there an elder soccer league?

2024-08-04 21:18:33

I hope I’ll have better things to do with the last few years of my life… #uspol
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/04/us/florida-villages-trump-harris.html?unlocked_article_code=1.AU4.Hq_Z.APozizFfAXkO&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb

2024-07-29 17:21:41

While not definitive…some evidence there was #farleft involvement in the sabotage attacks of trains in #France. This doesn’t preclude other actors being involved but a good reminder that Europe has a more active cohort of leftist #extremism than we see in the U.S.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/jul/29/far-left-rail-sabotage-olympics-french-minister-suggests

2023-09-02 00:50:30

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@npub1u4k…vxe4 have you ever read ‘Bitter Seeds’ by Ian Treggilis? Great book and has this idea that every time you use magic it risks getting the attention of a great cosmic being that hates life and can destroy worlds. The more powerful the magic, the more it acts like a beacon to that being.
The question becomes, how bad does a threat have to be before you risk using magic?

2023-08-31 18:25:03

"From 2019 to 2022, payouts to homeowners there more than doubled, but premium revenue from customers increased by only a third."
A lot of people may still not be interested in #climatechange but insurance companies increasingly are...and that means getting homeowners #insurance is going to be increasingly difficult (and maybe impossible) in some places.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/08/home-insurance-costs-wildfires-floods-weather/675141/

2023-08-31 14:29:36

Fascinating #longread about the #water problems of #Jordan - it's a desert country that's growing fast, devoting little to conservation (90% of rainfall is lost, 50% of piped water disappears as leaks or thefts) and has no plan for the future.
https://placesjournal.org/article/water-and-climate-crisis-amman-jordan/

2023-08-23 17:24:58

And why the hell would you set foot anywhere *near* Russia if you were Prigozhin? Like, how deluded would you have to be?
On the other hand, I suppose the number of countries where he wouldn't get scooped up as a war criminal was pretty small.

2023-08-12 20:11:11

I have no idea what I built but I spent the better part of two days doing it.
Let your imagination run wild Mastodon! Did I just become a level 2 Druid, awaken the Old Ones, or am I cosplaying Close Encounters of the Third Kind? #scifi #dnd #horror #wtf
https://media.mas.to/masto-public/media_attachments/files/110/878/452/439/253/158/original/55caec5e8e3f5ce9.jpeg

2023-08-11 15:38:06

#farright #extremists getting into disaster recovery to burnish their image and recruit new members.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/88xmap/neo-nazis-are-using-climate-disasters-to-recruit-new-members