Elise Thomas
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elisethomas.bsky.social
Elise Thomas
@elisethomas.bsky.social

Senior OSINT Investigator at @cen4infores.bsky.social. Opinions, hot takes, mistakes all my own. https://www.clippings.me/elisethomas

Sociology 33%
Political science 33%

Sharing their home addresses and personal phone numbers (or those of their family) is doxxing and over the line in my book

I agree we should take the port back, but it's silly to frame this as some kind of aggressive threat posturing from the Chinese ambassador. Obviously, and quite reasonably, if our government starts taking away assets from Chinese companies then Chinese companies will invest less.

That's fair.

Can we believe the Greenlanders, who have no motive to lie and afaik also no history of habitually lying on the world stage, and not the man who has both of those things.

The details of the agreement have not been made public because it does not exist. Stop saying it does.

The wind instrument escalation risk
Be careful what you wish for. If Trump bans whistles, they’ll switch to vuvuzelas.
Megyn Kelly after hearing Peter Bjorn and John’s “Young Folks” for the one millionth time in 2006

Reposted by Elise Thomas

Be careful what you wish for. If Trump bans whistles, they’ll switch to vuvuzelas.
Megyn Kelly after hearing Peter Bjorn and John’s “Young Folks” for the one millionth time in 2006
Maher Tarabishi, who has been detained by ICE since October, was the primary caretaker of his disabled adult child, Wael.

On Jan. 23, Wael died from complications related to Pompe disease, a rare genetic condition.

ICE has now denied Maher’s request to attend his funeral, his attorney says.
ICE Denies Detainee's Request to Attend His Son's Funeral, Attorney Says
Maher Tarabishi was the primary caretaker of his son, Wael Tarabishi, 30, who died on Friday, Jan. 23, from complications related to Pompe disease.
people.com

Also Sec Gen of the OECD is a vastly less important job, as evidenced by the fact that most politically engaged people know Antonio Guterres but good luck finding anyone who can name the OECD Sec Gen without the help of Google.

His own colleagues are not on the record calling him a psychopath

There is zero chance that the world is going to put a man who couldn't keep his own political party in little old Australia from cracking under his leadership in charge of the UN.

I was living in Geneva and spending a lot of time with UN people during Rudd's previous go at becoming UN SG. It was a bizarre splitscreen where the Aus media kept talking like he was a real prospect, and no one outside Aus knew or cared that he was running at all. www.theage.com.au/politics/fed...
Kevin Rudd tried before for the UN’s top job. Two obstacles stand in the way of another go
When asked about Rudd potentially putting his hand up, Anthony Albanese said: “I look forward to the Australian media backing Australians for any position that they run for now and in the future”.
www.theage.com.au

Also had a chat to @evelyndouek.bsky.social and @qjurecic.bsky.social for @lawfaremedia.org about it while literally choking on the smoke in Canberra www.lawfaremedia.org/article/lawf...
The Lawfare Podcast: Elise Thomas on Disinformation and the Australia Fires
www.lawfaremedia.org

This piece I wrote in 2020 covers a lot of the same dynamics and even some of the same conspiracy narratives we’re seeing now. This stuff is cyclical. www.aspistrategist.org.au/bushfires-bo...

the irresistible lure of saying "I told you so" to an internet stranger who has never heard of or had any contact with you before this precise moment

No he didn't. Denmark and Greenland have not agreed to any deal. I feel like I'm going crazy.
Bluesky idea: if people who didn't agree with you change their opinions so that they do agree with you, why not be happy that you are making progress - rather than complaining that they are "only just catching up"?

There is a category of person who believes every opinion they personally have deserves to be a front page op-ed
Moderna CEO says Trump’s policies have so curtailed vaccine market they won’t be investing in new research. So that’s awesome. Good luck when the next pandemic hits. www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8fWErMy/
Bloomberg Business on TikTok
Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said the company doesn’t plan to invest in new late-stage vaccine trials because of growing opposition to immunizations from US officials. #health #business #medicine #US #government
www.tiktok.com

National Guard trying to control ICE would effectively be state armed forces fighting federal armed forces. That's not a good situation to be in. "Assisting police" is better. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
We ran high-level US civil war simulations. Minnesota is exactly how they start | Claire Finkelstein
Developments in Minnesota closely mirror a scenario explored in a 2024 exercise conducted at the Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law at the University of Pennsylvania, which I direct
www.theguardian.com

I was a sensitive kid. I loved cats. I had OCD, undiagnosed.

When I was 9, a fraternity brother tortured a cat to death in my hometown. The details even now are beyond imagination. archive.is/xdmUL

I was traumatized for years from reading the news story.

The torturer? Now the head of the NRA.
This is a MUST-READ affidavit.

This eyewitness to Alex Pretti’s murder — who is too scared to even go home because she doesn’t trust federal agents — directly refutes what the feds are saying happened today:

Reposted by Elise Thomas

NEW:

Within minutes of Alex Pretti being shot and killed, the Trump administration began rewriting the narrative, labelling the victim as a "lunatic" and a "terrorist" contradicting all available evidence

www.wired.com/story/the-in...
The Instant Smear Campaign Against Border Patrol Shooting Victim Alex Pretti
Within minutes of the shooting, the Trump administration and right-wing influencers began disparaged the man shot by a federal immigration officer on Saturday in Minneapolis.
www.wired.com
Alex Pretti "used to tell people off when they made sexist comments to female physicians. He bought me coffee when I had a really bad day as an intern...I laughed alongside him daily. He made a point to teach medical residents without judgement, but with a smile on his face and a joke."
Federal law enforcement agents shot and killed a man in Minneapolis on Jan. 24 according to local police officials. DHS told Fox News that the man was “armed with a gun”. A video of the shooting appears to show that a gun was taken from the man before the first shot was fired. x.com/BillMelugin_...

No it doesn't. Trump hasn't backed down, he hasn't changed his mind, he thinks he's getting what he wants. Europe isn't acting in lockstep, the NATO SG is out there offering up Danish territory with no right to do so. www.politico.eu/article/eu-t...

Incredible that it apparently needs to be spelled out that the NATO Secretary General cannot unilaterally agree to hand over chunks of one member state’s territory to another www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/w...

Reposted by Elise Thomas

Ring is simply partnering with a company that similarly "does not work with ICE" but DOES work with local law enforcement agencies *known to conduct searches of its data on behalf of ICE*