Steve Abott

@stephenabott.bsky.social

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Policy analyst, RPCV, lover of sushi, live in DC area but always a New Yorker. Also - Yankees forever.

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Reskeet with how old you are, using a vague proxy: a/s/l?

Reskeet with how old you are, using a vague proxy: I sat in the smoking section of a restaurant.

Sorry about pointing towards that other place (I really try to avoid it), but I saw this and it’s just too incredible. x.com/shemkalegal/...

Lori Shemka on X: "@ShannonKilpatri @RMFifthCircuit Four minutes and 30 seconds in, a judge tells him (as he was struggling with a fact question), “You have no clue.” Lawyer: I don’t know. Judge: So let’s go with no clue because that’s as good as we’re going to get. https://t.co/2fAo8fEWxc" / Xx.com @ShannonKilpatri @RMFifthCircuit Four minutes and 30 seconds in, a judge tells him (as he was struggling with a fact question), “You have no clue.” Lawyer: I don’t know. Judge: So let’s go with no clue because that’s as good as we’re going to get. https://t.co/2fAo8fEWxc

Watching Rogue One right now and might try to get through Andor again. Watch Andor! How are you all celebrating?

While I appreciate the historic motto for the New Jersey SSN, kinda feels like they could have done better. Any suggestions for a motto? www.reddit.com/r/navy/s/goU...

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Steve Abott

It’s so common for nations to misread peers investing in purely defensive assets as threats that there’s a term for it - the security dilemma. We don’t suddenly get better at understanding signaling just because there have been explosions.

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Steve Abott

Jay Leno appearing out of the darkness wearing a denim cape “I have more jokes about Kato Kaelin” you hear as a whisper, but his lips have never moved

This place is still fun and seems to have staying power.

Incredible.

Great legal writing is not always formal legal writing.

His microphone is jiggling. Does anyone else see this?

I see that we are all ready for some…football?

To all those celebrating Christmas, I wish you a great holiday. I also want to commemorate this wonderful day. Currently cooking Chinese food. youtu.be/BGzO1ghRKp4?...

Happy festivus to all who celebrate. My current grievance is that I hate trees for their volumes of leaves that I must clear every year.

Latkes!

Happy Hanukkah!

I am anti-turkey. Since the pandemic I have not made turkey for the or any holiday. It has been chicken and this year Cornish hens. So much better. Turkey is a trash animal. You all know it.

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Steve Abott

I just want an honest discussion and again there is likely none in the offing.

And - what are the numbers on defensive use of firearms, the impact on crime generally if guns were restricted (prices would go up in the black market etc), pros or cons in domestic violence outcomes, impact on suicides, whether wide gun ownership impacts governmental abuses of power, etc.

We should be honest about that and discuss the pros and cons of it. It can include things like what is the expected number of excess deaths in the US compared to peer countries.

I know we have all been through this cycle before. I just wish we could have an honest discussion about guns. The best evidence - much of it discussed here in recent days - says that we have more gun deaths because of the number of guns. It is a policy choice. We should discuss that choice with data

So, what is the night of the week we have decided to start dumb fights to make this place feel more like home? I say Thursdays! (Fight!!!)

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Oy Cornell

“There was much positive news for the Academy over the summer break. In the newest QS rankings, we improved by two positions and are now in a three-way tie for sixty-third in the Alpha Quadrant with the Pakled Institute of Technology and Cornell.” www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/due...

Due to Falling Enrollments, We Will No Longer Offer Courses in Romulan at Starfleet Academywww.mcsweeneys.net Stardate 59963.2 Welcome to a new school year. In the coming days, a cohort of cadets will begin arriving on campus, and I look forward to continui...

Interesting item from Ben Wittes. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/init...

Initial Thoughts on Hamas’s Warwww.lawfaremedia.org What was Hamas’s strategic objective in launching this weekend’s horrific violence? What should Israel’s be in response? 

This and anything else you see by Dr. @hoffmanbruce.bsky.social is worth reading. He is perhaps the top terrorism scholar in the world. Also suggest Daniel Byman (@dbyman on the other site), who is also among the best on Hezbollah and related topics.

A brief analysis by Bruce Hoffman, @hoffmanbruce.bsky.social

Israel’s War on Hamas: What to Knowwww.cfr.org Israel will seek to eliminate the threat posed by the Palestinian militant group for good, but its campaign in Gaza could draw in other adversaries, including Hezbollah and al-Qaeda.

This is one of the most astounding accounts of conflict I have ever read.

"We're all going to die here." My friend, Haaretz journalist Amir Tibon, spent a harrowing 10 hours barricaded in his home's safe room with his wife and daughters, as men with guns hunted them, before an extraordinary rescue. He told me his story. Please read it. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

‘We’re Going to Die Here’www.theatlantic.com A firsthand account of tragedy and heroism from the slaughter that left more than 900 Israelis dead

What he is saying makes sense to me.

Good piece from Arthur Snell on the intelligence failures: https://open.substack.com/pub/arthursnell/p/intelligence-failures-and-the-war?r=2wfp4&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post

Intelligence failures and the war in Gazaopen.substack.com Blaming this on Netanyahu’s divisive politics doesn’t tell the whole story, but there are still more questions than answers.

I haven’t been able to get into Ahsoka yet, hope we all can agree how great Andor was though. One of the best shows I have ever seen - watch it! Up there with the HBO Watchmen series.

So, over here do we post about movies or our pets on Friday nights? I can also turn this into a Don Mattingly fan account on Friday evenings.

One of many reasons why I am adamant against using these services.

“The initial data leak was… 1 million lines of data for Ashkenazi people.” “The information… includes full names, usernames, profile photos, sex, date of birth, genetic ancestry results, and geographical location.” Well, that’s surely not going to be a fucking problem. (sarcastically) 🧪

Genetics firm 23andMe says user data stolen in credential stuffing attackwww.bleepingcomputer.com 23andMe has confirmed to BleepingComputer that it is aware of user data from its platform circulating on hacker forums and attributes the leak to a credential-stuffing attack.

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Just a remarkable series of graphs by Michael Tesler on the differences in how Democratic and Republican voters feel about their congressional leaders. “Democrats fall in line and Republicans fall apart," indeed. goodauthority.org/news/republi...