Elise Thomas
LightNews LightNews
banner
elisethomas.bsky.social
Elise Thomas
@elisethomas.bsky.social
8.7K followers 1.7K following 990 posts

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

Videos
Sociology 33%
Political science 33%
Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Steve Peers, Markus W. Gehring, Elise Thomas

ofcom.bsky.social
Ofcom @ofcom.bsky.social · 13h
We've launched an investigation into X over Grok sexualised imagery.

We've opened a formal investigation into X under the Online Safety Act, to determine whether it has complied with its duties to protect people in the UK from content that is illegal in the UK.

🔗 www.ofcom.org.uk/online-safet...
'Ofcom launches investigation into X over Grok sexualised imagery'

Reposted by Elise Thomas

harrymd5.bsky.social
Harry Jarin for Congress @harrymd5.bsky.social · 21h
sauvignon bloc

Reposted by Joanna Bryson, Jan W. Mueller, Mark Rice , and 5 more

bgrueskin.bsky.social
Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 22h
Congratulations to all the bankers, hedge-fund managers, private-equity honchos, tech titans, corporate executives and op-ed writers for backing the man who will do more to undermine the system that made them insanely wealthy than any other presidential candidate in their lifetimes.
timobrien.bsky.social Tim O’Brien @timobrien.bsky.social · 22h
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the US central bank had been served grand jury subpoenas from the Justice Department threatening a criminal indictment, a dramatic escalation of the Trump administration’s attacks on the Fed.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Fed Served With DOJ Subpoenas, Powell Vows to Stand Firm
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the US central bank had been served grand jury subpoenas from the Justice Department threatening a criminal indictment, a dramatic escalation of the Trump admi...
www.bloomberg.com

Reposted by Rebecca Solnit, Richard B. Aronson, Patrick A. Jansen , and 7 more

muellershewrote.com
Mueller, She Wrote @muellershewrote.com · 23h
Trump has just declared himself the "acting president of Venezuela" over on Truth Social in case you're wondering about his mental health.

elisethomas.bsky.social
Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 1d
FWIW my pet theory about these flights has been that they're related to shipping Shahed (and variants) drone components from Tehran to Russia and Belarus to assemble for use in Ukraine. If anyone would like to kick us some funding at @cen4infores.bsky.social we could see if that theory stacks up!
elisethomas.bsky.social Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 1d
Those two airlines, RubyStar and Aviacon Zitotrans, have been flying IL-76s sporadically between Russia, Belarus and Tehran for over a year now. I've had a brief look and it doesn't seem like what they've been up to in the past week or two is wildly outside what they were doing before.
secretsandspies.bsky.social Secrets & Spies Podcast: Global Affairs | Intelligence @secretsandspies.bsky.social · 1d
Russian cargo flights to Tehran amid protests spur claims Iran is moving gold to Russia

www.uawire.org/russian-carg...

elisethomas.bsky.social
Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 1d
Not to say there's nothing protest-related going on, I have no idea whether or not that's the case. But the context is important, this is not a novel or especially unusual flight pattern for these airlines.

elisethomas.bsky.social
Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 1d
Those two airlines, RubyStar and Aviacon Zitotrans, have been flying IL-76s sporadically between Russia, Belarus and Tehran for over a year now. I've had a brief look and it doesn't seem like what they've been up to in the past week or two is wildly outside what they were doing before.

elisethomas.bsky.social
Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 1d
It is January 11th. We’re not even one full year into Trump’s second term. www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01...
Starmer could send troops to Greenland to ease Trump’s security fears
European allies in talks to deploy force to counter growing threat from Chinese and Russian militaries
www.telegraph.co.uk

elisethomas.bsky.social
Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 3d
The justifications aren't the point, any more than fentanyl was the point in Venezuela. Trump just wants to own it. He's said as much very clearly.

elisethomas.bsky.social
Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 3d
I keep seeing people saying Trump won't REALLY go for Greenland because he can get everything he says he wants - military access, resources - without owning it.

Owning it is the point. That's the thing he wants. Everything else is gravy. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/08/u...

Reposted by Elise Thomas

bellingcat.com
Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 5d
Bellingcat has identified remnants of a US missile visible inside a three-storey apartment complex, hit during the US military raid to capture President Maduro on Jan 3, 2026. The strike reportedly killed at least one civilian in Venezuela. www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/01...
Inside the Strike: The US Munition That Hit a Residential Building in Venezuela - bellingcat
A Bellingcat investigation has identified remnants of an AGM-88 series missile inside a three-storey apartment complex that was hit in Catia La Mar during the US military raid on Venezuela on Jan. 3, ...
www.bellingcat.com

elisethomas.bsky.social
Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 6d
Greenlanders are European citizens.

elisethomas.bsky.social
Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 6d
Like any other industry, the sector evolved into the form best adapted to getting funding in that period of time - that's not a criticism, it's just a reality if orgs want to survive - and that in turn produced or contributed to aspects of the field which are maladjusted to this current moment.

elisethomas.bsky.social
Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 6d
Donors have priorities of their own. A lot of disinfo research was being funded either directly or indirectly by the US tech industry itself, which obviously led to all sorts of conflicts of interests. The main other sources of funding are govts or philanthropy, each of which have complications.

elisethomas.bsky.social
Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 6d
There was and remains no sustainable independent business model for orgs doing disinfo research. Crowdfunding can work for individuals or very small groups, but as far as I can see it's not feasible to support a significantly sized research org that way. That means that orgs are reliant on donors.

elisethomas.bsky.social
Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 6d
It was very interesting, thanks for doing it! I just wanted to chime in on a key piece of this which I felt didn't come up much in the conversation, which is the funding model or lack thereof for disinformation research.

elisethomas.bsky.social
Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 6d
Factchecked myself, discovered it was worse than I remembered www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
Mathias Cormann’s flights to win OECD job cost Australia $11,000 a day
Exclusive: Cost of former finance minister’s month crisscrossing Europe and South America in RAAF jet revealed
www.theguardian.com

elisethomas.bsky.social
Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 6d
Remember when we paid to fly him around the world on the notion that it would somehow benefit the Australian taxpayer if he got this job. That was very funny.

elisethomas.bsky.social
Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 7d
Checks out amp.miamiherald.com/news/nation-...
Venezuelan security kingpin Diosdado Cabello vows revenge after U.S. seizes Maduro
Diosdado Cabello is calling supporters into the streets and threatening vengeance following a U.S. operation that seized Nicolás Maduro.
amp.miamiherald.com

Reposted by Anne Applebaum, Jan W. Mueller, Brendan Nyhan , and 33 more

atrupar.com
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 7d
TAPPER: Can you rule out the US is going to take Greenland by force?

MILLER: Greenland should be part of the US. By what right does Denmark assert control over Greenland? The US is the power of NATO

T: So force is on the table?

M: Nobody is gonna fight the US militarily over future of Greenland

Reposted by Elise Thomas

ichbinilya.bsky.social
Ilya Lozovsky @ichbinilya.bsky.social · 7d
At @occrp.org our years of reporting on Venezuela make clear that the patronage, corruption, and abuses don't end with Maduro and his inner circle.

They extend even to sports leagues. This is El Helicoide, a notorious political prison in Caracas that also hosts pro basketball games.👇

Reposted by Elise Thomas

trbrtc.bsky.social
Christiaan Triebert @trbrtc.bsky.social · 7d
BREAKING: Multiple oil tankers hit by U.S. sanctions appear to be making a coordinated attempt to break the U.S. naval blockade on Venezuela’s energy exports by departing all at once. w/ Anatoly Kurmanaev www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/w...
Sanctioned Oil Tankers Flee Venezuela in Defiance of U.S. Blockade
www.nytimes.com

elisethomas.bsky.social
Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 8d
www.politico.com/news/2026/01...
Trump admin sends tough private message to oil companies on Venezuela
The White House has told companies they must rebuild Venezuela's crude-pumping infrastructure if they want compensation for assets seized by Caracas.
www.politico.com

Reposted by Juan Cole, Bessma Momani

elisethomas.bsky.social
Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 8d
Guess we're just done with pretending this is about fentanyl? www.nytimes.com/2026/01/04/u...

Reposted by Joanna Bryson, Elise Thomas

bendobrown.bsky.social
Benjamin Strick @bendobrown.bsky.social · 8d
For those looking for geolocated footage from recent events in Venezuela, @geoconfirmed.org has mapped the community's crowdsourced geolocations here: geoconfirmed.org/ven

Use it and give credit where it is due. pic.x.com/i5jESLxm6T