matt bernius

Former @MforJ & @codeForAmerica. Follow 4 salty civic design, UX, Rochester & geek takes. Opinions mine alone; RTs & likes ≠ endorsement. He/They.

[matt bernius @mattBernius]

Are you interested in Civic Tech or Design? Looking to transition from academia to applied qual research? Looking for some starting resources on Trauma-Informed Methods? Do I have the community-curated resource list for you!

https://t.co/d2sJyekhDV

[matt bernius @mattBernius]

@HerecomesDrBob @trumwill Correction: MASH shouldn't be included in that list because the theme comes from the film and was explicitly intended to have lyrics.

[matt bernius @mattBernius]

@HerecomesDrBob @trumwill ... didn't actually use them.

This explains why kids growing up in the 80's with Great American Popular song books were baffles by lyrics to TV themes like "Buck Rogers," "The Incredible Hulk," and "M.A.S.H."

https://t.co/7JNUnKdKU1

[matt bernius @mattBernius]

@pyrameadhead @dizzydoinggreat Here is the full dialog from that scene:

Buffy: "You had sex with Giles?"
Joyce: "It was the candy. We were teenagers!"
Buffy: "On the hood of a police car?!"
Joyce: [glances back as she leaves] "I'll be downstairs. You feel better!"
Buffy: "Twice?!"

[matt bernius @mattBernius]

@johnniewalker65 @RadioFreeTom Not really.

All I can say is that as someone who came of age in the NYC area in the 80s/90s nothing Trump is currently doing seems particularly surprising or out of character (adjusting for age).

You disagree. That's fine. Last word is yours.

[matt bernius @mattBernius]

@poe_collector I have... Questions based on the canon of the wedding episode part 2.

I also do not need answers.

[Fightful Wrestling @Fightful]

Chad Gable apologizes to Rey Fenix for making a mockery of Lucha Libre and disrespecting him.

"We had an awesome match last year at WrestleMania, but I did it under false pretenses. The longer I wore the mask, the more I realized this isn't a joke. You're taking on a responsibility to a culture, to a people, to an entire nation, and I made a mockery of that. I'm sorry. I'm asking for forgiveness."

#SmackDown

[matt bernius @mattBernius]

Worthwhile consideration about firing intelligence agents in this current environment.

Not saying it's right or wrong, but it does speak to potentially unintended and unexpected consequences.

[John Schindler @20committee]

I realize nobody in MAGA cares, but large-scale IC firings bring enormous counterintelligence challenges. Terminated "in access" employees with bills and mortgages to pay may get desperate. That's when the walk-ins start.

This is why the IC has avoided big RiFs, historically.

[matt bernius @mattBernius]

@LondonRiverSFW Cool. I suspected. She's a great person to reach out to for inspo/feedback if you move forward with that idea.

[matt bernius @mattBernius]

@LondonRiverSFW Also, FWIW, this is a great example of a topic that your other idea could cover.

BTW, do you follow Shoshana Weissmann? If not, that's someone you should have on your radar.

[matt bernius @mattBernius]

@LondonRiverSFW On the policy development conversation, on the top challenges we face is that multiple things are often:
1. more or less correct at the same time
2. more nuanced than folks admit
3. seem contradictory at first
4. contain things tied to a key part of somebody's identity & biases

[matt bernius @mattBernius]

@TMJM114 @johnniewalker65 @RadioFreeTom yep.

[matt bernius @mattBernius]

@johnniewalker65 @RadioFreeTom Alternative take: why would Russia be willing to pay Trump (or blackmail him) when he's is willing to do this for free.

Harlon's razor is, sadly, a much easier explanation (though the overall point about the impact still stands).

https://t.co/Tc0v72np7m

[Tom Nichols @RadioFreeTom]

@mscratcher ODNI and DHS itself. Panic reaction after 9/11 that's created a multi-gazillion dollar boondoggle. 25 years of a mistake is long enough

[Ken Dilanian @KDilanianMSNOW]

Scoop from me and @CarolLeonnig:

Kash Patel fired a group of FBI intelligence analysts Friday over a rescinded 2023 memo citing “radical traditionalist Catholic ideology” that has long been a focus of MAGA activists despite an investigation that found no anti-Catholic bias, three people familiar with the matter told MS Now.

At least five analysts were let go, the sources said. The analysts worked in the FBI’s Richmond office, where the memo originated.

It was titled, “Interest of Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists in Radical-Traditionalist Catholic Ideology Almost Certainly Presents New Mitigation Opportunities.”

The memo argued that some white supremacists and racially motivated violent extremists were attempting to recruit a small subset of "radical traditionalist Catholics" and suggested that Catholic congregations could present opportunities for intelligence gathering.

After it became public, then-FBI Director Christopher Wray ordered it withdrawn.  He apologized for it in several Congressional hearings, saying it didn’t meet the the FBI’s standards.  Then Attorney General Merrick Garland called it “appalling.”

A review in 2024 by the Justice Department’s Inspector General found no evidence of anti-Catholic bias or bad intent on the part of the FBI personnel who prepared the memo.  But the IG concluded it suffered from significant analytical problems and poor tradecraft.

Some if the information in the memo came from the Southern Poverty Law Center, an anti-extremist organization that which is now the subject of a deeply controversial fraud indictment.
Republicans and MAGA activists have seized on the memo for years as evidence that the FBI was targeting Catholics, despite the inspector general’s findings.

The FBI declined to comment.

[Ruby @RubyMaeNY]

@femiiiszn The dead stranger who somehow knew exactly what Wednesday at 3pm in your century would feel like. That is the particular magic of a book that survives its author

[femiiiiii. @femiiiszn]

books are amazing because a stranger from 200 years ago can still ruin your afternoon emotionally.

[matt bernius @mattBernius]

@mscratcher @RadioFreeTom I suspect that many of the structural blockers and incentives that led to the initial problem are still in place.

[matt bernius @mattBernius]

@mscratcher @RadioFreeTom That ended up actually further complicating and embedding the system (which we have seen across multiple administrations).

Speculating: I also really wonder the degree to which it's helped the underlying pre-9/11 intelligence coordination issue. @RadioFreeTom can speak to that.