Amélie Koran (webjedi)'s Avatar

Amélie Koran (webjedi)

@webjedi.bsky.social

Security Hobo, Itinerant Technologist, Policy Anti-Wonk, Former Senior Fellow at The Atlantic Council, Teller of Tales for Darknet Diaries #91 (and other venues). All opines are my own. RS/Fav/Follow≠Endorsement.

944 Followers  |  391 Following  |  132 Posts  |  Joined: 27.04.2023  |  1.7997

Latest posts by webjedi.bsky.social on Bluesky

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Amazing Fantastic Incredible: A Marvelous Memoir Stan Lee is a man who needs no introduction. The most legendary name in the history of comic books, he has been the leading creative force behind Marvel Comics, and has brought to life—and into the ma...

I'm always a little bummed at simplistic or revised history to follow a narrative.

Looking up reviews - it definitely glossed over a lot of his life - but always entertaining when you realize which holes may exist.

www.amazon.com/Amazing-Fant...

24.11.2025 02:52 — 👍 3    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Seems they very much over indexed on Spider-Man the initial Iron Man films, but gave no mention of X-Men which proved that comic book (ensemble) movies could be profitable. We had Blade a few years prior, but was seemingly ignored in most history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe beginnings.

24.11.2025 02:48 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

I still have a snapshot of the entire website (because I managed all the infrastructure and hosting, so there's some archival art and animation that needs to find its way to the Internet Archive shortly.)

There were a few other projects, but need to dive into my backups and notes.

24.11.2025 02:47 — 👍 3    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

The Conan and Striperella properties were negotiated during SLM's existence, but god credited in a very murky period in the book. They also missed that SLM worked on a 7th Portal ride for the Six Flags parks, which was a good chunk of work in the Summer of 2000. As well as The Backstreet Project.

24.11.2025 02:44 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

They very much glossed over the failure that was Stan Lee Media, and spun it merely as a way to give Bill Clinton a departing send off in 2000 in LA... and focused only on POW Entertainment - skipping the debacles of his startup of 1998-2000. It was kind of sad, given there were other references.

24.11.2025 02:42 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

While waiting for my winter tires to be mounted, I stopped in our local used book store - and came across a comic adaptation of Stan Lee's biography... and flipped to the one spot I knew a bit more about - and wow, talk about revisionist history. I thought I was disturbing folks with my cackle.

24.11.2025 02:40 — 👍 4    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0
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The Trump administration’s new weapon against foes: Mortgage filings The Trump administration’s weaponization of mortgage filings, experts say, is an escalation in the way his officials seek to penalize, remove or even jail adversaries.

Hearing all the charges now being levied… I found it curious that “mortgage fraud” is a leading charge… saw WaPo is covering it as well. This is a strange tactic given push back by the courts for prior dismissals and firings.

wapo.st/4mwAqR8

26.08.2025 11:39 — 👍 2    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 0

I’ve never listened and seen a press conference from DC that has scared me more than this rambling FB and off-centered affair.

I’ve lived in MD, VA and DC… been here off and on since 1990, and have never felt unsafe in this area.

I also fear for my friends and family also now targeted in this PC.

11.08.2025 15:19 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Well, since it’s on the other socials - I was laid off last week from my role at Walmart long with 1500+ other corporate associates.

So, this means I’m looking… but in the intermediate time between then and a new gig (taking suggestions), I am available for consultancy and media events. So, DM me.

27.05.2025 17:03 — 👍 2    🔁 1    💬 2    📌 0

Any particular day that worked well… I may try to be organizationally inclined.

22.04.2025 20:01 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

Well, I’m down with Pho… as for organizing… somebody will have to give me items and preferences… it’s my first time for #RSAC (weird, I know)

22.04.2025 16:06 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

Seems Hegseth should just head on over to the War Thunder forums already and get it over with.

24.03.2025 22:27 — 👍 5    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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The Personnel Filing Cave I swear, there’s nothing like blatant misinformation to get me back to regular writing. I mean, most of our initial warnings during our election security panels I moderated really focused on non-techn...

Saw a B.S. post from DOGE on that “other” platform posting a B.S. “revelation” without proper context.

Sadly, all of the data is from an old @washingtonpost.com article about the facility and practices.

But I also wrote an explainer, with math.

www.linkedin.com/pulse/person...

14.02.2025 02:12 — 👍 3    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0

Weird, because as a Fed who was in various technology roles, including a CIO and CTO role that we, indeed, used SQL among many other database query languages.

A simple contract examination will highlight products purchased, and source code analysis will bring to light.

Wait, they didn’t do that?!

12.02.2025 11:43 — 👍 3    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Let's Talk About Oversight, Baby. Let's talk about oversight baby. Let's talk about you and me.

DOGE is not the answer, nor even a reasonable suggestion for government oversight and efficiency. There's already a function that works well and returns a multiplier of investment of each dollar that does in to combat waste, fraud and abuse... I'll tell you why...

www.linkedin.com/pulse/lets-t...

12.02.2025 04:01 — 👍 3    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 1

A friend of mine worked with that effort at USDS too… shame.

04.02.2025 00:40 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

Bro… seemed like Chad was picking a fight… I mean, he’s spicy

04.02.2025 00:39 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0
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The Popehat Report A Complaint About Law, Liberty, and Leisure.

Well, he’s supposedly a lawyer and former Federal prosecutor.

www.popehat.com/c/about

Also, pretty sure the DOGE folks haven’t been fully cleared, not even with a Public Trust clearance for CUI. I get cleared pretty fast, and I don’t believe I got in under two weeks.

04.02.2025 00:19 — 👍 8    🔁 0    💬 3    📌 0

The term you’re looking for is “regulatory capture”… even if it means no regulation.

03.02.2025 22:20 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Very on brand for ya! TY!

03.02.2025 15:42 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
How to: Use Signal Download location: Google Play Store, Apple App Store System requirements: Android 5 or later, iOS 13 or later Version used in this guide: Android: 7.0. iPhone: 7.0 License: GPLv3 Level: Beginner Time...

Some useful Surveillance Self Defense links for people who want to lock their shit down right now:

Attending a protest: ssd.eff.org/module/atten...

How to Use Signal: ssd.eff.org/module/how-t...

Security starter pack: ssd.eff.org/playlist/wan...

03.02.2025 06:09 — 👍 1689    🔁 991    💬 72    📌 33

Also a constituent who knows how these attacked agencies work and has a clue as to cybersecurity and IT ops… if you need some ideas on defensive tactics, give me a call.

Otherwise get to work and stop this - you’re the other branch of three in Federal government…

03.02.2025 03:50 — 👍 15    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

They should not. Just because they work for part of EOP/OMB does not give them carte blanche in agency systems, where many bureaus and offices are segmented, and some classified as national security systems with stringent access requirements. These lackeys are 100% not cleared by normal means.

03.02.2025 03:41 — 👍 12    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

No

03.02.2025 03:22 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

It'd be nice if they had an actual public service background, were involved in non-profit work, or possibly engaged in civic-tech... but nah, all Musk clinger ons

03.02.2025 01:30 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

...and I say this as a co-founder of USDS in the Summer of 2014.

03.02.2025 01:27 — 👍 14    🔁 0    💬 2    📌 0

USDS was an arm that was created in 2014 out of the WH's OSTP and OMB OFCIO.

It was funded via the ITOR budget, and IIRC, at last check had a budget of $80m.

It has the fastest hiring process in EOP, with Schedule A & Special Hiring Authority capability.

This is the quickest way to onboard & pay.

03.02.2025 01:25 — 👍 18    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

---> Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency <---

In September 2019, background investigations were transferred from OPM's NBIB to Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency.

03.02.2025 01:22 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Make note, OPM has determinations, but the clearance process, after the 2014 series of hacks, was moved to the joint OPM/DoD NBIB, and then later to Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency as of September 2019.

03.02.2025 01:21 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Amélie Koran on LinkedIn: USDS Pilot Observations - Memorandum to OMB OFCIO All those fancy threat actors (TAs) that Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Federal Enterprise has gone at length about attacking our…

Questions to ask given DOGE bastardizing the funding (ITOR) and hiring authorities to bring in untrusted and unvetted staff to access highly critical Federal systems away from USDS.

How is this possible? I had an original memo from 2014 about issues in USDS.

www.linkedin.com/posts/webjed...

02.02.2025 18:19 — 👍 3    🔁 3    💬 0    📌 1

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