The head of Tunisia's Truth and Dignity Commission, which investigated crimes committed by the previous dictatorship, is now imprisoned by the next dictatorship.

Well put! Moral havoc can ensnare its apparent beneficiaries. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/24/o...

“Twenty-two staff members I made love to,” the senator wrote in his diary, “and probably 75 others I’ve had a passionate relationship with.” www.nytimes.com/2026/06/06/u...

“Yet if there is any lesson from the four years of death and devastation, since Israel elected the most far-right government in its history, it is that even seemingly small ideological and dispositional differences are a matter of life and death.” www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

Of Dildos and Men. www.thebulwark.com/p/bill-pulte...

From the U.S. side, the single denial of the claims in the article comes from an anonymous White House official. It’s unclear to me why anonymity was granted. NYTimes should‘ve insisted on naming the source of denial (of, apparently, an official report) or just said the WH refused to comment.

Another case of an IDF infantry veteran confirming that during the opening phase of the Gaza war, formal Rules of Engagement were not issued at all, creating a vacuum where some tactical commanders told their units to kill all “military-aged males” on sight. www.economist.com/interactive/...

1 9 8 4

The man is cardless, and in denial about his cardlessnes.

With global attention focused elsewhere, Erdogan is back to a familiar playbook. Like autocrats everywhere, he likes choosing his own challengers. he might also be considering a Putin-Medvedev-style stunt to bypass term limits. uk.news.yahoo.com/opposition-c...

You can get to a high-warming world without high emissions . That's the part of this week's "RCP 8.5 is implausible" discussion that's getting missed. A short thread on why the relief is premature 🧵

Senator Van Hollen setting some of the terms for the next Democratic presidential primaries debates. And almost naming names for the 2024 fiasco. Noteworthy. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/26/o...

I mean, the guy has “Jeffrey” and “Donald” in his name. He didn’t stand a chance. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Or: the Netanyahu coalition knows it has crossed a point of no turn with int’l public opinion in 2024 on account of Gaza. And since then the priorities have been Bebe’s survival, keeping the “base” in the fold, and sustaining biblical hallucinations as a political project by the extreme right.

The Beautiful American.

Except when there is civil war, I never understand what writers mean when they describe a country as “ungovernable.” To my ears it sounds like a people have ceased to be capable of politics and have switched to pre-society. Which is technically infeasible. —>

Truly excellent — revealing more about bureaucracies and policy responses to major catastrophes/failures than about Tulsi G and her largely invisible stint. www.thebulwark.com/p/tulsi-gabb...

yes, Democrats can’t have it both ways — propose themselves as the bulwark against autocracy, but also be so apathetic and incompetent in combating the threat.

The DNC “autopsy“ of what went wrong in the 2024 presidential election has finally been released. And it resembles the problem it examines in at least one fundamental respect: shocking incompetence. m.youtube.com/watch?v=-0Lt...

This piece is excellent for many reasons. But it has a weakness: it only gives a passing nod to the important implication that Ahmadinejad may have spied for Israel. Given the reporters had access to Ahmedinjad people, they should’ve asked them and explored this further.

That Alabama elected official is putting “big” back in bigotry.

i think it would be a brilliant move if the next general election is turned — as apparently Wes Streeting envisions — into a referendum on rejoining the EU. This might be Labor’s best shot to halt Farage’s ascendancy. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

How dreadful that cynical man has claimed the word reform for his latest foray into political partying. Now all us must say “reform” whenever we refer to the outfit of an authoritarian, allegedly corrupt political hack.

A smart and necessary piece linking the scholarship on rights claiming to AI. For one thing, it reminds us anew that individuals, communities and governments do have power over AI development— and not just OpenAI and co.

“International Relations” egghead talk goes mainstream. The “Thucydides Trap” is one of the more evocative phrases since “mutually assured destruction.” www.nytimes.com/2026/05/14/w...

Part of the genius of the United States is her capacity for renewal, rebirth and, eventually, course correction. In between those episodes of renewal, however, you get leaders like this guy below. He disparages the advocates of renewal b/c they topple his ilk.

This is a very sad story. Its causes are plain to nearly all in academia: little or no recognition for yrs of work, constant competition for jobs, grants and awards, near constant rejection in publishing endeavors, and how academic celebrity can catapult you ahead of all of those woes.

I'm happy to announce my book "Counterrevolution in Egypt: Sisi's New Republic" is now available for pre-order!

If you haven’t read it, definitely get it. 🤩 Love the way threads of different disciplines are woven together. I’m only part of the way in and have teared up, laughed out loud, and made a sizeable list of next reads based on references. 👏Amazing! Thank you @chanda.blacksky.app! 🪐 ⚛️ 🤯 #booksky

Support and love to my former colleague. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/30/w...

#TheHormuzTax. When they go high, them prices, we go low.

Democrats should call it the Hormuz Tax, the blanket increase in prices. And compare the situation now to 2012 when Iran threatened to close the “straits” but a competent White House averted that. Leon Panetta, then Def Sec, documents this in detail on his book Worthy Fights.

Point # 2 is indeed crucial and is perhaps the more difficult task going forward. For decades the Court and its Nine have been mythologized, even by their detractors. ” Literally,” as Tucker Carlson might put it.

For embattled Patel, this won’t end well. www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...

Excellent, and overdue. Now the turn of other presidential hopefuls to serve fresh and necessary laws. ”Dynamic pricing“ is among capitalism’s most insidious inventions.

petrodollar hubris + presuming permanence in what is changeable + disrespecting geography = >> www.nybooks.com/online/2026/...

Orban's system was rigged to give plurality winners with widespread support in the countryside super-majorities in the parliament - so Peter Magyar generated widespread support in the countryside and has been rewarded with 69% of the parliamentary seats. Now he can undo Orban's constitution!

Viva pastorala!

Droned out!

The Vanity Fair article in July 2008 reporting, among other things, that Bill Clinton continued to associate with Epstein’s despite the latter’s known criminal record. archive.vanityfair.com/article/2008...

Western Washington is currently experiencing record flooding from a series of strong atmospheric rivers. 12 rivers are at major flood stage. 100,000 people await evacuation orders. Will some places see less severe climate impacts than others? Yes. Does anywhere promise safe haven? Absolutely not.

Rep. Jacob Rosecrants is in touch with State Rep. Jared Deck (Norman) and Rep. Tom Cole (Repub). The office of U.S. Sen. James Lankford (Repub) has been made aware. They can't find Dr. Abedini's location. Important for several reasons including filing habeas corpus docs. URL: x.com/jacobrosecra...

The click-bait scourge is more and more rampant among NYT headline editors — a cheapening of a great legacy.

Having contrarian views as part of the marketplace of ideas is good and healthy for society. Brandishing contrarianism as your brand or shtick as a writer is childish, or dangerous. Looking at you two NYT conservative columnists.

Repost this everywhere you’re active on social media. Send to your friends and family who aren’t.

Maryland court orders temporary suspension of (illegal) annual asylum fees, enacted in July 2025 legislation. www.uscis.gov/newsroom/ale...

يلحُّ علَيّ منذ أسابيع العنوان الآسر -- التراجيدي -- لرواية يوسف السباعي التي عرفنا كمسلسل إذاعي وفيلم ثم كمسلسل تليفزيوني: نحن لا نزرع الشوك. صحيح أن الرواية تصطبغ بطابع ميلودرامي، ولكنها تلقي أيضا أسئلة سرمدية تذكرني بتلك التي طرحها سٍفر أيوب في الإنجيل.

In this article Cheney comes across as a tragic, paranoid figure. He did the decidedly non-Conservative thing (think Edmund Burke) of believing in and enacting a history-correcting vision, one in which the enlargement of presidential authority necessary, good and urgent. by @maxboot.bsky.social

💚 to books and book authors. 💚