Chinese ICE Detainee Dies by Suicide at Pennsylvania Detention Center theintercept.com/2025/08/07/i...

Great to have Joseph on this episode of the show.

@grumplicio.us Hey David, is there an email I can reach you at?

Clearer video of Israeli airstrike on the Tajrish neighborhood of Tehran on June 15. The attack struck a crowded traffic junction with what appears to be a Rampage air-launched ballistic missile. From the footage one can only conclude that the civilian casualties were intended:

Strong essay by @mazmhussain.bsky.social on why Gaza is a genocide. mazmhussain.substack.com/p/death-and-...

My podcast interview with @mazmhussain.bsky.social on US Iran talks and prospects for breakthrough or war www.dropsitenews.com/p/us-and-ira...

New article on Substack: Did Al Qaeda Win the War on Terror? mazmhussain.substack.com/p/did-al-qae...

“The US… famously won every battle in the Vietnam War. After all the blood has been spilled, Israelis will still be surrounded by a hostile region that is now rearming and reorienting itself around Tel Aviv as its primary threat.” mazmhussain.substack.com/p/netanyahus... @mazmhussain.bsky.social

On the @dropsitenews.com podcast with @mazmhussain.bsky.social about… The president’s unchecked authority to start economic wars The dangerous way US economic policy is now a subset of national security policy The impact of Trump’s tariffs on de-dollarization www.dropsitenews.com/p/trump-decl...

NEW at @dropsitenews.com | Grassroots Resistance Builds Against Israeli Occupation of Southern Syria Locals in southern Syria are taking up arms against an Israeli occupation that began after Assad’s fall. By @mazmhussain.bsky.social www.dropsitenews.com/p/syria-occu...

NEW: DoD and State are in an internal fight with the CIA over the future of U.S. policy in Asia. The issue relates in part to the role of the Pakistani military-intelligence establishment, with the CIA favoring close ties and DoD and State wanting distance. www.dropsitenews.com/p/trump-kabu...

Thoughtful and provocative by @mazmhussain.bsky.social. mazmhussain.substack.com/p/what-is-to...

New Substack post with a personal reflection on the war in Gaza: mazmhussain.substack.com/p/what-is-to...

"The level of callousness and disregard for likely civilian casualties." @mazmhussain.bsky.social on what the Signal leaks reveals about the Trump national security team.

New book haul

New books:

Medo Halimy was a TikTok influencer in Gaza who gained nearly 200K followers for videos showing his “tent life.” Halimy was killed in August what was reported as an airstrike. But doctors and CT scans suggest he was actually killed by a gunshot wound to the head: open.substack.com/pub/dropsite...

NEW: Columbia University has launched a new office to secretly investigate students over Israel-Palestine protests using Title VI civil rights legislation that would deem protests against Israel as "discriminatory harassment" punishable by law. www.dropsitenews.com/p/columbia-u...

After speaking with many young people recently who have expressed feeling a sense of ennui and psychological drift I have put together a reading list of books that were most influential on me over the years. Hope its helpful: mazmhussain.substack.com/p/a-recommen...

NEW at @dropsitenews.com: Israel Launches Major Air Assault on Damascus Israeli airstrikes and ground incursions threaten to destabilize Syria as it struggles to recover from a decade-plus civil war Story by @mazmhussain.bsky.social & Ali Younes www.dropsitenews.com/p/israel-lau...

The water’s nice, come on in

NEW from @dropsitenews.com: As Modi Visits D.C., Sikh Americans Say Surveillance and Threats Continue An alleged transnational campaign of killings and intimidation targeting Sikh dissidents has not abated. Read the full story by @mazmhussain.bsky.social ⬇️ www.dropsitenews.com/p/as-modi-vi...

🎧 NEW at @dropsitenews.com: Pankaj Mishra on the Meaning of the Genocide in Gaza Indian author and journalist Pankaj Mishra joins Drop Site’s @mazmhussain.bsky.social for a discussion about his new book “The World After Gaza: A History." www.dropsitenews.com/p/pankaj-mis...

Love this report from inside post-Assad Syria by @mazmhussain.bsky.social mazmhussain.substack.com/p/the-road-t...

Personal reflection on a recent journey to postwar Syria: open.substack.com/pub/mazmhuss...

Every one of these guys thinks they’re Oppenheimer mixed with Andrew Carnegie and they own something called SplortDotCom that got bought by Boozoo

Here’s my latest filed from Damascus. It’s about a famous shrine called Sayyida Zeinab in the Damascus suburbs and how it now may help determine the future of Syria: www.dropsitenews.com/p/damascus-s...

Who knows if these anecdotes are entirely true but it's interesting to reflect on the difference between how a foreign policy perma-elite (cycling between govt and think tank) must deal with partners who they will likely see again and again vs. independently wealthy non-experts who don't give a shit

NEW: Former Syrian intelligence officials we spoke with say missing American reporter Austin Tice may have been moved out of Syria by the regime prior to its collapse. The U.S. government is also investigating this possibility as it continues to search for him: www.dropsitenews.com/p/austin-tic...

Every story like this reminds me of the epilogue to The Elementary Particles by Michel Houellebecq. I actually didn't enjoy most of the book but the ending left me genuinely shaken.

Journalist Anas Al-Sharif removes his helmet and announces a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel. His voice steady as his fellow Palestinians lift him into the air in celebration. For 15 months, the Al-Jazeera correspondent has reported on the genocide of his people in Gaza.

Because of course *CHINA DISCUSSES SALE OF TIKTOK US TO MUSK AS A POSSIBLE OPTION

Incredible that it turned out to be Trump who delivered a ceasefire in Gaza in the end by refusing to have it continue into his term. Biden was content with letting a pointless slaughter continue on indefinitely.

Hamas has accepted the deal on the table

More incredible reporting from Brianna Sacks in Pacific Palisades www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2025...

I promise you're going to be glad you read this new @dropsitenews.com story from me, @worqas.bsky.social & @mazmhussain.bsky.social

Reading:

This chart is why I live in New York. Its literally cheaper than living in Toronto and saves some money.

Powerful dispatch from Post reporter Brianna Sacks, covering the Palisades Fire in her hometown: www.washingtonpost.com/video/climat...

The significance of the Meta fact checking thing isn't as much the substance of the announcement—little evidence "fact checking" really accomplished anything in the first place—but rather the company's overt effort to placate the American political right

Good test here if there's actually a conservative audience that would pay for this. Melania sort of famously was ignored by women's magazines because they knew their audiences and they didn't want to see/read about her.

I don't even think that Syria's new rulers should spend that much time negotiating with Europe aside from technical matters. Talk to the U.S., China, and regional countries at official level. Europe is not strategically autonomous.

More than a thousand protesters marched in San Francisco’s Union Square, demanding the immediate release of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, who was recently abducted by the Israeli occupation forces. You can sign Drop Site’s petition calling for his release below.

here’s elon musk under his pseudonym “adrian dittman” chastising laura loomer for suggesting he might be elon musk in a twitter space he joined to beef with loomer

There should be a process of accountability for past crimes in Syria but not to the extent of pushing former regime elements to a wall where they feel their only option left is to create an insurgency to fight back. This is what lost the U.S. not just the Iraq War but the war in Afghanistan as well.

“Many in Serbia blame the collapse on widespread corruption and sloppy work on the railway station building in the city of Novi Sad that was twice renovated in recent years as part of questionable mega projects involving Chinese state companies.” apnews.com/article/serb...

I was actually wondering how similar Ukrainian and Russian are to one another. Due to political circumstances it’s become a faux pas to confuse them.

Spoke to Farnaz Fassihi for this excellent report on the multifaceted energy crisis hitting Iran. In September, Pezeshkian was ambitiously talking about an 8% growth target. The challenge he faces is that sanctions and structural issues compound economic pain. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/21/w...