You may not know this about me, but I'm kind of a big deal in the infectious diseases community. A bit of an Influenza, if you will.

I'm convinced that Nativity Scene shops are like Games Workshop for Catholic grrandmothers.

It's finally my favourite season of the year (for Chinese store knock-offs). Get your loved one some premium Coralle Klaare, Uomo, or Glavin Kelvin holiday underpants for the occasion. Marry Christmas, everyone!

Is it just me who is wildly put out by the amount of plastic surgery in Korean dramas? I have no clue who any of these actors are, but can immediately tell who is the lead in a series by how little of their face can move.

Don't know about Americans, but lots of my Jewish European friends have definitely radicalised a lot after the Oct 7th attacks in Israel. These days, they pretty much post daily conspiracy nonsense that is usually pretty boring. This one was hilarious.

Never underestimate the "love you bro" relationship strongmen have to one another. Obviously, Hitler hated Stalin. But in transcripts of conversations where Stalin is mentioned, Hitler calls him "the second greatest man of our times" referring to himself as first, obviously.

I've seen a lot of reports recently (in Israeli social media) on the stress and trauma of Israeli soldiers fighting in Gaza, and it is - to an outsider - such a jarring thing to read. Being a soldier is not a natural profession & trauma is of course something that happens. But the focus is so odd.

Decided to bring back the moustache after over a decade's absence. Overnight, I look both 100% more Middle Eastern and 120% more Spanish. True Andalusian hybrid.

Stolen from facebook specifically for @ljukic.bsky.social

I rank babies. I have been doing it for years. I can safely say that Central Asians have the best ones. All babies are great, so don't be offended. The Central Asians just happen to be the best.

Weirdest superpower move I have ever heard of, to be honest.

Technically, I guess Bluesky would be closest to Shiisim with the original bloodline (Jack Dorsey) and his closest followers building an alternate version of the much bigger orthodox version that recently came into new management.

I might go against the grain on this site a bit by saying that immigration is absolutely a salient issue in a country like the UK and that having a more stringent immigration scheme seems to be genuinely popular. But emulating the way in which the right speaks about the issue is a losing play.

Israel justified its strike on the Nasser Hospital, which killed six journalists and more than a dozen others, by claiming a "Hamas" camera was set up there. The location they attacked is where Reuters and the AP livestream. From me and others (see byline/contribs) www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/w...

For all the criticisms of Wikipedia, when used correctly, it is a valuable source of information on nearly every subject broken down in an understandable format. One of the fears that I have is that traffic to the site and other resources will plummet as a result of search engine AI integration.

You can test if your AI can understand the concept of irony by asking about this article.

Could someone who speaks Chinese please tell me what these "spicy strips" are? This is one of the weirdest flavours I can't quite place.

Does anyone know a good book on Saddam's 1979 Baath Party purge? I am specifically looking into the al-Khuld Hall massacre and how it came about.

I spend a more than healthy amount of time looking at babies (I love babies). I have come to the conclusion that Koreans make excellent babies and that the world should do more to help them make more of them.

Giving thanks today to the fact that I've lived in the Middle East long enough as a teenager and as an adult not to have that weird diaspora identity crisis where everything is about a romanticised "back home" worldview.

I see consistency in Ankara vis-a-vis YPG. Differences among ruling elites are not as big as what various interpretations assume. Concretely, Fidan's latest statement does not fall very far from Bahceli's position that expects all PKK affiliates including the YPG to lay down arms.

The U.S. Presidential three segment Rousseau-inspired system has been super interesting analytically because it is such a unique success. By that, I mean that in every case it was applied outside of the U.S., it turned into a massive failure empowering strongmen autocracies and massive corruption.

Every Instagram "sponsored" post I get in the stories is just the saddest looking guy ever, pretending to be wealthy, in front of a podcast mic. They are all selling the same thing. I.e. - selling what they don't have.

📣1 PhD fellow position open at Department of Political Science, University of Oslo. 👉We invite applications from excellent candidates in all sub-fields of political science. 📅Deadline: September 1st, 2025 www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...

I don't know if anyone remembers the Siyaset podcast, but I thought I'd tell you I'm at it again with a new podcast being produced for the The Amargi. If you like to learn about Middle Eastern culture, politics, and social movements, please have a listen to it when the first episode comes out :)

BBC International Editor Jeremy Bowen has confirmed that the entire Al Jazeera team in Gaza City has been killed.

Depending on how this is managed, this is a preferrable outcome in lots of inter-state conflicts with strong identity politics and historix grievances. Same case for Korea-Japan etc.

My neighbour has an adorable one year old. But while he is an adorable little baby, he looks almost exactly like Hasbulla. How do I tactfully give the parents this information?

Reis power moves.

As any Euro-defence person will tell you we don't need 5% GDP mil spending right now but better overall coordination in integrated procurement, development, and production. What we don't think so much about now is what this means for lobbying in the future.

One of the things I am most proud of about Europe is how well the police are trained to de-escalate potentially violent situations and use deadly force only when there are no possible alternatives. Sure, there is legitimate criticism regarding protests etc. But the alternative is jarring.

The whole situation is beyond depraved. The starvation of hundreds thousands - the majority of which are under the age of 18 - is happening without any repercussions for those conducting this horrible crime. Yet the worst thing for me is how popular this is amongst regular people in Israel.

"Airdrops will not reverse the deepening starvation," UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X on Saturday. "They are expensive, inefficient & can even kill starving civilians. It is a distraction & screensmoke." www.cbsnews.com/news/israel-...

"Marius doing gymnastics in public aged 70 in order to prove Sulla wasn't the only manly guy in town" vibes. I know it's a literally ancient reference, but it is amusing when history repeats itself in the most pathetic ways possible sometimes.

I got this Chinese chilli oil sauce, and I couldn't be happier. It is the one with actual meat in the sauce, and it is mind-blowingly good. Apparently, it is illegal in the U.S. but not in the EU (because Freedom). Here, I am offending both the Chinese and Italians by having it on Gnocchi.

Man, I love European Desserts.

There is literally no reason to do this. If you want to know where Bolsonaro is, just call the hospitals until you get the right one.

A question for everyone on here - Does anyone have an idea of who might be the leading expert today on modern Assyrians or on modern Assyrian nationalism?

INVESTIGATION: The Israeli army is using Chinese-made drones affixed with grenade launchers to enforce expulsion orders across Gaza, with soldiers saying they deliberately target civilians so others will ‘learn’ not to return. By Yuval Abraham @mekomit.bsky.social www.972mag.com/drones-grena...

As repeated a million times, I don't care one bit about internal U.S. politics. But it is definitely fascinating seeing the current admin fully exploit the potential of rural-urban identity politics in ways former governments have been unwilling to do not to risk state collapse.

My kid reading the old Tintin book they got: "Dad, look! It's you!"

Learning more and more about the Italian economy, work culture, governance, and everything else, you feel extremely bad for Italian youth. I know we are all having a hard time, but man, it doesn't look great looking at the future as a young Italian.

Living for decades in Europe, I can count on one hand the number of times I have seen people with mobility scooters (all very elderly). Why is it that in American films and documentaries, these things seem to be everywhere? Is there an insurance reason?

One random thing I miss about the Middle East in how shop owners will put numbers on their shops signs if they own more than one. So if someone, let's say, owns Azad Supermarket, his next supermarket will be called Azad Supermarket 2, 3 etc. I.e., shop names get the Marvel treatment.

I found out there is a place relatively close to me with Nasi Lemak, and I can't think of anything else. How do I go ahead with my planned dinner knowing that Nasi Lemak is this close?

Trump signs executive order ending decades-old Syria sanctions. The sweeping directive unwinds layers of sanctions but maintains Syria's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism. www.al-monitor.com/originals/20...

My kid got some old Tintin comics from our elderly neighbours and has been devouring them since. But, I had kind of forgotten some parts of the comic after a few decades of not reading it...

I am a simple man. I see cheese at the market and I buy it. You can, too.

Unprecedented Mediterranean behaviour when the bus driver (already 12 minutes late to stop) runs off after letting us on, just to come back with a packet of smokes and casually get in the bus.