Excellent all around, by Andrew Sullivan www.nytimes.com/2025/06/26/o...

I muted the words “Fascism” and “Fascist” in my RSS reader, and now @kottke.org is readable again

@om.co when I opened my RSS reader this morning, I wasn't expecting to be treated to a history of Stents and their technological advancement as compared to iPhones... and AI! This was a joy to read, and I don't think anyone else could have written it... Thank you. om.co/2024/12/28/t...

In this interview with Saudi’s @aawsat_News , Al-Share3 (Joulani) sends all the right messages to the Arab Gulf: - Says won’t export revolution to other countries - Says he defeated the Iranian project - Praises MBS & his plans - Says he wants economic prosperity like the Gulf’s

My take on this is that if you're moderately famous and don't own your namesake domain name, unless your name is really common, this is mostly on you... tedium.co/2024/12/17/b...

I keep coming away from watching Joulani's interviews with "This man is either extremely naïve or a Machiavellian son-of-a-bitch that is running circles around everyone"

🇱🇧The battle for the Lebanese Presidency is becoming interesting again. It's still an opaque, intractable & maddeningly complex process, but now there is a new environment that has potential to upend everything. Watching the jockeying of the same players with new rules is fun

If Syrian women are not forced to cover their hair, it will be thanks to Mahsa Amini & the #WomanLifeFreedom movement in Iran—not to any ‘benevolence’ or ‘moderation’ from HTS. Joulani saw the protests in Iran & understood the high cost, unpopularity, & futility of such policies

Never forget...

Reading about the cruelty of the Assad regime prisons and its so-called justice system is one thing. Watching families recount the harrowing stories of loved ones lost to that abyss is another. The heartbreak is relentless, the cruelty unfathomable—and the stories never stop

What is the official process by which country emoji flags are changed on the various platforms? When I search for Syria I keep getting this wrong emoji: 🇸🇾

A lesson to everyone. You can’t control Middle East fires. Senwar thought the outcome of Oct 7 can be controlled. He didn’t want the Iranian Axis to fall. Netanyahu thought the outcome of bludgeoning Hezbollah can be controlled. He didn’t want Assad to fall.

The new excuse for not choosing a Lebanese president: We need to wait to know what will happen in Syria. You heard it here first.

2024 is going to go down as Hezbollah's worst year ever...

All the Lebanese complaining that Syrian warlords can’t possibly tune into normal politicians, some self awareness please.

🇮🇷 Iran: Angry 🇹🇷Turkey: Complacent 🇦🇪 Gulf Arabs: Nervous 🇱🇧 Lebanon: Paralyzed 🇪🇬 Egypt: Simmering

Never trust militant islamists, whether Sunni or Shiaa. They *always* break their promises of moderation when they assume power.

Intriguing x.com/arminarefi/s...

🇱🇧 The deal is starting to sound less like a ceasefire and more like a permission structure for Israel to shoot anything and anyone it wants in Lebanon

I made something...

Dear Syria Experts and Pundits. More mainstream audiences are reading you now. Please easy with the alphabet soup initials. People can't tell their FSAs from their HTS from their SIG, SDF, SAA...etc. It's like you're speaking another language. Please have mercy on us...

Watching Russian officials and pundits discuss Syria on Arab TV, I’m yet again impressed by their command of the Arabic Language. Over 20 years since 9/11, it’s strange that American officials still can’t match that.

The Lebanese Army as "wobbly linchpin" for the Lebanon-Israel ceasefire www.nytimes.com/2024/11/30/w...

It truly must suck to be Joe Biden. Doing years of work and preparation for the economy and foreign policy in the Middle East, only for Trump to swoop in and take all the credit as the results start emerging right after his election

This is the mirror image of Joe Rogan’s “everyone on blue sky is a libtard”. In truth, both of these platforms are tools that have their niches & uses. Both can be managed to reduce spam & hate. Some beats can only be followed on X (Middle East, AI, etc) some only here. Netflix & Prime so to speak

The ceasefire treaty’s preamble has an exhaustive list of groups allowed to carry weapons in Lebanon, from the Army to the municipal police (!!). This importantly includes all of Lebanon, not just south of the Litany. This is nothing short of a Hezbollah disarmament treaty.

“After 13 months of war, Hezbollah entered a cease-fire with Israel on Wednesday that it will struggle to convince anyone, other than its most fervent loyalists, is not in fact a defeat.” www.nytimes.com/2024/11/27/w...

🇱🇧 One day, the idea that Lebanon had an Iranian-backed militia, with a regressive theological dogma, control of the government & thousands of ballistic missiles, will feel as quaint and wrong as smoking in airplanes. Our children will ask us: What the hell were you thinking?

Maybe I’m just biased, but the people celebrating the arrival of the Lebanese Army to their villages look much more happy, numerous, and genuine than the yellow flag convoys

Probably the only region in the world where people celebrate a ceasefire by shooting in the air

احتفالاً بوقف إطلاق النار، أطلق المواطنون النار ابتهاجاً

If the end result of this cease fire agreement is the Lebanese Army doing successfully to the Land and sea borders what it did to the Airport and Port, then perhaps this war won't have been a total loss...

This is so messed up. Hezbollah MP Mohammad Raad pens an article in Al-Akhbar claiming that the Army, People, Resistance triad was what “forced” Israel to back down once more and give up on trying to occupy us. These delusional nuts are going to be the end of us www.al-akhbar.com/Politics/387...

Prediction: After the ceasefire in Lebanon, there will be a high-profile assault on Gaza to drive home the message that Lebanon and Gaza are no longer part of the same equation.

🇱🇧 Things to watch and questions to ask after the ceasefire, in no particular order 🧵: • Will the Lebanese army remain in control of the airport, seaport, and border entries? • How soon will the funeral for Sayyed Nasrallah take place? Will it be properly organized? Will there be live speakers?

Netanyahu just approved the cease fire deal with Lebanon "in principle". But remember, he has no principles... edition.cnn.com/2024/11/25/m...

🇱🇧 You can't guarantee Hezbollah won't regroup & grow stronger over time. Hezbollah's expansion is a slow, deliberate drip—too gradual to justify strikes without appearing disproportionate. This is Iran's way. What Jumblatt calls 'the patience of carpet makers'

Marketing in Lebanon 🇱🇧 : “Take advantage of our amazing discounts before our store is blown up”

Ammunition and weapons in a building: Advanced warning for evacuation Human High Value Target in a building: Unannounced strike

🇱🇧The psychological harm of destroying a random building full of people in the middle of the night cannot be measured. Anyone can be next. This is mass torture on an unprecedented level. Israel keeps pushing the boundary on villainy

Haha! Love it!

Just finished this insightful Lebanon #longread by @mahamyahya.bsky.social on ‘the day after.’ It’s compelling and puts everything into context— highly recommended. www.foreignaffairs.com/lebanon/leba...

My latest for @newyorkermag presents a kaleidoscope of views & experiences portraying the price many Lebanese are paying in this war,from steadfast Hezbollah supporters to others in heavily targeted areas who question the group’s actions, to those caught in-between www.newyorker.com/news/dispatc...

Opportunistic, pragmatic, transactional, and well versed in the nitty gritty of Lebanese politics. This profile of Massad Boulos —family member and potential Trump whisperer on Lebanon— by @aronlund.bsky.social is very much worth a read. (Via @glcarlstrom.bsky.social ) tcf.org/content/comm...

Bluesky is technically impressive, and I found here many voices I miss. But despite its fast recent growth, it still feels like a 2010 twitter costume party. An entire worldview frozen in amber that is emerging back like a lab-grown Pteranodon...

@mgsiegler.com I read so far two of your posts about your ideal TV experience. I know it’s not what you’re looking for but have you tried Plex search? That thing it great. You tell it which services you’re subscribed to and then it deep link search results to Netflix, prime, Apple TV+ etc

I did the Bluesky thing of using custom domain name for my handle. Nice and handy.

🇱🇧 If your identity is Resistance, then peace is an existential threat to you

🇱🇧 The deal optimists are either living in a different world or are literally trolling us

🇱🇧 “Sahyouni” (Zionist) and “3ameel” (foreign agent) are Lebanon’s version of “Racist” and “Nazi”. Insults originally so grave and weighty but that are thrown around so freely and gratuitously that they have lost all meaning or impact