This week Lebanon's deputy PM met with Syrian counterparts in Damascus; they discussed, among other issues, Syrian detainees in Lebanon: sana.sy/presidency/2... sana.sy/politics/233... I wrote for @centuryintl.bsky.social on why the issue is so difficult to resolve: tcf.org/content/comm...

@haidhaid22.bsky.social for Al-Majalla on how the Syrian government's over-optimistic narratives about investment and recovery are a missed opportunity to build trust with a Syrian public whose circumstances remain austere and difficult: en.majalla.com/node/328351/...

In video from occupied southern Syria, Israeli ambassador to U.S. says that, post-October 7, Israel will no longer accept "foreign armies" on its border – highlights how Israel refuses to acknowledge the sovereignty of its regional neighbors. x.com/yechielleite...

New bop youtu.be/gDb91xKfa4E Thank you The Kibitz @connorgoldsmith.bsky.social @jordanblok.bsky.social

@washingtonpost.com team on Israeli settler marauders now loose in the West Bank: www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...

@thenationalnews.com' Nada Homsi reports from the western Homs countryside, where she talks to Syrians who returned from Lebanon to a Quseir suburb that was basically erased: www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

This week Lebanon's deputy PM met with Syrian counterparts in Damascus; they discussed, among other issues, Syrian detainees in Lebanon: sana.sy/presidency/2... sana.sy/politics/233... I wrote for @centuryintl.bsky.social on why the issue is so difficult to resolve: tcf.org/content/comm...

In this 2023 @centuryintl.bsky.social @tcfdotorg.bsky.social report, I wrote about how Lebanon's dependence on foreign assistance – including for its army – had compromised Lebanese sovereignty: tcf.org/content/repo...

DoD now using the name 'Northern Landing Zone' for the Qasrak/Jabal Ghul base in NW al-Hasakah. Reports that US presence has largely consolidated to three bases in al-Hasakah: NLZ, Rumeilan Landing Zone (RLZ), and Patrol Base al-Shaddadi (PBS) www.dvidshub.net/image/940506... 36.706242, 40.511955

The medal is one reason I think people trying to figure out exactly which decade/s the movie takes place in are missing the point a little bit; it’s an alternate America that’s even 🇺🇸 more 🇺🇸 America 🇺🇸 (Also, watched again, still rips)

And for a double-dose of Debbie Downer, food costs for Thanksgiving dinner have jumped 10 percent since last year. In particular, spiral hams have gone up nearly 50 percent!! tcf.org/content/comm...

ICYMI: My colleagues have run the numbers on rising heat and electric costs going into this winter, and it's not pretty. What's especially troubling is that many households are borrowing money to pay their utility bill, and many more have those debts in collection. tcf.org/content/comm...

Q: Are you affirming that you think President Trump is a fascist? MAMDANI: I've spoken about-- TRUMP: That's okay. You can just say yes. I don't mind.

It rocks that the online voice of the US government is "computer-damaged reactionary virgin."

I think WINEP is probably more pernicious than FDD, mainly because FDD is understood to more straightforwardly partisan, whereas WINEP cultivates figures from both major parties and enlists them in its pro-Israel project.

My latest for @centuryintl.bsky.social @tcfdotorg.bsky.social: On why it's difficult for Lebanon and Syria to strike a deal to repatriate Syrians held in Lebanese prisons, and what that says about the two countries' relationship going forward: tcf.org/content/comm...

Larry Summers’s co-teacher at Harvard: “We will miss his insights and his wisdom” Student: “NO WE WON’T” dude pretends he doesn’t hear, then intros Tony Blair lmao

Ghada Abdulfattah and @sparksriley.bsky.social for @newhumanitarian.bsky.social on the ways Israel continues to throttle aid to Gaza, even post-ceasefire: www.thenewhumanitarian.org/feature/2025...

In an interview today, Netanyahu says the following •There will never be a Palestinian state, even if this means no normalization with Saudi Arabia •Israel won't leave the occupied Syrian territories •Israel would like a deal with Turkey but is prepared to treat it like Iran

@afp.com's Layal Abou Rahal and @aciltab.bsky.social on how the U.S. is now punishing the Lebanese army for not doing enough to disarm Hizbullah at Israel's behest: www.rfi.fr/en/middle-ea...

Political prisoner or terrorist? The question lies at the heart of the latest diplomatic challenge between Lebanon and Syria, as the latter tries to repatriate thousands of its nationals held in Lebanese prisons. (1/3)

My latest for @centuryintl.bsky.social @tcfdotorg.bsky.social: On why it's difficult for Lebanon and Syria to strike a deal to repatriate Syrians held in Lebanese prisons, and what that says about the two countries' relationship going forward: tcf.org/content/comm...

L'Orient-Le Jour/Today reports that Israeli strike on Ain al-Hilweh camp yesterday killed more than a dozen teens playing soccer: today.lorientlejour.com/article/1485...

I'm struck by this clip of former Obama speechwriter Sarah Hurwitz saying Holocaust education has backfired in part because people Palestinians as victims: "They think the lesson of the Holocaust is…you fight the big powerful people hurting the weak people." www.reddit.com/r/JewsOfCons...

Key findings from REACH @unhcr.org whole of Syria IDP intentions survey (conducted in September): repository.impact-initiatives.org/document/imp...

Underrated part of 2019 @davidfolkenflik.bsky.social piece on media failures on Epstein: when NYT took its reporter who had been conspiring with Epstein for years off of a 2018 Epstein-Musk story, Epstein immediately said freak stuff to the new guy: www.npr.org/2019/08/22/7...

I recently visited Raqqa, Hassakeh & Qamishli. With the help of the talented Khabat Abas I sat with AANES & SDF officials, members of chambers of trade and industry and businesspeople to understand better the northeast region at this critical juncture in history.

Something funny about Larry Summers musing about how clever he was in calling women dumb while asking Mr Sex Crimes about how to run game

Minutes from October 20 meeting of Food Security & Basic Needs Working Group in Jordan provide detail on cash for return program on Jordan side: data.unhcr.org/en/documents...

@unhcr.org Lebanon update on Syrian refugee voluntary repatriation program, as of 31 October: data.unhcr.org/en/documents...

@unhcr.org Lebanon Syrian returns and movements snapshot, as of October 31: data.unhcr.org/en/documents...

Israelis reportedly asking Trump administration for military aid deal that would provide even more support annually, over a 20-year timeframe that would insulate Israel from increasingly critical opinion in U.S.: www.axios.com/2025/11/13/i...

@reason.com's @matthewpetti.bsky.social on some of Epstein's Middle East links, including with Tom Barrack: reason.com/2025/11/13/j...

@dropsitenews.com's @mazmhussain.bsky.social and @ryangrim.bsky.social on how Jeffrey Epstein hosted and delivered funds to an Israeli intelligence officer and Ehud Barak associate: www.dropsitenews.com/p/israeli-sp...

Another Reuters exclusive The Biden administration acquired evidence in the last months of its term that senior officials in the Israeli government were openly discussing the ongoing use of Palestinians as human shields by the IDF in Gaza. They sat on the evidence.

Something absolutely perfect about Larry Summers riffing about the scourge of woke cancel culture being unfair to predatory men in a friendly email to his pal JEFFREY EPSTEIN.

Trump envoy Barrack / a large language model says Syrian government will now "actively assist" U.S. in "confronting and dismantling the remnants of ISIS, the IRGC, Hamas, Hizballah, and other terrorist networks." x.com/USAMBTurkiye...

The crisis of elite impunity that is ruining our society cannot be more clearly or convincingly demonstrated than with the fact that all of these people wrote all this stuff into an email and hit Send.

CLAIM: The government is run by a secret society of pedophiles RATING: FALSE. This society is in no way a secret

“There’s something fundamentally broken about our economy when there are people who can’t afford the basics of their lives without taking on debt.” ICYMI: TCF president @jmargetta.bsky.social joined @adamconover.net to talk consumer safety and curbing corporate power.

Amazing to see these recycled arguments about the magical attributes of air power. What in recent U.S. historical experience could lead someone to write this?

@dropsitenews.com's @mazmhussain.bsky.social and @ryangrim.bsky.social on how Jeffrey Epstein apparently facilitated Israeli-Russian backchannel amid Syrian war and worked with Ehud Barak to press for military intervention against Syria and Iran: www.dropsitenews.com/p/jeffrey-ep...

I think the belief by the powerful that "people will put up with many things if you are excellent at math" is incredibly revealing in terms of understanding How We Got Here

🤙🏻

L'Orient-Le Jour's Gabriel Blondel on how Syrians' departure may impact sectors of the Lebanese economy: today.lorientlejour.com/article/1484...

@ajaltamimi.bsky.social for @syriatransition.bsky.social on the Sayyidah Zeinab shrine and Shi'ite Syrians' place in the new Syria: syriaintransition.com/en/home/arch...

I’m never going to stop finding this funny, and by ”this” I mean this whole thing.

@reuters.com team on Bedouins driven out of Suweida during July violence: www.reuters.com/world/syrias...

@dropsitenews.com's @mazmhussain.bsky.social and @ryangrim.bsky.social piece together how Jeffrey Epstein helped facilitate Israel-Cote d'Ivoire security tie-up: www.dropsitenews.com/p/jeffrey-ep...

demand shock incoming