Charlie Thomas
@cthomasjamh.bsky.social
Professor, African Military Historian, Co-Editor of the Journal of African Military History. Opinions expressed are solely mine. My book, Ujamaa’s Army, is available now!! https://www.ohioswallow.com/9780821425596/ujamaas-army
Pinned
Charlie Thomas
@cthomasjamh.bsky.social
· Nov 12
"But Charlie!" you may say, "why should *I* care about the Tanzania People's Defence Force!?" Well let me tell you a few cool things about them!
1. Following independence most African states just inherited whatever colonial troops existed as their militaries. This often led to coups and mutinies.
1. Following independence most African states just inherited whatever colonial troops existed as their militaries. This often led to coups and mutinies.
Whooooo! Although I know other folks have already gotten it, my author copies finally arrived. It's been a long road and it still feels unreal to actually have the physical copies in hand!
For all my new followers, hello! I am a historian of African militaries and African military history- and I recently published a book on the Tanzania People's Defence Forces' fascinating history! Here's a thread about why you should read it! bsky.app/profile/ctho...
Reposted by Charlie Thomas
It’s useful to think about things like this in numbers of tenure track professors.
$53M is 575 assistant professors. Or more than thirty percent of the total number of full-time faculty at LSU.
$53M is 575 assistant professors. Or more than thirty percent of the total number of full-time faculty at LSU.
November 28, 2025 at 3:38 AM
It’s useful to think about things like this in numbers of tenure track professors.
$53M is 575 assistant professors. Or more than thirty percent of the total number of full-time faculty at LSU.
$53M is 575 assistant professors. Or more than thirty percent of the total number of full-time faculty at LSU.
Reposted by Charlie Thomas
Endowing a faculty position runs about $2–3 million, in case you were wondering
LSU confirms Kelly was fired 'without cause' and is owed his full $54 million buyout
Former LSU coach Brian Kelly has received a letter from LSU confirming that he was fired without cause and is owed his full $54 million buyout.
apnews.com
November 28, 2025 at 12:08 AM
Endowing a faculty position runs about $2–3 million, in case you were wondering
Amazing.
Thanksgiving Saved From Racist Tirade After Cousin Mentions Yellowstone
hard-drive.net/thanksgiving...
hard-drive.net/thanksgiving...
Thanksgiving Saved From Racist Tirade After Cousin Mentions Yellowstone - Hard Drive
CLEVELAND — The Clark family’s Thanksgiving dinner was rescued from a potential racist tirade by family patriarch Phillip after the Paramount series... Read more nonsense
hard-drive.net
November 27, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Amazing.
Reposted by Charlie Thomas
My friend Jake (that’s Dr. Beck to you!) on the crisis in Texas universities.
www.dallasnews.com/opinion/comm...
www.dallasnews.com/opinion/comm...
Professor: Texas used to have universities
Former Texas Tech professor takes issue with the actions of Texas universities to restrict what topics can be discussed. Doing so makes them something other...
www.dallasnews.com
November 27, 2025 at 7:57 PM
My friend Jake (that’s Dr. Beck to you!) on the crisis in Texas universities.
www.dallasnews.com/opinion/comm...
www.dallasnews.com/opinion/comm...
Reposted by Charlie Thomas
I hate it when my family argues about politics at Thanksgiving. My Independent Dad is yelling at my Covenanter cousin for allying with the king while my Fifth Monarchist uncle keeps making cryptic pronouncements about the Book of Daniel, and here I am, a Leveller.
November 27, 2025 at 6:58 PM
I hate it when my family argues about politics at Thanksgiving. My Independent Dad is yelling at my Covenanter cousin for allying with the king while my Fifth Monarchist uncle keeps making cryptic pronouncements about the Book of Daniel, and here I am, a Leveller.
Reposted by Charlie Thomas
Reposted by Charlie Thomas
Happy Victory for US Arms and Down With Treasonous Slavers Day!
Uncomfortable with the First Thanksgiving Narrative? Good News, it’s Actually a Civil War Holiday
Take heart, all you who grow unsettled at the time of year where the narrative of friendly Pilgrims and American Indians is spread around to make us feel good about a brief moment in American histo…
angrystaffofficer.com
November 27, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Happy Victory for US Arms and Down With Treasonous Slavers Day!
Reposted by Charlie Thomas
Whatever the motives, it is good for elected officials to show their humility in service to those in need.
November 27, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Whatever the motives, it is good for elected officials to show their humility in service to those in need.
People angry about this are the ones that constantly scoff about “virtue signaling” as if such signals- no matter how thin- have been revealed to have been pretty load bearing in maintaining a cohesive and supportive society.
I've seen people scoffing at this as a "photo op." And I think it might be a photo op. It's a chance for people who need these services to see their new mayor and make eye contact, they can take photos. They can hear his promises and hold him to account too.
I think it's a good kind of "photo op."
I think it's a good kind of "photo op."
Combatting poverty and hunger in this city will take every single one of us. Myself included.
November 27, 2025 at 4:56 PM
People angry about this are the ones that constantly scoff about “virtue signaling” as if such signals- no matter how thin- have been revealed to have been pretty load bearing in maintaining a cohesive and supportive society.
This is an excellent thread- again, people that want to talk about what DOGE “was really about” need to reckon with the fact that most of the people involved started from an epistemic bubble where government employees were all-powerful manipulators who refused to be governed themselves.
Being among the first interrogated and ultimately fired by DOGE, I certainly felt we were facing the business end of a right-wing conspiracy theory 🧵
DOGE was not a money-saving effort. It was an effort to chase down and prove right-wing conspiracy theories. They went after USAID to prove conspiracy theories about foreign aid. Then they went after SSA to, again, pursue conspiracy theories about Dems paying "illegals" to vote. 1/2
November 27, 2025 at 4:54 PM
This is an excellent thread- again, people that want to talk about what DOGE “was really about” need to reckon with the fact that most of the people involved started from an epistemic bubble where government employees were all-powerful manipulators who refused to be governed themselves.
Reposted by Charlie Thomas
Reposted by Charlie Thomas
"One guy, it doesn't matter who, swears there's a poll out there that says people want to be invaded." What kind of sourcing is this lol
November 27, 2025 at 1:56 PM
"One guy, it doesn't matter who, swears there's a poll out there that says people want to be invaded." What kind of sourcing is this lol
bsky.app/profile/ctho... here we go! This thread helped explain why you should care about the Tanzania People’s Defence Force, which my book explores in detail!
November 27, 2025 at 7:13 AM
bsky.app/profile/ctho... here we go! This thread helped explain why you should care about the Tanzania People’s Defence Force, which my book explores in detail!
Reposted by Charlie Thomas
I think people's interest in this DC-journo train wreck is understandable (and so is the desire to unsee it); I hope folks understand that it's not a soap opera and, in fact, the reason it's so grotesque is that the people involved are treating it like one.
November 26, 2025 at 11:48 PM
I think people's interest in this DC-journo train wreck is understandable (and so is the desire to unsee it); I hope folks understand that it's not a soap opera and, in fact, the reason it's so grotesque is that the people involved are treating it like one.
Reposted by Charlie Thomas
One thing I have no patience for is "there is nothing to be thankful for" doomerism. If Americans were finding things to be thankful for in 1863, two and a half years into a bloody Civil War, when Abraham Lincoln formalized the Thanksgiving holiday, then I can find things to be thankful for too.
November 26, 2025 at 10:33 PM
One thing I have no patience for is "there is nothing to be thankful for" doomerism. If Americans were finding things to be thankful for in 1863, two and a half years into a bloody Civil War, when Abraham Lincoln formalized the Thanksgiving holiday, then I can find things to be thankful for too.
Reposted by Charlie Thomas
worth noting that she did this *at the same time as* she wrote the Big Article That Made Everyone Decide That Biden Was Old And Senile And Urgently Had To Step Aside. busy girl! busy girl.
Lizza says Nuzzi was acting as a campaign operative while pretending to be a journalist. she did catch and kill, outing sources in the campaign; she tried to get RFK surrogates on television; she wrote strategy memos. 1
While there are often some ethical issues with making free PDFs of paywalled content, in this case it seems entirely justifiable, given the author, the subject, and the journalistic imperative to provide the widest possible audience for the verb "Michael Wolffed"
gofile.io/d/Ap4v35
gofile.io/d/Ap4v35
November 27, 2025 at 12:14 AM
worth noting that she did this *at the same time as* she wrote the Big Article That Made Everyone Decide That Biden Was Old And Senile And Urgently Had To Step Aside. busy girl! busy girl.
Reposted by Charlie Thomas
i am morbidly curious about which of these is more profitable
also, it seems to be an accepted journalistic practice to know things of vital public interest and not to publish them until it is too late for the public to act on them; the way Lizza is an outlier is that he wasn't holding onto it for a book but for a substack trashing his ex
November 27, 2025 at 12:19 AM
i am morbidly curious about which of these is more profitable
Holy god.
Hey, congratulations to all of Olivia Nuzzi’s horny media critic defenders. Heckuva job!
November 27, 2025 at 12:01 AM
Holy god.
Reposted by Charlie Thomas
everyone knows the number one quality of rigorous, responsible journalism is waiting months and months to reveal urgently newsworthy information until it can cause the most harm in your personal vendettas
November 26, 2025 at 10:53 PM
everyone knows the number one quality of rigorous, responsible journalism is waiting months and months to reveal urgently newsworthy information until it can cause the most harm in your personal vendettas
Reposted by Charlie Thomas
Reposted by Charlie Thomas
American taxpayers supported one of the most life-saving global interventions in history: PEPFAR
Every American is part of that success
As with deleting women in espionage, the Tuskegee airmen, Japanese internment, this is an effort to tell “one American story” that isn’t real, whole, or glorious
Every American is part of that success
As with deleting women in espionage, the Tuskegee airmen, Japanese internment, this is an effort to tell “one American story” that isn’t real, whole, or glorious
SCOOP: The Trump administration has instructed employees and grantees not to use U.S. funds to commemorate World AIDS Day — because the observance was started by the World Health Organization.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/h...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/h...
Trump Administration Cancels U.S. Observance of World AIDS Day
www.nytimes.com
November 26, 2025 at 9:45 PM
American taxpayers supported one of the most life-saving global interventions in history: PEPFAR
Every American is part of that success
As with deleting women in espionage, the Tuskegee airmen, Japanese internment, this is an effort to tell “one American story” that isn’t real, whole, or glorious
Every American is part of that success
As with deleting women in espionage, the Tuskegee airmen, Japanese internment, this is an effort to tell “one American story” that isn’t real, whole, or glorious
Reposted by Charlie Thomas
God this is so depressing given the political response to it
"the economic response to the pandemic really worked. Indeed, there is a good case that it was the most successful example of countercyclical policy in US history." jwmason.org/slackwire/at...
At Groundwork: Lessons from the September Jobs Report – J. W. Mason
jwmason.org
November 26, 2025 at 9:34 PM
God this is so depressing given the political response to it
Reposted by Charlie Thomas
All 19th century British writers: "am I a joke to you?"
November 26, 2025 at 9:56 PM
All 19th century British writers: "am I a joke to you?"
Reposted by Charlie Thomas
imagine what we could be doing if the federal government wasn't actively trying to throttle the growth of this industry
November 26, 2025 at 7:25 PM
imagine what we could be doing if the federal government wasn't actively trying to throttle the growth of this industry
Reposted by Charlie Thomas
‘A crisis of colossal scale’: the illegal gold rush tearing #Ethiopia apart
As gold prices skyrocket, Chinese and western companies are working side by side to exploit a region ravaged by civil war
www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2025...
As gold prices skyrocket, Chinese and western companies are working side by side to exploit a region ravaged by civil war
www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2025...
‘A crisis of colossal scale’: the illegal gold rush tearing Ethiopia…
As gold prices skyrocket, Chinese and western companies are working side by side to exploit a region ravaged by civil war
www.thebureauinvestigates.com
November 26, 2025 at 6:27 PM
‘A crisis of colossal scale’: the illegal gold rush tearing #Ethiopia apart
As gold prices skyrocket, Chinese and western companies are working side by side to exploit a region ravaged by civil war
www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2025...
As gold prices skyrocket, Chinese and western companies are working side by side to exploit a region ravaged by civil war
www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2025...