Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Juan Cole @jricole.bsky.social · 2h

At a UCLA conference in 1980 or so, Bill Graham from Harvard, who had studied in Damascus, was challenged on his definition of Islam by Iranists. He replied that he was talking about 'baseline' Islam. Being cut off from fieldwork Iran and Iraq for decades has consequences for N Atlantic scholarship

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Lit Hub @literaryhub.bsky.social · 3h

Naoise Dolan, one of Ireland’s most acclaimed young novelists, was abducted and detained after her aid flotilla was intercepted by the IDF.

Irish novelist Naoise Dolan has been abducted by Israel.

Naoise Dolan, one of Ireland’s most acclaimed young novelists, was earlier today abducted and detained by Israeli forces after the aid flotilla on which she was traveling to Gaza was intercep…

buff.ly

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Zeteo @zeteo.com · 3h

“[CBS] news people… have been told for the last 60 years that they are as nonpartisan and straight down the middle as you can be. And now, here you are.”

@mollyjongfast.bsky.social shares her thoughts on MAGA’s growing influence across platforms like TikTok & CBS News.

🔗: zeteo.com/p/molly-jong...

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Middle East Eye (Unofficial) @middleeasteye-rss.bsky.social · 3h

Israeli soldiers 'launched arson spree' in immediate aftermath of ceasefire - https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/israeli-soldiers-launched-arson-spree-immediate-aftermath-ceasefire

Israeli soldiers 'launched arson spree' in immediate aftermath of ceasefire

<article data-history-node-id="430041" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/israeli-soldiers-launched-arson-spree-immediate-aftermath-ceasefire" class="live-blog-update default clearfix"> <h2> <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/israeli-soldiers-launched-arson-spree-immediate-aftermath-ceasefire" rel="bookmark"> <span class="field field-title">Israeli soldiers 'launched arson spree' in immediate aftermath of ceasefire</span> </a> </h2> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-field-text"><p>Israeli soldiers torched civilian infrastructure in Gaza in the immediate aftermath of Hamas and Israel signing the ceasefire agreement on Thursday, Drop Site news is reporting.</p> <p>According to the report, Israeli troops set fire to food supplies, homes and a critical sewage plant in Gaza City on the night of 9 October and early morning 10 October, before Israel's cabinet had approved the agreement.</p> <p>According to Drop Site, the scale of the arson was more extensive than any previous spree conducted by Israeli soldiers it had documented since October 2023. The report identified a number of perpetrators as originating from several different brigades, including the Golani, Givati, Nahal Brigades, and the newly formed ultra-orthodox Hashmonaim Brigade.</p> <p>Soldiers posted footage and videos of buildings engulfed in flames.</p> <p>One soldier took a selfie in front of a pile of burning pallets containing food.</p> <p> “On Friday, just before departure. Burning food so that it won’t reach the Gazans, may their names be erased,” the caption reads. </p> <p>Before withdrawing, soldiers torched the Sheikh Ajlin Sewage Treatment Station, which is critical for Gaza City's sanitation network. In social media posts, soldiers posed in front of the burning plant; one caption read "[One] last memory".</p> <p>Monther Shoblaq, Director General of the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU) in Gaza said the attack could push the city's wastewater system "to point zero".</p> <p>He warned that the destruction of the plant could delay reconstruction efforts by years.</p> <p>“I mean, they signed a ceasefire,” Shoblaq said. “Why set it on fire?”</p> </div> </div> </article>

www.middleeasteye.net

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UNICEF Press Office @unicefmedia.bsky.social · 3h

At least 17 children – 9 girls and 8 boys, including an infant just seven days old – were killed in an attack on the Dar al-Arqam Displacement Centre in Al Fasher, North Darfur, early yesterday morning, according to reports received by UNICEF.

www.unicef.org/press-releas...

At least 17 children reportedly killed in attack on displacement centre in North Darfur's Al Fasher, Sudan

www.unicef.org

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Kai Kupferschmidt @kakape.bsky.social · 3h

Our future is being shaped to a terrifying degree by people who have just … completely lost their marbles…

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Inside tech billionaire Peter Thiel’s off-the-record lectures about the antichrist

The political svengali and investor has been giving lectures on ‘an evil king or tyrant … who appears in the end times’

www.theguardian.com

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Juan Cole @jricole.bsky.social · 3h

Pakistani, Afghan forces exchange deadly border fire: What’s next? flip.it/mSf0VN

Pakistani, Afghan forces exchange deadly border fire: What’s next?

Afghan officials say 58 Pakistani soldiers killed while Pakistan says 200 Taliban and affiliated 'terrorists' dead.

flip.it

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Juan Cole @jricole.bsky.social · 3h

please support independent journalism - & please repost

Juan Cole @jricole.bsky.social · 2d

"I got a call recently from University of Michigan campus police warning me to be careful, since I had been put on a watch list by the late Charlie Kirk"

IC Fundraising Appeal: Support Independent Journalism in a Year of Living Dangerously www.juancole.com/2025/10/fund...

IC Fundraising Appeal: Support Independent Journalism in a Year of Living Dangerously

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) - These are parlous times for people who speak out against injustice, and I cannot thank our loyal readers enough for their continued devotion to this site and for their s...

www.juancole.com

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Juan Cole @jricole.bsky.social · 3h

Al-Qassam didn't inform Hamas of its plan for Israeli hostages' handover flip.it/dJo6gH

Al-Qassam didn't inform Hamas of its plan for Israeli hostages' handover | Al Bawaba

ALBAWABA - The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement in Gaza, is keeping the arrangements for handing over the Israeli hostages ve

flip.it

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Juan Cole @jricole.bsky.social · 4h

Go forfend that any Palestinians should take part in the negotiations about Palestine

Middle East Eye (Unofficial) @middleeasteye-rss.bsky.social · 6h

Palestinian Authority not invited to Gaza Peace Summit: Report - https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/palestinian-authority-not-invited-gaza-peace-summit-report

Palestinian Authority not invited to Gaza Peace Summit: Report

<article data-history-node-id="430029" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/palestinian-authority-not-invited-gaza-peace-summit-report" class="live-blog-update default clearfix"> <h2> <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/palestinian-authority-not-invited-gaza-peace-summit-report" rel="bookmark"> <span class="field field-title">Palestinian Authority not invited to Gaza Peace Summit: Report</span> </a> </h2> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-field-text"><p>The Palestinian Authority (PA) was not invited to participate in the Gaza Peace Summit which will be held in Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday, a source told al-Araby al-Jadeed.</p> <p>An unnamed senior Palestinian official told the news site that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi did not respond to a request by the PA to "reaffirm that the Palestinian leadership remains the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people".</p> <p>According to the source, the PA were not invited as it was not included in US President Donald Trump's peace plan for Gaza.</p> <p>Some 20 countries are set to attend Monday's summit, which will be co-chaired by Trump and Sisi.</p> </div> </div> </article>

www.middleeasteye.net

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Juan Cole @jricole.bsky.social · 4h

"The UN children's charity Unicef warned that there is a risk of a "massive spike in child death, not only neonatal, but also infants, given their immune systems are more compromised than ever before"."

Middle East Eye (Unofficial) @middleeasteye-rss.bsky.social · 5h

Aid starts entering Gaza as preparation begins for captive swap - https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/aid-starts-entering-gaza-preparation-begins-captive-swap

Aid starts entering Gaza as preparation begins for captive swap

Ceasefire deal stipulates that 400 trucks will enter the strip daily

www.middleeasteye.net

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Middle East Eye (Unofficial) @middleeasteye-rss.bsky.social · 4h

WHO: Over a million Palestinians in Gaza require urgent mental health support - https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/who-over-million-palestinians-gaza-require-urgent-mental-health-support

WHO: Over a million Palestinians in Gaza require urgent mental health support

<article data-history-node-id="430038" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/who-over-million-palestinians-gaza-require-urgent-mental-health-support" class="live-blog-update default clearfix"> <h2> <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/who-over-million-palestinians-gaza-require-urgent-mental-health-support" rel="bookmark"> <span class="field field-title">WHO: Over a million Palestinians in Gaza require urgent mental health support</span> </a> </h2> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-field-text"><p>The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that a mental health crisis is unfolding in Gaza, with over one million people now requiring urgent support and services falling far short of demand.</p> <p>"<span class="css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3">Since Oct 2023, WHO has trained over 1,000 health workers in psychological first aid, trauma and grief management, child and adolescent mental health, and care for survivors of gender-based violence", the agency said in a post on X.</span></p> <p><span class="css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3">"As WHO scales up efforts to address urgent needs and rebuild the health system, expanding mental health services across all levels of care — from community to hospital — will be a central part of the response", it added.</span></p> <p><span class="css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3">"Lasting peace is essential to sustain any progress in improving health care, including mental health services. A permanent ceasefire must be secured".</span></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">While the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ceasefire?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ceasefire</a> brings long-awaited hope, the mental health impact of two years of conflict in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Gaza?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Gaza</a> will endure for years and for some, a lifetime.<br> <br> Mental health needs in Gaza have more than doubled, with over one million people now requiring urgent support, yet available… <a href="https://t.co/WmnDWcySlC">pic.twitter.com/WmnDWcySlC</a></p> — WHO in occupied Palestinian territory (@WHOoPt) <a href="https://twitter.com/WHOoPt/status/1977332712009572502?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 12, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div> </div> </article>

www.middleeasteye.net

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Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social · 4h

Vought is at war with large swaths of the population, with the very idea of a society defined by democratic pluralism. If you have correctly identified that this guy is now in a really powerful position, that people like him are in control of the government, how is that not the main story?

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Middle East Eye (Unofficial) @middleeasteye-rss.bsky.social · 4h

200 US troops stationed at Israeli base to monitor ceasefire - https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/200-us-troops-stationed-israeli-base-monitor-ceasefire

200 US troops stationed at Israeli base to monitor ceasefire

<article data-history-node-id="430037" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/200-us-troops-stationed-israeli-base-monitor-ceasefire" class="live-blog-update default clearfix"> <h2> <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/200-us-troops-stationed-israeli-base-monitor-ceasefire" rel="bookmark"> <span class="field field-title">200 US troops stationed at Israeli base to monitor ceasefire</span> </a> </h2> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-field-text"><p>US troops are stationed at an Israeli military base and are set to begin operations as soon as Sunday to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire deal in Gaza, Israel's Channel 12 is reporting.</p> <p>According to the report, at least 200 US troops will be stationed at Hatzor Air Base in southern Israel, although US and Israeli authorities have yet to confirm the move.</p> <p>An Israeli official told Channel 12 that further withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza is currently not under discussion, although another official reported that US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and his team had begun drawing up maps to plot the withdrawal.</p> <p>In a post on X, Witkoff said that he had visited Gaza along with US Central Command Commander Admiral Bradley and Jared Kushner “to verify Israel’s compliance with Phase I of the agreement".</p> </div> </div> </article>

www.middleeasteye.net

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Middle East Eye (Unofficial) @middleeasteye-rss.bsky.social · 5h

Israel says release of captives held in Gaza set to begin early on Monday - https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/israel-says-release-captives-held-gaza-set-begin-early-monday

Israel says release of captives held in Gaza set to begin early on Monday

<article data-history-node-id="430035" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/israel-says-release-captives-held-gaza-set-begin-early-monday" class="live-blog-update default clearfix"> <h2> <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/israel-says-release-captives-held-gaza-set-begin-early-monday" rel="bookmark"> <span class="field field-title">Israel says release of captives held in Gaza set to begin early on Monday</span> </a> </h2> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-field-text"><p>The release of Israeli captives held in Gaza is set to begin early on Monday morning an Israeli government spokesperson has confirmed.</p> <p>She added that the 20 living captives will be freed at the same time, and that the release of Palestinian prisoners will take place after the captives had been received.</p> <p>The release of the bodies of 28 captives is expected to follow.</p> </div> </div> </article>

www.middleeasteye.net

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Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social · 5h

Sunday reading:

I wrote about the aggrieved extremist who is currently firing thousands of federal workers and ravaging state capacity based on conspiratorial nonsense - and about mainstream media’s infuriating tendency to sanitize Russell Vought and the regime he serves.

This week’s piece:

We need to talk about Russell Vought – But Properly

Why certain mainstream outlets insist on sanitizing Vought as a devout “small government” conservative – and what actually animates his war against pluralistic democracy

steady.page

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Middle East Eye (Unofficial) @middleeasteye-rss.bsky.social · 5h

Aid starts entering Gaza as preparation begins for captive swap - https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/aid-starts-entering-gaza-preparation-begins-captive-swap

Aid starts entering Gaza as preparation begins for captive swap

Ceasefire deal stipulates that 400 trucks will enter the strip daily

www.middleeasteye.net

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Middle East Eye (Unofficial) @middleeasteye-rss.bsky.social · 6h

How the Houthis came out on top after Israel's multi-front war - https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/how-houthis-came-out-top-after-israels-multi-front-war

How the Houthis came out on top after Israel's multi-front war

www.middleeasteye.net

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Middle East Eye (Unofficial) @middleeasteye-rss.bsky.social · 6h

Hamas ready to release 20 living captives on Sunday - https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/hamas-ready-release-20-living-captives-sunday

Hamas ready to release 20 living captives on Sunday

<article data-history-node-id="430030" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/hamas-ready-release-20-living-captives-sunday" class="live-blog-update default clearfix"> <h2> <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/hamas-ready-release-20-living-captives-sunday" rel="bookmark"> <span class="field field-title">Hamas ready to release 20 living captives on Sunday</span> </a> </h2> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-field-text"><p>Hamas has informed Israel that it is prepared to begin releasing the 20 living Israeli captives held in Gaza as early as Sunday, the Wall Street Journal is reporting, citing sources familiar with the matter.</p> <p>Israeli security sources said that the group had started moving captives to assembly points in Gaza, although it remains unclear whether they will be released from multiple locations or a single point.</p> <p>Meanwhile, the Directorate for Hostages, Missing Persons and Returnees at the Israeli Prime Minister's Office said on Sunday that preparations to receive the remaining living captives have been completed.</p> </div> </div> </article>

www.middleeasteye.net

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Middle East Eye (Unofficial) @middleeasteye-rss.bsky.social · 6h

Palestinian Authority not invited to Gaza Peace Summit: Report - https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/palestinian-authority-not-invited-gaza-peace-summit-report

Palestinian Authority not invited to Gaza Peace Summit: Report

<article data-history-node-id="430029" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/palestinian-authority-not-invited-gaza-peace-summit-report" class="live-blog-update default clearfix"> <h2> <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/palestinian-authority-not-invited-gaza-peace-summit-report" rel="bookmark"> <span class="field field-title">Palestinian Authority not invited to Gaza Peace Summit: Report</span> </a> </h2> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-field-text"><p>The Palestinian Authority (PA) was not invited to participate in the Gaza Peace Summit which will be held in Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday, a source told al-Araby al-Jadeed.</p> <p>An unnamed senior Palestinian official told the news site that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi did not respond to a request by the PA to "reaffirm that the Palestinian leadership remains the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people".</p> <p>According to the source, the PA were not invited as it was not included in US President Donald Trump's peace plan for Gaza.</p> <p>Some 20 countries are set to attend Monday's summit, which will be co-chaired by Trump and Sisi.</p> </div> </div> </article>

www.middleeasteye.net

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Middle East Eye (Unofficial) @middleeasteye-rss.bsky.social · 7h

Hamas will not govern post-war Gaza: Hamas source close to negotiating committee - https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/hamas-will-not-govern-post-war-gaza-hamas-source-close-negotiating

Hamas will not govern post-war Gaza: Hamas source close to negotiating committee

<article data-history-node-id="430027" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/hamas-will-not-govern-post-war-gaza-hamas-source-close-negotiating" class="live-blog-update default clearfix"> <h2> <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/hamas-will-not-govern-post-war-gaza-hamas-source-close-negotiating" rel="bookmark"> <span class="field field-title">Hamas will not govern post-war Gaza: Hamas source close to negotiating committee</span> </a> </h2> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-field-text"><p>A Hamas source close to the group's negotiating committee has told AFP that the group will not take part in Gaza's post-war governance.</p> <p>"For Hamas, the governance of the Gaza Strip is a closed issue. Hamas will not participate at all in the transitional phase, which means it has relinquished control of the Strip, but it remains a fundamental part of the Palestinian fabric",  the source said.</p> <p>On the question of disarmament, a Hamas official told AFP on Saturday that the weapons handover outlined in the second phase of Trump's plan is "out of the question and non-negotiable".</p> <p>Under Trump's original 21-point plan, the next stage of the deal will involve the dismantling of Hamas's military infrastructure and the demilitarisation of Gaza, calling for the enclave to become "deradicalized terror-free zone that does not pose a threat to its neighbours".</p> <p>However a leaked copy of the agreement does not stipulate a weapons handover, nor who should govern the Strip.</p> <p>But experts quoted by Al Jazeera have reported that the group have privately communicated to interlocutors that it is open to "a decommissioning process of Hamas’s offensive weapons".</p> <p>An armed group has the right to bear arms and resist an occupying power in line with international law.</p> <p>Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged that "Gaza will be demilitarised".</p> <p>“If this is achieved the easy way, then that will be good, and if not, then it will be achieved the hard way.”</p> </div> </div> </article>

www.middleeasteye.net

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Middle East Eye (Unofficial) @middleeasteye-rss.bsky.social · 8h

As regional dynamics shift, Hezbollah signals readiness for detente with Saudi Arabia - https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/regional-dynamic-shift-hezbollah-signals-readiness-detente-saudi-arabia

As regional dynamics shift, Hezbollah signals readiness for detente with Saudi Arabia

The party’s overture comes as ongoing Israeli strikes and international scrutiny pressure Lebanon's political landscape

www.middleeasteye.net

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Juan Cole @jricole.bsky.social · 12h

Syria’s Parliamentary Election Results look Alarmingly like Iraq 2005, which produced a Civil War

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Syria’s parliamentary elections on October 5 raised alarm flags for me on several grounds. First, they were not conducted on the basis of a direct vote. Sixty “constituencies” were established to elect 121 members of the People’s Assembly of Syria (only 119 were actually elected). Another 70 members will be […]

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Juan Cole @jricole.bsky.social · 14h

A Gaza Ceasefire Is Not Enough: We Must Choose Life and Freedom

( The Times of Israel ) – As we wait anxiously to see whether the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas will take hold and become permanent—ending the massacres in Gaza and bringing the hostages home—we find ourselves in the midst of Sukkot, the festival of fragile dwellings [or “Feast of the Tabernacles”]. During Sukkot, […]

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Juan Cole @jricole.bsky.social · 14h

We Must Not Look Away from Palestine: Resisting Oppression and Pursuing Justice

Roy Eidelson Note: This essay is adapted from the author’s August address at the American Psychological Association annual convention and from a webinar he presented in early September. The webinar includes many visual depictions of the topics discussed here. ( Counterpunch ) – Welcome everyone. I’m Roy Eidelson, president of the Society for the Study of Peace, […]

dlvr.it

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Dante Atkins @danteatkins.bsky.social · 15h

The case against Comey is beyond weak. The case against James is worse. It is based on a lie, and they know they're lying because exculpatory evidence that contradicts the indictment had already been presented to a grand jury in another jurisdiction. Everyone involved with this needs to be disbarred

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Juan Cole @jricole.bsky.social · 19h

Illustration for the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam by Edmund Dulac, 1909; see also Juan Cole, The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam
A New Translation from the Persian https://www.bloomsbu... http://dlvr.it/TNcrMy

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Geoff Brumfiel @gbrumfiel.bsky.social · 19h

BREAKING: CDC is apparently reversing many of its layoffs. Letters seen by NPR indicate that many employees working with infectious diseases have had their RIFs revoked.

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Alan Dettlaff @alandettlaff.com · 20h

Yesterday I was told that the class I’m scheduled to teach this month, Confronting Oppression & Injustice, is no longer part of our curriculum. This is a required class yet there was no discussion, no faculty vote, just an email saying the class no longer exists. This is what it’s like in Texas now.

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Juan Cole @jricole.bsky.social · 20h

oh, Twitter isn't making Elmo money! huge drain on finances, except that a half- trillionaire can afford vanity projects. Alas I can't write books like The New Arabs out of Bluesky

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