iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Yes, at the start of things, but he wasn’t an “expert” on the Middle East then.

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I would definitely read that book (and would probably know where to start asking around…) Relatedly, very excited for this book… www.sup.org/books/politi...

sup.org

This guy makes Bernard Lewis seem like Isaac Newton.

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At least the neocons of the Bush years consulted people who knew the languages, had spent time in archives, understood the religions… good lord.

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And it makes sense to me that any nationalist movement armed to the hilt by the world’s pre-eminent imperial hegemons would going to indulge in more and more racist behavior over time. This, to my mind, is how the nationalist and settler-colonial histories of Zionism go hand in hand.

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So I see something like Zionism is racism and my response is… of course it is? So is every nationalism. Zionism qua ideology is hardly unique, and I don’t think that assertion is legitimating. What makes Zionism unique in my view is its structural support from (British, then American) Empire.

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Liberal nationalists often find themselves in a kind of modernization theory trap whereby they argue nationalism is necessary to cultivate a consolidated democracy, after which point the nationalism part can just dissipate. Doesn’t really work, they lost in Turkey, Israel most other places.

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To the extent that we have liberal or non-ethno supremacist nation states (debateable in many cases) it’s largely thanks to ideological appeals to universal ideals within a (loosely defined) framework where the “nation” is at least nominally subordinated.

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James Ryan @jdryan08.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

I think one problem that liberal/civic nationalists always run into and seldom acknowledge is that they always place themselves in a contentious fight with racist- and ethno-nationalists over how to define the nation and, sooner or later, more often than not, this is a losing battle.

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I’m reminded of something I learned from Tony Wood’s book on Russia without Putin. In his first address to Russia after becoming President he said something to the effect of “with luck and hard work, in 10 years we will have an economy the size of Portugal.”

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Heba Gowayed هبة جويد @hebagowayed.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

When my father was faculty at Cornell he was stopped by the police chief in the street & asked who he was & where he was going. When he balked at the fact that no one but him, an Arab man, was being asked, the chief said “I’m just protecting students” Same guy failed to investigate 7 rapists.

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All things being equal, I’d much rather a pope who prioritizes ontology over aesthetics than the reverse.

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I’ve done enough of them to notice a difference. Obviously not like you might see in other sorts of venues, but what I would call 70th percentile wealth and 95th percentile wealth is a material difference.

Yeah I don’t do retirement homes unpaid, and wouldn’t expect anyone to! They have budgets for this!

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That requires outside (usually federal!) funding. And I’ve spent a lot of time doing that as well—teachers are always looking for someone to give them a break! But, I’d say that the retirement home set can vary in class more than you think and moving the needle with them is also important.

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Also, I’d say in 9/10 cases, you’d be 50-100x more of an expert on whatever you chose to talk about than the next person they’d invite.

Retirement homes. It is a circuit that already exists. They pay respectable sums. The quality of the food is edible. A good way to break in is hooking up with a lifelong learning outfit.

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I’m 95% certain the bread in the Turkish grocery store is baked by Armenians. Paterson also has the only Persian bakery I know of on the east coast that makes noon-eh sangak. 🤤

Oh definitely! Different generations, regions, religions…

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You may know the actual demos better than me, but Paterson historically had the largest Turkish enclave in the US. Perhaps things have changed, but I visit when I can because the food/groceries are better than anything I could’ve found in Manhattan when I was there.

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Middle East Research and Information Project @merip.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Now imagine if you *also* knew some [Arabic, Turkish, Armenian]

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SUPPORT MERIP: Join our fall campaign as a recurring donor and receive a tote bag or poster as a thank you! If we reach our goal of 250 recurring donors by January, we'll commit to bringing Middle East Report back into print in 2028! buff.ly/TJmpsSf

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Donate

SUPPORT MERIP'S CRITICAL WORK BY DONATING For 50 years, MERIP has published critical analysis of Middle Eastern politics, history, and social justice not available in other publications. Our articles…

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pork, cheese, broccoli rabe @garlicbuffalo.gobirds.biz · 27/09/2026

it’s pretty ironic that the strike in 94 probably saved the 93 squad from the same fate as this team and whatever is about to happen this offseason came a year or two too late to make these guys forever heroes like the 93 team

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James Ryan @jdryan08.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Better team winning, but, the Chop remains a racist af cheer. We’re in year 4 of the Cleveland Guardians for crying out loud.

James Ryan @jdryan08.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I would rather watch us suck with Painter and Miller et al…

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James Ryan @jdryan08.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

This Phillies team is so cooked. I am getting depressed thinking how many 30+ year olds are under contract for the next half decade.

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James Ryan @jdryan08.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

It was such a pleasure to chat with Nafiseh about her experience listening to and researching protest music in Iran, and to get her (pretty surprising) reflections on her recent visit.

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Middle East Research and Information Project @merip.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Today we announced our fall campaign with one goal--to bring our flagship publication Middle East Report back into print for the first time since 2020! Join us by making a recurring donation of $10 or more today! Read more in this note from our executive director. buff.ly/CzusxlP

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Building a Sustainable Future for MERIP

Dear Friends and Comrades, When I came on board at MERIP in 2024 the task at hand was clear: find ways to engage our audience and our supporters more deeply and remain accessible to a wide audience.…

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It’s going to be a challenge, but I believe it’s achievable because I believe in our supporters ability to sustain it and help us grow. Please consider joining us, and, if you do, I will send you some cool swag (a tote bag or a poster!) www.merip.org/donate/

merip.org

Donate

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The model will be different than before—we will remain digital first and paywall free—but we will be able to produce MER in print for anyone who donates $10/month or more on a monthly basis, provided we hit our goal of 250 recurring donors.

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People in our community ask me all the time about returning to print. This was unthinkable when I first came on board, now I believe it can be an integral to a sustainable future for MERIP. I’m building a plan to bring Middle East Report back into print on a quarterly basis starting in 2028.

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مصدر عام | The Public Source @thepublicsource.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Today I announced MERIP’s fall fundraising campaign with a special note. It’s been truly invigorating to be leading this small organization through a new period of growth and relevance, and to see support come from truly wide corners where friends and comrades are standing up for us.

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For the six survivors of Israel’s pager attack, there is no single answer. For some, healing has come through faith. For others, through motherhood, through love, through returning to the struggle. Their stories are shared in Arabic & English in our photo series, ‘Surviving the Pager Massacre.’

Two men with red headbands in a crowd, one with a keffiyeh.

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James Ryan @jdryan08.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

One of the more profound takeaways from Mahmoud’s book talk last week was when he said that his green card, which the Trump administration has been trying so desperately to revoke, was the first ID he had ever received in his life that had the word “permanent” on it.

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Lol no, not what I’m saying at all. You are getting mad at someone you made up in your head. What institutions the public has in mind when they evaluate trust in higher education (public schools) is not what the press has in mind (Ivies). That’s all. Gonna mute now.

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James Ryan @jdryan08.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

CA is also a larger state—almost double the population of NY!—and thus is educating a far smaller slice of its constituents in public higher education! I don’t really care about the axe you have to grind against CUNY, my point isn’t priorities, but how we conceive of *trust* in higher ed.

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James Ryan @jdryan08.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Uhhh, that is nonsense. Per *student* spending (how we measure resources in higher ed) is way higher across the CA systems than NY. CSU is comparable to SUNY, CU spending is almost equivalent to an Ivy League school (approx $176k/student. CUNY’s is under $40k).

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His appearances are a jump scare wherever they happen, surely.

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I tend to think comparisons between Erdoğan and Atatürk are pretty weak, but critics making spurious claims about their sexuality is definitely something they share.

Leave it to Dan Pipes and Michael Rubin to find the most homophobic possible way to come to the defense of Turkey’s LGBTQ community.

Is Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Gay?

Erdoğan’s Seeming Obsession with Homosexuality Is Not Unlike Closeted Homosexuals Who Are Among the Most Self-Hating

September 28, 2026 Michael Rubin

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Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 27/09/2026

California educates more people across it’s two state systems and is far better funded. You’re making a completely different point for reasons I don’t understand about whether the quality of the education can/should be improved, or is (?) substandard. To which I say, this is why accreditation exists

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Google finally updated some of its satellite images of Gaza and my god, it's horrific. The entirety of Rafah has been demolished. The majority of Khan Younis is in ruins. Entire towns completely leveled and erased of the map.

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I feel like I did strike a weird chord with the California nationalists on here, though. That’s a strange type.

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