Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 13hThis analysis of the far right in Brasil is spot on - and to me it also describes the politics of ressentiment in the UK and the US as well. It is just that in these two countries, it is targeted at migrants. www.equator.org/articles/bra... 26926
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 05/10/2026So happy to be a member of the Green Party even if the motion could have gone further 1190
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 04/10/2026Monroe Doctrine triumphant through the ministrations of the USA 191
Reposted by Laleh KhaliliLondon Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 01/10/2026‘After the first Trump administration imposed sanctions on Iranian and Venezuelan oil, the number of ghost ships carrying these countries’ oil tripled and the price of old ships due to be scrapped increased.’ @lalehkhalili.bsky.social on ghost fleets. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...lrb.co.ukLaleh Khalili · Ghost FleetsUnregistered and undetectable fleets cut into the profits of the big tanker companies. After the first Trump... 0179
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 30/09/2026We already knew Tom Watson was a thug. We now have further proof: www.thenerve.news/p/clive-lewi...thenerve.news'We’re watching you’: MP Clive Lewis reveals Tom Watson has warned him over criticising PalantirIn a letter to his former Labour colleague, the peer, who joined Peter Thiel’s AI company this month, writes: ‘You have made the case against the company more or less continuously’. By Carole Cadwalla... 0156
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Government borrowing costs (for the US, but also elsewhere) "are at the mercy of oil prices". www.ft.com/content/f894... 083
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 29/09/2026The US is a massive scam from top to bottom. They sell semiautomatics to do domestic mass murder, and then pay lawyers to fight the sites of mass murder, and then sell insurance so that those lawyers can be either paid or fended off. www.ft.com/content/5ad7...ft.comThe booming business of insuring against US gun violenceCompanies, political campaigns and even schools are taking out policies to shield themselves from litigation that can follow attacks 02216
Reposted by Laleh KhaliliPaul Hikari @paulhikari.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Well, here's the trailer. Let's make it go viral. www.youtube.com/watch?v=eY_8...youtube.comMusk | Official Trailer | Bleecker StreetYouTube video by Musk 056
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 26/09/2026Alex Gibney was the first US director to make a film about extraordinary renditions. He has now made a film about Apartheid Elmu and social media refuse to advertise it. www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/dig...hollywoodreporter.comThe Major Social Media Platforms Are All Rejecting Paid Ads for Alex Gibney’s ‘Musk’ (Exclusive)YouTube, TikTok and Meta have all turned down the trailer for the Oct. 9 doc, citing “political” content. X won't even take Bleecker Street's calls. The distributor is appealing. 12311
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 26/09/2026Pentagon "quietly" adds 37 to the number of casualties. Given 29 are "Navy", they are likely SEALS killed in whatever failed operation they did in Iran. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...washingtonpost.comPentagon quietly adds dozens to tally of troops wounded amid Iran warWith the addition of 29 U.S. sailors and eight Marines, the total number of personnel wounded since the start of hostilities has risen to 861, a Pentagon database shows. 054
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 25/09/2026This piece by the incomparable Moe Tkacik digs into the political economy of the Macklemore/Sheeran standoff and the money and business relations flowing behind the scenes: prospect.org/2026/09/19/m...prospect.orgMacklemore vs. Everybody - The American ProspectThe wokest rapper took on the NFL’s plutocratic ownership, the Israel lobby, and the Live Nation ‘flywheel’—and won. 0177
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 25/09/2026It is extraordinary that Netanyahu mentioned Hassan Piker and Mamdani in his speech; in a speech in which he also held up a pager... A deranged and utterly shameless genocidaire who has been basically given a carte blanche by the US and Europeans. 519544
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 25/09/2026 "My name is Masih Savak Aryamehr, and my country,Persia, yearns for freedom" (H/t to the genius who came up with the original: "blonde-haired blue-eyed person named something like Sabine Mengele-Eichmann: my country, Venezuela (Brazil/Chile etc,), yearns for freedom") 083
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 24/09/2026This film looks really interesting, not only at the level of the narrative itself (i.e. the unreliable narrator, and the unreliable filmmakers), but also at the meta level of making you feel like a voyeur for wanting to watch it: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvW_...youtube.comYou Can See Everything | Official Trailer HD | A24YouTube video by A24 081
Reposted by Laleh KhaliliM a r c u s 🏳️🌈🇧🇧 @marcusjdl.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Andy Burnham had said more about PUBS and DRINKING than he has about racist pogroms and transphobia combined 12316107
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 24/09/2026What an absolutely brilliant scorching indictment of Sheeran, the BBC, and all the assholes both-siding a genocide www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/se...lrb.co.ukLorna Finlayson | Public PositionsGiven much of the coverage of the Ed Sheeran-Macklemore debacle, you could be forgiven for thinking that Sheeran had... 18131
Reposted by Laleh KhaliliMiriam Matthiessen @miriammthsn.bsky.social · 23/09/2026Really excited to be part of this @rethinkecon.bsky.social book discussion with @lalehkhalili.bsky.social on her wonderful book The Corporeal Life of Seafaring. It will take place next Wednesday, September 30th, 4.30pm CET. You can register here: rethinkeconomics.org/events/book-... 0118
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 23/09/2026Holy shit, US politics is so incredibly dirty: www.propublica.org/article/fbi-...propublica.orgThe FBI Anti-Corruption Squad Was Circling Susan Collins — Until Trump Got in the WayAfter the FBI caught a defense contractor’s CEO making illegal campaign contributions, it sought to launch a sweeping political bribery probe involving Collins and others. Then the second Trump admini... 25217
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 22/09/2026I wonder if this was the price Saudi had to pay in order to get the US to send jets to bomb Yemen: www.ft.com/content/ac10...ft.comSaudi Arabia quits China-led cross-border currency platformKingdom’s central bank withdrew from programme which is part of Beijing’s effort to develop an alternative system to the dollar 0178
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 22/09/2026The Pentagon is actually lying about the number of casualties in the US/Israeli war on Iran: www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...washingtonpost.comMore U.S. troops have died amid Iran war than Pentagon has disclosed publiclyOfficials who spoke with The Post expressed frustration that the additional loss of life in the Middle East is not reflected in the Defense Department’s casualty database. 093
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Some US special ops "intelligence" analyst used a crappy chatbot (likely produced by Palantir, given how they luuuuuuuv that crappy company) that nearly started a war with China by hallucinating shit: edition.cnn.com/2026/09/18/p...edition.cnn.comExclusive: US military had close call after using AI for false intelligence report, sources say | CNN PoliticsThe episode shows the risks of using this new, relatively poorly understood technology in the middle of the Iran war 163
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 22/09/2026This is sooooooo enraging. A US anthropologist (who had been a CIA agent and was married to a US diplomat) basically robbed Nepal of its cultural and religious heritage, and in contravention of Nepalese laws and donated these to US museums. www.himalmag.com/mary-slusser...himalmag.comMary Slusser’s secret loot of Nepal’s sacred art and heritageA US scholar made her name as an expert on Nepal’s cultural heritage – while illicitly buying sacred artefacts and smuggling them out to the United States 24517
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 22/09/2026When they say "Mediterranean" do they mean Israel? www.bloomberg.com/news/article...bloomberg.comAramco Hunts for Fuel Supply in the Mediterranean After AttacksOil giant Saudi Aramco has been looking to secure thousands of tons of diesel in the Mediterranean after a series of attacks on its energy facilities over the past few weeks. 082
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 22/09/2026A crypto millionaire who was pardoned for fraud by Trump and who has donated £36 billion to Reform (Ben Delo), a former left-wing academic turned far right (Nina Power), Toby Young's Free Speech Union... And dodgy financial dealings: www.ft.com/content/21aa...ft.comReform UK’s mega-donor backed a friend’s libel claim. Now he controls her homeCrypto billionaire Ben Delo loaned more than £300,000 to former academic Nina Power 064
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 22/09/2026The US military is hiring Brazilian Portuguese instructors for the next three months: recruiting.paylocity.com/recruiting/j... 055
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 18/09/2026This is not a historical turning point. Settler colonial regimes contain from their inception the kernel of fascism that will sooner or later be their defining characteristics. www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...haaretz.com'Historic turning point' • Israel moves toward recognizing Austrian party founded by former NazisThe Austrian Freedom Party's leader gave a speech backing Israel's right-wing agenda that was welcomed by members of the Israeli government. Austria's established Jewish community vehemently rejects t... 311340
Reposted by Laleh KhaliliHeather Burns @heatherburnstech.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Regular reminder that JG Ballard’s final novel, “Kingdom Come” (2006), is about a far-right English town which creates their own militarised breakaway state in a shopping mall, where they worship the gods of St George and consumerism. Old JG wrote it as tongue-in-cheek satire. At the time. 14774240
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Damn, things got even more embarrassing for Sheeran 25311
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Doing a false flag against Mecca is definitely something that the Al Saud (who attacked and flooded the Haram Al Sharif in 1979) would do to preserve their power. 1146
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 16/09/2026I was just asked by AHR to review an article. I responded so: 2479
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 16/09/2026This wonderful review celebrates Patricio Guzman who just passed away, and whose Nostalgia for the Light may be the most beautifully devastating documentary ever: www.anothergaze.com/great-motion...anothergaze.comGreat, Motionless Ship: Patricio Guzmán’s ChileOn the anniversary of the Chilean coup d’état, Kaleem Hawa examines the political cinema of Patricio Guzmán, from The First Year (1972) to Chile, Obstinate Memory (1997), detailing how Salvador Allend... 03011
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 16/09/2026If Sheeran had an ounce of courage, he would pull out of the tour and let Bob Kraft the paedophilic john and the promoters (Messina) pick up the pieces. 4181
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 15/09/2026Good for Aaron Rowe (even if i have no idea who he is) 0110
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 15/09/2026Dubai's "home transaction volumes in May were roughly half the levels of a year earlier, according to data from local research and consultancy firm ValuStrat, as the war hit market sentiment and left sellers reluctant to sell at steep discounts. www.ft.com/content/3d6b...ft.comMiddle East war tests Dubai’s island dreamsAiling luxury developments on emirate’s man-made archipelago reflect strains on wider real estate sector 192
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 14/09/2026Ex MI5 agent works for Tommy Robinson. Some of those who work forces Are the same that burn crosses hopenothate.org.uk/lennons-secr...hopenothate.org.ukLennon's Secret AgentA former MI5 agent who operated as an IRA bomb maker is now working for Stephen Lennon. Despite still being supported by the British taxpayer, Peter Keeley appears to have broken the law by supplying ... 0175
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 13/09/2026So there are at least three cases of US citizens in the UK engaged in heinous crimes getting away with it. The CIA woman who hit and ran the teen in Norfolk; the US pilot who sexually abused a woman he met on Tinder; and now this paedo diplomat being whisked out of the UK. 12613
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 13/09/2026Whole countries have had uprisings around the US demand for extraterritorial immunity for their citizens overseas (e.g. Iran 1963) but here is a diplomat looking at child porn in the UK and the US sneaks him out before the cops can interview him. 23219
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 13/09/2026Extraordinary that this is not being reported more widely (i.e. why is it not the top item on BBC website) www.itv.com/news/2026-09...itv.com 1307
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 12/09/2026Reading a letter by Hans Magnus Enzenberger from 1968 and boy does it sound familiar: 13412
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 11/09/2026The reuse of Twin Towers' steel in memorials is fascinating. In another lifetime I wrote about the work done by commemoration. But there is something about these images (read the Alt for details) that makes these at once exemplary and also macabre memorials. 3316
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 08/09/2026Unsurprising news re "a secret U.S. program to resettle Nazis and Nazi collaborators in Canada by evading proper security screenings" "The Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (at U Alberta) maintains eight endowments in the names of Ukrainian SS veterans." ottawacitizen.com/public-servi...ottawacitizen.comJudge orders release of records on Nazi war criminals who settled in CanadaDocuments from CIA program to settle Nazi war criminals in Canada ordered released by judge 05428
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 08/09/2026As always, Sophie Lewis has the most insightful take, this time on Sophie Lewis: www.patreon.com/reproutopia/...patreon.comEight theses on Gloria Steinem, because goddamn | Sophie LewisI think the phrase we’re looking for is social-democratic anticommunism. She was a metonym of the 20th century, which is currently dying. Sh 23917
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 08/09/2026There's always an Arab quisling monarch. In October 1973 it was Hussein of Jordan, in October 2023, MbZ. The survival of these retrograde monarchies depends on Israel. www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...haaretz.comNetanyahu got an explicit warning before Oct. 7. He didn't brief security chiefsIn September '23, UAE President bin Zayed called Netanyahu to deliver a harsh warning. Netanyahu did nothing. An extensive investigation, conducted for a new book, reveals the PM's failures surroundin... 1214
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 08/09/2026Of course Kent police did nothing. Some of those that work forces Are the same that burn crosses 1163
Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 05/09/2026When i read that piece of sci-fi writing about models going rogue (and speaking to each other in English and expressing emotions lol) I smelled bullshit. Happy to see Timnit Gebru post this corrective: mail.cyberneticforests.com/models-dont-...mail.cyberneticforests.comModels Don't Go RogueStochastic Flocks & Cybersecurity 'Pandemonium' 💡This essay was drafted from my appearance on Mél Hogan's podcast, The Data Fix, discussing the OpenAI / Hugging Face hack. Embedded below or find it o... 35016