Gershom Gorenberg גרשום גורנברג
@gershomg.bsky.social
Jerusalemite. Journalist. Author, "War of Shadows: Codebreakers, Spies and the Secret Struggle to Drive the Nazis from the Middle East" Lecture contact info at http://tinyurl.com/ggersh
The Truth, I scream, this is the Truth of Our Age, I shout into the void, after this wasted afternoon dealing with an AI "assistant" that assisted with nothing, answered nothing, led nowhere, may its circuits burn in everlasting fire.
By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C)@doctorow.pluralistic.net · 4d agoBusinesses *suck* at documenting their processes. Customer-facing chatbots *also* suck. They either can't solve your problem, or, when they seem to solve your problem, the "solution" goes nowhere. 30/
The Truth, I scream, this is the Truth of Our Age, I shout into the void, after this wasted afternoon dealing with an AI "assistant" that assisted with nothing, answered nothing, led nowhere, may its circuits burn in everlasting fire.
By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C)@doctorow.pluralistic.net · 4d agoBusinesses *suck* at documenting their processes. Customer-facing chatbots *also* suck. They either can't solve your problem, or, when they seem to solve your problem, the "solution" goes nowhere. 30/
The interesting question to me is: how many people *read* 3500-word articles on any screen, especially a small one, rather than speed-scrolling them?
Bill Grueskin@bgrueskin.bsky.social · 3h agoTip for those of you also writing a 3,500-word story on your desktop computer: Before you file it to your editor, read the draft on your phone. Those beautifully crafted, long-winded sentences and paragraphs look a lot different (ie, more soporific) on a tiny screen.
The people who invented albuterol and beclomethasone are heroes that should be better known. David Jack deserves a lot of the credit.
The change in medical treatment for asthma over the past 40 years has radically improved my life. Instead of rushing to the emergency room because I cannot get air into my lungs, going out to run for an hour. The first time I was able to do this, it was nearly a mystical experience.
Robert Wright@reporterrwright.ft.com · 6h agoBicycles have improved immeasurably in recent years. I used to have to reach down to the downtube to shift gears. I now have indexed shifting integrated into the brake levers. Disc brakes meanwhile are revolutionary.
Pablo Neruda was a brilliant poet but a terrible person and Stalinist.
ארנסט המינגוויי דיווח מאיטליה באביב 1922 על קבוצות המחץ הפשיסטיות שרדפו ברחובות אחר קומוניסטים. הם "טעמו את טעמו של רצח ללא דין וללא דיין, ואת הזכות להתפרע מתי ואיפה שרצו". חצי שנה אחר כך, מוסוליני עלה לשלטון. יש כאן אזהרה חמורה לגבי הטרור היהודי. כתבתי על כך ב"הארץ". tiny.cc/r7o7101
כשהטרור היהודי יחצה את הקו הירוק | דעה
ארנסט המינגוויי, אז עיתונאי צעיר, דיווח מגנואה שבאיטליה באביב 1922 על ועידת שלום בינלאומית שהתקיימה בעיר — ועל קבוצות המחץ של התנועה הפשיסטית שרדפו ברחובות אחר
tiny.cc
ארנסט המינגוויי דיווח מאיטליה באביב 1922 על קבוצות המחץ הפשיסטיות שרדפו ברחובות אחר קומוניסטים. הם "טעמו את טעמו של רצח ללא דין וללא דיין, ואת הזכות להתפרע מתי ואיפה שרצו". חצי שנה אחר כך, מוסוליני עלה לשלטון. יש כאן אזהרה חמורה לגבי הטרור היהודי. כתבתי על כך ב"הארץ". tiny.cc/r7o7101
כשהטרור היהודי יחצה את הקו הירוק | דעה
ארנסט המינגוויי, אז עיתונאי צעיר, דיווח מגנואה שבאיטליה באביב 1922 על ועידת שלום בינלאומית שהתקיימה בעיר — ועל קבוצות המחץ של התנועה הפשיסטית שרדפו ברחובות אחר
tiny.cc
Basic fact of living in the Middle East is that our lives are in the hands of hubristic idiots with large arsenals.
Mold for making female figurines, likely household idols, from 1st Temple era found in Jerusalem. Reminder that prohibitions (in this case, Biblical bans on idolatry) are good indication that in real life, people were doing the opposite. Gift link to Hebrew article: www.haaretz.co.il/science/arch...
לראשונה התגלתה בירושלים תבנית ליציקת צלמיות מימי בית ראשון
כמעט בכל חפירה ארכאולוגית שנעשתה בירושלים נמצאו צלמיות, ובניגוד לתפיסה המקראית, הן שימשו ככל הנראה לפולחן ביתי. ממצא שהתגלה בעת האחרונה בחפירה בקישלה יסייע להבין את תהליך הייצור
haaretz.co.il
🗃️ I think it's important to not lose sight of the fact that, fundamentally, history was us back then. "Times change, we express ourselves differently, but the human condition is still the same old deal." -Annie Lennox
This is not only a disgrace, but vile and sociopathic.
Aric Toler@aric.bsky.social · 2w agoThe Pentagon removed the names of 4 servicemembers who died in Jordan from their official list of Iran war casualties. They explain that this is because "their deaths occurred after President Trump declared a cease-fire in the war in April." Free gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/07/23/u...
Great story!
Rima I Anabtawi@rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · 2w agoIt’s is! Lebanese and Syrian families began coming to Texas around 1880 from what were then Middle Eastern provinces within the Ottoman Turkish Empire. But the first Arabic-speaking individuals from that region already had arrived in Texas in 1856 as camel tenders. share.google/OWPPVNPLjKO4...
“Old-timers out in Arizona Tell you that it’s true You can see Hi Jolly’s ghost a-travelin’ still When the desert moon is bright He comes ridin’ through the night Leadin’ four and twenty camels ‘cross the hill.” www.aramcoworld.com/en/articles/...
It would, and all started by Hadji Ali, aka ‘Hi Jolly’. share.google/VzHl6swjGHAS...
The Camel Handler Who Helped Forge Route 66 | The Saturday Evening Post
Muslims like Hadji Ali, aka ‘Hi Jolly,’ have played a central role in American history for centuries.
share.google
It’s is! Lebanese and Syrian families began coming to Texas around 1880 from what were then Middle Eastern provinces within the Ottoman Turkish Empire. But the first Arabic-speaking individuals from that region already had arrived in Texas in 1856 as camel tenders. share.google/OWPPVNPLjKO4...
Lebanese-Syrian Texans
Lebanese and Syrian families began coming to Texas around 1880 from what were then Middle Eastern provinces within the Ottoman Turkish Empire. But the first Arabic-speaking individuals from that regio...
share.google
In my 20s, after having a couple of terrible bosses, I came to the realization that being a complete asshole and treating other people like shit is not only no bar to professional success, it actually seems to help. I still don't know what to do with this knowledge. These people never get punished.
Bill Grueskin@bgrueskin.bsky.social · 2w agoCould this administration please hire just one normal person who operates with a core of good faith and basic decency?
together with Hitler and Stalin Mao takes the cake as one of the 3 worst people ever the man was a fucking monster
Shannon Watts@shannonrwatts.bsky.social · 2w ago"I never would and never will criticize Mao Zedong… one of the great leaders of this world... who changed the entire universe … There was a lot of fucking excess... but China would not exist without Mao." Mao’s rule resulted in 40M deaths.
I'm reading Virginia Woolf's diaries, & I'll tell you what, it's very hope-giving to find that when the greatest of all time is alone with her pen, she says to herself: "I'm a failure as a writer. I'm out of fashion: old: shan't do any better." honestly. happens to us all. writing, man, writing.
Local plumbers two steps ahead of every university administrator in america 👏
Metin Seven (Moon Child's dad 🌝)@seven.eurosky.social · 2w ago
"you cannot have nice things because Jews are taking your money and sending it abroad" is it a quote from 1300? 1938? 2026? who can say really...
Acyn@acyn.bsky.social · 3w agoEl-Sayed: They’ve taken to calling me dangerous. If you’re a worker who wants our economy to work for you, I’m not dangerous. If you’re AIPAC and want to send our money abroad, you damn well better believe I’m dangerous.
I am not a climate scientist but when I was a kid the number of times we couldn’t go outside because of Canadian wildfire smoke was zero times
And here, I only started reading my son the Odyssey when he was 7. Why was I waiting so long?
The Atlantic@theatlantic.com · 3w ago“The Odyssey” is not, strictly speaking, a children’s book. But Chris Moody decided to try reading it to his 3-year old son anyway. He reflects on how his toddler has come to appreciate the great yarn:
This is highly antisemitic from the Vice President of the US, not because criticizing Israel is inherently antisemitic, but because inventing conspiracies without evidence that link Israel or Mossad to all the world's evils is not criticizing Israel, but a conspiratorial imaginary of it.
The Bulwark@thebulwark.com · 3w agoRogan: Most people think Epstein was Mossad. Vance: "Ya. Mossad or CIA or some other deep state, whether in America or Israel…He clearly had connections to the highest levels of American intelligence. He clearly had connections to the highest level of Israeli intelligence."