Nate Schenkkan
@nateschenkkan.bsky.social
Human rights expert. Global authoritarianism, transnational repression, Turkey and Eurasia, academic freedom. Entirely personal account.
Israeli police have detained six people, five of them minors, after an attack on the St James Monastery in the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City, in which the group spat on and threw stones at the compound housing the Armenian Apostolic Church’s headquarters in the region.
The timeline is slightly lagging behind but the process evolves more or less as desired. For Ankara, the ambiguity created and reproduced by all sorts of interpretations and meanings attributed by the other involved actors to it is the core source of power.
I dont think there is much new to add to the rapprochement&alignment between Ankara and Ocalan. A process that essentially revolves around the PKK's disarmament and dissolution. Ankara has been since from the beginning transparent about what it understands from this process.
The scorching hot take is when you extend this to our entire political system
Matthew Gertz@mattgertz.bsky.social · 6h agoMy ice-cold boring take that will definitely not go viral is that a primary result with a margin of victory of roughly 1 percent tells you precisely nothing about The Future Of The Party.
I am talking to some very staunch CHP voters this past few weeks.... every single one is switching to New. The CHP looks like it'll be a shell soon My only real question is about rural Alevis. And fund raising
A new survey from @knightfoundation.org and @ssrsresearch.bsky.social reveals a disquieting decline in how free Americans feel to use the freedoms protected by the #FirstAmendment without government interference or punishment. 🧵
Knight Foundation-SSRS Poll: Americans Feel Free Expression is Eroding - Knight Foundation
For more than two decades, Knight Foundation has commissioned research to better understand Americans’ lived experience with the First Amendment and free expression. As the country marks its 250th ann...
knightfoundation.org
As a parent, I think a lot of this effect is polling people too young to know what jobs are about jobs
ryan cooper@ryanlcooper.com · 6h ago"influencer" is one of the most desirable jobs for young people, according to polling at least, but to me it sounds like one of the worst jobs imaginable vulture.com/article/infl...
Hard to see how this leads to anything remotely resembling democratization in the current context in Turkey bianet.org/haber/dem-pa...
DEM Parti: "Türkiye siyasi tarihinde yeni bir sayfa açıyoruz"
Aralarında Grup Başkanvekilleri, Parti Sözcüsü, Kadın Meclisi Sözcüsü, İmralı Heyeti ve Meclis Adalet Komisyonu üyelerinin de yer aldığı geniş katılımlı heyetin imza süreci sonrası Eş Genel Başkanlar ...
bianet.org
Unexpected and unexplained mobilization of Syria’s armed forces, allegedly linked to some sort of situation with pro-Iran groups on the Iraqi border. @enabbaladi.bsky.social: www.enabbaladi.net/819636/
الجيش السوري يستنفر قواته ويدعو للالتحاق بالثكنات
طلبت وزارة الدفاع السورية من عناصرها رفع الجاهزية والاستنفار والالتحاق بالثكنات وقطع الإجازات، وفق خمسة مصادر متقاطعة من الجيش لعنب بلدي. وعممت الوزارة الطلب على مجموعات التنسيق العسكرية، دون أن تبين...
enabbaladi.net
This is... completely correct and I hope he doesn't get pilloried for it www.cbc.ca/news/politic...
New foreign influence office won't prevent foreign interference, commissioner says | CBC News
Canada's new foreign influence office won't prevent foreign interference in Canada, but it will provide more transparency for Canadians who want to know who is trying to influence their politicians an...
cbc.ca
📢 BRISMES has published the first annual report of its Committee on #AcademicFreedom. Drawing on 28 interventions, it documents threats to academic freedom, freedom of expression and the right to education across the UK, Europe and the MENA. (1/8) 👉 shorturl.at/eKJku
TIL another of Michael Rubin's deranged positions is Morocco should overrun Ceuta to punish Spain for not supporting Israel
Aron Lund@aronlund.bsky.social · 2d agoHistorically informed piece on the silly notion that Ceuta is occupied Moroccan land or an unjustly Spanish-ruled colonial possession, and how these claims spread among pro-Israel groups as a reaction to Spain’s pro-Palestine advocacy. @ajaltamimi.bsky.social www.aymennaltamimi.com/p/occupied-c...
And even that doesn't imply "growth would decrease 25% if AI went away" (at least *some* is likely crowding out alternative investments).
Personally cannot wait to throw some solar panels and a battery in the back and let them cook
David Ho@davidho.bsky.social · yesterdayNot sure if everyone appreciates the difference. Rooftop solar hardwires into your main panel via a dedicated breaker, so it requires a permit, an installer, an electrician, and a utility agreement. Balcony solar just plugs into a wall outlet, sharing an existing circuit with no permits or rewiring.
Renters pay higher property taxes in NYC than single-family homeowners
Chicago Tribune@chicagotribune.com · yesterdayEditorial: New York’s democratic socialists put the squeeze on thousands of property owners
When you can't get Mitch Daniels on board...
Chronicle of Higher Education@chronicle.com · yesterdayIn a Chronicle Q&A, Mitch Daniels backs some calls for higher-ed reform but rejects tying research support to compliance with government demands. He also points to AI as a threat that may force “enormous changes” in how colleges teach. Read the interview. https://chroni.cl/4xi7m4U
Bombshell new report out from my investigators this morning spanning our four year investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s financial records. This report shows exactly how Wall Street protected Epstein and enabled his sex trafficking for decades. Mega thread following with some key points:
Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan, BofA Enabled Epstein, Wyden Report Says
Democrat Ron Wyden cited nonpublic documents held by the US Treasury in a report that says banks delayed reporting suspicious financial transactions and calls for tougher anti-money-laundering rules, ...
bloomberg.com
www.azatutyun.am/a/33821078.h... More worrying politically connoted sackings in Armenia’s higher education sector - relatives of opposition MPs are being fired as Armenia’s newly elected parliament convenes.
Yerevan State University Continues ‘Political’ Sackings
Armenia’s leading university has fired one of its most renowned law professors, the latest in a series of sackings of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s critics or their relatives working in the public ...
azatutyun.am
But Jason Mamoa wants to be Jack Black, which is also indefensible
@lastpositivist.bsky.social · yesterdayI think it's very obvious that this sorta ultra aggro performance is what you do if you aren't actually a big tough guy. I think... like... Jason Mamoa's general affect is more similar to what I've experienced from actually big tough guys irl. Which is odd though cos the latter is just as fakeable?
“In recent months, ICE has deployed a round-the-clock digital dragnet to scour the public internet—from Facebook to Instagram to X—for speech that could endanger the agency’s mission.” Speech. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
How ICE Is Weaponizing Social Media Against its Critics
Agency says its surveillance program searches for threats to agents, but critics see free-speech infringements.
wsj.com
Malaysia has for many years hosted refugees from Myanmar who have fled oppression and atrocities by the Myanmar military. But the Malaysian government recently announced the planned return of 5,000 Rohingya to Myanmar, where they face persecution and violence. New from HRW: https://bit.ly/3TAwpBR
Chinese viral AI videos are turning foreigners into villains, flooding Chinese social media. They depict foreigners as threats to China’s social, moral, and national order. Strong, confident Chinese people confront, violently beat, and humiliate them in defense of their country. See more below🧵