Rebecca Glade

Zero Tolerance Five years after the George Floyd protests, many liberals blame “wokeness” for stifling open debate. So why can’t they handle being disagreed with?

God this is such a banger @andrealongchu.bsky.social www.vulture.com/article/post...

It really drives home that the "store it in a museum" argument is really a backdoor to "warehouse it until we can restore it later."

This is why some refer to this as a counterrevolutionary war. Both the armed parties are hostile to civilians and the revolution's demands for civilian government. The armed parties are not equivalent; the nature of their violence is different, but both have an interest in marginalizing civilians.

In that sense, civilians never broke--the security apparatus turned on itself. Neither the army nor the RSF were innocent in this, though there is significant polarization right now on the issue of who took the first shot and what that means politically.

SAF favored a long transition with them in power, but a quick move to absorb the RSF into the army (full absorption in 3 years). The RSF favored a long transition with them distinct from SAF the whole time (10 years before absorption).

The security apparatus fractured during these negotiations over the issue of what concessions to make on what was termed "security sector reform." The demand on the street was "the army to the barracks and the janjaweed dissolved."

The international community demanded that the putschists negotiate to restore the "transition" and certain political parties agreed to negotiations (despite opposition by those protesting on the street).

So the coup was instituted by the security apparatus as a whole-meaning SAF and the RSF. They were betting that a month of no internet and sustained repression would stop the protests, but as they continued post-coup, the country was paralyzed.

What an awful set of principles. Really, between the scholasticide resolution and this, AHA is failing systematically at the major ethical and professional challenges of our age. Truly an embarrassment.

These factors make footage hard to come by across Sudan, and especially areas controlled by the RSF. But that doesn't mean that people aren't monitoring or communicating! More often though, they go through trusted activist and mutual aid networks. And steps are taken to protect those reporting.

This means that someone in RSF controlled areas, by uploading footage, risks discovery by RSF by virtue of seeking access to starlink.

This is made particularly high stakes because RSF controlled territory has frequent internet outages, some as a result of infrastructure failure, some through SAF policy. So the only internet for uploading things is starlink--which operates with RSF control or monitoring.

Then, in RSF controlled territory, this suspicion is made even higher stakes, since the RSF functions like a militia and will absolutely institute arbitrary brutality and murder in the anything they find off.

The security services across the board in Sudan finds footage extremely suspicious, and people in SAF controlled areas are also *very* careful about what they record on their phones. Arbitrary detention is absolutely taking place in these areas.

This is basically true, but it's a bit more than that. Prior to the revolution, footage or photos of state buildings or infrastructure was treated as *super* sus by the state. Tourists would mostly get in trouble for pictures that showed a bridge or police station, but Sudanese were careful too

This is excellent! Would love to see more initiatives like this, both for scholars from Gaza as well as those from Sudan.

Not to be dramatic, but the fact that euro-American banking restrictions and sanctions still persist for Sudan should be considered a war crime. People are dying of starvation and it is so unnecessarily complicated and damn near impossible to move funds from N. America tô Sudan.

I spent decades at Columbia. I’m withdrawing my fall course due to its deal with Trump | Rashid Khalidi The university’s draconian policies and new definition of antisemitism make much teaching impossible

Proud to have studied with Rashid Khalidi and to have TAed for this course. This is a real loss for Columbia students, and a sad indicator of the moment we're in and the cowardice of Columbia's administration.

Ngl I'm happy some of the GHF security contractors are speaking out but it's kind of like signing up to be a concentration camp guard and then decrying all the concentration

Vivid memories of this screen appearing in Sudan not just for pornography but also opposition publications.

Dude, that is the problem with this app-it's suuuuper anglophone, and it feels like a vortex of US politics half the time. Still waiting for more people with funny jokes to join.

It's definitely an existential threat, and I think it links not just to the rise of the internet but also the dehumanization of medical systems (all state systems really). It's easier to trust your local doctor (who you know personally) than a rotating round of doctors in a bureaucratic maze.

Reminding myself that falling in love with people easily is a strength, not a weakness.

Correct-and like all management issues, the solution isn't just individually making noise, it's organizing with colleagues to demand changes together.

High school counselors/teachers, will you speak to students about their college applications this fall? Is this a topic you feel that you can safely broach as students decide on where to go? How is best to approach this in a tense political climate?

Those with the most leverage re leaving/not attending are undergraduates. Undergrads *can* transfer (and may even go to somewhere where they pay less!), and high school students can apply elsewhere. Columbia will 100% notice, and it won't have a disastrous effect on their lives.

Absolutely true-I *do* think though that academics working at universities that have capitulated should commit to organizing with their colleagues to fight these measures in all ways possible. Unionization, votes of no confidence, regular bureaucratic pushback to admin measures, etc.

Sunglasses are awful. I understand theoretically they serve a purpose, but really all they do for me is obscure my ability to see your facial expressions.

Socks are inherently frivolous and that should be maximized--bright colors, mismatched, patterns, images, you name it.

Ok, this game is silly, but I actually have a host of strong opinions about really small things, so for every like, I'll name one.