Raj Thamotheram

@rajtham.bsky.social

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Sustainable finance guy who's also not fond of pandemics or genocides.

Posts Replies Media

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Raj Thamotheram

UK ‘turning a blind eye’ to threats to kill Saudi activists living in exile www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

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Raj Thamotheram

Can't reiterate enough that thoughtful Lefty people who post on Bluesky and contemplate the morality of war DO NOT win in an environment of normalized political violence, even from a purely strategic, self-interested perspective. If we've reached that we've already lost.

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Raj Thamotheram

SCHOLARSHIP for GAZA STUDENTS The University of Padua (one of the best in Italy) is offering 5 scolarships for students from Gaza. Deadline July 15th www.unipd.it/en/students-... If you know someone who might be interested, please let them know

Students at risk: scholarships to support students A.Y.2023/24 | Università di Padovawww.unipd.it UniPD

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Raj Thamotheram

Who exactly is trying to push Biden out?robertreich.substack.com A lesson in where political power really lies in America

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Raj Thamotheram

“I guess this is also the role of art, even in times of tragedy: to capture a moment and plant it in your soul.” www.972mag.com/pales... 🇵🇸🍉🗝️ #Gaza #Palestine #CeasefireNow

What can Palestinian artists do in the face of our slaughter?www.972mag.com I used to believe art could change the world. Now it feels like a black box: it won’t navigate the landing, it can only document the crash.

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Raj Thamotheram

Details reported in piece for those who can’t read it —Macron’s team mostly shrugged off results on Sunday. They started celebrating a birthday as returned still coming in —He didn’t bother watching as Prime Minister, Attal, gave forceful speech calling to block far-right. (1/?)

Explosive reporting in Le Monde confirms what was apparent all week: Macron resisted the emergence of anti-far-right front after round 1. His PM, Attal, forced it as a fait accompli, & pressured for drop outs to block RN. Even then, Macron made some phone calls to undercut it.

Législatives 2024 : entre l’Elysée et Matignon, tensions sur le front républicainwww.lemonde.fr L’attitude à tenir face à la montée de l’extrême droite a profondément divisé Emmanuel Macron et Gabriel Attal. Leurs stratégies, parfois contraires, se sont parasitées avant le second tour des électi...

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Raj Thamotheram

Appalling & deeply indicative of a potential 2nd Trump admin's foreign policy: one-upping rivals on X & Meta at the cost of public health/lives. Not to mention DoD power grab. “We weren’t looking at this from a public health perspective...We were looking at how we could drag China through the mud.”

Pentagon ran secret anti-vax campaign to incite fear of China vaccineswww.reuters.com The covert effort began under Trump and continued into Biden’s presidency, Reuters found. Health experts say it endangered lives for possible geopolitical gain.

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Raj Thamotheram

-40,000+ killed -15,000+ children killed -20,000 children missing -70% of Gaza's buildings destroyed -60% of Gaza's farms destroyed -2,200,000 displaced

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Raj Thamotheram

"In 2024, military force is still the foundation of the fossil fuel economy, both in terms of protecting the interests of fossil fuel firms and as an effective guarantor of demand." turningpointmag.org/2024/07/03/t...

The Three Dimensions of Militarism in the Climate Crisis - Turning Pointturningpointmag.org Where we shirk internationalism and a clear-eyed analysis of the violent political economy in which the climate crisis is unfolding, we do so at our collective peril.

Great evidence (not that any is needed) that opinion formers should leave X, a toxic far right site now. What's fascinating is that the folk who seem least willing to do this seem to be progressives who are focused on politics! And the most open being climate scientists. Am I wrong?

Yesterday, I shared this same Canada Day thread on Bluesky, Threads, and X. Here's what I found. 🧵

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Raj Thamotheram

Reply to

Katharine Hayhoe

I already invite people on X to join us here weekly. But thanks to this analysis, I've decided to re-create my "scientists who do climate" list here this summer, and manually invite each of the 3,000 members on X to join us. If you're still on X, pls consider inviting your followers to join us too!

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Raj Thamotheram

Reply to

Aaaac

I'm pretty sure not every generation feels this way, because we have been massively fucked over, completely fucked, absolutely thrown under the bus.

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Raj Thamotheram

And remember, the Christian Right only took up abortion as a topic after they lost school segregation for good when the IRS went after Bob Jones’ U status, & needed a new issue to rally the troops. 1/x all our issues are intertwined. 🧵

The United States has always been a democracy for some and a brutal authoritarian regime for others, and the effort to expand it to democracy for all has led to a 70+ year backlash culminating in SCOTUS claiming that kings are totes cool and also judges are the ones to coronate them

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Raj Thamotheram

I really cannot emphasize how catastrophically bad the Court's ruling was. I do my best not to exaggerate about these kinds of things but I am still kind of in shock

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Raj Thamotheram

"Expand the court" has gone from radical solution to the most exceptionally moderate option on the table.

This thread from the senior counsel at @publiccitizen.bsky.social deserves attention here. Hopefully Aaron will explain more "We don't have to nominate someone who is objectively, demonstrably one of the worst possible options against Trump." x.com/aaronregunbe...

x.comx.com

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Raj Thamotheram

Israel and Christian Zionism 🎧 We host James Harris co-founder of Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimage to talk about his time in the West Bank and his belief that challenging Christian Zionism is a key factor to stopping the genocide. with @kyledchurch.bsky.social and Mitch Cramer

1/200 S2E81 - Israel and Christian Zionism — 1/200www.1of200.nz We host James Harris co-founder of Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimage to talk about his time in the West Bank and his belief that challenging Christian Zionism is a key factor to stopping the genocide.

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Raj Thamotheram

Once again, I just want to say that lavish gifts to Supreme Court justices shouldn’t just be “disclosed.” They should be banned, outright. This should not be a radical position.

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Raj Thamotheram

June 24, 2024. @angie_rasmussen To minimize risk of H5N1 getting a foothold in humans, we need to identify human cases. To identify human cases, we need to test. To test, we need to make diagnostics available to those at risk. We didn’t do that for COVID early on. We aren’t doing it now for H5N1.

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Raj Thamotheram

The reactionary assault on democratic multiracial pluralism and the modern state won’t stop because the people behind it have an epiphany they shouldn’t go *that* far. It will either *be stopped* or entrench white Christian patriarchal rule and unfettered domination by the wealthy and powerful.

the conservative movement's roots is an alliance of business interests livid about the new deal, southern racists livid about the civil rights movement, and church ladies livid about the sexual revolution. scotus will continue unabated until they've rolled all those back (or democrats stop them)

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Raj Thamotheram

Excellent op-ed yesterday from @andrewdessler.bsky.social on renewables already being the cheaper option and how the fossil fuel industry is trying to salt that particular bit of earth to stop their rollout. These companies are *absurdly* rich and they're not gonna stop. Gift link:

Opinion | Oil and Gas Companies Are Trying to Rig the Marketplacewww.nytimes.com Fossil fuel interests are spreading misinformation that renewable energy is harmful, unreliable and worse for consumers.

From a senior staffer at the leading UK mainstream IR think-tank Biden vs Bibi - Biden lost

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Raj Thamotheram

"We have let Israel face zero consequences for crossing all our red lines in Gaza so they're emboldened & know they will face no consequences for going into Lebanon" - Pentagon official

With Israel 'Emboldened,' Washington Braces For Fresh Middle East Bloodshed In Lebanont.co Some U.S. government insiders doubt President Joe Biden can avert a war between Israel and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah that could drag in the U.S. and Iran.

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Raj Thamotheram

"The decades-old image that Israel alone gets named, blamed and punished for the kinds of things all others do for free is one of the greatest historical fictions in Israel's history." Dahlia Scheindlin in Haaretz.

Fact or fiction: Is Israel unfairly singled out for global condemnation?www.haaretz.com ***

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Raj Thamotheram

“If we say nothing about Israel’s brazen slaughter of Palestinians, even as it is livestreamed into the most private recesses of our personal lives, we are complicit in it. Something in our moral selves will be altered forever.”

Arundhati Roy: Stop This Slaughter in Palestinehammerandhope.org For the sake of the living and in the name of the dead.

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Raj Thamotheram

Reply to

Katharine Hayhoe

As @jonathanstea.bsky.social points out here, a strong predictor of trolling is the tendency to derive pleasure or enjoyment from being cruel or demeaning to others. By blocking, it deprives them of that pleasure.

The Psychology of Online Trollingmedium.com If you’ve ever been the recipient of persistent online trolling, then you know exactly how discombobulating it can feel. You might start…

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Raj Thamotheram

#Palestine : youtu.be/kPAqPnBsvYA?...

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Raj Thamotheram

Breaking News: An influential Israeli official said in a taped speech that the government was engaged in a stealthy effort to cement control over the West Bank.

Israeli Official Describes Secret Government Bid to Cement Control of West Banknyti.ms Israeli judges have long ruled that Israel’s control of the territory is a temporary military occupation and complies with international law. A powerful minister’s recent speech, caught on tape, sugge...

Is voting for an "independent" responsible in a 2 horse race? Some interesting UK perspectives on the similarities and differences between the UK & USA. manage.kmail-lists.com/subscription...

manage.kmail-lists.com

Curious what folks who know the region think about this message from the Saudis? Also do we know why the Saudi govt has not significantly increased funding to UNRWA? @danaelkurd.bsky.social @smako.bsky.social @emissaryofnight.bsky.social @mondoweiss.net @dbgreenwald.bsky.social