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nposegay.bsky.social
Nick Posegay
@nposegay.bsky.social
4.1K followers 2.3K following 1.6K posts
Itinerant scholar, ex- @theul.bsky.social | PhD Middle Eastern Studies | he/him | Publications: linktr.ee/NPosegay

Banner: 15th c. bull head watermark screaming with existential terror
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nposegay.bsky.social
Right, much more plausible that he randomly showed up at the mansion to take a picture with them. Same with Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew, I'm sure. www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/f...
Extract from Esquire Magazine article dated 8 July 2020: https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/jeffrey-epstein-criminal-case-filipino-a00297-20200708 "Epstein had Filipino ex-housekeepers Jojo and Jun-lyn Fontanilla working at one of his estates. According to the Fontanillas, they had been working for the financier since the '90s. And since their boss had several high-profile acquaintances, the Fontanillas regularly met with the likes of Prince Andrew and Bill Clinton. Facebook photos show a slew of celebrities pictured with the two housekeepers, including Epstein himself, politician John Kerry, Bill Clinton, Hilary Swank, Chris Tucker, Prince Andrew, as well as his ex-wife Sarah, Duchess of York."
November 17, 2025 at 2:39 PM
nposegay.bsky.social
Is this not where we're at?
Mock up of left-right UK political spectrum with the logos of the Green party on the left, Liberal democrats on the centre-left, and Conservative/Labour/Reform clustered on the far right
November 16, 2025 at 10:04 PM
nposegay.bsky.social
Breaking this down from Israel's defense minister today:

"IDF will remain at the peak of Mount Hermon" = Mt Hermon is between Lebanon and Syria

"and in the security zone" = i.e. the demilitarised UN zone in Syria, which Israel invaded

"Hamas will be disarmed in the yellow line *by the IDF*" =
Screenshot of quote tweet by Guy Elster (@guyelster) where he translates a post by Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz: Guy Elster גיא אלסטר @guyelster Israel Defense Minister - who does not have any impact in the real world - claims that "Israel's policy is clear: no Palestinian state will be established. The IDF will remain at the peak of Mount Hermon and in the security zone. Gaza will be demilitarized down to the last tunnel and Hamas will be disarmed in the yellow line by the IDF and in the old Gaza by the international force - or by the IDF.
November 16, 2025 at 5:23 PM
nposegay.bsky.social
This isn't even like a "benefit of hindsight" thing. We said it back then too.
Quote tweet by @NPosegay from 10 March 2025: To all the American free-speech-except-for-Palestine liberals, you have to stand up now. Every unchallenged step they take towards criminalising Palestinian solidarity is a step they will soon redeploy against immigrant, LGBTQ, non-white, non-Christian, or pro-choice people. Quoted tweet by @jeremyscahill from 9 March 2025: BREAKING: DHS Detains Lead Negotiator of Columbia Gaza Solidarity Encampment After Online Campaign by Pro-Israel Groups Story at @DropSiteNews • dropsitenews.com/p/dhs-detains-.....
November 14, 2025 at 2:35 AM
nposegay.bsky.social
The "whole word" teaching method was already considered crank in like 1100 CE btw. Not even joking.
Waterstained, brown-paper Judaeo-Arabic letter in Hebrew script. The text is badly rubbed and there are wormholes in the page. The caption reads: Back to Basics Isaac ben Samuel “the Spaniard,” a judge in 12th-century Fustat, had strong opinions on the right way to teach children. When a cantor from the Egyptian countryside asked for his opinion about the controversial reading method of ‘whole word recognition’, favoured by a local schoolteacher, Isaac was greatly disturbed. “You first mentioned that a teacher in your place instructs the boys without [first teaching them] the alphabet and the vowel signs. This is by no means permissible, for the alphabet and the vowel signs are the basis of all teaching; through the alphabet, God has given us His message; through it, the pupils get a firm grounding, and on it, everything rests.” If the teacher wants to continue in his post he must change his method immediately. Isaac instructs the cantor to keep an eye on the situation and report back to Fustat. Ca. 1100–1130 CE
November 11, 2025 at 8:06 PM
nposegay.bsky.social
Here's a snippet from the manuscript with the translation of Genesis 13, verses 14-15 (And God said to Abram, "All that the light touches is our kingdom..."). The whole book that the article appears in is free here: doi.org/10.11647/OBP...
Several lines of Hebrew-script Arabic text from a black and white photo of a parchment manuscript.
November 10, 2025 at 5:35 PM
nposegay.bsky.social
"You wouldn't steal an appointment with your primary care physician" but it's scary like with scary font an blurred lines in the background so you know it's scary
November 10, 2025 at 12:35 AM
nposegay.bsky.social
Yeah okay pretty fun
"Death Cab for Cutie" with the yellow letters and blue blackground of the "Zohran for New York" slogan
November 8, 2025 at 9:48 PM
nposegay.bsky.social
Anyone else old enough to remember when Cambridge hung an effigy of a female undergraduate riding a bike from the window of what is now the university bookstore, as part of their riot against granting degrees to women?
https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/PH-UA-PHOT-00174-00004/1 Effigy of woman undergraduate during campaigning for 1897 (UA Phot.174/4) In a rapidly changing educational landscape, Cambridge’s refusal to grant women equality stood out. The University of London was the first to admit women to degrees in 1878, and thereafter the rapid creation of new universities meant that by 1914 there were many institutions offering women degrees. Oxford fell in line in 1920, leaving Cambridge isolated until it gave women full membership of the university in 1948. In 1897 and 1921 requests for equality were put to a vote and were rejected. Why did Cambridge resist the rising tide for so long? Victorian ideas about female intellectual or physical inferiority were soon dispelled. The success of Agnata Ramsay in the Classical Tripos in 1887 and Philippa Fawcett achieving the position of Wrangler in 1890 dispelled myths about women’s capability for academic success. More important was a sense that, unlike other universities, Cambridge existed to produce certain kinds of elite masculinity that were best cultivated in exclusively male environments. Also important was the fear that granting women degrees would give them a say in running the university. In 1897 the proposal was carefully worded to grant women formal recognition of their degrees, but no share in university government. Despite this on 21 May 1897 Cambridge University rejected the notion by 1713 votes to 662 to grant full degrees to women. Campaigning in the build-up to the vote was particularly vicious especially among undergraduate men. Here an effigy of a female undergraduate hangs from the first floor of what is now Cambridge University Press’s book shop.
November 7, 2025 at 3:39 PM
nposegay.bsky.social
Pretty gross tbh. Note it doesn't say "passport is acceptable as long as it says F," it's "you may be asked for documents, some examples of which might be a passport or birth certificate." I wonder who decides which candidates have to submit a birth certificate.
Quote from this Newnham College webpage on Research Fellowship criteria: "Successful candidates will be asked to produce identification documentation (e.g. passport or full birth certificate). It is expected that this documentation will be in the female gender."
November 3, 2025 at 4:26 PM
nposegay.bsky.social
Damn the OP turned out to be a genocide denier/apologist
‪Margarete Rosalind Weidenhammer‬ ‪@margareterosali.bsky.social‬ · 3mo Joined Sep ’23 5 in peace and freedom. The goal of Hamas is the annihilation of Israel and innocent Israeli hostages that have been kidnapped for almost 2 years. Germany fails to recognize this intention of Hamas and Iran. Our current action leads to the perpetrator-victim reversal with ⬇️ Margarete Rosalind Weidenhammer ‪@margareterosali.bsky.social‬ 6 unauthorized criticism of the necessary approach of Israel. Why does Germany throw aid packages over Gaza, which according to the federal government falls up to 100% in Hamas hands, i.e. the direct support of Hamas? Why doesn't Germany lead an initiative to disarm the Hamas, with ⬇️ August 4, 2025 at 1:11 PM
November 2, 2025 at 7:58 PM
nposegay.bsky.social
Few things have as long a history as rabbis arguing in open letters
Page 87 from "The Illustrated Cairo Genizah," featuring an image of a light brown paper manuscript with approximately 30 lines of handwritten Hebrew text in black ink. Several additional lines of text run diagonally up the right margin. The manuscript is labeled by Cambridge University Library as T-S 16.261. Title: Rivalry in the Palestinian Yeshivah Caption: Life was difficult for Solomon ben Judah. He was unpopular, had rivals to his position as Gaon of the struggling Palestinian Yeshivah (Academy), and he was even forced to borrow from the poor fund to feed and clothe himself. His eyesight was failing and his knees often ached. In this letter to a Jewish leader in Tripoli (modern Lebanon), Solomon announces the excommunication of his challenger, Nathan ben Abraham, and urges the Tripoli community to follow suit. It was the ultimate sanction against Nathan, who had garnered sufficient support in Egypt, North Africa, and Palestine to attempt to usurp the Jerusalem gaonate. Solomon limped from one disaster to another, but eventually outlived all his enemies. Dozens of his letters havebeen recovered from the Genizah. 1039 CE Quote from the text of the letter: "…be warned and warn others not to read his letters if they should come to you, because his letters are iniquitous scribings and mischievous missives…"
October 31, 2025 at 5:59 PM
nposegay.bsky.social
Israel has bombed Lebanon nearly every day, often multiple times a day, since the ceasefire *they agreed to* in Nov '24. Beirut has not retaliated. Hezbollah maybe retaliated one time. Now the WSJ runs this bullshit as the IDF is ramping up its new invasion plan. Textbook manufacturing consent.
Wall Street Journal headline and subhead from 30 October 2025: Hezbollah Is Rearming, Putting Cease-Fire at Risk Israel is losing patience as the Lebanese militant group restocks rockets, antitank missiles and artillery
October 31, 2025 at 4:18 PM
nposegay.bsky.social
This is Nabia Abbott. She was a groundbreaking scholar of Arabic manuscripts, the first woman professor at UChicago's Oriental Institute, and once sent me on a wild goose chase spanning 3 continents. Someday I'll finish my article about her, but until then, see:
threadreaderapp.com/thread/15809...
Black and whote picture of Professor Nabia Abbott sitting at a desk in UChicago's Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures (née Oriental Institue), ca. 1960. The desk is stacked with glass plates containing fragments of Arabic papyrus manuscripts. She supports one with her right hand, eyes cast down reading the text. Behind her is a bookshelf containing several large reference books.
October 27, 2025 at 3:26 PM
nposegay.bsky.social
"people with few followers are MAGA or burner accounts"

Meanwhile, the anatomy of the average liberal account:
-joined Nov '24
-20k+ following, <1/2 that followers
-rambling bio, high wc, low info
-row of emojis, 2+ flag icons
-"peace" "tolerance" "bluecrew" "resist"
-"leftists are just as crazy"
‪T2T‬ ‪@tradesman2trader.bsky.social‬ · 1h Joined Nov ’24 It doesn’t necessarily prove that they’re m[a]ga what it does prove is they are very rude, they have very few followers, very few posts, which likely means that some sort of burner account or something If they aren’t maga they are just as crazy and I’m happy to block them T2T bio @tradesman2trader.bsky.social 12.1K followers 24.5K following 9K posts Jack of all trades master of none. Except tying flies/fish bait guess Imma master baiter 😂. Pulling wrenches til I’m trading full time. Dog/animal lover. Tolerance, love and ✌️☮️💙🇨🇦🇺🇸apologies ahead of time for spelling - talk/text w/lack of editing 🤷‍♂️
October 27, 2025 at 2:58 PM
nposegay.bsky.social
Even if, for some reason, you think Christianity or Islam or 'religion' in general are fundamentally problems, "increase Islamophobia" and "increase Christian-phobia x10" are not solutions. They're just bigotry. Block and report accordingly.
Teeklin ‪@teeklin.bsky.social‬ Joined Oct ’24 Hopefully the left dislikes all religion more and more over time until they all die off I just really wish that Christianophobia was growing ten times as fast as Islamophobia since it's a much larger problem in the US than Islam is But all religion is cancer
October 24, 2025 at 4:32 PM
nposegay.bsky.social
Great for him I guess, but Israel already occupies the West Bank. Palestinian cities are cut off from each other by IDF checkpoints, "closed military zones," and "nature reserves." That's on top of 1 million+ Israeli settlers in illegal settlements. Opposing "annexation" is a rhetorical formality.
Map of "ATTACKS BY ISRAELI SETTLERS BY GOVERNORATE 1 JANUARY 2024 - 30 SEPTEMBER 2025" from the October 2025 OCHA West Bank Monthly Snapshot, showing severe fragmentation of Palestinian territory in the West Bank. The full report is available here: https://www.ochaopt.org/content/west-bank-monthly-snapshot-casualties-property-damage-and-displacement-september-2025
October 23, 2025 at 12:20 PM
nposegay.bsky.social
CAN WE PLEASE STOP LYING UP ABOUT WHAT PRESIDENTS DID

Called for ceasefire = so did Trump, this isn't action

Negotiated multiple ceasefires = only 1 (Nov '23), Witkoff secured the other in Jan '25

Pier = did not "force" aid in, Israel vetted everything

Withheld offensive arms = STRAIGHT UP LIE
Bsky post by James Bennet @ubernostrum.bsky.social - 1h Harris called for ceasefire, for Israel to withdraw from Gaza, and for a two-state solution. Biden negotiated multiple ceasefires, sanctioned illegal settlers, withheld offensive arms, and built a pier to force aid in from the sea.
October 22, 2025 at 1:10 PM
nposegay.bsky.social
*only* of *some* 2000lb 'bunker-buster' bombs. Nothing else was done. They sent billions and billions of dollars worth of other weapons. You said the Biden Admin stopped arming Israel twice. That is a lie.
Just_CJ @cjwizgeek.blacksky.app Biden Administration stopped arming Israel twice and caught hell from Congress because that decisaion on arming Israel is a call made by Congress. [quote of a blocked post]
October 21, 2025 at 8:34 PM
nposegay.bsky.social
Better pic of this guy. The photo was taken on 4 October, shortly after the ICE shooting in Brighton Park, Chicago.
Photo of a federal agent wearing camouflage, a gas mask, and a keffiyeh while holding a rifle. CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - OCTOBER 04: Federal law enforcement agents stand guard as they are confronted by community members and activists for reportedly shooting a woman in the Brighton Park neighborhood on October 04, 2025 in Broadview, Illinois. Residents of the city have become increasingly concerned as Operation Midway Blitz continues in the Chicago area, an operation designed to apprehend and deport undocumented immigrants living in the area. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
October 21, 2025 at 4:43 PM
nposegay.bsky.social
blocked but I got you
Bsky quote post: ‪Bill Thompson‬ ‪@billcubbieblue.bsky.social‬ · 27m Joined Nov ’24 Those who sacrifice vulnerable communities for their own comfort and hide behind "purity test" claptrap are not fighting the fascists, they are enabling the fascists. Failure to grasp this is why liberalism always comes to its logical end point, fascism. ‪Melissa Chan‬ ‪@melissakchan.bsky.social‬ · 16h Joined Apr ’23 Folks demanding political / ideological purity fail to see that this is no longer a movement belonging to the left / liberals. This is an opposition against fascism. By definition it must be big tent. Failure to grasp this: see divided oppositions in Eastern Europe as your failed examples.
October 20, 2025 at 12:11 PM
nposegay.bsky.social
This you denying genocide?
Some posts by yoclockface: yoclockface‬ @yoclockface.bsky.social‬ · 1mo Call something a genocide when that is not what this tragedy is??? You don't even seem to be aware of why that word is thrown around. 'two evils'??? You think you are new? This is the age old cry of the lazy fool who can't distinguish. I don't believe you knocked doors. ‪yoclockface‬ @yoclockface.bsky.social‬ · 1mo One exists at a magnitude many many times and its goal was the elimination of an entire class of people, the other is a response to a terrible terrorist attack, there are well over 1 billion Arab peoples & far more Muslims on the planet. Elimination of either is no ones goal. Tragedy, not genocide Some posts by yoclockface: ‪yoclockface‬ ‪@yoclockface.bsky.social‬ · 3mo There was no misunderstanding, it is a terrible tragedy, set up first by Hamas layin the trap and Bibi stumbling in. It is far from a genocide, Jews know a thing or two about the word. They use it as a cudgel wanting us focus on it instead so as to pretend we don't care about the tragedy. They know. ‪yoclockface‬ ‪@yoclockface.bsky.social‬ · 4mo Call Harris a cop, it's an instant block. Say she was for genocide? Instant block Think defund was either a solid notion or good slogan, just block yourself, I've no energy for your bullshit. You won't get promoted on my feed. ‪yoclockface‬ ‪@yoclockface.bsky.social‬ · 4mo I also won't tolerate folk calling Israel a satellite state or a purveyor of genocide. Words have meaning
October 19, 2025 at 1:59 AM
nposegay.bsky.social
Here's another thing I've salvaged from twitter: a quick comparison of Muslim and Jewish manuscripts of an 11th-century handbook on eye health and surgery, 'The Memorandum for Opticians.' The "secret project" mentioned was 'The Illustrated Cairo Genizah.' threadreaderapp.com/thread/16661...
Waterstained brown paper bifolium of a handwritten Arabic copy of "The Memorandum for Opticians" by Ali ibn Isa al-Kahhal. Most of the ink is black but section headings appear in red. The manuscript is on a blue background and a yellow Cambridge University Library label in the bottom right corner reads "T-S Ar.40.41 P1" Torn, smeared, and waterstained brown paper bifolium of a handwritten Judaeo-Arabic copy of "The Memorandum for Opticians" by Ali ibn Isa al-Kahhal. Most of the ink is black but section headings appear in red. The manuscript is on a blue background and a yellow Cambridge University Library label in the top right corner reads "T-S Ar.11.21."
October 18, 2025 at 2:56 PM
nposegay.bsky.social
So with death of academic twitter and academia. edu, I have several things (I hesitate to say "publications") that don't really live anywhere. I'll be sharing them here for now, starting with this old thread about Quran manuscripts found in a synagogue in Cairo:
threadreaderapp.com/thread/15519...
Single paper leaf from a medieval Quran set on a blue background. It has 9 lines of fully vocalised Arabic 'muhaqqaq' calligraphy from Sura 17 ('The Night Journey') in brown-black ink. Several holes in the paper reveal the blue background behind the page. A yellow Cambridge University Library label in the lower right corner reads "T-S Ar.41.119."
October 17, 2025 at 12:32 PM
nposegay.bsky.social
From the Portland ICE building - is this "LA Field Office" goon really wearing a keffiyeh? www.oregonlive.com/portland/202...
Picture of a US "agent" wearing a full camo outfit including a baseball cap, a brown hoodie, sunglasses, and a black and white keffiyeh covering the lower half of his face. He crouches on top of a building while holding a black rifle pointed towards the street below and several white plastic zipties. On his left shoulder is a gold badge that reads "Los Angeles Field Office Special Response team." A grey patch above it reads "LOS-10" Wider shot of the same “agent” on top of the ICE building in Portland, now flanked by several other armed men in camo outfits and covered faces.
October 15, 2025 at 11:52 AM