Hasnain says:

When you realize even Reagan showed more moral fortitude than Biden (and Bernie), you have to stop and think. Learnt a lot of history from this one.

“In July 1982, the White House halted shipments of cluster munitions to Israel, declaring that the Israelis had violated arms agreements not to use these weapons on civilian areas. After a particularly deadly IDF barrage launched during the Siege of Beirut, Reagan called Begin and demanded the IDF stop the shelling. To do so, he used deeply emotional terms. “Here, on our television, night after night, our people are being shown the symbols of this war, and it is a holocaust,” Reagan said. In April 1983, he told the public his administration had halted F-16 sales to Israel and said they would not resume until the state withdrew from Lebanon.”

Hasnain says:

“"Israel's use of the term 'evacuation' for sending Palestinians to southern areas is really problematic, because it conjures up an idea of a safe route to a place of safety," says Caitlin Procter, a research fellow at the Center on Conflict Development and Peacebuilding at the Geneva Graduate Institute. "But the reality is there is no safe place left in Gaza for people to go."”

Hasnain says:

I am really curious about what story they are trying to get ahead of

“Mr. Altman’s departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities. The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI.”

Hasnain says:

While I had heard this and thought this, it didn’t really hit until seeing it spelled out point blank.

““Arab and Global South officials are bewildered by Biden's indifference to how his blocking of a ceasefire is plummeting America's standing globally,” says Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. “Arab officials have told me that Biden has done more damage to America's standing in the region than George W Bush did with his illegal invasion of Iraq.””

Hasnain says:

Pleasantly surprised NPR ran with this. Can’t even imagine what life must be like in the West Bank and Gaza right now.

“As we walk another 100 or so yards, people in uniform emerge from behind a rocky hillside. More arrive in an SUV.

We stop and announce ourselves: "Media. Press." They're clearly unhappy with us. Some have their faces covered with balaclavas. Soon about a dozen people in uniform are gathering around us – all of them carrying large assault-style guns.

"OK. So get out of here. Take your legs and go all the way back," one soldier says in Hebrew, pointing to the direction from which we came. They tell us we've crossed a barrier, but we point out there is no rope, no signs, nothing to indicate that. They insist the area is restricted, and it's a time of war.”

Hasnain says:

This interview is eye opening and horrifying. I hope that this person is just a lone extremist and that the opinions are not common - but alas I fear they are. And I don’t know how we can achieve peace with viewpoints like this.

So many quotes in here that are terrifying. Hard to pick just one.

“In Israel, there’s a lot of support for settlements, and this is why there have been right-wing governments for so many years. The world, especially the United States, thinks there is an option for a Palestinian state, and, if we continue to build communities, then we block the option for a Palestinian state. We want to close the option for a Palestinian state, and the world wants to leave the option open. It’s a very simple thing to understand.”

Hasnain says:

“Meanwhile, anyone who answers the phones can see the anger is not letting up. The phone rings every five minutes, said one staffer for a lawmaker who believes the outrage is “starting to die down.” The callers are growing more diverse in age, identity and party affiliation.

“The pressure is going to continue to mount and these members are going to have to figure out how to reposture themselves, because their positions are not sustainable,” one senior adviser said. “Every day this conflict looks more grotesque, more visibly catastrophic.””

Hasnain says:

Kudos to these students for standing up, speaking out, and even being arrested. Beautifully written letter.

“And we must heed. Palestinians are our cousins, our peers at Brown, natives of the land, human beings whose lives matter. You shall not oppress a stranger.

We write these words from the diaspora, and it is from here that we wish to better our world. As we grapple with millennia of Jewish struggle and survival, we will not abandon our Palestinian cousins and peers, or let them stand alone. This genocide cannot continue.

Not in our names. With or without our names: Never. “

Hasnain says:

RIP Omegle.

“The battle for Omegle has been lost, but the war against the Internet rages on. Virtually every online communication service has been subject to the same kinds of attack as Omegle; and while some of them are much larger companies with much greater resources, they all have their breaking point somewhere. I worry that, unless the tide turns soon, the Internet I fell in love with may cease to exist, and in its place, we will have something closer to a souped-up version of TV – focused largely on passive consumption, with much less opportunity for active participation and genuine human connection. If that sounds like a bad idea to you, please consider donating to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an organization that fights for your rights online.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone who used Omegle for positive purposes, and to everyone who contributed to the site’s success in any way. I’m so sorry I couldn’t keep fighting for you.”

Hasnain says:

“The main trouble I have with how most cost management efforts are structured is that they assume Engineering has made all the right choices to build cost-aware and cost-effective systems.

As any capable engineer will attest, this is a very bad assumption.”