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Bob Sacamano

@bobsaccamanno

Stats, survey research, politics, religion. Research faculty in the GCC. En/Ar/Fr "But what I never knew I never will forget" - John Prine, One Red Rose

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Latest posts by Bob Sacamano @bobsaccamanno

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Exclusive: Defense executives plan to meet at White House as strikes on Iran diminish stockpiles Companies including Lockheed Martin and Raytheon parent RTX have been invited.

Three days into a war of choice with no public support, the billions are adding up quickly: "Pentagon may seek around $50 billion supplemental budget for Middle East operations." $50 billion!
www.reuters.com/business/aer...

04.03.2026 04:07 πŸ‘ 67 πŸ” 48 πŸ’¬ 9 πŸ“Œ 12
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Autonomous weapons are the moral choice Arguments about whether democratic nations should field and employ lethal autonomous weapon systems miss the point. They have used autonomous weapons for decades.

A good article from T.X. Hammes, whose assessments on autonomous systems and the future of war are always worth reading and pondering.

www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-at...

03.11.2023 00:25 πŸ‘ 26 πŸ” 7 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
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notorious radical left communist rag says tax the rich

18.02.2026 16:03 πŸ‘ 20520 πŸ” 6590 πŸ’¬ 468 πŸ“Œ 455
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Does immigration matter to the election in Scotland? It is one of the hottest political topics around the world but does immigration matter to Scottish voters?

Well I would agree that it is an interesting question as to why Scotland is different from the rest of the UK. www.bbc.com/news/article... But in the main I think you would agree we see backlash against migrants. Hopefully this will swing back again as the other sides pushes too far.

11.09.2025 19:25 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1

They're far more typical of the world. I worry these projects in western countries to push for these "positive rights" (In Henry Shue's terminology) are what feeds the right wing nuts. They don't ever pass, but they bring backlash & the median voter gets convinced we don't share their values.

11.09.2025 19:08 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

We deal with migrants who are very poor, some from countries that have still have de facto slavery (where girls primarily are sold). They face inflation in their home countries and in the country where they work. In surveys they express mostly satisfaction but higher wages would help.

11.09.2025 19:04 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

Do you know what you call migrant workers who demand voting rights in the real world?

People who no longer have a residency permit.

Dear young political scientists- Work on problems that have obtainable solutions, please. They are legion, and your older self will thank you.

11.09.2025 16:04 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Yes. But I’m not sure this is a mistake or a farce given conditions on the ground. al-Sharaa is right about the time needed for an electoral system to develop. Whether it will, or whether he will permit one to, after these partial, indirect elections, are real questions.

24.08.2025 20:39 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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How Netanyahu Prolonged the War in Gaza to Stay in Power

In one conversation with Netanyahu, White House officials cited polls showing that more than 50 percent of Israelis now supported a hostage deal rather than continued war.

β€œNot 50 percent of my voters,” Netanyahu replied.

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/m...

12.07.2025 13:44 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Washington, D.C., has a population roughly equivalent to Alaska's.

And it has zero senators. If D.C. had senators, the GOP megablil bill would have failed today.

Instead, Murkowski got carve-outs and money for Alaska, and then voted to subject DC to the bill

01.07.2025 23:02 πŸ‘ 11640 πŸ” 3264 πŸ’¬ 209 πŸ“Œ 134
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Laughing in front of cages designed to hold migrants and refugees, many of whom came to this country fleeing extreme violence and poverty, and hoping to raise their children in a more compassionate country. And many of whom followed all the legal procedures to enter the country.

02.07.2025 01:44 πŸ‘ 12453 πŸ” 4040 πŸ’¬ 909 πŸ“Œ 643

What happened to the Friday News Roundup?? I turned on 1a this morning, & there’s something about music. The world is on fire & there’s no Friday News Roundup?! And what happened to BBC America? I’ve emailed WAMU, but no response. @steveinskeep.bsky.social

20.06.2025 14:38 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

the reason he keeps getting mad at his robot for being insufficiently racist or full of misinformation is that it’s actually quite hard to get LLMs to provide exactly what you want - training is expensive and unpredictable, and direct interference leads to things like the white genocide snafu

21.06.2025 01:40 πŸ‘ 1044 πŸ” 164 πŸ’¬ 21 πŸ“Œ 5

honestly this was very predictable if you could a) accurately recall the political consequences of the 2020 protests and b) take public opinion as it actually existed in 2025.

impossible difficulty for a non-trivial portion of the professional political commentary class

20.06.2025 20:57 πŸ‘ 5330 πŸ” 760 πŸ’¬ 76 πŸ“Œ 15

Social Media really did doom us by driving elites crazy. Marc Andreseen became convinced the social contract had broken down and that there was no point trying to be a socially responsible wealthy person because there was no philanthropy he could do that would make people stop yelling at him online.

20.06.2025 22:28 πŸ‘ 796 πŸ” 153 πŸ’¬ 22 πŸ“Œ 7
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Columbia protester Mahmoud Khalil freed from immigration detention Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil has been released from federal immigration detention. The former Columbia University graduate student left a federal facility in Louisiana on Friday after 104 days ...

Mahmoud Khalil has been released.

21.06.2025 00:33 πŸ‘ 1198 πŸ” 219 πŸ’¬ 17 πŸ“Œ 33

@wamu.org.web.brid.gy So what happened to the Friday News Roundup this week?

21.06.2025 02:07 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

www.kitchencounter.blog/p/on-the-dep...

16.06.2025 19:55 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Hi everyone

I was denied entry, detained, and deported from the USA over the last 48 hours because of my reporting on the Columbia student protests

I arrived back in Melbourne hours ago and had my phone handed back to me upon landing

14.06.2025 01:27 πŸ‘ 11739 πŸ” 4975 πŸ’¬ 223 πŸ“Œ 485
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09.06.2025 17:52 πŸ‘ 21042 πŸ” 3697 πŸ’¬ 234 πŸ“Œ 152
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Hypnotic sunset hues over the Mediterranean Sea, off the southern coast of Turkey.

01.06.2025 13:59 πŸ‘ 59 πŸ” 5 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Well when you come back will be interested to hear your thoughts on recent domestic terrorism and the Ukrainian use of drones. Take it easy.

02.06.2025 14:57 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Today, I was denied access to seeing my constituent, Mr. Kilmar Abrego Garcia. If there is nothing to hide, cut the crap. Let his lawyer and I check on him.

26.05.2025 19:32 πŸ‘ 38948 πŸ” 10738 πŸ’¬ 732 πŸ“Œ 353
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The Group Behind Project 2025 Has a Plan to Crush the Pro-Palestinian Movement

This is a must-read: The Trump administration's use of anti-semitism to attack immigrants and higher education mirrors plans by a group of Christian nationalists in the Heritage Foundation (which produced Project 2025). 🧡
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/18/u...

18.05.2025 12:29 πŸ‘ 2876 πŸ” 1237 πŸ’¬ 119 πŸ“Œ 94
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Israel launches major offensive as Gaza rescuers say scores killed IDF says "Operation Gideon's Chariots" aims to defeat Hamas, as Hamas-run health ministry says hundreds of people killed since Thursday.

#BBCNews - Israel launches major offensive to 'seize and control' areas of Gaza
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Hamas-run health ministry officials say Israeli attacks have killed around 250 people since Thursday. Israel imposed an aid blockade on the strip in March

17.05.2025 09:54 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 7 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Trump's Great Service To Putin Putin’s Floor Under Trump Is Better Than His Ceiling Under Biden

Trump is one of the worst negotiators in foreign policy history (as his deal with the Houthis shows). When it comes to Putin, he has already given away the farm, so that Putin’s negotiating floor now is higher than the ceiling would have been with Biden. open.substack.com/pub/phillips...

10.05.2025 08:08 πŸ‘ 839 πŸ” 193 πŸ’¬ 17 πŸ“Œ 12

How to square the circle of "there's no difference between Democrats and Republicans" and "no, I don't protest Republicans, there's no chance they'd listen to me, and I could be putting myself in physical danger if I tried"?

Those seem contradictory.

06.05.2025 14:42 πŸ‘ 169 πŸ” 36 πŸ’¬ 7 πŸ“Œ 0

Shhh...our HHS Secretary might find out and kill the test.

17.04.2025 00:04 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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β€˜Honor killing’ excuse axed from Kuwait law KUWAIT CITY, March 16:Β The official gazette 'Kuwait Alyoum' published decree-law No. 9/2025, which cancels article 153 of the Penal Code issued by law No. 16/1...

Kuwait abolishes Article 153, which mitigated punishments for honor killings. Huge congratulations to Alanoud Al Sharekh, Abolish 153, and the organizations that have pushed this campaign for over a decade. www.arabtimesonline.com/news/kuwait-...

17.03.2025 19:51 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0