Azi retweeted
I saw a post on Reddit that said, “When you walk through a museum, you’re not just looking at art. You’re moving through centuries of people trying to explain love, grief, power, beauty, and belonging.” I don’t think I’ve ever seen a museum described so beautifully.
Azi retweeted
Very insightful NYT oped by @M_Boroujerdi, whose father was assassinated in 1979 by the senior revolutionary guard commanders who are currently ruling Iran:
"....The Islamic republic’s confrontational ideology is unlikely to dissipate anytime soon. The men in uniform showed no hesitation in killing thousands of their own compatriots in January — a national trauma that Iranian society has yet to fully process. They will continue to practice a politics of performance for domestic audiences even as they recognize that the regime’s social contract is both morally bankrupt and fiscally unsustainable.
In 1978, members of Mansouroun gunned down my father on a road in Ahvaz. I could never have imagined that many of the men who helped oversee his killing — or their surviving comrades — would, nearly half a century later, become the principal adversaries and interlocutors of my adopted homeland.
Like everyone else, I don’t know how this war is going to end. But after a lifetime of observing these men, I do know this: Expecting meekness or diplomatic finesse from them is a dangerous illusion. Their combustible mix of vanity and mendacity has trapped Iran in debilitating crises, both at home and abroad. The accumulation of economic, social and environmental failures has left the country increasingly vulnerable and made governance ever more costly.
Yet the regime endures. The formidable architecture of Iran’s “deep state,” the relative cohesion of its ruling elite and decades of institutional experience in managing crises continue to provide it with remarkable resilience. The result is an uneasy equilibrium: Internal discontent and external pressure steadily intensify, but the state’s capacity for survival remains largely intact. That is the paradox of Iran today — a system under relentless strain, yet still far from collapse."
nytimes.com/2026/08/02/opini…
Azi retweeted
TMZ came to DC with a lot of snickers from “serious” people. Yet here they are speaking more sense than many media outlets in DC.
Azi retweeted
Barack: You told me all those years ago that you couldn’t promise me the world, but you could promise me an interesting life. Of course, you outdid yourself and managed to give me both.
Eight years in the crucible, and not once did you melt from the heat. Not once did you let it harden you. Instead, you used it to reveal your truest essence: your stubborn optimism and unflinching courage, your dazzling brilliance and unpretentious decency, your ferocious work ethic and absolutely unshakable moral fiber.
Azi retweeted
The discourse around Marjane Satrapi’s death has been vile and nauseating.
God forbid a woman with lived experience under a repressive regime writes about her experience.
Iranians are allowed to exist outside of your Israel-Palestine-Islam fantasies btw. Grow up, get educated.
Azi retweeted
What Conan touches on here is, in my view, the most fundamental principle that should guide our politics.
Our society pays tribute to merit and hard work (and it should), but we don't acknowledge that, more than any other force, it is luck that determines our fate.
A society that recognizes how much each person's life is determined by forces beyond his/her control will be structured differently. And will be a much kinder place.
Conan O'Brien used his Harvard University commencement speech to argue that humility and the human connection matter far more than any diploma.
"I always recognize the enormous role of luck in my life. Refusing to see how luck has played a role in anyone's success is simply ignorant. Many people are happy to mistake a lucky poker hand for their own brilliance, and fighting that human instinct has kept me sane.
"I honestly believe that community, spontaneity, and a real commitment to humility has helped me build a rich life that means much more to me than any diploma. And believe me, I'm not saying the goal is to renounce accomplishments, but rather to metabolize them. If you carry your victories lightly, other qualities –- kindness, originality, courage, humor, and humanity –- have room to emerge.
"Maybe the greatest lessons I've learned along these lines have been through my 24 travel shows. I have degraded myself in Cuba, Ghana, Korea, Armenia, half of Europe, Argentina, Thailand, Mexico, and Greenland, where I visited a real estate office and tried to buy the country. When I travel to another land, every quality I have discussed -- community, adaptation, and a sincerely humble approach -- are all necessary. When you don't speak the language, no one truly cares where you went to college, and you have no choice but to make friends.
"It's on these travels that I learned a great lesson: let yourself be bad at things. I have been a bad dancer in every country I have visited. But the people laugh because it turns out everyone everywhere is related to at least one terrible dancer. For me, humility on these trips can easily lead to humiliation, which is also a useful tool.
"Three weeks ago, I visited Amsterdam, dressed up as Van Gogh, and forced my way into the Van Gogh Museum, where I started loudly demanding a cut of the merchandising because I made no money during my lifetime. Guards forcibly ejected me. I was roundly mocked by patrons for my pathetic display. But I did see a lot of smiles. And not one person said, now that's a Harvard grad.
"In Tokyo, I met with a teacher of Japanese etiquette who volunteered I wasn't her type. And when I asked her why, she just said, 'face.' In Ghana, after accepting a royal invitation, I was kicked out of the Ashanti Palace by the Queen Mother, because her favorite soap opera was starting.
"I understand that I am preaching modesty and connection at a time when this is not in style. We are living through a period of extreme narcissism. Our current leadership in Washington believes that empathy is a weakness and that our nation stands supreme and alone. Add to that, everyone here today has a phone in their pocket that is algorithmically programmed to celebrate you and you alone by making you the protein-maxing hero of your own special journey.
"Much has been written about how isolated and siloed we've become, but for me, the antidote is quite simple. By de-emphasizing what makes us special — in your case, a prized degree — we can really find one another, not as an exercise in virtue, but as a path towards greater laughter, love, and real growth."
Azi retweeted
I'm not sure I've personally witnessed anyone die as well as @BenSasse.
He's set the standard in my mind for when it's my time.
Azi retweeted
If you are unironically RT’ing or QT’ing Islamic Republic of Iran embassies or IR officials or Pete Hegseth/DJT/etc etc, even perhaps with admiration then YIKES.
Just had some pro regime lady with an Iranian name in my mentions who is RT’ing IR embassies… like ma’am are you ok?
Azi retweeted
⚠️ Update: The internet blackout in #Iran is now in its 28th day after 648 hours, with Iranians having spent more than half the year to date cut off from international networks.
Authorities continue to refine a two-tiered system where only regime apparatchiks are allowed online.
Azi retweeted
Beyond concerning!
Taking such an action would negatively affect millions of Iranians and cause severe humanitarian impacts.
That no longer becomes actions targeted at the regime, but very much collective punishment of a population.
Azi retweeted
Few countries have a wider gap between government and society than Iran. The only message President Trump—or any foreign leader—should deliver is simple: Iran’s future leaders must be chosen by the Iranian people, and they should be empowered to make that choice. @OutFrontCNN
Fantastic news! – at Richmond Hill, Ontario
Yeganeh Torbati, a formidable international correspondent and respected investigative journalist, will join the International desk as our new Iran correspondent. nytco.com/press/our-new-iran…
Azi retweeted
Kaveh Sharooz on fleeing Iranian regime officials "So I think Canada has an important role to play in ensuring that Canada doesn't become a safe haven."
"It doesn't become kind of like Argentina after the Second World War, where a lot of Nazis escaped"
"I think we have to be very vigilant as this regime crumbles."
"It cannot become the place that Iranian regime officials escape to if they come here."
"They have to, you know, face justice under international law." @kshahrooz
Hard to confirm or verify all the information he provides, but if taken at face value, this is a pretty fascinating piece. – at Richmond Hill, Ontario
An Iranian exile who says he has ties to the highest levels of the regime told @gcaw earlier this month that he had what he believed was a simple solution to resolve the country’s power struggle.
Revisit Wood’s reporting: theatlantic.com/internationa…
Azi retweeted
Khamenei’s death at the hand of a nation he worked very hard to kill is a hinge moment in the history of Iran’s revolution, @ksadjadpour argues. theatlantic.com/internationa…
A fantastic piece that took a lot of effort and risk to put together.
"40 Iranian Doctors and Nurses Describe a Massacre" nytimes.com/interactive/2026… – at Richmond Hill, Ontario
Azi retweeted
It's genuinely terrifying to see how conspiracy theories have penetrated every aspect of political discourse among influential segments of both the right and the left in the world's most powerful democracy.
