Laura Ford

child of Seventh-Day Adventism; seeking to understand what it is to hear and obey; one-time lawyer, sometimes sociologist, new law teacher; hoping for peace

[Laura Ford @FordLrf23]

@visegrad24 @Ed_Husain The whole interview is excellent - really admired Ed Husain after watching and hoping to find time to read his work

[Sheldrick Wildlife Trust @SheldrickTrust]

It is often said that good fathers lead by example. That is certainly true with elephants – older bulls are mentors, guardians, and founts of wisdom. They teach younger bulls how to behave and help them navigate the wild. Far from the solitary figures they’re often made out to be, bulls form strong friendships and show great loyalty.

Many of our orphans, such as Kiasa and Talek, were taken under the wings of benevolent bulls until help arrived. Bulls can even step in as ‘honorary nannies,’ as this scene shows. Baby Saba (ex-orphan Sunyei’s daughter) got sleepy and settled at the feet of a visiting bull. He happily stood guard over the little girl until she was done with her nap!

Follow us at @SheldrickTrust for more stories of elephant empathy.

[Laura Ford @FordLrf23]

@nypost Is it Soros personally or the open society foundation. People don't seem to distinguish between the two, but the distinction matters. I'm not sure soros Sr is even that involved in the foundation.

[Laura Ford @FordLrf23]

@allenmendenhall Check out The Book Club on YouTube. You might like it. Review of Little Women was pretty good. :)

[Mark Dubowitz @mdubowitz]

Horrific. Putin, like many Soviet and Russian leaders before him, treats his own people as expendable. The millions who fought the Nazis defended their homeland. Today’s dead are being sacrificed for an unjust war of aggression.

[Lizzy Savetsky @LizzySavetsky]

Year after year, NYC Pride organizers refuse to allow an Israel float—despite Israel being the only country in the Middle East with open Pride celebrations. Their hatred of Israel is more important than celebrating LGBTQ freedom in the Middle East.

[State of Tel Aviv @StateofTLV]

.@jconricus: Canada is prioritizing Muslims and Islamists over its local, loyal Jewish population.

LtCol (ret) and Senior Fellow at @FDD Jonathan Conricus is a regular on our podcast.

🔗Make sure to check out our latest pod w @VivianBercovici ⬇️

https://t.co/3vjzTlCj1B

[Proudofus.uk @ProudofusUK]

In Wales, boats cross the sky. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇬🇧

The man who built it was born with nothing.

At Pontcysyllte, narrowboats cross a trough of iron 38 metres above the River Dee.

They have done it for over 200 years.

The man who built it began as a shepherd's son on a Scottish hill farm, his father dead within months of his birth, the family poor.

Thomas Telford was apprenticed to a stonemason at 14 and taught himself the rest. Then he built on a scale Britain had never seen.

A road 260 miles from London to Holyhead, the first great road in Britain since the Romans.

Over 1,000 bridges. The great docks of London. 32 churches through the Highland glens. A canal clear across Scotland, coast to coast.

🏛️ In 1826 he threw the Menai Bridge across the sea to Anglesey, the longest span on earth. 🌍

They called him the Colossus of Roads, and when Britain's engineers founded their institution, they made the shepherd's son their first president.

You were told this country was built by its lords. It was spanned by a boy who began with nothing. 👑

He died in 1834 and lies in Westminster Abbey. A town still carries his name. You have crossed his bridges without ever knowing him.

He left it all to you, unsigned. We are putting his name back where it belongs.

That is what we do here. We are the people writing Britain back up, one forgotten name at a time.

There is a place for you in it. 👇

👉https://t.co/wN9S2gRmFj👈

Be part of us. ☝️🇬🇧

Be Proud Of Us. 🙏🇬🇧

[Department of State @StateDept]

📍 @SecRubio arrives in Abu Dhabi to discuss our shared priorities in the region.

[Amjad Taha أمجد طه @amjadt25]

In the Middle East, Israel is like the customer service desk for everyone's failures. Bad weather, bad politics, and now even Iran and Trump blame Israel to cover for JD Vance's bad deal. You failed Israel, your own closest friend, and now you want the rest of us to trust you? What are you going to say: “Trust me, bro”?

[Laura Ford @FordLrf23]

LIVE: IRGC Block Iran Deal - Pahlavi Meets Tousi TV - Trump Signs MOU https://t.co/nHF4hrWwUW via @YouTube

[Laura Ford @FordLrf23]

@jessesmithsoc https://t.co/ETeUjELo83

[Laura Ford @FordLrf23]

@jessesmithsoc Intro to soc is all too often taught in an explicitly conversionist way - learning to "see anew" with the "sociological eye". Not just Randall Collins. Kai Erikson's introductory book really runs with it....."I once was blind, but now I see."

[James Spann @spann]

Enterprise earlier today… no reports of damage so far

[History Calendar @historycalendar]

Mother and child, Ellis Island, 1907

[Mario Nawfal @MarioNawfal]

Trita Parsi has been studying Iranian politics for over 25 years, and I was surprised to see how optimistic he was about this MOU between Trump and Iran!

He got me excited tbh.

He explained why 'this time is different', and we may actually end up with a better deal than Obama's JCPOA, in terms of not having it ripped up by a future administration for political purposes

1.⁠ ⁠Trump's recent comments, praising the Iranian regime, advocating for them to have missiles, and being open to doing business with them, essentially shut down the arguments made by pro-war advocates who claim the Iranian regime cannot be reasoned with

2.⁠ ⁠The Gulf, who play a big role in this new framework, will help ensure the peace negotiations for a long term deal are not sabotaged

3.⁠ ⁠Iran's military win has now established a new reality, where the only soltuion to the 'Iran problem' is diplomacy. The U.S. tried war, and it failed miserably

4.⁠ ⁠And most importantly, the sentiment in the U.S. is shifting against 'Israel-First' policies

Blending all these factors made Trita possibly more optimistic than he was even after the JCPOA, and that says a lot!

But he is still very worried that Congress, or a future President, can throw all this progress away for either political gain, or under Israeli pressure, and warns it's way too early to celebrate

But optimism is definitely warranted!

Enjoy my convo with @tparsi

[Laura Ford @FordLrf23]

Palmer Luckey Wants America to Win https://t.co/P3yOuHTIUH via @YouTube

[Walter Russell Mead @wrmead]

Trump’s Iran deal showcases the uses and the limits of cynicism. https://t.co/wRu0JnFLIR

[Zineb Riboua @zriboua]

I’ve just read the main points regarding the deal, seems simply like another extension of the 60 days ceasefire. No strong commitments on U.S. side to funds or anything else. However, U.S. ends the blockade with U.S. sanctions on Iran still in place which would mainly help the Gulf and Europeans.

[Haviv Rettig Gur @havivrettiggur]

Everyone will have their take on the deal.

Mine is kinda what you'd expect.

1. Trump caved. The early-May naval attempt to break the closure of Hormuz -- Project Freedom -- could have worked. He didn't give it a chance.

2. He may nevertheless have done the right thing from an American perspective. On the larger chessboard, the one where America is curtailing Chinese lines of influence and supply on all fronts, he's gotten everything he needs. Iran's nuclear program is also set back dramatically. And worrying about gas prices come November is an extremely valid concern for an American president.

As I argued back in February, the US and Israel weren't fighting the same war. Roughly 80% of each side's war overlapped with the other's. But toward the end, their interests would diverge and America would bow out.

And so it was.

3. Israel remains in the region, Hezbollah remains ensconced in Lebanon and committed to murdering us all, Iran remains the same muqawama regime it always was, committed to mass-murder and mass-sacrifice of its own people. The decades-long war between the muqawama ideology and the Jews of Israel continues.

4. Israelis owe the United States a vast and abiding debt of gratitude for what it has done to Iran's missile and nuclear programs. That this finished on America's timetable rather than ours, that it was doing it for its own interests and not ours, these don't diminish the fact that we received from America more than we had a right to ask for.

5. And still, #3 remains true. We fight on. Because that regime is undeterrable, actually wants to destroy us all, and like the Nasserist ideology that once sent army after army at us to destroy us, will require a few more wars and perhaps another decade or two to defeat completely.

6. The new IRGC military dictatorship now in charge in Iran is built to survive catastrophe. But not to govern, reform or build anything of value.

Some commentators on the deal have suggested that the most damaging thing you could do to the Iranian regime at this point is send it back to its embittered people to try to govern the peace.

I think they might be onto something. It'd be a much safer and happier and more peaceful region if the regime falls from within and a new and better day dawns for the long-suffering people of Iran.