Nick Brumfield
@nickjbrumfield.bsky.social
Researcher on Yemen, MENA, Political Risk | Posts about MENA, Appalachia, Rivers, increasingly Thailand | Words in Daily Beast, FPRI, Amwaj, Al-Jazeera, Arab Center DC | Contact [email protected] for work, media inquiries | he/him
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Fueling Instability: Hydrocarbons, Protests, and the Limits of Yemen’s Internationally Recognized Government
In late July 2025, large-scale protests against electricity outages, economic deterioration, and general mismanagement by Yemen’s Internationally Recognized Government (IRG) erupted in Mukalla, Yemen’...
arabcenterdc.org
In a world obsessed with Israeli airstrikes, in this piece I argue that you're never going to contain the Houthis without a stronger IRG
And that's going to require addressing deep obstacles to the flow and distribution of Yemen's hydrocarbon wealth
And that's going to require addressing deep obstacles to the flow and distribution of Yemen's hydrocarbon wealth
Reposted by Nick Brumfield
Ok but can Lord President Trump get a The Nice Guys sequel?
November 26, 2025 at 1:57 AM
Ok but can Lord President Trump get a The Nice Guys sequel?
Folks are like "the Dark Ages was when Christianity caused the great fall from Roman technology" and I'm like you will not defame the three-field system like this
November 26, 2025 at 1:13 AM
Folks are like "the Dark Ages was when Christianity caused the great fall from Roman technology" and I'm like you will not defame the three-field system like this
So yeah, we are seeing pretty massive investments in both traditional and renewable energy sources globally in anticipation of increased AI energy demand, which would hopefully provide a lot of plentiful and cheap energy should that bubble pop
If folks spending inconceivable amounts of money to try to make AI happen would like to invest in a wholesale upgrade of the grid to make their dreams come true that would be super! *THAT* would be the "AI dividend" we'd enjoy in the aftermath, like dark fiber was.
[folds hands, waits patiently]
[folds hands, waits patiently]
November 25, 2025 at 8:07 PM
So yeah, we are seeing pretty massive investments in both traditional and renewable energy sources globally in anticipation of increased AI energy demand, which would hopefully provide a lot of plentiful and cheap energy should that bubble pop
Reposted by Nick Brumfield
This is called “chain refoulment” and it’s illegal under both U.S. and international law. And the State Department and ICE know very well what Ghana is doing and simply don’t care.
ICE deported a woman who owned a home in the US for 30 years. A judge banned ICE from deporting her to Sierra Leone where she had been tortured, so it deported her to Ghana, which kidnapped her and sent her back Sierra Leone anyway. ICE is part of this illegal conspiracy.
November 25, 2025 at 7:30 PM
This is called “chain refoulment” and it’s illegal under both U.S. and international law. And the State Department and ICE know very well what Ghana is doing and simply don’t care.
JackNicholsonNodding.gif
November 25, 2025 at 7:59 PM
JackNicholsonNodding.gif
Reposted by Nick Brumfield
Completely separate from the Chao Phraya basin saga chronicled above, southern Thailand has been hit by a massive storm that has wreaked significant devastation
‘Once-in-300-years’ rain leaves Thai city flooded and maternity ward stranded | CNN
A “once in 300 year” storm has battered southern Thailand, bringing floodwaters more than eight feet high that in one city cut off access to a maternity ward holding 30 newborn babies, staff and offic...
www.cnn.com
November 25, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Completely separate from the Chao Phraya basin saga chronicled above, southern Thailand has been hit by a massive storm that has wreaked significant devastation
Apparently there's a Dill pickle flavored Cheetos now because these days Americans will do anything to feel something I guess
November 25, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Apparently there's a Dill pickle flavored Cheetos now because these days Americans will do anything to feel something I guess
This has been a long time coming we shoulda spoke up when they stopped putting loud fans in to cover up the bathroom noises
Hotel toilet privacy is disappearing.
Glass doors.
Or no door.
Or a big window into the room.
Or frosted glass so that the light spills out.
Who is asking for this?
Glass doors.
Or no door.
Or a big window into the room.
Or frosted glass so that the light spills out.
Who is asking for this?
November 25, 2025 at 6:18 PM
This has been a long time coming we shoulda spoke up when they stopped putting loud fans in to cover up the bathroom noises
Fuck man you it's bad when the Swedes are adopting the Houthis' defense strategy
Sweden wants long-range weapon systems able to strike inside Russia reut.rs/4oUAYBE
Sweden wants long-range weapon systems able to strike inside Russia
Sweden's military wants long-range cruise missiles able to strike targets deep inside other countries, a deterrent which the defence minister said on Tuesday was needed to match Russia's own long-range capabilities.
reut.rs
November 25, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Fuck man you it's bad when the Swedes are adopting the Houthis' defense strategy
Reposted by Nick Brumfield
Great thread and a good historic lesson on how vital the freedom of movement is, which highlights how much concern we should have with a national surveillance system that flags “suspicious” travel patterns.
This Day in Labor History: November 25, 1865. Mississippi created the first of the Black Codes. Designed to recreate slavery in all but name, this signified the South’s resistance to the freeing of their labor force and the lengths to which it would go to tie workers to a place under white control.
November 25, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Great thread and a good historic lesson on how vital the freedom of movement is, which highlights how much concern we should have with a national surveillance system that flags “suspicious” travel patterns.
We live in the most darkly funny timeline
November 25, 2025 at 6:10 PM
We live in the most darkly funny timeline
Reposted by Nick Brumfield
Friendly reminder that striking workers are asking you not to patronize ANY Starbucks store.
If you're traveling this week, your airport definitely has other options. Zero reason to even think about crossing a picket line!
If you're traveling this week, your airport definitely has other options. Zero reason to even think about crossing a picket line!
November 24, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Friendly reminder that striking workers are asking you not to patronize ANY Starbucks store.
If you're traveling this week, your airport definitely has other options. Zero reason to even think about crossing a picket line!
If you're traveling this week, your airport definitely has other options. Zero reason to even think about crossing a picket line!
Reposted by Nick Brumfield
Listening to this is honestly one of my favorite Christmas traditions at this point and it's so fucking spot on for this moment it's kinda scary
Time for the annual revisiting of director John McTiernan explaining DIE HARD is a Christmas movie because it was a rare example of art escaping the fascist mandate originally placed on it by capitalism! youtu.be/qiOgpkNaR_E?...
December 20, 2024 at 7:50 PM
Listening to this is honestly one of my favorite Christmas traditions at this point and it's so fucking spot on for this moment it's kinda scary
Reposted by Nick Brumfield
Time for the annual revisiting of director John McTiernan explaining DIE HARD is a Christmas movie because it was a rare example of art escaping the fascist mandate originally placed on it by capitalism! youtu.be/qiOgpkNaR_E?...
November 29, 2023 at 4:38 PM
Time for the annual revisiting of director John McTiernan explaining DIE HARD is a Christmas movie because it was a rare example of art escaping the fascist mandate originally placed on it by capitalism! youtu.be/qiOgpkNaR_E?...
Um, I didn't know a government could just decide to do that. Maybe worth writing a few rules down on paper UK.
Bit of a test case here for “is liberalism still a real thing, or is it just a political version of a collection of Labubus that you show off to your friends” IMO.
![NEW: The Government is set to scrap trial by
jury for most cases
Only murder, rape, manslaughter and a few public interest cases will go to a jury, while all other cases will be decided by a single judge
[@thetimes]
13:44 • 25/11/2025 • 395K Views
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The move will be highly controversial. Senior criminal justice figures have already described the plan as "the biggest assault on our system of liberty in 800 years"](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5hyjbx4hnlxe5il24ydnn4sr/bafkreight7vricfo6wq76slatkvbmacfvpyq5t3lznlt27oanyqu2g4lk4@jpeg)
November 25, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Um, I didn't know a government could just decide to do that. Maybe worth writing a few rules down on paper UK.
This is the ideal turkey body. You may not like it but this is what peak performance looks like.
November 25, 2025 at 6:01 PM
This is the ideal turkey body. You may not like it but this is what peak performance looks like.
Reposted by Nick Brumfield
Israel, which has obliterated most of Palestine’s archeological and heritage sites, including ancient churches, mosques, and temples, has suddenly discovered an urge to protect one from Palestinian ‘neglect’. It just so happens to be in the West Bank.
www.timesofisrael.com/israel-begin...
www.timesofisrael.com/israel-begin...
Israel begins seizing 1,800 dunams of West Bank land to develop archaeological site
Civil Administration says development legal, taking place amid 'neglect' of site by Palestinians; Peace Now: 'Government's lust for dispossession and annexation is insatiable'
www.timesofisrael.com
November 25, 2025 at 7:07 AM
Israel, which has obliterated most of Palestine’s archeological and heritage sites, including ancient churches, mosques, and temples, has suddenly discovered an urge to protect one from Palestinian ‘neglect’. It just so happens to be in the West Bank.
www.timesofisrael.com/israel-begin...
www.timesofisrael.com/israel-begin...
Reposted by Nick Brumfield
Reposted by Nick Brumfield
On Nov. 22, Vahid Abedini, an Iranian Studies professor at University of Oklahoma, was boarding a flight to attend the Middle East Studies Assn mtg in Washington, D.C. when he was detained by ICE.
OU Prof Joshua Landis says "he has been wrongfully detained because he has a valid H-1B visa."
OU Prof Joshua Landis says "he has been wrongfully detained because he has a valid H-1B visa."
November 24, 2025 at 10:33 PM
On Nov. 22, Vahid Abedini, an Iranian Studies professor at University of Oklahoma, was boarding a flight to attend the Middle East Studies Assn mtg in Washington, D.C. when he was detained by ICE.
OU Prof Joshua Landis says "he has been wrongfully detained because he has a valid H-1B visa."
OU Prof Joshua Landis says "he has been wrongfully detained because he has a valid H-1B visa."
Reposted by Nick Brumfield
we're going to win
Page One in Cincinnati:
“.. I need to be able to look my grandkids in the eye and say I did not remain silent.”
#ICE
“.. I need to be able to look my grandkids in the eye and say I did not remain silent.”
#ICE
November 25, 2025 at 1:02 PM
we're going to win
Begging everyone to check to make sure the person saying offensive things isn't obviously an outrage bot with 1 follower before amplifying them into virality
November 25, 2025 at 5:53 AM
Begging everyone to check to make sure the person saying offensive things isn't obviously an outrage bot with 1 follower before amplifying them into virality
Reposted by Nick Brumfield
Someday, when he's far removed from command of the world's most middle-tier nuclear arsenal, Kier Starmer is going to have a hard conversation about where it all went wrong for him, and it'll start with the realization that Labour includes trans workers but Starmer's Labour is for no one
Trans people could be banned from single-sex spaces based on how they look
The Times has seen the equalities watchdog’s final guidance, which Whitehall figures fear Bridget Phillipson is delaying to avoid a political backlash
www.thetimes.com
November 24, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Someday, when he's far removed from command of the world's most middle-tier nuclear arsenal, Kier Starmer is going to have a hard conversation about where it all went wrong for him, and it'll start with the realization that Labour includes trans workers but Starmer's Labour is for no one
Imagining the tangled tri-state area between West Virginia, Virginia, and Maryland as a warring borderland centered on the great fortress-city of Cumberland
November 25, 2025 at 4:23 AM
Imagining the tangled tri-state area between West Virginia, Virginia, and Maryland as a warring borderland centered on the great fortress-city of Cumberland
Well the UK already destroyed the educational legacy industry it was coasting on from the days of empire, why not just finish it off with finance as well?
Trevor Phillips proposes banning "remittances" (ie: imposing currency/exchange controls on international cash transfers by foreign nationals from Britain). He says this would disincentivise immigration, in a Times piece saying the Home Secretary needs to go [much] further
archive.ph/RlXPj
archive.ph/RlXPj
November 25, 2025 at 1:41 AM
Well the UK already destroyed the educational legacy industry it was coasting on from the days of empire, why not just finish it off with finance as well?