Firthermor
@firthermor.bsky.social
Mid-Atlantic nature. Natural world. Photography. Plays with words. Grovers Mill Martian invasion survivor 😉. Popular sovereignty, voting rights, democracy, and good governance stan.
Pinned
Firthermor
@firthermor.bsky.social
· Nov 13
Hi! I am new around here.
Sometime doomscroller. Sometime hopescroller. Sometime serendipitous learnscroller. First time BlueSky poster.
It may look dark now, but with our work & what we build can reconstruct our democracy for the better. Succession happens, sometimes with a bit of engineering.
Sometime doomscroller. Sometime hopescroller. Sometime serendipitous learnscroller. First time BlueSky poster.
It may look dark now, but with our work & what we build can reconstruct our democracy for the better. Succession happens, sometimes with a bit of engineering.
Reposted by Firthermor
2/2 link:
Statement of the “Former JAGs Working Group” on Media Reports of Pentagon “No Quarter” Orders in Caribbean Boat Strikes
www.justsecurity.org/wp-content/u...
Statement of the “Former JAGs Working Group” on Media Reports of Pentagon “No Quarter” Orders in Caribbean Boat Strikes
www.justsecurity.org/wp-content/u...
November 29, 2025 at 8:11 PM
2/2 link:
Statement of the “Former JAGs Working Group” on Media Reports of Pentagon “No Quarter” Orders in Caribbean Boat Strikes
www.justsecurity.org/wp-content/u...
Statement of the “Former JAGs Working Group” on Media Reports of Pentagon “No Quarter” Orders in Caribbean Boat Strikes
www.justsecurity.org/wp-content/u...
Reposted by Firthermor
Former US military lawyers speak out:
"The Former JAGs Working Group unanimously considers both the giving and the execution of these orders, if true, to constitute war crimes, murder, or both."
Statement on Media Reports of Pentagon “No Quarter” Orders in Caribbean Boat Strikes
1/2
"The Former JAGs Working Group unanimously considers both the giving and the execution of these orders, if true, to constitute war crimes, murder, or both."
Statement on Media Reports of Pentagon “No Quarter” Orders in Caribbean Boat Strikes
1/2
November 29, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Former US military lawyers speak out:
"The Former JAGs Working Group unanimously considers both the giving and the execution of these orders, if true, to constitute war crimes, murder, or both."
Statement on Media Reports of Pentagon “No Quarter” Orders in Caribbean Boat Strikes
1/2
"The Former JAGs Working Group unanimously considers both the giving and the execution of these orders, if true, to constitute war crimes, murder, or both."
Statement on Media Reports of Pentagon “No Quarter” Orders in Caribbean Boat Strikes
1/2
Reposted by Firthermor
The president has illegally declared war to stop fentanyl trafficking from a country that does not traffic that drug, claiming its leader is trafficking drugs himself, the day after pardoning a former leader of a country who is a convicted drug trafficker.
Just to level set
Just to level set
November 29, 2025 at 4:47 PM
The president has illegally declared war to stop fentanyl trafficking from a country that does not traffic that drug, claiming its leader is trafficking drugs himself, the day after pardoning a former leader of a country who is a convicted drug trafficker.
Just to level set
Just to level set
Reposted by Firthermor
I am often asked what laws I would recommend blue states adopt. While there is no one-size-fits-all approach, there are seven changes every state could adopt right now, for virtually no cost or administrative burden. www.democracydocket.com/opinion/seve...
Seven Voting Laws Every Blue State Should Enact Right Now
Read more here.
www.democracydocket.com
November 29, 2025 at 2:14 PM
I am often asked what laws I would recommend blue states adopt. While there is no one-size-fits-all approach, there are seven changes every state could adopt right now, for virtually no cost or administrative burden. www.democracydocket.com/opinion/seve...
Reposted by Firthermor
The legal, media, and academic institutions capitulating to an authoritarian ordering payments for favorable treatment are damning themselves to irrelevance. They are destroying their institutions. They will be — and should be — shunned for failing in their most basic purposes for existing.
BREAKING: Northwestern University has agreed to pay the U.S. Treasury $75 million, over the course of three years as part of an agreement with the federal government to restore funding and end investigations into the university
Full statement from NU below:
Full statement from NU below:
November 29, 2025 at 1:37 AM
The legal, media, and academic institutions capitulating to an authoritarian ordering payments for favorable treatment are damning themselves to irrelevance. They are destroying their institutions. They will be — and should be — shunned for failing in their most basic purposes for existing.
Reposted by Firthermor
Extraordinary WSJ reporting today that unveils the extent to which Trump, Witkoff, Kushner and US business executives are salivating over business deals with Russia while Putin’s forces kidnap Ukranian children and bomb civilians in their apartments.
🎁 www.wsj.com/world/russia...
🎁 www.wsj.com/world/russia...
November 29, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Extraordinary WSJ reporting today that unveils the extent to which Trump, Witkoff, Kushner and US business executives are salivating over business deals with Russia while Putin’s forces kidnap Ukranian children and bomb civilians in their apartments.
🎁 www.wsj.com/world/russia...
🎁 www.wsj.com/world/russia...
Reposted by Firthermor
“For the Kremlin, the Miami talks were the culmination of a strategy, hatched before Trump’s inauguration, to bypass the traditional U.S. national security apparatus and convince the administration to view Russia not as a military threat but as a land of… opportunity” www.wsj.com/world/russia...
Make Money Not War: Trump’s Real Plan for Peace in Ukraine
The Kremlin pitched the White House on peace through business. To Europe’s dismay, the president and his envoy are on board.
www.wsj.com
November 29, 2025 at 1:22 PM
“For the Kremlin, the Miami talks were the culmination of a strategy, hatched before Trump’s inauguration, to bypass the traditional U.S. national security apparatus and convince the administration to view Russia not as a military threat but as a land of… opportunity” www.wsj.com/world/russia...
Reposted by Firthermor
Harvard Law School’s Jack Goldsmith:
“In short, if the Post’s facts are correct, it appears that Special Operations Forces committed murder when the ‘two men were blown apart in the water, as the Post put it.’”
open.substack.com/pub/executiv...
“In short, if the Post’s facts are correct, it appears that Special Operations Forces committed murder when the ‘two men were blown apart in the water, as the Post put it.’”
open.substack.com/pub/executiv...
November 29, 2025 at 4:25 AM
Harvard Law School’s Jack Goldsmith:
“In short, if the Post’s facts are correct, it appears that Special Operations Forces committed murder when the ‘two men were blown apart in the water, as the Post put it.’”
open.substack.com/pub/executiv...
“In short, if the Post’s facts are correct, it appears that Special Operations Forces committed murder when the ‘two men were blown apart in the water, as the Post put it.’”
open.substack.com/pub/executiv...
Reposted by Firthermor
Recommended
I joined @cwarzel.bsky.social on the Galaxy Brain Podcast to explain some of the reasons why America, and a lot of other Western democracies, are sliding into authoritarianism and why it's probably inevitable
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvFh...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvFh...
America’s Slide Toward Simulated Democracy with Eliot Higgins
YouTube video by The Atlantic
www.youtube.com
November 28, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Recommended
Reposted by Firthermor
I have escaped from domestic violence. The domestic violence was not just contained to the home, but also involved weaponization of systems. I hope to do a fuller accounting of what happened one day to bring light to this problem. For now, here is my "Thank You" note to Joe Biden & the VAWA.
November 28, 2025 at 8:18 PM
I have escaped from domestic violence. The domestic violence was not just contained to the home, but also involved weaponization of systems. I hope to do a fuller accounting of what happened one day to bring light to this problem. For now, here is my "Thank You" note to Joe Biden & the VAWA.
Reposted by Firthermor
I mean, as fighting words as it gets here from a GOP official against the White House.
November 29, 2025 at 3:58 AM
I mean, as fighting words as it gets here from a GOP official against the White House.
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you have seen in the wild:
Osprey
Black bear
Moose
Horseshoe crab
Northern Right Whale
Osprey
Black bear
Moose
Horseshoe crab
Northern Right Whale
November 29, 2025 at 4:01 AM
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you have seen in the wild:
Osprey
Black bear
Moose
Horseshoe crab
Northern Right Whale
Osprey
Black bear
Moose
Horseshoe crab
Northern Right Whale
Reposted by Firthermor
Starting to question the counter-narcotics rationale for the boat bombing scheme.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/28/w...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/28/w...
Trump Announces Pardon for Honduran Ex-President Convicted in Drug Case
www.nytimes.com
November 29, 2025 at 12:33 AM
Starting to question the counter-narcotics rationale for the boat bombing scheme.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/28/w...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/28/w...
Reposted by Firthermor
If you are a member of the Northwestern student paper, an alumni association, or otherwise interested in pursuing a public records investigation regarding this agreement please do DM.
BREAKING: Northwestern University has agreed to pay the U.S. Treasury $75 million, over the course of three years as part of an agreement with the federal government to restore funding and end investigations into the university
Full statement from NU below:
Full statement from NU below:
November 29, 2025 at 12:53 AM
If you are a member of the Northwestern student paper, an alumni association, or otherwise interested in pursuing a public records investigation regarding this agreement please do DM.
Reposted by Firthermor
It is a particular challenge for this SecDef to convincingly argue these operations are lawful given his own history of war crimes appreciation and denigration of military lawyers.
a lot of words, none of them denying that Hegseth gave an order to kill helpless people who were stranded at sea after he blew up their boats
November 29, 2025 at 1:20 AM
It is a particular challenge for this SecDef to convincingly argue these operations are lawful given his own history of war crimes appreciation and denigration of military lawyers.
Reposted by Firthermor
How did the @nytimes.com editors let this sentence appear?
"Critics have likened Mr. Trump’s approach to extortion, while others have chalked it up as a cost of doing business with this administration."
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
"Critics have likened Mr. Trump’s approach to extortion, while others have chalked it up as a cost of doing business with this administration."
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
Northwestern University Nears Deal to Resolve Its Conflict With the White House
www.nytimes.com
November 29, 2025 at 1:07 AM
How did the @nytimes.com editors let this sentence appear?
"Critics have likened Mr. Trump’s approach to extortion, while others have chalked it up as a cost of doing business with this administration."
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
"Critics have likened Mr. Trump’s approach to extortion, while others have chalked it up as a cost of doing business with this administration."
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
Reposted by Firthermor
We had a couple wonderful encounters with Leopards in Kruger Park, SA. This female had finished eating and had just jumped down from a branch, when a Hyena came sniffing around.
I believe the hyena asked if he could have some of her kill, and I’m pretty sure this is a fairly emphatic “NO!”
#Mammals
I believe the hyena asked if he could have some of her kill, and I’m pretty sure this is a fairly emphatic “NO!”
#Mammals
November 29, 2025 at 1:32 AM
We had a couple wonderful encounters with Leopards in Kruger Park, SA. This female had finished eating and had just jumped down from a branch, when a Hyena came sniffing around.
I believe the hyena asked if he could have some of her kill, and I’m pretty sure this is a fairly emphatic “NO!”
#Mammals
I believe the hyena asked if he could have some of her kill, and I’m pretty sure this is a fairly emphatic “NO!”
#Mammals
Reposted by Firthermor
Here's a cool photo of Uranus.
November 29, 2025 at 1:36 AM
Here's a cool photo of Uranus.
Reposted by Firthermor
Indeed. www.lawdork.com/p/the-two-sh...
November 29, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Indeed. www.lawdork.com/p/the-two-sh...
Reposted by Firthermor
JUST IN: Judge Boasberg gives Trump admin one week to file affidavits from all officials involved in decision to carry out Alien Enemies Act deportation to El Salvador despite Boasberg's order to turn the planes around. 'Contempt prosecution' could follow www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
Boasberg112825.PDF
www.documentcloud.org
November 28, 2025 at 9:42 PM
JUST IN: Judge Boasberg gives Trump admin one week to file affidavits from all officials involved in decision to carry out Alien Enemies Act deportation to El Salvador despite Boasberg's order to turn the planes around. 'Contempt prosecution' could follow www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
Reposted by Firthermor
Wild to see Whelan say this, but to be clear the OLC's immunity powers are fake anyway. The "golden shield" idea was made up to justify rampant criminality in the GWBush years, then adopted by Holder to excuse Obama's inaction. It's not in the Constitution, statute, or precedent. It's not the law.
Does Pete Hegseth have a "golden shield" against prosecution in the form of a DOJ OLC opinion? Ed Whelan thinks not.
November 28, 2025 at 11:38 PM
Wild to see Whelan say this, but to be clear the OLC's immunity powers are fake anyway. The "golden shield" idea was made up to justify rampant criminality in the GWBush years, then adopted by Holder to excuse Obama's inaction. It's not in the Constitution, statute, or precedent. It's not the law.
Reposted by Firthermor
To put a finer point on this whole thing: "Two people with direct knowledge of the operation" — presumably uniformed military leaders — are accusing the U.S. Secretary of Defense of personally ordering specific war crimes. That's a historic accusation.
Textbook war crime/extrajudicial killing
"Two survivors were clinging to the smoldering wreck. The Special Operations commander overseeing the Sept. 2 attack ... ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions."
Report by @alexhorton.bsky.social @ellenwapo.bsky.social o.bsky.social
"Two survivors were clinging to the smoldering wreck. The Special Operations commander overseeing the Sept. 2 attack ... ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions."
Report by @alexhorton.bsky.social @ellenwapo.bsky.social o.bsky.social
Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them all
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order to kill all crew members in the Sept. 2 strike on a suspected drug boat. Navy SEALs fired a second missile.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 28, 2025 at 11:48 PM
To put a finer point on this whole thing: "Two people with direct knowledge of the operation" — presumably uniformed military leaders — are accusing the U.S. Secretary of Defense of personally ordering specific war crimes. That's a historic accusation.
Reposted by Firthermor
In other words, Hegseth was outed as a war criminal by a fellow Iraq vet who got the story from presumably high-level military officials inside the Pentagon. In case you were wondering how the military feels about him.
Hegseth should know that he can't trust anyone around him in that building.
Hegseth should know that he can't trust anyone around him in that building.
November 28, 2025 at 7:01 PM
In other words, Hegseth was outed as a war criminal by a fellow Iraq vet who got the story from presumably high-level military officials inside the Pentagon. In case you were wondering how the military feels about him.
Hegseth should know that he can't trust anyone around him in that building.
Hegseth should know that he can't trust anyone around him in that building.
Reposted by Firthermor
NYT could focus on how Trump intentionally put these National Guard in danger to win political points to start a cycle of violence & hate against immigrants & democrats, but NYT *chooses* to collaborate in spreading Trump’s lies & hatred instead, because they support his goals.
November 28, 2025 at 11:57 PM
NYT could focus on how Trump intentionally put these National Guard in danger to win political points to start a cycle of violence & hate against immigrants & democrats, but NYT *chooses* to collaborate in spreading Trump’s lies & hatred instead, because they support his goals.
Reposted by Firthermor
If Trump proactively pardons Hegseth, the solution is to signal either to the ICC or the country of origin of the murdered men that we will honor extradition requests on this point.
And then, in something of an irony, Noem him out of the country before anyone can react.
And then, in something of an irony, Noem him out of the country before anyone can react.
November 28, 2025 at 6:40 PM
If Trump proactively pardons Hegseth, the solution is to signal either to the ICC or the country of origin of the murdered men that we will honor extradition requests on this point.
And then, in something of an irony, Noem him out of the country before anyone can react.
And then, in something of an irony, Noem him out of the country before anyone can react.