@stephenmj.bsky.social
WH: kindly identify basis in interntl law for a sovereign state closing air space of another state, precedents, established mechanism for it. If none, pl explain why the statement of such closing is not an act of war and why the President can make such a statement without approval by Congress.
November 29, 2025 at 10:54 PM
WH: kindly identify basis in interntl law for a sovereign state closing air space of another state, precedents, established mechanism for it. If none, pl explain why the statement of such closing is not an act of war and why the President can make such a statement without approval by Congress.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/u.... If J Boasberg were correct, ruling would render any distinction between fedral and local courts and judges and jurisdictions in D.C. meaningless. Did Congress so intend? Did decision address rule that statutory construction should try to avoid absurd results?
Judge Concludes Prosecutors Can Circumvent Federal Grand Juries in D.C.
www.nytimes.com
November 21, 2025 at 5:41 AM
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/u.... If J Boasberg were correct, ruling would render any distinction between fedral and local courts and judges and jurisdictions in D.C. meaningless. Did Congress so intend? Did decision address rule that statutory construction should try to avoid absurd results?
has BBC suffered a teapot in a tempest? so much of what Trump says (as on Jan 6) is not precisely a direct incitement for violence but is tongue in cheek and indirect suggestion to wreak havoc. is it ever impartial to air what he says either in edited form or in full? without asking what is this?
November 10, 2025 at 9:56 PM
has BBC suffered a teapot in a tempest? so much of what Trump says (as on Jan 6) is not precisely a direct incitement for violence but is tongue in cheek and indirect suggestion to wreak havoc. is it ever impartial to air what he says either in edited form or in full? without asking what is this?
@preetbharara.bsky.social Just heard Vanquishing Justice. IMO the behavior of DOJ attorneys whether threatened or appointed by Trump ought to be examined in the larger context of the legal profession, law schools, and 3 long-standing qs: to whom/what does a lawyer owe the greatest “allegiance”? 1/
November 10, 2025 at 4:09 AM
@preetbharara.bsky.social Just heard Vanquishing Justice. IMO the behavior of DOJ attorneys whether threatened or appointed by Trump ought to be examined in the larger context of the legal profession, law schools, and 3 long-standing qs: to whom/what does a lawyer owe the greatest “allegiance”? 1/
Definitely read www.nybooks.com/online/2025/...
Worse than Nothing | Duncan Hosie, Lesly Ramirez Melchor
“No one should be surprised that the Supreme Court’s ruling upholding the indiscriminate targeting of Latinos in Los Angeles precipitated the zip-tying, beating, and lengthy detention of black people ...
www.nybooks.com
November 1, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Definitely read www.nybooks.com/online/2025/...
Many MAGAites trace their joining to the mask mandate, presumably because it appeared to coerce a temporary erasure of identity and invasion of personal space. What will we call the movement reacting to the current wholesale permanent erasure of identity, history, reason, subsistence, compassion?
November 1, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Many MAGAites trace their joining to the mask mandate, presumably because it appeared to coerce a temporary erasure of identity and invasion of personal space. What will we call the movement reacting to the current wholesale permanent erasure of identity, history, reason, subsistence, compassion?
currently, imo, 2 largest economic impacts in US of crime are from cybercrime (internationally in trillions, in US many billions) & from illegal activities of many types by current administration (my guess is many billions). DOJ & FBI should focus at least on the first (apolitical), not retaliation.
October 28, 2025 at 3:23 AM
currently, imo, 2 largest economic impacts in US of crime are from cybercrime (internationally in trillions, in US many billions) & from illegal activities of many types by current administration (my guess is many billions). DOJ & FBI should focus at least on the first (apolitical), not retaliation.
Trump has unilaterally made smuggling cocaine a capital offense punishable at will wo any warning or process, or any authority from, or need to report to, Congress. Military are operating under executive letters of marque and threatening the first war with a western hemisphere nation in 36 yrs. ugh
October 24, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Trump has unilaterally made smuggling cocaine a capital offense punishable at will wo any warning or process, or any authority from, or need to report to, Congress. Military are operating under executive letters of marque and threatening the first war with a western hemisphere nation in 36 yrs. ugh
There will come a time when this administration will argue that whether a crime has been committed (or proven) is an unreviewable political question. We are creeping in that direction now. See harrylitman.substack.com/p/moment-of-...
Moment of Truth for the High Court
Will the Court Authorize Emergency Power Based on Falsehood?
harrylitman.substack.com
October 22, 2025 at 2:39 AM
There will come a time when this administration will argue that whether a crime has been committed (or proven) is an unreviewable political question. We are creeping in that direction now. See harrylitman.substack.com/p/moment-of-...
when will administration's actions skirting at or over the edge of legality & constitutionality, causing hardship & threatening health & safety to so many here & around the world, be viewed in the context of history & the country's former ideals and aspirations, be seen as a slow coup?
October 16, 2025 at 3:12 PM
when will administration's actions skirting at or over the edge of legality & constitutionality, causing hardship & threatening health & safety to so many here & around the world, be viewed in the context of history & the country's former ideals and aspirations, be seen as a slow coup?
Trump’s ‘Compact’ With Universities Is Just Extortion www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/o...
There is no basis for this transactional mafia-style govt.
Also, this "regulation" flouts/evades all procedural requirements: not based on any act of Congress nor complies w the Administrative Procedure Act.
There is no basis for this transactional mafia-style govt.
Also, this "regulation" flouts/evades all procedural requirements: not based on any act of Congress nor complies w the Administrative Procedure Act.
Opinion | Trump’s ‘Compact’ With Universities Is Just Extortion
www.nytimes.com
October 3, 2025 at 2:13 AM
Trump’s ‘Compact’ With Universities Is Just Extortion www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/o...
There is no basis for this transactional mafia-style govt.
Also, this "regulation" flouts/evades all procedural requirements: not based on any act of Congress nor complies w the Administrative Procedure Act.
There is no basis for this transactional mafia-style govt.
Also, this "regulation" flouts/evades all procedural requirements: not based on any act of Congress nor complies w the Administrative Procedure Act.
What do a massive spectacle of a general meeting of generals and an explicit intent to make American cities the situs of armed war games and a demand that the military be politically incorrect remind peo people (including historians) of?
September 30, 2025 at 3:50 PM
What do a massive spectacle of a general meeting of generals and an explicit intent to make American cities the situs of armed war games and a demand that the military be politically incorrect remind peo people (including historians) of?
Why isn’t lead in NYT on peace plan for Gaza that Trump is to chair the temporary technocrat “peace” transition commission and that the redevelopment plan is Trump’s 2020 “Riviera” plan? It is all about Trump - a statesman would not glorify himself to make peace. This reality is unbelievable.
September 29, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Why isn’t lead in NYT on peace plan for Gaza that Trump is to chair the temporary technocrat “peace” transition commission and that the redevelopment plan is Trump’s 2020 “Riviera” plan? It is all about Trump - a statesman would not glorify himself to make peace. This reality is unbelievable.
was there any earlier year when SCOTUS (a) so dramatically insisted that a president supersedes Congress and the courts and (b) worked its destruction of the separation of powers in such a shadowy way?
September 22, 2025 at 9:09 PM
was there any earlier year when SCOTUS (a) so dramatically insisted that a president supersedes Congress and the courts and (b) worked its destruction of the separation of powers in such a shadowy way?
whether as a matter of law or common sense, no US president should use his office to threaten administrative suppression or violence against those who merely criticize his performance in that office. the first amendment is not a one-way street; is designed to protect dissent, not to embolden tyrants
September 18, 2025 at 9:17 PM
whether as a matter of law or common sense, no US president should use his office to threaten administrative suppression or violence against those who merely criticize his performance in that office. the first amendment is not a one-way street; is designed to protect dissent, not to embolden tyrants
How ironic would it be if someone did a button with TFG shouting "everyone in all the cities, we're coming for your g_ns!"?
September 1, 2025 at 7:43 PM
How ironic would it be if someone did a button with TFG shouting "everyone in all the cities, we're coming for your g_ns!"?
Minor query. Based on the intrusion of Gemini into GMail, it occurs to me that one of the adverse consequences of AI may be that email writers will stop creating their own subject lines. Recipients may be left to sort through AI summaries, with adv conseq for lawyers and clients. Thoughts?
August 22, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Minor query. Based on the intrusion of Gemini into GMail, it occurs to me that one of the adverse consequences of AI may be that email writers will stop creating their own subject lines. Recipients may be left to sort through AI summaries, with adv conseq for lawyers and clients. Thoughts?
Reposted
If the Senate confirms the wildly unqualified Emil Bove, it will be responsible for the even Trumpier and more lawless Supreme Court for which the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit is potentially but a Bovean stepping stone. He is an antijudge extraordinaire
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/16/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/16/o...
Opinion | Revenge, Thy Name Is Emil Bove
www.nytimes.com
July 16, 2025 at 12:53 PM
If the Senate confirms the wildly unqualified Emil Bove, it will be responsible for the even Trumpier and more lawless Supreme Court for which the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit is potentially but a Bovean stepping stone. He is an antijudge extraordinaire
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/16/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/16/o...
Perhaps part of the problem ids the presentation to the public of a picture confusing distance and time. When i look at a map of the US, i see locations as of when the map was made. but when we describe distances to celestial objects in light years we are describing present observation of the past1
A lot of people have the misconception that the Big Bang happened at one point in space, and expanded outward from that point.
But this is not the right picture to have in mind. If this were true, it would mean that there's one very special point in the universe where the big bang happened.
2/6
But this is not the right picture to have in mind. If this were true, it would mean that there's one very special point in the universe where the big bang happened.
2/6
July 13, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Perhaps part of the problem ids the presentation to the public of a picture confusing distance and time. When i look at a map of the US, i see locations as of when the map was made. but when we describe distances to celestial objects in light years we are describing present observation of the past1
Reposted
Peter Balakian on the lessons modern readers can learn from Richard Hofstadter’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 1964 book, Anti-Intellectualism in American Life.
What a 1964 Book About American Anti-Intellectualism Can Teach Us About the Trump Era
Some books written decades ago return to us, with a renewed relevance, in critical times. Richard Hofstadter’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book of 1964 Anti-Intellectualism in American Life is one. The …
buff.ly
July 9, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Peter Balakian on the lessons modern readers can learn from Richard Hofstadter’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 1964 book, Anti-Intellectualism in American Life.
first, they came for the immigrants, and we said nothing; then they came for the librarians, ...; then ...
A local library in Virginia has successfully stopped a takeover by a private equity group.
A Virginia public library is fighting off a takeover by private equity.
Photo from The Samuels Public Library After being targeted by anti-LGBTQ book banners and having their funding pulled, a local library in Virginia successfully stopped a threatened takeover by a pr…
buff.ly
July 9, 2025 at 9:43 PM
first, they came for the immigrants, and we said nothing; then they came for the librarians, ...; then ...
Finding Beauty in Midair www.nytimes.com/interactive/... Worthy relief
Opinion | Finding Beauty in Midair
Stretched out in the sunshine, even the flimsiest things radiate inner light.
www.nytimes.com
July 6, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Finding Beauty in Midair www.nytimes.com/interactive/... Worthy relief
as proliferation of conservative/right wing educational institutions in US evidences, the first amendment does not require private institutions to avoid a particular ideological or philosophical or even political point of view; they are not required to be neutral, or to champion only govt policies.
June 24, 2025 at 12:43 PM
as proliferation of conservative/right wing educational institutions in US evidences, the first amendment does not require private institutions to avoid a particular ideological or philosophical or even political point of view; they are not required to be neutral, or to champion only govt policies.
this republican war should not be allowed to let the Trump- republican authoritarian agenda and budget sneak through in the shadows and smoke
June 22, 2025 at 5:02 AM
this republican war should not be allowed to let the Trump- republican authoritarian agenda and budget sneak through in the shadows and smoke