“You have a right to flee for your safety, and so if you drive off and you hit one of these people, that’s their fault for impinging on you.” - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, June 2025

“Put them all in jail, no questions,” is not actually a serious plan for reasons that become clear if you think about it for a few minutes; “do nothing and hope it will work out” is also not a serious plan

the question of what to do with a violent organized group after you’ve decommissioned them is a serious one that a lot of policy and scholarly work explores, and we can’t treat the question as illegitimate. If your call to dismantle ICE is serious then it also implies that plan made seriously.

For @forward.com, I wrote about how *not* to assess whether Mamdani is serious about tackling antisemitism forward.com/opinion/7955...

"Renee was one of the kindest people I’ve ever known,” her mother said. “She was extremely compassionate. She’s taken care of people all her life. She was loving, forgiving and affectionate. She was an amazing human being.” www.startribune.com/she-was-an-a...

This is what our government has sent into cities across the country to arrest normal, nonviolent working people. Insanity.

Given news that ICE shot and killed an observer in Minneapolis, here is a pattern we've seen before: *DHS say officers were under threat. This justifies to use deadly force. *Subsequent reporting shows such claims simply don't hold up. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/whos-threa...

Czechia will keep its ammunition initiative for Ukraine alive despite months of domestic political attacks, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš confirmed on Wednesday, marking a sharp reversal from his pre-election stance. euractiv.com/news/babis-u...

Many times personal experience is great and adds context to a problem, but it can also just distract and derail into egotism.

Incredible piece

Excellent from Osita Nwanevu ositanwanevu.substack.com/p/hello-agai...

"We love America" is one of the mantras of Bari Weiss' CBS News. "Unapologetically patriotic" is the term the Washington Post's newly right-wing editorial board uses for its ethos. But "America" isn't billionaires/Trump and good journalism isn't always patriotic. newrepublic.com/article/2049...

Excellent piece by @stephenkb.bsky.social. UK citizenship is a right for those who qualify, not a privilege. If you have it, you are entitled to the full protection of the British state - at home and abroad. What you believe and what you say are entirely irrelevant. Anything else is despotism.

For the first time, the Palestinian-led United Arab List (Ra’am) party in Israel says it will allow Jewish candidates to run on the list. www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

"He reupped those calls hours after the US captured Venezuela's leader" oh, okay www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...

ha - NYT has now changed this sentence, managing only to amplify the absurdity and offense of the original: "Both Mr. Mamdani and Mr. Maduro describe themselves as socialists, though the policies Mr. Maduro presided over in Venezuela differ starkly from those Mr. Mamdani has vowed to pursue."

"He said the raid was strategic" ah well then

The count and Grover are also Sesame Street’s two canonically Jewish residents

I know this isn't really what's going on today but we are listening to Sesame Street music and I can already tell I'm going to spend too much time thinking about Count von Count's whole deal.

Very good read, found the comparison points with Noriega helpful

The logic that "we can do what we want in our backyards" is also China's and Russia's justification for territorial expansion. It is based on no principle other than the most powerful countries can do what they want.

Veteran New York Times national security reporter David Sanger says what Trump is describing in Venezuela is an "American occupation."

you don't need to add caveats agreeing that the head of state abducted is a bad guy before opposing abduction of a head of state by military force. If the rule was any head of government is fair game then the entire world would be a series of decapitation strikes and show trials in foreign courts.

Also - it is 2026. Everyone has already said and tried a version of this. There are many problems in the media today, but that the Average American TM isn't covered is not one of them.

Relatedly, IHRA is a tool. Like any tool, it can be useful sometimes! Sometimes you want a hammer! But when it is the only tool you're allowed to use and you're legally required to use it, you end up hammering holes in your wall.

Israel? It’s Emily. forward.com/opinion/7320...

Here is the editor of Tablet agreeably reposting someone calling nonwhite NYC immigrants "worthless biotrash." It's astonishing how quickly this stuff has escaped containment

Duke Health has had to restrict visitors as it contends with a doubling of flu hospitalizations in the past week. Y’all get your flu shots immediately if you haven’t already.

Some very good posts about Mamdani's inauguration today.

Some new stuff for the new year open.substack.com/pub/emilycta...

it’s their day

This year gave me more than any year has given me and taken from me more than any year has taken and I have done all I can do, which is to say that, to borrow from Kipling (who yes I know is bad!!!), I have met with Triumph and Disaster and tried to treat those two imposters just the same ✌️🧿

I like this because the implication that there wouldn't be 4000 daycares in an area with a population of roughly 2 million people

Was singing Monster in the Mirror to our baby and thought “‘do nothing that you would not like to see him do/cause the monster in the mirror, it just might be you’ is basically Hillel the Elder.” My poor son.

I did this because I'm retiring the feature and also didn't want to try to find someone during the holidays but on reflection it's is the most narcissistic thing I've done? I interviewed myself???? Lol!!!!

Proud of my close personal friends!!!

Controversially, I don’t believe there is any particular way a ‘regular American’ moves his arms when walking

OK, a little pie-in-the-sky goal here: Any chance we could get Law Dork 549 new subscribers — free or paid — before the new year? That would give Law Dork 80,000 total subscribers! If you've relied on my work this year, share this with your recommendation! www.lawdork.com

Exciting to see our book reach some readers!!! @stanfordpress.bsky.social

“You are not entitled to a response from us, or anyone, ever." - Dept. of Education to ProPublica's @megomatz.bsky.social "Our journalists reach out to people they’re writing about to ensure fairness. But ... their efforts to do so are more likely to be vilified than appreciated."

Can’t wait to read it, @returnstosender.bsky.social

The Holocaust Survivor Writer Who Can Help Us Through This Ominous Era | Arnošt Lustig experienced the worst of humanity — and maintained hope, anyway, writes @emilyctamkin.bsky.social at @forward.com.

For the last ET Ask Home, I answered my own questions open.substack.com/pub/emilycta...

"It was Christmas week: we took to no settled employment, but spent it in a sort of merry domestic dissipation." --Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

LeMonde said, not on our watch

this is the simple answer to people who keep saying NATO expansion matters. Sure, it matters because it presented an obstacle to Russian imperial ambitions. Putin didn't invade because he hated NATO expansion, he hated NATO expansion because he wanted to invade

Some ~personal news~