zuma to the bay 😍

Domestic politics and overconfidence led the Biden team astray when it came to returning to the Iran deal. agree w @rhodesben.bsky.social & @valinasr.bsky.social that it’s important to recall this history for future lessons.

the most surreal thing about this era of open yelling about masculinity is that, if you grew up anything like I did, you were exposed to several sets of standards of masculinity and would be hard pressed to identify which of them the Paxtons and Millers of the world are living up to

A 'final' determination on what will by no means be a final deal.

who are these people *flying* from LA to San Diego???

so, this is deeply, deeply horrifying thedreydossier.substack.com/p/i-found-a-...

The illegal war that Trump and Netanyahu started against Iran has been one disaster after the next. When you're digging yourself into a hole, the best way out is to stop digging.

i'm not going to read everything about 60 minutes because [i have a life] but so far, in what i've read about the changes, i have yet to see the one word that i thought drove the program from its inception: *accountability* now it's just clicks and culture and 'where people are'...?

these figures are mind-blowing, the result of one man's detachment from reality & humanity www.ft.com/content/7bee...

Some folks outside the US have been asking how to purchase my book on US-Iran. Here's the link--£18.99 in paperback--if you're interested!

The Trump administrations’s widespread and systematic attack upon civilians at sea continues. Killing for kicks and content.

UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk responds: "Let me be direct: the suggestion that UCLA has been passive in the face of antisemitism is simply wrong. Combating antisemitism is a moral imperative — one rooted, for me, in personal history that makes indifference unthinkable."

No no no no. And I mean that from a first amendment perspective. No.

there's really no question that the white house & trump are lying about his health. it's fitting not only b/c of his own psyche but b/c this administration runs on the fumes of propaganda & disinformation about everything.

👀 from chris van hollen’s oped in the times, a real shot across the bow. biden’s fp team not welcomed.

SCOTUS today reversed an appeals court ruling that had allowed our challenge to a DOJ policy silencing immigration judges to proceed in federal court. Statement from Knight Institute Litigation Director @alexabdo.bsky.social

This guy is bad on so many levels but it's telling how much his campaign is built on long running right wing internet coding of places like Seattle. Also, the vast majority of unhoused Angelenos are local. He's advocating forced displacement. thehill.com/homenews/sta...

i am sure something like this feels so, but anthropomorphizing Claude only makes ‘discernment’ harder to achieve - and talking this way makes it harder to take seriously even those acting in good faith.

here's the core of it: "our country deserves accountability". in fact, it's essential for our democracy. no more impunity. no more 'criminalizing policy difference' b.s. no more 'looking forward not backward'. bring back rule of law.

This photo of Andy Kim in the moments before ICE gassed everyone at Delaney Hall is going into the history books. We need more of this from our electeds.

this is what political leadership looks like. not hand-wringing. not posting. being present. modeling peaceful protest & dissent. creating news.

Footage from Delaney Hall at the moment where ICE gassed protestors and Senator Andy Kim.

i'm not going to spend the day doing this but . . . this is beautiful, a call to avoid "uniformity that neutralizes differences, and the pretense that a single language — even a digital one — can translate everything, including the mystery of the person, into data and performance."

put aside belief in god. pope leo, while clearly not hostile to tech, is not buying the AI pitch: "Babel thus reveals the limits of any effort that, however grandiose...sacrifices human dignity for efficiency and aspires to reach heaven without God’s blessing."

Many hard truths in this @ichotiner.bsky.social interview on the catastrophic failure of Trump's Iran policies, laid out bluntly by Danny Citrinowicz, former head of Iran division of Israel's military intelligence.

while focusing on AI, pope leo reinforces (quietly, a kind of subtweet) opposition to trump admin's complete denigration of human rights. it has two components. the first is normative, as here:

introduce yourself with 10 artists you’ve seen live (LA artist version, approx order) Van Halen Oingo Boingo X The Untouchables The Blasters Bob Dylan Aimee Mann Peter Case Eleni Mandel Andrew Bird

tbh this is a problem for all of trump’s wars/threats. illegal but reported as just another policy choice, even if stupid.

with respect, this is poorly done. the upshot is to suggest trump has "options" - he has "no shortage of targets". it's all to be weighed among various factors (including legal/humanitarian risks). but the entire war is illegal. no "option" is legit. at least nod to that basic reality.

Peters continues to demonstrate no remorse for stealing an innocent person’s identity to steal technology and trying to cover it up. Here she confirms that she should not have been eligible for clemency and all but promises she would commit the same crimes again.

Terrible news from Turkey. Turkish internet rights pioneer @cyber-rights.org is quoted in the piece. www.newarab.com/news/turkeys...

gabbard was trump's dni through and through

The disconnect between consumer sentiment data and price levels (the cursèd "vibecession") is one of the most interesting puzzles in political economy right now. Some (non-mutually exclusive) possibilities I find plausible but not entirely satisfying 🧵:

in a few years, when the usa has become a power that other governments feel more capable of ignoring, international law is going to look a lot different to americans. it'll seem suddenly valuable, but we'll have wrecked or enfeebled the institutions that make it work.

eventually this broadview 6 travesty, along with all the other genuine weaponization of the USG, will get to stephen miller's desk and that dude will be toast. not in the lose-his-job sense but in the face-prison one.

this is getting so exhausting. American universities are diverse, complex places that a drive-by brooks-depth piece can’t possibly comprehend.

today judge bates issued an injunction requiring the trump admin to comply with the presidential records act. it also reminded the admin of the law when it comes to non-official accounts, and it's impossible to imagine they're complying. www.documentcloud.org/documents/28...

i fully support putting ppl like bezos on tv as much as possible if only to show the shallowness of their thinking, which ultimately betrays the political & financial greed driving what they do.

when this started to trickle out, i thought: the brothers-to-the-rescue shootdown triggered one of the dumbest laws in US foreign policy history. now, 30 years later, it may serve as the fake basis for yet another illegal trump war.

rest in peace, barney frank, a good if complicated politician, but let this facile analysis not be what survives you www.nytimes.com/2026/05/12/u...

written as if justice/IRS are independent of white house control, but shouldn't these stories be reading, "Trump grants himself & family" blah blah blah?

Hi, tax law professor here. Trump and sons are NOT exempt forever (or anytime) from tax audits. Writing these words on paper signed by Todd Blanche doesn't make it a thing. In fact, I'm absolutely certain they'll all be audited in the future.

trans rights are human rights and any ‘centrist’ or ‘realist’ pol who behaves otherwise deserves every ounce of disdain you can muster, always but especially at a moment of repression and denial like now.

that trump pressed xi to 'combat the ICC' is unsurprising but also a sign that he understands the lasting stigma attached to investigations & arrest warrants. the solidarity of criminals, i suppose. www.ft.com/content/567c...

The fund violates the Anti-Deficiency Act, which is a felony for anyone involved. I would not be surprised to see more resignations from people unwilling to count on a pardon. Balkinization: Is the New “Weaponization” Compensation Fund Lawful? share.google/hmRCRhvOhX9k...

really odd 'hide the ball' story. did treasury gc resign *because* he objected to creation of the slush fund? implied ("in the wake of") but no causation evidence. & why report context-free that fund created for "people who claim that the Biden administration improperly targeted them"?

Today on #IDAHOT, I want to send a strong message of support to the LGBTIQ+ community. The EU stands with you. For every person’s right to live and love openly. And to be true to its authentic self. Your journey and safety matter. I will always be your ally.

this crime led to one of the dumbest American foreign policy laws to that point in history, the so-called Helms-Burton (Libertad) act. the shoot down caused pres Clinton to relent after longtime opposition and it led to a major crisis with European and NAFTA partners.

dude