أنا اسمي زهران ممدان وعم رشّح حالي لأكون العمدة الجديد في مدينة نيويورك

Ya think, NYT?

An important read about current cancer research, government funding, and one person’s journey through her cancer dx—by the brilliant Cathy Gellis

“I am an originalist, and if the original meaning of the Constitution compelled this outcome, I would … agree that the Supreme Court should respect it until the Constitution is amended…  But both the text and the history of Article II are far more equivocal than the … Court has been suggesting. “

Happy Indigenous Peoples’ Day! Or you can celebrate CC, a known genocidal rapist, as our (liable for sexual assault and suspected of child rape himself) President encourages.

Excellent piece on why the compact is one of the stupidest “policies” by an administration full of stupid ideas. Why This Essay Could Cause the University of Virginia to Shut Down newrepublic.com/article/2013... via @newrepublic.com

DESPICABLE: Van Jones Apologizes for Turning ‘Dead Gaza Baby’ Into a Punchline on Bill Maher’s Show. Actually Van did worse than "joke." He peddled the Netanayhu LIE that the images of dead Palestinian children were just part of disinfo campaign by Qatar. www.mediaite.com/media/news/i...

Never thought I’d find myself nostalgic for the days of secret “Torture Memos” being used to justify war in pitching Congress. (Back when Congress had to agree.)

Also how many phone numbers does Al Franken have?? I’ve hit STOP and “reported junk” at least twice on that guy, but dems gotta dem I guess. Seriously though, what’s the conversion rate on these out of the blue texts asking for money for people in random districts around the country??

Phones sold to Democrats need to come with a STOP button. (Or …Dems could stop spamming us with urgent texts 8-10x a day from all over the country, also an option)

“It’s yet another way this regime practices eugenics. By refusing disabled people the accommodations they need, they’re targeting them for elimination. People die in ICE custody every year, but we often don’t hear about them. Their stories go untold, their pleas unheard and the eugenics unopposed”

Proud that Santa Clara Law has stepped up to help law students afford legal education as federal loan amounts undergo major changes next year.

For Constitution Day, Santa Clara Law had a great discussion about the "Rule of Law" Watch the video (which I think I unintentionally evaded): santaclarauniversity.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Page... With @zahrsaid.bsky.social @nickserafin.bsky.social

Disappointing. Do better, Perkins.

SCOTUS time. :::drink::: Good luck to us & democracy. We’re gonna need it.

If/when there is another election, we'll see how this is applied to Democrats. But, of course, this is dripping with hypocrisy from Republicans...as EVERYTHING with them always is. #SupremeCourt

The Supreme Court's conservative supermajority just took away lower courts' single most powerful tool for reining in the Trump administration's lawless excesses, stripping them of authority to issue universal injunctions that block illegal policies nationwide. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...

It is almost impossible for a policy to be this unpopular.

i’m so fucking fed up with this shit. when journalism outlets can’t even accurately and honestly say what’s happening to journalists—that they’re being attacked by cops and federal jackboots—then we are really and truly cooked. under scrutiny!!!!! i can’t. i can’t.

LAPD appears to have kettled protesters around 7:45pm to prevent them from leaving, waited for the 8pm curfew to kick in and then mass-arrested them for curfew violations.

President of Mexico Claudia Sheinbaum gave Trump “full credit” for the name change. “Thanks to Donald Trump, when one thinks of America, one no longer thinks of liberty,” she said. “One thinks of TACO.”

If Barack Obama or Joe Biden had proposed this, the GOP would be in the streets with pitchforks and torches. I guess the new "conservative" position is, "I want the state to know everything about me at all times." www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/t...

Today in NYT’s ethics column (though unburdened by what might have been useful mention of the first sale doctrine), the author gets this issue right. Patronizing used art is “sustaining the low-cost democracy of art’s second life.”

Guy who got a "free" $400M plane from Qatar was up late tweeting about corruption.

WOW. The Trump admin said they will review social media and deny immigration benefits to people saying antisemitic claims. They're even trying to deport people with green cards on alleged claims of antisemitism. Anyway, here's a tweet from an Afrikaner they flew here on Monday.

"I don't feel like first place was taken from me. Instead, I feel like a happy day was turned ugly by a bully who is using children to make political points."

Oh this is good! Qatari plane too expensive to hold onto, hence gifting to Trxmp. I hear Qatar also has a tremendous fence available to be repainted, if any presidents are looking for a rare opportunity…

The plane being a White Elephant gift is the funniest turn this saga could have taken

Through this I learned the NYU Law trustee who funded my scholarship and hooded me at graduation is on the executive committee of her capitulating firm 🙃 I sent her a personal email

NY Times posted this video that it verified of Israeli forces tearing down Rafah buildings as part of a "ring of destruction around the city." www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

The most absurd and unjust free speech issue of our era, and an utterly unethical and probably unlawful move by NYU

It's not like the NYT headline writers are unfamiliar with the active voice. (Also currently on the homepage.)

Fair use framing here iffy at best. Yes, ok: “the big question is whether Meta’s AI tools will hurt book sales” But no: “& otherwise cause the authors to lose money” & No: “If you are dramatically changing, … obliterating, the market for that person's work” & “destroying the market for their work”

Pangs of nostalgia for the days we had to remember how to spell emoluments bc they mattered as such

These squids can grow up to 7 meters long and are the largest known invertebrates.

dorkhole

If members of the press are worried they didn’t give enough coverage to the cognitive decline of a sitting president, they have an amazing opportunity to make up for it right now.

MAGA’s apparently literal old boys network

I live and will die by Andrea Dworkin’s words, “Social outrage is power protecting itself; it is not morality.” In that vein, fuck civility and smile less.

The legal profession can be very hierarchical and regressive, so this is very cool of these students.

I'm one of 775 profs supporting Susman Godfrey against the admin's unconstitutional attacks. "A republic, if you can keep it." Grateful to @prmalone.bsky.social Pam Karlan @heidikitrosser.bsky.social, Norm Spaulding, & @marklemley.bsky.social for their leadership. law.stanford.edu/wp-content/u...

Agreed. This brilliant piece should be required reading for college students, faculty, presidents, and administrators, especially including anyone serving on admissions committees. Bonus if alums and any education-minded legislators read it too. A+

“Johnson understood something Berk either willfully ignores or cannot comprehend: we cannot talk about poverty in this country without talking about race, & we cannot talk about race without confronting the history of a government that plundered, colonized, & stole from Black people & Filipinos”

Facts! “the GI Bill was administered locally — allowing southern officials to discriminate with impunity. As a result, Black veterans were often denied access to the very benefits white veterans used to attend college, buy homes, and build wealth.”

Wants to award mothers with 6 kids or more... While Refusing to raise minimum wage While Cutting health and human services While Trying to get rid of Obamacare

Larry David writing a NYT guest essay as a man having dinner with Hitler, just to roast Bill Maher as a smug, self-important clown, is the stuff of comedy legend. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/21/o...