my measured conclusion upon review of the Supreme Court's order reimposing Texas's racially gerrymander is that the only thing the Republican justices hate more than district court judges is people of color voting ballsandstrikes.org/scotus/texas...

from top to bottom all of these guys treat the united states government as a neat toy they can show off to their friends and use to impress girls and we're all just a bunch of action figures to play with and discard when they're bored

It was bad at FDA 5 months ago, it has now become a total disaster. 90% of senior staff gone.

Voted yes on RFK Jr when he could have voted no. Continues to hedge, when he could act.

It’s tragic that Barred’s statement below is true. I would modify it slightly to say that the Republican SCOTUS Justices don’t mind if POC who are registered to vote stand outside for hours waiting to vote and do finally get to vote, so long as those votes are effectively meaningless.

Breyer tells DOJ they are in court today because the State of California believes that statutes and the Constitution are checks on the executive. The president, by the way, has to *faithfully* execute the laws, Breyer notes.

DOJ argues that, if the National Guard is properly federalized at any point, any decision to extend it is unreviewable. Breyer: “Like diamonds, it’s forever. That’s the position of the federal government.” Although DOJ pushes back on that as a fact, they acknowledge that is their legal argument.

FYI: I’m listening to Judge Charles Breyer’s arguments over continued National Guard deployment in Los Angeles.

BREAKING on MS NOW:   Brian Cole Jr., the suspect accused of being the Jan. 6 pipe bomber, confessed to agents that he planted the bombs and has indicated he supported President Trump, according to two people familiar with his interview.

Bill Cassidy owes literally everyone an apology

Federal judges in the Eastern District of Virginia have been calling out the Trump DOJ in court for continuing to list Lindsey Halligan as interim U.S. attorney in court filings, more than a week after she was ruled invalidly appointed to the position. talkingpointsmemo.com/morning-memo...

Yep. I have a term for it. Used in this way, "some say" and "critics say" are signals warning us that what comes next is not truth-seeking but refuge-seeking behavior. "Depends on you ask" operates in similar fashion.

one of many parallels between anti-vaxxers & those who oppose gender-affirming care: they start by pretending they have a very specific concern (MMR vaccine, puberty blockers, etc), but once given any sway or say on the matter, they quickly strive to eliminate all of it

This is bad for Europe, and also something I find very frightening as a Canadian, in the ongoing context of "51st state" US imperialist rhetoric.

An appeals court in Missouri has ordered the rewording of a misleading explainer for a Republican-backed ballot measure that aims to undo a previously passed initiative that expanded abortion and reproductive rights in the state.

This is quite accurate. It's extremely rare for a grand jury to refuse to indict. And yet it's happening repeatedly with this administration. These lawsuits are just vindictive and pure BS.

You know the saying “a grand jury would indict a ham sandwich,” that’s because it is incredibly easy to secure an indictment. As a career public defender for 15 years, I can tell you how rare it is for a grand jury not to indict. This happens only when a case is absolute BULLSHIT.

Fewer people owning literally everything is bad. It's so obvious that most dystopias didn't even bother covering it.

Office 365 is noticeably worse to use now than it was 10, 15 years ago and should be front and center in the list of why monopolies are bad for consumers.

‘It was about degrading someone completely’: the story of Mr DeepFakes – the world’s most notorious AI porn site

"a society rediscovering the value of quiet reflection" buddy our fridges have ad screens on them

BREAKING: Trump administration plans to end prison rape protections for trans & intersex people, memo says. A DOJ memo says certain standards under the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) do not align with Trump’s Jan. 20 anti-trans executive order, @byadamrhodes.bsky.social reports.

HADOKEN!

"But rich people might get services too!" So? Who fucking cares. Rich people can also be disabled. And even if they aren't, we live in a society. If the goal is accessibility, that means accessibility for all, not just the people you personally think deserve it.

Tons of research shows people rarely commit fraud for social services anyway. We literally went through a mo ths-long news cycle about DOGE committing more fraud than they actually found. What is wrong with you people. Just let people have accommodations. Why do you fucking care?

I don't care if a non-disabled person accesses a disability accommodation for the same reason I don't care if a child whose parents are rich gets free lunch at school. We don't need to means test being a kind person. I have better things to do with my time than be a cop over social services.

I really can't emphasize enough that if you care about local politics, all you gotta do is show up. Just a regular schmegular person showing up. Literally just show up consistently in person and within a remarkably short amount of time, you will have a shocking amount of influence.

If the Founders, in their supposed Originalist wisdom, really wanted a 9-member super-legislature, they would have written it into Article I of the Constitution.

I'm genuinely concerned this is precisely the sort of thing that people might increasingly turn to AI to handle for them, but it is absolutely incapable of ever outputting a list of names so mind shattering that we'd still be talking about them 31 years later also I'm dwigt rortugal

1. Why is there a long description of black holes in your book about sexting an anti-vaxxer. 2. That is not what Hawking radiation is. 3. lol what

If Democrats retake power and don’t hold them accountable, millions of us will hold Democrats accountable.

What sticks out to me is how absolutely unafraid of prosecution this psychopath is. Part of it is narcissistic personality disorder, but it's mostly the perceived weakness of Democrats. Should they retake power, no one expects Democrats to hold anyone accountable.

AHEM zeteo.com/p/trump-nati...

CARTOON OF THE DAY

ahem zeteo.com/p/trump-nati...

THIS is where we are in terms of freedom of press ⬇️

From mid November fyi zeteo.com/p/trump-nati...

what's telling at this point is that this is also the consensus outlook of any serious legal observer even people who spent years arguing about how there was a consistent legal philosophy, even if we disagreed with it, have now come around to "yeah they're just partisan hacks"

once again, "the supreme court will act as a bunch of partisan republican hacks" is the single most accurate heuristic for predicting its behavior, putting any coherent legal theory to shame because fuck you, that's why

Yes we recorded this morning.

just an utter joke of a court.

I've said it before, I'll say it again--these sons of bitches on the Court piss me off w this 'presume the legislature acted in good faith and wasn't being racist' thing why on Earth would I presume that?! what on Earth does it take to overcome that presumption?! ballsandstrikes.org/scotus/supre...

District Court: The Court has considered an entire record of evidence and renders a conclusion based on that rigorous examination of facts. Supreme Court: But you didn’t theoretically presume good faith!

AI chatbots are very good at changing peoples’ political opinions, according to a study published, and are particularly persuasive when they use inaccurate information.

A Republican Congressman, in good standing, referring to Muslims peacefully praying and exercising their 1st Amendment rights as "barbarians." But, no criticism for Israel's genocide against Palestinians. In fact, Fine is a full-throated supporter.