i’m not thrilled tbh

John Roberts has been a GOP operative, in "institutionalist" clothing, through all of his career. Chapter and verse, here: www.harvardmagazine.com/legal/suprem... He was on GWBush team during the 2000 Florida recount battles. Think: Mike Johnson, with Harvard vs LSU pedigree.

based on my profile pic, you might be surprised by my answer but it's this

Our Dumb Century was dreadfully significant in the development of my sense of humor, there are too many great gags to name but starting off the most significant event of the 20th century with a typesetting joke is peak

The current Supreme Court has forfeited all legitimacy. Democrats (and everyone) need to address that reality. John Roberts > Roger Taney. Court needs to expand. And have fixed terms—like *every* other supreme court in developed world. And have ethics rules, like all normal organizations.

The headline, the main takeaway from a European viewpoint is this: The transatlantic relationship as we know it is over. Yes, we kinda knew this. But this is now official US White House policy. Not a sppech, not a statement. The West as it used to be no longer exists.

Prison rape is wrong. Jokes about prison rape are wrong. Eliminating protections against prison rape is wrong. If another country sentenced a criminal to be raped, we'd consider it a crime against humanity. BUT A large segment of Americans regard prison rape as a de facto part of the sentence.

🔴 Nigel Farage’s Reform is more reliant on super-rich backers than any major party in modern British political history 75% of *all* Reform donations *ever* have come from just three rich men Is this what democracy looks like? New on Democracy for Sale democracyforsale.substack.com/p/75-of-refo...

The NSS of the US is to overturn small-l liberalism in Europe and corruption is one means they plan to do that.

This is what I thought too. If the first boat is a legit target, and you're picking up evidence of comms with a second that's close enough to rescue them, then the second would be a legit target too. Of course, neither are legit targets.

It's become normal now for high-level political figures to argue that an entire generation was brainwashed through fake videos into mass anti-Israel political mobilization by TikTok. Complete conspiracy thinking, rooted in zero evidence, based on nothing

The Times accuses Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth of violating its constitutional rights with a press policy that, the paper says, deprives the public of access to critical national security information. n.pr/4oyViHW

2 in 3 of Nigel Farage’s current and former partners do not speak English as their first language.

this really isn’t an exaggeration

"Soon after oral arguments, Trump announced a flurry of modifications to his tariffs on certain foreign imports levied using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). At the same time, the administration continued stacking up tariffs on more specific goods under a different statute."

The Malaysian government says it will pay the robotics firm Ocean Infinity $70 million if it can locate the wreckage from the missing flight within a 55-day period. n.pr/49NuqjE

Good news! Earlier this year I shared reports that the land around the Cerne Abbas Giant was up for sale I’m delighted that, after lots of conversations, the land has now been bought by the National Trust (who already own the Giant): www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025... bsky.app/profile/guys...

TN07 is a story about gerrymandering: the GOP cracked Nashville into 3 districts when it redrew the 2022 map, destroying the Dem seat there. Fast-forward: a section of Nashville, which just 5 years ago had a Dem representative, is now voting Dem by huge margins but it's been designed to not matter.

'HIV-free generations': prevention drug rollout brings hope to South Africa. Taken twice a year, Lenacapavir has been shown to reduce the risk of HIV transmission by more than 99.9% u.afp.com/ShHt

This is us.

Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries: “Strong floor, no ceiling” Colombian President Gustavo Petro: “A clan of pedophiles wants to destroy our democracy.”

Happy seventh birthday to Sir David Attenborough not being in the nudd.

i'd say the midterm-level turnout for a special election is even more ominous than the swing

Very similar to the trans-kids panic, where the prestige media narrative is that it's far too easy but you talk to any trans person, expert or parent and it's obvious that it's way too hard.

#authorship HT @maartenvsmeden.bsky.social

oh come ON

He seems to be constantly fighting 'wokeness' these days...

Trump dozes while Marco Rubio speaks to him directly next to him. Just insane optics.

not just morally but it seems obvious politically that underbusing the admiral is a mistake.

One of the reasons servicemembers, from admirals and generals to the greenest private, should know “don’t follow illegal orders” is that this administration is a goulash of dishonorable character flaws like cowardice and dishonesty. There is no bus under which these pissants will not throw you.

IMO Hegseth should just say he can't remember exactly what happened because he had one too many. Totally understandable. Happens to the best of us.

Pastor Jorge Bautista was telling a Border Patrol agent "we come in peace" when the agent fired toxic powder at him, leaving him struggling to breathe. “No one should be assaulted for being out there protesting,” he says. With @frontlinepbs.bsky.social

i like that this administration is committed to inflicting as much pain on as many americans as possible.

America: Did you order the code Red? Hegseth: YOU’RE GODDAM RIGHT I DID! America: Uhm, it’s a crime. Hegseth: Ok, someone else ordered the Code Red.

Drudge Report right now

firefox AI and slop disablers from tumblr for the people from local hero mckitterick. Tried it on my end and the browser is significantly faster now (copy paste-able in the alt text)

Hegseth is very transparently blaming a Navy admiral for his own decision. Let this be a lesson for every other military officer: The Trump administration will issue unlawful orders, then blame you for following them.

Armando Iannucci eat your heart out.

Hey 👋 anyone who likes peering at civil engineering projects as they get underway. There's a new and helpful TFL update on the Cutty Sark Station escalators. They seem to have made decent progress in September and October.

The fact that 12% of federal judges are Black shows the corruption of DEI. The fact that 67% of Supreme Court Justices belong to a small legal cult called the Federalist Society shows the power of meritocracy.

One of the things about trust is that it is efficient. It saves you having to invest a lot of time and effort in verification, and if placed in the right places, saves you a lot of pain. "The diseases will do the education" is what we get when we don't trust.

Starting //// going

Absolute debasement of academic standards *student submits opinion in psych class *gets bad grade *instructor says she can make whatever arguments she wants but must draw on empirical sources *student & Turning Point says her religious freedom & first amendment rights violated *professor suspended

including complaints of medical-neglect, forced-drugging, abuse, due-process violations, and other civil-rights complaints in immigration detention in limbo or effectively abandoned.

DHS’s internal watchdog system has been “gutted” the staff of Office for Civil Rights & Civil Liberties (CRCL) was cut from about 150 down to only 9 people. The cuts leave around 550 active investigations