"As with all pet theories about jury persuasion, nobody really knows" 💙📚      —Jennifer, counsel for a defendant in S.J. Fleet's 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐶𝑢𝑡 𝑇ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑡 𝑇𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙, p. 246

So, how does someone who declared bankruptcy (www.cnn.com/2024/07/12/p...) settle a billion dollar lawsuit? Who's giving Giuliani money? No mention of Giuliani admitting in court documents that he was lying about a "stolen" election (www.bbc.com/news/world-u...).

One moment, no one has the money for coffee, or for foreign aid, or for school kids' lunches, or for Social Security, & the next a bunch of people have money to give to something that doesn't eat, drink, or contribute to Social Security.

James Comey can use a tactic of the current administration & confess to "misremembering," which is not lying for the legal world apparently. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Obsessed with turnout, Krasnov has to admit his current position came about with a clear lack of a majority (in several senses).

𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬: "St. Andrews could be stuffy, exclusive, and unforgiving—one young woman was told she should not have invited professors' wives and lecturers' wives to the same tea party" 💙📚      —M.W. Rowe's biography of J.L. Austin, p. 32

Young people having a riotous time with dancing dog & a light bit of cat torment, 1633. Hope that you too have enjoyed Jan Miense Molenaer's day today.

HB119 affirms that library materials should not be removed based solely on the creator’s background or because of political, religious, or ideological objections. The legislation also protects public & school library workers from retaliation for doing their jobs in accordance with state policy.

It's an impish joy to know that Jacques Derrida is named after the actor who played the first Uncle Fester on 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐴𝑑𝑑𝑎𝑚𝑠 𝐹𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑦. Derrida's parents called him Jackie, an homage to Jackie Coogan. See Peter Salmon's 𝐴𝑛 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑃𝑒𝑟ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑠.              #philosophySky      💙📚

"It is important to be accurate. It is important to be precise. It is the smallest detail on which a criminal trial can hinge." 💙📚             —S. J. Fleet, 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐶𝑢𝑡 𝑇ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑡 𝑇𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙

In many cases, editors are more important than writers in the way that Jeeves is more attuned to the world than Bertie.

Has any mystery author dealt with "murder insurance"? 💙📚

#Philsky Check out this great volume edited by @cliffordsosis.bsky.social. It's full of weird philosophy, including a chapter by me where I defend Kant's views about lying. Use the discount code 25SMA3 to get 20%off!

Thanks to Dr. Martina Valković and the workers at the 𝐵𝑙𝑜𝑔 of the American Philosophical Association for publishing my essay "Leonine Chameleons: Fascism and Relativism." #philosophySky #academicSky blog.apaonline.org/2025/09/15/l...

Alan Parks's 𝐺𝑢𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑟—Not since 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡 has a human body been so systematically tortured in the name of heroic masculinity. Did no editor ask how Gunner could survive days of pummeling with hardly anyone noticing?

Since I've complained about media euphemisms about events, it's my obligation to note as well when journalists use the declarative mode. It's surprising that it's CNN deserving applause.

The Left keeps making the mistake of thinking the far Right is interested in reconciliation, truth, fairness, & empathy—no matter how blatant the evidence. You can find more details about this in "Leonine Chameleons" out Sept. 15 on the Blog of the American Philosophical Assoc. blog.apaonline.org

Clifford Ando's reflections on the University of Chicago's miasma brings to the fore a matter rarely mentioned, i.e., that universities sometimes do not use donations as donors intend & expect. At one of my previous employers, the president's office called it "repurposing" rather than fraud.

"The laws of society ... are based on property" —Willa Cather, 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑓𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑟'𝑠 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒 💙📚

Does anyone else go to the Library of Congress website to look at old book posters? 📚💙

Thanks to Ron Slate and the team at 𝑂𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑒𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑙 for publishing my reviews of 𝐴 𝑀𝑢𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑀𝑖𝑠𝑠 𝐻𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒 and 𝐴𝑛 𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑚𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑉𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑔𝑒.  💙📚 www.ronslate.com/on-a-murder-...

A suspicious mind might construe this as a slap at a best-selling UK mystery author who hosts a TV quiz show: "I was beginning to think what I was going to do for the next 5 hours ... A gin & tonic? No. Too early. An early-evening quiz on TV? I'd rather shoot myself" (p. 337 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝐻𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑀𝑢𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠) 💙📚

Maybe expectations were too high for Halle Butler's 𝐵𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑁𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑒, but ended up in a place similar to what happens to Bobby: "Bobby's ears were ringing and he was hearing Kim's words like 'Wah wah wah boop boop boop lalala, meow meow meow.'" (p. 129)

How, in 1935, did Upton Sinclair foresee Washington, D.C. 2025? "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it" Sinclair's quotation happens to be the epigraph for Denise Mina's 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝐿𝑖𝑎𝑟. Her title points to no particular politician.

Someone put out the bait to trap the varmint.

Another installment for the Year of the Bird

"It's what makes a murder mystery unique in the world of popular fiction. It may seem brilliant, but an awful lot depends on the last chapter. Only when you get there do you find out if the book was worth reading to begin with." —Susan Ryeland in Anthony Horowitz's 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝐻𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑀𝑢𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠 💙📚

𝑆𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒's writers have completely absorbed a knowier-than-thou style and made it their own.  Today's samples: (1) "Foster Dogs ... I Know the Truth"; (2) "What DeSantis' Latest Crusade is Really About"; (3) "The Hoax is about Something Much Bigger"

Once you're a billionaire, you have more resources to cloak your crimes. Gift link in ALT

With 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑇ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑀𝑢𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝐶𝑙𝑢𝑏 airing on Netflix, this seems an appropriate time to remind everyone outside of my group of six faithful readers that my essay about Richard Osman's mysteries would be complementary material. 💙📚 drb.ie/articles/we-...

As Mae West said, anything worth doing is worth doing scientifically.

And the perennial message public universities send to the nation: expensive coaches are more important than teachers, students, staff, libraries, research. Texas A&M's sports wizards made a contract that gave its coach $70+ million to leave. A&M's last championship season? 1939.

As we recognize Labor Day this weekend remember that it’s the labor movement and the support for unions that made America a better place. Child labor laws, worker safety, healthcare benefits, and pensions: we owe votes for unions and improved workplaces. This weekend, celebrate the labor movement!

Some bees have entered me bonnet. Why do we need to know what happened "prior to the incident"? Why is the Head of Security issuing a press release when the report is silent about security being with Giuliani in the "struck" car? No family members, like son Andrew, "were promptly contacted"?

Many didn't realize that Ken Russell's 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐷𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑙𝑠 (1971) was an 𝑎𝑣𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑙𝑎 𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑟𝑒 documentary.

In literary terms, Grimsby Town's victory over Manchester United is like Birnham Wood taking down Macbeth. #bookSky

If you cheer on the Davids in the Land of Goliaths, you probably took delight in Grimsby Town's victory over the team that normally hogs the attention.

This deserves some publicity for those who are trying to reconfigure the UK's politics.

50% off deal—For a mere $50,000, I won't ever contact any payer. Think of the freedom you'll have. Zelle and cashier's checks accepted. Willing to consider non-bothering lease arrangements as well.

As someone who complained about a lack of collective response to what's happening to higher education, I now see this group plans to take action. I don't know whether this group has aligned its efforts with the AAUP. We can hope that efforts by different groups might be unified. #academicSky

"Bad people prosper. Good people go bust. Read the newspapers or social media and it's easy to believe that there is no justice in the world and nobody is happy at all." —Susan Ryeland in Anthony Horowitz's 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝐻𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑀𝑢𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠 💙📚

"When I think about the books I've loved throughout my life, it's always the final chapter that has left me with a sense of completeness, that has made the whole story worthwhile" —Susan Ryeland in Anthony Horowitz's 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝐻𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑀𝑢𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠 💙📚

More evidence that the admiration some give to certain "leaders" for their business sense is misplaced, partly because the leaders' initial bad decisions are announced via trumpet, but the negative financial consequences of those decisions are reported pianissimo. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/22/t...

While there's a "secret" hiring freeze at Texas A&M, they somehow found the money to acquire UH-Victoria. Texas A&M is also the university with the financial wizardry to give a fired coach (named "Jimbo" Fisher) a $76 million payout. #academicSky tinyurl.com/4rjzf2ay

Does anyone care about the university's reputation as a place of learning and scholarship, rather than as a basketball powerhouse? As a wise Texas woman once said, if they're talking about whether the university's football coach should be fired, they're not thinking about how a poet could save them.

"Life 𝑖𝑠 a negotiation. With yourself. With others. You can't sit around waiting for someone else to guess what you want. You have to ask for it, even it it's scary."    —Nina Simon, 𝑀𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟-𝐷𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑀𝑢𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑁𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡, p. 276 💙📚

As with an antique needing to meet the requirements of oldness, can you have nostalgia about something that's been around for only a week?

Who hasn't misplaced $86 million? It's like those socks that disappear in the dryer. www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

This week's forgotten book is by an Anglo-Irish author named John Christopher Lenehan. His books were largely published only in the UK which makes them hard to find in the US. This second mystery is a tidy locked room puzzle set on a train. 📚⚡️ 📚💙 happinessisabook.com/fridays-forg...

Denmark to abolish VAT on books in effort to get more people reading