Just so we're clear, the President labeling something an armed conflict does not make it an armed conflict, legally or factually: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/u...

What DHS pulled in Chicago on Tuesday is wildly unconstitutional. They smashed down almost every door in the building, dragged entire families into the street, and detained people for hours ("Kavanaugh stops"). Ms. Fisher was held for five hours and another senior citizen was held for three hours.

"The undersigned will not rubberstamp the breaking of decades-long norms and the rule of law." 🔥🔥🔥 More please

This administration is one giant, ongoing Hatch Act violation.

To be clear, the USG cannot use recognition of a different govt pre-textually as means of getting around the UN Charter prohibition on the use of force against another state

👇

*turns on Razorback game* *watches Notre Dame score twice in 2.5 minutes * *turns off game* I don’t envy those boys in Pittman’s locker room at halftime.

Yes, I’ve heard the same thing since earlier in the week. Reality is, Israel doesn’t actually want a deal with Syria.

Mount Pleasant: “In honor of our 90th year, the Raven will be OPEN Friday & Saturday afternoons for the rest of your anniversary year”!! And about those jukeboxes… www.popville.com/2025/09/dc-9...

I was told that international law has no practical consequences.

In 3.5 years, the non-promotional cost of my Hulu+Live TV subscription has increased by 29%.

The military academy’s longest-serving law professor claims the school is violating the First Amendment.

Wild.

Notable. (I spent a couple of summers working for Bosnia's war crimes court in Sarajevo.)

UN SR for Counterterrorism and Human Rights addresses the United States' illegal attacks on alleged drug smugglers in the Caribbean at @justsecurity.org. TL;DR: There is no U.S.-TdA armed conflict and the strikes are plainly illegal under international law. www.justsecurity.org/121115/unite...

Breaking: LOS ANGELES (AP) — California governor signs a law banning most law enforcement officers from wearing masks during some operations.

It's not just that the world is violent. It's that the violence is now being openly embraced, even encourage...at home and abroad. I explore the world's growing "lawlessness" in my latest for @wpr.bsky.social

Got to see San Diego use repeated bunts to great effect in a win over the Giants in August. It was a gas. www.wsj.com/sports/baseb...

An AUMF cannot (a) create an armed conflict with a non-state actor where there is none; or (b) correct the illegality of strikes that don’t appear to comply with IHL—even if IHL applied. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/19/u...

Today I read Umberto Eco's essay, "Ur Fascism," which @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social linked to at, of all places, the Anarchist Library. I'm embarrassed to admit I'd never read it before. In reading it, I was struck by a memory of Nick Hanauer's "The Pitchforks Are Coming."

Two things can be true: 1. This is not a thing; 2. This is extremely dangerous.

My latest from @foreignpolicy.com "Just recently, Turkey stood out for its repeated assaults on international norms. Now, those norms have been shattered by a host of bigger and more aggressive actors, and Turkey looks almost calm in comparison. foreignpolicy.com/2025/09/17/t...

An interesting @foreignaffairs.com piece but it ignores illegality of, e.g., establishing a "buffer zone in northern Mexico" or any non-consensual use of force within Mexican territory. It also doesn't address the history of U.S. interventions in Mexico. www.foreignaffairs.com/mexico/wrong...

Wow, what a loss.

They don’t have the power to do what they’re threatening on a grand scale. But they want us to think they do.

On the other site, Kaitlin Collins is reporting that President Trump posted on his social media site that the United States struck another boat in international waters.

Uhh 42 USC 1983?

The Trump administration’s deliberate choice to strike the boat off the coast of Venezuela represents a fundamental and dangerous shift, writes Benjamin R. Farley.

Looking for something to read with your Saturday morning coffee? Might I suggest my recent essay in @foreignpolicy.com on the Trump administration’s lawless strike on a boat in the Caribbean? foreignpolicy.com/2025/09/10/t...

One of the best people decoding all this chaos is @ryanhatesthis.bsky.social www.garbageday.email/p/charlie-ki...

Watching law-enforcement discuss and journalists report on the Kirk killer's ammunition reminds me of the challenges faced by--and the failings, frankly--of these same institutions in (especially) the first years of the #GWOT. They're just at sea wrt the gaming and extremely-online subcultures.

What does China (or, more specifically, Xi Jinping) want? Are they seeking to overturn the existing international order? Simply reform it? Embrace "hegemony"? I explore those questions -- based on a series of Xi speeches -- in my latest for @wpr.bsky.social.

A few thoughts on the Trump administration's unnecessary use of deadly force in the Caribbean--and what it might mean more broadly. foreignpolicy.com/2025/09/10/t...

With respect, it is not clear to me that the United States did not necessarily breach Article 2(4), which prohibits "from the threat or use of force . . . in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations."

Guantánamo Bay 9/11/2025

See, eg bsky.app/profile/nick...

Trump's airstrike on a boat in the Caribbean crossed lines not even the worst War on Terror drone strike did. Never before did the US deliberately hit a nonthreatening target, in an area where the US military freely operates, when arrest was easily doable. My latest (first in @foreignpolicy.com!!):

Good God

If we let them turn one group of people into a political football, they don't even have to move the goalposts. They can just call anyone a football.

A few thoughts on the Trump administration's unnecessary use of deadly force in the Caribbean--and what it might mean more broadly. foreignpolicy.com/2025/09/10/t...

Trump goes to a restaurant in DC for the first time, and:

This is 100% going to be used to put ICE agents outside polling stations in areas where they want to suppress the vote.

Just witnessed 4 masked agents of the state in 3 unmarked vehicles bearing MD plates, pull over a car and arrest two men (who looked like painters). They wore HSI or “police police” placards. Only 1 had a badge decal. Refused to identify themselves or even answer question as to existence of warrant

Tess nails it 👇

Interesting references to both the "unwilling or unable" legal theory and open-ended, sustained military operations.

Just happens to put them well within range of Caracas with a corridor that avoids any political overflight complications.