More west African influence than I was expecting on the new Joan Shelley joanshelley.bandcamp.com/album/real-w...

Spoke with @washingtonpost.com about the absence of legal justification for the U.S. government’s premeditated killing of people aboard boats in the Caribbean. “In essence, the President is asserting a license to kill outside the law.” www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

At last: a man writing about men www.vulture.com/article/jord...

A recent batch of books including Jordan Castro’s ‘Muscle Man’; Sebastian Castillo’s ‘Fresh, Life’; and Tony Tulathimutte’s ‘Rejection’ try to speak to the disaffected male reader.

Notable from @hrw.org www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...

Literary criticism back from the grave for one more day

james cameron walks up to whiteboard with TOEJAM and EARL written on it. he erases the "and" and writes Vs.

At last: a man writing about men www.vulture.com/article/jord...

Really opportune time to distance ourselves from the ACLU

"The import of this history has never been clearer than in this moment when the hard question must be asked: If you would look away from the words of Charlie Kirk, from what else would you look away?" www.vanityfair.com/news/story/c...

"The Genocide Convention was born from the ashes of the Holocaust with a solemn vow: “Never again.” That vow is meaningless if it applies only to some and not to others." www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/o...

The chief judge of the Rwandan genocide tribunal has concluded, after studying the evidence exhaustively, that the Israeli government and military are committing genocide in Gaza: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/o...

The Trump administration is ordering the removal of information on slavery at multiple national parks in an effort to scrub them of “corrosive ideology.” wapo.st/4mnNDLt

at the center of the efforts to destroy civil society in russia, hungary, georgia and elsewhere is the stigmatization, harassment, & criminalization of NGOs. that's what this is about, a full-on assault on democratic debate & freedoms. this is not hyperbole. it's right here.

Call it the Kyle Rittenhouse dogma, or the Daniel Perry dogma, or the Daniel Penny dogma, or the Ashli Babbitt dogma. The fundamental reality of American politics is that anyone who opposes Trump – politicians, judges, election officials, anyone – immediately faces an avalanche of violent threat.

"For almost 90 percent of the technologies it deploys, the department has stated that it has no obligation to obtain a warrant." www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

the classic Onion piece theonion.com/study-iraqis...

A Israeli soldier who was attached to the GHF "relief" operation, and was ordered to shoot at the crowd: "The officers would shout at me: take them down, take them down. I shot 50-60 bullets per day, I stopped counting the kills. I have no idea how many people I killed, lots. Children". Haaretz.

If you're talking about opposing Zionism in the context of changing the state structure of Israel-Palestine, that is a valid political debate. But calls to "hunt down Zionists" made in European cities will inevitably be interpreted as calls to target Jews, even though most Zionists are Christians.

i have said this before but when “getting rid of race in admissions” for the administration means “you can’t even try to reach out to underrepresented communities and encourage them to apply and if you do it is illegal discrimination against white people” then the actual goal here is segregation

We're witnessing the most aggressive, fanatical crackdown on free speech in my lifetime. The speed and breadth of government censorship and private sector and nonprofit capitulation has been astonishing. As has the lack of urgency/silence from people who've long claimed to care about this stuff.

s/o to Bill Kristol for understanding, unlike a big chunk of the Democratic leadership and seemingly all of the pundits, that in America rights are fundamental, universal, and inalienable, and to surrender some rights for select people is to surrender all rights for everyone

I know I know it's a well worn point but still. Plenty of people who would self-describe as Christians, for whom that is a very important identity, watch Fox News. I genuinely can think of very few messages as laser-targeted to be anti-Christian as "kill the homeless". Designed in a lab by Satan.

Why does Kash Patel always appear to be gagging on Sardines

“Retired general Herzi Halevi says ‘not once’ had legal advice constrained Israel’s military decisions in the strip.” Which of course calls into question the nature of the legal advice. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

If only someone had made a great film about the innate bottomless nihilism of online life, where the ravenous search for depraved stimulation hollows you out, and erases everything human in you...if only... libertiesjournal.com/online-artic...

it’s early but it seems like maybe this is relevant again (wrote it last week fml)

Remember how much energy Trump and his allies expended on rationalizing his “very fine people” comments in Charlottesville? In term two, he just comes out and says right-wing extremism is justified while left-wing extremism is the real problem. www.pbump.net/o/reassessin...

Is this also political violence?

Look forward to when every newspaper in America condemns this endorsement of political violence

It is hard to think of a more explicit directive to the radical right than “I don’t care what you do, and in fact I agree with your motivation.” He’s already pardoned violent extremists and this is a promise to pardon more.

This got cut from a piece earlier this year, but it feels truer than ever to me. Not just ideologically but organizationally, the violent fringe of the far right have their part to play in the maga movement. Why do you think Trump pardoned the J6ers? They are now going to do what the state cannot.

Primo citiot behavior right here www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/u...

Once again, the First Amendment for immigrants to this country is completely gone. Done. Kaput. Finished.

This is how it's going to go: reducing constitutionally-guaranteed rights to smaller and smaller groups of "real Americans." Also how they will square the gun rights circle—only true patriots should be armed! Loyalty guarantees citizenship!

When you publish a website that posts the names and photos of scholars who have written or said things you disagree with and encourage people to surveil and harass them, you are not, in fact, a “free speech” organization.

When a right-wing man murdered Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota, progressives asked MAGA to tone down the rhetoric to prevent more violence. Within hours of Kirk’s murder, motive still unknown, the right is demanding that the government wage a campaign of violence against their enemies.

Very, very bad stuff coming from leading right-wingers

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) on the shooting of Charlie Kirk: "Political violence, unfortunately, has ramped up in this country ... I think there are people who are fomenting it in this country. I think the president's rhetoric often foments it."

being totally comfortable speaking this way to millions of people is one of many signals that we're in an extremely dark place

Horrifying story of cold blooded murder of several family members, walking in the street. Incredible reporting. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

Discussed the legal implications of US strike in the Caribbean with my friends @tessbridgeman.bsky.social & @becingber.bsky.social on the @justsecurity.org podcast. Trump is claiming the prerogative to kill outside the law. Congress and the public must say "no." www.buzzsprout.com/2074610/epis...

What a horrifying answer. -Given that Israel is destroying the conditions for Palestinian life in Gaza -Given the rampant genocidal discourse in Israel The UK should live to its responsibility to PREVENT genocide Whether the court eventually finds a "specific intention" or not is secondary

Spoke with @politico.com about the lethal U.S. strike in the Caribbean. “This is not about counterterrorism, war on terror, counter-narcotics. The really key issue here is the scope of the power being claimed by the president.” The power to kill outside the law. www.politico.com/news/2025/09...

If only someone had written about this before...if only... www.nytimes.com/2024/09/04/m...

smacks of protestantism

“What shocked me, when I was kidnapped [by US immigration], was just how reminiscent that was to cases I witnessed in Syria. You would have plainclothed officers without any warrant come and take you just because of your political speech.” @oliverlaughland.bsky.social interviews Mahmoud Khalil

🫡🫡🫡 comrade adams, welcome to the resistance