Go away, 2026

Defenceless under the night Our world in stupor lies; Yet, dotted everywhere, Ironic points of light Flash out wherever the Just Exchange their messages: May I, composed like them Of Eros and of dust, Beleaguered by the same Negation and despair, Show an affirming flame. -W. H. Auden

Run by a private, for-profit corrections company, Acquisition Logistics LLC. Awarded a 1.3 billion contract, paid for in torture, abuse, violence & death. I am tracking all these bloody profiteers--a critical part of the ICE detention & deportation story.

And remember, the majority of detention centers are run by private corrections corporations FOR PROFIT. Untold horrors surely abound.

My latest article for the Federal Sentencing Reporter is now live--let me know what you think about my predictions! read.dukeupress.edu/fsr/article/...

My dad had polio as a four year old and is currently suffering from post polio syndrome in his old age. This is madness, literal Mengele stuff. At their core, MAHA is about eugenics and who they view as deserving to live and who they view as unworthy.

Welcome to our new eugenic hellscape.

I spy my dear friend @lawandlitprof.bsky.social explaining about what the concept of eugenics does here in Vanity Fair. It's terrifying!

Vanity Fair has a truly frightening write-up on RFK, Eugenics, and survival of the fittest (tied, of course, to white Americans with heritage, gag) www.vanityfair.com/news/story/r...

It's the privatized correctional services playbook--all about the money.

What if he invades Minnesota

More folks should watch Raoul Peck's Exterminate All the Brutes, especially right now. It's on HBO & Max. It's brilliant, and especially good at connecting slavery in the Americas with Native American genocide, and back further to European antisemitism and Islamophobia. www.hbo.com/exterminate-...

With commentary from @plombardo2024.bsky.social and myself. Eugenics has come to be a defining feature of the Trump administration...

It could not be more clear.

Eugenics: not a bug but a feature of this administration.

History rhymes.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed an executive order to open jury service to roughly 350,000 people who were banned for life. “It’s monumental,” says Dameon Stackhouse, a formerly incarcerated advocate who spent years pushing for this change.

To be fair, it sounded better in the original German.

In Minneapolis this afternoon— Hundreds are streaming across the snow and ice into Powderhorn Park for a rally and march demanding ICE leave Minnesota. It is bitterly cold. There are hardcore Midwesterners out here making their way in with trekking poles.

No more, no more.

Fun Fact: ALL less lethal deployment is supposed to be aimed BELOW THE KNEES. Some are specifically meant to be bounced off the ground in front of the target. This is a requirement when getting certified to use them.

Bringing back Manifest Destiny.

New Year's Poem by Seamus Heaney (1/1/87).

"History is the nightmare from which I am trying to awake."

Thanks again, @akalhan.bsky.social , for the perfect phrasing! The fact that this got under Kavanaugh's skin is just chef's kiss.

Just a reminder: These eugenic vibes are not about genetics or health or fitness but wealth — the people born on third base do not care if the people born on second base die.

What a horrifying weekend of news. Too much.

Oregon, here we goooooooo!

Utterly unsurprising in every way.

Third unvaccinated Kentucky baby dies of whooping cough. Pertussis, best prevented with a vaccine, has killed three Kentucky babies in the last 12 months. kentuckylantern.com/2025/11/25/t...

"The high-income admissions advantage at Ivy-Plus colleges is driven by....(1) preferences for children of alumni, (2) weight placed on non-academic credentials, and (3) athletic recruitment" which are "uncorrelated or negatively correlated with post-college outcomes" unlike SAT/ACT scores

Things that will get you kicked out of academia forever: - taking maternity leave at the wrong time - spending too much time with your kids - reporting harassment - not moving every 2-3 years - taking a partner's job/preferences into account - mouthing off before tenure

Brilliant, cogent, and very important response by @martylederman.bsky.social on the SG's new reply brief in the Chicago/Nat'l guard case currently pending in the S.Ct.'s shadow docket. Marty explains it all!

Transformative work of the day, that's some pig edition

JUST IN: Trump admin asks 9th Circuit for emergency stay of Judge Immergut's ruling that Trump's federalization and deployment of national guard in Portland is unlawful. Doc: www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

Well, it's a little clearer now why billionaires are so invested in technology that produces better written emails.

Federal judge issues permanent injunction barring Trump from deploying National Guard to Portland Judge Karin Immergut's final ruling is a permanent version of a preliminary injunction that she issued last week. The Trump administration is likely to appeal. | KGW www.kgw.com/article/news...

What did Watson and Crick discover in 1953?” “Rosalind Franklin’s notes!” Now would be a good time to listen to my interview with the brilliant @matthewcobb.bsky.social about Franklin, Watson, Crick and the discovery of the double helix. geneticsunzipped.com/blog/2023/8/...

Rosalind Franklin died at 37 of ovarian cancer attributed to radiation exposure from the methods she & her assistant used to photograph a cross-section of the DNA double helix. Meanwhile, Watson won a Nobel off that work & survived to the ripe old age of 97 by simply: stealing those notes!

“Idle facility activations” mostly refers to CoreCivic bringing unused private prisons online — to be used by ICE. In 2023, California stopped using a massive prison which CoreCivic had built in the California desert in the 90s. It sat empty until August. Now it’s ICE’s largest jail.

Happy Andrew Cuomo retirement day, for all who celebrate.

i will venmo any reporter $600 to ask trump "when was dick cheney vice president"

Judge grills DOJ over breach of court order halting Portland deployment in National Guard trial. | KGW youtu.be/JyY1QVKtrfg

Pretty sneaky, Sis! www.opb.org/article/2025...

Fifty days ago, SCOTUS issued its order allowing the Trump admin to racially profile Latinos in low-wage jobs in its mass immigration raids. On Monday, I talked with law prof @akalhan.bsky.social about the order and what he was thinking about when he offered up the term “Kavanaugh stop.”

"Tzefardea Tzedek" (Frog of Righteousness) As soon as the Portland Frog became a meme, Jewish social media blew up with jokes about the 2nd Passover plague - tzefarde'a (frogs) - and the Rabbinical commentary around it. I knew I had to make a calligraphy piece encompassing all of it. (more in alt.)

The energy we need is this suburban dad standing out in the street -- barefoot with Blackhawks pajama pants on -- screaming at the masked goons to get the fuck out of their neighborhood.