Finished: Immortality Inc. by Robert Sheckley 📚. Sheckley wrote absurdist SF, and I find myself rereading his novels every five years or so. This is one of them. (Mindswap is probably his best, though Dimension of Miracles is in the running too).
Trump blasts Supreme Court while arguing trials for migrants ‘not possible’
Well this is chilling: the President is saying flat-out that due process is too much trouble. This is not just an issue for Venezuelan gang members. Due process is your (and mine) main protection against jackbooted thugs kicking open our doors and rendering us to a US-funded gulag in El Salvador in the middle of the night.
Finished: Is Paris Burning? by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre 📚. The story of the liberation of Paris in 1944, with most attention focused on French general DeGaulle (who comes across as an egocentric jerk) and German general von Choltitz (who comes across as a reluctant hero - but I think his own memoirs were one of the primary sources here). Popular rather than scholarly, but it did fill in some gaps in my knowledge of WWII.
In other “how stupid do they think we are?” news: Emmer disagrees with Van Hollen, says Abrego Garcia was given due process
Presumably Mr. Emmer would feel differently if it were his ass in a gulag in El Salvador.
Alito says the recent Supreme Court order barring further flights under the Alien Enemies Act was not “necessary or appropriate.”
Except, you know, there were buses full of migrants on the way to the airport.
“Pioneer”
Olympus E-M10 IV, M.Zuiko 60mm f/2.8 Macro lens @ f/8, 1/60s, ISO 800. Along the Lake Linton trail.
“Lake Linton”
Olympus E-M10 IV, M.Zuiko 14-42 kit lens plus CPL filter @ 14mm, f/11, 1/60s, ISO 320.
“Someone Owes the Government $250”
Olympus E-M10 IV, M.Zuiko 60mm f/2.8 Macro lens @ f/5, 1/50s, ISO 4000. At the 3272' level along OR 242.
“Cool Morning”
Olympus E-M10 IV, M.Zuiko 14-42 kit lens @ 14mm, f/9, 1/4s, ISO 320. Base of Lower Proxy Falls.
“Lil' Buddy”
Olympus E-M10 IV, M.Zuiko 60mm f/2.8 Macro lens @ f/7.1, 1/60s, ISO 2000. On the side of Oregon 242 between Proxy Falls and Linton Lake.
Yes, Trump’s “Special Envoy” really did say the French Presidential palace reminds him of Mar-a-Lago. What a twit. The French are probably regretting their help 250 years ago.
FFS: Covid․gov now points to a ‘lab leak’ conspiracy website
“We’re from the government, we’re here to lie to you.”
Anti-Vax Doctor Praised by RFK Jr. Pushes Wild Theory About Measles
Some of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s allies are claiming measles is actually a government bioweapon. Don’t worry, they have a hundred-dollar cure for it.
That’s not how anything works. Vaccinate your kids.
Finished: The Trial, by Franz Kafka 📚. Not at all what I vaguely remembered from my last reading 40+ years ago, which just goes to show that callow 20-year-olds shouldn’t read Kafka. Also arguably a bit too on point to read in 2025. I doubt the current administration would see a problem in Joseph K’s treatment.
U.S.-born American citizen under ICE hold in Florida after driving from Georgia
Well this is fucking insane. Despite having his birth certificate verified by a court, this guy is still in jail and apparently on the fast track to America’s new gulag.
Appeals Court supports Judge Xinis
This can’t be quoted enough:
“It is difficult in some cases to get to the very heart of the matter,” one of the judges, J. Harvie Wilkinson III, wrote. “But in this case, it is not hard at all. The government is asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order. Further, it claims in essence that because it has rid itself of custody that there is nothing that can be done. This should be shocking not only to judges, but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from courthouses still hold dear.”
Supreme Court to hear rare May arguments in birthright citizenship battle
Good that the birthright citizenship nonsense is blocked until at least May. But deeply, deeply disturbing that the Court even feels the need to hear arguments on this shit. Should have been an easy 9-0 decision.
Minnesota Republicans elect a flat-earther to a party leadership post
Keep it classy, Republicans.
This ‘College Protester’ Isn’t Real. It’s an AI-Powered Undercover Bot for Cops
More from the “AI is not your friend” files. Perhaps every new technology gets used for porn first, but it gets used for repression second.
Nate Silver gives early nod to Ocasio-Cortez for 2028
You know who would love AOC as the Democratic presidential nominee? Republicans. The attack ads would practically write themselves. Much as I’d like to see a progressive candidate, I’d like even more to see an electable one.