(1) The accused declared, ordered, or otherwise indicated that there shall be no survivors or surrender accepted; (2) The accused thereby intended to threaten an adversary or to conduct hostilities such that there would be no survivors or surrender accepted; (3) It was foreseeable that circumstances would be such that a practicable and reasonable ability to accept surrender would exist; (4) The accused was in a position of effective command or control over the subordinate forces to which the declaration or order was directed; and (5) The conduct took place in the context of and was associated with hostilities.
β Former USG war crimes lawyer here.
Apropos of SecDef's remarks this morning:
Denial of quarterβeven the declaration of no quarterβis a war crime.
And recognized as such by the US Government.
From DoD's Manual for Military Commissions.
As our technology gets worse, wonkier, more addictive, more invasive, and downright dumber, the idea of analog and βobsolete technologiesβ sounds better every day. baltimorebeat.com/whats-poppin...
New, at Can We Still Govern?: Christian GlΓ€Γel and
@ascharpf.bsky.social have studied the formation of secret police in other countries. They explain the parallels with Trump's immigration enforcement.
The key factor is career incentives not ideology. π§΅
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-secret...
Man, @donmoyn.bsky.social's substack remains one of the best places to get concrete political science insights into our authoritarian consolidation. His guest authors today talk about secret police. I will definitely be getting their book open.substack.com/pub/donmoyni...
4 giant genetically modified st bernard dogs carrying humongous barrels of oil
Can this be a solution?
Tweet from the Prime Minister of Israel: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: Antisemitism knows no limits or boundaries. Israel is attacked because it is the Jewish state. Temple Israel in Detroit was attacked today because it is a Jewish house of worship."
Speaking as a Jew living in Diaspora, who needs to exist as a minority at a time of rising antisemitism, I would really appreciate it if the Prime Minister of a country where I do not live would not say that attacks on a sovereign country are analogous to attacks on a synagogue.
"Top Trump officials acknowledged to lawmakers during recent classified briefings that they did not plan for the possibility of Iran closing the strait in response to strikes."
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
www.cnn.com/2026/03/12/p...
AI is fundamentally a labor issue - and if after reading these testimonials from educators that @bcmerchant.bsky.social has collected you're not convinced it's time for a Luddite praxis in K-12 and higher education, then shit, I'm not sure what else to tell you.
Some background as well
Abbas Alawieh @abbasformi No one ever deserves to feel unsafe or threatened in their house of worship. Todayβs violence against Temple Israel, its congregants, and the West Bloomfield Jewish community is horrifying. We must stand in unequivocal defense of the humanity and safety of our Jewish siblings and denounce this heinous act. My family and I are praying for safety for communities across our state who are feeling afraid right now, and we are holding our Jewish community members extra close.
Alawieh, a candidate for Michigan State Senate in District 2 and a former leader of Uncommitted, with a statement on the attack on West Bloomfield Temple Israel
I am the biggest fan of gallows humor on the planet and I am thoroughly enjoying this little moment. My cope is definitely laughing through the tears!
New talking point just dropped. They are trying to make pro-AI a part of working class masculinity and going for the βit will make those other people sufferβ approach.
A tomahawk missile costs the taxpayers the same amount of money as one five-year major NIH research grant. Remember that every time they tell us one of those missed the target, blew up paintings of enemy aircraft or tanks, or was the fifth and unnecessary hit on the same target.
Hear me out: it might suggest a level of state sanctioned and institutionally sanctioned violence that has had a chilling effect on campus protests, and led these students to direct their energies into other kinds of activities, which assumes they weren't expelled, thrown in jail, or deported.
Dear Temple Israel Family, Everyone is safe. All 140 students in our Susan and Harold Loss Early Childhood Center, our amazing staff, our courageous teachers, and our heroic security personnel are all accounted for and safe. As you have no doubt heard, Temple Israel was the victim of a terrorist gunman who was confronted and neutralized by our security personnel who are truly heroes. Our teachers followed their training and kept the children safe and calm. We are deeply and humbly grateful to our teachers, staff, security, law enforcement, and Shenendoah Country Club that welcomed us, fed us, and sheltered our staff, teachers, children, and parents. What incredible neighbors we have. What incredible police force we have This note is coming to you before we know anything about our future programming or services, or any investigation. We wanted you to know we are safe, and we love you all.
A statement from Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan:
270+ journalists have been killed in Gaza since October 2023. More than in βthe US Civil War, World Wars I and II, the Korean War, Vietnam War, the wars in the former Yugoslavia and the post-9/11 war in Afghanistan β combinedβ www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/202...
I met with AI data labelers in Kenya who are organizing their colleagues to fight the brutal working conditions and horrible pay given to the workers at the "bottom of the AI supply chain." They believe the NDAs they've signed are unenforceable so are speaking out:
www.404media.co/ai-is-africa...
Gave up all of the currency and promise of the βideaβ of America (however flawed), in exchange for βwe kill people. We kill lots of people.β
is there a term for how too many people fucked something up for there to be any consequences?
like, legitimately any ceo that used company money to donate to trump should be fired on the spot for contributing to the destruction of the economy right? like it was obvious and they are stupid
The US hasnβt been releasing true casualty figures. The strike on Kuwait in the early hours of the war was worse than previously revealed.
The UN Refugee Agency says more than 3.2 million people have been displaced in Iran since the start of the war.
βI did not believe in past wars because I did not profit directly from them, but I believe in this war because it enhances my personal net worth.β
"I mean, they set out to change the regime and managed to not only keep it in place but both increase its legitimacy and wipe out the opposition. Can't get further from 'regime change' than that."
$11.3 billion could cover any of the following for a full year:
-1.4 million people on Medicaid
-19 million kids getting free school lunches
-1.4 million people getting affordable housing
-1.1 million hungry seniors fed
-0.8 million children given free child care
A man who was shot by Connecticut police last year and later died had to wait 10 extra minutes for another ambulance to arrive at the scene, after another officer having an anxiety attack took the first one.
β’ Build a Jurassic Park in Abu Dhabi with a fenced-in dinopath leading to a big pit in Muscat
β’ Wait a few million years
β’ Extract the oil
The 2026 National Science Foundation budget is $8.75 Billion.
If we could just raise sea levels by 150 meters we get a backup Strait of Hormuz