Sam Brunson

they didn’t do it with CA, but are now toying with the idea that the constitution means “Republicans get to gerrymander but Democrats can’t”

I remember being struck in 2020 by the thought that knowing that people are dying because of him makes him feel powerful.

I haven’t really seen anything since that would forcibly disabuse me of that notion. :(

Guerre au Moyen-Orient : l’Espagne interdit aux États-Unis d’utiliser deux de ses bases dans l’offensive en Iran et prend ses distances avec la France, l’Allemagne et le Royaume-Uni L’Espagne refuse l’utilisation de deux de ses bases militaires par les États-Unis dans l’offensive en cours contre l’Iran. Quinze avions ravitailleurs américains ont quitté les deux bases. Madrid prôn...

Spain refuses to allow the US to use two of its military bases in the ongoing offensive against Iran. Fifteen American tanker aircraft left both bases. Madrid advocates de-escalation and dialogue, standing out from its European partners.

I share the praise for the firms that fought these EOs. But one can win the (lawsuit) battle & lose the (professional independence) war. Firms have radically pulled back their willingness to take ANY case adverse to the WH. The chilling effect remains, w/huge real-world costs as elections approach.

Excerpt from CENTCOM's initial 1:08 pm ET Feb. 28 statement on Iran strikes. Says: “The President ordered bold action, and our brave Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Guardians, and Coast Guardsmen are answering the call,” said Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of CENTCOM. Following the initial wave of U.S. and partner strikes, CENTCOM forces successfully defended against hundreds of Iranian missile and drone attacks. There have been no reports of U.S. casualties or combat-related injuries. Damage to U.S. installations was minimal and has not impacted operations.

Keep in mind that CENTCOM originally said that "There have been no reports of U.S. casualties or combat-related injuries" in the first wave of Iranian retaliatory strikes. Either someone was ill-informed or someone lied. x.com/CENTCOM/stat...

6 US troops killed, others wounded in operations against Iran A total of six U.S. service members have been confirmed killed since the start of U.S. military operations against Iran, officials said.

The U.S. death toll in the war with Iran is now at 6, after "U.S. forces recently recovered the remains of two previously unaccounted for service members from a facility that was struck during Iran’s initial attacks in the region." taskandpurpose.com/news/casualt...

Congratulations! They couldn't have hired a better person for the role!

And a war that evidently takes second place to talk about drapery.

Live Updates: U.S. death toll in Iran war rises to 6 as Trump says campaign could last 5 weeks The U.S. military said Monday that the number of Americans killed during the ongoing conflict with Iran now stands at six. Follow live updates on Day 3 of the war.

So six U.S. servicemembers have now been killed in a war we didn't want, one that the President launched unilaterally and likely illegally, one that he hasn't tried to explain to the American people, and one where he seems intent on getting more Americans killed.

I thought we were supposed to be concerned about robot rights, though? Because that sounds violative of the 8th Amendment in my book!

Also, literally one Nazi controversy is one Nazi controversy too many.

I'm old enough to remember the Platner fanboys saying Substack was a Nazi bar (and they were probably right) and posting Captain America-punching-Hitler memes, but actually, they just wanted to give him a big ol' hug.

@NRSC "Someone who tells you exactly what he thinks" What Graham Platner thinks: - Got a Nazi tattoo - Called himself a communist - Said Black people don't tip - Called all police "bastards" - Said rape victims should "not get so f**ked up"

The Two Towers: "This is but a taste of what awaits you" meme

Bravo, leftists. Pure genius move.

And unlike most of the GOP's bullshit, all of these claims are both accurate and in context.

This is but a taste of what awaits EVERY Democratic candidate this fall.

Right. College aged diets are, almost by definition, terrible.

(Also, since she'll move off campus next year, this summer is going to be dedicated to making sure my oldest knows how to cook actual real food.)

I appreciate the welcome. But also, there is literally no way in hell I'm going to bother finding out what the Tillyverse is, much less participate in it in literally any way at all.

In fact, I'm going to hit "Post" and then forget everything about this skeet.

I mean, you can't expect to get your technology for free!

(Also, fwiw, private school teachers, even at grossly and uncomfortably expensive private schools, are generally paid less than their public school counterparts. So they're not sharing in the wealth here.)

And eating disorders are girl-coded, but there are definitely male versions that are just as harmful.

(6) Also, because it seems to have some relationship to RFK Jr./MAHA, I'll end with literally everything about RFK Jr. and MAHA is bad and harmful and unhealthy. 4/4

(4) I knew several families in Brazil who ate rice and beans (plus often some sort of meat and vegetable) basically three meals a day every day.

(5) That said, reading through the article, I am a little wary. This kind of restricted diet strikes me as, at best, just this side of an eating disorder.

We’ve all been there: After a long day at work, you come home, realize you’ve skipped the supermarket again, and settle for a subpar dinner—a box of ramen, a bowl of buttered pasta, or even a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The meal is regrettable and adds only a little sustenance at best. You promise yourself you won’t stoop to that level again. But a viral trend is now touting that very simplicity, and the result is something akin to the human equivalent of dog food.

That said, (2) by definition, influencer/TikTok/Instagram diets are stupid and shouldn't be taken seriously.

And (3), since when is ground beef with rice the equivalent of dog food? That seems overblown and, well, a distortion of reality. 2/

So I have several thoughts about this.

But the first one is, it's fine actually. As long as they're eating vegetables too, rice and ground beef works as a meal. I mean, it sounds boring more often than once a month or whatever, but it's fine. 1/

DOJ just doesn’t have the capacity to pursue every Trump grudge.

Same.

Once again, as I deal with a phone JAMPACKED with political spam, I deeply regret having ever made a small political donation and will never make that mistake again.

I get that people are enamored of Obama's tech-savvy ground game, but come on. Do these politicians really not understand spam?

Exactly this. He's not bad because he's a child of wealth, he's bad because he's a Nazi (or, at least, deeply and frequently Nazi-curious).

That he's LARPing as blue collar may not be great, but it's not nearly as disqualifying as the first paragraph.

I am angry to a degree that I can't express in words about how Trump is messily dismantling our hard-won global progress on nuclear non-proliferation.

And before anyone intimates that IL doesn’t matter because people are ignoring it, keep in mind that people do break murder laws and this is usually not taken to mean that murder is actually legal/who cares

Honestly, I suspect that most judges would agree and would prefer to rule based on legal criteria. But the Supreme Court has tried their hands, forcing them to pretend to be historians.

And outside writers neuters to singers extent the perception, accurate or not, that the writers represent the paper’s official position. 2/2

So far nothing has moved my opinion that newspapers should not have op-ed sections or, if they really believe they should, they should only run editorials by outside experts. Because for every good commentator like Bouie, there’s literally everybody else. 1/

Yeah.

I've periodically been testing LLM tools for legal work.

With the sole exception of Westlaw's ai search and 50 state survey tools, everything I've tested still costs time compared with baseline.

And even the two exceptions save time only because I'm using them in limited ways.