Matthew Specter

NEWS: Chaos Erupts as Trump and Vance Push Russian Authored "Wishlist" as "American Peace Plan" We have major news this evening, and there is chaos within the State Department.

aaronparnas.substack.com/p/news-chaos...

Strictly Ballroom
The Wedding Hustler
He’s Just Not That Into You

His take is insane

Three things:

1) No longer classifying swastikas, nooses, and the Confederate flag as hate symbols is quite bad, and in line with many other actions from this admin.

2) Congrats to the cancel culture moral panickers.

3) I don't think a good political response to this is to shrug at Nazi tattoos.

222 years ago to the day Haiti gained independence after fighting off the French.

Exactly 222 years on to the day, Haiti won entry into the World Cup.

🇭🇹🇭🇹🇭🇹🇭🇹🇭🇹🇭🇹🇭🇹🇭🇹🇭🇹🇭🇹🇭🇹🇭🇹🇭🇹🇭🇹

“Further, it is neither necessary nor prudent to pause admissions to PhD programs at TNS.”—support @AAUP TNS, rally planned for 11/21

Congratulations, @brian-goldstone.bsky.social! Listen to our episode of The Intercept Briefing with Goldstone on working and homelessness in today’s America: interc.pt/47UfVth

Trump now starring in: “Lord of the Fries”

NEW: Epstein survivors release the most powerful PSA I have ever seen.

Make this go viral so every member of the House of Representatives sees it.

It’s hard to even know where to begin with this. Professor Falk is in his 90s and one of the world’s most prominent international legal scholars. It beggars belief that he could even remotely be considered a threat to Canada.

Tenured barnacles

Russia Pummels Kyiv and Tries to Plunge Ukraine Into Darkness

Russia Pummels Kyiv and Tries to Plunge Ukraine Into Darkness
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/14/w...

everyone interested in the fate of American higher education should read former UVA president Jim Ryan's letter rehearsing the intense pressure placed on him to resign last summer

it offers a precious glimpse not only on DOJ's assault on higher ed, but the readiness of many other stakeholders

1/

WH claims 'inflation tamed,' per DoorDash stats. Company says that's not in its report. It comes the same week we learned the WH would likely not release key economic reports for October.

NEW — I spoke to DoorDash about the White House claiming the company's report shows "inflation has been tamed" and whether that's an interpretation one should make. An economist also weighed in, pointing out dictatorships use data obfuscation as a tool, and right now they're "grasping at straws."

Event – GHI Washington

www.ghi-dc.org/events/event...

This Saturday's Lawyers March for Democracy, spearheaded by @peoplesparity.bsky.social , is a very important moment. Participate if you can!

TODAY! DC peeps, join us. Wondering how we got to a place where the Republican party is currently debating whether to mainstream a Nazi influencer?! Laura’s got answers.
Open to the public with free registration:

The Supreme Court is set to consider a bid to overturn same-sex marriage. I went on CNN to talk about it. The Supreme Court met on Friday to consider hearing a longshot case aimed at upending the right of same-sex couples to marry.

The Supreme Court met on Friday to consider hearing a longshot case aimed at upending the right of same-sex couples to marry. I appeared on CNN News Central to break it all down.

open.substack.com/pub/theoatha...

They’re wearing masks so they can’t be prosecuted later. As long as they think they can’t be prosecuted, their crimes will intensify. They will torture, starve and kill, as they have already, on greater and greater scale.

Signed, someone who’s covered the unaccountable War on Terror for 23 years.

Can’t emphasise enough what an incredibly insightful discussion this is, with lots of points one rarely if ever hears elsewhere.

CONCLUSION For the above reasons, this Court concludes that Plaintiffs have demonstrated that Defendants violated 10 U.S.C. § 12406 and the Tenth Amendment and satisfy the requirements for a permanent injunction. Therefore, this Court PERMANENTLY ENJOINS Defendants24 Pete Hegseth, the U.S. Department of Defense, Kristi Noem, and the U.S. Department of 24 As this Court may lack jurisdiction to enjoin President Trump in the performance of his official duties, see Franklin v. Massachusetts, 505 U.S. 788, 802–03 (1992) (plurality opinion); Mississippi v. Johnson, 71 U.S. (4 Wall.) 475, 501 (1866), this injunction applies only against the other Defendants. PAGE 105 – FINDINGS OF FACT & CONCLUSIONS OF LAW Homeland Security from implementing the following memoranda federalizing and deploying members of the National Guard in Oregon: 1. Defendant Secretary Hegseth’s September 28, 2025 Memorandum federalizing and deploying the Oregon National Guard, Ex. 1051;

Homeland Security from implementing the following memoranda federalizing and deploying members of the National Guard in Oregon: 1. Defendant Secretary Hegseth’s September 28, 2025 Memorandum federalizing and deploying the Oregon National Guard, Ex. 1051; 2. Defendant Secretary Hegseth’s October 5, 2025 Memorandum federalizing and deploying the Texas National Guard, to the extent that it deploys members of the Texas National Guard in Oregon, Ex. 6; 3. Defendant Secretary Hegseth’s October 16, 2025 Memorandum to the extent that it authorizes the deployment of federalized members of the California and Texas National Guards to Oregon, Ex. 2; and 4. any memoranda deploying members of any other State’s National Guard to Oregon based on the same predicate conditions that were relied upon to authorize the above orders. This Court retains jurisdiction pursuant to the All Writs Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1651, to enforce the terms of this permanent injunction against any party.

BREAKING: Judge Immergut issues a permanent injunction against Pete Hegseth and the deployment of the National Guard to Portland.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

FBI Informant Who Lied About the Bidens Covertly Released From Jail Alexander Smirnov pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and was sentenced to six years in jail.

“It’s the corruption, stupid.”

newrepublic.com/post/202897/...

this has been one of my central arguments the past ten years. the theory underpinning the anti-democratic elements of the american constitutional order is wrong!

Good luck —send me a draft?

The irony is that a century ago, the exact same kind of religious bigotry that Cuomo’s embraced down the stretch — we can’t elect someone from that faith or they’ll impose it on all of us! — was aimed squarely at Catholics like Cuomo.

LIVE: Dean Erwin Chemerinsky of @ucberkeleylaw.bsky.social on the “unprecedented” threat to American democracy.

The Iowa PTA edginess I crave

Fill Our Pantries: Nourish Student Success Help University of California, Irvine raise $15,000 for the project: Fill Our Pantries: Nourish Student Success. Your gift will make a difference!

Nearly half of UC undergraduates and graduate students experience food insecurity. Those numbers will increase with the federal government's refusal to fund SNAP (CalFresh). If you can afford it, please consider contributing to the UCI Basic Needs Center, which feeds many of our students.

Pleased to be presenting here in Berlin—program here: transatlantic-reason.info