Josh Block

Headline from Harvard Crimson: "Harvard President Garber Tells Faculty He Is Not Considering a $500 Million Deal With Trump."

Text of story: Harvard prez Garber says report of a deal "was apparently leaked to the press by White House officials." NYT ran with it as a story.

Important details from this story:

1) Yet another news-break by student journalists (this time @theharvardcrimson.bsky.social) www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

2) Harvard saying "see you in court," not "let's make a deal."

3) Per Garber, WH/MAGA leaked news of a "deal." NYT then ran with it.

Claiming Dems haven’t supported a national gerrymandering ban is false.

House Dems passed it in 2021 & 48/50 Senate Dems voted to curb the filibuster to pass it. Only Sinema & Manchin dissented.

SCOTUS also split along party lines in 2019 when the GOP justices said federal courts can’t overturn it

Trans darts player vows not to let new anti-trans ban ruin her love of the sport - LGBTQ Nation The new policy effectively sidelines trans darts star Noa-Lynn van Leuven from World Darts Federation's women's events.

www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/07/tran...

So weird, a dozen years ago John Roberts told us we still had Section 2 when he invalidated Section 5…

NEW: A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to unfreeze federal funds.

Then the harassment began.

Pizzas sent to his home in the name of Judge Esther Salas’s murdered son, Daniel.

Six credible threats to his life.

More than 400 “vile” calls to his chambers—including this voicemail:

Trump Administration Scraps Effort to Pause Health-Research Funding The administration halted and then restarted billions in new research grants flowing from the National Institutes of Health.

Russell Vought wanted to shut down all extramural grants from NIH in this current fiscal year, putting stop to ALL research across the US. Someone in the White House had better sense. But Vought is a dangerous man, who will stop at nothing to destroy science in America. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

The CBN Orphan Black reboot is the worst.

👍 www.thefp.com/p/amy-coney-...

Gaza is starving. Where are the American Jewish leaders? A fear of being labelled antisemitic still deters American Jews and Jewish institutions from taking a position that is morally correct.

The mass starvation & killing of Palestinians in Gaza at the hands of the Israeli gov’t is a chillul hashem, a desecration of God.

Jewish leaders who criticized Zohran Mamdani for three words he doesn’t use should raise their voices loudly here as well.
forward.com/opinion/7575...

Ms. Sherald said that Mr. Bunch on Monday had proposed replacing the painting with a video of people reacting to the painting and discussing transgender issues, an idea she rejected because she said it would have included anti-trans views. "When I understood a video would replace the painting, I decided to cancel, she said. "The video would have opened up for debate the value of trans visibility and I was opposed to that being a part of the 'American Sublime' narrative."

The idea that a museum displaying a portrait of a trans woman necessitates the inclusion of a video of people talking about why they don’t like trans people is such utter horseshit these people should be ashamed www.nytimes.com/2025/07/24/a...

So…not antisemitism.

“Superintendent Wilmer Chavarria, a U.S. citizen, was questioned for hours at a Houston airport as he returned from a visit to Nicaragua with his husband.”

Hospitals Are Limiting Gender Treatment for Trans Minors, Even in Blue States

23 Jul 25 -- NYTimes, a leader in fueling the backlash against pediatric care, posts article about how the Trump-led backlash against pediatric care is affecting even blue state hospitals. @rikiwilchins.bsky.social

omg

"biological pronouns"

The firing of Maurene Comey looked bad from the start and is looking worse by the day.

Federal judge in Oregon: Homeland Security ‘tricked’ asylum seeker before arrest at immigration court U.S. District Judge Amy Baggio ordered immediate release of a 24-year-old transgender woman from ICE detention, finding her arrest unlawful.

Strong implication here is that the immigration judge actively colluded with ICE to trick this transgender woman into dismissing her meritorious asylum claim so she could be arrested.
www.oregonlive.com/pacific-nort...

Tennessee woman denied prenatal care for being unmarried - Nashville Banner Denial of prenatal care to unmarried women in Tennessee raises concerns over the state's Medical Ethics Defense Act.

"Last Thursday, at a town hall in Jonesborough, Tennessee, a 35-year-old woman shared her story: she was denied prenatal care by her physician because they objected to the fact that she wasn’t married, nor did she plan to be."

nashvillebanner.com/2025/07/20/d...

Don’t threaten me with a good time.

ICE is Excluding Data on Transgender People in Detention Illustration by Bea Hayward. On the first day of his presidency, Donald Trump signed an executive order requiring that people in federal custody…

15 Jul 25 -- Following Trump E/O that only birth sex exists, ICE has quietly stopped reporting Congressionally-mandated numbers on trans people are detained in its facilities, making it harder for advocates to track and protect them. @rikiwilchins.bsky.social ts.

I knew it was a mistake to give them that palantir.

among everything else here they're basically saying you can't have any biomedical scientist reviewers who've ever spoken critically of Trump policies. probably challenging before january. since? good luck.

Lol WaPo "robust debate within the twin pillars [of economic freedom and personal liberty]... [and] communicate with optimism about this country in particular and the future in general."

So you are welcome to debate... if economic freedom and personal liberty are GREAT or REALLY GREAT?

This Onion story continues to be spot on theonion.com/happy-monday...

Step one: We are staying an injunction against an EO requiring the dismantling of agencies because the EO says dismantling must be “consistent with law,” but don’t worry you can still sue the agencies doing any illegal dismantling.

Step two: Ha ha lolz look at your face! We are staying that too.

=Menu LAWFARE Two weeks after this exchange, in an episode that does not appear in Reuveni's account, Ensign again appeared before Judge Boasberg and was asked specifically a put what he knew during this period of the adjournment. Boasberg asked him: "So what I want to know here, as an officer of the court, you are telling me that you had no knowledge whatsoever between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. on that day that planes were in the air or shortly would be in the air? You had no knowledge whatsoever of that?" In response, Ensign doubled down: "Your Honor, I had no knowledge from my client that that was the case. I had knowledge from plaintiffs' submissions to the Court that that might have been occurring. I can also assure you, as an officer of the Court, I diligently tried to obtain that information but was not able to do so." But this, at least if you believe Reuveni's account, was not true either: If it wasn't true-as Reuveni alleges-when Ensign told Judge Boasberg on March 15 that "that he did not know whether AEA removals would take place 'in the next 24 or 48 hours," then it also wasn't true when Ensign told Boasberg on April 3 "as an officer of the court" that he had no knowledge between 5:00 pm and 6:00 pm of that day of any imminent flights. In other words, if the administration-not to mention the individuals Reuveni criticizes-has not cleared things up, has not taken factual issue with Reuveni's claims, and has not explained good faith mistakes, it's not for lack of opportunities to do any of these things. Rather, it has passed

DOJ whistleblower Erez Reuveni says Drew Ensign made a false statement to Judge Boasberg during a hearing on Alien Enemies Act removals.

If Reuveni’s right, it wasn’t the only time Ensign misled the court.

Ben Wittes explains:

www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-...

The US military’s long history with drag During World War II, cross dress events were not only sanctioned by the Army, but celebrated as a boon for morale.

This is beyond stupid. Drag shows and the military go waaaaay back.

www.militarytimes.com/off-duty/mil...

Pentagon Withdraws Admiral's Nomination to Lead Pacific Fleet Amid Renewed Attention on Drag Shows The Pentagon has confirmed reports it has pulled Navy Rear Adm. Michael Donnelly from promotion and a new job overseeing the Navy's Pacific fleet after a conservative news outlet again highlighted his...

Admirals nomination to command pacific fleet pulled over drag shows www.military.com/daily-news/2...

The Supreme Court owns this.

Department's Antitrust Division. "This Antitrust Division will always defend the principle that the antitrust laws protect free markets, including the marketplace of ideas."

Department of Justice declares it has a new sweeping power to use antitrust laws to regulate the *marketplace of ideas* because words have no meaning and the federal government is run by a bunch of feckless thugs with the collective IQ of hamster bedding.

www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justi...