finally in deep archival mode again after far far too long away
and lord, the more I read by Hamilton the executive officer with Washington's ear, the more bizarre it seems that he's been transmogrified into a prophet of the royal residuum.
@earlymodjustice.bsky.social
Historian http://earlymodernjustice.org/ Sample articles: https://earlymodernjustice.org/publications/ https://earlymodernjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/SlaverySovereigntyInheritableBlood.pdf Opinions my own
finally in deep archival mode again after far far too long away
and lord, the more I read by Hamilton the executive officer with Washington's ear, the more bizarre it seems that he's been transmogrified into a prophet of the royal residuum.
Iraq plunged into nationwide blackout as US tells citizens to leave immediately
www.turkiyetoday.com/region/iraq-...
Hegseth seeming to claim that here too. Scary & wrong
05.03.2026 03:28 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0I was a kid, but a friendβs uncle knew people in Hollywood and got free tickets.
05.03.2026 03:09 β π 3 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
I love everything about this! The conviction that a major figure was not struck by a bolt of lightning but worked to understand the system he would ultimately critique and help dismantle. The scholarly sleuthing rare books β all of it. ππ€
www.science.org/content/arti...
I saw Star Wars on opening night at Graumanβs Chinese Theater in Los Angeles (May 25 1977)
05.03.2026 03:05 β π 20 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0ββNobody gets to hide and give the president an easy pass or an end-run around the Constitution,β Sen. Tim Kaine, the chief architect of the war powers effort in Congress, said the day before the vote.β
05.03.2026 02:55 β π 6 π 3 π¬ 0 π 0Pearls before swine and all of that.
05.03.2026 02:49 β π 57 π 5 π¬ 2 π 1π₯
05.03.2026 02:44 β π 11 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
[TW: graphic fracture, sound of breaking bone]
Sen Tim Sheehy (R-Montana) badly breaking the arm of a Marine veteran protesting the war Iran.
AOC: We already have multiple American service members who are dead for an illegal action that the president has pursued with no plan out. They donβt know why they got into this war. Theyβre talking about a hundred different reasons, and they donβt know how theyβre getting out.
04.03.2026 23:36 β π 12420 π 3526 π¬ 310 π 123
The βauthoritiesβ part is key.
Who authorizes this βdeath and destructionβ and on what grounds?
Reminded of William Blackstoneβs admonition to judges: βTo shed the blood of our fellow creature is a matter that requires the greatest deliberation, and the fullest conviction of our own authority. β¦,β
He continues:βThe guilt of blood, if any, must lie at their doors, who misinterpret the extent of their warrant; and not at the doors of the subject, who is bound to receive the interpretations, that are given by the sovereign power.β Blackstone 4:11
04.03.2026 14:17 β π 6 π 2 π¬ 1 π 0The fact that POTUS and his βsecretary of warβ are acting without legislative imprimatur makes it all the more clear that they are taking the role of judges in their own hands.
04.03.2026 14:43 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Vol 4, page 11, from Blackstoneβs section on crime and punishment.
His point is: who are we as judges, and on what authority do we act to take peoplesβ lives without strong evidence it is justified? Hegseth and POTUS have acted as judges without such evidence, and only assert their authority.
One of my favorite overall books about Blackstoneβs Commentaries on the Laws of England:
04.03.2026 14:31 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0Blackstoneβs synthesis of the common law was debated in his own time. But I think volume 4 is his most important. In it he was the most thoughtful in his critique of Englandβs laws, especially their βbloody codeβ which prescribed the death penalty for so many crimes (160), even minor ones.
04.03.2026 14:25 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0He continues:βThe guilt of blood, if any, must lie at their doors, who misinterpret the extent of their warrant; and not at the doors of the subject, who is bound to receive the interpretations, that are given by the sovereign power.β Blackstone 4:11
04.03.2026 14:17 β π 6 π 2 π¬ 1 π 0
Vol 4, page 11, from Blackstoneβs section on crime and punishment.
His point is: who are we as judges, and on what authority do we act to take peoplesβ lives without strong evidence it is justified? Hegseth and POTUS have acted as judges without such evidence, and only assert their authority.
ββ¦for life is the immediate gift of God to man; which neither he can resign, nor can it be taken from him, unless by the command or permission of him who gave it; either expressly revealed, or collected from the laws of nature or society by clear and indisputable demonstration.β Commentaries, (1769)
04.03.2026 13:56 β π 6 π 3 π¬ 3 π 0
The βauthoritiesβ part is key.
Who authorizes this βdeath and destructionβ and on what grounds?
Reminded of William Blackstoneβs admonition to judges: βTo shed the blood of our fellow creature is a matter that requires the greatest deliberation, and the fullest conviction of our own authority. β¦,β
Crockett concedes: βThis morning I called James and congratulated him on becoming the Senate nominee. Texas is primed to turn blue and we must remain united because this is bigger than any one person.β
(Statement via NBCβs Priscilla Thompson)
So interesting.
This might not hold. But it appears that one of the most powerful Republicans in NC politics lost his primary β by two votes β
The U.S. Supreme Court has chosen not to hear a case regarding the copyright eligibility of art created by artificial intelligence. This decision leaves uncertainty around IP rights for AI-generated works.
sources
Also on the daily podcast: Student loans in Britain and a line dancing revival
04.03.2026 12:31 β π 6 π 3 π¬ 0 π 1The point of reading and writing about literature is precisely the act of thinking: slowly, attentively, and in conversation with the text. The shaping of ideas remain human responsibilities. That work cannot be outsourced. Itβs the core of literary practice.Journals exist to foster that process.
04.03.2026 05:34 β π 26 π 8 π¬ 0 π 0pile of circle stickers that say "Everything is better with footnotes." With a footnote callout to me.
Reordered these. Bc the world.
04.03.2026 10:52 β π 142 π 13 π¬ 7 π 3
Political scientist Jeanne Zaino calls it democracy's "day two problem": revolutions are exciting. Building and sustaining self-governance is the hard part.
250 years after Common Sense, we're still working on day two
π§ benfranklinsworld.com/435
#Revolution250 #America250 #History #Democracy
on this day in 1933 "the US Senate confirms Frances Perkins as Secretary of Labor and she is sworn in the same day, making her the first female member of the United States Cabinet."
04.03.2026 10:59 β π 371 π 93 π¬ 12 π 9Does anyone actually know why weβ¦ya knowβ¦started a WAR IN IRAN?!
03.03.2026 21:41 β π 759 π 252 π¬ 37 π 44