Michael Plaxton

Devlin (1966) “The lamp that shows that freedom lives”

Darbyshire (1991) “The lamp that shows that freedom lives - is it worth the candle?”

Lammy (2025) “someone who is good at the economy please help me budget these candles. my state capacity is dying”

Tweet less; research more.

Another shot of an avocet in a rainbow, @rspb.bsky.social RSPB Titchwell Marsh @rspbtitchwellsnett.bsky.social , Norfolk, Saturday 13th September. With @richard013.bsky.social #UKBirding

Yes.

Violence only begets violence. Enduring change comes from building solutions, transforming minds, and cultivating what is good, in the human heart and in the world.

I've been profoundly depressed seeing so many leftists either joke about or celebrate the murder of someone for political speech. Glad to see this political clarity from @benburgis.bsky.social and Meagan Day in @jacobinmag.bsky.social.

jacobin.com/2025/09/char...

‘Standpoint epistemology’ - mostly an excuse to talk about yourself

A Collection of X posts on Defence of Person in the Context of Home Intruders I've been posting quite a bit on X about the law of defence of person in the context of home intruders.

Fyi, I've gathered together a bunch of recent X posts on defence of person against home intruders on my Substack.

open.substack.com/pub/michaelp...

Opinion | Why the Supreme Court Could Uphold Trump’s Tariffs The president’s powers are at their strongest when it comes to foreign policy and national security.

So I wrote a thing about the tariff case:
www.wsj.com/opinion/why-...

I think there's a huge shift to group schats and other private settings where you don't have to worry about deeply unwell people making your life miserable. To the average young normie, what conceivable incentive is there to post online, publicly, about politics?

And it's funny as Twitter isn't doing great either. Their advertising cpm is now payable in-kind in nutritional supplements and shit coins. Where is everyone? Threads? Signal chats? Sitting in the parlor swirling brandy snifters and playing charades?

The stats suggest Bluesky is dying. I think it is just too plain crazy on here.

I am surprised anti-luminosity about philosophical playerhood is not the default position at DailyNous.

This opinion article by ‪@hmallick.bsky.social‬ is itself misogynist garbage & an insult to all female criminal defence lawyers.
BTW, does she know the judge is female & a former, very experienced criminal defence lawyer? Why did she spare her?

Musings about AI as we head into the fall term.

lagassep.com/2025/07/25/a...

Starting at Harvard College this fall (or know someone who is)?

Want to think through hard moral and political issues?

Look into my first-year seminar on "Abortion in Controversy," Tuesdays, 3-5 pm

stevesachs.com/syllabi/abor...

Richard Fallon, In Memoriam, buff.ly/6WxLugJ - A tribute to the great scholar and dear friend.

Rarely have I known someone so universally beloved by his colleagues, his students, and his community. May his memory be a blessing.

RIP Dick Fallon. A devastating loss professionally and personally.

Product #1 of research leave: new edition of Walkers on Evidence now submitted to the publisher. 600+ pages of all your Scots law evidence needs, such as they may be, coming your way this autumn. www.bloomsburyprofessional.com/uk/walker-an...

Yes.

I'm with Liam on this, although of course the delivery is crucial. Read a text in monotone for one hour=students lost, and rightly so. But if you transform a lecture into theatre and -dare I say- you also leave space for improvisation, you can be relatively sure the content of that class will stick

Absolutely. At its best, a lecture is a form of experiential learning: the student is watching the expert think through a problem in real time. There is no substitute.

It's not helpful for, yknow, having other things to do with your day, but imo you should be tired at the end of a 1 hr lecture and exhausted at the end of a 2 hr one; it's live improv combined with scholarly rigor if done well, and that uses a shitload of energy.

A big part of me sympathizes with the spirit of this piece. But it is also one of the most unintentionally hilarious - because forehead-slappingly oblivious - op-eds in recent memory.

Oh I'm very sorry.

In my experience, it definitely comes from some, maybe even many, teachers (law professors, in my corner of the world), but certainly also from students and admin staff

Got gossip from a managing editor pal of a journal that a few reviewers used ChatGPT to write their assessments for them, and didn't even conceal it. I'll say it again - it won't be the neoliberal administrators that take down the humanities. It'll be humanities professors who've stopped reading.