Katherine Nichols
@klenichols.bsky.social
"I can understand German as well as the maniac that invented it, but I talk it best through an interpreter." - Mark Twain, A Tramp Abroad
Pinned
Katherine Nichols
@klenichols.bsky.social
· Nov 20
Selected decisions
Selected decisions
www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de
New English translations of foundational German constitutional case law just dropped, including Abortion I, Basic Treaty (on relations with the DDR) and new translations of Elfes, Solange I and II and Treaty of Lisbon: www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/EN/Decisions...
Reposted by Katherine Nichols
Congress wrote into the law that someone who overstays a visa while applying for asylum is not considered to be accruing “unlawful presence,” but it didn’t explicitly say those people couldn’t be arrested and detained — because it was presumed that they wouldn’t be. Well, Trump is doing it.
We came to LA as refugees from the USSR in 1991. Life wasn’t easy, but we persevered and, I dare say, came to contribute something of worth to this nation.
Had I experienced the following when I was a boy, I don’t know what would have become of me.
www.latimes.com/california/s...
Had I experienced the following when I was a boy, I don’t know what would have become of me.
www.latimes.com/california/s...
November 23, 2025 at 3:54 AM
Congress wrote into the law that someone who overstays a visa while applying for asylum is not considered to be accruing “unlawful presence,” but it didn’t explicitly say those people couldn’t be arrested and detained — because it was presumed that they wouldn’t be. Well, Trump is doing it.
The washing machine has been making ominous noises for a few days and today gave up completely. Kid1 & I opened it up, flushed the drain hose and (we think) diagnosed the problem as a broken pump. We have decided to take a shot at fixing it, which, if not for the laundry piling up, might be fun.
November 22, 2025 at 8:10 PM
The washing machine has been making ominous noises for a few days and today gave up completely. Kid1 & I opened it up, flushed the drain hose and (we think) diagnosed the problem as a broken pump. We have decided to take a shot at fixing it, which, if not for the laundry piling up, might be fun.
Reposted by Katherine Nichols
Reposted by Katherine Nichols
Massive shoutout out to whoever handles the Royal Canadian Air Force’s social media account. They responded to every single comment on their already very solid Trans Day of Remembrance post and they responded like this…
November 22, 2025 at 1:03 AM
Massive shoutout out to whoever handles the Royal Canadian Air Force’s social media account. They responded to every single comment on their already very solid Trans Day of Remembrance post and they responded like this…
Reposted by Katherine Nichols
My favorite ever letter of recommendation is one Ficino wrote in the late 1500s, recommending a pupil for a secretary job with King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, in which he says the young man is “the reincarnation of Saint Thomas Aquinas.”
It’s letter-of-recommendation season again, when universities ask me to rate a 21 year old student’s ability to “see the big picture of life” while I eat leftover pasta in a Tupperware…
a man with a mustache says but why in yellow letters
ALT: a man with a mustache says but why in yellow letters
media.tenor.com
November 19, 2025 at 7:04 PM
My favorite ever letter of recommendation is one Ficino wrote in the late 1500s, recommending a pupil for a secretary job with King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, in which he says the young man is “the reincarnation of Saint Thomas Aquinas.”
Reposted by Katherine Nichols
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a case where the potential criminal liability incurred by prosecutors in the act of indicting exceeded that alleged in the indictment
NEWS: During a hearing in federal court in VA, prosecutors confirmed that the operative indictment in the case against James Comey was never shown to or voted on by the entire grand jury before it was presented in open court.
Defense counsel argued that’s a complete bar to further prosecution
Defense counsel argued that’s a complete bar to further prosecution
November 19, 2025 at 5:05 PM
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a case where the potential criminal liability incurred by prosecutors in the act of indicting exceeded that alleged in the indictment
I really need to be more careful. The universe heard me wanting to see a hedgehog yesterday and sent 4 wild pigs crashing through the forest on the trail in front of me on my run this morning
Kid2 just told me he saw a hedgehog while biking home. I am extremely jealous, I've never seen a live one!
November 16, 2025 at 10:45 AM
I really need to be more careful. The universe heard me wanting to see a hedgehog yesterday and sent 4 wild pigs crashing through the forest on the trail in front of me on my run this morning
Reposted by Katherine Nichols
today’s wholesome masculinity at the boxing gym: all the guys standing around agreeing that ballerinas are way stronger than anybody gives them credit for and swapping stories about flaming out at barre classes
November 16, 2025 at 3:20 AM
today’s wholesome masculinity at the boxing gym: all the guys standing around agreeing that ballerinas are way stronger than anybody gives them credit for and swapping stories about flaming out at barre classes
🧵
Y’all wanna hear a wild story? Charlie is right — this medley Prince made 30 years ago, blending many of his greatest hits & fan favorites into an extended mashup, is one of the most fun “only Prince could do this” things he made in the 90s. BUT: he told us he was gonna do it. In an AOL chat room…
Unpopular opinion: the Purple Medley is one of the best things Prince ever did.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nJE...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nJE...
November 16, 2025 at 7:02 AM
🧵
Kid2 just told me he saw a hedgehog while biking home. I am extremely jealous, I've never seen a live one!
November 15, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Kid2 just told me he saw a hedgehog while biking home. I am extremely jealous, I've never seen a live one!
Kid3 hit his test for the Bronze swim badge so hard, he ended up with the Bronze and the Silver badge (swimming 20 minutes without a break)!
a man in a number 21 jersey is surrounded by other soccer players
Alt: Ted Lasso does the Running Man with AFC Richmond.
media.tenor.com
November 15, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Kid3 hit his test for the Bronze swim badge so hard, he ended up with the Bronze and the Silver badge (swimming 20 minutes without a break)!
Reposted by Katherine Nichols
Every office has an executive tier whose emails are like:
saw on news , , can we replce complianc dept with web 3
and a worker tier whose emails are like:
Dear Jim,
First of all, I *love* this idea! Unfortunately, I spoke with Legal and identified a few issues with this approach. For starters…
saw on news , , can we replce complianc dept with web 3
and a worker tier whose emails are like:
Dear Jim,
First of all, I *love* this idea! Unfortunately, I spoke with Legal and identified a few issues with this approach. For starters…
Well, it's a little clearer now why billionaires are so invested in technology that produces better written emails.
November 13, 2025 at 12:10 AM
Every office has an executive tier whose emails are like:
saw on news , , can we replce complianc dept with web 3
and a worker tier whose emails are like:
Dear Jim,
First of all, I *love* this idea! Unfortunately, I spoke with Legal and identified a few issues with this approach. For starters…
saw on news , , can we replce complianc dept with web 3
and a worker tier whose emails are like:
Dear Jim,
First of all, I *love* this idea! Unfortunately, I spoke with Legal and identified a few issues with this approach. For starters…
Reposted by Katherine Nichols
every few years it's revealed that the NYT was sitting on information about some horrific thing that public knowledge of would have changed the country's course and for some reason a ton of people still give them money. you can play those games on other sites
November 12, 2025 at 10:41 PM
every few years it's revealed that the NYT was sitting on information about some horrific thing that public knowledge of would have changed the country's course and for some reason a ton of people still give them money. you can play those games on other sites
Reposted by Katherine Nichols
The basic problem of health insurance: if you want sick people to be able to get insurance, then the insurance product ceases to be traditional insurance, bc the insurer cannot price risk. Once you accept that sick people should get insurance, you must accept some variety of a socialized system.
Rick Scott told me his plan would be to take all of the remaining ACA subsidies and redistribute them to HSA accounts and people can then buy whatever insurance a state certifies. Basically a repeal/replace.
He denied when I asked wouldn’t that create two-tiered system where sick pay much more…
He denied when I asked wouldn’t that create two-tiered system where sick pay much more…
November 11, 2025 at 4:22 AM
The basic problem of health insurance: if you want sick people to be able to get insurance, then the insurance product ceases to be traditional insurance, bc the insurer cannot price risk. Once you accept that sick people should get insurance, you must accept some variety of a socialized system.
Reposted by Katherine Nichols
Black American soldiers literally dug these WWII graves. Traumatic. To acknowledge that fact at a cemetery they helped construct is something the Heritage Foundation cannot accept. As Veterans Day approaches, never forget that this country both compels and disrespects Black military service. Always.
1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️
November 9, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Black American soldiers literally dug these WWII graves. Traumatic. To acknowledge that fact at a cemetery they helped construct is something the Heritage Foundation cannot accept. As Veterans Day approaches, never forget that this country both compels and disrespects Black military service. Always.
Reposted by Katherine Nichols
Mamdani is going to implement Sriracha law. Everyone will have to slather hot sauce on their scrambled eggs
Mamdani is going to implement My Sharona law. Everyone will have to create songs with undeniable rock beats.
Mamdani is going to implement Shari Lewis law.
Everyone will be required to stick their fist up a lamb's a
Excuse me, there's someone at the door.
Everyone will be required to stick their fist up a lamb's a
Excuse me, there's someone at the door.
November 9, 2025 at 4:01 AM
Mamdani is going to implement Sriracha law. Everyone will have to slather hot sauce on their scrambled eggs
Reposted by Katherine Nichols
One takeaway from this excellent essay is that we can’t let news organizations get away with “critics say” framing anymore. Either name the critic and clearly explain their critique, or just write the biased oped you’re obviously dying to write.
I havent read such a banger of an essay in a very long time. This is so well-written!
Maybe Don’t Talk to the New York Times About Zohran Mamdani
It’s remarkable, the people you’ll hear from. Teach for even a little while at an expensive institution—the term they tend to prefer is “elite”—and odds are that eventually someone who was a studen…
lithub.com
November 8, 2025 at 6:49 PM
One takeaway from this excellent essay is that we can’t let news organizations get away with “critics say” framing anymore. Either name the critic and clearly explain their critique, or just write the biased oped you’re obviously dying to write.
The HSV kit today reminds me of the USMNT Bomb Pop jerseys, at least from the waist down.
November 8, 2025 at 7:08 PM
The HSV kit today reminds me of the USMNT Bomb Pop jerseys, at least from the waist down.
Reposted by Katherine Nichols
to be clear: the government's claim - validated by the Court - is that it would *irreparably harm* the president to not misgender trans people
NEW: On the shadow docket, the Supreme Court lets Trump resume misgendering trans Americans on their passports, claiming "the government is merely attesting to a historical fact without subjecting anyone to differential treatment." All three liberals dissent. www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
![This case concerns an Executive Branch policy requiring
all new passports to display an individual’s biological sex at
birth. The United States District Court for the District of
Massachusetts preliminarily enjoined the Government
from enforcing the policy, and the First Circuit declined to
stay the injunction pending appeal. The Government then
filed this stay application. Applying our familiar stay fac-
tors at this preliminary stage, we grant the application.
Displaying passport holders’ sex at birth no more offends
equal protection principles than displaying their country of
birth—in both cases, the Government is merely attesting to
a historical fact without subjecting anyone to differential
treatment. And on this record, respondents have failed to
establish that the Government’s choice to display biological
sex “lack[s] any purpose other than a bare . . . desire to
harm a politically unpopular group.” Trump v. Hawaii, 585
U. S. 667, 705 (2018) (internal quotation marks omitted).
Nor are respondents likely to prevail in arguing that the
State Department acted arbitrarily and capriciously by de-
clining to depart from Presidential rules that Congress ex-
pressly required it to follow. See 22 U. S. C. §211a.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:6h7b2i6ttw3l4t7pvbvxdith/bafkreiacrtgoecxjy5y7ojz7xzbun4c4nwutjcvqn4qb4p25ldpt6va5lu@jpeg)
November 6, 2025 at 11:01 PM
to be clear: the government's claim - validated by the Court - is that it would *irreparably harm* the president to not misgender trans people
Reposted by Katherine Nichols
This year has been the best defence of the jury trial system ever
November 6, 2025 at 7:35 PM
This year has been the best defence of the jury trial system ever
Welcome to Franken, where the grocery stores close at 8 😡
November 6, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Welcome to Franken, where the grocery stores close at 8 😡
Reposted by Katherine Nichols
they gave them weapons for lunch???
November 6, 2025 at 5:26 PM
they gave them weapons for lunch???
Reposted by Katherine Nichols
I showed this to my tween and he made a sound only dogs can hear
every day we stray further from God’s light
October 31, 2025 at 8:43 PM
I showed this to my tween and he made a sound only dogs can hear
Some good water news sjvwater.org/return-of-mo...
Return of more than 17,000 acres to Tule River Indian Tribe begins “healing” – SJV Water
Government shutdown slows long running quest by Tule River Indian Tribe for rights to its namesake river The Tule River River Indian Tribe’s 54-year-long
sjvwater.org
November 5, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Some good water news sjvwater.org/return-of-mo...