Res ipsa locutus of borg
@masbackward.bsky.social
Civil rights lawyer working in the south. Opinions are product of my genes, environment, and culture.
Very funny to see folks celebrate an investigation that must have been initiated and mostly concluded in the Adams administration as an accomplishment of our brave now socialist leader.
Kudos to Mayor Mamdani.
This is what economic justice looks like.
And it's a reminder of how we can fight corporate greed at the state and local level. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/01/mamdani-ice-delivery-workers-settlement-backpay-uber-gig-workers-million/
This is what economic justice looks like.
And it's a reminder of how we can fight corporate greed at the state and local level. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/01/mamdani-ice-delivery-workers-settlement-backpay-uber-gig-workers-million/
February 3, 2026 at 4:24 AM
Very funny to see folks celebrate an investigation that must have been initiated and mostly concluded in the Adams administration as an accomplishment of our brave now socialist leader.
Everyone freaking out about seems to be missing the part where ... they just have dinners. Still bad to be in a all-white-men secret society! But the illuminati this is not. Also not a secret particularly: gothamist.com/food/inside-...
February 2, 2026 at 11:29 PM
Everyone freaking out about seems to be missing the part where ... they just have dinners. Still bad to be in a all-white-men secret society! But the illuminati this is not. Also not a secret particularly: gothamist.com/food/inside-...
Reposted by Res ipsa locutus of borg
Trump’s witch hunt for 2020 election fraud in Georgia is going as one would expect
February 2, 2026 at 5:58 PM
Trump’s witch hunt for 2020 election fraud in Georgia is going as one would expect
Reposted by Res ipsa locutus of borg
Can people please stop posting random unsupported claims made to law enforcement found in the Epstein docs as if they're proof of anything? The only thing they're proof of is that law enforcement gets a ton of nonsense complaints, especially about high profile people.
February 2, 2026 at 5:59 PM
Can people please stop posting random unsupported claims made to law enforcement found in the Epstein docs as if they're proof of anything? The only thing they're proof of is that law enforcement gets a ton of nonsense complaints, especially about high profile people.
Reposted by Res ipsa locutus of borg
If you are willing to let the government frighten and cow you by the threat of removing your TSA PreCheck privileges and making you stand in the metal detector line with the plebes, you *do not have what it takes* to engage in any sort of resistance and should not give advice to anyone who might
January 30, 2026 at 7:29 PM
If you are willing to let the government frighten and cow you by the threat of removing your TSA PreCheck privileges and making you stand in the metal detector line with the plebes, you *do not have what it takes* to engage in any sort of resistance and should not give advice to anyone who might
Reposted by Res ipsa locutus of borg
Every ICE/CBP clown wasting his time arresting, harrassing, or manhandling Joe Citizen is time he isnt spending kidnapping an immigrant. Every drone in the office wasting hours putting every twin cities resident in a revenge database is not spending that time locating immigrants to kidnap.
January 30, 2026 at 7:23 PM
Every ICE/CBP clown wasting his time arresting, harrassing, or manhandling Joe Citizen is time he isnt spending kidnapping an immigrant. Every drone in the office wasting hours putting every twin cities resident in a revenge database is not spending that time locating immigrants to kidnap.
More terrible over-the-top satire from the writers of America: the series.
A different kind of April fools
*SUPREME COURT SETS BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP ARGUMENTS FOR APRIL 1
*SUPREME COURT SETS BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP ARGUMENTS FOR APRIL 1
January 30, 2026 at 7:26 PM
More terrible over-the-top satire from the writers of America: the series.
Reposted by Res ipsa locutus of borg
Let me reiterate: THEY DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH GUYS TO PERSECUTE LARGE NUMBERS OF DISSENTERS. What they are doing, instead, is using fear and paranoia as a force multiplier: they don’t have to persecute us if we keep ourselves home because someone told us we can’t walk in public without being terrified.
January 30, 2026 at 4:35 PM
Let me reiterate: THEY DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH GUYS TO PERSECUTE LARGE NUMBERS OF DISSENTERS. What they are doing, instead, is using fear and paranoia as a force multiplier: they don’t have to persecute us if we keep ourselves home because someone told us we can’t walk in public without being terrified.
Reposted by Res ipsa locutus of borg
the practical effect of arresting lemon et al is to spark widespread condemnation, especially since these arrests will certainly be thrown out. this doesn't mean the action isn't a dangerous escalation, it does mean the white house doesn't know what to do but spam its only attack
January 30, 2026 at 4:40 PM
the practical effect of arresting lemon et al is to spark widespread condemnation, especially since these arrests will certainly be thrown out. this doesn't mean the action isn't a dangerous escalation, it does mean the white house doesn't know what to do but spam its only attack
Reposted by Res ipsa locutus of borg
Just another constitutional crisis flashing by like a fucking cow beside the highway
President Trump has filed a lawsuit against the IRS, in which he demands that the IRS, which he as president controls, pay him $10 billion.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
January 30, 2026 at 3:33 AM
Just another constitutional crisis flashing by like a fucking cow beside the highway
Reposted by Res ipsa locutus of borg
Did @matt-levine.bsky.social go on vacation or something?
omg
*SPACEX IN MERGER TALKS WITH XAI AHEAD OF PLANNED IPO: REUTERS
*SHARES OF XAI WOULD BE EXCHANGED FOR SHARES IN SPACEX: REUTERS
*TWO ENTITIES SET UP IN NEVADA TO FACILITATE TRANSACTION: RTRS
*SPACEX IN MERGER TALKS WITH XAI AHEAD OF PLANNED IPO: REUTERS
*SHARES OF XAI WOULD BE EXCHANGED FOR SHARES IN SPACEX: REUTERS
*TWO ENTITIES SET UP IN NEVADA TO FACILITATE TRANSACTION: RTRS
Exclusive: Musk's SpaceX in merger talks with xAI ahead of planned IPO, source says
Elon Musk's SpaceX and xAI are in discussions to merge ahead of a blockbuster public offering planned for later this year. The combination would bring Musk’s rockets, Starlink satellites, the X social...
www.reuters.com
January 29, 2026 at 7:04 PM
Did @matt-levine.bsky.social go on vacation or something?
Reposted by Res ipsa locutus of borg
I spoke to a woman at the protest in minneapolis and she explained she wanted to be there in part because "i was a kid when george floyd got killed" and i nearly dropped my recorder
January 28, 2026 at 10:00 PM
I spoke to a woman at the protest in minneapolis and she explained she wanted to be there in part because "i was a kid when george floyd got killed" and i nearly dropped my recorder
When I was in law school he gave a lunch talk on Roman law which he began by saying "I know nothing about Roman law." He then spent 30 minutes describing what he imagined it would have said.
NYU Law Prof. Richard Epstein has submitted his amicus brief to the United States Supreme Court on birthright citizenship. He has no expertise in this area and has never done, as far as I know, any substantial work on the history of the common law dating back to early modern and pre-modern England.
January 27, 2026 at 7:39 PM
When I was in law school he gave a lunch talk on Roman law which he began by saying "I know nothing about Roman law." He then spent 30 minutes describing what he imagined it would have said.
Reposted by Res ipsa locutus of borg
To put it another way: Courageous jurists on the lower courts have held back Trump from inflicting even more damage on civil rights and liberties. This timeline sucks, but the one in which the judiciary doesn't even try to push back is FAR worse. We insult these judges when we dismiss their impact.
I’m done with this shit. This isn’t a game. And if you don’t realize that the work of Judges Xinis and Boasberg and Ellis has been an essential part of forcing this administration to account for its actions, you’re not a serious person.
January 27, 2026 at 2:49 PM
To put it another way: Courageous jurists on the lower courts have held back Trump from inflicting even more damage on civil rights and liberties. This timeline sucks, but the one in which the judiciary doesn't even try to push back is FAR worse. We insult these judges when we dismiss their impact.
Reposted by Res ipsa locutus of borg
Not how non-violence works. People went onto that bridge in Selma expecting to get seriously hurt; the spectacle of police brutalizing innocent people for doing nothing wrong was supposed to reach and radicalize the public. As it is doing now, in fact.
Non violence works when the aggressor respects the rule of law. America's laws seem to disappear when one party is power
January 25, 2026 at 5:15 PM
Not how non-violence works. People went onto that bridge in Selma expecting to get seriously hurt; the spectacle of police brutalizing innocent people for doing nothing wrong was supposed to reach and radicalize the public. As it is doing now, in fact.
Reposted by Res ipsa locutus of borg
The TACO cycle:
Markets want to price in TACO. But TACO only works if Trump sees stocks tank.
So we get a loop: Trump does things → nothing happens (markets already priced in TACO) → that emboldens him to do more → until markets start to think he might not TACO → stocks fall → TACO is restored.
Markets want to price in TACO. But TACO only works if Trump sees stocks tank.
So we get a loop: Trump does things → nothing happens (markets already priced in TACO) → that emboldens him to do more → until markets start to think he might not TACO → stocks fall → TACO is restored.
January 21, 2026 at 7:48 PM
The TACO cycle:
Markets want to price in TACO. But TACO only works if Trump sees stocks tank.
So we get a loop: Trump does things → nothing happens (markets already priced in TACO) → that emboldens him to do more → until markets start to think he might not TACO → stocks fall → TACO is restored.
Markets want to price in TACO. But TACO only works if Trump sees stocks tank.
So we get a loop: Trump does things → nothing happens (markets already priced in TACO) → that emboldens him to do more → until markets start to think he might not TACO → stocks fall → TACO is restored.
Cheers is fine but the idea that it was some kind of high point in elite culture is deeply funny to me.
"If you watch an episode of Cheers, you might hear references to foreign filmmakers, to classical musicians, to Russian novelists. The level of assumed knowledge back then was far greater; now, TV is rarely adventurous in its allusions."
TV brain rot: The real reason television shows are getting stupider www.the-independent.com/arts-enterta...
January 21, 2026 at 4:03 AM
Cheers is fine but the idea that it was some kind of high point in elite culture is deeply funny to me.
Reposted by Res ipsa locutus of borg
there is a very coherent explanation for this, which is that it is usually very hard to prove that someone is knowingly spreading a falsehood—or lying—and that reporting standards prevent outlets from saying things they can't prove to be true
I've still never heard an actual person in real life use the word "falsehoods" and I've yet to hear a coherent explanation for why the media refuses to use the word "lies."
January 20, 2026 at 6:20 PM
there is a very coherent explanation for this, which is that it is usually very hard to prove that someone is knowingly spreading a falsehood—or lying—and that reporting standards prevent outlets from saying things they can't prove to be true
Reposted by Res ipsa locutus of borg
I think that worrying about Trump’s absurdly incompetent DOJ investigating Walz and Frey is largely doing the propaganda work that they want it to. It sucks ass and it’s not normal or whatever, but keep your head on straight until something actually happens with it.
January 17, 2026 at 12:37 AM
I think that worrying about Trump’s absurdly incompetent DOJ investigating Walz and Frey is largely doing the propaganda work that they want it to. It sucks ass and it’s not normal or whatever, but keep your head on straight until something actually happens with it.
Reposted by Res ipsa locutus of borg
carvahlo told them that UTAX did not have their nose, and that they'd known this. but that wasn't what any of them had believed
It's nice to get confirmation that these people are as clueless as we view them to be.
Also love the post-script about Bari just peacing out because, I would assume, the true nature of the project became too obvious for her to be involved and maintain her fake neutrality.
Also love the post-script about Bari just peacing out because, I would assume, the true nature of the project became too obvious for her to be involved and maintain her fake neutrality.
January 16, 2026 at 10:24 PM
carvahlo told them that UTAX did not have their nose, and that they'd known this. but that wasn't what any of them had believed
In which a bunch of useful idiots discover that the right wing billionaires funding their university do not, in fact, care about free speech: www.politico.com/news/magazin...
They Wanted a University Without Cancel Culture. Then Dissenters Were Ousted.
Inside the civil war at the anti-woke university backed by Bari Weiss.
www.politico.com
January 16, 2026 at 7:31 PM
In which a bunch of useful idiots discover that the right wing billionaires funding their university do not, in fact, care about free speech: www.politico.com/news/magazin...
Reposted by Res ipsa locutus of borg
I think there's several conversations about Newsom right now worth untangling.
1) Is he the likely nominee? (he's currently the most likely individual, but unlikely vs the field tho)
2) Whether you should support him in primaries (no)
3) What pre-commitments you should make if he wins nomination
1) Is he the likely nominee? (he's currently the most likely individual, but unlikely vs the field tho)
2) Whether you should support him in primaries (no)
3) What pre-commitments you should make if he wins nomination
January 16, 2026 at 5:13 PM
I think there's several conversations about Newsom right now worth untangling.
1) Is he the likely nominee? (he's currently the most likely individual, but unlikely vs the field tho)
2) Whether you should support him in primaries (no)
3) What pre-commitments you should make if he wins nomination
1) Is he the likely nominee? (he's currently the most likely individual, but unlikely vs the field tho)
2) Whether you should support him in primaries (no)
3) What pre-commitments you should make if he wins nomination
Reposted by Res ipsa locutus of borg
Would they have the votes to convict in the Senate normally? Of course not.
But if you have 51 senators, say, 48 Dems and 3 Republicans and you have that vote, you convict 48 to 3 and that's that - new president.
Refusing to seat a new Dem congress just creates a Dem supermajority congress.
But if you have 51 senators, say, 48 Dems and 3 Republicans and you have that vote, you convict 48 to 3 and that's that - new president.
Refusing to seat a new Dem congress just creates a Dem supermajority congress.
January 15, 2026 at 7:51 PM
Would they have the votes to convict in the Senate normally? Of course not.
But if you have 51 senators, say, 48 Dems and 3 Republicans and you have that vote, you convict 48 to 3 and that's that - new president.
Refusing to seat a new Dem congress just creates a Dem supermajority congress.
But if you have 51 senators, say, 48 Dems and 3 Republicans and you have that vote, you convict 48 to 3 and that's that - new president.
Refusing to seat a new Dem congress just creates a Dem supermajority congress.
Reposted by Res ipsa locutus of borg
now, of course, when you point out the practical obstacles to "canceling the elections" people move the goal posts to "voter suppression and various shenanigans." yeah, those things exist and they always have. but the other thing is that those things work *at the margins*
January 15, 2026 at 4:50 PM
now, of course, when you point out the practical obstacles to "canceling the elections" people move the goal posts to "voter suppression and various shenanigans." yeah, those things exist and they always have. but the other thing is that those things work *at the margins*