Steve Zorn
@cvfpartnerships.bsky.social
Author, “Tracking the Franklin Expedition of 1845;” ex-union organizer, journalist, Papua New Guinea and UN gov’t official, lawyer and law prof, horse racing insider. Currently writing about Drogheda/Cromwell’s Irish campaign 1649-50. 🇵🇸🇵🇬🇮🇪🍉🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️🇺🇦🇨🇦🇲🇽
Reposted by Steve Zorn
Gently ... composition as a course teaches us how to package ideas to an audience for understanding.
The skill being taught is thinking
The skill being taught is thinking
If you are providing me with an education that is low utility in the world then it’s a disservice. My composition class spent four weeks on poetry. I’m sorry, but that only would’ve been useful if I wanted to be a poet. I don’t need to know iambic pentameter in order to be a victim advocate.
December 9, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Gently ... composition as a course teaches us how to package ideas to an audience for understanding.
The skill being taught is thinking
The skill being taught is thinking
Reposted by Steve Zorn
Reposted by Steve Zorn
Here's an easy, less-than-bare-minimum thing every synagogue in the United States should be willing to do.
"We pledge not to invite, host, or raise money for any member of the Israeli government so long as Netanyahu remains prime minister or illegal settlements persist."
And then stick to it.
"We pledge not to invite, host, or raise money for any member of the Israeli government so long as Netanyahu remains prime minister or illegal settlements persist."
And then stick to it.
December 9, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Here's an easy, less-than-bare-minimum thing every synagogue in the United States should be willing to do.
"We pledge not to invite, host, or raise money for any member of the Israeli government so long as Netanyahu remains prime minister or illegal settlements persist."
And then stick to it.
"We pledge not to invite, host, or raise money for any member of the Israeli government so long as Netanyahu remains prime minister or illegal settlements persist."
And then stick to it.
Reposted by Steve Zorn
The problem is that if you have corrupt people sitting on the Supreme Court, they’re not going to view corrupt things that people do as being corrupt.
December 9, 2025 at 2:26 PM
The problem is that if you have corrupt people sitting on the Supreme Court, they’re not going to view corrupt things that people do as being corrupt.
Reposted by Steve Zorn
In Jakarta, the Ford Foundation called on the government to expand its engagement with Indigenous communities as Indonesia moves forward with its pledge to recognize 1.4 million hectares of customary forests by 2029 www.thejakartapost.com/indonesia/20...
December 9, 2025 at 1:24 AM
In Jakarta, the Ford Foundation called on the government to expand its engagement with Indigenous communities as Indonesia moves forward with its pledge to recognize 1.4 million hectares of customary forests by 2029 www.thejakartapost.com/indonesia/20...
Reposted by Steve Zorn
What I always hear: “We can’t afford to pay our workers more than $15 an hour.”
What I never hear: “We can’t afford to pay our CEO millions of dollars a year.”
Funny how that works.
What I never hear: “We can’t afford to pay our CEO millions of dollars a year.”
Funny how that works.
December 7, 2025 at 10:01 PM
What I always hear: “We can’t afford to pay our workers more than $15 an hour.”
What I never hear: “We can’t afford to pay our CEO millions of dollars a year.”
Funny how that works.
What I never hear: “We can’t afford to pay our CEO millions of dollars a year.”
Funny how that works.
Reposted by Steve Zorn
this gets to the fundamental lawlessness. the difference between law as a game and law as a tool of government.
birthright citizenship is the law. nothing has changed. the documents are the same. if that can change based on *nothing*, you don't have a real constitution in the first place.
birthright citizenship is the law. nothing has changed. the documents are the same. if that can change based on *nothing*, you don't have a real constitution in the first place.
also, let’s say wurman is right. well, we have had nearly 160 years of unlimited birthright citizenship that has been affirmed again and again by generations of Americans. whatever the original intent, that is what the birthright clause *means*.
December 7, 2025 at 7:40 PM
this gets to the fundamental lawlessness. the difference between law as a game and law as a tool of government.
birthright citizenship is the law. nothing has changed. the documents are the same. if that can change based on *nothing*, you don't have a real constitution in the first place.
birthright citizenship is the law. nothing has changed. the documents are the same. if that can change based on *nothing*, you don't have a real constitution in the first place.
Reposted by Steve Zorn
This is a really good piece!
(though I am once again begging people to move off Substack)
(though I am once again begging people to move off Substack)
Study after study shows campaign ads barely move the needle. So where does money’s real power come from? I ranked the five ways money corrupts politics—from least to most corrosive. What I’ve learned from 15 years of tracking political money:
Money Doesn't Buy Elections. It Does Something Worse.
Campaign ads barely move the needle. The real influence is hiding in plain sight.
open.substack.com
December 7, 2025 at 2:07 AM
This is a really good piece!
(though I am once again begging people to move off Substack)
(though I am once again begging people to move off Substack)
Reposted by Steve Zorn
West Papua is just 200 miles from Australia, yet the Albanese government keeps pretending the West Papuan fight against injustice, discrimination, and basic human rights doesn’t exist. #AusPol #WestPapua
West Papuan Flag Day Observed, Marking 1961 Flag-Raising - The Flag Chronicle
Supporters of West Papuan self-determination marked West Papuan National Flag Day on December 1st.
flagchronicle.com
December 6, 2025 at 11:47 PM
West Papua is just 200 miles from Australia, yet the Albanese government keeps pretending the West Papuan fight against injustice, discrimination, and basic human rights doesn’t exist. #AusPol #WestPapua
Reposted by Steve Zorn
To be clear, most of the buildings we stop at in both of these ⬇️ tours have relatively inspirational stories 😅😅
Another great Full Story Baltimore tour in the books! Some unpleasant temperatures cannot stop us from getting answers to questions like What Even *Is* That Building? and How Problematic Or Inspirational Were Its Prior Inhabitants?
Final outdoor walking tours of the year (probably):
Sat., Dec. 6, 2pm: Black Reconstruction in Lower Chas. Village
Sun., Dec. 7, 2pm: Black Reconstruction
Weds., Dec. 10, 6pm: Frederick Douglass' Fell's Point
Sun., Dec. 14, 2pm: Black Reconstruction
fullstorybaltimore.tours/our-tours/
Sat., Dec. 6, 2pm: Black Reconstruction in Lower Chas. Village
Sun., Dec. 7, 2pm: Black Reconstruction
Weds., Dec. 10, 6pm: Frederick Douglass' Fell's Point
Sun., Dec. 14, 2pm: Black Reconstruction
fullstorybaltimore.tours/our-tours/
December 7, 2025 at 12:31 AM
To be clear, most of the buildings we stop at in both of these ⬇️ tours have relatively inspirational stories 😅😅
Reposted by Steve Zorn
Reposted by Steve Zorn
Hi other tech folks! Does anyone have recommendations for trans-friendly recruiters on the West Coast?
I’m a lead product manager with around a decade of experience. Looking to shift back to a salaried position after consulting the last couple years.
Reposts appreciated, thanks!
I’m a lead product manager with around a decade of experience. Looking to shift back to a salaried position after consulting the last couple years.
Reposts appreciated, thanks!
December 4, 2025 at 12:12 AM
Hi other tech folks! Does anyone have recommendations for trans-friendly recruiters on the West Coast?
I’m a lead product manager with around a decade of experience. Looking to shift back to a salaried position after consulting the last couple years.
Reposts appreciated, thanks!
I’m a lead product manager with around a decade of experience. Looking to shift back to a salaried position after consulting the last couple years.
Reposts appreciated, thanks!
Reposted by Steve Zorn
Every legal story now is either
Ancient Circuit Judge Delivers Crystal Clear 100 Page Rebuke To Trumpist Overreach
or
In Unsigned Shadow Docket Decision, 6-3 Majority Declares Trump Can Hunt People For Sport
Ancient Circuit Judge Delivers Crystal Clear 100 Page Rebuke To Trumpist Overreach
or
In Unsigned Shadow Docket Decision, 6-3 Majority Declares Trump Can Hunt People For Sport
October 3, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Every legal story now is either
Ancient Circuit Judge Delivers Crystal Clear 100 Page Rebuke To Trumpist Overreach
or
In Unsigned Shadow Docket Decision, 6-3 Majority Declares Trump Can Hunt People For Sport
Ancient Circuit Judge Delivers Crystal Clear 100 Page Rebuke To Trumpist Overreach
or
In Unsigned Shadow Docket Decision, 6-3 Majority Declares Trump Can Hunt People For Sport
Reposted by Steve Zorn
US parents should look to the recommended vaccine schedules of either the Irish HSE or British NHS. These are the govt health services of each country. Here’s the link: www.hse.ie/eng/health/i...
December 5, 2025 at 8:55 PM
US parents should look to the recommended vaccine schedules of either the Irish HSE or British NHS. These are the govt health services of each country. Here’s the link: www.hse.ie/eng/health/i...
Reposted by Steve Zorn
The most important theorist to American conceptions of "freedom of speech" is John Stuart Mill, who spent decades as a colonial administrator and leader in India & did not believe that his ideas about liberty applied to colonial subjects and this seems relevant to how universal his ideas truly were
December 5, 2025 at 4:58 PM
The most important theorist to American conceptions of "freedom of speech" is John Stuart Mill, who spent decades as a colonial administrator and leader in India & did not believe that his ideas about liberty applied to colonial subjects and this seems relevant to how universal his ideas truly were
Reposted by Steve Zorn
If a politician isn’t laying down in front of a tank at this point they shouldn’t be asking for money.
December 6, 2025 at 12:02 AM
If a politician isn’t laying down in front of a tank at this point they shouldn’t be asking for money.
Take your time, go all the way to the bottom of the graph. Scary.
A timeline of Earth’s average temperature since the last ice age. Spoiler alert: It’s definitely getting warmer. And it’s happening increasingly, scarily fast. xkcd.com/1732/
Earth Temperature Timeline
xkcd.com
December 6, 2025 at 1:35 AM
Take your time, go all the way to the bottom of the graph. Scary.
Reposted by Steve Zorn
All media mergers end up hurting writers, actors, directors, and everyone else who works in the industry. Executives, assistants, caterers, teamsters, everyone. Fewer companies means fewer jobs, period.
December 5, 2025 at 5:08 AM
All media mergers end up hurting writers, actors, directors, and everyone else who works in the industry. Executives, assistants, caterers, teamsters, everyone. Fewer companies means fewer jobs, period.
Reposted by Steve Zorn
Please remember to relentlessly support the WNBA PLAYERS when they are inevitably forced to strike or the owners lock them out. Management is always wrong.
December 3, 2025 at 11:55 PM
Please remember to relentlessly support the WNBA PLAYERS when they are inevitably forced to strike or the owners lock them out. Management is always wrong.
Reposted by Steve Zorn
Reposted by Steve Zorn
They ignore data. They lie about history. They are statistically illiterate. They ignore precedent & the law & the plain meaning of words in the Constitution whenever convenient. And then they have the Supreme chutzpah to complain that we are idiots who don’t show them enough deference & respect 🤷♂️🤦♂️
The blatant use of false, inaccurate histories to arrive at a decision the majority of the Court clearly wanted regardless of the facts is a feature of both Dred Scott and Dobbs. It’s an apt comparison. 🗃️
If you see John Roberts in person, be sure to tell him he’s a worse Chief Justice than Roger Taney (pronounced “tawny”). That’s a nerd burn that will hit him where it counts.
December 5, 2025 at 12:43 AM
They ignore data. They lie about history. They are statistically illiterate. They ignore precedent & the law & the plain meaning of words in the Constitution whenever convenient. And then they have the Supreme chutzpah to complain that we are idiots who don’t show them enough deference & respect 🤷♂️🤦♂️
Reposted by Steve Zorn
If you see John Roberts in person, be sure to tell him he’s a worse Chief Justice than Roger Taney (pronounced “tawny”). That’s a nerd burn that will hit him where it counts.
December 5, 2025 at 12:23 AM
If you see John Roberts in person, be sure to tell him he’s a worse Chief Justice than Roger Taney (pronounced “tawny”). That’s a nerd burn that will hit him where it counts.
Reposted by Steve Zorn
The second of our yearly lists--this one features thirty-five articles and chapters authored by contingent historians in 2025.
2025 Journal Article List
A companion to our 2025 book list.
contingentmagazine.org
December 5, 2025 at 3:14 AM
The second of our yearly lists--this one features thirty-five articles and chapters authored by contingent historians in 2025.
Reposted by Steve Zorn
Actually, Kim Kardashian Is The Best Argument FOR The Bar Exam
https://abovethelaw.com/2025/12/actually-kim-kardashian-is-the-best-argument-for-the-bar-exam/
Actually, Kim Kardashian Is The Best Argument FOR The Bar Exam
Law professor manages the impossible and forces me to defend a bar exam.
abovethelaw.com
December 4, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Actually, Kim Kardashian Is The Best Argument FOR The Bar Exam
https://abovethelaw.com/2025/12/actually-kim-kardashian-is-the-best-argument-for-the-bar-exam/