Matt Szafranski
@mszafranski.bsky.social
Attorney; Editor-in-Chief, @WMassPI.com; #Spfldpoli when you need it; #MaPoli when you want it. "Retweets" ≠ Seal of Approval. Likes = ??? Fasten your seatbelt, please.
"You must go on. I can't go on. I'll go on." -Samuel Beckett
Always Eccles. 1:9
"You must go on. I can't go on. I'll go on." -Samuel Beckett
Always Eccles. 1:9
Reposted by Matt Szafranski
Hard to fault SCOTUS for articulating certain doctrines based on the assumption that we would never get a president like Trump.
Easy to fault SCOTUS for not adjusting those doctrines, and their underlying assumptions, once we got Trump.
Easy to fault SCOTUS for not adjusting those doctrines, and their underlying assumptions, once we got Trump.
December 1, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Hard to fault SCOTUS for articulating certain doctrines based on the assumption that we would never get a president like Trump.
Easy to fault SCOTUS for not adjusting those doctrines, and their underlying assumptions, once we got Trump.
Easy to fault SCOTUS for not adjusting those doctrines, and their underlying assumptions, once we got Trump.
Reposted by Matt Szafranski
Has he released his MRI yet?
December 1, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Has he released his MRI yet?
That's a slam dunk no, then. We'll see if Herzog has the spine for that, though.
Herzog vows to weigh only ‘the good of the country’ in deliberating Netanyahu pardon https://www.timesofisrael.com/herzog-vows-to-weigh-only-the-good-of-the-country-in-deliberating-netanyahu-pardon/
Herzog vows to weigh only ‘the good of the country’ in deliberating Netanyahu pardon
President expected to fly to New York next week, though he is unlikely to meet Trump, who has pressured him to grant the prime minister clemency
www.timesofisrael.com
December 1, 2025 at 3:37 PM
That's a slam dunk no, then. We'll see if Herzog has the spine for that, though.
Reposted by Matt Szafranski
The charming pre-auto towns attracted a lot of sophisticated but nature-loving urbanites from New York and Boston at a specific moment between white flight and the beginnings of gentrification. Not sure how to replicate all of that in the rest of the country, in 2025. But worth a try!
What should be a high priority is figuring out what makes New England rural liberalism tick and then working out a way to export it to rural America as a whole. I don't care how much social engineering we need to accomplish that. It's for our democracy and their souls.
December 1, 2025 at 3:35 PM
The charming pre-auto towns attracted a lot of sophisticated but nature-loving urbanites from New York and Boston at a specific moment between white flight and the beginnings of gentrification. Not sure how to replicate all of that in the rest of the country, in 2025. But worth a try!
Reposted by Matt Szafranski
For @wamcradio.bsky.social: After coming close to unseating Springfield State Rep. Bud Williams last year, Johnnie Ray McKnight says he's running again. Last November, he came about 250 votes short of an upset in the state's 11th Hampden district. #mapoli #spfldpoli
December 1, 2025 at 3:14 PM
For @wamcradio.bsky.social: After coming close to unseating Springfield State Rep. Bud Williams last year, Johnnie Ray McKnight says he's running again. Last November, he came about 250 votes short of an upset in the state's 11th Hampden district. #mapoli #spfldpoli
Reposted by Matt Szafranski
inbox: Martin Kulldorff appointed to a senior role at HHS
He'll serve as chief scientist of agency's in-house think and advise RFK Jr
Kulldorff, a Great Barrington co-author, has been criticized by public health groups
(Jay Bhattacharya, another Great Barrington co-author, currently leads NIH)
He'll serve as chief scientist of agency's in-house think and advise RFK Jr
Kulldorff, a Great Barrington co-author, has been criticized by public health groups
(Jay Bhattacharya, another Great Barrington co-author, currently leads NIH)
December 1, 2025 at 3:06 PM
inbox: Martin Kulldorff appointed to a senior role at HHS
He'll serve as chief scientist of agency's in-house think and advise RFK Jr
Kulldorff, a Great Barrington co-author, has been criticized by public health groups
(Jay Bhattacharya, another Great Barrington co-author, currently leads NIH)
He'll serve as chief scientist of agency's in-house think and advise RFK Jr
Kulldorff, a Great Barrington co-author, has been criticized by public health groups
(Jay Bhattacharya, another Great Barrington co-author, currently leads NIH)
Reposted by Matt Szafranski
Funny/tragicomic that during Habba’s disqualification from D.N.J. U.S. Attorney, she still has been doing press releases for assistant USAs as though she still leads the office
www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/e...
www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/e...
December 1, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Funny/tragicomic that during Habba’s disqualification from D.N.J. U.S. Attorney, she still has been doing press releases for assistant USAs as though she still leads the office
www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/e...
www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/e...
Reposted by Matt Szafranski
James Cameron says AI actors are ‘horrifying to me’
James Cameron says AI actors are ‘horrifying to me’
Avatar director, known for his advocacy of new technology, told interviewer generative AI performance puts ‘all human experience into a blender’
Avatar director James Cameron has called AI actors “horrifying” and said what generative AI technology creates is “an average”.
Cameron was speaking to CBS on Sunday Morning in the run-up to the release of the third Avatar film, subtitled Fire and Ash, and was asked about the pioneering technology he used in his film-making. After praising motion-capture performance as “a celebration of the actor-director moment”, Cameron expressed his disdain for artificial intelligence. “Go to the other end of the spectrum [from motion capture] and you’ve got generative AI, where they can make up a character. They can make up an actor. They can make up a performance from scratch with a text prompt. It’s like, no. That’s horrifying to me. That’s the opposite. That’s exactly what we’re not doing.” Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
December 1, 2025 at 2:50 PM
James Cameron says AI actors are ‘horrifying to me’
Reposted by Matt Szafranski
#BREAKING: Ideologically diverse Third Circuit panel unanimously *affirms* district court ruling that Alina Habba was *not* lawfully appointed to serve as Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey *or* to otherwise exercise the functions of that office:
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Opinion Filed – #81 in United States v. Julien Giraud, Jr. (3rd Cir., 25-2635) – CourtListener.com
PRECEDENTIAL OPINION. Coram: RESTREPO, SMITH and FISHER, Circuit Judges. Total Pages: 32. Judge: FISHER Authoring. [25-2635, 25-2636] (CJG)
storage.courtlistener.com
December 1, 2025 at 2:20 PM
#BREAKING: Ideologically diverse Third Circuit panel unanimously *affirms* district court ruling that Alina Habba was *not* lawfully appointed to serve as Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey *or* to otherwise exercise the functions of that office:
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Reposted by Matt Szafranski
I'm really glad to see someone like Kelly finally saying this. bsky.app/profile/atru...
Mark Kelly: "This president, when he says things like 'third world countries,' what is he really saying? I think what he's saying is he doesn't want brown people in our country. And that's disturbing. It's un-American."
November 30, 2025 at 4:29 PM
I'm really glad to see someone like Kelly finally saying this. bsky.app/profile/atru...
So, half a thimble's worth? If that…
Donald Trump is losing almost all of his credibility
December 1, 2025 at 12:07 AM
So, half a thimble's worth? If that…
Well, Bailey's 90 days is up soon and he's eligible to replace Kash via the vacancies act.
I think there's a really important reason Trump hasn't fired anyone yet (despite people like Kash making him look like an idiot), and it's because his team knows they can't get chosen replacements through the senate anymore.
November 30, 2025 at 11:37 PM
Well, Bailey's 90 days is up soon and he's eligible to replace Kash via the vacancies act.
Reposted by Matt Szafranski
In this Ohio town, it was tradition: Latin mass, biscuits and gravy at Bob Evans, and then down to the old marina to shoot a bunch of fishermen and claim they were running drugs. But now the woke mob wants to take all that away.
November 30, 2025 at 9:47 PM
In this Ohio town, it was tradition: Latin mass, biscuits and gravy at Bob Evans, and then down to the old marina to shoot a bunch of fishermen and claim they were running drugs. But now the woke mob wants to take all that away.
Reposted by Matt Szafranski
Yeah. Friday really came across as total flailing and a compete inability to shape the narrative.
This is why I keep telling people that when he does this it's weakness and not strength. It's not working anymore. It's just another random Tuesday when he does it. Means nothing. It actually means that he's freaking out more than anything. And he's losing power. Not getting more.
November 30, 2025 at 9:44 PM
Yeah. Friday really came across as total flailing and a compete inability to shape the narrative.
Reposted by Matt Szafranski
the primary thing that TPUSA provides to young conservatives is a blueprint for weaponizing the abject cowardice of university administrators against individual teachers and instructors, and university admins should take a long look in the mirror and think about what that says about them
OU has put the professor here on administrative leave:
November 30, 2025 at 8:51 PM
the primary thing that TPUSA provides to young conservatives is a blueprint for weaponizing the abject cowardice of university administrators against individual teachers and instructors, and university admins should take a long look in the mirror and think about what that says about them
Reposted by Matt Szafranski
the playbook used to be that the billionaire tech elite quietly hired law firms to send letters & make legal threats to prying reporters. now they boast about it publicly. they know exactly what they’re doing: trying to chill future scrutiny & intimidate journalists from digging into their dealings
November 30, 2025 at 9:08 PM
the playbook used to be that the billionaire tech elite quietly hired law firms to send letters & make legal threats to prying reporters. now they boast about it publicly. they know exactly what they’re doing: trying to chill future scrutiny & intimidate journalists from digging into their dealings
The other thing was the media only paid attention to blue states that went overboard. New England was largely another reality relative to what New York and San Francisco went through.
To a non-trivial number anti-anti-Trump pundits, Trump's chaotic response to COVID-19 was preferable to the liberals telling them that the response to a pandemic would require some rules and sacrifices
November 30, 2025 at 7:35 PM
The other thing was the media only paid attention to blue states that went overboard. New England was largely another reality relative to what New York and San Francisco went through.
Reposted by Matt Szafranski
Imagine if they just subsidized newspapers and magazines the way they’re subsidizing this slop
"All of this falls apart if humans don't adopt the tech. This is why you've seen Meta cram its lame chatbots into WhatsApp and Instagram. This is why Notepad and Paint now have useless Copilot buttons on Windows. This is why Google Gemini wants to "help you" read and reply to your emails."
Analysis: OpenAI is a loss-making machine, how can it survive?
Don't call it a bubble! Loss-making monster OpenAI is on the hook for $1.4 trillion (with a T) in compute commitments. How can this go on?
www.windowscentral.com
November 30, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Imagine if they just subsidized newspapers and magazines the way they’re subsidizing this slop
Reposted by Matt Szafranski
I’ll put it this way: I have significantly more optimism that we can beat this particular set of fascists than I do that Dems will do what is necessary not to hand the country right back over to the next batch four year later
No value, no villain, no vision. Sounds like the tagline for the earnings call of a collapsing appliance retailer
November 30, 2025 at 5:16 PM
I’ll put it this way: I have significantly more optimism that we can beat this particular set of fascists than I do that Dems will do what is necessary not to hand the country right back over to the next batch four year later
Reposted by Matt Szafranski
The institution to stop the lawless killing spree at sea is not individual service members, US courts, or the ICC.
It is Congress.
The Article I branch needs to do its job.
It is Congress.
The Article I branch needs to do its job.
Now Senate Armed Services Committee and House Armed Services Committee - vow "vigorous oversight" and "full accounting" of Secretary Hegseth's alleged "kill them all" order and double-strike operation.
Rare joint statements by GOP Chairman and Ranking Member on both committees
Rare joint statements by GOP Chairman and Ranking Member on both committees
November 30, 2025 at 2:22 AM
The institution to stop the lawless killing spree at sea is not individual service members, US courts, or the ICC.
It is Congress.
The Article I branch needs to do its job.
It is Congress.
The Article I branch needs to do its job.
Reposted by Matt Szafranski
Russia is far too poor to make America as a whole substantially richer. But it’s definitely got enough to make the president and his friends richer.
“In days after Alaska, a European intel agency distributed a hard-copy report in an envelope to some of the continent’s most senior national security officials, who were shocked by the contents: Inside were details of the commercial and economic plans the Trump admin had been pursuing with Russia.”
Make Money Not War: Trump’s Real Plan for Peace in Ukraine
The Kremlin pitched the White House on peace through business. To Europe’s dismay, the president and his envoy are on board.
www.wsj.com
November 30, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Russia is far too poor to make America as a whole substantially richer. But it’s definitely got enough to make the president and his friends richer.
Reposted by Matt Szafranski
Reposted by Matt Szafranski
I believe this is what lawyers would call consciousness of guilt.
On the horrific news that Pete Hegseth ordered the killing of boat bombing survivors, remember: The Trump Murder Memo "authorizing" the strikes preemptively clears those carrying them out. That's unusual. And we still haven't heard from the commander who resigned:
newrepublic.com/article/2032...
newrepublic.com/article/2032...
November 30, 2025 at 2:06 PM
I believe this is what lawyers would call consciousness of guilt.
Lololololololololololololololol
Even Bannon fires off a round at the Tech Bros.
Even Bannon fires off a round at the Tech Bros.
Five-byline alert: 🚨
David Sacks “has 708 tech investments .. that could be aided directly or indirectly by his policies, according to a New York Times analysis
“The tech bros are out of control,” said Steve Bannon.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/t...
David Sacks “has 708 tech investments .. that could be aided directly or indirectly by his policies, according to a New York Times analysis
“The tech bros are out of control,” said Steve Bannon.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/t...
November 30, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Lololololololololololololololol
Even Bannon fires off a round at the Tech Bros.
Even Bannon fires off a round at the Tech Bros.