Vera (Ranieri) Vong
@vvong.bsky.social
California and Ontario lawyer, based in Toronto. Expect posts about the law and Canada.
Reposted by Vera (Ranieri) Vong
Hegseth is a cold-blooded murderer. There's no way to dress it up. He's a criminal. And his was precisely the kind of illegal order that those Dem members of Congress urged the military not to follow. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them all
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order to kill all crew members in the Sept. 2 strike on a suspected drug boat. Navy SEALs fired a second missile.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 28, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Hegseth is a cold-blooded murderer. There's no way to dress it up. He's a criminal. And his was precisely the kind of illegal order that those Dem members of Congress urged the military not to follow. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Reposted by Vera (Ranieri) Vong
so our government made a big deal about banning speed cameras but one city left theirs running to see what difference the ban would make and you are not going to believe this
November 28, 2025 at 12:56 AM
so our government made a big deal about banning speed cameras but one city left theirs running to see what difference the ban would make and you are not going to believe this
As further inducement for those who have been watching Top Chef Canada, one of the guest chefs is Shai-Ann Tyson, a great chef from the currently airing season.
Toronto People: Join a great event (Food for Thought) supporting a great organization (Sistering) THIS SUNDAY - eat delicious bites from local women chefs and support women and gender diverse people in the city who are food insecure. www.eventbrite.ca/e/food-for-t... (disclosure, I'm on the board)
Food for Thought 2025
We're back with Food for Thought on November 30 uniting local women chefs and communities to advocate for food security and justice!
www.eventbrite.ca
November 27, 2025 at 2:39 AM
As further inducement for those who have been watching Top Chef Canada, one of the guest chefs is Shai-Ann Tyson, a great chef from the currently airing season.
Toronto People: Join a great event (Food for Thought) supporting a great organization (Sistering) THIS SUNDAY - eat delicious bites from local women chefs and support women and gender diverse people in the city who are food insecure. www.eventbrite.ca/e/food-for-t... (disclosure, I'm on the board)
Food for Thought 2025
We're back with Food for Thought on November 30 uniting local women chefs and communities to advocate for food security and justice!
www.eventbrite.ca
November 27, 2025 at 12:29 AM
Toronto People: Join a great event (Food for Thought) supporting a great organization (Sistering) THIS SUNDAY - eat delicious bites from local women chefs and support women and gender diverse people in the city who are food insecure. www.eventbrite.ca/e/food-for-t... (disclosure, I'm on the board)
Reposted by Vera (Ranieri) Vong
Good news
#BREAKING: Former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers will immediately leave his role as an instructor at Harvard while the University investigates his ties to child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Dhruv T. Patel and Cam N. Srivastava report.
Dhruv T. Patel and Cam N. Srivastava report.
Summers Will Not Finish Semester of Teaching as Harvard Investigates Epstein Ties | News | The Harvard Crimson
Former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers will immediately leave his role as an instructor at Harvard while the University investigates his ties to child sex trafficker Jeffrey E. Epstein.
www.thecrimson.com
November 20, 2025 at 12:34 AM
Good news
Don’t forget Pam Bondi agrees with everything Halligan did.
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 5:34 PM
Don’t forget Pam Bondi agrees with everything Halligan did.
I am not a criminal lawyer and therefore know this is beyond my expertise (unlike some other attorneys we've heard from lately), so I ask: can a lawyer who does know explain when/if these usually get disclosed and what basis (if any) there would be to not disclose the memo?
BREAKING: Prosecutors in the Comey case just told the judge that they’re under orders from the Deputy Attorney Generals’s office not to disclose whether career prosecutors wrote a memo recommending *against* indicting Comey prior to Halligan going to the grand jury.
November 19, 2025 at 5:23 PM
I am not a criminal lawyer and therefore know this is beyond my expertise (unlike some other attorneys we've heard from lately), so I ask: can a lawyer who does know explain when/if these usually get disclosed and what basis (if any) there would be to not disclose the memo?
Reposted by Vera (Ranieri) Vong
I spoke with the Boston Globe about the Summers situation
TLDR: other professors like myself can no longer trust Summers to perform a key duty of a university professor, which is to advise & mentor students
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/18/m...
TLDR: other professors like myself can no longer trust Summers to perform a key duty of a university professor, which is to advise & mentor students
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/18/m...
Long a coveted voice, Larry Summers withdraws from a half-dozen groups amid Epstein ties. Harvard’s not among them. - The Boston Globe
Former Harvard president Larry Summers is no longer affiliated with a series of centers and think tanks with which he’s long been involved, officials confirmed Tuesday.
www.bostonglobe.com
November 19, 2025 at 2:01 PM
I spoke with the Boston Globe about the Summers situation
TLDR: other professors like myself can no longer trust Summers to perform a key duty of a university professor, which is to advise & mentor students
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/18/m...
TLDR: other professors like myself can no longer trust Summers to perform a key duty of a university professor, which is to advise & mentor students
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/18/m...
“A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman” and
yada yada yada
“things happen”
yada yada yada
“things happen”
Trump suggests Khashoggi had it coming: "You're mentioning someone that was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn't like that gentleman that you're talking about. Whether you like him or didn't like him, things happen. But he knew nothing about it. You don't have to embarrass our guest."
November 18, 2025 at 7:59 PM
“A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman” and
yada yada yada
“things happen”
yada yada yada
“things happen”
No. This is not ok. Allowing him to be around the potential leaders of the future is the problem. Just perpetuating the problem.
Larry Summers tells @theharvardcrimson.bsky.social
he’s stepping back from all public commitments in light of his messages with Epstein, saying he is “deeply ashamed” and hopes “to rebuild trust and repair relationships.”
He will continue teaching.
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
he’s stepping back from all public commitments in light of his messages with Epstein, saying he is “deeply ashamed” and hopes “to rebuild trust and repair relationships.”
He will continue teaching.
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
November 18, 2025 at 2:50 AM
No. This is not ok. Allowing him to be around the potential leaders of the future is the problem. Just perpetuating the problem.
And anyone involved in this. It is murder, straight up. Without a public reckoning the U.S. will be unable to ever wash away this stain.
if dems win congress next year they need to introduce an impeachment resolution against emil bove
Justice Department official told prosecutors that U.S. should 'just sink' drug boats
NPR interviews with current and former officials reveal more of the backstory around the military's strikes in the Caribbean.
www.npr.org
November 17, 2025 at 9:56 PM
And anyone involved in this. It is murder, straight up. Without a public reckoning the U.S. will be unable to ever wash away this stain.
Reposted by Vera (Ranieri) Vong
Bad patents already do enough damage. PERA makes it easier to get them and harder to challenge them. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...
PERA Remains a Serious Threat to Efforts Against Bad Patents
PERA would overturn long-standing court decisions that have helped keep some of the most problematic patents in check. This includes the Supreme Court’s Alice v. CLS Bank decision, which bars patents
www.eff.org
November 17, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Bad patents already do enough damage. PERA makes it easier to get them and harder to challenge them. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...
It's fairly clear what the redacted misstatements likely were, and oh boy. It's like they brought the junior varsity basketball team to compete in the senior mathlete competition.
👀Fitzpatrick said Halligan made two apparent "fundamental misstatements of law" to the grand jury that could threaten the case. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
November 17, 2025 at 5:31 PM
It's fairly clear what the redacted misstatements likely were, and oh boy. It's like they brought the junior varsity basketball team to compete in the senior mathlete competition.
Reposted by Vera (Ranieri) Vong
Never forget that just a week ago, Ross Douthat and the NYTimes were asking if women ruined the workplace.
November 17, 2025 at 3:33 AM
Never forget that just a week ago, Ross Douthat and the NYTimes were asking if women ruined the workplace.
Reposted by Vera (Ranieri) Vong
This is so so disturbing. Trump is now pardoning January 6th rioters for unrelated crimes, just to reward them for their violence to keep him in power.
The Republican Party is in the full time business of endorsing and incentivizing political violence. So scary.
The Republican Party is in the full time business of endorsing and incentivizing political violence. So scary.
Trump re-pardons a Jan. 6 defendant to erase unrelated gun conviction
Trump re-pardons a Jan. 6 defendant to erase unrelated gun conviction
The new pardon ends a legal clash over the limits of Trump’s sweeping Day One clemency for those who stormed the Capitol.
dlvr.it
November 15, 2025 at 7:19 PM
This is so so disturbing. Trump is now pardoning January 6th rioters for unrelated crimes, just to reward them for their violence to keep him in power.
The Republican Party is in the full time business of endorsing and incentivizing political violence. So scary.
The Republican Party is in the full time business of endorsing and incentivizing political violence. So scary.
Reposted by Vera (Ranieri) Vong
Ooof. I can’t believe X chose this case, and this place, to fight a global takedown order.
Canada is the one country with a Supreme Court decision supporting global takedowns. The case came out of BC, like this one.
It was about trade secrets. This is an ugly NCII case involving a trans person. 1/
Canada is the one country with a Supreme Court decision supporting global takedowns. The case came out of BC, like this one.
It was about trade secrets. This is an ugly NCII case involving a trans person. 1/
British Columbia’s Attorney General says she’s “deeply disturbed” that the social media company X has filed a legal challenge against an order to remove a non-consensual intimate image from the internet. www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/ar...
B.C. Attorney General ‘deeply disturbed’ by social media giant’s intimate image case
British Columbia’s Attorney General says she’s “deeply disturbed” that the social media company X has filed a legal challenge against an order to remove a non-consensual intimate image from the intern...
www.ctvnews.ca
November 15, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Ooof. I can’t believe X chose this case, and this place, to fight a global takedown order.
Canada is the one country with a Supreme Court decision supporting global takedowns. The case came out of BC, like this one.
It was about trade secrets. This is an ugly NCII case involving a trans person. 1/
Canada is the one country with a Supreme Court decision supporting global takedowns. The case came out of BC, like this one.
It was about trade secrets. This is an ugly NCII case involving a trans person. 1/
Reposted by Vera (Ranieri) Vong
Language around Canadians not traveling to the U.S. is telling. American media still seems amused at our reaction to "the rhetoric that many Canadians feel is condescending." Your criminal president threatened our very existence -- it goes way beyond hurt feelings.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/u...
Canadian Travel to the U.S. Declines for 10th Straight Month
www.nytimes.com
November 14, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Language around Canadians not traveling to the U.S. is telling. American media still seems amused at our reaction to "the rhetoric that many Canadians feel is condescending." Your criminal president threatened our very existence -- it goes way beyond hurt feelings.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/u...
The most Toronto of Toronto things. www.reddit.com/r/toronto/co...
From the toronto community on Reddit: Raccoon on the TTC
Explore this post and more from the toronto community
www.reddit.com
November 14, 2025 at 2:30 PM
The most Toronto of Toronto things. www.reddit.com/r/toronto/co...
lol a month to review 3114 docs (which includes families). This is less than a week of review for one lawyer.
Looks like there is also some issue with DHS producing attorney emails sent to the facility:
November 13, 2025 at 8:06 PM
lol a month to review 3114 docs (which includes families). This is less than a week of review for one lawyer.
Apparently this reporter also had conversations about Trump's people responding to Comey.
![An email where Landon Thomas Jr. asks Epstein "How are you [sic] Trump contacts responding to Comey?" and Epstein replaces "I tried to call you , not for email"](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ueezcl4ggckoogcn4c4q4swt/bafkreids422hu4js5e6upvvfkjn77vkr32cek2sihehzn563l7gd2q65h4@jpeg)
November 12, 2025 at 11:38 PM
Apparently this reporter also had conversations about Trump's people responding to Comey.
This looks like Jeffrey Epstein and Kathy Ruemmler talking about John G. Rowland, former CT Governor convicted on seven counts in Sept. 2014, pardoned by Trump in May 2025. The timing/references match up. (HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_028870)
November 12, 2025 at 9:06 PM
This looks like Jeffrey Epstein and Kathy Ruemmler talking about John G. Rowland, former CT Governor convicted on seven counts in Sept. 2014, pardoned by Trump in May 2025. The timing/references match up. (HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_028870)
Even Jeffrey Epstein lawyers have issues with consistent redactions. Redacted in email 1, not redacted in email 2 (and why is this marked privileged anyway? Doesn't seem privileged) (From HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_028578 and 028590)
November 12, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Even Jeffrey Epstein lawyers have issues with consistent redactions. Redacted in email 1, not redacted in email 2 (and why is this marked privileged anyway? Doesn't seem privileged) (From HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_028578 and 028590)
Yeah, Larry Summers is trash.
November 12, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Yeah, Larry Summers is trash.