NEW—I got an exclusive excerpt from a USAID whistleblower's new book that made me gasp multiple times. It details Trump's dismantling of the humanitarian aid agency & his team/DOGE's shocking ignorance to public health.
'Into the Wood Chipper' by Nicholas Enrich is out tomorrow. Read excerpt here:
Remember when Trump threatened to wipe out a whole civilization? And then backed out of that and talked about forming a deal with Iran? And then dropped that and went to a UFC fight as negotiations fell apart? And then unveiled a triumphal arch and a photo of himself as Jesus?
That was this week.
Literally in the announcement of the deal:
I am getting a lot of questions about whether Trump's threats alone are illegal. The answer is yes.
1. First, Additional Protocol I states “Acts or threats of violence the primary purpose of which is to spread terror among the civilian population are prohibited.” (also DOD LOW Manual §5.2.2)
1/
Our PhD student Kennedy Orwa, who studies applications of AI to health care, was hastily deported today to Kenya along with his 13-year-old son without opportunity to speak to legal counsel.
King 5 reports that he held a valid visa that was rescinded without explanation.
"Tucker Collins, an 18-year-old freshman at USC, attended a 'No Kings' protest in Los Angeles on Mar. 28. He ended up getting shot in the eye with a less-lethal projectile by a Department of Homeland Security agent and is now blind."
In a letter to Congress this week, #ICE confirmed it has approved the use of a powerful #spyware tool, raising serious civil liberties concerns. The Knight Institute urges Congress to limit ICE's use of spyware technology.
See @nadinefj.bsky.social's statement:
knightcolumbia.org/content/knig...
I spoke to the Christian Science Monitor about Trump's threats to carry out mass war crimes.
Though there appears to be a ceasefire (thank goodness), the threats have done irreparable damage to U.S. standing and moral authority. We will pay the cost for decades.
www.csmonitor.com/World/2026/0...
We have now killed at least 1,665 civilians, including at least 248 children, in this illegal war.
www.en-hrana.org/day-38-of-u-...
Over 100 international lawyers (including me) warn that U.S. strikes on Iran violate the UN Charter and may be war crimes.
Read the letter here:
www.justsecurity.org/135423/profe...
"There’s a chilling effect on not just my academic freedom, but that of my colleagues; anyone who dares to speak out against the war and against aggression," said UW professor Aria Fani.
‘Some of us may no longer be Habermassians, but we learned from, with and against him what it means to keep faith with critique.’
Nancy Fraser on the philosopher, from the blog.
www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/ma...
Another day, another violation of academic freedom in Texas. This time a university is firing a philosophy professor owing to complaints about an off-campus talk he gave on the Israeli-Palestine conflict...
The US supreme court has decided to hear arguments in a climate accountability lawsuit, marking the first time the high court has weighed in on such a case. The decision could potentially hinder the wave of climate litigation the US has seen in recent years
NEWS DIGEST | Fossil Expansion on Trial A landmark civil case in the Paris Judicial Court could reshape how fossil fuel companies are held accountable for climate harm. The City of Paris and a coalition of NGOs and municipalities are seeking to compel TotalEnergies to rapidly cut emissions across its entire value chain under France’s ‘duty of vigilance’ law. The hearings examine whether courts can require oil and gas majors to align operations with climate limits, as litigation becomes an increasingly central tool in climate governance. Observers say the outcome may influence similar cases globally, particularly as legal strategies shift from compensation towards forcing operational change. The case sits within a growing wave of lawsuits targeting major carbon producers and testing the role of courts in enforcing climate commitments beyond voluntary pledges.
NEWS DIGEST | Fossils Expansion on Trial
A landmark civil case in the Paris Judicial Court could reshape how fossil fuel companies are held accountable for climate harm.
Sources: @insideclimatenews.org
Read relevant articles: bit.ly/3PzGVXNMg
#TotalEnergies #ClimateNews #FossilExpansion
mill's dedication: this is a jointly authored work
a century & a half of male editors: mill exaggerated out of a sentimental fondness for his wife
mill's letters: no, really, most of "my" work was partly by her, i really could not be clearer on this
In Iran, the Trump Administration has targeted a range of "dual use objects"--objects that have both civilian and military uses.
Here, we explain how such targeting blurs the line between civilian and military--eroding critical protections for civilians.
yalelawjournal.org/pdf/134.8.Ha...
Essential read: a statement from Cardinal Cupich. www.archchicago.org/statement/-/...
The U.S. and Israel bombardment of Iran has led to civilian deaths estimated to be well over 1,000; a strike that hit a girls’ school in Minab killed more than 175 people alone. A Yale Law School professor discusses the lawlessness of Trump’s war. newyorkermag.visitlink.me/fFM7yg
A DOGE staffer assigned to the National Endowment for the Humanities to flag grants for "DEI" tries to explain what "DEI" is. This deposition is part of a lawsuit by the @acls1919.bsky.social, @historians.org and @modernlanguage.bsky.social.
The ten second video was released by Iranian state media and directly contradicts statements made by President Trump, who said Iran was responsible for the strike. n.pr/4aVMqZi
To mark International Women's Day, we feature portraits and profiles of determined women around the world. n.pr/4rXpezP
Reuters Exclusive
"U.S. military investigators believe it is likely that U.S. forces were responsible for an apparent strike on an Iranian girls' school."
"The strike would rank among the worst cases of civilian casualties in decades of U.S. conflicts in the Middle East."
from a standpoint epistemological view you have to take this view particularly seriously
War powers highlight the problem where we have to stop conflating nonjusticiable with legal. Courts are not going to intervene in this kind of thing, nor should they, but parts of the Constitution dependent on the president and Congress to follow and enforce are still real parts of the Constitution.
Wars of choice kill those who have no choice. "Mistakes" like the reported strike on a girls' school that killed forty civilians are the predictable result of poor planning and execution.
For more on "Mistakes" in War, read this by me and @azmatzahra.bsky.social
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
“The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it.”
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
The strikes on Iran are blatantly illegal. I explained in June why the strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities were unlawful under US and international law. Everything I wrote then is true today, but this is a far larger assault with far graver consequences.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/23/o...
Now is the time to join your university's AAUP chapter.
Nationwide attacks on academic freedom and on our democracy are growing. The AAUP offers the resources to fight back.
Chapters are open to faculty of all ranks as well as graduate workers.
For more details about how to join, see below ⬇️
Last term I tried an experiment: I walked into my Tech and Design Ethics class, admitted that I had *no idea* what to do about ChatGPT - so I would let them figure it out.
As in: their first project was to decide and write the ChatGPT policy for the class.
Here's what happened:
