(1) The accused declared, ordered, or otherwise indicated that there shall be no survivors or surrender accepted; (2) The accused thereby intended to threaten an adversary or to conduct hostilities such that there would be no survivors or surrender accepted; (3) It was foreseeable that circumstances would be such that a practicable and reasonable ability to accept surrender would exist; (4) The accused was in a position of effective command or control over the subordinate forces to which the declaration or order was directed; and (5) The conduct took place in the context of and was associated with hostilities.

✋ Former USG war crimes lawyer here.

Apropos of SecDef's remarks this morning:

Denial of quarter—even the declaration of no quarter—is a war crime.

And recognized as such by the US Government.

From DoD's Manual for Military Commissions.

Most likely. And don’t call him Shirley.

Feel better.

The US in 2026, in a nutshell

NEWS: Sen. Mark Kelly is suing DOD & Pete Hegseth over what's described as their lawless attempt to silence a sitting U.S. Senator. The 7-count complaint alleges violations of the First Amendment, Due Process, and Speech or Debate Clause.

We can see what it would cost at Home Depot, but how much do you want to bet the charged cost of this is multiple times that price?

American institutions don't crumble. But they can be destroyed.

CBS reporter Edward R. Murrow embodied what a journalist should be: someone who holds power to account instead of capitulating to it.

Over 70 years later, his segment denouncing Joe McCarthy’s congressional witch hunts rings truer than ever.

The Doughboys have landed. (Credit to my daughter)

Note that this is now taking the place of the flag pin.

I’m sitting at home recovering from Covid right now.
Good call! Hope your arm feels better soon.

CIS kicks voter registration groups out of naturalization ceremonies For decades, the League of Women Voters and similar civic groups have welcomed new citizens with a voter registration table. No longer.

Here's my new post on how CIS, the federal agency, has ousted the League of Women Voters and other nonprofit civic groups from their longstanding role in offering voter registration to new Americans at naturalization ceremonies.

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Thank you for sharing the link.

Homeland Security Dept. Says It Hasn’t Kept Text Message Data Since April

The US Administration is now deleting its internal communications, in brazen violation of the Federal Records Act, in order to conceal its other illegal acts.

Those entrusted to enforce our Congress’s laws sit, simply watching this happen, flaccid and impotent.

There is a statue in the San Diego harbor that brings this photo to life.

At today’s World Premiere of “Dolores”, a timely work depicting the activism of Dolores Huerta and the struggle for workers’ rights, Dolores herself joined the cast at curtain call to inspire the crowd. Catch this important work at Oakland’s West Edge Opera for two more performances, Aug 10 & 16.

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After H.R. 1319 passed out of committee after they said Congress was done for the summer, I got suspicious. What else did they try to jam through? Turns out there were five bills that day. Four of them? Pro-corporate deregulation.
#Voices4Victory #DemVoice1 #USDemocracy #ProudBlue

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I listed to the audiobook and agree. I had a greater appreciation of Ozzy afterwards

I’ve been contemplating the same thing. Good to hear that you enjoyed it as much.

Dogs

Many others are posting abt this too but this graphic viscerally shows how dire the presidential budget is for NASA 🔭🧪and worldwide astronomy. I can’t express how sad this makes me, as an American scientist. And it’s mostly already paid for projects, so also no logic in terms of saving money.

Hurricane season starts June 1 and if you live in a Gulf state, you need to watch this. It’s worse than you might think.

The few employees still left at FEMA admit: they are not prepared. Not enough staff. Not enough supplies. Not enough leadership. Plan accordingly.

Me heading into another week.

Trump slashed US cancer research by 31 percent: Senate report US President Donald Trump's administration cut cancer research funding by 31 percent in the first three months of 2025 compared to the same period last year, according to a Senate report released Tues...

This should be bigger news, no?
www.yahoo.com/news/trump-s...