Chelsea Starr

(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.

every quantitative measure is actually a stack of qualitative assumptions in a trenchcoat

(cartoon Adam Zyglis)

"[The United States government] can only end in Despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic Government, being incapable of any other."

—Benjamin Franklin in his Constitutional Convention closing speech, 1787

I get yelled at for saying this but for many hundreds of years people went to university not to get diplomas or be employable but because immersion in the humanities was considered foundational to a good life, and school must return to its original purpose: the joy of learning.

What a shameful exercise in performative religiosity and piety 😳

Consensual sexual pleasure is a radical, political act under fascism.

This is honestly one of the most anti-Jewish things I’ve ever seen from the United States government.

The Constitution is clear: Congress decides on war. When a president uses military force without authorization and Congress stays silent, they are abandoning their role as a co equal branch of government. War is the most serious power our government has. Shame on the U.S. Senate today.

US strikes on Iran ‘outside international law,’ says Macron Macron joins Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez in calling the legality of the strikes into question.

After four days of hesitating, the president of France has joined the prime minister of Spain in saying that the 🇺🇸🇮🇱 attack on Iran is a violation of international law.

But they are still the only 2 EU leaders to have done so. Will others join?

Johnson: “We're not at war right now.”

What's shameful is: Speaker Johnson is not loyal to the constitution of the United States. He should be investigated for falsely swearing his oath of office

BREAKING: Babe, wake up. New war just dropped. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/03/u...

kind of crazy that if you have enough money and don't like what you see in the media, you can just buy up every film studio, news station, and social media app and change it

The Constitution requires Congress declare war, but Republicans say they don't want to stop Trump in Iran | Arizona Mirror Republican lawmakers said Tuesday after classified briefings they don’t intend to stop Donald Trump from waging war in Iran

“We’re not going to take away the authority of the president of the United States to be able to be the commander-in-chief. … We don’t need 535 commanders.”

Christian Nationalist Logic:

"We're gotta waste millions of dollars killing folks in a useless war because Jesus is powerless to just come back himself and start Armageddon if we don't. He needs our help, y'all! Glory!"

That one person can drag us into a war without consulting or even notifying Congress, or our allies, or fully explaining to the American people why this is necessary, is absolutely bonkers.

Reminder that Congress has the power to stop this.

Hundreds of United Methodists rally to dismantle ICE outside Capitol ‘We demand that ICE and CBP be dismantled,’ said retired United Methodist Bishop Minerva Garza Carcaño at the rally.

Via Aleja Hertzler-McCain: Hundreds of United Methodists rally to dismantle ICE outside Capitol religionnews.com/2026/02/25/h...

Temple of boom! Why Taiwan’s religious sites are becoming unlikely rave venues Dance culture faces barriers in Taiwan, with frequent raids on nightclubs. But Temple Meltdown is trying a different tack, with sound systems overseen by gods

"This is our religion, and this is our culture,” Tsai says, “so doing this music event, in front of the temple, is very close to our lives. I love it.”

www.theguardian.com/music/2026/f...

Trump’s ‘war on fraud’ announcement recalls plan for assistant attorney general who answers to Vance The proposed position would further subordinate the Justice Department and the rule of law to the White House.

NEW: Trump announced in his State of the Union address tonight that Vice President Vance will lead a “war on fraud." The comment appears to stem from a previous plan to create to a new assistant attorney general role that answers directly to the White House.

Since this will likely come up in the SOTU: Yes, US stock markets are up since Trump took office (14%).
But in the rest of the world, markets are up WAY more. Cumulative market gains are more than triple ours (43%)

Donald Trump's Violent Mentality is Quite Literally Biblical One could be forgiven for coming away from Leighton Woodhouse’s “Donald Trump, Pagan King” op-ed in the New York Times with the nagging suspicion that he hasn’t actually read the biblical or ‘Pagan’ w...

A recent NYT op-ed blamed the Trump's regime's lawless violence on 'paganism' while conjuring Christianity as the source of good values. I think this is a terrible way to think about history and gets in the way of cleaning up the messes Christians have made. My latest from @religiondispatches.org

Gana seguidores la Santa Muerte; abundan en mercados de Jalisco - El Sur Acapulco suracapulco I Noticias Acapulco Guerrero Guadalajara, Jalisco, 20 de febrero de 2026. La Santa Muerte, para algunos, es como una pistola: puede defenderte o puede servir para hacer el mal. En Jalisco, su presencia es constante, y cada vez ma...

"Academic research—such as that of sociologist Andrew Chesnut—estimates between five and 12 million followers in Mexico and the United States, which would place it among the fastest-growing religious movements in the Western Hemisphere."
suracapulco.mx/gana-seguido... #AcademicSky #Mexico

Women are just as likely as men to hold Christian nationalist views But even as the movement gains political and cultural influence, men and women Christian nationalists’ views on gender differ.

🚨 narrative alert 🚨

A big 🖕🏽 from my favorite Pope to my least favorite Buckeye

Stories of Change in American Religion - Center for Religion and Civic Culture USC Dornsife Site

American #religion is changing, and we need more than hot takes and simple graphs. @USCCRCC is launching a multi-pronged effort to get better stories out there. Including journalism fellowships.
dornsife.usc.edu/crcc/stories...

you may also remember that the "board of peace" is structured so that donald trump, personally, has sole and absolute control over it. he's just stealing our fucking money. what i want from my dems? a commitment to take that shit back.