https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgj25j6nmeo

BBC: China accelerates a 1-ton maglev prototype to 700 kph in a world record 2 seconds.

https://youtube.com/shorts/DrA_lhEeqKA?si=6kQKhBtstrPUoO9-

https://theintercept.com/2025/12/19/ice-bounty-hunters-location-surveillance-geo-group/?

Mathematical models indicate that the worst-case scenario of the Trump administration's HIV-related cuts could result in 3 million deaths and an infection rate outpacing the virus’s peak in the 1990s.

https://www.unclosetedmedia.com/p/the-staggering-scale-of-trumps-war

https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/25/politics/hegseth-generals-surprise-meeting

A congressional aide told CNN that unless Hegseth planned to announce “a major new military campaign or a complete overhaul of the military command structure, I can’t imagine a good reason for this.”

https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/13/politics/ice-flights-locations-tracking-maps

I immediately see a couple problems with this. First, this means every time in every court similarly situated plaintiffs are enforced against, they have to file an individual suit (unless they bring a class action). That means every single court across the country will be hit with these suits. Second, if the courts split on these issues, that means regions of the country will have differing federal policies applied. What a mess.

On the narrow Birthright citizenship decision over at SCOTUSblog:

Sotomayor omits the traditional "respectfully" from her "I dissent" at the end of her opinion.

She's been doing that more and more frequently.

So did jackson who "With deep disillusionment, I dissent"

https://www.scotusblog.com/2025/06/announcement-of-opinions-for-friday-june-27/

https://t.me/tassagency_en/55043

John Fetterman Calls for the Destruction of Iran’s Nuke Facilities: ‘We Cannot Negotiate’

https://www.mediaite.com/news/john-fetterman-calls-for-the-destruction-of-irans-nuke-facilities-we-cannot-negotiate/

Only two (2) days until the Ides of March! Look sharp!

JFK library in Boston has been closed due to an Executive order. Probably signed today
Wcvb.com has the story.

Releasing the classified RFK, JFK, and MLK documents won't roil any still waters, will it?

https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/20/us/cecile-richards-death-planned-parenthood/index.html

Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani.

@GottaLaff

Pressed by CNN on that December statement from the archivist, the senior official said that the archivist’s role is “prescribed by statute,” is “purely ministerial,” and “she is required to publish an amendment once it has been effectively ratified.”

Ultimately, the official conceded, “It will be up to the courts to interpret this and their view of the Equal Rights Amendment.”

Shogan, who would be responsible for the amendment’s publication, said in a December statement alongside Deputy Archivist William Bosanko that the amendment “cannot be certified as part of the Constitution due to established legal, judicial, and procedural decisions,” pointing to a pair of conclusions in 2020 and 2022 from the Office of Legal Counsel at the US Department of Justice that affirmed that ratification deadlines were enforceable.

CNN reached out to the National Archives for guidance on what the archivist plans to do, and was directed to Shogan and Bosanko’s prior statement, calling it a “long standing position for the Archivist and the National Archives.”