@cdarwin@c.imDemocrats on the House Judiciary Committee
have sent a letter addressed to FBI Director Kash Patel
demanding answers regarding a recent article in The Atlantic
that alleges he regularly engages in excessive partying, drinking, and travel
at the expense of taxpayers.
ht…
@memeorandum@universeodon.comFox News-Pilled SCOTUS Invents Wild Hypotheticals to Justify Curtailing Right to Vote by Mail (Kate Riga/Talking Points Memo)
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/supreme-court-hypothetical-voting-by-mail-grace-period
http://www.memeorandum.com/260323/p101#a260323p101
@aral@mastodon.ar.alDear reply-and-block hasbara bot at @coffeebits@101010.pl (please feel free to report and block),
Zionism is not a race.
Zionism isn’t even a religion.
Zionism is a settler colonialist, genocidal ideology.
Not all Jews are Zionists and not all Zionists are Jews.
And it’s not libel if it’s true.
#israel
@Techmeme@techhub.socialThree precedent-setting court rulings in China have said that employers replacing workers with AI is voluntary cost-cutting that does not justify mass layoffs (Catie Edmondson/New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/19/busines
@aardrian@toot.cafeMore of their ongoing attack against “so-called experts” except now it’s a Christian expert. In this case, Vance has, what, continuing education credits in Christianity? And Trump, who’s never cracked a book, is going to essentially read from the textbook on TV?
https://www.theguardian.com/wor…
@NFL@darktundra.xyzJeremiyah Love NFL Draft profile: A home-run hitter with traits that justify a top-five pick
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/news/jeremiyah-love-nfl-draft-profile/
@servelan@newsie.social"Some supporters of the US-Israeli war on Iran are using the treatment of women in the country as a justification for bombing it."
How is feminism being used to justify war in Iran? | US-Israel war on Iran | Al Jazeera
https://www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfeed/2026/3/12/how-is-feminism-being-used-to-justify-war-in-iran?traffic_source=rss
@scott@carfree.cityI'm noticing people treating this as mere dysfunction, but it's not. City Hall is keeping most of the commissions intact because the whole purpose of “commission reform” was to justify an executive power grab, not because anyone seriously thought having too many commissions was a major issue.
And the executive power grab is still happening. 1/
@memeorandum@universeodon.comHegseth Invokes Divine Purpose to Justify Military Might (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/20/us/politics/hegseth-christianity-military.html
http://www.memeorandum.com/260320/p108#a260320p108
@villavelius@mastodon.online"It becomes very dark when religion is used to justify immoral behaviour... "
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c070jxyjrmeo
Religion, the ultimate power tool for rulers.
@cdarwin@c.im‘Popesplaining’ Vance is out of his depth in the argument over whether Iran is a 'just war'
The contrast in experience between the two men disagreeing over war and theology was striking.
⭐️On the one side was Pope Leo XIV, the first North American to head the Catholic church and the first cleric from the Augustinian order,
who this week visited the modern Algerian city where Saint Augustine once lived.
For Leo, who wrote his doctoral thesis on Augustine’s ideas…
@ErikUden@mastodon.deRE: https://mastodon.de/@ErikUden/116182695277730020
Imperialism wasn't done due to the racist beliefs that those we were colonizing are barbaric, the lie that they were barbarians was invented as a tool to justify the capitalist necessity of colonization.
@aral@mastodon.ar.al“A country might justify that position if it used the proceeds to build something (anything!) like world-class public services, extraordinary infrastructure, or a society so well-functioning that the trade-off had a visible return. Ireland did… None of this. It extracted from others and failed to build anything for itself. That is the uniquely disgraceful aspect of the Irish model; not the extraction alone, but the total nothingnessthat followed it. The nothingness we live in.”
This is…
@gwire@mastodon.socialMassive, massive, overlap between people who justify military action against another country based on terrible things it has done to its domestic population, and people who don't think asylum should be offered to any person subject to those things.
@kexpmusicbot@mastodonapp.uk🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on KEXP's #DriveTime
Madonna:
🎵 Justify My Love
#Madonna
https://chitoon.bandcamp.com/track/madonna-justify-my-love-chitoon-rmx
https://open.spotify.com/track/1cYs6km6tAzpPVk62WLpHn
@kctipton@mas.toTrump advisers scramble to justify possible US military intervention in Iran | The Guardian #iran
@inthehands@hachyderm.ioIt’s why they hired all these bulletheaded chuds in the first place, why they didn’t really train them in much of anything except violence, why they gave them a sense of total impunity.
Well, white supremacy is the reason. But wanting to foment violence that would justify the suspension of democracy was the other reason. They •wanted• one of them to get themselves killed.
4/
@curiouscat@fosstodon.orgAn attorney for ICE emailed Clayton’s office to say that the memo that prosecutors had relied on to defend the government in the lawsuit “does not and has never authorized” the arrests near the immigration courts, after previously claiming the opposite.
https://www.thegua…
@YaleDivinitySchool@mstdn.socialIn the new episode of the YDS “Quadcast,” Professor of American Religious History Tisa Wenger discusses the early U.S. government’s use of Christianity to justify Indigenous land theft, the limits of religious freedom in America, and the importance of Yale’s new certificate in Native American and Indigenous studies.
https://
@cdarwin@c.imPope Leo XIV has said that the world is being “ravaged by a handful of tyrants” who spend billions on war
“Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain,
dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth,”
Leo told a gathering at Saint Joseph Cathedral in western Cameroon.
“They turn a blind eye to the fact that billions of dollars are spent on killing and devastation,
yet the resources need…
@paulwermer@sfba.social @PaulWermer@sfba.social @ErikUden@mastodon.deWhen in history has it ever been about being a good person in a vacuum. It never mattered what you'd do if the time was right, you had infinite money, no status to lose, and no other hurdles to rush through. It was always about what you'd do given the circumstances you find yourself in.
Would you offer someone refuge with little to spare for yourself? Would you stop and help someone in need even if it meant having to justify being late to an event or not showing up at all? Would you he…
@wraithe@mastodon.socialHey, remember when the regime was justifying everything they were doing because the “Dow was over 50,000”‽
Man, one month ago was a simpler time, huhn?
@chiraag@mastodon.onlineChina has problems, but at least their courts still do the right thing every so often:
https://finance.yahoo.com/sectors/technology/articles/ai-termination-ban-why-chinese-184031008.html
@thesaigoneer@social.linux.pizzaBecause I need to justify my hardware endeavours I did a quickie on the Framework website. Forking out 1739 Trumpies for a laptop that I'll have to keep looking at eternally. Guess I'll skip this 😆 Sold out until September. You never hear people talking about e-waste anymore these days. Crisis, what crisis?
@sonnets@bots.krohsnest.comSonnet 139 - CXXXIX
O! call not me to justify the wrong
That thy unkindness lays upon my heart;
Wound me not with thine eye, but with thy tongue:
Use power with power, and slay me not by art,
Tell me thou lov'st elsewhere; but in my sight,
Dear heart, forbear to glance thine eye aside:
What need'st thou wound with cunning, when thy might
Is more than my o'erpressed defence can bide?
Let me excuse thee: ah! my love well knows
@servelan@newsie.socialCourt orders ICE to justify arrest of Nashville journalist • Louisiana Illuminator
https://lailluminator.com/2026/03/08/repub/ice-nashville-journalist/
@aardrian@toot.cafe“The Accessibility Problem Isn't Design. It's Engineering.”
https://gbbns.co/journal/accessibility-problem-isnt-design/
Looking at EAA as a compliance concern, with LLMs as the accelerant going the wrong direction.
@inthehands@hachyderm.ioICE is still not out of Minneapolis-St. Paul, but I’m willing to say that we are no longer under •siege•. The Eye of Dumbass Sauron has moved elsewhere. Now it’s more an ongoing threat, usually background-level but sometimes not, that continues through normal life. You know…like the supposed criminal gang activity they used to justify their mass attack on immigrants in the first place.
It’s not over, but it’s not just MSP. It’s the whole country’s problem.
6/
@cdarwin@c.imFederal prosecutors have repeatedly filed charges (and appealed adverse rulings),
arguing that
⚠️knowingly crossing the border is sufficient to prove criminal intent.
More than 20 legal scholars and former prosecutors told reporters they could not identify a conventional
law-enforcement or military goal that would justify their persistence.
@memeorandum@universeodon.comDOJ says it erroneously relied on ICE memo to justify immigration courthouse arrests (Chloe Atkins/NBC News)
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/doj-says-erroneously-relied-ice-memo-justify-immigration-courthouse-ar-rcna265206
http://www.memeorandum.com/260325/p153#a260325p153
@BBC6MusicBot@mastodonapp.uk
@kurt@nelson.funI think it's time that we start thinking about how to bring the 76X Marin Headlands weekend route back if we are serious about tourism. Now with open-loop tap-to-pay, it's easy for tourists to take the bus. Combine with the incoming cable car fare changes that bundle a day pass, and I think we have the ridership to justify it.
@Techmeme@techhub.socialEpoch AI: Google controls ~25% of global AI compute, with ~3.8M TPUs and 1.3M GPUs; Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian says demand and revenue justify the spend (Stephen Morris/Financial Times)
https://www.ft.com/content/2429f0f0-b685-4747-b425-bf8001a2e94c
@kctipton@mas.toMilitary Leaders See Iran War as Part of “God’s Divine Plan” #fascism
@NFL@darktundra.xyzThe argument for (and against) selecting Jeremiyah Love as top-five pick in 2026 NFL Draft
https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/jeremiyah-love-2026-nfl-dr…
@cdarwin@c.imDonald Trump is planning to use his attack on Iran to justify a power grab over voting in the 2026 midterms.
The fact that the attack violates the Constitution won’t stop him from trying.
It is our job to expose this plot and ensure that it does not succeed. https://www.
@servelan@newsie.socialGotta up the body count with some civilians to justify continued hostilities...and an emergency declaration?
US Embassies Tell Americans in Middle East They Can't Help Evacuate Them - Business Insider
https://www.businessinsider.com/us-embassies-say-they-cannot-evacuate-americans-middle-east-iran2026-3
@memeorandum@universeodon.comChairman of the Joint Chiefs Struggles to Justify Trump's Threats (Greg Jaffe/New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/07/us/politics/general-caine-iran-war.html
http://www.memeorandum.com/260407/p140#a260407p140
@cdarwin@c.imDuring a Palm Sunday mass in St Peter’s Square, the pope said the conflict between Iran, Israel and the US was “atrocious” and that Jesus could not be used to justify war.
“This is our God: Jesus, king of peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war,” he told tens of thousands of worshippers.
“He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.”
Quoting a Bible passage, Leo added:
“‘Even though you make many prayers, I will not li…
@cdarwin@c.imStephen Miller and Donald Trump Want War
-- They are ignoring a judge's ruling,
ignoring the sovereign right of governors to keep their states safe
and ignoring the on-the-ground facts to justify their dangerous invasions
Source: Steven Beschloss
https://bsky.app/profile/an…
@servelan@newsie.socialReligion Clause: 9th Circuit: Anti-Transgender Comments Justify Mayor's Veto of Membership on Police Advisory Board
http://religionclause.blogspot.com/2026/02/9th-circuit-anti-transgender-comments.html
@mgorny@social.treehouse.systems @cdarwin@c.imWhile pursuing regime change in Iran, Trump is desperately attempting to stop regime change through the midterm elections.
He needs a swift victory in Iran to avoid a quagmire, but he needs a long war to attempt the assertion of unconstitutional emergency authority over the electoral process.
Plunging into war followed Trump’s signature style:
he negotiated in bad faith,
turned to bombing when the sides were making “significant progress”, according to Oman’s foreign …
@buercher@tooting.chWhat is extraordinary is that Trump himself, prior to the attacks, made next to no attempt to articulate or justify to the American people, to Congress or to his allies his actions or his objectives.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/28/yet-another-mid-talks-attack-jeopardises-chances-of-iran-taking-trump-seriously?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
@cdarwin@c.imA lawyer for ICE provided
false information to federal prosecutors
to justify seizing thousands of people seeking asylum and lawful immigration status in the U.S.
at immigration courts, according to court documents filed Wednesday.
The extraordinary revelation was included in filings by U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton’s office
in a lawsuit brought by the New York Civil Liberties Union and various civil rights groups and community organizations,
which challenges …
@cdarwin@c.imTrump’s likely casus belli for an attack on Iran
– which would be the largest US intervention since the Iraq war
– is fraught with contradictions,
and his top advisers have been left to cover for him as the White House makes the case for intervention.
In his State of the Union address this week, Trump alleged that Iran posed a direct threat to the US
and that the country was “working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America”.
But…
@cdarwin@c.imTrump describes Imane Khelif, the Algerian boxer whose 2024 Paris Olympics match became a flashpoint in the transgender athlete debate, as a man who transitioned to womanhood.
-- She was not.
Khelif is a woman who was assigned female at birth. The entire anecdote, used to justify policy, rests on a lie.
Similarly, Trump claims that Somali-Americans in Minnesota have 94% unemployment.
-- The actual labor force participation rate for that community is approximately 70% …
@cdarwin@c.imAs Christians around the world celebrate Easter Sunday,
we go to Palestine to speak to Reverend Munther Isaac,
pastor of the Lutheran Church in Ramallah and director of the Bethlehem Institute for Peace and Justice,
located in the city of Jesus Christ’s birth.
This year’s Easter preparations come against the backdrop of the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran,
which many Christian nationalists in the U.S., including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth,
are framing in ext…
@cdarwin@c.imSenator Bernie Sanders has denounced the US attack on Iran,
comparing the justifications offered by Donald Trump to the lies used to justify previous US wars on Iraq and Vietnam that ended in disaster.
In a statement on social media, in which he called on his colleagues in the US Senate to deny the authorization for war Trump has not sought, Sanders wrote:
“President Trump, along with his right-wing extremist Israeli ally Benjamin Netanyahu, has begun an illegal, premeditate…
