#us judge

[momiji-kitsune]

[Image Description:

A screenshot of a Bluesky post by Ari Drennen (@/aridrennen.bsky.social) on February 18, 2025 at 5:36 PM. It received 1.4 thousand reposts, 286 quotes, and 5.2 thousand likes.

The post is a reaction post to a screenshot of court transcript from the United States of America. Ari Drennen's reaction to the transcripts read:

Trump's lawyers are absolutely flailing in courts right now

The screenshot of the court transcript reads:

Judge Reyes: EO 14183 adopts the definitions of a seperate executive order called Defending Women from Gender Ideology, Extremism and Restoring biological Truth to the federal government. And that EO states, "sex shall refer to an individual's immutable biological classification as either male or female." And it states that, "It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female." Do you see that or do you remember that?

Jason C. Lynch: I will take the court's word for it.

Judge Reyes: You understand, as a matter of biology, it's just incorrect that there are only two sexes, right?

Jason C. Lynch: Do I understand that to be incorrect was a biological matter?

Judge Reyes: Yes. It is incorrect as a biological matter. You understand that, right?

Jason C. Lynch: I don't understand that to be incorrect.

Judge Reyes: You understand that not everyone has an xx or an xy chromosome, right?

Jason C. Lynch: Honestly, no, I don't.

Judge Reyes: It's actually kind of a really important point because this executive order is premised on an assertion that's not biologically correct. There are anywhere near about 30 different intersex examples. So someone who does not have just xx or xy chromosomes is not just male or female. They're intersex. And there are over 30 potential different intersex examples. We've got genetic differences. We have people with xxx chromosomes. We have androgen insensitivity, xy genetically, that may have female external sex characteristics and internally have testes. There's a five alpha reductase deficiency that causes changes in testosterone metabolism, xy that may have female external genitalia or ambiguous genitalia. The point being, and I'm happy to have you guys brief this more if you want, but I'm telling you right now that there are more people who are neither male or female. And so the premise of the executive order is just incorrect.

/.End ID]

Literally sobbing. A judge, a US judge defended us. A judge brought up intersex people, using the term intersex, to *defend* us by not allowing our erasure. I'm having a lot of feelings right now

[gwydionmisha]

US judge accuses Trump of ignoring rule of law to curb birthright citizenship

[mumblingsage]

I'm wondering if, as a society who cares about vulnerable people, we could stop saying "traumatize" when we truly mean "upset"?

I am sick of hearing sad books or movies "traumatize" their readers. I simply do not believe that happens. A traumatic experience might be adjacent to books (I have vivid memories of books I was reading around certain experiences and even how the contents of those books affected my processing of the experiences). But it's not caused by the book. And, y'know. The weather is Christofascist Censorship Attempts outside.

Meanwhile from the other side I continue to be surprised at just how badly people fail to understand trauma and traumatic experiences in general. Watering down the term isn't helping. Find other hyperbole to express that The Bridge to Terebithia gutted you, chewed on your heartstrings, and made you cry your first pair of contact lenses right out of your preteen eyes.

(ETA here although it's impossible to edit reblogs: over the months since this post really took off, there has been valuable discussion in the comments. I stand by the passion with which I wrote this post and with the general message, but not all the exact wording. I talk more about the way I'd re-write this post in a response here, replying to an addition that added a ton of useful context [other additions touched on similar themes, but that person had it all together in one reblog]. With that said, I am muting this post.)

[global-newz]

US Judge Orders Google to Allow Rivals in App Store

A federal judge in the US has mandated that Google must permit rival tech companies' Android apps in its Google Play app store for a period of three years starting next month. This decision comes as part of remedies ordered by Judge James Donato in a lawsuit initiated by Epic Games, the creator of the popular video game Fortnite.

In response to the ruling, Google announced its intention to appeal and seek a pause on the proposed changes. A jury previously sided with Epic Games, asserting that Google had suppressed competition by controlling app distribution and payment processes on Android devices.

Google expressed concerns, stating that the changes could jeopardize consumer privacy and security, complicate app promotion for developers, and diminish competition on devices.

Legal experts view this ruling as a significant challenge to the dominance of major tech companies. Rebecca Haw Allensworth, a professor at Vanderbilt Law School, remarked that the ruling demonstrates the courts' willingness to demand that dominant platforms provide access to competitors in the interest of fostering competition.

The judge also ordered Google to make its app catalogue accessible to competing app stores. Mark Lemley, a professor at Stanford Law School, noted that while such requirements aren't typical under antitrust law, they are permissible once a company is found to have violated antitrust statutes.

Google contended that its Play store operates within a competitive environment, pointing to competition from Apple, which Epic Games also sued in 2020. However, an appeals court later ruled that Apple does not monopolize mobile games.

This latest order adds to a series of legal challenges Google has faced regarding competition. In August, US District Judge Amit Mehta sided with the Department of Justice in a case accusing Google of maintaining an illegal monopoly in online search. Last month, District Judge Leonie Brinkema heard arguments regarding similar claims that Google dominates the advertising technology market.

Critics argue that Google's fees of up to 30% on app store payments have led to increased consumer prices. Lee Hepner, Senior Legal Counsel at the American Economic Liberties Project, suggested that the ruling could prompt changes, increasing incentives for developers to enter the market and potentially lowering prices for consumers.

[momiji-kitsune]

[Image Description:

Five screenshots of social media posts about Judge Ana Reyes:

The first post is by Rebecca Solnit, which reads:

We know who the villains are in this coup. But so many heroes are showing up to oppose them, and many of them are federal employees, including judges. I live you supreme boss-hero champion Judge Ana Reyes, taking on the military's trans ban by telling Team Trump they don't know shit and are ridiculous and schooling them in the realities of gender, pronouns, chromosomes, and other stuff you might want to know before you decide to launch an attack and take it before the bench.

A screenshot of a court transcript about the military trans ban is attached to this post, which reads:

Judge Reyes: EO 14183 adopts the definitions of a seperate executive order called Defending Women from Gender Ideology, Extremism and Restoring biological Truth to the federal government. And that EO states, "sex shall refer to an individual's immutable biological classification as either male or female." And it states that, "It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female." Do you see that or do you remember that?

Jason C. Lynch: I will take the court's word for it.

Judge Reyes: You understand, as a matter of biology, it's just incorrect that there are only two sexes, right?

Jason C. Lynch: Do I understand that to be incorrect was a biological matter?

Judge Reyes: Yes. It is incorrect as a biological matter. You understand that, right?

Jason C. Lynch: I don't understand that to be incorrect.

Judge Reyes: You understand that not everyone has an xx or an xy chromosome, right?

Jason C. Lynch: Honestly, no, I don't.

Judge Reyes: It's actually kind of a really important point because this executive order is premised on an assertion that's not biologically correct. There are anywhere near about 30 different intersex examples. So someone who does not have just xx or xy chromosomes is not just male or female. They're intersex. And there are over 30 potential different intersex examples. We've got genetic differences. We have people with xxx chromosomes. We have androgen insensitivity, xy genetically, that may have female external sex characteristics and internally have testes. There's a five alpha reductase deficiency that causes changes in testosterone metabolism, xy that may have female external genitalia or ambiguous genitalia. The point being, and I'm happy to have you guys brief this more if you want, but I'm telling you right now that there are more people who are neither male or female. And so the premise of the executive order is just incorrect.

The second post is by Elizabeth Cronise McLaughlin (@/ecmclaughlin.bsky.social). It is a quote post of Chris Geidner's (@/chrisgeidner.bsky.social) post that reads:

"Every single pronoun in the history of mankind has been invented." - Reyes's response to this part of the EO: (b) The Secretary shall promptly issue directives for DoD to end invented and identification-based pronoun usage to best achieve the policy outlined in section 2 of this order.

McLaughlin's response to Geidner's post, written in all capitals, reads:

THANK YOU JUDGE REYES.

The third screenshot contains two posts by Chris Geidner. The first reads:

Reyes asks if there is a current discrimination against transgender people, and the most DOJ's Lynch will say is, "I am sure they can find an instance of discrimination."

Reyes ten reads a list of Trump administration actions against transgender people in its first month.

The second most reads:

Reyes goes off.

"You cannot tell me that transgender people are not being discriminated against." Of the Stonewall website deletion, Reyes says, "We are literally erasing their contributions to modern society. ... It screams animus."

The fourth screenshot is by Mueller, She Wrote (@/muellershewrote.bsky.social), which reads:

Another fiery exchange from Judge Reyes in the trans military case:

A screenshot of a section of the court transcript about the military trans ban is attached, and reads:

REYES: [The order] calls an entire category of people dishonest, dishonorable, undisciplined, immodest, who lack integrity, people who have taken an oath to defend this country, people who have been under fire, people who have received medals for taking fire for this country. I want to know from the government whether that language expresses 'animus'. Does that express animus?

DOJ ATTORNEY: Not in any constitutional —

REYES: In a commonsense way. This is a policy from the President of the United States affecting thousands of people ... to call an entire group of people lying, dishonest people who are undisciplined, immodest, and have no integrity. How is that anything other than showing animus?

DOJ ATTORNEY: I don't have an answer for you.

REYES: You do have an answer, you just don't want to give it...Poeple who make solid arguments as to why some or even most transgender people shouldn't be in the military ... We're dealing with unadulterated animus. We are dealing with the president of the United States dealing with a group of people serving their country ... calling them liars.

(Reyes then said she changed her courtroom orders to bar people who graduated from UVA law school from appearing before her because "they're all liars and lack integrity and are undisciplined and can't possibly meet the high rigours of being a lawyer for the government". She made the DOJ lawyer sit down on that basis then, after he did, she called him back up and asked whether that was a display of animus.)

The fifth screenshot is by Kyle Cheney (@/kyledcheney.bsky.social) that reads:

Quite an exchange here between Judge Reyes and DOJ attorney on how "pronoun usage" affects military readiness.

Attached to the post is a screenshot of the court transcript for the military trans ban, which reads:

REYES: Can we agree that the greatest fighting force ... is not going to be impacted in any way by less than 1 percent of the soldiers using a different pronoun than others might want to call them?

DOJ ATTORNEY: I can't agree with that here.

REYES: Would you agree with me that if you military is negatively impacted in any kind of way that matters ... We all have a lot bigger problems than pronoun use. We have a military that is incompetent. Any common sense rational human being knows that it doesn't.

It is pretext. It is frankly ridiculous. If you want to get me an officer of the U.S. military who is willing to get on the stand and say that because of pronoun usage the U.S. military is less prepared because of pronoun usage. I will be the first to give you a box of cigars.

/.End ID]

[awkward-sultana]

A few Harris memes to enjoy while you cook your pets, guillotine your newborns and schedule your prison sex change.

[gotstabbedbyapen]

It's always "Hades isn't bad or cruel, his deeds are just metaphors of the inevitable death" or "Hades kidnapping Persephone represent the premature death".

But when the argument "Zeus has numerous affairs and many children because he represent the fertile rain" is brought up, all nuance is suddenly out of the window and Zeus is just a womanizer who can't keep it in his pants.

[annerbhp]

One of the great things about fandom is that sooner or later you will think to yourself: I would never write/read x kind of story, I would never ship x kind of pairing, I would never do whatever fandom thing, and then, if you stick around long enough, you will 100% become a clown of your own making. It’s inevitable and I love it.

[mossribcage]

just remember, kids: if someone is trying to convince you to incite violence, they are a fed

[mariacallous]

The judge who brought up intersex people to point out how inaccurate and wrong the Trump EO is? She was appointed by…

[loriache]

"I've been waiting for ages for somebody to unmask them."

This moment tends to elicit negative reactions in a first read through, and I've got some opinions about why where Kabru is coming from here actually makes a lot of logical sense. So I thought I'd elaborate on that.

I think people hear this and go, "He thinks they must be hiding something because they gave money to someone? What a cynic." Or "he dislikes them because they did charity?? What's wrong with this guy!". And obviously, a lot, a lot is wrong with him. But I think this makes more sense than it seems at first glance! What people evaluating this judgement miss is why Kabru is paying attention to Laios and co to begin with.

Kabru knows of the Touden siblings because (he's a little bit of a stalker-) he is keeping an eye on all the relevant parties in events developing on the island, in order to be able to guide them to his preferred outcome. This includes adventurers because they are the ones actually exploring the dungeon! He's well aware that something as minor as internal tensions between party members could be key to the historical events that are developing. (He would love the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.)

His desired outcome is that whatever the rewards are of breaking the dungeon's curse, whether that's kingship or the ancient elven secrets of dungeons, are claimed by:

A) a short lived person

B) Someone who will be a good, effective leader and/or use those secrets and the power they carry wisely, with foresight, and to establish a political bloc for short lived people.

The person he can best trust to do this is, of course, himself. But due to his PTSD regarding dungeons and monsters, he's not able to develop the necessary skills to conquer the dungeon. Once he realises this, he starts looking for someone else who he can support to that end.

But most of the adventurers don't have any intentions of conquering the dungeon, don't have the skills, or are unsuitable in other ways. In fact, it seems like some potentially suitable people are the Toudens. There are a lot of good rumours about them going around - they actually seem to have a very positive reputation! That's what Kabru means when he says "unmask".

So when Kabru is observing something like them giving money to an old comrade from their gold-peeling days, he doesn't consider it a problem because "they're giving money to this person who doesn't actually need it" or because they must have some dark secret if they act superficially nice. I think he actually understands this situation and what it implies about Laios (in particular) perfectly well.

Laios and Falin gave money to an old comrade who got injured and couldn't work. That person then healed up but kept taking their money. Then he used the money to start smuggling illicit goods to the island.

The key is that for Kabru, the problem here is the same as with the corpse retrievers - people using the dungeon's resources to fuel dangerous, selfish, or violent pursuits cause problems for the island, attract more criminals and people with motives other than breaking the curse, and increase the chances of the whole situation ending in tragedy.

Kabru is willing to work with the Shadow Lord of the island if it gets him to his goal - he isn't scrupulous - but the criminal element of the island increasing is something he sees as a major issue.

Also, when you're evaluating someone as a candidate for power, riches, secrets, potentially kingship - then being curious about how the money you give to people is going to be used is kind of a relevant trait!

Interpersonally, Kabru's actually very easygoing - I mean, Mickbell isn't exactly an upstanding guy, is he! But Kabru likes him and they get along well. These traits wouldn't be a problem at all in a friend, or a comrade, or someone Kabru was confident he could use. But he can't get a handle on Laios, and Laios is someone who has the potential to be a major player!

On Laios' end, this is the same as with the marriage seeker who joined their party. She kept asking for things and he gave them to her, because he tries to be nice to others. He even gives her money! It's the exact same thing.

That's fine, but it became a problem because he basically wasn't interested in her motives, didn't notice she was trying to manipulate him, and it also didn't occur to him that the other party members would notice or be affected. We can assume the situation with the gold peeler is the same. When Kabru says that "It's not that they're bad people, they just aren't interested in humans," he isn't wrong.

The extent to which this is true of Laios is linked to his autism imo, (because it isn't just disinterest - he genuinely isn't able to notice nonverbal cues that people are lying to him or have ulterior motives) but to a greater or lesser extent I think it's a very common trait. Most people aren't actually that interested in other people who aren't close to them. Kabru is the weird one here. It isn't an issue except as a leader - which is why we see an immediate comparison to the Island's Lord, because that's how Kabru is evaluating them.

And disinterest in/lack of ability with people to the extent Laios exhibits it, it does, actually, make him a worse leader... it's just that as we see in the story, people can help him out. The rest of the party tell him the marriage seeker is taking advantage of him so he tells her he can't give her special treatment anymore. They're pissed and it's a crisis point - he couldn't have recovered their trust without Marcille and Falin - but that's exactly the point. With Marcille and Falin, he was able to recover their trust.

And he has other good traits that make up for it, such as his intelligence, strategic knowledge, open-mindedness and sense of fairplay.

Kabru doesn't disqualify Laios as a candidate based on what he sees about him from afar, though - he still tries very hard to get close to him, obviously hoping that if he manages he can steer Laios to defeat the dungeon and make up for his lack of people-skills in the aftermath. (Which... he does eventually achieve that goal!) He completely fails until the events of the story, so... definitely I think "They just aren't interested in humans" could also partially be a stung reaction to Laios' complete disinterest in him.

Anyway, that's my read on what exactly Kabru's "issue" with Laios is. Obviously, once he does find out what Laios' true nature is like - about his love for monsters - he develops an entirely new set of fears about Laios' priorities. But since Laios kept that a secret until the start of the story, he has no idea of that yet.

Given all that, I think it's interesting that he says that he doesn't think that the Toudens are suitable to defeat the dungeon, and that he's hoping they'll turn out to be the thieves. As some of his few potential candidates, people who he thinks may play a big role in the island's future, you'd think he'd hope they would be good people!

I suppose it's better, in his eyes, because it means that he's involved in something "interesting". They haven't just had their stuff stolen by regular criminals (boring, puts them further away from his goal) - they've been caught up in the beginning stages of "a historic event". The desperate and dwindling group forgetting morals in their quest to retrieve their lost comrade probably appeals to his sense of melodrama. Because he also just... loves drama.

Despite it being "uglier than anything he was expecting", he still pursues Laios as the person he wants to conquer the dungeon pretty much as soon as it becomes clear that he won't be able to do it himself and they are out of time. That's because... well, to be fair, there aren't any other options. And he fits standard A: he's short-lived!

and Kabru still hopes he can fit standard B, too, and be persuaded to use the power he wins for good. No matter how many nightmares he has about Laios, or whether he thinks about killing him. He doubts him, but ultimately he puts his faith in him and seems happy after the manga's ending that he made the right decision.

[ellenchain]

I've been confused about a lot lately

[stardynamite]

Went a lil crazy with the colours lmao

i just really wanted to draw them but i never know what to do lmao

Donnie’s various eyebrow headcannons are a never-fail-to-aMuSe-me kind if subject lmao

Next episode —>

[batboyblog]

Things the Biden-Harris Administration Did This Week #30

August 2-9 2024

The Department of Interior announced the largest investment since 1979 in outdoor recreation and conservation projects. The $325 million will go to support State, territorial, DC, and tribal governments in buying new land for parks and outdoor recreation sites. It also supports expansion and refurbishment of existing sites.

The EPA announced that Birmingham Alabama will get $171 million to update and replace its water system. The city of Birmingham is 70% black and like many black majority cities as struggled with aging water systems and lead pipes causing dangerous drinking water conditions. This investment is part of the Biden-Harris administrations plan to replace all of the nation's lead pipes.

The Department of Energy announced $2.2 billion in investments in the national power grid to help boost resiliency in the face of extreme weather. The projects will add 13 gigawatts of capacity, support 5,000 new jobs and upgrade 1,000 miles of transmission. Major projects will cut power outages in the west, drive down energy prices in New England, add off shore wind, and enable the development of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s wind resources.

The Justice Department won its massive anti-trust case against Google. A federal judge ruled that Google was an illegal monopoly. The DOJ has an ongoing antitrust suit against Apple, while the Federal Trade Commission is suing Facebook and Amazon for their monopolist practices

The US Government announced $3.9 billion in direct aid to Ukraine. The money will help the Government of Ukraine make up for massive budget short falls caused by the war with Russia. It'll help pay the salaries of teachers, emergency workers, and other public employees, as well helping displaced persons, low-income families and people with disabilities.

The Department of Energy announced $190 million to improve air quality and energy upgrades in K-12 schools. The grants to 320 schools across 25 states will impact 123,000 students, 94% of these schools service student bodies where over half the students qualify for free and reduced lunch. In the face of climate change more schools have been forced to close for extreme heat. These grants will help schools with everything from air filtration, to AC, to more robust energy systems, to replacing lighting.

USAID announced $424 million in additional humanitarian aid to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Due to ongoing conflict and food insecurity, 25 million Congolese are in need of humanitarian aid. This year alone the US has sent close to a billion dollars in aid to the DRC, making it the single largest donor to the crisis.

The Senate approved President Biden's appointment of Stacey Neumann of Maine, Meredith Vacca of New York, and Joseph Saporito Jr. of Pennsylvania to life time federal Judgeships. This brings the total of judges appointed by President Biden to 205. President Biden is the first President who's judicial nominations have not been majority white men, Judge Vacca is the first Asian American to serve in her district court. President Biden has also focused on former public defenders, like Judge Saporito, and former labor lawyers like Judge Neumann, as well as civil rights lawyers.

[valrvn]

enough talk of boy pussy. I am here to discuss man cunt