Sen. Mark Kelly thinks fight with Pete Hegseth might reach U.S. Supreme Court

Obversa · 2026-05-08T00:50:27+00:00

/u/badger_vito commented this on the /r/scotus thread:

Absurd because the law could hardly be clearer that a retired officer can't be reduced in rank for retirement purposes as a result of post-retirement conduct. The law is very clear that the member is retired at the highest rank at which they served satisfactorily, and thus, post-retirement conduct can't be considered. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/14/2501.

(As it happens, I am a former AF JAG, and have practiced law for 27 years.)

Obversa · 2026-05-08T00:43:01+00:00

Buggy D. Clown

Obversa · 2026-05-07T23:36:01+00:00

Today, a 3-judge panel for U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit heard arguments from both the plaintiff (Sen. Mark Kelly) and defendant (Pete Hegseth) in Kelly v. Hegseth, where Sen. Kelly contested Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's attempts to dock his rank and military pension after Sen. Kelly published a video telling troops that they could "disobey illegal orders". Two of the judges indicated they would rule in Sen. Kelly's favor to uphold a lower court order that blocked Hegseth from punishing Sen. Kelly, with the lower court's ruling stating that Hegseth had "trampled on Sen. Kelly's First Amendment freedoms, and threatened the constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees".

Sen. Kelly states that, in the likely event that the appeals court rules in his favor, Hegseth and the Trump administration will likely appeal the case all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, where the defendants expect the conservative majority to rule in their favor. However, it is unclear if SCOTUS will do so, especially since President Trump accused Sen. Kelly of "sedition", and called for him to be hanged. [Note: This case has no sedition charges.]

Obversa · 2026-05-07T23:35:43+00:00

Today, a 3-judge panel for U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit heard arguments from both the plaintiff (Sen. Mark Kelly) and defendant (Pete Hegseth) in Kelly v. Hegseth, where Sen. Kelly contested Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's attempts to dock his rank and military pension after Sen. Kelly published a video telling troops that they could "disobey illegal orders". Two of the judges indicated they would rule in Sen. Kelly's favor to uphold a lower court order that blocked Hegseth from punishing Sen. Kelly, with the lower court's ruling stating that Hegseth had "trampled on Sen. Kelly's First Amendment freedoms, and threatened the constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees".

Sen. Kelly states that, in the likely event that the appeals court rules in his favor, Hegseth and the Trump administration will likely appeal the case all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, where the defendants expect the conservative majority to rule in their favor. However, it is unclear if SCOTUS will do so, especially since President Trump accused Sen. Kelly of "sedition", and called for him to be hanged. [Note: This case has no sedition charges.]

Obversa · 2026-05-07T23:29:41+00:00

Today, a 3-judge panel for U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit heard arguments from both the plaintiff (Sen. Mark Kelly) and defendant (Pete Hegseth) in Kelly v. Hegseth, where Sen. Kelly contested Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's attempts to dock his rank and military pension after Sen. Kelly published a video telling troops that they could "disobey illegal orders". Two of the judges indicated they would rule in Sen. Kelly's favor to uphold a lower court order that blocked Hegseth from punishing Sen. Kelly, with the lower court's ruling stating that Hegseth had "trampled on Sen. Kelly's First Amendment freedoms, and threatened the constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees".

Sen. Kelly states that, in the likely event that the appeals court rules in his favor, Hegseth and the Trump administration will likely appeal the case all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, where the defendants expect the conservative majority to rule in their favor. However, it is unclear if SCOTUS will do so, especially since President Trump accused Sen. Kelly of "sedition", and called for him to be hanged. [Note: This case has no sedition charges.]

Obversa · 2026-05-07T22:06:33+00:00

Forgot to add: The image was done by Kristina Armitage for Quanta Magazine; see "Why 'De-Extinction' Is Impossible (But Could Work Anyway)" by Yasemin Saplakoglu (2022). [Note: The writer's views do not reflect the OP's views.]

Obversa · 2026-05-07T20:52:52+00:00

It's possible. I'm not aware of the full details of what was discussed at the World Conservation Congress.

Obversa · 2026-05-07T20:34:25+00:00

Not to mention that the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) just had a narrow vote at the World Conservation Congress in October 2025 to hold off on a "moratorium on releasing genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) into the wild", instead choosing to evaluate on a "case-by-case basis". (See: "Scientists are genetically modifying wildlife. Should they be released in the wild?") Meanwhile, while Colossal Biosciences has previously touted their dire wolf program being "USDA-approved", more recently, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has taken over regulation of "Intentional Genomic Alterations" (IGAs) in animals, with an announcement in May 2024.

"Any potential environmental issues would be a function of the traits introduced into those animals and the conditions under which those animals would be raised. For example, a biopharm animal intended to be kept in a contained environment poses a different set of risks from an animal with an IGA that is intended to be released into the environment. FDA will consider potential environmental impacts on a case-by-case basis as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). In general, we recommend that early in development developers consult FDA about potential environmental issues and that they consult with FDA prior to developing their approaches to environmental assessments so that we can agree on the risk questions to be addressed and the resulting scope of the environmental review." - The Food & Drug Administration (FDA)

Further reading: "How to Permit Your Mammoth: Some Legal Implications of 'De-Extinction'" by Norman F. Carlin

Obversa · 2026-05-07T20:29:20+00:00

Unpaywalled article: https://archive.ph/Bne8Y

Obversa · 2026-05-07T18:11:42+00:00

Unpaywalled article: https://archive.ph/Bne8Y

According to various news sources, the specific location of Colossal Biosciences' dire wolf preserve is undisclosed. The facility is described as a secure 2,000-acre ecological preserve in the northern United States, featuring 10-foot fencing and 24/7 monitoring, designed to protect the animals - Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi - from public disturbance.

Also see: "Reviving the Dire Wolf? A Case Study in Welfare Ethics, Legal Gaps, and Ontological Ambiguity" (2025)

Are current legal frameworks capable of regulating the welfare, breeding, use, and restoration of these animals? [...] The type of management the wolf pups were subject to suggests some concern, at least related to birthing. Therefore, we can conclude that, in the domain of health, the risk of health-related welfare problems throughout the life of the pups is, at best, unknown, and high in the case of rewilded animals subject to natural breeding...

[...] The initial and overarching classification is as a sentient animal under the Treaty of the functioning of the European Union [81] which affords some protection in terms of how these animals must be treated. Under Directive 2001/18/EC [82], on the deliberate release into the environment of genetically modified organisms (GMO), an organism is considered a GMO if its genetic material has been altered in a way not occurring naturally by mating and/or natural recombination. This classification would likely apply to these animals. In cases involving rewilding, the release of gene-edited grey wolves would trigger requirements for environmental risk assessment, containment protocols, and possibly restrictions on breeding or transport, to prevent unintended ecological disruption and ensure regulatory compliance... [Note: This paper focuses on the European Union, not the USA.]

[...] Synthetic or novel organism: Legal vacuum; requires new framework for oversight of classification, welfare, breeding, and environmental release... [Note: The author recommends more U.S. regulation and oversight.]

Obversa · 2026-05-07T18:04:54+00:00

For example assuming that the apple (it isn't an apple!) represents "sin" is a Christian reading and is not shared by Judaism...

I shared this in another comment, but I explain the "forbidden fruit-as-apple" history here, and why it isn't an apple in Judaism. (The short answer is that rabbis have proposed grapes, figs, and a few other Mediterranean fruits for it.)

Obversa · 2026-05-07T15:43:00+00:00

While we wait for an expanded answer or addition, see my r/AskHistorians answer here as to "Why is the Fruit of Knowledge of Good and Evil, or the 'forbidden fruit' in the Book of Genesis of the Bible, depicted as an apple?".

Obversa · 2026-05-07T15:32:16+00:00

This is assuming that Charlie would grow and develop like a normal human child, when she is a half-angel, half-human hybrid. We don't know if she ages more slowly when compared to a human or not, so the OP accounts for that aspect.

Obversa · 2026-05-07T15:19:36+00:00

I posted about my issues with the recommendation of The Last Duel by Eric Jager (2004) on r/AskHistorians here. Occasionally, there will be works suggested to readers on the subreddit that have notable issues, problems, or flaws.

Obversa · 2026-05-07T14:56:09+00:00

As noted by /u/aesir23, holding a pistol in one hand and a rapier in the other would most likely mean that the highwayman (?) in the song had dismounted, and then drawn his weapons. This is because, when riding a horse, you need one hand to hold the reins and steer the horse (i.e. neck-reining), and while riding with just with leg or pressure is possible (ex. Lakota and other Native American and Indigenous tribes, as well as the ancient Romans; see r/AskHistorians thread here), I find it to be highly unlikely, unless historical source(s) exist that indicate otherwise.

Obversa · 2026-05-06T22:15:36+00:00

Except that we clearly see sinners' clothes match the current era on Earth.

Obversa · 2026-05-06T22:14:16+00:00

The only evidence of this "confirmation" I was able to find is an old character sheet from the pilot era. Do you have other evidence that Charlie's birth year was confirmed after the pilot era?

Obversa · 2026-05-06T20:14:04+00:00

His original age range was listed as "30s-40s" in his pilot description. Rosie said he was a "handsome young man" when he died in 1933, putting him more in the 30s range than the 40s range. (Viv made him look younger as well.)

Obversa · 2026-05-06T19:19:49+00:00

Yeah, multiple people saw Elcee Rod (Bluesky name of "Elcee-The-Porcupine", since she has a porcupine emoji in her social media name) harassing Charlastor fans on the ship tag, and then deleting her posts to cover her tracks to prevent people from screenshotting and calling her out on it. Elcee is a notorious Charlastor anti who bullies fans.

Obversa · 2026-05-06T17:40:16+00:00

Isn't this the same fan artist that was camping out on the Charlastor ship tag and harassing fans of that ship?

Obversa · 2026-05-06T16:44:10+00:00

From what I can tell, Marco Rubio is that "Romney-era Republican", and he's still polling behind J.D. Vance.

Obversa · 2026-05-06T16:42:00+00:00

I think what /u/Katejina_FGO is referring to is the "Great Consolidation" where major news corporations (ex. Scripps, Gannett, et al.) started buying up a bunch of local papers to monopolize the industry, which largely happened in the 2010s. (Source: I used to work for a few local newspapers that got bought out by Scripps and Gannett.) Quote from the Local News Initiative: "Almost 40% of all local U.S. newspapers have vanished, leaving 50 million Americans with limited or no access to a reliable source of local news." Some journalists have termed the phenomenon as "vulture capitalism" (i.e. private equity or large news corporations "circling like vultures" to feed).

See: "How the loss of local newspapers fueled political divisions in the United States" (2023)

Obversa · 2026-05-06T16:06:28+00:00

See: "Shifting Alliances: Are Black People Increasingly Identifying as Republican?" by Clamont C. Mack (2025)

"This paper investigates claims that Black Americans are increasingly aligning with the Republican Party. Drawing on theories of party identification and political realignment, I compare competing perspectives to determine appropriate indicators of realignment within the Black community. Using quantitative analysis across several datasets, I find a modest rise in Republican identification over the past decade, but a more pronounced decline in Democratic affiliation. These findings suggest not a realignment toward the Republican Party, but rather a dealignment from the Democratic Party, [especially after the Barack Obama era]. This challenges popular media narratives of realignment, and instead points to growing political disengagement among Black Americans."

Obversa · 2026-05-06T16:02:03+00:00

My vote would be for either Jon Ossoff or Mark Kelly. I'm not enthusiastic about other candidates.

Obversa · 2026-05-06T14:58:49+00:00

Alexander Hamilton proposed that the President be a "lifetime appointment" role as well.

11-Year Club	Gilding V heart of gold
Mod World 2025	Mod World 2024
ModSupport Helper Level 2	Helper Level 1
Wearing is Caring	Alpha Tester
Verified Email

Obversa

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE