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Virgil Abt

Virgil Abt

@abtnatural.bsky.social

3.5K followers 400 following 2.9K posts

Credential-less bozo who somehow briefly got on Joshua's LawSky list. PACER pay-pig since it was 7 cents/page. Published knitting theorist (DM me if you're looking for a suitably symmetric stitch for a Mobius strip).

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Virgil Abt @abtnatural.bsky.social · 58m

I think Francis was getting pretty pro-turtle earlier this year.
www.vatican.va/news_service...

Even the way of the cross is traced close to the earth. The mighty withdraw from it; they desire to grasp at heaven. Yet heaven is here below; it hangs low, and we can encounter it even when we fall flat on the ground. Today’s builders of Babel tell us that there is no room for losers, and that those who fall along the way are losers. Theirs is the construction site of Hell. God’s economy, on the other hand, does not kill, discard or crush. It is lowly, faithful to the earth.

Virgil Abt @abtnatural.bsky.social · 1h

They are repeating the ", the official said" in every single sentence. I guess you're saying it's inexcusable to not move all of those to the starts of the sentences?

Virgil Abt @abtnatural.bsky.social · 1h

(By default in 9th Cir., "due Wednesday" means due at the midnight between Wednesday and Thursday, so saying "Midnight" was probably an attempt to be extra explicit, but it really made things less clear.)

Virgil Abt @abtnatural.bsky.social · 1h

Well, it's long past 12am Wednesday and neither party's brief was filed, but I guess in U.S. courts deadline-ese, "Midnight Wednesday" means "12am Thursday".

Virgil Abt @abtnatural.bsky.social · 2d

I figured that back on July 4, someone was trying to change "Forty-ninth" to "Fiftieth" and it came out "Forty-fiftieth". But actually there was a clemency grant a couple weeks ago that correctly says "Fiftieth".
So George got a new bespoke number for some reason.
www.justice.gov/pardon/media...

Done at the City of Washington in the
District st of Columbia this 1 day of
October in the year of our Lord Two
Thousand Twenty-five and of the
Independence of the United States the
Two Hundred and Fiftieth.

Virgil Abt @abtnatural.bsky.social · 2d

It's the "Oops! All Small Caps" edition.

Virgil Abt @abtnatural.bsky.social · 2d

(The date block includes a newly discovered number, "Two Hundred and Forty-fiftieth". Assuming that's equal to Two Hundred and Ninety, I guess Santos may have to wait forty years before the clemency is effective?)

Done at the City of Washington in the
District of Columbia this 17th day of
October in the year of our Lord Two
Thousand and Twenty-five and of the
Independence of the United States the
Two Hundred and Forty-fiftieth.

Virgil Abt @abtnatural.bsky.social · 2d

@joshuajfriedman.com The Santos commutation is out.
www.justice.gov/pardon/media...

Executive Grant of Clemency
Donald J. Trump
President of the United States of America
To ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, GREETING:
BE IT KNOWN, THAT THIS DAY, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT
OF THE UNITED STATES, PURSUANT TO MY POWERS UNDER
ARTICLE II, SECTION 2, CLAUSE 1, OF THE CONSTITUTION, HAVE
GRANTED UNTO THE INDIVIDUAL NAMED BELOW
AN IMMEDIATE COMMUTATION OF HIS ENTIRE SENTENCE To TIME
SERVED WITH NO FURTHER FINES, RESTITUTION, PROBATION,
SUPERVISED RELEASE, OR OTHER CONDITIONS
For those offenses against the United States individually
enumerated and set before me for my consideration:
United States v. Devolder Santos, 2:23-cr-00197
GEORGE ANTHONY DEVOLDER SANTOS
I HEREBY DESIGNATE, direct, and empower the Pardon
Attorney, as my representative, to administer and sign this grant of
clemency to the person named herein. The Pardon Attorney shall
declare that his action is the act of the President, being performed at
my direction.
IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto signed my name and
caused the seal of the Department of Justice to be affixed.

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
QUI PRO DOMINA JUSTITIA SEQUITUR

Done at the City of Washington in the
District of Columbia this 17th day of
October in the year of our Lord Two
Thousand and Twenty-five and of the
Independence of the United States the
Two Hundred and Forty-fiftieth.
DONALD J. TRUMP
PRESIDENT

Virgil Abt @abtnatural.bsky.social · 4d

I can't even remember life before the Segway.

Virgil Abt @abtnatural.bsky.social · 4d

And although the rules of succession to the throne were made gender-neutral in 2015, there was no change for dukedoms. Harry's 2018 Dukedom of Sussex was created with the same male-only begottitude.
www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue...

STATE
Departments of State
CROWN OFFICE
STATE APPOINTMENTS
STATE
In accordance with the direction of HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN
Letters Patent have passed the Great Seal of the Realm, dated the
16th July 2018 granting unto Her Majesty’s Grandson, His Royal
Highness Prince Henry Charles Albert David of Wales, K.C.V.O., and
the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten the dignities of Baron
Kilkeel, Earl of Dumbarton, and Duke of Sussex.
Elaine Chilver

WEST YORKSHIRE LIEUTENANCY
Commissions have now been signed by Her Majesty’s LordLieutenant for the County of West Yorkshire appointing: -
Colonel Patrick Cairns DL, MA, BA (Hons)
Mr. Jon Hammond Booth, DL
Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Karim, DL
Dr Edward Max Ziff, OBE, DL, Hon DBA
Kevin Sharp LVO, DL, Clerk to the West Yorkshire Lieutenancy

LIEUTENANCY OF OXFORDSHIRE
The Lord-Lieutenant of Oxfordshire, Mr Tim Stevenson OBE has
appointed the following to be a Deputy Lieutenant of Oxfordshire:
Brigadier Dennis Hamish Anthony BLEASE
Peter Clark, Clerk to the Lieutenancy
18 July 2018

12928 | CONTAINING ALL NOTICES PUBLISHED ONLINE ON 19 JULY 2018 | LONDON GAZETTE

Virgil Abt @abtnatural.bsky.social · 4d

Yes, Andrew's dukedom was only passable to "heirs male of
his body lawfully begotten", so was due to be extinguished soon anyway.
www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue...

No. 50606 S1

HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE
DIEU ET MON DROIT

SUPPLEMENT TO
The London Gazette
of Wednesday, 23rd July 1986
Published by Authority
Registered as a Newspaper

WEDNESDAY, 23rd JULY 1986
HOME OFFICE
Queen Anne's Gate
London, SW1H9AT
23rd July, 1986

HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN has been pleased to direct
Letters Patent to be passed under the Great Seal of the
Realm, to bear this day's date, granting unto Her
Majesty's Son, His Royal Highness Prince Andrew
Albert Christian Edward cvo and the heirs male of
his body lawfully begotten, the dignities of BARON
KILLYLEAGH, EARL OF INVERNESS and DUKE OF YORK.

LONDON
Printed and published by HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE: 1986
Price 40p net

ISBN 0 11 660606 1
ISSN 0261-8575

PRINTED IN ENGLAND

Virgil Abt @abtnatural.bsky.social · 5d

He already stopped using HRH in 2022.
But I think there's some weirdness in that in some legal sense he still has everything and he's just "no longer using" it. (Just as the King has veto power over legislation and command of the military, but knows that using it will lead to losing his head.)

Which Royal Family members have an HRH title?

Meghan Markle’s representative has spoken out on the issue after she accused of using the HRH title when she shouldn’t have

www.standard.co.uk

Virgil Abt @abtnatural.bsky.social · 7d

Yes, and since I first heard of the CSAM rebrand campaign, I’ve always thought it was weird that anyone ever thought that consent of the subjects was a required element of the definition of the word pornography.

Virgil Abt @abtnatural.bsky.social · 8d

I liked the unabbreviated name Pacific Bell Park, and I was willing to drop the Bell.

Virgil Abt @abtnatural.bsky.social · 8d

Okay, I think I belatedly understand you were talking about the prosecution voluntarily dismissing w/o prejudice to avoid a dismissal with prejudice. Meanwhile, I've been assuming that even if this motion is successful, that success would just be a dismissal w/o prejudice.

Virgil Abt @abtnatural.bsky.social · 8d

Okay, but I thought your skeet was talking about the indictment in this case being involuntarily dismissed, followed by a reindictment. Doesn't the statute straightforwardly allow six months for that?

Virgil Abt @abtnatural.bsky.social · 8d

Doesn't that say that the new, properly appointed lackey gets a free six months, with no need to make a tolling argument?

Virgil Abt @abtnatural.bsky.social · 8d

And that obstinate refusal is also why we live in the U.S. of A. rather than the U.S. of C..

Virgil Abt @abtnatural.bsky.social · 9d

From someone who gets all his news in writing: thank you for making me realize Weiss doesn't rhyme with geese.

Virgil Abt @abtnatural.bsky.social · 9d

In the U.S, if you had a new-fangled touch-tone phone, you could just press 1 and 2 simultaneously to get a pretty good F5.

(It's 697 Hz, which is only about 1/28th of a halftone flat, relative to a standard F5 of 698.46 Hz.)

Virgil Abt @abtnatural.bsky.social · 9d

If you were to submit a petition to a court to do that, you would want to attach official documentation that the candidate had won the election, and that documentation won't exist until tomorrow. The only thing Arizona election officials have released so far is just an unofficial count.

Official Canvass for September 23, 2025 Special General Election | Arizona Secretary of State

Official Canvass for September 23, 2025 Special General Election

Virgil Abt @abtnatural.bsky.social · 9d

Yes, eight decades of restraint, now like tears in the rain.
Good summary of the history in this opinion from April.

Virgil Abt @abtnatural.bsky.social · Apr 12

Unfortunately, it's been there in the law since 1940 (and you can see on that page there have been no changes since 1996).
Only common sense has been keeping the executive branch from enforcing it for eight decades, and of course common sense has now ended.
www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/u...

Case 1:25-cv-00943-TNM Document 27 Filed 04/10/25 Page 2 of 21

The story behind this case begins in 1940, when Congress enacted the Smith Act, also
known as the Alien Registration Act. Pub. L. No. 76-670, 54 Stat. 670 (codified at 8 U.S.C.
§ 451) (repealed 1952). This Act instructed aliens (excluding foreign government officials and
their families) who were present in the United States, 14 years or older, and who remained in the
country for at least 30 days to register and be fingerprinted at a local post office. See id.
§§ 31(b), 32(b), 33(a), 54 Stat. at 673–674. Upon registration, the alien was issued form AR-3, a
registration receipt that itself conferred no immigration status or benefit. See Policy Manual,
U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services, https://perma.cc/Q87R-AX7Z.
Over the decades, the administrative state would dilute these statutory requirements by
regulation. In 1944, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) eliminated the division
responsible for universal registration and shifted registration from post offices to ports of entry
and INS offices. See Flexoline Index (Flex), U.S. National Archives, https://perma.cc/5PKFLPZD. And in 1950, the INS suspended the use of the AR-3. 15 Fed. Reg. 579 (Feb. 2, 1950).
Instead, the INS subbed in preexisting immigration forms that were only available to aliens with
legal immigration status, like the Form I-151 for lawful permanent residents or the Form I-94 for
aliens with a record of lawful entry. Id. at 579–580. So through regulation, aliens who had
entered the country illegally were effectively exempt from the statutory registration
requirements, since there existed no process by which they could register.
This statutory and regulatory dissonance continued with the passage of the Immigration
and Nationality Act of 1952 (INA). This statute supplanted the Smith Act. But it incorporated
its registration mandates. See Immigration and Nationality Act, Pub. L. No. 82-414, §§ 261–64,
66 Stat. 163, 223–25 (c…

Virgil Abt @abtnatural.bsky.social · 10d

I think the drug-dealing conviction was, on its own, legally sufficient for the deportation order.
bsky.app/profile/reic...

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 10d

This is as much a legacy of the War on Drugs than anything else. He has a controlled substance conviction separate and apart from the exonerated murder conviction.

Lynn Becker @cmgiulini.bsky.social · 10d

After spending 43 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit, evidence hidden by the prosecution reversed his conviction. Rather than finally enjoying freedom, ICE abducted him for deportation

Depraved.

www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...

Virgil Abt @abtnatural.bsky.social · 12d

Even if the last four sentences were true, this paragraph makes no sense. How would GPT-5 having amazing abilities contradict a belief that AI plateaued *after* the release of GPT-5? Was “After” supposed to be “Before”? Does NYT have copy editors?

Virgil Abt @abtnatural.bsky.social · 13d

I don't think Mike Pence has claimed to be Catholic for more than 30 years now, and even then he just said he was an "evangelical Catholic", by which he apparently meant an evangelical who was raised Catholic.
www.indystar.com/story/news/p...