Former diplomat and educator now cultivating my garden and interpreting it in photographs and essays.
255 followers 1,216 following 939 posts
view profile on Bluesky 
NEW: The Trump admin may be planning to remove more unaccompanied noncitizen children from the US this weekend, this time from a different country, after its stalled attempt to remove Guatemalan children, says the National Immigration Law Center @nilc.org. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Weeping
Utterly bizarre
Thanks for this. Fascinating review.
It's sort of wild to read this positive review of anti-fascist history by First Things in the 2000s when they now back the AfD among other far-right extremist parties within Europe now: firstthings.com/the-cultural...
No wonder he was not sworn in.
200,000 workers will be forced out of government by the Trump-Vance admin. Those workers represent decades of expertise we’re at risk of losing. So we joined partners to launch Departure Dialogues, an opportunity for feds to share recommendations to improve gov on a secure, nonpartisan platform.
Wall Street Journal: Top of page one. NY Times: Bottom of page 19.
RFKjr is not under oath!!!
Full interview and more from Meidas Health here: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/m...
Daskalakis: There is a program called Vaccines for Children. It is the safety-net program that gets vaccines to kids. Over 50% of kids in the U.S. get their vaccines through this. If the ACIP says this vaccine should not be given to six-month-olds through 12-year-olds, the VFC won’t buy it
They purged JAG early in the term. They do not want to know what law governs anything they do.
Nuts
All these strongmen are delusional
Lasting damage being done here.
Citizen action
Frightening possibility
This is just an impression, but it feels like the norm prohibiting the assassination of political leaders (and military officers) has really broken down over the past few years
This firefighter arrived in the US at age 4, has been here for 19 years, was on track to legal status, and was on a crew trying to contain a major blaze (in Washington state, vs Oregon, fwiw.) h/t @joshuajfriedman.com www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
This is true and devastating to all who worked so hard over many years to build a relationship of mutual respect between the U.S. and India.
Only our dear leader could have achieved this tripartite rapprochement: India, China and Russia. Geez.
What is wrong with Martha? If no one is driving around out of fear of checkpoints, how can there be carjackings? Geez.
HAPPENING NOW: Emergency hearing before Judge Sparkle Sooknanan is underway. I'm live posting for @lawfaremedia.org. Follow updates in the thread quoted below 🧵⬇️
Shipwrecked minds at the helm.
Pay attention.
Exactly
If troops are in the street as in DC, folks stay home. Naturally, without people out and about, there is less opportunity for crime. That is hardly a scalable solution. The questions were awful.
Dearest Martha, The National Guard stand solemn watch at the Krispy Kreme tonight. I cannot tell if they defend the people from the donuts, or the donuts from the people. Powdered sugar hangs in the air like cannon smoke. Jensen took a hot coffee to the face, he may never recover. Yours in glaze,
Twat
Mamdani is a citizen just like Vance. He no more owes "gratitude" to the US than does anyone else. The suggestion is that he is some kind of second-class citizen who owes deference to the country and those born here - exactly the kind of blood-and-soil nationalism that Vance so often promotes.
Thank you @brendannyhan.bsky.social & @jasonreifler.bsky.social for this impt research which illustrates that getting out *ahead* of rumors & lies about elections — instead of simply responding w/ fact-checking afterwards — is essential. We must tell the truth about how elections are actually run.
“On Sunday (Aug. 17), an usher for the evening Mass at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Washington's Columbia Heights neighborhood was detained by federal officials just three blocks away from the church while walking to worship.” www.ncronline.org/news/feds-ta...
Reports say Trump is dying. I’d be careful — that’s usually when Phase 2 starts, a health bar refills, and the giant centipede emerges. Toxic damage incoming.
Yes, and -- it's a clear and direct consequence of this Supreme Court's highly ideological "unitary executive" agenda of extirpating independent judgment from the administrative state.
Culling firefighters from society is a perfect metaphor for erasing virtue. It’s also an attack on healthy masculinity.
Bracing and clarifying.
"The President, on his own, can't tax the American people. That's what King George III tried to do – we had a revolution about that." Neal Katyal
NEW: Texas Governor Greg Abbott has signed into law a new, deeply gerrymandered congressional map that disenfranchises voters of color for political gain. All voters deserve to be heard. This is an affront to our democracy.
*Leonard Leo puffs cigar contentedly* not so easy is it guys
“These departures are not just bureaucratic reshuffling; they are a hemorrhage of institutional memory and expertise. Each of these scientists carried decades of hard-earned knowledge that cannot simply be replaced by a new appointee or a quick hire.” open.substack.com/pub/techingi...
Louder for those in the back! "the market is not, as stylized econ models would have us believe, a mechanism that pools the knowledge & informed judgments of millions of investors. It is, instead, a 'conventional wisdom processor'...it reflects views that seem safe to hold b/c many ppl hold them.'
True. It’s probably both. More happening at a deeper level generating coverage.
Sen Patty Murray (D-WA): “If there are any adults left in the White House, it’s well past time they face reality… We cannot let RFK Jr. burn what’s left of the CDC and our other critical health agencies to the ground—he must be fired.”
Abbe Lowell and I represent CDC Director #SusanMonarez. Contrary to govt statements, Dr. Monarez has neither resigned nor yet been fired. She will not resign. We have issued the following statement:
They don’t have to go to DC to mulch and pick up trash.
New "How to Report ICE" zines up today for free printable download! California (by county/area) Chicago Colorado DC Metro Area (DMV) Massachusetts North Carolina Triangle Area NYC Philly Pittsburgh Portland, OR St. Louis Metro Area Washington State Please share! drive.google.com/drive/folder...
They must not have mirrors in their homes.
Major story of corruption.
Never mind, I just found the Brightline Watch website and, oh my, brightlinewatch.org hereby autocracy is all but said.
"It is not for nothing that he has hung large portraits of himself from federal buildings, in a flourish befitting the authoritarian and totalitarian societies he so deeply admires."
Newsletter: My 16,000 word opus - How To Argue With An AI Booster, a comprehensive guide to arguing with AI boosters, addressing both their bad faith debate style and their specific (and flimsy) arguments as to why generative AI is the future. www.wheresyoured.at/how-to-argue...
Exactly. The very definition of fascism.
NEW: Thanks to @theflytrapmedia.com, I got to write about Kristi Noem in a way I wouldn't otherwise be able to write about Kristi Noem, by speaking to feminist writers, organizers, & policy experts about internalized misogyny & what Noem's extreme makeover tells us about the changing face of evil.
not enough to change his mind. yet. imo.
Find the speech and listen. Spot on!
75 years ago? Seriously weird brain on our president.
Useful guidance for travel to occupied DC
www.democracynow.org/2025/8/22/st...
Tell him to fuck off and sue if he doesn’t. Same as for universities- don’t give an inch, take the pain because it’s coming anyway, and make every move he makes that much slower, costlier, and more difficult.
Virginia Giuffre isn’t here to tell her story anymore, but she wrote a memoir and it’s coming out in October. She deserves to be heard and remembered. #BookSky Details here: www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/712958...
Impeachment resolutions would make sense. youtu.be/mXTcjY_5E5o?...
Wes Moore on the deployment of the National Guard: "It is not sustainable...It's not scalable...It is unconstitutional. It's a direct violation of the tenth amendment. For a party that talks about states' rights, it's amazing how much of a big government approach they take."
She was correct.
Not a hoax
Slideshow of today in Washington DC, and how it looks when a terrorizing government scares people away. By me, no paywall: fallows.substack.com/p/a-summer-a...
The latest thing Trump has done to DC: Scare the visitors away. Damaging all the businesses, large and small, that depend on them. Along the National Mall today, 1pm, on a stunningly beautiful Saturday afternoon in late August. (Article and more photos to come later today.)
Sure they did
Ebook readers: a friend just pointed out that THERE IS NO PLACE FOR US is currently only $1.99 (93% off!). Same price on Kindle, B&N, etc. Here's the Bookshop link: bookshop.org/p/books/ther...
The purge continues. This is going to create a lot of distrust as folks will suspect that any generals and admirals left and especially those promoted since Pete the Freak became SecDef are Trumpers. A lot of talent going out the door and a lot of cohesion being destroyed. So much lethality.
A perfect film to see now. penguinlessons.com
This may be remembered as the week Trump’s campaign against the “deep state” kicked into high gear, @shaneharris.bsky.social reports. Intelligence professionals he spoke with told him something fundamental had shifted in their historically apolitical work.
Bolton is just at the top of the retribution list. Defend his right to public criticism of the president. And, defend his right to privacy unless and until charges are filed.
i'll say it again, my loud and vigorous support for any democrat who calls for televised hearings and criminal charges for everyone involved in DOGE. this guy should never be able to live in peace again.
Bolton’s tell all book that Trump wanted to spike. Now, in a second edition.
The Smithsonian Inquisitor appointed by the President is already at work putting her Jesuit education and beauty pageant background to splendid use.
The AI doomers are not alright. Is it time to listen?
I make it every year when Italian plumbs appear.
Luttig is communicating vastly more clearly and honestly about Roberts and Scotus than most Democratic officials are. It’s absolutely flabbergasting.
Hey Netflix, now might be a good time to add Roots (1977 miniseries) to the livestream library. A dose of Kunta Kinte is what America needs right now. #history #remember #museum
Amazed to see that State Department DSS is patrolling the streets.
Americans seem to have lost the perspective of applied engineering. Grasping for utopia instead of designing a better mousetrap.
Excellent elegy.
All money goes to DC charities.
apnews.com/article/trum...
Diplomacy: saying good doggy until you can find a rock.
German editorial cartoonist Paolo Calleri weighs in on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to drive a wedge between Trump and Europe by convincing Trump that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is the obstacle to peace.
She should be celebrated for her integrity.
He’s always bragging about his great hats even during the LA fires per the governor of California
King of Queens!!!
Who will ever come here to study again? What will the cost be to us?
Their voice cuts through the crap and speaks truth. More please.
That’s about it. Then try than that all is peachy keen.
The ISW summary of the Anchorage Summit is, as usual, professional, objective and well documented. www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder...
Wonderful resource and home for the incredible work done by @tomcartwright.bsky.social.
Rubio on sanctioning Russia: “The minute you levy additional sanctions, strong additional sanctions, the talking stops. And at that point, the war just continues.” I urge you to read the full interview by Martha Raddatz of ABC This Week. It’s a STUNNER. www.state.gov/releases/202...
Relief.