Command & Couture

The first 3 paragraphs of this article constitute such a finely honed sick burn that I actually snarfed my coffee.

Right?? We were TDY this week and were *just* talking about that. No new NSS, NDS, or NMS that reflects these mythic “priorities” I keep hearing about.

The objective reality line item was moved to a block grant and then canceled.

I think writing about how pop music is part of the Hegelian unfolding of consciousness is as helpful to national security as actually writing about sustaining bilateral relationships with our Pacific partners at this point.

To be completely fair, a light breeze shifts defense priorities these days.

And of course - the obligatory C&O National Historic Park towpath selfie

From the Allegheny Laurel Highlands through Hallowed Ground

A very good article, go read

I’m not confident we’re prepared to manage a pony ride at the local petting zoo, frankly.

My mentorship approach when asked about my doctorate now consists solely of maniacal laughter.

Fuck your little list of salacious horrors. Now *this* is the full-on zombie apocalypse I’ve been working on my crossbow technique for.

Bonus points for mom’s Spanglish grammar. 😂

Finally, national security questions from the fam I can actually answer. 🖍️❤️🫡

The Machine Stops The neurologist Oliver Sacks on steam engines, smartphones, and fearing the future.

In a letter drawn from a posthumous collection of correspondence, published in 2019, the neurologist Oliver Sacks argued that society had no immunity to the seductions of digital life. “What we are seeing—and bringing on ourselves—resembles a neurological catastrophe on a gigantic scale,” he wrote.

Tho I have a feeling I will have a new boo in the top 5 soon.

Every time I have my top 5 Ken flicks in rank order, he hits me with a disruptor. ❤️‍🔥

Same reason why mine is Ken’s “The War”, I reckon. He treats the niches that beckon to our souls with the reverence they warrant.

I adore @warontherocks.bsky.social but isn’t this a bit of a belated insight considering the unprecedented god-tier access to natsec info we have granted certain self-styled titans of industry (who also happen to be foreign nationals)?

I get this. I do. And this isn’t snark, but - what other instrument do I have to protect the people and ideals I swore to protect? Feels like a bad rap for we good fairies of institutionalism. In war we defend our people…and our assets.

Did you know that, in 1943, the Pentagon was built with a 5-acre center courtyard and ~18 miles of corridor? Now that you do, Mr. Army O4, you should not feel obligated to squish behind me on the escalator during lunch rush and breathe directly into my ponytail. Thank you. -Mngmt

A feature, not a bug.

Mazel! Well-earned and hard won - please take a moment to celebrate yourself and your accomplishments, friend.

GSA & Treasury’s surplus auctions haven’t helped either. Nor has the lack of oversight on LE orgs using opioid suit damages awarded to the states…that they used to buy NVGs to wear at 1400 in the afternoon.

OSD(P) owns the DoDI and authority on our support of civilian LE. Just in case ya’ll wanted to roll down the E-ring hallway with some pitchforks or, at the very least, a strongly worded letter.

Sometimes it makes my breath catch that the 249 year American experiment as we knew it is probably over - and I have a front row seat to its destruction. Every memo, policy, briefing, and white paper has started to feel like a eulogy I wrote while my patient is still bleeding out on the table.

Coffee Coffee, Buzz Buzz. Cherry Garcia in close second.

Pro tip: there’s a charming secret little balcony with a trellis overlooking the Spanish steps, accessible from one of the exhibit rooms in the Keats-Shelley house. When you’re done contemplating the parallels in the ruins, it’s worth a linger.