D Adstutia

Judge issues new broader order barring any National Guard from relocating to Oregon Judge asked federal government lawyer: 'Do you believe this is an appropriate way to deal with a judge’s order that you disagree with?'

Folks we are watching the adjudication of some of the most important constitutional issues of federalism, executive discretion, and judicial review since the 19th c

www.oregonlive.com/politics/202...

Article 4 is *not* a requirement for invoking Article 5. It's just that they are in sequential articles in the Washington Treaty. I know it was in the NYT article; it's just not accurate. Article 4 still very important though - only invoked 8 times prior.

‘I escaped a Russian prison — only to end up in an American jail’ Dozens of Russian dissidents have been expelled from the US and forcibly returned to Russia with the co-operation of immigration authorities

BREAKING: ICE is sending Russian dissidents back to Russia. When the dissidents arrived in Russia, the Russian authorities were given documents relating to their asylum applications in the US which under US law are confidential. This seems to be part of a secret agreement between Trump and Putin.

Cosplaying for the war he literally lied to get out of....

So automated "death panels". Just lovely.

Please share widely - We have an ongoing Call for Papers: 1) on mapping transatlantic exchanges, 2) on the risks of US defense tech acquisition. Find all information here:

Similar tho the baby's bottle situation has taken over most of the space. The first moka, no long gone was a gift from colocated Italians in Afghanistan and is now mostly for camping/ road trips. The French press is the faster day-to-day for morning coffee for us...Chemex for wkends

There are certainly different ways to measure wealth even if not "rich" :)

What does it say that I have all of these except the first and the last one? 😬☕

The 2% (3,5%, 5% etc) are not contributions to the NATO budget!

a group of men are sitting around a table in a conference room . ALT: a group of men are sitting around a table in a conference room .

From someone who has regularly had to explain common funding vs. national defense investment pledges...

Lew’s Clues Lew Olowski, the State Department’s newish head of H.R., is a RIF-happy, Christian evangelizing MAGA warrior with an axe to grind. Worse, according to his fellow diplomats, he’s just plain weird.

Masterful work by @juliaioffe.bsky.social
A thousand points for accuracy, grim humor, and some of the best quotes in print...

puck.news/the-maga-loy...

‘In line with our values’: Shipman describes deal with Trump administration in first interview with Spectator Acting University President Claire Shipman, CC ’86, SIPA ’94, described Columbia’s agreement with President Donald Trump’s administration to pay $220 million to restore federal funding as “in line wit...

Not sure what she thinks this says about Columbia's "values"...
Perhaps she meant it in the singular in reference to their endowment?
🙄

www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2025/07...

It's not farming — it's valid AF to the point of being singularly illustrative of how completely fucked their "process" was/is.

‘It’s a madhouse’: US state department workers reeling after Trump’s firings About 3,000 workers have left the agency through firings and buyouts in a move Democrats and staff call ‘unlawful’

Rather than surgical or smart, most
who experienced it would say "slapdash, chaotic, arbitrary, or ill-advised. And as for coordination with under secretaries... What under secretaries?? They were all in acting capacity (temp) and they RIF'd one of them too!
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

KLUTH: “.. Never has a country blessed with such an abundance of ‘soft power’ forfeited so much of it with so little justification.”

@opinion.bloomberg.com
www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

Holding aside that many of those fired served faithfully under multiple administrations, including Trump 1 - massive cuts in areas of critical expertise like visa fraud and nuclear arms control don't even match supposed admin priorities.

Senate Democrats Rail at ‘Sloppy, Rushed’ State Dept. Firings

As lifelong Texan in this space - disappointed but not surprised by our senior senator's comments, more geared toward protecting GOP interests than his constituents. They RIF'd one of their own acting Under Secretaries... RIF had no coherent plan aside from date
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/16/u...

I dunno...but these 50-50 GOP votes are starting* to feel...kinda orchestrated.

*starting like eight years ago....

apnews.com/article/trum...

McRaven makes the clear case... That has been made all along and falls on... Not deaf... Deliberately 🙉...

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Anthem:
music.youtube.com/watch?v=4h7t...

This whole mess was ill advised and does nothing to improve national security or economic gain.

State STILL suffers from hiring freezes in '17 & unfilled positions all over the Department.
Needs process reform, sure... ut anyone who suggests it's a bloated workforce with too many people can gtfoh

How Do You Fire a Calling? How the State Department Ends a Public Service Calling Diplomacy doesn’t end with a press release. It ends in silence, in erasure, in inboxes that no longer open. Quietly, Violently, and Without Ceremony

Better than I could say it.

Having been Civil Service for a while and now FS - there's a lot of hard, complicated, demanding work that gets done on the daily with less resources than we need.

stillinoticeeverything.substack.com/p/how-do-you...

UGH. Fuck. I'm sorry, Russ.
You earned a lot better... mostly Everyone here does... Than to go out under a blanket of malevolence tempered only by incompetence.

Effectively=eventually. I guess semi effectively also in the infliction if not the actual execution - these bumbling incompetents

A tragedy bordering on criminal malfeasance. After delaying and delaying waiting to see what these fresh hell these people would effectively decide to inflict, just put in the parental leave and now spending the day with a four -month old in a sun print onesie mostly trying to ignore my phone.

This is utterly insane

And has nothing to do with the mission they were officially given

Which was to protect federal property and personnel and was already sketchy even as far as that went.
1/

Until after the "despite" my mind went to
Man it's crazy how much of civil unrest should get blamed on these nefarious, unidentified, outside agitators who never get found despite ICE records being FOIAble...

Coupled with large numbers of veterans in the federal work force, many of whom are either under rising stress from job uncertainty or have actually been fired - demand will only increase as VA is further chopped up.

I'm advised my wait time for processing my attempt to file my claim may go up

At Veterans Affairs, plan for sweeping cuts tanks morale The government’s second-largest agency, serving some of America’s most vulnerable citizens, is slated to lose 83,000 employees under Trump administration cutbacks.

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
“The veterans now check in and ask us how we are doing,” one social worker at a hospital in the Great Lakes region told The Post. “They see the news and are very aware of the circumstances and fearful of losing VA support that they depend on."