Jason M. Kelly Ph.D. FSA FRHistS (he/him)

First They Came For National Park Service Staff. Then They Came For the Funds. Then They Came For the Books. Where Will It End? Today The Washington Post is reporting on some of the books that National Park Service employees have flagged for review owing to their content.

First They Came For National Park Service Staff. Then They Came For the Funds. Then They Came For the Books. Where Will It End? #NationalParks #PublicHistory #NationalParkService open.substack.com/pub/kevinmle...

JUST IN: A federal judge has blocked the cancelation of $175 million in National Endowment for the Humanities grants, mass terminated by DOGE in April. She says the effort was transparent viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment.

hahaha :-)

E.P.A. Says It Will Eliminate Its Scientific Research Arm

E.P.A. Says It Will Eliminate Its Scientific Research Arm www.nytimes.com/2025/07/18/c... #science #environment #publichealth #research

Let’s make it happen!

A Yorkshire terrier, looking at the camera, standing in front of a shelf of books under a window.

This is my new puppy who visited me in my office for the first time today. She was very helpful with my research.

Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun’s 1776 oval oil portrait of Karl Heinrich, Prince of Nassau-Siegen. He stands in a richly embroidered pink suit and white stockings, one hand resting on a gilded rococo desk and the other pointing to a globe. A classical column and garden foliage form the background, all framed by the oval composition.

Meredith Martin's essay “Paradise Lost” pairs Horvath’s Room for the Lost Paradise with
Vigée Le Brun’s Prince of Nassau portrait to explore rococo simulation, colonial extraction, and period room historiography:
https://loom.ly/ViyGIrs

#18thcentury #arthistory

Room for the Lost Paradise: A Symposium – by Jason M. Kelly On June 6, 2025, Resplendent Dreams: Reawakening the Rococo opened at the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) in Indianapolis. The exhibition brings together three artists—Robert Horvath, Diego Montoya, ...

Happy to announce that our essays for “Room for the Lost Paradise: A Symposium” — part of the Resplendent Dreams: Reawakening the Rococo exhibition at the IMA — are now available on Journal18 www.journal18.org/nq/room-for-...

#18thcentury #18c #arthistory #art #skystorians

Report: National Science Foundation headquarters to be taken over by HUD, displacing 1,800+ employees | ALXnow The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will reportedly take over the National Science Foundation (NSF) headquarters building (2415 Eisenhower Ave.), displacing more than 1,833 NSF emplo...

Link to original article:

www.alxnow.com/2025/06/24/r...

Bar chart titled “The Supreme Court vs. The Lower Courts: Rulings on the Trump Administration” showing three horizontal bar charts for May 1-June 23, 2025. Federal District Courts: large red bar (82 cases, 94.3% against) with tiny green bar (5 cases, 5.7% for). Circuit Courts of Appeal: medium red bar (15 cases, 68.2% against) with smaller green bar (7 cases, 31.8% for). Supreme Court: tiny red bar (1 case, 6.3% against) with large green bar (15 cases, 93.7% for). Shows dramatic reversal from lower courts ruling against Trump administration to Supreme Court ruling for it.

Since May:

Federal district courts have ruled against Trump admin 94% of the time.

Supreme Court has sided with the Trump admin 94% of the time.

A judiciary at war with itself.

"Turner has made specific requests for accommodations in the building, which was completed in 2017, according to NSF staff. These include a dedicated executive suite on the 19th floor, construction of an executive dining room, and reserved parking spaces for his five cars."

"HUD Secretary Scott Turner and Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin reportedly plan to announce the takeover Wednesday (June 25), according to information provided to journalist Dan Garisto by multiple NSF staff members. The transition will occur over the next two years."

Report: National Science Foundation headquarters to be taken over by HUD, displacing 1,800+ employees

#science #research

To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards and other needful Buildings;-And

To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States,

the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively,

To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;

To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;

To provide and maintain a Navy;

To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;

To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations;

To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;

To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;

To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;

To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;

To establish Post Offices and post Roads;

To establish a uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;

To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;

but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States

To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;

To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;

Just so we're clear...

Article I
Section 8: Powers of Congress
The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States;

Trump’s Fury at Gavin Newsom Backfires—and Reveals His Own Weakness The media has it wrong. Trump is not coming across as fearsome and strong. Instead, his watch-me-play-fascist-on-TV routine is self-evident overkill.

Any time press coverage slips from what happened and why, into "political strategy," and especially when it tries to show us a clever or winning strategy that may have eluded our senses... Any time that happens we are entitled to doubt it, as Greg Sargent does here.
newrepublic.com/article/1966...

Fulbright Board Quits, Accusing Trump Administration of Political Interference The board of the prestigious program told the State Department it had no right to cancel scholarships for nearly 200 American professors and researchers.

Fulbright Board Resigns After Accusing Trump Aides of Political Interference. #highered #academia #research

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/11/u...

My thoughts on what’s going on in Los Angeles: