Kayla Williams

Pentagon relaxes press restrictions after outcry The Pentagon has altered its new rules restricting press access in the building, clarifying that credentialed journalists will not need approval from Defense Department (DOD) officials before publi…

#resist
"The Pentagon has altered its new rules restricting press access in the building" after significant pushback
buff.ly/FIyjbRt

Cover of Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time

Don’t sleep on this fantastic book - I read based on NK Jemisin recommendation and it’s really worth your time, especially now (in some weird ways)

The most fundamental political debate of our time: You are integrated into and have responsibility for our complex, imperfect society vs. Nuh-uh.

The government is shooting priests in the head with pepper balls. I feel like this is a kitchen table issue.

‘Long-overdue validation’: CDC formally recognizes Gulf War illness The symptoms affect up to a third of the 700,000 troops deployed during Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm more than 30 years ago.

Interesting - research seems to indicate toxic exposures in the first Gulf War impaired veterans' mitochondria. Diagnostic code should improve tracking, documentation , & hopefully trtmt in the long run.
buff.ly/9gqkMJ1

Aside, I’m proud to have been a Rakkasan, but their FB page is 😳 often

How dare you

JJ DID T_E BUCKLE: What the Press Missed About the Latest DOD Memos No Integrity and the DARVOing of the Military. Grooming & PT standards are a smokescreen, but I did my OC spray training.

Latest piece by my friend Andrea has some fantastic points. Worth a read.

buff.ly/FkksERW

Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the White House. Government shutdown is on them - and it harms military servicemembers, is dangerous for national security, and is bad for Veterans.

Former Army vice chief of staff ‘concerned’ about Hegseth’s ‘attack on women’ Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the former Army vice chief of staff, said he is “concerned” about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s “attack on women” in the military on Sunday. “I’m concerned about what…

“I know when the Army opened up the Ranger program, the standards did not change at all. Not at all.”

Even worse than the good old days of 2003 when I didn't get plates for my flak vest during the invasion of Iraq since women "weren't in combat"

Experts react to Hegseth’s Quantico summit: ‘Wrong message, wrong time, wrong audience’ Lawmakers and former service members reacted to speeches delivered at a rare summit in Quantico this week, where President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth addressed an auditorium filled with…

"800 generals and flag officers were brought into that building to hear a pep-speech that would be better delivered by a captain to a bunch of enlisted and lieutenants out in the field"
🔥

What troops need to know about Hegseth’s new memos for the force Hegseth ordered more strict grooming and fitness standards and less training on subjects like the Privacy Act, cybersecurity and controlled information.

Ukraine: making daily advances in how wars are fought
Hegseth: TRAINING SHOULD REVERT TO 1990 STANDARDS
🫠
buff.ly/mZuUSuP

Hegseth is a whiny manbaby who is ashamed not to have a Ranger Tab and he should fuck off into the sun

Blasting Fuck Authority by Pennywise and then Golden by Huntr/x on my way to Costco is a perfect encapsulation of this stage of my life

We currently use VCA; their CareClub has so far worked *for us* better than the shady "pet insurance" we had in the past. Can go up or down levels based on what we need in a given year- ex: our older dog needs dental cleaning this year.

Current vet offers something more like dental insurance: spreads the cost of typical yearly expenses like vax & visits over the course of the year. It's helpful and not a ripoff.
But as you consider options, def read the fine print and be cautious.
Good luck!
/2

Worth considering different options.
Some "pet insurance" is total shit. We had some that not only did not cover our GSD's cancer trtmt but also wouldn't cover the test that determined what the non-covered cancer was. "But we'll pay for you to euthanize her!" Fuck right off.
1/

If you give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day.

If you teach a man to fly fish, he'll spend a ton of money at Orvis and never bring home any fish because it's mostly catch & release and trout are a pain in the ass to clean.

New Hegseth shaving rules for military appear to target religious exemptions It is unclear how the military's crackdown on facial hair will affect troops who request religious waivers to wear beards.

“'We don’t have a military full of Nordic Pagans,' said Hegseth, who has not hesitated to endorse open religious practice as the department’s leader, including hosting Christian prayer services in Pentagon facilities."

Hegseth’s style counters military’s history as engine of social change Professors of military history say Hegseth’s actions — and plans for more — are a reversal of the role the American military has often played.

DoD wasn't "particularly interested in trying to advance the social agenda... they recognized you can’t have a unified fighting force if the troops are fighting each other, or if you’re actively turning away people who desire to serve their country.”

Hegseth, Vought actions heighten fears about inspector-general independence Good-government groups and lawmakers from both parties say Trump-administration moves will chill whistleblowing and watchdog offices.

"Hegseth is currently under evaluation by the DOD IG ... over his use of Signal to discuss upcoming military operations in Yemen."

Trump administration knocks out at least 15 oversight websites, saying IGs 'lied to the public' It's not a shutdown issue: the White House is withholding funds from the umbrella organization for the government's inspectors general.

www.nextgov.com/digital-gove...

Virginia governor Youngkin just gave us all tax refunds and bruh you shoulda kept it for stuff like this. I *want* a government that serves the people.

Last year, CNN ran a “fact check” of Kamala HQ that claimed we were lying for saying Trump’s plan is Project 2025.

Now Trump is outright admitting it’s his plan.

Legacy media failed the country.

“Here is my life’s work in swag. You’re welcome.”

So … estate planning question. Should I divide my collection of conferences tote bags and crappy coffee mugs evenly between my kids, or give one kid the bags and the other the mugs?

As a non-lawyer I try to be cautious about my pronouncements but yeah. Would NEVER have allowed anything like this when I was in charge of VA public affairs.

Mass email tells federal employees not to blame Trump for government shutdown The mass email assigning blame to congressional Democrats is an unusual step for agencies to take ahead of a funding lapse, and marks an escalation in rhetoric.

Unprecedented and quite possibly illegal - but unlikely to be censured in this lawless admin

When ‘warrior standards’ are a cover for sexism Spc. Sheyenne Smith of the 16th Military Police Brigade competes in the XVIII Airborne Corps Best Squad Competition while taking an Army Combat Fitness Test on July 24, 2023, at Fort Drum, N.Y. …

Great piece.
www.stripes.com/opinion/2025...