An earlier version of the NSS specifically said that the US should try to pry Italy, Austria, Poland and Hungary away from the EU
www.defenseone.com/policy/2025/...
Conspiracy theorist Mike Benz will start looking for proof of non-existent plots at USAID. He won't find any. What then?
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
I wrote a bit for McSweeney's about Isaac Chotiner interviewing Santa Claus. Just a little something for the holiday season. Enjoy!
I work as an elder and hospice caregiver, which I am oddly passionate about. I can love on them shamelessly and no one complains about my codependence. It's a win-win situation. Many of my caregiving colleagues complain about the repetitive questions and, sometimes reactions, of the elderly, especially when those patients happen to read the newspaper, especially with the current downward spiral of our country — as if these people haven't lived through enough horror... I love my dementia peeps, but sometimes wonder if there's a Guinness Book World Record for how many times an hour a dementia patient can repeat the same question — it's got to be in the hundreds. At least with small children, they ask different questions. Dementia patients will get stuck on one short question and ask it until you can interrupt their train(carousel) of thought and successfully redirect their attention. That carousel is pretty manic sometimes. A couple days ago, I picked up my mail from the post office and drove over to the nursing home to take (let's call her "Miss Daisy") Miss Daisy out for a drive. Before we took off on our road trip, to the end of The Road and back, in our landlocked little town (Juneau, Alaska), I set my copy of The Onion down in front of her. Over our two-hour excursion, tiny Miss Daisy read that front page at least a dozen times and each time she would snicker, giggle, and guffaw, then put it down on the dash board and, a minute later, discover it anew. I think it was the best afternoon of my life. We don't often hear them laugh and when they do, it's the sweetest thing you've ever heard. ... Thank you, thank you, thank you, for the really important work all of you do. You make the world a better place.
I got permission to share this, and I'm extremely grateful for that.
The Onion got this letter from one of our subscribers in Alaska. She works with dementia patients and decided to leave a copy in the car for each one.
This email made my year. Read it and you'll see what I mean. People are good.
"Whatever the nature of the crisis, it forces the revolutionaries to make a choice. Give up—or radicalize. Find compromises—or polarize society further. Slow down—or use violence"
The logic of revolution is always the same
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
From a week and a half ago: “As of Monday, the model shows, about 96,000 adults and 200,000 children have died because of the administration’s cutbacks to funding for aid groups and support organizations. The overall death count grows by 103 people an hour.” www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
Last week, I wrote about how authoritarianism leads to poverty and corruption. Feels like an appropriate moment to post it again.
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
These are our shirts and signs! Amazing to see them at the protest. See them all here, we sell them at our cost shirtgoodhq.com/collections/...
This pointless stunt by Cory Booker is accomplishing nothing but drawing attention to the Trump administration’s wrongdoing and delaying the work of the Senate and energizing the Democratic base and, wait, hang on, let me come in again
Great point
We can stop this power grab over DC's local budget. We are worth fighting for.
Whether you're a DC resident or acting in solidarity with the people of DC, we have everything you need to tell the Senate VOTE NO on cloture and VOTE NO on the CR: bit.ly/dcs-budget
🎥: @survive.show
guy in the 1920s putting a "i bought this before he went crazy" sticker on his Model T
Words fail me. What a betrayal of Ukraine and the entire democratic world. What a gift to Putin and despots everywhere. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
This is just so disgusting. www.ft.com/content/7380...
I hate to ask this but i have to, are we now the bad guys?
adamkinzinger.substack.com/p/are-we-now...
"the assumption that a cease-fire will end Russia’s primary threat to Ukrainians misunderstands the nature of the conflict"
From Nataliya Gumenyuk. A warning
www.foreignaffairs.com/ukraine/puti...
Musk reportedly spent $40M on #Superbowl ads calling #USAID wasteful. Here’s how we
would’ve spent that $$:
🏈Protected 30M football fields of tropical forest in Africa to stop China from exploiting the
minerals that fuel our world youtu.be/PqUESHfuO_8 #saveforeignaid
#standwithUSAID
Elon Musk reportedly spent $40M on #Superbowl ads calling #USAID wasteful. Here’s how
we would’ve spent that $$:
🏈Slowed the flow of migrants to our borders by providing job training to 50K people in
Central America youtu.be/PqUESHfuO_8 #saveforeignaid #standwithUSAID
Elon Musk reportedly spent $40M on #Superbowl ads calling #USAID wasteful. Here’s how
we would’ve spent that $$:
🏈Bought 66,000 metric tons of crops from American farmers and shipped them overseas
to feed 8 million people on the brink of famine youtu.be/PqUESHfuO_8
#saveforeignaid
Musk reportedly spent $40M on #Superbowl ads calling #USAID wasteful. Here’s how we
would’ve spent that $$:
🏈Purchased HIV treatment from U.S. pharma companies to keep 1M pp alive for 1 year.
Tell Congress to youtu.be/PqUESHfuO_8 #saveforeignaid and #standwithUSAID
USAID What’s Happening & Why it Matters
What can you do about the assault on USAID?
Share this far and wide. Do your part! Please do retweet 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
Of course it’s a coup. Miss the obvious, lose your republic.
open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p...
i don’t even know if crime is the right word for the illegal destruction of USAID. it is an autocratic power grab and a direct attack on the sovereignty of the american people
“On Friday, February 7, 2025, at 11:59 pm (EST) all USAID direct hire personnel will be placed on administrative leave globally, with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs. Essential personnel expected to continue working will be informed by Agency leadership by Thursday, February 6, at 3:00pm (EST). For USAID personnel currently posted outside the United States, the Agency, in coordination with missions and the Department of State, is currently preparing a plan, in accordance with all applicable requirements and laws, under which the Agency would arrange and pay for return travel to the United States within 30 days and provide for the termination of PSC and ISC contracts that are not determined to be essential. The Agency will consider case-by-case exceptions and return travel extensions based on personal or family hardship, mobility or safety concerns, or other reasons. For example, the Agency will consider exceptions based on the timing of dependents’ school term, personal or familial medical needs, pregnancy, and other reasons. Further guidance on how to request an exception will be forthcoming. Thank you for your service”
USAID’s website has been deleted, all that is left is a note saying all personnel are now on administrative leave and personnel outside the US are to be brought home. Completely illegal, no act of congress or even executive order was signed to dismantle the agency
USAID= .5% of fed budget. Americans spend more on bubblegum than on aid. ROI in terms of power projection, soft power & institution shaping— never mind lives saved/societies rebuilt— makes it one of smartest things US does. Its why China, despite flat growth, will now increase aid budget. Just watch
Big national media outlet still failing.
Headlines suggest some dispute over data access at US AID.
*Not connecting the dots with other DOGE moves.
*Not conveying illegality.
*Not communicating constitutional crisis.
The FBI’s core values, including integrity, compassion, fairness, and allegiance to the Constitution - and oh, yeah, diversity, are being painted over at the FBI Academy. Source: NYT.
