In 1967, in the midst of the Vietnam War, Harvard University English professor Neil Rudenstine intervened in a protest on campus, where a recruiter from Dow Chemical Company, which made napalm, had been surrounded by students upset about U.S. attacks on Vietnamese civilians. He helped defuse the tension by negotiating with students to release the recruiter.Well, that immediately made me think about the history of napalm, which by a great irony was the brainchild of Harvard itself when it was doing war work for the USG in 1942. True story, which you can read all about in this Harvard Crimson article.
The Skeptical Bureaucrat
From deep inside the foundations of our Republic's capital city
Tuesday, April 1, 2025
What Goes Around Comes Around and Burns You Down (A Story of the Japanese Empire and Harvard's Chemistry Department)
Great Foreign Service Is Just a Short Walk Across the Border
Saturday, March 29, 2025
DOGE Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, The View From State
Everything is in flux at present and no one should make any decisions based on this or any other article. But what is clear is that this time Trump means business. Unlike the small-scale RIF which took place at State during the Clinton administration, this time it’s for real, a seemingly determined effort to downsize the State Department both at home and abroad while at the same time likely increasing the authority of political appointees. It is both a paradigm shift and a power shift away from a more-or-less independent State Department (and other agencies) toward a concentration of power higher in the executive branch.
The Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration is bound to take most of the hit, but there will probably be some effect on every office that isn't doing public safety, law enforcement, or immigration enforcement.
If you aren't in one of those functional areas, brace for impact.
Is the 'Coalition of the Willing' Willing to Be Killed In Nasty Ways?
NATO Plans Switch From Sexy to Sensible - They are “trying to re-dimension what they were doing to something that could be more sensible… with the situation on the ground and the U.S administration as it is, it's not very sexy." https://t.co/TqdxKgmrje
— TSB (@TweetingTSB) March 27, 2025
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in late February that the U.K. would be "ready and willing" to deploy British troops in Ukraine as part of a potential peace deal.
Saturday, March 22, 2025
Can This Odd Couple Share a Presidential Ticket Without Driving Each Other Crazy?
A May Day-Decembrist ticket! (Obscure reference maybe, but it amuses me.) https://t.co/hHos0h5ihI
— TSB (@TweetingTSB) March 22, 2025
Well, the Decembrist part is definitely obscure, as well as not really the best historical fit for Comrade 'honeymoon in the USSR' Sanders, but you get the idea.
Is this just the ticket to revive the political fortunes of the Democratic Party, which are currently at a historically low 29 percent favorability rating?
I wouldn't care to speculate about that except to note that young men are probably going to remain alienated from the AOC-and-Bernie appeal.
Wednesday, March 12, 2025
Is NATO Eager For WWIII? Most Unlikely.
An anonymous Western official offered another option, saying the [French and UK] forces could launch direct, immediate strikes on Russian targets if a cease-fire is violated.Wow. French and UK troops going toe-to-toe with the Rooskies? All the way up to nuclear combat? That's a hell of a prospect.
The following morning, Sunday 13 June, [U.S. General] Clark arrived at [UK General] Jackson's HQ in Skopje. It was pointed out to Clark that the isolated Russians could not be reinforced by air and that, in light of how vital Russian support had been to get a peace agreement, antagonising them would only be counterproductive. Clark refused to accept this and continued to order that the runway be blocked, claiming to be supported by the NATO Secretary-General.
When again directly ordered to block the runway, Jackson suggested that British tanks and armoured cars would be more suitable, in the knowledge that this would almost certainly be vetoed by the British government. Clark agreed. Jackson was ready to resign rather than follow Clark's order. The British Ministry of Defence authorised British force commander Richard Dannatt to use 4 Armoured Brigade to isolate the airfield but not to block the runways. Clark's orders were not carried out, and the United States instead requested neighbouring states not to allow Russia to use their airspace to ferry in reinforcements. Russia was forced to call off the reinforcements after Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania refused requests by Russia to use their airspace.“I’m not going to start World War Three for you,” Newsweek reported Jackson as telling Clark. And okay, probably discretion was the better part of valor that day.
Friday, February 28, 2025
DOGE Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
So far DOGE has been snapping at the heels of us feds, coming for probationary employees and the more easily intimidated of the geezers who were on the verge of retirement anyway. (The dismantling of USAID was an exception to this rule.)
But the rumors today are that the Trump Administration is planning a second Reduction In Force pass aimed at tenured employees. That will largely depend on the reorganization plans that all departments are to file by the middle of next month. The TechyBoyz of DOGE will scrub those plans on high alert for signs of redundancy or duplicated efforts, even among those functions which have a statutory basis.
But exactly how good are those Boyz? They've stepped on their dicks a few times already, you know.
They sent that What Did You Do Last Week email to legislative and judicial employees, as well as the intended targets in the executive branch of government. Apparently they need to ask Grok to read the Constitution for them and explain that thing called "separation of powers."
They also made the rookie mistake of not considering out-of-office and automatic replies to that omnibus Reply to This if You Want to Retire Now email. What do you suppose that some people who do not want to retire now have been receiving a welcome to the deferred retirement program anyway based on their auto replies. Ooops.
And those are just minor mistakes compared to the absurdity of the premise that someone, somewhere, was going to read 2.4 million emails, or even scan them for key words. That's not going to happen.
Maybe the TechyBoyz have some super-tricky algorithm that will do that DOGE work for them? They better hope people will believe they do, otherwise they're just IT guys in tee shirts.
I say, take heart, and don't give in to exaggerated fears. But also update that resume and, if the worst comes, remember that the world always needs substitute teachers.