Empty Bag of Ducks📎
@emptybagofducks.bsky.social
Ex-Army officer. Retired DoD civil service/SES. Historian. Battling advanced metastatic bile duct cancer. Hoya. Diehard Packer fan. Fighting the dying of the light, the dying of liberal democracy and the death of the American Republic.
Pinned
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
I can’t find the original post about James Van Der Beek selling off items to pay for cancer treatment. I don’t think people comprehend how expensive cancer is. Last 24 months:
5 surgeries
4 chemo regimens. One a $30k a pop orphan drug
30+ Signateras
3 PETs
10 CTs
3 MRIs
Total: $1.6 million
5 surgeries
4 chemo regimens. One a $30k a pop orphan drug
30+ Signateras
3 PETs
10 CTs
3 MRIs
Total: $1.6 million
February 14, 2026 at 4:21 AM
I can’t find the original post about James Van Der Beek selling off items to pay for cancer treatment. I don’t think people comprehend how expensive cancer is. Last 24 months:
5 surgeries
4 chemo regimens. One a $30k a pop orphan drug
30+ Signateras
3 PETs
10 CTs
3 MRIs
Total: $1.6 million
5 surgeries
4 chemo regimens. One a $30k a pop orphan drug
30+ Signateras
3 PETs
10 CTs
3 MRIs
Total: $1.6 million
Reposted by Empty Bag of Ducks📎
Hundreds of incoming medical students that were planning to join the military through the HPSP scholarship program attend these schools. We don’t fill all of the available scholarship slots as it is. This policy would create lasting harm to the military health system.
www.yahoo.com/news/article...
www.yahoo.com/news/article...
Pentagon may bar tuition aid for top universities in Hegseth’s crackdown on ‘biased’ schools
Military officers could soon find dozens of top colleges and universities across the United States abruptly off limits for tuition assistance as part of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s campaign again...
www.yahoo.com
February 14, 2026 at 2:50 AM
Hundreds of incoming medical students that were planning to join the military through the HPSP scholarship program attend these schools. We don’t fill all of the available scholarship slots as it is. This policy would create lasting harm to the military health system.
www.yahoo.com/news/article...
www.yahoo.com/news/article...
Reposted by Empty Bag of Ducks📎
It’s not even a real major.
February 14, 2026 at 3:38 AM
It’s not even a real major.
At my CCMD, every Ops and Intel brief started with a look at global weather. Did any of them read about Eisenhower agonizing over his D-Day decision because of……weather?
A leading American research lab is slated to lose its critical supercomputing facility, according to a letter released by the National Science Foundation.https://cnn.it/3MoF7zU
February 14, 2026 at 3:42 AM
At my CCMD, every Ops and Intel brief started with a look at global weather. Did any of them read about Eisenhower agonizing over his D-Day decision because of……weather?
I guess the Badgers only beat top 10 teams
February 14, 2026 at 3:20 AM
I guess the Badgers only beat top 10 teams
Reposted by Empty Bag of Ducks📎
FDRbros…we’re so back
February 13, 2026 at 5:32 PM
FDRbros…we’re so back
🧵
There are 5 types of conflict resolution (CR): 1) avoidance, 2) tolerance, 3) arbitration, 4) negotiation, 5) self help. Self help includes violent self help, but it does not have to be violent. 1/
get the kid in the brown hoodie a scholarship
February 14, 2026 at 2:32 AM
🧵
Reposted by Empty Bag of Ducks📎
Huge self-own:
- Columbia educates many uniformed W. Point faculty
- C-M = home Army’s AI Innovation Center
- JHU = Space Force PME
- Many doctors attend these schools via Health Professions Schol. Program
- W&M = MBA program for log Os
- DC area schools educate JCS interns + Congressional fellows…
- Columbia educates many uniformed W. Point faculty
- C-M = home Army’s AI Innovation Center
- JHU = Space Force PME
- Many doctors attend these schools via Health Professions Schol. Program
- W&M = MBA program for log Os
- DC area schools educate JCS interns + Congressional fellows…
New: Military officers could soon find dozens of top colleges and universities across the US (list in replies) abruptly off limits for tuition assistance as part of Hegseth’s campaign against schools he describes as being biased against the US military
www.cnn.com/2026/02/13/p...
www.cnn.com/2026/02/13/p...
Pentagon may bar tuition aid for top universities in Hegseth’s crackdown on ‘biased’ schools | CNN Politics
Military officers could soon find dozens of top colleges and universities across the United States abruptly off limits for tuition assistance as part of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s campaign again...
www.cnn.com
February 14, 2026 at 1:09 AM
Huge self-own:
- Columbia educates many uniformed W. Point faculty
- C-M = home Army’s AI Innovation Center
- JHU = Space Force PME
- Many doctors attend these schools via Health Professions Schol. Program
- W&M = MBA program for log Os
- DC area schools educate JCS interns + Congressional fellows…
- Columbia educates many uniformed W. Point faculty
- C-M = home Army’s AI Innovation Center
- JHU = Space Force PME
- Many doctors attend these schools via Health Professions Schol. Program
- W&M = MBA program for log Os
- DC area schools educate JCS interns + Congressional fellows…
Reposted by Empty Bag of Ducks📎
This is by far the most cartoonish politics has been in my lifetime. Extremely kind & decent people vs. the absolute dregs of humanity. It continues to baffle me that this is not equally clear to the whole country.
“They were hellbent on not allowing anybody to help him until he was dead,” she said. “I was right there, and they — all of them — made the decision to deny me access to give him the best possible chance of survival.”
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: “I was literally begging the agent who was holding me back to let me do CPR,” she told The Intercept.
February 13, 2026 at 8:32 PM
This is by far the most cartoonish politics has been in my lifetime. Extremely kind & decent people vs. the absolute dregs of humanity. It continues to baffle me that this is not equally clear to the whole country.
If I hadn’t retired, I guess they’d have fired me as both my undergrad and graduate institutions are on the list.
DOD own goaling itself all the way to obscurity - critical thinking is woke, AI can do all our thinking for us
Just so profoundly mind numbing, in addition to everything else
Just so profoundly mind numbing, in addition to everything else
February 13, 2026 at 6:35 PM
If I hadn’t retired, I guess they’d have fired me as both my undergrad and graduate institutions are on the list.
Reposted by Empty Bag of Ducks📎
Character is what you do/are when no one is looking.
so he wasn't a bigot during professional appearances yet when he wasn't seeking more power, he said bigoted things. somehow I'm supposed to trust him????
February 13, 2026 at 5:52 AM
Character is what you do/are when no one is looking.
Reposted by Empty Bag of Ducks📎
DON'T you swear at me, you little shit! I am your mother! You understand? All I do is worry and slave and defend you, and all I get back is that fucking face on your face! So full of disdain and resentment and always so annoyed! Well, now the Dow is over 50,000! And you will be appreciative!
February 13, 2026 at 5:54 AM
DON'T you swear at me, you little shit! I am your mother! You understand? All I do is worry and slave and defend you, and all I get back is that fucking face on your face! So full of disdain and resentment and always so annoyed! Well, now the Dow is over 50,000! And you will be appreciative!
Jake, come for the chapter on the police state to understand why Prof. Kruse is right, stay for the chapter on culture change discussing the Nazi’s takeover of the major media.
February 13, 2026 at 1:17 AM
Jake, come for the chapter on the police state to understand why Prof. Kruse is right, stay for the chapter on culture change discussing the Nazi’s takeover of the major media.
“Major” your jealousy slip is showing.
Such a child.
Such a child.
February 13, 2026 at 1:00 AM
“Major” your jealousy slip is showing.
Such a child.
Such a child.
Bernie, let me recommend a book……
February 12, 2026 at 10:46 PM
Bernie, let me recommend a book……
Reposted by Empty Bag of Ducks📎
Like, literally tilting at windmills. The writers are just so lazy.
February 12, 2026 at 6:59 PM
Like, literally tilting at windmills. The writers are just so lazy.
My dad was a police officer in WI for 32 years. Never wore a mask. Our house was egged once. Biggest issue arose with high school ride along program. Peers discovered my dad’s job. Everyone stopped inviting me to parties with underage drinking and stopped talking about their drug use around me.
Ron Johnson: "In Central America, I found out that if you become the new police chief, you get a DVD from the friendly drug cartel with your children and wife going into school and church ... there's such a demand for unmasking ICE officers, but they've been doxxed."
February 12, 2026 at 8:49 PM
My dad was a police officer in WI for 32 years. Never wore a mask. Our house was egged once. Biggest issue arose with high school ride along program. Peers discovered my dad’s job. Everyone stopped inviting me to parties with underage drinking and stopped talking about their drug use around me.
And as someone with a related biliary cancer, check your pee too!
This advice was to folks under the current recommended screening age. If you're old enough, just ask for one.
Also, I know it's gross, but you should really be noticing your poo. So you'll know if there are changes worth asking your doctor about.
Also, I know it's gross, but you should really be noticing your poo. So you'll know if there are changes worth asking your doctor about.
February 12, 2026 at 8:33 PM
And as someone with a related biliary cancer, check your pee too!
Reposted by Empty Bag of Ducks📎
really interesting to me how many professional political commentators have basically retconned the draconian immigration enforcement policies of Obama and Biden out of existence and have completely swallowed the right wing narrative of immigration enforcement
Not going to read them all because jesus fucking christ but this is nasty work from Friedersdorf
February 12, 2026 at 4:29 PM
really interesting to me how many professional political commentators have basically retconned the draconian immigration enforcement policies of Obama and Biden out of existence and have completely swallowed the right wing narrative of immigration enforcement
And this is how you create food deserts.
Does she know how many people rely on Dollar General as their supermarket? Maybe she ought to get out of her office and drive around rural America for a week. Then spend a week in American cities, and not just the gentrified sections.
Does she know how many people rely on Dollar General as their supermarket? Maybe she ought to get out of her office and drive around rural America for a week. Then spend a week in American cities, and not just the gentrified sections.
Brooke Rollins: "You talk about those on food stamps. A lot of people buy their groceries, especially those that are on food stamps, from convenience stores. We're now requiring those retailers to double the amount of healthy food that they stock if they're gonna take the EBT card."
February 12, 2026 at 4:49 PM
And this is how you create food deserts.
Does she know how many people rely on Dollar General as their supermarket? Maybe she ought to get out of her office and drive around rural America for a week. Then spend a week in American cities, and not just the gentrified sections.
Does she know how many people rely on Dollar General as their supermarket? Maybe she ought to get out of her office and drive around rural America for a week. Then spend a week in American cities, and not just the gentrified sections.
Reposted by Empty Bag of Ducks📎
Come on, CNN, it was not a "cost-cutting crusade"
They were looking to validate right-wing conspiracy theories about secret government funding of Democrats, and unconstitutionally eliminated entire agencies involved in those theories. When they found nothing, they slunk away.
They were looking to validate right-wing conspiracy theories about secret government funding of Democrats, and unconstitutionally eliminated entire agencies involved in those theories. When they found nothing, they slunk away.
Significant- CNN on DOGE: "Inside the White House, the cost-cutting crusade marked by mass firings and blanket funding eliminations is largely seen as over"
The White House is signaling no more RIFs and no more rescissions, with Trump trying to distance himself from DOGE
www.cnn.com/2026/02/12/p...
The White House is signaling no more RIFs and no more rescissions, with Trump trying to distance himself from DOGE
www.cnn.com/2026/02/12/p...
‘They put me on there to die’: Conservatives unload on GOP’s failures to carry out DOGE cost-cutting | CNN Politics
The budget-slashing Department of Government Efficiency that upended the federal government at the start of President Donald Trump’s second term has stalled out on Capitol Hill, a reality that’s left ...
www.cnn.com
February 12, 2026 at 3:52 PM
Come on, CNN, it was not a "cost-cutting crusade"
They were looking to validate right-wing conspiracy theories about secret government funding of Democrats, and unconstitutionally eliminated entire agencies involved in those theories. When they found nothing, they slunk away.
They were looking to validate right-wing conspiracy theories about secret government funding of Democrats, and unconstitutionally eliminated entire agencies involved in those theories. When they found nothing, they slunk away.
Reposted by Empty Bag of Ducks📎
“In his egoism, Trump exhibits an overarching desire to squeeze the nation dry, including by converting as much of America’s wealth to himself regardless of the consequences. What Trump can’t take with him, he would just as soon ruin.”
Latest in @atrupar.com’s PN:
open.substack.com/pub/aaronrup...
Latest in @atrupar.com’s PN:
open.substack.com/pub/aaronrup...
We are all passengers in Trump’s death cab
The nihilism of the regime is its most terrifying attribute.
open.substack.com
February 12, 2026 at 12:26 PM
“In his egoism, Trump exhibits an overarching desire to squeeze the nation dry, including by converting as much of America’s wealth to himself regardless of the consequences. What Trump can’t take with him, he would just as soon ruin.”
Latest in @atrupar.com’s PN:
open.substack.com/pub/aaronrup...
Latest in @atrupar.com’s PN:
open.substack.com/pub/aaronrup...
Reposted by Empty Bag of Ducks📎
Really powerful, really illuminating thread. Clear, precise, devastating.
I don’t really know what I expect in posting this, but maybe some people see it and can learn from it.
I’ll call it “lessons from an unwilling immigration attorney.”
1/
I’ll call it “lessons from an unwilling immigration attorney.”
1/
February 12, 2026 at 11:12 AM
Really powerful, really illuminating thread. Clear, precise, devastating.
Reposted by Empty Bag of Ducks📎
All the various kinds of revisions add up -- by the end of the year, there were more than a million fewer people employed than previously estimated.
February 11, 2026 at 2:24 PM
All the various kinds of revisions add up -- by the end of the year, there were more than a million fewer people employed than previously estimated.
John Ridley: Oscar for the Best Adapted Screenplay for Twelve Years A Slave
Who's the most famous alum of your high school?
I'll go first: David Draiman of Disturbed
I'll go first: David Draiman of Disturbed
guys i just found out i went to the same high school as howard lutnick. please respect my privacy at this time.
February 12, 2026 at 3:33 AM
John Ridley: Oscar for the Best Adapted Screenplay for Twelve Years A Slave