Jeffrey Vagle
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jvagle.me
Jeffrey Vagle
@jvagle.me
Law professor | Privacy, Cybersecurity, AI*, Technology and Society, National Security | Veteran | There is music yet to play | https://tractatus.org
Pinned
"I have no one on my left and only a few on my right. I WILL HOLD."

-- 1LT Clifton Cates, Message to Battalion Headquarters, 19 Jul 1918, Battle of Soissons
A Confederacy of Car Dealership Owners
This administration’s ability to elevate people who are simultaneously awful and kind of dumb is unmatched.
February 13, 2026 at 4:03 PM
I'd also posit that these efforts add layers of administration in the form of directors, vice presidents, and "centers of excellence," which act as zero-sum funding sinks and are difficult to dislodge once put in place.
Faculty have a role to play, but I'm convinced the most recent drive to automate education will fail, just as it has in every decade since the 1950s, because tuition-paying students hate it.

That said, each new iteration of this drive chips away at budgets, at public trust, at institutions, etc.
February 13, 2026 at 3:51 PM
One does not have to be a military historian to understand that GOFOs frequently do not rise to their stations based on the strength of their unparalleled genius.
February 13, 2026 at 3:45 PM
Reposted by Jeffrey Vagle
Here's a list of some topics I cover in my article, Privacy in Authoritarian Times papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
February 13, 2026 at 1:47 PM
Reposted by Jeffrey Vagle
You can't... repeal... a scientific finding. At that point it's just called lying about it.
Breaking News: The Trump administration repealed the bedrock scientific finding that greenhouse gases threaten human life and well being, meaning that the EPA can no longer regulate them. nyti.ms/4rSszQu
February 12, 2026 at 8:38 PM
Reposted by Jeffrey Vagle
In terms of what cures are being lost:

- Epstein-Barr virus is perhaps the major trigger for multiple sclerosis
- herpes simplex virus causes cold sores, genital herpes, infections in babies, deadly meningitis
- shingles virus causes an intensely painful disease
February 13, 2026 at 5:44 AM
Reposted by Jeffrey Vagle
For those of you keeping score at home, the actual cut to the Post newsroom was 45%, not the widely reported one third. Remaining journalists are a bit over 400, down from around 1100 four years ago and 580 when Bezos bought the place.
February 12, 2026 at 6:49 PM
Facebook once again making the depiction of Omni Consumer Products in Robocop look sober and understated.
Facebook plans to put facial recognition in its glasses and they think we’re too stupid to fight back.

Their internal memo: “We will launch during a dynamic political environment where many civil society groups that we would expect to attack us would have their resources focused on other concerns.”
Meta Plans to Add Facial Recognition Technology to Its Smart Glasses
www.nytimes.com
February 13, 2026 at 1:06 PM
February 13, 2026 at 4:13 AM
Reposted by Jeffrey Vagle
Yes, I am announcing "I am departing this room" and I really hate it.
www.thewesternedge.media/p/i-had-a-dr... did it for me.
I Had a Dream Journalism Job. Here's Why I Quit.
The rot that hollowed out trust in corporate media finally reached OPB. I had to go.
www.thewesternedge.media
February 13, 2026 at 3:44 AM
Beware: Folks of a certain age may be reminded of one of the most heartbreaking commercials of all time.
npr.org NPR @npr.org · 17h
One of the most expressive singer-songwriters of her generation, Sarah McLachlan's deeply felt and virtuosic performance is miraculous. n.pr/3M9F0rT
Sarah McLachlan: Tiny Desk Concert
One of the most expressive singer-songwriters of her generation, Sarah McLachlan's deeply felt and virtuosic performance is miraculous.
n.pr
February 13, 2026 at 12:51 AM
Reposted by Jeffrey Vagle
One of the most expressive singer-songwriters of her generation, Sarah McLachlan's deeply felt and virtuosic performance is miraculous. n.pr/3M9F0rT
Sarah McLachlan: Tiny Desk Concert
One of the most expressive singer-songwriters of her generation, Sarah McLachlan's deeply felt and virtuosic performance is miraculous.
n.pr
February 12, 2026 at 11:05 PM
Damn right.
I think Senator Murphy does a good job here, but I hate that we live in an era of "Okay, sure, he's an unapologetic white supremacist, but let's hear him out and take in the full measure of the man."
Trump nominated a legit white nationalist to a top post at the State Department. I asked him some basic questions about his belief in the “erasure of white culture”. Watch this embarrassing, fumbling answer. Like he has never before been asked to explain his views.
February 13, 2026 at 12:42 AM
Reposted by Jeffrey Vagle
I think Senator Murphy does a good job here, but I hate that we live in an era of "Okay, sure, he's an unapologetic white supremacist, but let's hear him out and take in the full measure of the man."
Trump nominated a legit white nationalist to a top post at the State Department. I asked him some basic questions about his belief in the “erasure of white culture”. Watch this embarrassing, fumbling answer. Like he has never before been asked to explain his views.
February 13, 2026 at 12:41 AM
Reposted by Jeffrey Vagle
United States v. Chatrie, the geofence warrant case, is now scheduled for oral argument on Monday, April 27th.
www.supremecourt.gov/docket/docke...
Docket for 25-112
www.supremecourt.gov
February 12, 2026 at 11:26 PM
Reposted by Jeffrey Vagle
with alt text:
February 13, 2026 at 12:32 AM
Reposted by Jeffrey Vagle
Yale, Harvard, Stanford
February 12, 2026 at 9:32 PM
Reposted by Jeffrey Vagle
Actual footage of Vince Guaraldi performing "Linus and Lucy". I'm gobsmacked that this exists, but utterly thrilled too. www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EMf...
Vince Guaraldi - earliest television recording of "Linus and Lucy"
YouTube video by Lee Mendelson Film Productions, Inc.
www.youtube.com
February 12, 2026 at 7:45 PM
It appears as if Musk has finally gotten around to watching his copy of @manmademoon.bsky.social 's Moon (and missed all the core messages of same).
February 12, 2026 at 10:19 PM
Reposted by Jeffrey Vagle
Late-stage capitalism in an era of mass surveillance means a competing doorbell-camera company ALREADY has a parody ad up of that wretched Ring Super Bowl ad -- and, ngl, it's pretty good: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROFb... (h/t @melanie-ensign.bsky.social)
Definitely Only for Dogs: Ring's Superbowl Commercial (Parody)
YouTube video by Wyze
www.youtube.com
February 12, 2026 at 7:09 PM
Reposted by Jeffrey Vagle
see you can follow up when he says he doesn’t know, it’s allowed
Q: Rep. Jayapal accused the DOJ of tracking her search history. Is that appropriate conduct?

MIKE JOHNSON: I don't know anything about that

Q: Bondi had a piece of paper with Jayapal's search history

JOHNSON: I don't know anything about that but it would be inappropriate if it happened
February 12, 2026 at 5:45 PM
Reposted by Jeffrey Vagle
Ladies and gentlemen, the Secretary of Health and Human Services!
RFK Jr: I'm not scared of a germ. I used to snort cocaine off of toilet seats.
February 12, 2026 at 8:40 PM
February 12, 2026 at 7:13 PM
Reposted by Jeffrey Vagle
And in honor of the work I did helping to build the Satellite of Love set that Trace played such a huge part in designing, I will not be allowed near any of the sets while under construction, especially the power tools and green-treated lumber.
In addition to lending us his talents on-screen, Trace Beaulieu will be art director for MST3K: The RiffTrax Experiments!

www.kickstarter.com/projects/rif...
February 12, 2026 at 6:25 PM
Do folks even know what proteins are or why they suddenly need ingest them at wholesale rates? What if we started talking in terms of amino acids--would that change the conversation?
February 12, 2026 at 6:24 PM