Don Dechert
@dondechert.bsky.social
Lawyer, veteran. Ex-baby historian, current litigator, lapsed social scientist, still playing TTRPGs. Unabashedly pro-cat because cats are awesome. Various thoughts, some well articulated in 🇺🇲/🇩🇪.
📍Chicago, IL, Vereinigte Staaten, Terra
📍Chicago, IL, Vereinigte Staaten, Terra
Pinned
Don Dechert
@dondechert.bsky.social
· Dec 27
I'm a lawyer with a lot of interests. I went to law school after getting my MA in social science from U Chicago, which I got after transitioning from active duty Army to the Reserves. I still play TTRPGs (and have soft spot for Battletech). And cats are awesome. Manchmal auch auf Deutsch.
Reposted by Don Dechert
I am going to predict this probably violates the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965. My general sense of these things is that because President says something, we don’t have to do it anymore.
Trump: “I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries … denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility, and deport any Foreign National who is a public charge, security risk, or non-compatible with Western Civilization.“
November 28, 2025 at 4:38 AM
I am going to predict this probably violates the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965. My general sense of these things is that because President says something, we don’t have to do it anymore.
Reposted by Don Dechert
At what point will the press corps, as a chorus, in unison, just shout back, “THATS NOT TRUE”!
What are we doing?
What are we doing?
“You’re a stupid person” — Trump lashes out at a reporter who presses him on the fact that the suspected DC shooter was actually thoroughly vetted before he was let in the US from Afghanistan
November 28, 2025 at 2:50 AM
At what point will the press corps, as a chorus, in unison, just shout back, “THATS NOT TRUE”!
What are we doing?
What are we doing?
Reposted by Don Dechert
The White Christian Supremacism of this administration is so extreme that it seems like it’s got to resolve with either a massive rejection of such illiberalism, or a violent, authoritarian imposition of it.
November 27, 2025 at 10:27 PM
The White Christian Supremacism of this administration is so extreme that it seems like it’s got to resolve with either a massive rejection of such illiberalism, or a violent, authoritarian imposition of it.
Reposted by Don Dechert
Kelly‘s buyout is more that the entire Louisiana’s public defender budget, which is mostly sourced from traffic fines
boltsmag.org/jeff-landry-...
bsky.app/profile/saba...
boltsmag.org/jeff-landry-...
bsky.app/profile/saba...
November 28, 2025 at 2:02 AM
Kelly‘s buyout is more that the entire Louisiana’s public defender budget, which is mostly sourced from traffic fines
boltsmag.org/jeff-landry-...
bsky.app/profile/saba...
boltsmag.org/jeff-landry-...
bsky.app/profile/saba...
Reposted by Don Dechert
I mean this with all due respect: nobody’s making him be Speaker. He almost didn’t get the necessary support. He can literally step down any time and take ask the vacation he wants.
Mike Johnson: “I haven’t had a vacation day in two years. I haven’t been off in two years, literally.”
November 28, 2025 at 12:56 AM
I mean this with all due respect: nobody’s making him be Speaker. He almost didn’t get the necessary support. He can literally step down any time and take ask the vacation he wants.
Reposted by Don Dechert
The CA bar is extremely lenient with prosecutors (even more so than the usual kid gloves prosecutors get) but this really needs to merit severe sanctions.
Prosecutors in California used A.I. to argue that a 57-year-old man should be held without bail, his lawyers say, filing a brief that included wholesale misinterpretations of the law, as well as quotations that do not actually appear in the cited texts. nyti.ms/3M1bVye
Prosecutor Used Flawed A.I. to Keep a Man in Jail, His Lawyers Say
The case is among the first in which a prosecutor is accused of filing court papers marred by A.I.-generated mistakes.
nyti.ms
November 25, 2025 at 3:56 PM
The CA bar is extremely lenient with prosecutors (even more so than the usual kid gloves prosecutors get) but this really needs to merit severe sanctions.
Reposted by Don Dechert
I know it may be hard to find something to be thankful for this year, but remember, there are always cats.
November 27, 2025 at 9:49 PM
I know it may be hard to find something to be thankful for this year, but remember, there are always cats.
introduce yourself with five concerts you've seen
Linkin Park
Die Ärzte (x2)
Die Toten Hosen
Rammstein
Billy Talent
Linkin Park
Die Ärzte (x2)
Die Toten Hosen
Rammstein
Billy Talent
Lila Downs
Pink Floyd
Flogging Molly
Social Distortion
Nortec Collective
Pink Floyd
Flogging Molly
Social Distortion
Nortec Collective
introduce yourself with five concerts you've seen
Rush
ZZ Top
The Donnas
Aerosmith
Billy Joel
Rush
ZZ Top
The Donnas
Aerosmith
Billy Joel
November 27, 2025 at 11:19 PM
introduce yourself with five concerts you've seen
Linkin Park
Die Ärzte (x2)
Die Toten Hosen
Rammstein
Billy Talent
Linkin Park
Die Ärzte (x2)
Die Toten Hosen
Rammstein
Billy Talent
Reposted by Don Dechert
This story should be covered waaaaayy more than it is.
The US has sanctioned six judges if the international criminal court ICC, because Trump didn’t like them issuing arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant.
www.lemonde.fr/en/internati...
The US has sanctioned six judges if the international criminal court ICC, because Trump didn’t like them issuing arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant.
www.lemonde.fr/en/internati...
Nicolas Guillou, French ICC judge sanctioned by the US: 'You are effectively blacklisted by much of the world's banking system'
Six judges and three prosecutors at the International Criminal Court have been sanctioned by the Trump administration. In an interview with Le Monde, Guillou discusses the impact of these measures on ...
www.lemonde.fr
November 24, 2025 at 8:13 PM
This story should be covered waaaaayy more than it is.
The US has sanctioned six judges if the international criminal court ICC, because Trump didn’t like them issuing arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant.
www.lemonde.fr/en/internati...
The US has sanctioned six judges if the international criminal court ICC, because Trump didn’t like them issuing arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant.
www.lemonde.fr/en/internati...
Reposted by Don Dechert
It's pretty openly acknowledged that their shit at best is hardware someone else built running their buggy kludged together shitty software and at worst just straight up doesn't work
But hey kath hicks said they're the future of defense so
But hey kath hicks said they're the future of defense so
US defense firm Anduril faces setbacks from drone crashes, including in a recent Air Force test, reported here for the first time reut.rs/3XFSBtb
November 27, 2025 at 10:17 PM
It's pretty openly acknowledged that their shit at best is hardware someone else built running their buggy kludged together shitty software and at worst just straight up doesn't work
But hey kath hicks said they're the future of defense so
But hey kath hicks said they're the future of defense so
Reposted by Don Dechert
lol it was 9-0
November 27, 2025 at 1:16 AM
lol it was 9-0
Reposted by Don Dechert
Imagine doing a “I’m going to send you a ‘plz fix, thx’ email during your mom’s funeral” photoshoot
While work-life balance may give you a sense of happiness and fulfillment, it isn’t always realistic, says Walmart executive vice president and chief people officer Donna Morris.
Walmart exec: ‘I’ve never believed in the term work-life balance’—this is the mantra that made her highly successful instead
Many professionals see work-life balance as a non-negotiable. Walmart CPO Donna Morris says people should practice work-life integration instead. Here's why.
cnb.cx
November 27, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Imagine doing a “I’m going to send you a ‘plz fix, thx’ email during your mom’s funeral” photoshoot
Reposted by Don Dechert
I’ve known a few people over the years who started watching Fox News because they wanted to be “informed” and not trapped in a media bubble who ultimately started drinking the Kool Aid. Propaganda works.
This is the correct take. Stewing in white supremacist propaganda is bad for your thinking. And if think you are so savvy that it won’t impact you, you are the exact kind of mark they are slowly converting (I’m looking at you, centrist pundits).
It’s really funny how a generation will roll its eyes at parents who watch Fox News but doesn’t see why being immersed in Twitter is having the same effect. Lots of serious people show up on Fox News too but that shouldn’t be your primary source on the news.
November 27, 2025 at 12:52 PM
I’ve known a few people over the years who started watching Fox News because they wanted to be “informed” and not trapped in a media bubble who ultimately started drinking the Kool Aid. Propaganda works.
Reposted by Don Dechert
As the year winds down we want to take a moment.
2025 marks our twentieth year in business. We are deeply grateful to everyone who has contributed to our little company with their time, money, or talent. Thank you!
To celebrate, we've put our whole catalog on sale.
evilhat.com/roleplaying-...
2025 marks our twentieth year in business. We are deeply grateful to everyone who has contributed to our little company with their time, money, or talent. Thank you!
To celebrate, we've put our whole catalog on sale.
evilhat.com/roleplaying-...
November 26, 2025 at 7:44 PM
As the year winds down we want to take a moment.
2025 marks our twentieth year in business. We are deeply grateful to everyone who has contributed to our little company with their time, money, or talent. Thank you!
To celebrate, we've put our whole catalog on sale.
evilhat.com/roleplaying-...
2025 marks our twentieth year in business. We are deeply grateful to everyone who has contributed to our little company with their time, money, or talent. Thank you!
To celebrate, we've put our whole catalog on sale.
evilhat.com/roleplaying-...
Reposted by Don Dechert
It is also important to keep in mind that one of the first immigration actions Trump & Miller took was stranding the next batch of these Afghan refugees who were approved & waiting to come here. Essentially condemning them to persecution & possible torture or death.
this should go without saying but if you were one of the lucky few we did get out of Afghanistan during the withdrawal and we got you out because you'd been working with us, deportation back is likely a death sentence.
November 27, 2025 at 3:43 AM
It is also important to keep in mind that one of the first immigration actions Trump & Miller took was stranding the next batch of these Afghan refugees who were approved & waiting to come here. Essentially condemning them to persecution & possible torture or death.
Reposted by Don Dechert
The Afghanistan withdrawal was what finally broke me of any illusions that I had of one day really contributing something to defense policy.
He took so long to get back to me that I had even reached out to my former brigade commander, a man who I once said that I'd throw him out of a window the next time I saw him, to see if he could move the chains.
He responded 4 days later with two sentences, neither was helpful
He responded 4 days later with two sentences, neither was helpful
November 27, 2025 at 3:32 AM
The Afghanistan withdrawal was what finally broke me of any illusions that I had of one day really contributing something to defense policy.
As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.
Happy Thanksgiving! Let's go to Les Nessman for a man on the scene report from the Pinedale shopping mall:
November 27, 2025 at 3:27 AM
As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.
Reposted by Don Dechert
Happy Thanksgiving! Let's go to Les Nessman for a man on the scene report from the Pinedale shopping mall:
November 27, 2025 at 3:25 AM
Happy Thanksgiving! Let's go to Les Nessman for a man on the scene report from the Pinedale shopping mall:
This is wonderful. Jim looks to be living his best life.
THREAD.
3 years ago, with no warning, a brilliant orange farm cat wandered over from the draughty barn where he had been living, in rural Cornwall, and decided he wanted to live with us instead.
We decided to call him Jim.
This is the first photo I took of him, on that night: December 1st, 2022.
3 years ago, with no warning, a brilliant orange farm cat wandered over from the draughty barn where he had been living, in rural Cornwall, and decided he wanted to live with us instead.
We decided to call him Jim.
This is the first photo I took of him, on that night: December 1st, 2022.
November 26, 2025 at 9:44 PM
This is wonderful. Jim looks to be living his best life.
Lovely story. Something I do miss from the active duty days.
OK - pie discourse - best pie story:
In 2016, we were living in Andover, in the UK. My wife was assigned as an exchange officer at the Army Air Corps base at Middle Wallop (yes, really).*
The US Army has a tradition: senior leaders, in dress uniform, serve junior troops Thanksgiving dinner.
/1
In 2016, we were living in Andover, in the UK. My wife was assigned as an exchange officer at the Army Air Corps base at Middle Wallop (yes, really).*
The US Army has a tradition: senior leaders, in dress uniform, serve junior troops Thanksgiving dinner.
/1
November 26, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Lovely story. Something I do miss from the active duty days.
Reposted by Don Dechert
"We have a first amendment right to coordinate our market activity" is not going to be a viable claim, guys
BREAKING: RealPage is suing New York, challenging a new state law that bans landlords from using algorithms to set rents.
RealPage claims that its software, which landlords have used to collude on rents, is protected by the First Amendment.
RealPage claims that its software, which landlords have used to collude on rents, is protected by the First Amendment.
November 26, 2025 at 8:59 PM
"We have a first amendment right to coordinate our market activity" is not going to be a viable claim, guys
Reposted by Don Dechert
Reposted by Don Dechert
yes, I feel like you can safely ignore anyone who tells you with a straight face in 2025 that you can just do without a smartphone
This article makes really good points about the inability of most people to cut expenses without entirely losing the ability to participate in the economy. I get tired of people telling me to live cheaper by eliminating things that are necessary for modern life.
November 26, 2025 at 9:48 AM
yes, I feel like you can safely ignore anyone who tells you with a straight face in 2025 that you can just do without a smartphone
It was over three issues and was presented as sort of a travelouge and with that art. Really, really good art.
From the Days of Mana specials in Nintendo Power: Katsuya Terada's visions of the world of The Secret of Mana, which, like their illustrations for Link's Awakening, lend the game a darker, more mature vibe akin to the artwork you might see in a Wizardry game.
November 26, 2025 at 8:43 PM
It was over three issues and was presented as sort of a travelouge and with that art. Really, really good art.