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Matt Montazzoli

@legalleadtheway.bsky.social

4.7K followers 1.9K following 1.3K posts

| Law of War | LOAC | Int’l Humanitarian Law | 🇺🇸 Army JAG lawyer. Personal opinions, no employer endorsement, nothing here is legal advice. RLTW!

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Matt Montazzoli @legalleadtheway.bsky.social · 12h

I'm actually fascinated by the argument that reprogramming proc dollars to funds *ARMY*salaries is un-Constitutional... like, who has standing to assert it's ok to pay Space Force, Marines, Coasties, but not Soldiers?

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Matt Montazzoli @legalleadtheway.bsky.social · 12h

So, agree the 'clock' starts when the funds were appropriated.

No caselaw, but some old AG opines (1904, 1948) say 2 year limit "does not extend to appropriations for the various means which an army may use in military operations, or which are deemed necessary for the common defense."

Matt Montazzoli @legalleadtheway.bsky.social · 12h

Great moment for Army to have no outside employment policy beyond 18 U.S.C. 209.

*Army Intel nerds subject to IC-peculiar restrictions.

Matt Montazzoli @legalleadtheway.bsky.social · 12h

Some forms of military spending are “x year money,” in that they appropriate several years at a go… but they still appropriate every year. RDT&E (at issue here) is 2 year money. It’s meant to promote stability for long term projects, research, etc.

Chart showing period of availability for military appropriations from the Army JAG School Fiscal Law Deskbook

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Matt Montazzoli @legalleadtheway.bsky.social · 14h

Some of them are retiring because they feel this way.

“Hey man did you get QA to sign off?” Gigan @gigansprogress.bsky.social · 1d

A throughline in every federal worker I've talked to this year is how they feel like a total mark for their service and work over the years up to this point, and the ones that don't are retiring soon

“Hey man did you get QA to sign off?” Gigan @gigansprogress.bsky.social · 1d

Solidarity to the feds out there, shit's rough

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Matt Montazzoli @legalleadtheway.bsky.social · 2d

That’s wild. Now that you mention it I remember similar visual “cues” in AQIZ sizzle reels from Iraq.

Matt Montazzoli @legalleadtheway.bsky.social · 2d

That’s wild. Now that you mention it I remember similar visual “cues” in AQIZ sizzle reels from Iraq.

Matt Montazzoli @legalleadtheway.bsky.social · 2d

What does the inverted red triangle mean?

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Matt Montazzoli @legalleadtheway.bsky.social · 2d

This is a lifestyle for some of us.

A page from the Guide to Australian Birds featuring the humble bush stone curlew

Frozen bush stone curlew chilling in front of some trees in Townsville

Matt Montazzoli @legalleadtheway.bsky.social · 2d

Hell yeah, brother!

Matt Montazzoli @legalleadtheway.bsky.social · 2d

Not gonna do the environmental damage to AI generate Rusty’s dad patrolling Honiara, but I like to think he was on a Lilia rotation.

www.defence.gov.au

Matt Montazzoli @legalleadtheway.bsky.social · 2d

‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ for sure applies to those Foghorn Leghorn in a small package bastards.

Matt Montazzoli @legalleadtheway.bsky.social · 2d

I am literally feuding with a priest friend because he shares your failure to appreciate true avian supremacy.

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Matt Montazzoli @legalleadtheway.bsky.social · 2d

Don’t get me wrong, love me some kukkaburras and cassowaries and magpies are born killers after my own heart, but these little freeze-when-spotted, scream-at-night weirdos are my hands down favorite.

What's that Scream in the Night? It could be a Bush Stone Curlew #birds #australia #birdcall

YouTube video by Wood Wide Web

m.youtube.com

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Matt Montazzoli @legalleadtheway.bsky.social · 2d

Thicc knees

Bush stone-curlew
Burhinus grallarius
Give it up for the goggle-eyed freak
With their haunting nighttime wails, bulging, googly eyes and bodies propped up on ridiculously long legs, these nocturnal, ground-dwelling birds look like something out of a Halloween parade. Hammered by foxes and cats in the south, they are still thriving in the north and can even be found in Brisbane's city centre.

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Matt Montazzoli @legalleadtheway.bsky.social · 2d

Vote curlew or GTFO.

Australian bird of the year 2025: vote for your favourite #birdoftheyear in the Guardian / BirdLife Australia poll

From little penguins to (very big) cassowaries, every bird has its fans. Vote for your favourite in the 2025 Guardian/BirdLife Australia poll

www.theguardian.com

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Matt Montazzoli @legalleadtheway.bsky.social · 2d

This makes Hebrew school seem tame as hell by comparison.

Snowden St. @snowden.st · May 14

Yeah, this was in Dallas in the late 90s, but we had 4 armed men come in with real unloaded guns, and take a few of us aside. Said they were here to kill believers, and asked if we were believers. After we all said "Yes", they unmasked themselves as dads from church.

Matt Montazzoli @legalleadtheway.bsky.social · 2d

I’d echo Isbell, Childers, and add Immortal Technique.

Matt Montazzoli @legalleadtheway.bsky.social · 4d

I used to have the soundtrack on CD (!) and it slapped. Alas, Apple Music only offers the score which… doesn’t.

Matt Montazzoli @legalleadtheway.bsky.social · 4d

Thoughts and prayers.

Matt Montazzoli @legalleadtheway.bsky.social · 4d

Genuinely curious: what is the party line on this?

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Matt Montazzoli @legalleadtheway.bsky.social · 5d

So, there is a theory that a GTC purchase can never violate the Anti-Deficiency Act, but I’m not sure we want to test it on a department-wide basis.

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Matt Montazzoli @legalleadtheway.bsky.social · 5d

I don’t think you can use it for pay and allowances, unless you put SM on some truly batshit individual contracts to try and shoehorn into the statute, but never say never with the current crew.

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Matt Montazzoli @legalleadtheway.bsky.social · 5d

I kinda wonder if this is a wink-and-nod at some Feed and Forage Act shenanigans… or just a disconnect from actual reality.

Matt Montazzoli @legalleadtheway.bsky.social · 5d

does he only own one shirt