States must promise their schools don’t use DEI or lose federal funding, Trump administration says
https://www.oregonlive.com/education/2025/04/states-must-promise-their-schools-dont-use-dei-or-lose-federal-funding-trump-administration-says.html?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub
Posted into Oregon News from The Oregonian @oregon-news-from-the-oregonian-TheOregonian
States must promise their schools don’t use DEI or lose federal funding, Trump administration says
A spokesperson for Gov. Tina Kotek said Oregon school districts should await further guidance.Erica Meltzer (oregonlive)
Whilomgeek reshared this.
Entire staff at federal agency that funds libraries and museums put on leave
The staff of the Institute of Museum and Library Services was placed on administrative leave this morning, following a meeting between IMLS leadership and DOGE staff.#news #npr #publicradio #usa
posted by pod_feeder_v2
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Love this quote from " Radically Progressive Degrowth: Reducing Resource Use by Eliminating Inequality":
"Some clarification. No, I am not advocating that we execute rich people. I am supposing that we eliminate their command of resource flows."
economicsfromthetopdown.com/20…
Radically Progressive Degrowth: Reducing Resource Use by Eliminating Inequality – Economics from the Top Down
I look at the degrowth that might be achieved by eliminating inequality.Blair Fix (Economics from the Top Down)
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Whilomgeek reshared this.
There is something very wrong in this country when six young people meeting to discuss politics in a Quaker Meeting House are arrested by the police after a mass (twenty officers) invasion of the building (armed with tasers).
The freedom to protest, or even the freedom to meet in a room to discuss current affairs, are central to a democracy... if this freedom is now compromised (further), as it seems to be, we are in a very bad place!
h/t @Thebratdragon
quaker.org.uk/news-and-events/…
Quakers condemn police raid on Westminster Meeting House
Police broke into a Quaker Meeting House last night (27 March) and arrested six young people holding a meeting over concerns for the climate and Gaza.Quakers
Ramin Honary likes this.
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This was in England. Under a Labour government!
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Bssr4 (TЯ☭M₽ ) and Luca 🍉 🕊️ 🇿🇦 reshared this.
"Forgive my mistake, but it still applies here!"
Bssr4 (TЯ☭M₽ ) reshared this.
@martinvermeer
the lesson the suffragettes learned, peaceful gets you nowhere and arrested, so give them something worth arresting you for.
Same Police, same government mentality.
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HarriettMB and Christo. London, England reshared this.
@Palky55 you mean the ones that turned into riots when the Met got heavy handed?
that is the whole plan, stop the protests gathering in numbers too big to handle, so send in the Gestapo to take out the organisers.
@Palky55
It's gone worldwide now.☠️
❝...𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞? 𝐂𝐨𝐨𝐥, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐭'𝐬 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫 - 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐬𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 - 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞...❞
--𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐍𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬
Estarriol, lucozade dragon reshared this.
☠️ 🙃 ☠️
❝...These billionaires WILL fucking kill you, to keep doing capitalism on a boiling planet. They're installing fascism so you don't have a choice, they're controlling police states because they mean to preserve their world order, with violence--that's actually why security forces exist, everywhere...❞
- AnarchoNinaWrites
Estarriol, lucozade dragon reshared this.
Whatever the reasoning, it will be justified in legal terms around conspiracy to protest in a way that would prove illegal, would be my guess - essentially its the thought police!
Estarriol, lucozade dragon reshared this.
Jules 🍺 reshared this.
We've known for a long time that the MET has a deeply dysfunctional organisational culture - it really has to be broken up into much smaller forces with entirely new leaderships, drawn from elsewhere. The interaction of its existing chauvinist ethos with repressive protest legislation really is dangerous.
And there's another context to this police repression: their utter failure to deal with real crime, with detection and conviction rates at truly shocking, miniscule levels - hovering around 2% for serious crime like rape and burglary. The good are targeted, the criminals are laughing.
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If you are against the Quakers, then you really are on the wrong side of the line.
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It's always the quiet ones you need to watch out for.
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Yes, I only saw it as @Thebratdragon posted the Quaker statement
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Peter Gray (he/him) 🚲🏞🎷🏠🌿 and Estarriol, lucozade dragon reshared this.
Have you looked at the world recently? We are in a very, very, very bad place.
The COVID debacle made it embarrassing to be human.... but 2025 has made me ashamed to be human.
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It was a small group, behind closed doors, probably organised on an encrypted chat group (if they had any sense). How could they get the 20 'officers' organised for a raid without some sort of inside info prior.
Estarriol, lucozade dragon reshared this.
@davidgrieve My guess is that they organized on Facebook or some other un-secure social media app that is feeding information directly to the cops. It was apparently a "Welcome talk".
thecanary.co/uk/news/2025/03/2…
Youth Demand supporters RAIDED by cops across UK as outrageous clampdown begins - Canary
Youth Demand supporters RAIDED by cops across UK as outrageous clampdown begins from Canary on 28 March 2025The Canary
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Saxicola ✅ 🏴🇪🇺 reshared this.
@JizzelEtBass @davidgrieve @ChrisMayLA6@zir
deliberate scare tactics and chilling effect.Taser armed Police into a place of quiet like that is deliberate jackboot.
And for creating a public nuisance..... So the 1000 tractors were not a public nuisance as they were owned by tory and reform donors?
@JizzelEtBass
I do a bit protesting myself (anti monarchy), I have never had an issue with the police.
Having said that, our top organisers were all arrested on the morning of the coronation day. Later released without charge and very later given compensation payouts from the MET.
Much like all humans, the police have a range of political views and levels of competence in their ranks.
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Estarriol, lucozade dragon and M reshared this.
serving Metropolitan Police Officers gave character witness statements to try and lessen the sentance their warrent carrying, still serving colleague got for raping and murdering Sarah Everard.
That says everything about the Metropolitan Police in my view.
@JizzelEtBass
They temporarily detained me at Buckingham Palace after a protest. Let us go after about 40 minutes after they realised we had not broken any law.
I am sure some of them wanted to take us round the back for a kicking mind you.
Estarriol, lucozade dragon reshared this.
my Uncle was in the Met and he basically taught us that if we're ever aproached by the police:
•be polite.
•be honest.
•never volunteer information.
•be careful because there are some right bastards on the police force.
@duckwhistle @davidgrieve @JizzelEtBass
I used to play rugby in the amateur days, and a lot of met cops did too (one way out of football ground duty).
And their answer was, you ever get arrested, get them to call me, I'll sort it. He was a DCI....
So my trust in the met is less than stellar.
Estarriol, lucozade dragon reshared this.
Arresting quakers.. FFS.
Reeves pushes the HMRC to go for tax avoidance. This is the party for the workers. It means go for the easy targets again, the plumbers and other self employed workers.
The education sec says take meals from infants.
Vote Labour, get Tories .Vote Tory get Trump look-a-likes.
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Estarriol, lucozade dragon reshared this.
nothing, it is who they have always been, they are just not pretending anymore.
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Estarriol, lucozade dragon and 🔶Mark Nicoll 3.5%🏴🇬🇧🇪🇺🇺🇳 reshared this.
walking down the street while black was always the Polices favourite use of it.
yes, I imagine it will be something like that; no need to *actually* cause the 'nuisance', of course
Estarriol, lucozade dragon reshared this.
So ready to do the big bank heist, phone the police about an activists meeting and no coppers to trouble you.
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@Sbectol
Oh...you mean like training for future events.
In North America, they used to train drug cops on busts by using 'inherently non-violent" marijuana dealers. This would be a similar tactic perhaps.
If they are indeed central to a democracy and they are compromised, then …
… a "bad place" falls short of being the logical answer, being an a-political phrase. "it's not [qualifier] democracy" sounds like the logical answer; qualifiers, like "a good", "at all", etc. may apply.
Why this comment?
Because it's disappointing to see 'democracy' disappear from commentary critical to the status quo, while being used excessively by the status quo to praise itself.
Well, I appreciate that point; but as you will see across my regular posts on politics I have not shied away from the word 'democracy' both in texts & as a #, but just didn't today....
Aha, fair enough.... and broadly I would agree with your original point; too often we lose sight of the incremental destruction of ur democratic rights
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@Thebratdragon
see post just now.... but as many suspected; conspiracy to cause a public nuisance
yes but all the British media other than the Guardian sometimes is owned by oil burning oligarchs....
Musk PAC’s $100 giveaways put Wisconsin voters to the test
Musk’s super PAC is offering #Wisconsin voters $100 to sign a petition denouncing judges as his #DOGE efforts face pushback from courts.
How is this not bribery? How is this at all legal?
msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/e…
Elon Musk PAC’s $100 giveaways put Wisconsin voters to the test
Musk’s super PAC, America PAC, is offering Wisconsin voters $100 to sign a petition denouncing judges as his DOGE efforts face pushback from courts.Ja'han Jones (MSNBC)
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Republicans at a town hall in Spokane, WA angrily demanded aggression against Canada cease.
Their cowardly #GOP Congress critter is now whining that he wants to have telephone town halls instead. People are too angry at the fascist shit he's supporting. Boo hoo.
#fascism #protests #musk #trump #doge
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trump wants to turn the clocks back - to 1930's Germany.
Arena Cops 🇺🇦✌ reshared this.
That is the long and the short of it, but we have to remember that its opponents think all that is good. They think the poor should remain uneducated (and the poor people who support this think they are the exceptions rather than the rule) and that rich people should all go to private schools that focus more on teaching religion than anything else.
The right *LOVES* the uneducated...
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Cainmark Does Not Comply 🚲 reshared this.
The people in power ***NEED*** unddr to uneducated masses to remain in power though.
Isn't it our job to make sure they and their wealth hoarding buddies get more of our bliid, sweat, and tears?
Rep Sylvia Garcia
Let's be clear: the Department of Education exists because states wouldn't fund poor schools, wouldn't protect kids with disabilities, wouldn't follow civil rights law, especially in the South. Anyone calling to abolish it is calling to turn back the clock and we can't let that happen.
@RepSylviaGarcia
Let's be clear: the Department of
Education exists because states
wouldn't fund poor schools,
wouldn't protect kids with
disabilities, wouldn't follow civil
rights law, especially in the
South. Anyone calling to abolish
it is calling to turn back the clock
—and we can't let that happen.
I thought my body was safe from microplastics. I was wrong
https://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/the-nature-of-things/i-thought-my-body-was-safe-from-microplastics-i-was-wrong-1.7486007?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub
Posted into Technology & Science @technology-science-cbcnews
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Technology & Science and Whilomgeek reshared this.
Judd Legume (journalist, founder & former editor of Think Progress) appears to have a memo from Acting Deputy SSA Commissioner Doris Diaz outlining "proposed changes to the claims process that would debilitate the agency, cause significant processing delays, and prevent many Americans from applying for or receiving [#SocialSecurity] benefits." popular.info/p/exclusive-memo-…
The biggest change contemplated by Diaz's memo is to require "internet identity proofing" for "benefit claims… made over the phone." When an SSA customer is "unable to utilize the internet ID proofing, customers will be required to visit a field office to provide in-person identity documentation."
Because the SSA serves a large population that is either older or physically disabled, many cannot access the internet. Under the new system, this would force these populations to visit an office to have their claim processed. The Diaz memo estimates it would require 75,000 to 85,000 in-person visitors per week to SSA's offices to implement the policy.
___
And of course, they'll be cutting the workforce and closing SSA offices which will make it nearly impossible to file for your claim.
EXCLUSIVE: Memo details Trump plan to sabotage the Social Security Administration
An internal Social Security Administration (SSA) memo, sent on March 13 and obtained by Popular Information, details proposed changes to the claims process that would debilitate the agency, cause significant processing delays, and prevent many Americ…Judd Legum (Popular Information)
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Whilomgeek and kjaerulv reshared this.
A couple months ago I needed to visit the nearest social security office. When I showed up about 20 minutes before the doors opened there were over a dozen people in line. Just before opening, a security officer came out and said staff was only seeing people that had an appointment.
He also said anyone without an appointment could come in and wait up to several hours. But all we could do is make an appointment to come back another day.
Tip: The security officer shared the *local* phone number for that SSA office. I went home, called that *local* number and was able to make an appointment.
Note: I previously tried calling the SSA 800 number to make an appointment but the wait was endless and I gave up.
Really good tip. A good friend recently hit 65 and needed to call them to get medicare sorted by the deadline.
It was 4.5hrs on hold. That call only resulted in a grumpy combatitive person giving him an appointment for a call back in a couple weeks. He diligently waited by his phone starting 30 minutes beforehand. then noticed he'd missed a call (didn't know ignore unknown callers was on)
Panic call to the number provided a phone number for the local Ventura SSA office. Only on hold for a few minutes with them before being answered by a pleasant person who was able to help him sort everything.
That was fast. The #SocialSecurity sabotage plans outlined in the memo obtained by Judd Legum go into effect at the end of the month. wect.com/2025/03/18/social-sec…
Beginning March 31st, people will no longer be able to verify their identity to the SSA over the phone and those who cannot properly verify their identity over the agency’s “My Social Security” online service, will be required to visit an agency field office in person to complete the verification process, agency leadership told reporters Tuesday.
The change will apply to new Social Security applicants and existing recipients who want to change their direct deposit information.
Connecticut Rep. John Larson, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee, said in a statement that “by requiring seniors and disabled Americans to enroll online or in person at the same field offices they are trying to close, rather than over the phone, Trump and Musk are trying to create chaos and inefficiencies at SSA so they can privatize the system.”
The DOGE website says that leases for 47 Social Security field offices across the country, including in Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Kentucky and North Carolina, have been or will be ended.
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The Diaz memo estimates it would require 75,000 to 85,000 in-person visitors per week to SSA's offices to implement the policy - while many of those offices that are slated to be closed
Social Security Administration to require in-person identity checks for new and existing recipients
In an effort to limit fraudulent claims, the Social Security Administration will impose tighter identity-proofing measures.FATIMA HUSSEIN, Associated Press (WECT)
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AI6YR Ben, Anne Ominous, OtownKim and Fan of Shared Truth & Empathy reshared this.
Need to emphasize this, since the AP article doesn't even include it...
75,000 to 85,000 additional SSA visits PER WEEK, would cripple the agency if it were at full capacity.
But doing that while simultaneously reducing staffing massively and shuttering offices is pure SABOTAGE.
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Pollinators, Flying_Donny for democracy, Cainmark Does Not Comply 🚲, Edge 🇨🇦🇲🇽🇺🇦🏳️🌈, huntingdon, Joseph Elfelt, shyduroff, The Zen Lady, Carolyn, Kristen and Georgiann Baldino reshared this.
The Hill has a list of the 26 #SocialSecurity offices with set closure dates out of the 47 planned to be closed. Most dates are in April, May, or June. And most of them are in states that voted for Trump.
A big tip others have shared before is to search for the number to your local office instead of calling the main number. That's who is going to help you eventually anyways. The main number just gets the ball rolling, often merely scheduling a call back appointment with the local to you office.
after close to 10 calls in 2 days, I have an in person SSA appointment scheduled for mid-May. I am a savy retired person and this was not easy! Multiple system hangups, 120+ minute phone wait times, website system taking me to the wrong application and a letter telling me erroneous information.
The SSA staff I did finally connect with (I figured out a work around local ph no.!!) were all kind and I was the same to them.
The CNN article is much better than the AP one, FWIW. Includes reference to the Diaz Memo. the already long wait times. etc.
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waspfactory, Suz Korbel, K2, A.Stringer, aprilfollies, Lazarou Monkey Terror 🚀💙🌈, Just Tom..., Bob LeFridge, Jayne 🇪🇺🏳️🌈, Lira, Tuckers Nuts Resist! 🇺🇦 , Nicol Wistreich, 🤯Matera the Mad🤯, Lisa J. Warner / Lisa Luv, ICareAbout 🇺🇦 🇨🇦🇲🇽... and Whilomgeek reshared this.
Young #cedar #tree is all dressed in magnificent #mosses & #lichen 💚
One of the lovely sights you can see & admire, while exploring the coastal temperate rainforests in BC.
#Wsanec #Saanich #VictoriaBC #YYJ #VancouverIsland #VanIsle #PacificNorthwest #Cascadia #PNW #nature #wilderness #forest #green #rainforest #ecological #biodiversity #ecosystems #SaveOldGrowth #WorthMoreStanding #BCForestryReform #ProtectForests #ProtectTheWild #NatureFirst #StopDeforestation #TreesAreEarthsLungs #mosstodon
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@RandomSarah I was out in the wilderness in 1994, trying to protect old growth forests from being logged at 2 different resistance camps on Southern Vancouver Island.
A lot of old growth has been clear-cut since you visited.
We really need to conserve the remaining old growth not in parks & make ecocide a real crime against humanity.
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So it wasn’t:
An American plane
Flown by American pilots
Under American orders?
The real estate mantra rules: “Location, location, location!”
BULLSHIT!
As I understand it, some of the planes took off after the order?
adamisacson.com/timeline-of-wh…
@hermannus : I have no info regarding the order of events, but even if planes departed before the judge ruled, it seems at least not very "prudent" to order them to take off right before the ruling of the judge.
Perhaps Kirsten Verdel knows more? See mstdn.social/@locuta/114173045…
BREAKING: Hét grote nieuws vandaag was dat Trump een wet uit 1798 heeft ingeroepen om mensen die als vijand van de staat worden gezien zonder proces (!) uit te zetten. Een rechter zette daar een streep door en liet zelfs vliegtuigen omkeren. Trump deporteert nu honderden mensen alsnóg.
@hermannus : uit france24.com/en/americas/20250…:
❝
US District Judge James E. Boasberg issued an order Saturday blocking the deportations but lawyers told him there were already two planes with immigrants in the air — one headed for El Salvador, the other for Honduras. Boasberg verbally ordered the planes be turned around, but they apparently were not and he did not include the directive in his written order.
“Oopsie…Too late,” Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, a Trump ally who agreed to house about 300 immigrants for a year at a cost of $6 million in his country’s prisons, wrote on the social media site X above an article about Boasberg’s ruling. That post was recirculated by White House communications director Steven Cheung.
❞
Bron: upstreamism
(@upstreamism) in theatl.social/@upstreamism/114…
"US District Judge James E. Boasberg issued an order Saturday blocking the deportations but lawyers told him there were already two planes with immigrants in the air — one headed for El Salvador, the other for Honduras. Boasberg verbally ordered the planes be turned around, but they apparently were not and he did not include the directive in his written order." france24.com/en/americas/20250…
#politics #USPol #immigrationUS deports hundreds of Venezuelan immigrants despite court order
The Trump administration deported hundreds of immigrants to El Salvador and Honduras, defying a federal judge's order halting such actions under an 18th-century law aimed at Venezuelan gang members.FRANCE 24
Zuck fights besmirching like any rich techbro
Looks like it's up to the fediverse to overcome the metaverse.
aus.social/@fixatedpersonsunit…
Eat the rich
Meta so scared of former New Zealand diplomat's tell-all they're trying to have it banned.And the name of that books is: Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism, by Sarah Wynn-Williams.
It would be unfortunate if anyone heard of or read it. For Meta.
bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq5zyq…
Meta stops former Facebook director from promoting critical memoir
Social media company wins US emergency ruling preventing ex-director from publicising her book.Katie Razzall (BBC News)
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Definitely.
"Ohio high school student's women's history-inspired mural deemed 'inappropriate'"
can't help but notice 2 similar accounts (that I can see) felt the need to reply with "cite your sources!"
Ironically enough: both have -boosted- other statistic heavy things this account has posted...
without asking for any sources at all…
just sayin'
It could be far better and we definitely need more feminism, but the numbers seem outdated, if not wrong:
politifact.com/factchecks/2014…
Do women own 1% of the world's land? No
Women around the world have a hard row to hoe, but do they really own just 1 percent of all the land? That’s the claim i@politifact
As far as I'm concerned, AOC is the leader of the democratic party.
She has my full support.
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We have to be honest and pragmatic
With the USA reneging on support treaties. Calling #Ukraine the aggressor threating #Canada #Panama and #Greenland with annexation (invasion). Forcing all the allies to act counter to #trump and form an opposing alliance. And calling #Putin and chairman #Kim mates while criticising #Trudeau #zelensky and other #Democratically elected leaders. One thing is obvious
#USA is now a member of the #axis of evil states and not part of the time free world
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Buy Nothing Friday
Don't go to Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, Bing, Google search (or other search engines with sponsors). Washington Post, Google News, or other billionaire owned sites get paid when you put eyes on their website. Are you using AI? This Friday don't if your work and life will allow it.
Admittedly, I think this rebellious act is equivalent to throwing toothpicks at titans. And those titans will probably find it more amusing damaging. But, hey, maybe they'll token-rage at us and it will make another nutcase go off on another CEO.
Wokeness Gone Mad? I Had To Specify My Preferred Pronouns on This Sex Offender Registration Form
I’m old enough to remember a time when freedom of speech meant something in this country. Nowadays, our culture has been completely usurped by leftist lunatics who want to cancel us for even the slightest transgression, and we have to constantly walk…Tim Sheard (The Hard Times)
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Very good read, however largely framed around the US experience.
maxmurphy.xyz/p/goodbye-survei…
I will say his 3 solutions at the close of that piece overlook what self-hosted community-centred infrastructure can bring, and is already bringing, to the table. I don't think switching to dumbphones is the way.
But it is good to be clear with ourselves, that breaking from the toxicity and building & using the digital surface we want won't come without some degree of initial pain.
(Thanks Mix for link)
Goodbye Surveillance Capitalism, Hello Surveillance Fascism
First they stole your data. Now, they’re stealing your futureMax Murphy (The Murphy Memos)
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Ethan Marcotte, who is one of the most principled and thoughtful people I have ever known and also a dear friend, has resigned from his job at 18F after being asked to meet with shadowy gov-dismantlers. The whole post is worth reading.
ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/leavin…
Apparently necessary: Do not be an asshole in my replies about something you’d didn’t even bother to read or understand, this is not Facebook.
Moving on from 18F. — ethanmarcotte.com
I had a wonderful job, until I didn’t. This is about what happened—and what is happening.ethanmarcotte.com
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Exactly. The way they try to convert human beings into data they can parse, collate, and delete reminds me of part of the big speech at the end of The Great Dictator:
"Don't give yourselves to these unnatural men - machine men with machine minds and machine hearts!
You are not machines! You are not cattle! You are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts! You don't hate! Only the unloved hate - the unloved and the unnatural!"
We have to hold on to the understanding that there is a living, breathing human being behind every single data point they're carelessly bulldozing.
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A team creating value for each of us is being gutted before our eyes.
I don’t fully understand what this team did. I do know spending time on the systems human connection, making things highly usable adds value. It is a dying art, being replaced with stickiness and attention capture.
The building of community is a value in and of itself as well.
There are builders and there are randsackers. We live in the era of the randsacker, our modern day robber barons.
At the same time: what’s happening right now is also a labor story.
If the American government is slow-moving, it’s because rapid change is deadly when you’re talking about healthcare, social security checks, market regulations, food safety, or any of the other countless critical functions it performs. Those federal agencies are, quite simply, infrastructure. And as Deb Chachra showed in her excellent book, infrastructure is how a society invests in its future: in its ongoing economic, societal, and political stability.
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Are you saying that because Ethan was probationary it didn’t make a difference?
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@b_cavello Beyond the labor laws: Even heads of major agency divisions are resigning, loudly, because they know they can make a bigger difference going loud than getting axed. And staying on and remaining silent is over the line for many. (I’m sure you know this! I’m just making the connection.)
There’s no simple or single answer here and I think we benefit more from careful thinking about specifics than from scorn and demands based on cartoony oversimplification. 🤷🏻
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@Beggarmidas You don’t understand any of the labor law or context around this, including things carefully explained in the post.
Which, whatever, people don’t read. But launching into a zero-context, high-certainty tirade about what a specific federal worker should have done differently based on your entirely imaginary scenario is deeply unhelpful, not to mention rude.
@Beggarmidas TBH, as an outside observer on this, I think that you're just taking the first thing that this midas character said and took that as being the entirety of what he said. I'm not brigading here, but I can understand his point/opinion.
Anyway, how I interpreted that first statement was to say that ~ "quitting the job as a point of principle is a bad choice." I don't agree with that, but maybe you two can hash things out better...
Terrible but yes I'm glad I read this thoughtful & considered piece. This part really caught my attention, something long thought but never expressed so well as by Ethan Marcotte:
"In government... infrastructure is built by laws, policies, and regulations. But regulations alone do not infrastructure make. Regulations require workers to become infrastructure: those workers who labor to understand new policies, how best to enact them, and then work to make them legible and understandable to the American public — and, yes, to enforce them. Without those federal workers, and their labor, these systems fall apart. And the architects of this assault on the federal workforce are keenly aware of that fact."
Beyond dismal, it's a complete dismantling of a society & so terrible to see. 😐
#Infrastructure
#systems
#infrastructureAsAService
#regulations
#regulation
#enforcingRegulations
#EthanMarcotte
#government
#govermentRegulation
The Billionaire Coup - a completely accurate summarization of MAGA, #Project2025, President Musk, & Trump.
These moneyed individuals looked at Jan 6 and decided "Next time, it'll be better funded & better organized."
theguardian.com/culture/2025/f…
theguardian.com/us-news/2025/f…
thenation.com/article/politics…
aljazeera.com/economy/2025/2/4…
inequality.org/article/a-new-p…
‘This is a coup’: Trump and Musk’s purge is cutting more than costs, say experts
In slashing staff and disabling entire agencies the administration is lacerating the structures of US democracyPeter Stone (The Guardian)
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The frustrating thing is 18F and other groups like it in Public Service were beginning to really move the tech needle. As a state agency CIO (and someone who might have a history of being an occasional heretic myself), I have had the honor of watching a growing group of motivated IT people push against a system that was crying for new and compassionate approaches to making government work better, only to now watch much of it getting systematically torn down.
It breaks my heart.
18F was a key player in the creation of the IRS Direct File, along with so many others. They, along with similar groups have been establishing beachheads in Federal, State and Local goverments, bringing agile and "customer" focused UX approaches into Public Service, & generally showing that embedded IT can outperform (and undercost) the traditional outsourced model. They have been part of a quiet revolution in this space, and in no small part have kept this old man involved.
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@NoRomBasic
I used IRS Direct File this year, it was simple, clear, and fast.
I previously used paid online services to file federal and state (Massachusetts) income taxes. Beforehand, I had some concerns about how the state part would go; last year's service cost only $35 for both and I would happily pay that to avoid hassle if the state filing required a lot of duplicate effort. Thankfully, IRS Direct File had a hand-off process to my state's online service so that wasn't necessary.
MST has been on similar journey, hiring an "outsider CIO" back in 22 to bring similar approaches to a small public transit agency. And we have made some real progress, with a lot of credit going to 18F and other small enclaves of geeks for helping to build a supporting ecosystem that allowed me to do some transformation stuff that would not have been easily doable even 5 years ago
Now, almost daily, I’m seeing the pieces of this movement get dismantled.
Again it breaks my heart
I think we agree that
“no financial analysis; no review of possible downsides, no weighing of potential negative impacts.” is what authoritarian folk do.
Why? Because they say so.
Resistance by not participating in their false new order is heroic and I wonder how many more will be sacrificed before the people recover their humanity
For the benefit of other non-Americans who are looking on in horror and don't know what 18F is:
"18F helps other government agencies build, buy, and share technology products. The team consists of designers, software engineers, strategists, and product managers who collaborate with other agencies to fix technical problems, build products, and improve public service through technology."
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@CppGuy and anecdotally:
they were doing a calibre of work that anyone involved in design systems (and product dev at large) aspired to.
Just a senseless, useless dismantling of a force multiplier.
Very clear description of the motivation and greed behind recent DOGE(dept of government enshittification) *privatization scheme* for personal gain.
"Instead, as Anil Dash predicted, the billionaire’s so-called “efficiency“ “department” is best understood as a sprawling form of procurement capture, in which a group of impossibly rich individuals are trampling over the regulations — and the federal workers — that stand between them and a deep, deep revenue stream: your tax dollars. "
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Returning to Friendica after 13 years
Hi. I'm Lance or Whilomgeek on fedi. I'm a long-covid-force-retired user researcher living in the Seattle, WA area. I'm also an amateur photographer, nature lover, virtual table-top RPGer, best dad to 2 dogs, a cat, and my teenage daughter. I've been dipping my toes into 3D printing, laser-cutting, and CAD.
I first signed up for a now long dead Friendica instance back in 2012, hoping for an alternative to FB which I didn't trust even back then. This is my second or third try with Friendica. I can also be found at @whilomgeek@pixlmo.com and @Lance
#3dprinting #naturephotgraphy #vtt
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in reply to 🇪🇺🇺🇸 🇨🇦 🇹🇼 🇩🇪 🇧🇷 • • •Das Bild zeigt einen Screenshot eines Facebook-Posts von Dustin West, der vor einem Tag veröffentlicht wurde. Der Post beschreibt eine ernste Situation, in der Dustin West und sein Hund von angeblich unidentifizierten ICE-Agenten und Mitgliedern der NYPD in Harlem, New York, verhaftet wurden. Dustin berichtet, dass die Agenten in einer unmarkierten Van ohne offizielle Identifizierung und ohne gültigen Durchsuchungsbefehl vorgingen. Er beschreibt, wie sie eine Familie mit Kindern von der Straße nahmen, seinen Hund verprügelten und ihn und seine Nachbarn verhafteten, weil sie Fragen gestellt hatten. Dustin klagt über die Verletzung seiner und seiner Nachbarn konstitutionellen Rechte und fordert die Leser auf, sich und ihre Nachbarn zu schützen. Er drückt seine Enttäuschung und Wut über die Situation aus und fordert die Leser auf, sich für ihre Rechte einzusetzen.
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... show moreDas Bild zeigt einen Screenshot eines Facebook-Posts von Dustin West, der vor einem Tag veröffentlicht wurde. Der Post beschreibt eine ernste Situation, in der Dustin West und sein Hund von angeblich unidentifizierten ICE-Agenten und Mitgliedern der NYPD in Harlem, New York, verhaftet wurden. Dustin berichtet, dass die Agenten in einer unmarkierten Van ohne offizielle Identifizierung und ohne gültigen Durchsuchungsbefehl vorgingen. Er beschreibt, wie sie eine Familie mit Kindern von der Straße nahmen, seinen Hund verprügelten und ihn und seine Nachbarn verhafteten, weil sie Fragen gestellt hatten. Dustin klagt über die Verletzung seiner und seiner Nachbarn konstitutionellen Rechte und fordert die Leser auf, sich und ihre Nachbarn zu schützen. Er drückt seine Enttäuschung und Wut über die Situation aus und fordert die Leser auf, sich für ihre Rechte einzusetzen.
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