#Department of Social Services result

[doberbutts]

With this latest round of discourse being "trans men shouldn't complain about being kicked out of women's spaces", I felt the urge to write up a relatively long post regarding the topic, as I feel it is a long tangled mess and involves a significant amount of people simply talking past each other.

To begin, what is a woman's space? I ask this, because "women's spaces" often fall under one of three categories: medical services, social services, and social gatherings. Of the three, trans men need access to nearly everything if not everything included within "medical services" and "social services". These things often need to be considered co-ed anyway, but are still considered "for women" and often are labeled things like "women's health" or "women's defense". Social gatherings- things such as book clubs, concerts, festivals, and other similar outings- can have a nuanced and complicated history when it comes to the inclusion, or exclusion, of trans men.

As an example- I am a binary, gay trans man who has not yet been sterilized. If I become pregnant and need to seek out social services, I must do so via my provider's "Women and Babies" department. I am neither of those things, and yet regardless of whether I am completing or terminating the pregnancy, I must label myself a woman in order to receive care. If I wish to have a pap smear, receive birth control, or investigate my chances of ovarian and cervical cancer, I must do so via the "Women's Health Clinic". I am not a woman, but I must label myself as one in order to discuss sterilization options. Many trans men who have had their gender markers changed prior to sterilization have reported difficulty even booking an appointment, as well as difficulty convincing their insurance to pay for this appointment due to a discrepancy with gender markers vs gendered care. Many have discussed the realities of being a pregnant man, whether they remained pregnant until their child was born, or whether they terminated said pregnancy with an abortion.

It should come as no surprise that the statistics for trans men receiving quality gynecological care are abysmal. It should be equally unsurprising to hear how many trans men have died from botched abortions, untreated miscarriages, infections and cancers of the uterus and cervix and ovaries, and complications during pregnancy or birth. We belong in this space, despite it being labeled "for women", and the only thing pushing us out has done is quite literally what's been killing us.

This is, of course, not even taking into account the numbers of trans men who have been forced to become pregnant via their husbands or families as a means to detransition them, and those who have become pregnant as a result of corrective rape. There is a saying among trans men of my age- it isn't "we all know a guy this has happened to", it's "which of us haven't experienced this? who among us doesn't fear this? who will it happen to next?"

Which brings me to my next point: women's social services. As with women's medical care, nearly everything labeled "for women" as a social service must be inclusive to trans men. Shelters for domestic violence survivors, rape crisis centers, self defense classes, family planning, these are all things that honestly should already be co-ed. But, many times, they are exclusively targeted towards women. I understand why, I do. But with trans men being statistically more likely than cis women to experience the need for these services, it seems a cruelty to close their doors to a vulnerable demographic reaching out for help.

Where should trans men in crisis go? Shutting the door to us without addressing the reason we need to access these resources gives us a single ultimatum: detransition, or die. Go back to being a woman, or die knowing the likelihood that a woman's name will adorn your headstone, and "daughter, wife, mother" will be said in your obituary. Much like the medical services, this incomplete answer has lead many trans men to their deaths. Whether by their own hands, or by their attackers'.

But there are other social services out there that perhaps are not as dire. Women's scholarships, colleges, all girls schools. Girl Scouts, women's sport leagues, gym memberships. Trans men don't need access to these, right?

Well... is the trans man in question out? Has he been living as a man, or is he still closeted? Is it safe for him to come out? Does he pass, or has he just bought his first binder and given himself his first buzz cut? Is he living under the control of his parents, or is he able to freely decide for himself the type of person he'd like to be and the type of life he'd like to live?

You see, I was a Girl Scout once. And, if we are to believe to our core that trans men are men even before they know the words "transgender", this means I was a boy in a girl's space. I didn't know that being transgender was an option for me at the point where my troop disbanded, and another leader to replace the first within my local area was not found until after I had aged out.

But also... I was in 7th grade when my troop disbanded. Two years later, I would learn the word "transgender", and suddenly everything would make sense. Two years later, I would come out to my parents and my sisters. To put this into perspective, I graduated high school in 2010. The Boy Scouts officially allowed cisgender girls and transgender people of all genders to join all programs in 2019.

I was not expelled from my Girl Scout troop. My leader simply stopped showing up to meetings, and my troop disbanded to go our separate ways when leadership could not find someone quickly enough to replace her. But... if this had not happened, I would have been a recently out transgender boy in a girl's social service, still wearing push up bras and frilly shirts because that's all my parents would buy me until I became an adult and moved out and had a job with my own money to re-purchase myself a wardrobe. Indistinguishable from any of the others, outside of what went on inside my own mind.

I would not have been accepted into the Boy Scouts, if Girl Scouts had been taken from me as abruptly as it was from a different transgender boy in the same state I was born and raised. Which would have left me with... nothing. Neither. And the only reason I even joined the Girl Scouts was because I had wanted to join the Boy Scouts and the local troop had refused to allow me, because they had labeled me a girl.

I don't believe I'm the one that coined Schrodinger's Gender, but I do reference it often. In this situation, one is both a boy when it hurts, and a girl when it hurts. Even if that gender label changes by the second, the point is to use your gender and your assigned sex to hurt you.

But then, why do these services even have to be gendered to begin with? After all, Boy Scouts just updated to be The Scouts, and has removed (on paper) the insistence on gendering.

Well... I certainly agree that the majority of gendering these services is at this point a concept that needs to be reformed, but I'm unconvinced that we will be able to completely integrate without addressing the reason they were segregated by gender in the first place.

Women's gym memberships are gender segregated for two reasons. Women and girls- and anyone labeled as women and girls, regardless of true identity- are frequently not afforded the same access to resources as cisgender men and boys. Women and girls- and anyone labeled such- are frequently at high risk of predatory sexual behavior and physical violence. Both of these problems are symptoms of a larger system of misogyny at play, and both of these problems directly affect trans men especially those who have not transitioned in a way that makes them pass for cis men.

Regardless of the truth of my identity, the reality is that I was seen as and treated as a girl when it came to physical fitness, and thus barred from the same activities freely offered to the boys. Regardless of the truth of my identity, I have experienced predatory sexual behavior from cis men as young as 8 or 9 years old, continuing past when I came out and began to transition socially.

If the problem is not addressed, cis women cannot re-integrate with cis men. But, additionally, if the problem is not addressed, the choice still remains clear for trans men. Detransition, stay closeted, or go without.

A common complaint of trans men is the invisibility and erasure our demographic faces. It should be easy to see why this happens. The problem of a misogynistic society is one that continues to this day, and without addressing the problem we cannot hope for success in creating a more inclusive space. At the same time, trans men are being pushed out and isolated as they realize they must make a choice.

As for social gatherings, such as a woman's retreat or a woman's music festival? Of course, it may sound odd to say that a trans man should feel welcome there. But the truth of the matter is the majority of the trans men asking for the ability to stay are trans men who have been within that space for years already, prior to coming out, prior to realizing some things about their genders, prior to taking their first steps as men.

I'm pretty good friends with an older butch who told me that I am the first person they ever told that they were a nonbinary man. This person is in their 50s. They're married. But the wife doesn't like it, and they love their wife too much to cause friction in the relationship, so they keep it to themselves, and they keep quiet, and they don't say anything about being transgender, but in their head they aren't a woman. This person is not a woman, by their own insistence. Should this person be forcibly ejected from their local lesbian community, which they and the wife helped form decades ago? Should they divorce their wife, since that would make her not a lesbian anymore?

What harm is it, truly, to allow this person to stay? Social isolation kills people. The trans man suicide statistics are just as abysmal as any of the others I've mentioned here. Forcing someone to burn 20, 30, 40 years of their lives and their friends and their achievements because they are finally living as themselves is a deeply hurtful and isolating experience.

The majority of trans men asking to be included in these spaces are not trans men like me- who never really jived with the idea of womanhood and distanced ourselves as much as possible the moment we saw the opportunity. They are men like my friend, often existing outside of the binary, often with a deep love and appreciation for womanhood despite realizing that perhaps the label does not fit them as well as they once thought. They often have many years of connection, entire lives spent intwined in these spaces.

What good does it do to chase them out? What harm does it to do let them stay?

[black-fist-order]

BREAKING - AND NOW THERE ARE THE EMAILS TO PROVE IT.

Trump has been on a vendetta against the State of Maine, in a personal revenge campaign against Governor Janet Mills.

Trump clashed with Mills at a White House event for the National Governors Association back on February 20th.

As he boasted he was ending the participation of transitioned students in women's sports, he singled her out and demanded that Maine comply with his order. There is only one such student athlete in the entire state.

Mills replied that Maine's schools were complying with all State and Federal Laws.

GASP. A WOMAN. Speaking back to TRUMP. He was furious.

“Well, we are the federal law,” Trump bawled. “You’d better do it. You’d better do it, because you’re not going to get any federal funding at all if you don’t.”

The Governor was not impressed. She is a former state attorney general and district attorney.

“We’re going to follow the law sir. We’ll see you in court,” she said sternly.

Something like this was like nothing Trump had ever seen before in the history of the world. It was catastophic. It was disgusting. It was NASTY.

“Enjoy your life after governor, because I don’t think you’ll be an elected official afterwards,” Trump snarled.

He could not let go of it. He seethed for the next two days, and even golf at Mar-a-Lala could not distract him. In a late Saturday night rant on X he demanded "a full throated apology" from Mills.

She ignored him.

"This will not end well for the Governor and the people of Maine," said a statement from the White House.

It has not.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Trump’s Department of Education head, wrestling queen Linda McMahon, launched an "inquiry" against Maine's Department of Education last week.

This week, The New York Times reported that Trump’s Department of Agriculture said that it had “frozen federal funding for education programs in Maine, the latest in a barrage of actions targeting the state.”

MSNBC reports that "in case that weren't quite enough National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration sent a letter to Maine cancelling funding for Maine Sea Grant."

Maine Public Radio says that in recent days, both the U.S., Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Education have declared that Maine is violating Title IX. The agencies have given the state 10 days to come into compliance with the Trump administration's interpretation of the law and make other changes or risk referral to the U.S. Department of Justice for additional potential sanctions.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

But besides all of this - from the safety of his chair behind his desk - Trump ordered acting Social Security Administration Commissioner Leland Dudek to don the armor of Truth, Justice and the American Way and had sent HIM for a holy joust against the fearsome Dragon of Maine.

Dudek decided to take out Trump's revenge on new parents and grieving families in Maine.

Leland asked his staff about what contracts Maine had with the Social Security Administration, and he cancelled them.

He ordered the cancellation of the online electronic program that allowed babies to be given Social Security numbers right from the hospital, and the program allowing the hospitals to register deaths by electronic verification.

Huffpost reports: According to their emails, the Social Security staff informed Dudek that canceling the contracts “would result in improper payments and potential for identity theft.”

Dudek told his staff to go for it anyway.

“Please cancel the contracts. While our improper payments will go up, and fraudsters may compromise identities, no money will go from the public trust to a petulant child,” Dudek wrote, referring to Governor Janet Mills.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Canceling the vital records contracts would not only make it more difficult for families to register births and deaths IN PERSON at Social Security offices, it also would make it more difficult for the federal government to track births and deaths in Maine accross ALL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES, all of which use Social Security records to prevent improper payments.

And all the agencies let Dudek know it.

Dudek reinstated the contracts in less than 24 hours amid an outcry the agencies, AND from pediatricians, hospitals, funeral directors and Maine’s congressional delegation. He said he hadn’t "intended" to create an “undue burden on the people of Maine,” though his internal emails expressed exactly that.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Wednesday, those emails were obtained by Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee.

Rep. Connolly has called on Dudek to resign immediately.

“The acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration should serve the American people, not create waste, fraud, and abuse on the taxpayer’s dime,” Connolly wrote in a letter to Dudek laying out the email traffic.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Dudek is only a Trump appointee, and has not received any official Senate confirmation for the important post he holds.

He had been only a mid-level IT staffer at Social Security when he helped Elon Musk’s DOGE team access sensitive databases inside the agency, which he bragged about on LinkedIn. He was put on administrative leave.

But when the Social Security head resigned in protest, and more senior officials refused to cooperate with Musk’s team, Trump tapped him to lead the agency as acting head.

Last month, Dudek threatened to shut the agency down altogether after a federal judge ordered DOGE affiliates to withdraw from Social Security databases containing sensitive personal information about Americans.

Dudek knows NOTHING about the contracts the federal governments has with the states. He knows NOTHING about what they mean, and he cares NOTHING about the consequences. And he cares NOTHING about making OUR information safe.

He also obviously cares NOTHING about Trump's and Musk's purported crusade to prevent fraud and waste in government.

So far, the Social Security Administration has not responded to calls by the news media for comment.

Neither has the White House...

[mariacallous]

The so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is starting to put together a team to migrate the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) computer systems entirely off one of its oldest programming languages in a matter of months, potentially putting the integrity of the system—and the benefits on which tens of millions of Americans rely—at risk.

The project is being organized by Elon Musk lieutenant Steve Davis, multiple sources who were not given permission to talk to the media tell WIRED, and aims to migrate all SSA systems off COBOL, one of the first common business-oriented programming languages, and onto a more modern replacement like Java within a scheduled tight timeframe of a few months.

Under any circumstances, a migration of this size and scale would be a massive undertaking, experts tell WIRED, but the expedited deadline runs the risk of obstructing payments to the more than 65 million people in the US currently receiving Social Security benefits.

“Of course, one of the big risks is not underpayment or overpayment per se; [it’s also] not paying someone at all and not knowing about it. The invisible errors and omissions,” an SSA technologist tells WIRED.

The Social Security Administration did not immediately reply to WIRED’s request for comment.

SSA has been under increasing scrutiny from president Donald Trump’s administration. In February, Musk took aim at SSA, falsely claiming that the agency was rife with fraud. Specifically, Musk pointed to data he allegedly pulled from the system that showed 150-year-olds in the US were receiving benefits, something that isn’t actually happening. Over the last few weeks, following significant cuts to the agency by DOGE, SSA has suffered frequent website crashes and long wait times over the phone, The Washington Post reported this week.

This proposed migration isn’t the first time SSA has tried to move away from COBOL: In 2017, SSA announced a plan to receive hundreds of millions in funding to replace its core systems. The agency predicted that it would take around five years to modernize these systems. Because of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, the agency pivoted away from this work to focus on more public-facing projects.

Like many legacy government IT systems, SSA systems contain code written in COBOL, a programming language created in part in the 1950s by computing pioneer Grace Hopper. The Defense Department essentially pressured private industry to use COBOL soon after its creation, spurring widespread adoption and making it one of the most widely used languages for mainframes, or computer systems that process and store large amounts of data quickly, by the 1970s. (At least one DOD-related website praising Hopper's accomplishments is no longer active, likely following the Trump administration’s DEI purge of military acknowledgements.)

As recently as 2016, SSA’s infrastructure contained more than 60 million lines of code written in COBOL, with millions more written in other legacy coding languages, the agency’s Office of the Inspector General found. In fact, SSA’s core programmatic systems and architecture haven’t been “substantially” updated since the 1980s when the agency developed its own database system called MADAM, or the Master Data Access Method, which was written in COBOL and Assembler, according to SSA’s 2017 modernization plan.

SSA’s core “logic” is also written largely in COBOL. This is the code that issues social security numbers, manages payments, and even calculates the total amount beneficiaries should receive for different services, a former senior SSA technologist who worked in the office of the chief information officer says. Even minor changes could result in cascading failures across programs.

“If you weren't worried about a whole bunch of people not getting benefits or getting the wrong benefits, or getting the wrong entitlements, or having to wait ages, then sure go ahead,” says Dan Hon, principal of Very Little Gravitas, a technology strategy consultancy that helps government modernize services, about completing such a migration in a short timeframe.

It’s unclear when exactly the code migration would start. A recent document circulated amongst SSA staff laying out the agency’s priorities through May does not mention it, instead naming other priorities like terminating “non-essential contracts” and adopting artificial intelligence to “augment” administrative and technical writing.

Earlier this month, WIRED reported that at least 10 DOGE operatives were currently working within SSA, including a number of young and inexperienced engineers like Luke Farritor and Ethan Shaotran. At the time, sources told WIRED that the DOGE operatives would focus on how people identify themselves to access their benefits online.

Sources within SSA expect the project to begin in earnest once DOGE identifies and marks remaining beneficiaries as deceased and connecting disparate agency databases. In a Thursday morning court filing, an affidavit from SSA acting administrator Leland Dudek said that at least two DOGE operatives are currently working on a project formally called the “Are You Alive Project,” targeting what these operatives believe to be improper payments and fraud within the agency’s system by calling individual beneficiaries. The agency is currently battling for sweeping access to SSA’s systems in court to finish this work. (Again, 150-year-olds are not collecting social security benefits. That specific age was likely a quirk of COBOL. It doesn’t include a date type, so dates are often coded to a specific reference point—May 20, 1875, the date of an international standards-setting conference held in Paris, known as the Convention du Mètre.)

In order to migrate all COBOL code into a more modern language within a few months, DOGE would likely need to employ some form of generative artificial intelligence to help translate the millions of lines of code, sources tell WIRED. “DOGE thinks if they can say they got rid of all the COBOL in months, then their way is the right way, and we all just suck for not breaking shit,” says the SSA technologist.

DOGE would also need to develop tests to ensure the new system’s outputs match the previous one. It would be difficult to resolve all of the possible edge cases over the course of several years, let alone months, adds the SSA technologist.

“This is an environment that is held together with bail wire and duct tape,” the former senior SSA technologist working in the office of the chief information officer tells WIRED. “The leaders need to understand that they’re dealing with a house of cards or Jenga. If they start pulling pieces out, which they’ve already stated they’re doing, things can break.”

[theonion]

Citing the results of an exhaustive five-year inquiry into the source of the outbreak of social isolation currently plaguing the United States, the Department of Health and Human Services declared Wednesday that Dayton, OH–area loser Bill McCraw was patient zero in the national loneliness epidemic. “Through extensive contact tracing, we’ve confirmed the epidemic of loneliness that has now spread to approximately half of American adults originated with one sad sack 32-year-old,” said Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, adding that the feelings of disconnection and despair gripping the nation began in 2019, when McCraw moved to the Midwest and quickly infected thousands in his vicinity with a forlorn sense of detachment against which they had no natural immunity. Full Story

[guerillas-of-history]

🔴 Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine:

The occupation bears full responsibility for the chaos.

We warn against exploiting our people’s suffering and call for the formation of popular guard committees to protect the home front.

In light of the catastrophic circumstances afflicting our people in the Gaza Strip—brought about by the intensifying zionist war of genocide, the siege, and deliberate starvation, and the resulting dire humanitarian, economic, and security fallout—the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine warns of the dangerous rise in disorder, lawlessness, attacks on property, and intimidation of citizens across the Strip. These behaviors are inseparable from the zionist scheme to dismantle our unity, fracture our national and social cohesion, and plunge our internal arena into chaos and division in a desperate attempt to break our steadfastness and will.

While the Front condemns these phenomena in the strongest terms, it places full responsibility on the zionist occupation, which has created this tragic reality through bombing, destruction, a systematic policy of siege and starvation, and its ongoing targeting of civilians, institutions, and security forces—all in an overt bid to undermine the home front and erode our people’s resilience.

The Front reiterates its full support for Gaza’s security forces in pursuing outlaws and collaborators with the occupation and condemns the zionist targeting of police personnel. It calls for resolute action against these criminals through the united efforts of all segments of our people.

Accordingly, the PFLP calls for the establishment of popular guard committees throughout the Strip—drawing on national and social bodies, community figures, and youth—to safeguard public and private property, relief and service institutions, reinforce societal security, foil any attempts to foment chaos or internal strife, and confront infiltration by occupation agents or criminals.

The Front highly appreciates the stance of patriotic Palestinian families who have honorably opposed such disorder, rejected any conduct that threatens communal security and civil peace, and expressed full readiness to cooperate with the relevant authorities to protect internal stability. This popular consciousness is the true safety valve for our unity.

At the same time, the PFLP warns that some large merchants, influential figures, and businesspeople are exploiting the situation for personal gain—hoarding basic goods, hiking prices, and profiteering from money transfers at exorbitant rates. Such practices are no less dangerous than security chaos; they represent another face of exploitation and deepen citizens’ suffering. The Front therefore demands strict measures to hold anyone proven to be manipulating people’s livelihoods to account.

The present moment, with all its challenges, requires every force, sector, and component of our people to rise to the level of national responsibility and close ranks against these conspiracies. Protecting the home front, strengthening social solidarity, and standing with the afflicted and marginalized are national and moral duties—the first line of defense for our people.

The Front also stresses that what is unfolding in Gaza does not absolve the Arab nation of its responsibilities; rather, it compels it to meet its pan-Arab and humanitarian obligations toward our besieged people, to act swiftly to break the blockade, halt the massacres, and provide tangible support in the face of this open genocide backed by the United States and the West.

Glory to our resistant people and to our righteous martyrs.

Shame and disgrace to all who serve the occupation or profit from our people’s pain.

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine

Central Media Department

3 May 2025

[xtruss]

Who Is Helping DOGE? List of Staff Revealed

- Feb 14, 2025 | Newsweek | By James Bickerton, US News Reporter

DOGE head Elon Musk speaks in the Oval Office at the White House on February 11, 2025. Andrew Harnik/Getty

list of 30 employees and alleged allies of Elon Musk's newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been published by ProPublica, an investigative news outlet.

Newsweek reached out to Musk for comment via emails to the Tesla and SpaceX press offices.

DOGE, a U.S. government organization which, despite its name, doesn't have full department status, was created by President Trump via an executive order on January 20 with the aim of cutting what the new administration regards as wasteful spending. Musk, a close Trump ally, heads the body and has been given special government employee status.

Musk has called for sweeping cuts to federal spending, suggesting it could be reduced by up to $2 trillion per year out of a 2024 total of $6.75 trillion, according to U.S. Treasury figures.

This ties in with Trump's pledge to "drain the swamp," a term his supporters use for what they believe is a permanent left-leaning bureaucracy that holds massive power regardless of who is in the White House.

DOGE has already recommended that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) be closed down, with its functions transferred to the State Department. In a recent interview, Trump said he wants DOGE to go through spending at the Departments of Education and Defense.

On February 8, a federal judge imposed a temporary restraining order blocking DOGE employees from accessing the Treasury Department's payment system, resulting in Musk calling for him to be impeached.

A White House spokesperson told ProPublica: "Those leading this mission with Elon Musk are doing so in full compliance with federal law, appropriate security clearances, and as employees of the relevant agencies, not as outside advisors or entities."

The 30 DOGE employees and associates reported by ProPublica, which labeled them Musk's "demolition crew," are listed below.

Not Even DOGE Employees Know Who’s Legally Running DOGE! Despite all appearances, the White House insists that Elon Musk is not in charge of DOGE. US DOGE Service employees can’t get a straight answer about who is. Photograph: Kena Betancur/Getty Images

DOGE Employees And Associates

Christopher Stanley, 33: Stanley was part of the team Musk used to take over Twitter, now X, according to his LinkedIn profile, serving as senior director for security engineering for the company. The New York Times reports he now works for Musk at DOGE.

Brad Smith, 42: According to The New York Times, Smith, a friend of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, was one of the first people appointed to help lead DOGE. He also served with the first Trump administration and was involved with Operation Warp Speed, the federal government's coronavirus vaccine development program.

Thomas Shedd, 28: Shedd serves as director of the Technology Transformation Services, a government body created to assist federal agencies with IT, and previously worked as a software engineer at Tesla.

Amanda Scales, 34: According to ProPublica, Scales is chief of staff at the Office of Personnel Management, a government agency that helps manage civil service. She previously worked for Musk's artificial intelligence company Xai.

Michael Russo, 67: Russo is a senior figure at the Social Security Administration, a government agency that administers the American Social Security program. According to his LinkedIn page, Russo previously worked for Shift4 Payments, a payment processing company that has invested in Musk's company SpaceX.

Rachel Riley, 33: Riley works in the Department of Health & Human Services as a senior adviser in the secretary's office. ProPublica reports she has been "working closely" with Brad Smith, who led DOGE during the transition period.

Nikhil Rajpal, 30: According to Wired, Rajpal, who in 2018 worked as an engineer at Twitter, is part of the DOGE team. He formally works as part of the Office of Personnel Management.

Justin Monroe, 36: According to ProPublica, Monroe is working as an adviser in the FBI director's office, having previously been senior director for security at SpaceX.

Katie Miller, 33: Miller is a spokesperson for DOGE. Trump announced her involvement with the new body in December. She served as Vice President Mike Pence's press secretary during Trump's first term.

Tom Krause, 47: Krause is a Treasury Department employee who is also affiliated with DOGE, according to The New York Times. Krause was involved in the DOGE team's bid to gain access to the Treasury Department's payments system.

Gavin Kliger, 25: Kliger, a senior adviser at the Office of Personnel Management, is reportedly closely linked to Musk's team. On his personal Substack blog, he wrote a post titled "Why I gave up a seven-figure salary to save America."

Gautier "Cole" Killian, 24: Killian is an Environmental Protection Agency employee who researched blockchain at McGill University. Killian is also a member of the DOGE team, according to Wired.

Stephanie Holmes, 43: ProPublica reports that Holmes runs human resources at DOGE, having previously managed her own HR consulting company, BrighterSideHR.

Luke Farritor, 23: Farritor works as an executive engineer at the Department of Health and previously interned at SpaceX, according to his LinkedIn account. He won a $100,000 fellowship from billionaire tech entrepreneur Peter Thiel in March 2024.

Marko Elez, 25: Elez is a Treasury Department staffer who worked as an engineer at X for one year and at SpaceX for around three years. The Wall Street Journal reported that Elez was linked to a social media account that had made racist remarks, but Musk stood by him after he initially resigned.

Steve Davis, 45: Davis is a longtime Musk associate who previously worked for the tech billionaire at SpaceX, the Boring Company and X. According to The New York Times, Davis was one of the first people involved in setting up DOGE with Musk and has been involved in staff recruitment.

Edward Coristine, 19: Coristine is a Northeastern University graduate who was detailed to the Office of Personnel Management and is affiliated with DOGE. He previously interned at Neuralink, a Musk company that works on brain-computer interfaces.

Nate Cavanaugh, 28: Cavanaugh is an entrepreneur who interviewed staffers at the General Services Administration as part of the DOGE team, according to ProPublica.

Unmasked: Musk’s Secret DOGE Goon Squad—Who Are All Under 26! The world’s richest man doesn’t want anyone knowing his right-hand people who are disrupting government. — Josh Fiallo, Breaking News Reporter, Daily Beast, February 3, 2025

Akash Bobba, 21: A recent graduate from the University of California, Berkeley, Bobba works as an "expert" at the Office of Personnel Management and was identified by Wired as part of Musk's DOGE team.

Brian Bjelde, 44: A 20-year SpaceX veteran, Bjelde now works as a senior adviser at the Office of Personnel Management, where he wants to cut 70 percent of the workforce, according to CNN.

Riccardo Biasini, 39: Biasini is an engineer who now works as a senior adviser to the director at the Office of Personnel Management. He previously worked for two Musk companies, Tesla and the Boring Company.

Anthony Armstrong, 57: Another senior adviser to the director at the Office of Personnel Management Armstrong previously worked as a banked with Morgan Stanley, and was involved in Musk's 2022 purchase of Twitter.

Keenan D. Kmiec, 45: Kmiec is a lawyer who works as part of the Executive Office of the President. He previously clerked on the Supreme Court for Chief Justice John Roberts.

James Burnham, 41: Burnham is a general counsel at DOGE whose involvement with the Musk-led body was first reported by The New York Times in January. He previously worked as a clerk for Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch.

Jacob Altik, 32: A lawyer affiliated with the Executive Office of the President, Altik previously clerked for D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Neomi Rao, whom Trump appointed during his first term.

Jordan M. Wick, 28: Wick is an official member of DOGE and previously worked as a software engineer for the self-driving car company Waymo.

Ethan Shaotran, 22: Shaotran is a former Harvard student who Wired listed as one of several young software engineers working to analyze internal government data at DOGE.

Kyle Schutt, 37: Schutt is a software engineer affiliated with DOGE and worked at the General Services Administration. He was involved in the launch of WinRed, a Republican fundraising platform that helped raise $1.8 billion ahead of the November 2024 elections.

Ryan Riedel, 37: Riedel is the chief information officer at the Department of Energy and a former SpaceX employee.

Adam Ramada, 35: Ramada is an official DOGE member, according to federal records seen by ProPublica. Ramada previously worked for venture capital company Spring Tide Capital. E&E News reported he had been seen at the Energy Department and the General Services Administration.

Kendell M. Lindemann, 24: Lindemann is an official member of the DOGE team who previously worked for health care company Russell Street Ventures, founded by fellow DOGE associate Brad Smith, and as a business analyst for McKinsey & Company.

Nicole Hollander, 42: Hollander works at the General Services Administration. She was previously employed by X, where she was involved with the company's real estate portfolio.

Alexandra T. Beynon, 36: Beynon is listed as an official member of DOGE, according to documents seen by ProPublica. She previously worked for therapy startup Mindbloom and banking firm Goldman Sachs.

Jennifer Balajadia, 36: Balajadia is a member of the DOGE team who previously worked for the Boring Company for seven years. According to The New York Times, she is a close Musk confidant and assists with his scheduling.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Adam Zyglis@adamzyglis :: More than he can chew…

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

May 9, 2025

Heather Cox Richardson

May 10, 2025

Yesterday afternoon, President Donald Trump withdrew his nomination for interim U.S. attorney Ed Martin to become U.S. attorney in Washington D.C., the top federal prosecutor in the nation’s capital. A Missouri political operative with no experience as a prosecutor, Martin defended the January 6 rioters and fired the prosecutors who had worked on their cases, threatened to investigate Democrats and critics, and hosted a notorious antisemite on his podcast. His nomination proved too much for Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), who joined all the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee to oppose his confirmation, deadlocking the committee and blocking the nomination.

Trump announced he was moving Martin into three roles that do not require Senate confirmation. He will become the new director of the Weaponization Working Group at the Department of Justice, an associate deputy attorney general, and a pardon attorney. “In these highly important roles, Ed will make sure we finally investigate the Weaponization of our Government under the Biden Regime, and provide much needed Justice for its victims,” Trump posted on social media.

To replace Martin, Trump has tapped Fox News Channel host Jeanine Pirro, who is passionately loyal to him. He noted among her qualifications that she “hosted her own Fox News Show, Justice with Judge Jeanine, for ten years, and is currently Co-Host of The Five, one of the Highest Rated Shows on Television.”

Matt Gertz of Media Matters for America recalls that the Fox News Channel took Pirro off the air after the 2020 election because of her conspiracy-theory-filled rants. In emails turned up in the defamation suit against the Fox News Channel for pushing the lie that voting machines had tainted the election results, her executive producer called her “nuts” and a “reckless maniac,” who “should never be on live television.” That lawsuit cost the Fox News Channel $787 million.

A similar scenario played out earlier this week when Trump withdrew his nomination of former Fox News Channel contributor Dr. Janette Nesheiwat for surgeon general, the officer who oversees the nation’s public health professionals. Nesheiwat is the sister-in-law of former national security advisor Mike Waltz, let go after he admitted a journalist to a group chat about a military strike on the Houthis in Yemen. As Anthony Clark reported in The Last Campaign, she had falsely represented her “medical education, board certifications, and military service.”

Trump’s replacement pick for surgeon general, Casey Means, did not finish her residency and is not currently licensed as a doctor but has embraced the anti-vax positions of Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., including his thoroughly debunked claim that vaccines cause autism. Still, she is not extreme enough for some of Kennedy’s followers, who are unhappy with the nomination.

When asked yesterday why he had nominated her, Trump answered: “Because Bobby thought she was fantastic…. I don’t know her. I listened to the recommendation of Bobby.” Today, Casey Means’s brother Calley, a White House advisor, went after Trump ally Laura Loomer for opposing the nomination, posting on social media that he had “[j]ust received information that Laura Loomer is taking money from industry to scuttle President Trump’s agenda.” Loomer responded: “You’re so full of sh*t.”

The administration appears not to be able to attract the caliber of federal officials to which Americans have become accustomed.

Federal Bureau of Investigation director Kash Patel, who did not have experience in law enforcement when he took the job, has drawn criticism from current and former officials in the FBI and the Department of Justice, which oversees the FBI, for reducing FBI briefings, traveling frequently on personal matters, and appearing repeatedly at pro sporting events.

Yesterday Patel showed up at a hearing for the Senate Appropriations Commerce, Justice, and Science Subcommittee on the FBI’s spending plan for 2025, but he had not produced the plan, which by law was supposed to have been turned over more than a week ago. When Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) called the absence of the plan “absurd” and asked Patel when they could expect the plan, he answered he did not have a timeline.

Stacey Young, a former DOJ lawyer who co-founded Justice Connection, which supports current and former DOJ employees under pressure from the administration, told NBC’s Ken Dilanian: “There’s a growing sense among the ranks that there’s a leadership void. And that the highest echelons of the bureau are more concerned about currying favor with the president, retribution, and leaks than the actual work.”

Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) took Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem even more fully to task. At a meeting of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security yesterday, Murphy told Noem: “[Y]our department is out of control. You are spending like you don’t have a budget,” he said. “You are on the verge of running out of money for the fiscal year…. You're on track to trigger the Anti-Deficiency Act. That means you are going to spend more money than you have been allocated by Congress. This is a rare occurrence, and it is wildly illegal. Your agency will be broke by July, over two months before the end of the fiscal year.”

The obsession with the border, he continued, “has left the country unprotected elsewhere…. To fund the border, you have illegally gutted spending for cybersecurity. As we speak, Russian and Chinese hackers are having a field day attacking our nation. You have withdrawn funds for disaster prevention. Storms are going to kill more people in this country because of your illegal withholding of these funds.”

On Wednesday, Customs and Border Patrol confirmed that it had been using the communication app TeleMessage, which was a clone of Signal and which was hacked earlier this week. On Tuesday, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate “the government’s use of TeleMessage Archiver,” which “seriously threatens U.S. national security.”

Last night, New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport suffered another 90-second radar blackout at 3:55 am. On May 6, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy took to social media to blame his predecessor in the Biden administration for the troubles in the airline system.

Hugo Lowell of The Guardian reported today that the White House is so fed up with the turmoil around Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth it will not permit him to name his own new chief of staff after his first one resigned last month.

Tim Marchman of Wired reported yesterday that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard failed to follow basic cybersecurity protocol, reusing “the same weak password on multiple accounts for years.”

The administration appears chaotic, but far from taking the chaos in hand, President Trump appears happy to let others take the reins. As his tariffs are beginning to bite, today he suggested his worry about the economic fallout by posting “CHINA SHOULD OPEN UP ITS MARKET TO USA—WOULD BE SO GOOD FOR THEM!!! CLOSED MARKETS DON’T WORK ANYMORE!!!” Five minutes later, he posted: “80% Tariff on China seems right! Up to Scott B.”

The Constitution gives Congress alone the power to set tariffs. Trump seized that power for himself by declaring an emergency. Now he appears to be handing that power to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, likely so that he can blame Bessent when things go poorly.

Today, in the latest legal setback for the Trump regime on immigration, a federal judge in Vermont ordered the government to release Tufts University graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk from custody. Agents arrested Öztürk, a Turkish national, on March 25, claiming that she had been engaged with associations that “may undermine U.S. foreign policy by creating a hostile environment for Jewish students.” U.S. District Judge William Sessions III noted that the government provided no evidence for that assertion aside from a 2024 op-ed Öztürk wrote for the school newspaper criticizing the university’s response to the crisis in Gaza. She was freed this evening and will have to pursue her case before an immigration judge.

As the administration has lost repeatedly in court, officials appear to be upping the ante in their attempts to traumatize migrants and increase its power, but it remains unclear who is calling the shots. Amy McKinnon of Politico reported today that Trump has sat for only 12 “daily” intelligence briefing sessions since he took office, and does not read his written daily intelligence report.

On Tuesday, Reuters reported that the U.S. was preparing to send migrants to prison in Libya. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy issued an order stopping the removal, saying such renditions would clearly violate a court order. Migrants from Asia sat on a military plane on the tarmac in Texas for hours before being taken off the plane and bussed back to detention.

When a reporter asked Trump if his administration was sending migrants to Libya, he answered: “I don’t know. You’ll have to ask, uh, Homeland Security, please.”

Today, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Newark, New Jersey, mayor Ras Baraka when he and three members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation stood outside a private ICE detention facility in Newark called Delaney Hall. New Jersey’s interim U.S. attorney, Trump loyalist Alina Habba, posted on social media that Baraka had “ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security Investigations to remove himself from the ICE detention center…. He has willingly chosen to disregard the law.” But, as Tracey Tully, Luis Ferré-Sadurní, and Alyce McFadden of the New York Times reported, videos show him being arrested in a public area outside the facility.

Tully, Ferré-Sadurní, and McFadden report that in February, the administration signed a 15-year, $1 billion contract with GEO Group, which operates private prisons, to expand the Delaney Hall facility dramatically as an ICE prison. New Jersey officials have argued in federal court that GEO Group does not have the required permits to operate the expanded facility.

White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller told reporters today that voters elected Trump to “deport the illegals” and that “Marxist” judges frustrating that effort are attacking democracy. In fact, Trump convinced many voters that he would deport only violent criminals, and they are now aghast at the scenes unfolding as masked agents grab women and children from their cars and sweep up U.S. citizens.

In The Bulwark today, Adrian Carrasquillo explained how podcasters, sports YouTubers, and comedians, including Joe Rogan, have brought the rendition of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador onto the radar screen of Trump voters. Americans now disapprove of Trump’s immigration policies by 53% to 46%.

Miller made an even bigger power grab when he said “we’re actively looking at” suspending the writ of habeas corpus, a legal change that essentially establishes martial law by permitting the government to arrest people and hold them without charges or a trial. Legal analyst Steve Vladeck explains that Miller’s justification for such a suspension is dead wrong, and suggests Miller’s threat appears to be designed to put more pressure on the courts.

But in this chaotic administration, it seems worth asking who the “we” is in Miller’s statement. In the group chat about striking the Houthis, when administration officials were discussing—without the presence of either the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff or the president himself—what was the best course of action, it was Miller who ultimately decided to launch a strike simply by announcing what he claimed were Trump’s wishes.

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[dark-rx]

RFK Jr says his response to measles outbreak should be ‘model for the world’

Public health experts argue he failed to give a full-throated endorsement of an extremely effective vaccine

Jessica Glenza - Wed 9 Apr 2025 15.43 EDT

The health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, said on a press tour that his response to a large measles outbreak in west Texas should be a “model for the world”. The statement came after Kennedy attended the funeral of a third measles victim over the weekend.

Kennedy’s response to the outbreak has been widely criticized by epidemiologists and public health experts, who argue he failed to give a full-throated endorsement of an extremely effective vaccine, that cases appear to be severely undercounted and that officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have been deployed late.

“The numbers continue to grow by the day, but … the growth rate has diminished substantially,” Kennedy told reporters during a press conference, while promoting his health agenda through the American south-west.

Public health experts have said that, in fact, there is little evidence to support this claim.

“I would compare it to what’s happening in Europe now,” Kennedy continued, according to Politico. “They’ve had 127,000 cases and 37 deaths. And so, what we’re doing right here in the United States is a model for the rest of the world.”

Kennedy appeared to reference figures from the World Health Organization (WHO) released in March. In that instance, global health officials were referring to cases across 53 countries in Europe and central Asia, which make up the WHO’s “European region”. Included in that tally are nations such as Romania and Kazakhstan, which together account for nearly 60,000 cases.

“Measles is the most contagious illness that we know of and it is preventable,” said Susan Polan, associate executive director of the American Public Health Association. “What we’re seeing now… is a far, far undercount in terms of the actual number of cases.”

Before the current outbreak, the US had not had a measles death since 2015. Three people have now died as a result of the Texas outbreak, and nearly 500 people have gotten sick, according to Texas authorities. Because measles has an average death rate of one to three per 1,000, public health officials believe cases are undercounted. The measles vaccine is 97% effective at preventing the disease.

On Sunday, Kennedy said CDC staff would be redeployed to the outbreak in Texas. This week, Kennedy also said the best way to prevent measles is to get the vaccine. However, he also used his attendance at a measles victim’s funeral to promote unproven therapies for measles in a social media post.

“We should have had more people on the ground – this should have been a priority for weeks and weeks,” said Polan.

Measles was eliminated in the US in 2000. However, anti-vaccine sentiment first stoked by a fraudulent scientific paper in the Lancet and then by non-profits, such as the one Kennedy led for nearly a decade, has stoked a dramatic increase in vaccine hesitancy.

The decline in trust in vaccines has been especially precipitous among Republicans and Republican-leaning adults. A Gallup poll from August 2024 found the percentage of Republicans who believe it is extremely important to vaccinate children fell from more than 60% in the early 2000s to 26% in 2024.

As trust in vaccines wanes among Republicans, and Kennedy himself voices lackluster support, Kennedy has enjoyed high trust ratings among Republicans – nearly as high as Donald Trump himself.

Kennedy made the comments as the department he oversees, Health and Human Services, undergoes a dramatic and largely opaque restructuring. A total of 20,000 positions have been eliminated between a cut of 10,000 made by Kennedy and an additional 10,000 employees cut by billionaire Elon Musk’s unofficial “department of government efficiency”.

The CDC lost 2,400 employees in the restructuring. Overall, HHS will lose nearly a quarter of its workforce. Kennedy has also installed vaccine skeptics in important roles within the agency, including at least one who has paused approval of a Covid-19 vaccine.

Further, basic research into mRNA vaccines has been under threat during Kennedy’s tenure. Before he took office, he tried to force the federal government to rescind authorization for Covid-19 vaccines.

Kennedy’s statements also come as HHS has clawed back more than $11bn in funding to local and state health departments – including grants that had funded immunization clinics near the measles outbreak in Dallas.

In an interview with CBS News, Kennedy denied knowledge of the clawbacks, and said: “I’m not familiar with those cuts … The cuts were mainly [diversity, equity and inclusion] cuts.”

[gumjrop]

Common Symptoms Were Fatigue and Decreased Exercise Tolerance, According to a 2022 Survey

Inequities In the Prevalence and Severity of Symptoms Observed Across Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Neighborhood Poverty

December 26, 2024 — Today, the New York City Health Department announced that 80 percent of adult New Yorkers infected with COVID-19 who were surveyed experienced at least one symptom lasting one month or longer. According to the results of the COVID-19 Experiences Survey in 2022, the most common symptoms were fatigue and decreased exercise tolerance. While post-acute symptoms may resolve within 12 weeks, many people will go on to develop Long COVID, an infection-associated chronic condition characterized by symptoms lasting three months or longer.

“This survey shows us that the symptoms following COVID-19 infections are a significant public health issue for New Yorkers. Black and Latino communities, women, transgender people, and those living in low-income neighborhoods were more likely to have symptoms, highlighting the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on marginalized communities,” said Acting Health Commissioner Dr. Michelle Morse. “We must invest in a comprehensive long-term response to the COVID-19 pandemic that focuses on prevention through engagement with health care providers and community members. Services for people experiencing the long-term physical, mental, social, and economic impacts of COVID-19 infection should be accessible to all.”

Post-acute symptoms are those that last one month or longer. To better understand experiences of COVID-19 post-acute symptoms, the Health Department conducted the COVID-19 Experiences Survey in November and December 2022. Adult New Yorkers who were members of the probability-based NYC Health Panel were invited to take the survey if they had confirmed or suspected COVID-19; 2,081 people completed the survey online or by phone in English, Spanish, Russian, Simplified Chinese, or Traditional Chinese. The results provide insight into how post-acute symptoms relate to health care seeking, social and demographic factors, disability, and mental health.

Some respondents reported many symptoms at different levels of severity, while others reported few symptoms, only mild symptoms, or none at all. Inequities in the prevalence and severity of post-acute symptoms after COVID-19 were observed across race/ethnicity, gender, and neighborhood poverty levels.

The prevalence of mild symptoms was similar across socio-demographic groups.

Moderate symptoms were more prevalent among Latino and Asian/Pacific Islander adults compared with white adults, and among people living in high poverty neighborhoods compared with people in low poverty neighborhoods.

Severe symptoms were more prevalent among women and transgender or non-binary adults compared with men, among Latino and Black adults compared with white adults, and among people living in very high and high poverty neighborhoods compared with low poverty neighborhoods.

Increasing symptom severity was associated with activity limitations and depression. Those with at least one severe symptom were more likely to report activity limitations compared with those who reported no post-acute symptoms (60 percent vs. 6 percent), which may result in social, economic, and mental health difficulties.

People with at least one severe post-acute symptom reported 10 days of reduced ability or complete inability to carry out usual activities or work in the past month, compared with 6 days for moderate symptoms, 3 days for mild symptoms, and 1 day for no symptoms.

One in three adults (33 percent) with at least one severe post-acute symptom after COVID-19 had probable depression, higher than those reporting only mild symptoms (6 percent) or no symptoms (2 percent).

Black and Latino New Yorkers, women, transgender adults, and those living in low-income neighborhoods were most likely to report severe symptoms, reflecting the disproportionate impact of the ongoing pandemic in these communities.

To address inequities in awareness about the long-term health impacts of COVID-19 and the importance of preventing new infections, the NYC Health Department partners with community and faith-based organizations to serve as trusted messengers and provide tailored and culturally resonant public health outreach to NYC communities.

Anyone can become very sick from COVID-19. To find a COVID-19 or flu vaccination site, visit nyc.gov/vaccinefinder or call 212-COVID-19 (212-268-4319).

#031-24

MEDIA CONTACT: Chantal Gomez PressOffice@health.nyc.gov

Gomez, Chantal. “Health Department Finds Most Adult New Yorkers Infected with COVID-19 Experienced Symptoms Lasting One Month or Longer.” Health Dept. Finds Most Adult NYers Infected With COVID-19 Experienced Symptoms Lasting 1 Mo or Longer - NYC Health, NYC Health, 26 Dec. 2024, www.nyc.gov/site/doh/about/press/pr2024/nyc-adults-with-covid-19-experienced-symptoms-one-month-or-longer.page.

I’d like to highlight that date: December 26, 2024.

[mariacallous]

As President Donald Trump’s tariff turmoil continues, it becomes increasingly clear that this unpredictability in the US will create economic stress for American businesses and residents. But as with other types of commercial turbulence, the people who will be hit the hardest are those with lower incomes.

Trump's tariff policy on goods imported into the US carves out some exceptions for smartphones and small electronics, but experts say the prices for those devices will still rise since the companies who manufacture them will incur added costs throughout their supply chains as the trade war continues to escalate.

And while many buyers shopping for a premium device may be able to afford an extra $100 or $200 tacked onto the price of a phone or laptop that already sells for over $1,000, those buying lower-priced personal tech will feel the squeeze more.

“The challenge is that the people buying low-price products are often the ones who are most price-sensitive and are most harmed by this,” says Shawn DuBravac, chief economist for the electronics trade association IPC. “Generally, lower-priced products have thinner margins, and this holds true across nearly all categories.”

Cheaper cars, entry-level smartphones, and budget laptops and tablets all make less profit per unit than their premium-model counterparts. That means that, unlike with flagship phones and laptops or high-end gaming PCs, companies need to sell more of the cheaper devices to make the effort of building them pay off. If the extra cost added by tariffs makes people buy less stuff, it means the logic behind selling them in the US at all makes less sense.

“The logic is pretty simple: Lower-priced products compete more heavily on price, which squeezes margins,” DuBravac says. “At the same time, they're typically produced in higher volumes, and the business model often relies on scale to make up for the thin margins.”

The president has gone back and forth on which devices will be exempt from tariffs. Regardless of how Trump’s tariffs ultimately play out, which rates he deescalates, or which costs companies are able to wriggle their ways out of, what’s likely to happen regardless is that all that uncertainty could lead to a wider increase in inflation across the economy. Stuff getting more expensive begets more stuff getting expensive.

Anshel Sag, principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy says that inflation, in this economy, can be almost impossible to wind down.

“My biggest fear is that because this will drive inflation up, it will create a significant drain on people's disposable incomes and consumption will plummet as a result of these policies,” Sag says. “Even if a lot of these things get ironed out and agreements are struck, it's going to still result in higher inflation and lower buying power for the consumer.”

Of course, the rising cost of consumer tech isn’t the only force causing financial fragility among poorer Americans. Trump is also set on even more budget cuts that would overhaul and defund federal housing programs for low-income people. In April, the administration purged thousands of employees from the US Department of Health and Human Services, among them the entire staff of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, an agency that literally keeps the lights on for some low-income families. Since January, layoffs of thousands of people across social security, Veteran’s Affairs, and USAID departments could drag down the health, well-being, and buying power of the people who can’t afford to manage without these services.

“What ends up happening is people don't make purchases,” Sag says. “They get stuck with older tech. And it puts kids at a disadvantage in schools. It may even affect people's ability to find a job or be able to work independently.”

The RAPID Survey Project, a research program run by Stanford University’s Center on Early Childhood, collects data on the livelihoods and economics of how more than 22,000 people have been faring since 2020. The Center’s director, Philip Fisher, says that since the survey started, 30 percent of people in US households surveyed have indicated they aren’t able to pay for basic needs. That percentage scales almost directly with inflation. The higher prices are, the less people can afford.

“Our anticipation is that percentage is just going to continue to go up as the tariffs continue to work their magic,” Fisher says.

Those price increases are a particular problem for income-insecure households with young children. Beyond an inability for parents to supply kids with their basic needs, the same price uncertainty that has made the stock market go ballistic is likely to affect families as well.

“When so much is changing so quickly at the national level,” Fisher says, “It filters down to families and to communities and then ultimately to the experiences that kids are having.”

Beyond poverty, price hikes can also create problems for people at the margins of society and the institutions that look out for them.

Terah Lawyer‑Harper is executive director of CROP, or Creating Restorative Opportunities and Programs, a nonprofit that receives funding from California’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and aims to help former prisoners and reduce recidivism. She worries that tariffs will make it much harder to support former inmates looking to reintegrate into society.

“Technology and devices such as smartphones and laptops are the key connectors to everything we do today in society,” Lawyer‑Harper says.

A formerly incarcerated person herself, Lawyer‑Harper says someone being released from prison without any resources or tools to engage with society is a recipe for recidivism. Organizations like CROP aim to help provide digital literacy skills and capabilities to access and reenter the job market. Higher charges on products across the board, and specifically on devices like phones and laptops, are going to limit what aid agencies like CROP can do to help the people who need it most.

“What kind of neighbor do you want?” Lawyer‑Harper says. “Do you want a neighbor that is successful in their job, that has a mindset and understanding of accountability and responsibility, that has secured housing and is stable? Or do you want someone that's struggling and that is going to kick into survival mode and go back to criminal thinking because that's all they know?”

President Trump has encouraged citizens to “hang tough” while he tries to motivate companies and trade partners to move manufacturing to the US. (A feat that his administration cut support for and is otherwise borderline impossible to make happen in a world with a functional global economy.) For many people, hanging tough will be the only option. And it might not be enough.

“This is kind of a more societal issue that goes beyond manufacturing,” DuBravac says. “Are we exacerbating a digital divide that we don't need to?”

[feminist-space]

"Now, already experiencing the clawing pangs of contractions, she pulled out a frozen pizza and a salad with creamy everything dressing, savoring the hush that fell over the house, the satisfying crunch of the poppy seeds as she ate.

Horton didn’t realize that she would be drug tested before her child’s birth. Or that the poppy seeds in her salad could trigger a positive result on a urine drug screen, the quick test that hospitals often use to check pregnant patients for illicit drugs.

Many common foods and medications — from antacids to blood pressure and cold medicines — can prompt erroneous results.

The morning after Horton delivered her daughter, a nurse told her she had tested positive for opiates. Horton was shocked. She hadn’t requested an epidural or any narcotic pain medication during labor — she didn’t even like taking Advil. “You’re sure it was mine?” she asked the nurse.

If Horton had been tested under different circumstances — for example, if she was a government employee and required to be tested as part of her job — she would have been entitled to a more advanced test and to a review from a specially trained doctor to confirm the initial result.

But as a mother giving birth, Horton had no such protections. The hospital quickly reported her to child welfare, and the next day, a social worker arrived to take baby Halle into protective custody.

...

To report this story, The Marshall Project interviewed dozens of patients, medical providers, toxicologists and other experts, and collected information on more than 50 mothers in 22 states who faced reports and investigations over positive drug tests that were likely wrong. We also pored over thousands of pages of policy documents from every state child welfare agency in the country.

Problems with drug screens are well known, especially in workplace testing. But there’s been little investigation of how easily false positives can occur inside labor and delivery units, and how quickly families can get trapped inside a system of surveillance and punishment.

Hospitals reported women for positive drug tests after they ate everything bagels and lemon poppy seed muffins, or used medications including the acid reducer Zantac, the antidepressant Zoloft and labetalol, one of the most commonly prescribed blood pressure treatments for pregnant women.

After a California mother had a false positive for meth and PCP, authorities took her newborn, then dispatched two sheriff’s deputies to also remove her toddler from her custody, court records show. In New York, hospital administrators refused to retract a child welfare report based on a false positive result, and instead offered the mother counseling for her trauma, according to a recording of the conversation. And when a Pennsylvania woman tested positive for opioids after eating pasta salad, the hearing officer in her case yelled at her to “buck up, get a backbone, and stop crying,” court records show. It took three months to get her newborn back from foster care.

Federal officials have known for decades that urine screens are not reliable. Poppy seeds — which come from the same plant used to make heroin — are so notorious for causing positives for opiates that last year the Department of Defense directed service members to stop eating them. At hospitals, test results often come with warnings about false positives and direct clinicians to confirm the findings with more definitive tests.

Yet state policies and many hospitals tend to treat drug screens as unassailable evidence of illicit use, The Marshall Project found. Hospitals across the country routinely report cases to authorities without ordering confirmation tests or waiting to receive the results."

Read the full piece here: https://www.themarshallproject.org/2024/09/09/drug-test-pregnancy-pennsylvania-california

[wordpress-blaze-101493231]

An Alternative Roadmap to Southeast Presidency: A Northern-Backed Peter Obi in 2027 and Strategic Balance by 2039

By Hon. Chimazuru Nnadi-Oforgu

While the strategy of Ndi Igbo entering the presidency through the vice presidency in 2027 appears pragmatic, there exists a more just, bolder, and politically balanced alternative: a Northern-backed Peter Obi presidency in 2027 for one term, followed by a Southeast Vice President from 2031 to 2039.

This route is not just feasible, it is a necessary correction to decades of Southeast political displacement.

The Historical Context of Displacement

Since 1966, the Southeast has not produced a Nigerian president. Every other major zone has had its time:

Northwest: Buhari (2015–2023)

South-South: Jonathan (2010–2015)

Southwest: Obasanjo (1999–2007), now Tinubu (2023– )

North Central: Military era (Gowon)

Northeast: Atiku, repeatedly considered, but never actualized

The Southeast, despite being a founding block of Nigeria, has remained systematically marginalized. Supporting Peter Obi to complete the South's rotation for a single term is not merely symbolic, it restores justice.

Why Peter Obi in 2027 Is Politically Logical

Peter Obi is one of the most nationally accepted candidates from the Southeast in decades. In the 2023 elections, despite running on a relatively new platform (Labour Party), he:

Scored over 6.1 million votes

Won in 11 states and the FCT, including major cities like Lagos and Abuja

Secured significant youth and diaspora support

Unlike previous Igbo aspirants, Obi has already achieved nationwide visibility and support. Backing him for a single term allows:

Fulfillment of the South's rotational turn

A peaceful transition of power to the North in 2031

Northern political actors to retain long-term influence by negotiating the VP slot for 2031

Northern Strategic Interest in a One-Term Presidency

A one-term presidency by Peter Obi, agreed upon by the North, provides a win-win framework:

Stability: A single term avoids power entrenchment fears.

Continuity: The North can return in 2031 with a VP already in place.

Peace-building: Rebuilds North–East trust after years of separatist tension.

In return, the North gets to nominate a Southeast VP candidate in 2031, giving that zone continuous visibility and federal executive presence from 2027 to 2039.

Countering the Southwest Monopoly

If we allow another Southwest presidency after Tinubu in 2027, the South will have been dominated by the Yoruba for a cumulative 16–20 years (Obasanjo 1999–2007, Tinubu 2023–2031).

This creates a dangerous imbalance that can fuel resentment and deepen ethnic mistrust. The Southeast cannot continue to play second fiddle in a rotation that disproportionately favors one region.

Obi's presidency offers a national reset and avoids another cycle of Yoruba dominance.

Addressing Security Concerns as Part of the Deal

Many Southeasterners are rightly concerned about Fulani herders, banditry, and illegal settlements. A deal with the North to support Obi can include:

Federal legalization and support for state police

Dismantling of unauthorized forest encampments

Northern endorsement of regional security frameworks with oversight

A binding federal-Southeast peace and development pact

These are realistic, negotiable, and enforceable.

Economic Logic of a Southeast Presidency

The Southeast accounts for over 40% of Nigeria’s SME activity.

Igbo businessmen contribute massively to northern markets.

A Peter Obi presidency would prioritize fiscal discipline, infrastructure, and private sector growth, all beneficial to the North.

Economic interdependence should be a foundation for political alliance.

A Just Path to National Unity

The Southeast deserves more than symbolic inclusiveness. It deserves a real shot at the presidency, starting with Peter Obi in 2027.

A Northern-backed Obi presidency, limited to one term, followed by a Southeast vice presidency from 2031 to 2039, is a strategic roadmap to healing Nigeria’s political wounds and restoring equity.

It gives the North influence, the Southeast justice, and the nation a balanced federation.

Let us not recycle injustice. Let us reset Nigeria with strategy, fairness, and vision.

Hon. Chimazuru Ignatius Nnadi-Oforgu is a former house of representatives candidate, a national and international political commentator, an Igbo rights advocate, and media entrepreneur.

www.oblongmedia.net

Source: An Alternative Roadmap to Southeast Presidency: A Northern-Backed Peter Obi in 2027 and Strategic Balance by 2039

[in4newz]

To my Asian, European, African, and Canadian friends...do y'all wanna know how the United States found itself under a fascist, Hitler-loving dictator named Donald Trump?

In another post, I started my timeline in 1980. The year I was born. But, it was also a turning point in US politics.

First, let me share my credentials.

- Bachelors of Arts - History

- Juris Doctor - Public Interest Law (Critical Race Theory)

- Masters of Philosophy (research degree) - Sociology (Race, Ethnicity, Conflict)

Just recently, we buried President Jimmy Carter, who was the president, when I was born. Jimmy was from Georgia, like my grandmother, and he came from a Southern Baptist background. Southern Baptists are known for being very conservative Christians who did not support abortion.

Jimmy, despite that background, actually supported LGBTQ rights by lifting a federal ban. He supported Roe v. Wade which protected access to abortion. And, he established the federal Department of Education.

However, Jimmy had an antagonistic relationship with Congress, and that alienated several Democrats, including Ted Kennedy, who was the brother of John F. Kennedy, a president who was assassinated.

The Kennedy family has an established name brand due to JFK and Robert F Kennedy (another brother and JFK's attorney general who was also assassinated). Ted was the younger, drunken brother who caused the accidental death of a college friend.

In 1980, Ted challenged Jimmy for the presidency even though they were both Democrats. Jimmy has the incumbent shouldn't have faced a challenge from his own party, but he had just been that bad.

So, this internal strife weakened the Democratic Party entering the 1980 election. In that same year, Jimmy boycotted the 1980 Olympics in Russia due to Russia's invasion of Afghanistan. Furthermore, there was a recession.

The Republican Party nominee was a former Hollywood actor turned politician named Ronald Reagan. Ronald was the governor of California and was trailing Jimmy in the polls until a presidential debate in which Ronald used his acting skills to make Jimmy seem incompetent.

Ronald believed in "trickle down economics." He believed that if the wealthiest people were taxed less, then they would spend more, thus boosting the economy and allowing prosperity to "trickle down" to the working & Middle class.

He also believed in increased military spending as this was the height of the Cold War with Russia. My own parents voted for Reagan because my dad was in the military.

Instead of trickling down, the wealthy just grew wealthier. Republicans continued to lower taxes for these individuals and businesses, so the money never trickled down. Social services were underfunded & unemployment increased. Reagan's response was to blame Black "welfare mothers" for abusing the system.

Republicans latch onto this. They implement work requirements for government assistance and make it harder for folks to pull out of poverty. As a result, a wealth gap separated white folk from the rest. White folk felt their hard earned money was supporting lazy white & Black folk, so they continued to constrict welfare programs.

[Section added] During Reagan's term, an unknown illness is killing young, gay Black & Latino men. It's AIDs. Reagan deemed it a gay disease that only affects gay people, so no funding is allocated to study this disease. It's viewed as retribution for their homosexua lifestyle. However, overtime, they learn about HIV once non-gay men were infected. Children die from the disease because blood is not tested for it, so some are born from it through their mothers while others were given transfusions.

Under Reagan, the Fairness Doctrine ends. Under this doctrine, news agencies had to report both sides of an issue. Because of this, television stations can now present one side. Fox News opens as a conservative network.

Ronald is well-loved by white folk. He gets elected to two terms. By the end of his term, the economy has recovered, and white folk are prospering. Then, his VP, George H.W. Bush, is elected.

Under George I, the Cold War ends, but we have the Gulf War in Kuwait. He signs trade agreements that result in several American companies, namely the auto industry, to shutter their doors and build factories overseas. This is due to a change in tariffs!

Millions of Americans lose their jobs as factories close. Detroit, as the leading auto manufacturer city, is devastated. Back in the 90s, Detroit was the 4th largest US city after Chicago. These factory closures hit the Midwest, especially hard.

This makes Bush unpopular. He is challenged by a young, charismatic Democrat named Bill Clinton.

Bill was a southerner like Jimmy, but Bill was a very well-known ladies' man. Bill appeals to Black Americans, though, and that allows him to defeat George.

Bill continues expanding trade agreements. He's a fiscal conservative despite being a Democrat, and under Bill, military spending is reduced.

[Section added] The rise of AIDs leads to further hate directed at the LGBTQ. During the 90s, several queer people are murdered. One such kid was Matthew Shepard. A college kid in Wyoming, he is beaten by a gang of white men. His family was terrorized so much, that they couldn't bury him because of fears his grave would be desecrated.

[A white woman Bishop in DC invites Shepard's parents to bury him in their graveyard. That Bishop is Marian Edgar Budde, the same Bishop who gave Trump his inaugural sermon this past week. She pleaded for Trump to have mercy on the queer community because she was the Bishop who buried Shepard!]

Bill is a popular president. The economy is booming, but he's still a lady's man, and he gets in trouble with a college intern.

This scandal adversely impacts the last few years in office so much so that his VP, Al Gore, loses the presidency to George W. Bush.

George Bush won the Electoral College while Al Gore won the popular vote. There was such a tiny margin that there were numerous recounts because of faulty ballots (hanging chads). Eventually, the Supreme Court intervenes and tells them to stop the count and certify George as president.

George II is the son of George I.

George II is a popular Texan with swagger. He wants to build up the military once again.

Clinton left a surplus of money, so what did George II do? He implemented tax cuts for the wealthy. That damned "trickle down economics" again. The wealthy get wealthier, increasing the wealth gap between white folks and everybody else.

They cut taxes while cutting social services. One of his biggest "achievements" was a restructuring of our educational system called "No Child Left Behind."

NCLB emphasizes test scores. School administrations are penalized if they don't meet these standards. They lost funding, so electives such as home economics, art, Music, etc are trimmed to make room for these test standards. By this time, my dad has retired from the military and is a school principal, and I remember the stress of trying to meet these standards.

These standards emphasize STEM at the expense of liberal arts. This is happening just as the internet becomes available to all.

Amazon opens as an online used book store. Facebook is started as a college message board. There's a tech boom, so everyone is being pushed into tech fields. Liberal arts education was devalued.

During his term, 9-11 happens. We declare war on Afghanistan. Islamophobia spikes. Fox News helps drive this narrative. Christianity is now being pushed into schools, whereas schools were previously secular.

[Section added] In 2004, the assault rifle ban was lifted. Now we are seeing a dramatic spike in school shootings. The Far Right embraces the expansion of the 2nd Amendment.

Then, we go to war in Iraq.

We aren't quite sure why we're at war with Iraq. We overthrow Suddam Hussein (from the Gulf War). George declares victory, then terminates the Iraqi Army.

This triggers an insurrection. Massive casualties are coming out of Iraq. The war in Afghanistan is overshadowed.

George serves two terms, but his VP is so unpopular that he doesn't run for president. Instead, the Republican nominee is John McCain.

Two Democrats fight for the nomination. Hillary Clinton, the wife of Bill, and Barack Obama.

Barack was a young, biracial Senator from Illinois. I attended law school in Illinois, and one of my classmates had been his legislative aide. I met Barack twice while a student. The first time, he had come to campus to propose a college-savings account. After his press conference, I latched onto his arm and refused to let go until he heard me, and I explained that his proposal was unrealistic because it assumed that a single mother would have the resources to save for an education when it was more likely her money would go towards groceries & rent or other immediate needs. (Fast forward two-three years, and the dude is repeating my line during the State of the Union! I had changed his mind!)

Barack beats Hillary for the nomination. He defeats McCain and is sworn in as the 1st black (not Black) president.

Obama is popular and well-loved by most Americans. Under his tenure, gay marriage is legalized.

Fox News triples down on their hatred.

Their network booms. They push Islamophobia 24/7. Highlight the fact that Obama's father was Muslim and that his middle name was Hussein.

Older Americans are watching program after program of this negativity. A movement starts called the Tea Party movement, which positions itself as a fiscally conservative movement. A bankrupt slumlord with a reality TV show gains popularity with these folks.

I wrote my master's dissertation on the Tea Party movement. It's called "Jesus and the White Man."

Donald Trump

Donald latches onto the Islamaphobia. He calls Barack by his middle name and questions his birth certificate. Donald grows popular with older Americans.

At the end of Obama's term, the son of VP Biden dies. This devastated Biden. He had lost his infant daughter & first wife in a car accident. He decides not to run for president.

Obama supports Hillary.

It is now Hillary v. Trump.

Trump pushes misogyny and Islamaphobia. Hillary is Bill's wife and a woman. She is the most qualified presidential candidate to ever run (at that time).

During Obama's last year in office, Justice Antonin Scalia* dies. Obama has the privilege to nominate that next Justice, but Mitch McConnell stalls through the election.

But older white Americans were barely okay with a black president. They were not about to let a woman serve as President. At the same time, an organization called Cambridge Analytica began to fine-tune an ultra conservative agenda.

With the help of Russian intelligence, they use Facebook ads to try to persuade voters to support Trump. They succeeded with white folk, but they did not succeed with the Black vote.

Russians used African bot farms in order to try to persuade Black Americans to support Trump. We rejected him at 90%.

Donald wins the Electoral College but not the popular vote.

Donald is a corrupt and ineffectual president. He tried to bribe foreign leaders and shared US intelligence with Russia.

However, as a populist, he latches onto the Christian Right. He nominates 3 Supreme Court Justices who lie during their confirmation hearings. These Justices will ultimately vote to overturn Roe v. Wade.

The Christian Right love this. But then COVID hits and the incompetence of Donald leads to millions of deaths. These Christian folk refuse to get vaccinated or wear masks.

Donald is an unpopular president and ranks as the worst president of all time.

Biden challenges him and wins.

Donald refuses to accept that he lost, so he organized an attempted coup. January 6th.

He's impeached. Twice.

McConnell refuses to take the step to have him permanently barred from office.

Biden takes office when COVID is still rampant. The Christian Right continue to push their agenda, seeking to remove protections for the LGBTQI.

Right wing media generates a lot of money. Podcasters jump on the bandwagon. Red pill content spills into the mainstream.

Kids who were isolated during COVID are now at home watching Joe Rogan & Theo Von. They spend hours upon hours on TikTok.

But unbeknownst to these kids is the history of Russian interference.

Schools emphasize STEM. They don't emphasize liberal arts or social sciences such as history or literature. The literacy rate plummeted to an all-time low. The average white American's reading level is at the 4th grade. They aren't able to engage in critical thinking.

They don't know the history of the Spanish Influenza. They don't know the history of a trade war that triggered the Great Depression. They don't know that our government has imprisoned citizens in internment camps. They don't know Hitler's rise to power.

In fact, Fox News frequently features individuals who deny the Holocaust.

Russia move their troll farms from Facebook to TikTok, where the algorithm serves as an echo chamber. Uneducated, illiterate folks gobble up 30-second videos but can't be arsed to watch anything over 5 minutes so complex issues are stripped down to sound bites.

The algorithm pushed right-wing fascist talking points. They rehabbed Donald while shifting Gen Z to the far right. They do not know how to verify information for themselves, so they gobble up misinformation and disinformation.

If a TikTok creator has millions of followers with thousands of views and likes, these kids assume that that info is factual. They do not vet shit for themselves.

Russia pushed anti-American propaganda that posed as pro-American talking points. Pushed isolationism. Pushed anti-democratic rhetoric. In fact, one of their greatest accomplishments is convincing Gen Z and uneducated, white Millennials into thinking we aren't a democracy.

We are a fucking Democratic Republic. Our constitution begins with: "We the people".

So, because of TikTok, Trump won.

That's why Biden was pushing for it to be banned before the election. The algorithm was being corrupted. But folks couldn't part from their addiction.

Folks who had been anti-Trump just 5 years ago are suddenly Trump supporters. They were brainwashed.

So, how did we get here?

We got here because most Americans are fucking STUPID.

Source

[autisticadvocacy]

The Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) condemns the United States Supreme Court ruling on two combined cases, Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Relentless v. Department of Commerce. The decision overturns a decades-old legal principle known as the Chevron Doctrine, which gives federal agencies the authority to reasonably interpret ambiguous laws when they create federal regulations. These regulations are made legally binding through a rulemaking process that is shaped by the public servants within federal agencies, the input of subject area experts across fields, and anyone who chooses to share their opinion. Instead, federal courts will now have the final say in circumstances where knowledge of highly specialized, complex, and technical issues is required. This ruling will weaken the regulatory authority of all federal agencies, including the Departments of Labor (DOL), Education (ED), Health and Human Services (HHS), the Social Security Administration (SSA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Federal agencies create regulations or rules that fill in the gaps of laws intended to protect disability rights, civil rights laws, housing, healthcare, and more. The overturning of Chevron and the deference it gives to the courts will have devastating impacts on all marginalized people, including disabled people and particularly disabled people of color. Often, these rules concern subjects well outside of the scope of legal training, including, as Marissa Ditkowsky noted, drug safety evidentiary standards, eligibility criteria for public benefits, the threshold for disability discrimination, or guidance around worker protections. This change will lead to inconsistent and conflicting adjudication across the country, driving avoidable litigation, confusion, and decisions that do not work well for the people they affect. These harms will fall disproportionately on marginalized people, including the disability community. As the American Cancer Society explained in its amicus brief, “The resulting uncertainty would be extraordinarily destabilizing, not just to the Medicare and Medicaid programs but also – given the size of these programs – to the operational and financial stability of the country’s health care system as a whole.” The same can be said for programs within DOL, ED, SSA, and many other federal agencies. This decision is also undemocratic, moving crucial decisions out of a process where the public has an opportunity to weigh in and into the purview of the courts.

This decision invites challenges to the forty years of legal precedents relying on Chevron. While these cases and the existing Code of Federal Regulations are not automatically overturned by Loper and Relentless, many will be challenged in the months and years to come. Future regulations are also under threat. Agencies may be less ambitious in fulfilling their mandates, protecting the public, and using taxpayers’ resources well in the face of increased risk that courts will undo their work. The endangered regulations include the Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) Settings Rule, the final rule implementing Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the final rule implementing Title IX of the Education Amendments, and the final rule regarding section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

ASAN echoes the demands of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT): “Congress should urgently enact Chevron deference into law by passing the Stop Corporate Capture Act (H.R. 1507), a comprehensive blueprint for modernizing, improving and strengthening the regulatory system. That would ensure public input into regulatory decisions, promote scientific integrity and restore our government’s ability to help the workers and consumers it is meant to serve.”

ASAN will fight to safeguard federal agencies’ ability to protect the people we serve. We will continue to do what we always have: defend the rights, health, services, safety, and well-being of all people with disabilities.

Here are statements on this issue from our allies:

Democracy Forward

National Health Law Program (NHeLP)

National Education Association (NEA)

American Federation of Teachers (AFT)

The Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) is a national grassroots disability rights organization run by and for autistic people. We believe that the goal of autism advocacy should be a world in which autistic people enjoy equal access, rights, and opportunities. ASAN works to make sure autistic people are included in policy-making, so that laws and policies meet our community’s needs. Our members and supporters include autistic adults and youth, cross-disability advocates, and non-autistic family members, professionals, educators, and friends.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Arthur Delaney at HuffPost:

For decades, new parents across the United States have been able to check a box on hospital forms in order to request Social Security numbers for their newborns. For a brief period this week, that was no longer the case in Maine, where parents were told they would have to visit a Social Security field office thanks to a shocking move by President Donald Trump’s administration. A spokesperson for the Maine Department of Health and Human Services told HuffPost on Thursday that the Social Security Administration said it had canceled contracts with Maine’s vital statistics program that support Social Security’s electronic “enumeration at birth” program. “As a result of SSA’s contract termination, effective immediately, Maine hospitals are no longer able to enroll newborns into Social Security at the time of birth so parents will now need to visit their local Social Security office to apply in-person for their child’s Social Security Number,” the Maine DHHS spokesperson said in an email Thursday evening. No justification was given for the change, which was first reported by the Portland Press Herald. But on Friday morning, the Social Security Administration abruptly changed course and announced the contracts would be reinstated.

[...] Trump has feuded with Maine Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, for refusing to play along with Trump’s directive to disallow transgender athletes in girls’ sports. Mills told Trump she would “see you in court” over the directive during a recent meeting between governors and the president in Washington, D.C. Trump then threatened to withhold all federal funding from Maine. [...] It’s possible the contracts were canceled at the direction of Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” service, which has ripped through the federal government in search of savings. Dudek recently told senior agency staff this week they had to let DOGE run amok.

Trump Misadministration briefly forced Maine parents to visit Social Security Administration offices in-person for newborn registration. That move has since been reversed.

[political-us]

Elon Musk and former President Donald Trump have proposed several initiatives that could impact the wealth of lower and middle-class Americans:

Implementation of Tariffs: Trump's administration has imposed tariffs on various imported goods, aiming to protect domestic industries. However, these tariffs have led to increased prices for everyday items, disproportionately affecting lower and middle-income consumers. For instance, tariffs on washing machines resulted in higher costs for American shoppers, outweighing the economic benefits for local workers.

WSJ.COM

Simplification of the Tax Code: Musk and Trump have considered overhauling the U.S. tax system, potentially moving towards a flat tax. While this could simplify filing, it might also eliminate deductions that benefit low and middle-income families, potentially increasing their tax burdens.

ECONOMICTIMES.INDIATIMES.COM

Reduction of Federal Spending: Appointed by Trump to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Musk aims to cut federal spending by up to $2 trillion. Proposed measures include reducing the federal workforce and eliminating certain government programs. Such cuts could lead to job losses and reduced services that many lower and middle-class individuals rely on.

FINANCE.YAHOO.COM

Dismantling of Foreign Aid Programs: Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency have been involved in dismantling USAID, affecting numerous health and development programs worldwide. Critics argue that while reform is necessary, abrupt shutdowns can have harmful impacts on aid-dependent regions and may also affect global stability, indirectly impacting the U.S. economy and its citizens.

NEWYORKER.COM

These initiatives, while aimed at economic efficiency and protectionism, carry potential risks for lower and middle-class Americans, including higher consumer prices, increased tax burdens, job losses, and reduced access to essential services.

Elimination of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB): Elon Musk has advocated for dismantling the CFPB, an agency established to protect consumers from unfair financial practices. Abolishing the CFPB could expose consumers to predatory lending and financial scams, disproportionately affecting lower and middle-income individuals.

DEMOCRATS-FINANCIALSERVICES.HOUSE.GOV

Proposed Cuts to Social Programs: The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Musk, has proposed significant reductions in federal spending, including cuts to social programs like Medicaid and SNAP. These programs provide essential support to low-income families, and reducing their funding could lead to decreased access to healthcare and nutrition assistance.

FORBES.COM

Potential Impact of Immigration Policies: Trump's stringent immigration policies, including mass deportations, could lead to labor shortages in industries such as agriculture and construction, potentially driving up costs for goods and services. These increased costs may be passed on to consumers, affecting lower and middle-class households.

INDEPENDENT.CO.UK

[meandmybigmouth]

THE QUESTION MAGA CAN NEVER ANSWER!.

"HOW DOES THE COMFORT OF THE RICH AND BAILOUTS OF CORPORATIONS RESULTING IN THE THE CUTTING BACK OF EVERY SOCIAL SERVICE AND DEPARTMENT THAT BENEFITS YOU VIA YOUR TAX DOLLARS MAKES YOUR LIFE BETTER FINANCIALLY"??