Noan Fesnoux

The Government’s Computing Experts Say They Are Terrified Four IT professionals lay out just how destructive Elon Musk’s incursion into the U.S. government could be.

important reporting from @cwarzel.bsky.social and @ibogost.bsky.social on what DODGE's access to federal computing infrastructure may mean www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

They’ve called armed federal officers to the scene. We aren’t dangerous. We are here to represent our people. To defend public education. This is an authoritarian regime. You cannot block members of Congress from entering the Department of Education.

In 1968 Finland banned for profit education, the few private schools that exist in Finland have to reinvest any profit they make or pay it back to parents.

It has been in the Top 3 in education for the last 20 years.

There should be no profit in education or healthcare.

S.C. House bill would limit minors’ access to social media - Charleston City Paper A bipartisan bill filed Jan. 14 in the S.C. House would impose strict new requirements on social media companies to protect their underage users, including explicit parental consent before a South Car...

“It is clear that many, many young people also experience help, education, friendship, & a sense of belonging there (online)—precisely because social media allows them to explore,” EFF’s @thejasonkelley.com told @chascitypaper.bsky.social.

I am really frustrated that the press is discussing the destruction of USAID as something that has happened rather than an illegal action that will likely be undone in two weeks when courts tell the world that it was illegal.

Thailand Invests in Trans Health In a significant boost to recognizing transgender people’s rights, the Thai government announced this week that it will invest 145 million baht (US$4.3 million) in providing hormone therapy to…

The Thai government will provide free hormone replacement therapy for nearly two-thirds of the country's transgender population. The landmark decision comes shortly after Thailand legalized same-sex marriage, marking another step forward for LGBTQ+ rights.

"Anyone who thinks the way to head off the tide of fascism is by limiting the range of political choices to either fascists or pro-business neoliberal technocrats is dooming us to fascism." . - David Graeber

The problem of Labour now being the Starmer-Party in a few words.

We're a registered Social Purpose Corporation, but what does that mean?

We pursue social goals, even if those goals conflict with our financial interests. This is because we deeply care about supporting indie bookshops & local communities.

We hope you'll join us for your audiobook listening ❤️

An unelected emperor—who has now placed himself above the Congress and the courts—working with a cadre of coders with no knowledge of governance, has been installed by what seems to be a figurehead president to deconstruct the component pieces of government that he disfavors. As Garrett Graff ably illustrated over the weekend, if this were happening in any country other than the United States of America, it would be acknowledged as a coup. Just because the president is authorizing it doesn’t make it lawful. And just because Congress has done nothing to stop him doesn’t make it legal. The fact that it doesn’t quite look like a coup, because there are suits and ties and papers involved, is by design. This is the dismantling not just of entire federal agencies, but of an entire architecture of democratic self-governance, by a man who believes we will not be able to name it quickly enough to stop it.

What is it called when an erratic billionaire, whom nobody elected, rampages through the federal government, purging civil servants, seizing functional control over trillions of dollars, and attempting to destroy entire agencies—all in violation of the law?

This is a coup. slate.com/news-and-pol...

The new “Don’t Just Do Nothing: 20 Things You Can Do to Counter Fascism—Yes, You! Yes, Now!” zine makes a great gift for your liberal fam, friends, neighbors & coworkers!

Read, print & distro freely!

Full text & PDFs on @igd.bsky.social:

itsgoingdown.org/dont-just-do...

Science and environment people should try this! Seriously!

Inside Musk’s Aggressive Incursion Into the Federal Government (Gift Article) The billionaire is creating major upheaval as his team sweeps through agencies, in what has been an extraordinary flexing of power by a private individual.

Our deep dive into Musk's takeover: Even some officials who like what Musk is doing feel helpless to hold him accountable. His allies are diving in to agencies, gaining access to systems, planning layoffs, and proposing a sweeping AI initiative to review contracts. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/03/u...

pushback works, part infinity:

apnews.com/article/immi...

For people asking for non-meta options I’ll be posting clips tomorrow

My instinct is to make the case that USAID is extremely good, actually. But I feel like it’s more important to say, “What is happening is antagonistic to the foundational document of the nation.”

A protest scene from Sacramento circa 2021, overlayed by a semi transparent yellow square with rounded corners and filled with black text reading: To sum up, then: direct action represents a certain ideal-in its purest form, probably unattainable. It is a form of action in which means and ends become, effectively, indistinguishable; a way of actively engaging with the world to bring about change, in which the form of the action-or at least, the organization of the action-is itself a model for the change one wishes to bring about. At its most basic, it reflects a very simple anarchist insight: that one cannot create a free society through military discipline, a democratic society by giving orders, or a happy one through joyless self-sacrifice. At its most elaborate, the structure of one's own act becomes a kind of micro-utopia, a concrete model for one's vision of a free society. David Graeber Direct Action: An Ethnography 8, October 2009

"At its most basic, [direct action] reflects a very simple anarchist insight: that one cannot create a free society through military discipline, a democratic society by giving orders, or a happy one through joyless self-sacrifice."

David Graeber
Direct Action: An Ethnography
8, October 2009

You may not like it, but Leah's right. There's a reason the Prodigal Son is a parable in almost every culture. when someone experiencing cognitive dissonance comes to you, you have two choices: embrace them, and win them over forever; or reject them, ensuring they never again question their beliefs.

Once again, a fundamental reason why so many academics despise Trump, Vance, Musk & company is that we’ve all had our share of The Guy Who Didn’t Do The Reading But Demands to Be Heard

Save Science, Save Lives Please join science supporters, scientists, and experts in signing an open letter asking Congress to stand up against attempts to politicize or eliminate scientific roles, agencies, and federal resear...

Check out @ucsusa.bsky.social "Save Science, Save Lives" letter. It's for individual signatures, but prob of interest to your sci societies members! secure.ucsusa.org/a/2024-save-...

If you have a story about a program getting cancelled or "paused" and the impact on your community, tell a *local reporter* about it. They will reach audiences no one else will, which will matter to your representatives.

I believe people will miss the link unless they are made aware by people like you. Such a shame to do this at a moment where our actions have magnified impacts on the wellbeing of ourselves and our kids.

What I hope people don't miss is the direct link from government funding to saving lives. Whether USAID holds leading to deaths today (probably not yours), or NSF holds leading to deaths later (maybe yours). This is a decision to let people die.

The Two Speed School What is a Two-Speed School?

Getting Schools to change is hard.

Really really really hard.

It is not for lack of desire to change, but the number of stakeholders and institutional baggage. For this, I am thowing out the proposal of a Two Speed School. Check it out:
medium.com/@sirnoan/the...

RPG provides a glimpse into a VUCA Future I felt solace in knowing that I was not alone in sleeplessness on the first night of Utopia/Dystopia. Sarita had emailed me and said her…

Over the past few years, I have created a number of great classroom based RPGs and am pleased to share them with you all! The impact it has had on the learners speaks volumes to the power of Game Based Learning.
#EduSky #GameBasedLearning #PlayMatters

From COP29 to Cob24 The children are learning about cob—building an oven with earth, clay, sand, and straw.

A friend has been designing and delivering a really powerful learning experience, which will arguably have a greater positive environmental impact that COP 29. Welcome to COB 24!
#COP29 #regeneration #educatingforsustainability #kidpower

Rethinking the Boundaries of Work, Learning, and Community What would the world look like if the human designed concepts of work, learning and community blended more seamlessly? Why and how do we…

One of the biggest challenges I have with mainstream education is their strict adherence to the concept that time spent in school equals learning. How might we shift this paradigm?