Big Blaze

You’re right. To the people whose lives are directly affected by the actions of ICE it’s deeply traumatic. But Trump and the WH are using this trauma and our justified outrage to distract people from other things and build a pretense to crack down. Both can be true.

I’m not advocating staying at home. I’m asking the people who can’t join the protests right now to direct their energy into something equally important and necessary.

The soldiers in WW2 succeeded in part because those who could not fight did their part at home.

If we are going to save our nation, it’s going to take us pushing back on multiple fronts and fighting back against multiple threats.

Together we’ve got this.

I believe in you. *hugs*

I understand this feels exhausting. I understand this is hard. And I am sorry. Not because I had anything to actually do with what is happening right now but because I empathize and I feel it too.

But we have to save democracy and #SocialSecurity. We cannot let them force us into either/or choices

So what I am proposing is if you feel lost and unsure on how to respond to the actions in LA but feel like you need to act, put that energy into fighting the #BBB

Call your senators. Call your reps. Call the WH. Send them emails and letters. Write to your Governor. Write to your local reps.

To be sure the actions of the WH in LA are a #ConstitutionalCrisis and we must protest and fight back.

But we also must fight back against the #BBB

It’s gross and upsetting and should not become law.

And it’s dropped almost entirely out of the news.

The media is going to follow whatever gets the most eyeballs and right now that’s the unprecedented deployment of troops into an American city during protests.

The #BBB is a radical reshaping of the American safety net replete with penalties and a massive transfer of wealth from the poorest Americans to the richest.

Cuts in services and coverage for everything from Meals on Wheels to Medicaid to SNAP to tax increases on the lowest earners

The raids on #LA and proposed raids on other metro areas is a distraction from two things:
1. Trump hates being mocked and the news was all about him being a big chicken #TACO, and more importantly…
2. The #BBB is still being debated and worked on on the Hill

I know a lot of folks are stressed about what is happening in LA (myself included) and don’t know what to do. And lots of folks want to help but aren’t able to or comfortable physically protesting.

Here’s my thinking…(a short thread)

@altusds.altgov.info

Conditions are shifting. Expect icy fronts to spread well beyond Los Angeles by tomorrow. Initial efforts aimed to freeze traffic and attention in LA, but local crews appear to have salted the roads early.

A graphic titled "BUILT TO SERVE" features a bold headline: "No Kings in America: Why What’s Happening in California Demands Our Attention." The subtitle reads: "Here’s what we’re watching, and how history shows this playbook isn’t new." The background has a smooth blue gradient and a circular We the Builders logo in the top left corner showing a wrench and spoon crossed with a star above. At the bottom, it says "Issue 22 – June 9, 2025."

Marines on our streets. The governor threatened with arrest.

This moment echoes the darkest chapters of history - abroad, AND here at home. This is what a manufactured crisis looks like.

Our latest newsletter breaks it all down: bit.ly/WTB_NoKings

#WeTheBuilders #StandUpNotBack #CivicDefense

Portrait of Elizabeth Schweinsberg, smiling and wearing a white floral blouse, with a short biography below. The bio reads as follows: "Elizabeth Schweinsberg is a Senior Technical Advisor at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services specializing in Zero Trust Architecture. Before that, she spent 9 years in corporate threat detection and incident response with Facebook and Google. She works to keep the internal networks safe from malware, hackers, and the internet. Ms. Schweinsberg has been in the computer industry for over two decades and in digital forensics since 2005 in both the Government and private sector. She has a Masters of Information Security from Carnegie Mellon University where she participated in Scholarship for Service. When not behind the computer, Ms. Schweinsberg can often be found behind a book or sewing machine.

Former US Digital Service engineer Elizabeth Schweinsburg is one of the great ones. Always willing to help with security issues, a great interviewer, and an absolute powerhouse for security in government. This award is well-deserved!

niccs.cisa.gov/resources/sf...

Sitting with Susan Collins expressing their disappointment while ducking the media and phone calls.

The Democracy Papers: Paper 21 Fuck You, We Won't Do What You Tell Us This weekend, the streets of Los Angeles looked like a war zone. ICE raids, backed by armed National Guard units, stormed neighborhoods in broad daylight. Over...

We see you. We hear you. And we've got one thing to say:

You cannot stand with Trump and stand with America. If you support Trump and what he is doing then you support the unmaking of America. #NoKings #NoKingsInAmerica #LosAngeles #ICE

If you are National Guard or Active Duty Miltary and are being ordered to violate the Constitutional rights of US citizens, there is help.

Call the GI Rights Hotline at 1-877-447-4487

⚠️ Roughly 500 Marines from the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in California have been mobilized to respond to the protests in Los Angeles. It’s not clear when they would actually deploy to Los Angeles.

Prepare for a Protest | Digital Security Checklists for Activists Protect yourself and your community from while protesting or attending any kind of action where arrest risk and surveillance is higher. Here's what you need to ...

To be absolutely clear, the deployment of Marines into #LA and the threat of arresting Newsom is a marked escalation and a worsening constitutional crisis.

To our peeps in #LosAngeles: Trump is scared. You are amazing and an inspiration.

Stay safe.

activistchecklist.org/protest/

cc: @altusds.altgov.info @alt18f.bsky.social

And if you need some corroborating evidence maybe call up @makenakelly.bsky.social at @wired.com

They’ve done some actual good reporting on this.

@kevinroose.com it makes sense you’d have Sahil on Hard Fork but the way you asked about the “Office Space interviews” as if they didn’t really happen was kind of infuriating. They did. You just haven’t bothered to have anyone from USDS or 18F on to ask. Maybe fix that. cc: @caseynewton.bsky.social

A digital newsletter graphic from "We the Builders" titled “Built to Serve.” The main headline reads “The Grift, the Parade, and the Plane.” Below it, the subtitle says, “While Trump chases vanity projects, public programs are on the chopping block. We're staying focused on what really matters, and building what comes next.” The issue is dated May 16, 2025. The image features the We the Builders logo — a crossed wrench and spoon with a star — in the top left corner, with a blue and white gradient background.

While Trump flies around on a foreign government’s jet and plans a $700 million parade, everyday Americans are losing healthcare and public workers are being laid off.

📫 Check out our latest newsletter: https://bit.ly/4j6CVqQ

#WeTheBuilders #RebuildGovernment

Imagine going to a Springsteen concert and being mad because it got “political”. As if he hasn’t been making political content his entire career. So stupid.

Meanwhile Dudek is on LinkedIn having a shit fit and posting heavily cropped screenshots of some report that he claims proves massive fraud is real but won’t release the whole report

SCOOP: Since SSA installed new anti-fraud checks on claims made over the phone, only 2 claims out of over 110,000 were found to likely be fraudulent, according to internal documents I obtained.

The policy has slowed down payments, though. Retirement claim processing is down 25%

@altusds.altgov.info maybe an article about how a lot of the offices cut cost zero dollars is in order?

a poster that says together we rebuild on it ALT: a poster that says together we rebuild on it

You're right on this one. The pendulum always swings. And the harder you pull it, the bigger the backswing. Are you ready to start to rebuild? We are

Unclear but only because the courts keep stopping them. If that stops then probably.