RandomNotions

In Trump’s ‘Patriotic’ Hiring Plan, Experts See a Politicized Federal Work Force (Gift Article) Political appointments inherently take into consideration loyalty to the president or the party. But expanding those types of questions to the career civil service is a significant departure.

"The ideal candidates for any federal job will be those who can explain in 200 words — and without the help of artificial intelligence — which of the president’s executive orders or policies are most relevant to them and why. They can choose more than one."

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/10/u...

U.S.-born man from Georgia held for ICE under Florida’s new anti-immigration law • Georgia Recorder Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, a 20-year-old U.S. citizen, was being held in the Leon County Jail Thursday, charged with illegally entering Florida as an “unauthorized alien” — even as a supporter waved his...

georgiarecorder.com/2025/04/17/g...

Gunman kills 2, wounds 6 others during a shooting at Florida State University Authorities are investigating a shooting at Florida State University that killed two people and wounded six others. The suspect is hospitalized and is the son of a Leon County sheriff's deputy.

The shooter is the son of current and long time Leon County Sheriff. The same county and sheriff that is currently holding a US citizen without charges for ICE www.npr.org/2025/04/17/n...

U.S.-born man from Georgia held for ICE under Florida’s new anti-immigration law • Georgia Recorder Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, a 20-year-old U.S. citizen, was being held in the Leon County Jail Thursday, charged with illegally entering Florida as an “unauthorized alien” — even as a supporter waved his U.S. birth certificate in court. The man, who was arrested Wednesday after a traffic stop in which he was a passenger on his […]

A citizen, with a US birth certificate. Detained in a traffic stop as a PASSENGER. He's being jailed, not allowed to see his mom, awaiting ICE because of his name? Ethnicity? First language? Not "American" enough to be treated as a citizen unless proven otherwise? georgiarecorder.com/2025/04/17/g...

Social Security lists thousands of living immigrants as dead to prompt them to leave, AP sources say The Trump administration has moved to classify more than 6,000 living immigrants as dead. Two people familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Thursday that the immigrants' Social Secur...

It's not about legality. It's not about following the rules. It is racism and xenophobia - full stop. apnews.com/article/livi...

ICE says its job is to stop illegal ‘ideas’ crossing the border in since-deleted X post The agency said the post was put up in error.

They keep saying the quiet parts out loud www.politico.com/news/2025/04...

Jenner & Block and WilmerHale wrote entire summary judgment motions today explaining how the executive orders are baseless...

and he just tweeted it out.

Charlie and the Tariff factory:

How Colleges Are Surveilling Students Now (Gift Article) Colleges are using surveillance videos and search warrants to investigate students involved in pro-Palestinian protests. Experts say it’s a new frontier in campus security that could threaten civil li...

this is so sad and infuriating and terrifying www.nytimes.com/2025/03/29/u...

Tufts University student taken into immigration custody by federal agents in Massachusetts Tufts University international graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk was taken into custody by federal authorities Tuesday.

And another one - no due process, no warning, the thinnest of excuses. "The Trump administration is targeting students with legal status and ripping people out of their communities without due process," www.cbsnews.com/amp/boston/n...

Judge Orders Attempts to Deport Yunseo Chung Must Be Stopped (Gift Article) The administration has been seeking to arrest and deport Yunseo Chung, who immigrated from South Korea as a child, after she participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

Legal permanent resident, no criminal record, living here since age 7 - They claim the reason is to support the US foreign policy goal of stopping spread of anti-Semitism - but when's the last time you've seen neo-nazis and white supremacists be deported?
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/25/n...

Brown University Professor and Doctor Is Deported to Lebanon Despite a Judge’s Order (Gift Article) Dr. Rasha Alawieh, a kidney transplant specialist and Brown University professor who had a valid visa, was expelled in apparent defiance of a court order.

🚨🚨🚨 deported despite a valid visa and a court order to hold. A green card won't protect you. A valid visa won't protect you. The courts can't protect you. How long until citizenship can't protect you if you are not the right kind of American? www.nytimes.com/2025/03/16/u...

The top 3 impacts of Trump’s health data purge Interrupted access to health-related data has already led to worse outcomes and could undermine faith in the U.S. healthcare system, experts say.

Amidst all the chaos and firings here's one thing that I want to highlight - they are deleting and removing critical healthcare data and research that will have widespread repercussions www.healthcaredive.com/news/top-3-i...

$75 million in grants to help plant trees canceled in Trump’s anti-DEI push The southern Oregon town of Talent, which lost two-thirds of its trees in wildfires, is one of the communities losing funding.

www.oregonlive.com/environment/...

The Department of Education Told Employees to End Support for Transgender Students The directive, which continues the Trump administration’s efforts to curb transgender rights, could end school-based mental health services and support for homeless students.

NEW: The Department of Education told employees late Friday that they must review and terminate all programs, contracts and policies that affirm the existence of transgender people.

By @jodiscohen.bsky.social and @jsmithrichards.bsky.social

Ed Martin, Advocate of Jan. 6 Rioters, Is Now Leading U.S. Attorney’s Office Ed Martin, a loyal Trump soldier, oversees the U.S. attorney’s office, which is likely to help turn the investigative powers of the government on several of the president’s perceived enemies.

Ed Martin, an advocate of Jan. 6 rioters who was in the mob outside the Capitol in 2021, now runs the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington that investigated them.

NASA instructs employees to remove pronouns from all work communications An email seen by NPR says the move is to comply with a presidential order to "restore biological truth" to the government.

An e-mail seen by NPR says the move is to comply with a presidential order to "restore biological truth" to the government.

This is not a U.S. Marshal, Federal Protective Service, or any other federal law enforcement officer. This is a private security guard from Triple Canopy. He has no authority to block members of Congress who have oversight of the EPA from entering the building.

In response to a post on X from @maxwellfrost.bsky.social showing the effort to get into the Department of Education building this morning, Elon Musk replied, "No such department exists in the federal government"

Because this is getting downplayed in some of the coverage, the racist staffer DOGE rehired isn’t a case of “stupid things he wrote years ago as a teen.” He posted about how we should “normalize Indian hate” IN SEPTEMBER.

I can't express how upset I am having been just reminded that Marco Rubio is our fucking secretary of state. I knew it - somewhere in my head - but seeing those words in print in the news really ripped away the fog of disassociation my brain had escaped to

New via NYT — The CIA sent the White House an unclassified email listing all employees hired by the spy agency over the last two years to comply with an executive order to shrink the federal work force. One former agency officer called the reporting of names a “counterintelligence disaster.”

The thing I don't understand...

1) Trump did not order USAID disbanded. There was no EO.

2) Even if there was an EO, it does not have the backing of law or Congress.

3) Elon Musk decided he would do this, but he has no official role in govt.

4) All of this is a crime under: 18 U.S.C. § 1361.

6 unsettling thoughts Google's former CEO has about artificial intelligence Neither the public or the tech giants pushing artificial intelligence understand its long-term implications, warns former Google CEO Eric Schmidt.

Neither the public or the tech giants pushing artificial intelligence understand its long-term implications, warns former Google CEO Eric Schmidt.

Day Five of the Trump-Musk Treasury Payments Crisis of 2025: Not “Read Only” access anymore If you are a current or former career Bureau of the Fiscal Service Employee, especially if you’re a legacy IT programmer with years of experience and especially if you are a COBOL programmer currently...

EMERGENCY PIECE: Previous reports that Musk's DOGE programmers only have "read only" access is inaccurate. I can confirm what @wired.com first reported at 1 AM today that they have Read & WRITE access with a source in BFS referring to this as "apocalyptic"

www.crisesnotes.com/day-five-of-...

What does Elon Musk get out of remaking the government? : Consider This from NPR In Washington these days, Elon Musk seems to be everywhere.In the 15 days Donald Trump has been back in the White House, Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency have been moving to change eve...

The author of "Extremely Hardcore: Inside Elon Musk's Twitter" helped us understand how the world's richest man came to have such a big role in the federal government, and why he wants it.

One feature of the Nazi conquest of France was the astonishing defections among the intelligentsia, including some of the left-wing political intelligentsia. The intelligentsia are the people who squeal loudest against Fascism, and yet a respectable proportion of them collapse into defeatism when the pinch comes. They are far-sighted enough to see the odds against them, and moreover they can be bribed—for it is evident that the Nazis think it worth while to bribe the intellectuals.

Was reading George Orwell on the Spanish civil war last night and this part stuck out.