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Sat, 15/02/2025 - 10:00
You’ve been boarded Suddenly, and not accidentally, people who work for the American federal government are having the same experience as people who find themselves living under foreign occupation. — Anne Applebaum More than a few of us not in federal employ feel the same. People I know have, like the refugees in Casablanca, fled the occupation. Except today it is the U.S. they are fleeing, not fleeing to. Applebaum suggests that whether Musk-Trump’s Project 2025 saboteurs call their goal “Liberation Day,” or replacing all mid-level bureaucrats with MAGA loyalists (RAGE, in Curtis Yarvin’s coinage), or Steve Bannon’s “deconstruction of the administrative state,” regime change from within is the goal although their motivations may differ.
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Sat, 15/02/2025 - 08:30
This is a Trump voter who works for the US government. Apparently, she didn’t think Trump would actually do what Project 2025 said they planned to do because Dear Leader lied to them and said he had nothing to do with it: We voted for border security. We didn’t vote for my husband to lose his government career and benefits for which he has worked so hard.” “This possibility is looming over countless families right now. We don’t know what our financial future holds. My husband dedicated the better part of his life to this country, first in the military and now working for the government. I have watched as he busted his ass every single day for this job. Our story is like many others, yet they [the Trump Administration] see them as budget line items. We are not a fucking line item. We are real people with families who need to put food on the table just like everyone else. We have done nothing but support this country. To be disregarded and tossed out to save a buck is sickening. I support Trump on many things, but I won’t support him on this.
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Sat, 15/02/2025 - 07:00
Remember that story from a couple of weeks ago about all the Big Money Boyz celebrating that mainly Trump and the boys were back and they could treat people like shit in the workplace again. They might have to re-think that a little bit in the not too distance future. Their business is still business. Here come the leopards: It took less than a month for the second Trump administration to cool the enthusiasm of chief executives and dealmakers. Consumer sentiment is down and inflation expectations are rising, driven in part by worries about the impact of a threatened trade war. The deals market just ended its quietest January in a decade. A Justice Department that was expected to wave through acquisitions instead sued to block a big technology merger. Corporate bigwigs are now using phrases like “fragility,” “volatility” and “wait and see” to describe their outlooks. “Nobody knows what’s up,” Nick Pinchuk, chief executive of toolmaker Snap-on, said on a conference call Thursday. “It’s like being on Space Mountain at Disney World.
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Sat, 15/02/2025 - 06:21

Almost a year ago in February 2024, I introduced the Drupal Community to changes being made to the Drupal Certified Partner Program (see: Turning Takers into Makers: The enhanced Drupal Certified Partner Program).

The goal of the enhanced Drupal Certified Partner program was to define the culture of contribution necessary at the agency level to make Drupal thrive at the ecosystem level. We then set out to recognize and reward agencies who incorporate this culture into their operations.

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Sat, 15/02/2025 - 05:45

When Harry Met Sally…

“I came here tonight because when you realize you want to ruin the future for everybody, you want the future to start as soon as possible.”

Notting Hill

“Don’t forget—I’m also just an unelected tech billionaire, standing in front of a Treasury Department, asking it to give him sensitive taxpayer data.”

Love Story

“Filling the Supreme Court with conservative justices means never having to say you’re sorry.”

Casablanca

“We’ll always have pulling out of the Paris Agreement.”

Love Actually

“It seems to me that migrants are everywhere. Often, they’re not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but they’re always there. If you look for them, I’ve got a sneaky feeling you’ll find some of them, actually, being flown to Guantanamo.”

Titanic

“You jump, I jump out of the UN Human Rights Council.”

Created
Sat, 15/02/2025 - 04:59
The two big stories in the news today are the Trump administration saying Ukraine is going to have to give up territory and NATO ambitions in order to secure a peace deal, while Israel appears to retreat from its ceasefire standoff with Hamas. US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday that the US Continue reading »
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Sat, 15/02/2025 - 04:58
Right now, the prospect of much improvement in being able to afford a home of your own isn’t bright. We don’t look like solving the problem any time soon. But I’ve been watching and writing about the steady worsening in housing affordability for the best part of 50 years, and I’m more optimistic today than Continue reading »
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Sat, 15/02/2025 - 04:53
As the inevitable federal election approaches, the major parties are already revealing their strategies. The Australian Labor Party is opting for a cautious approach, banking on the expectation of securing a second term. Treasurer Jim Chalmers focuses on delivering intricate explanations of Australia’s economic performance within a global context, while Prime Minister Anthony Albanese highlights Continue reading »
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Sat, 15/02/2025 - 04:52
Australia’s new job classification system, OSCA, replaces ANZSCO with little fanfare. Its streamlined approach raises questions about workforce planning, transparency, and the evolving definition of work. Governments have long classified jobs to track employment trends, inform workforce planning, and shape policy decisions. A well-structured system helps determine migration eligibility, identify skills shortages, and guide education Continue reading »
Created
Sat, 15/02/2025 - 04:51
For more than 75 years Kashmiris and Palestinians have suffered at the hands of colonial powers – genocide, human rights abuses and denial of fundamental rights feature in their shared history. While the Kashmiri struggle for self-determination rarely makes the headlines it deserves to be not only supported but also understood in terms of the Continue reading »