Beyond excited that I get to speak at @sdingov.bsky.social (SDinGov) next month. Will you be there?! Let’s definitely connect!

(1) Social workers have a professional Code of Ethics and many need to have a masters degree, a license, and tons of continuing education to do (and keep doing) what we do. (2) Understanding trauma comes from far more than a one-hour snake oil webinar (often from someone marketing to your pain).

@laurigoldkind.bsky.social starting of #NASW2025 plenary on #ArtificialIntelligence. Great overview. #SWTech @naswsocialworkers.bsky.social

But… we don’t need trauma-informed care, design, tech, policy, governance. Nah. 😏

I learned so much talking to ProPublica for this story. It's a telling window into how Trump/DOGE are using AI to shrink the government and the consequences. And even though this use is particularly ham-handed, it's a good example of the limitations of the technology more generally.🧵 @propublica.org

I was so happy to have Kate and Milo from @altusds.bsky.social on the show! The way they spoke about tech development shows how differently it can be done if the will is there. It’s so different from techies who build tools for themselves then say everyone else should just learn to code.

Fascinating conversation. If you want to know what the U.S. Digital Service (USDS) does and why it’s being fucked up this is a good episode to listen to. I will also recommend the podcast, “System Crash” that @parismarx.com does with @brianmerchant.bsky.social. Both are excellent.

New, from me: Trump recently issued a memo giving the Office of Personnel Management, and not agencies, final say on which new employees get to stay in government. This centralization of personnel authority tells us a lot about Trump's mode of governing. 🧵 donmoynihan.substack.com/p/centralizi...

I helped build a government AI system. DOGE fired me, rolled the AI out to the whole agency, and implied the AI can do my job and the jobs of the others they've fired. It can't. But, what DOGE accidentally revealed about themselves in the process is fascinating. 🧵

NEW: In October, we published secret recordings of Russell Vought discussing plans to eviscerate entire agencies and decimate the morale of federal workers if Trump won a second term. It's hard to imagine a more prescient piece of journalism, our editor-in-chief @sengelberg.bsky.social writes.

Thanks for all the excitement, we'll get this thing going shortly. Get on our mailing list at digitalcorpspdx.org

Tonight, I re-read this ‘Trauma and Design’ piece I wrote 4 years ago (May 2021) on Medium, although I could have easily written it in the last 8 weeks. It’s eerily relevant to current events. Please read + reshare. Link: medium.com/surviving-id...

NEW: The WIRED crew takes you inside the first 6 weeks of DOGE, laying out in great detail how Elon Musk installed loyalists across government who gained access to our country's most sensitive computer systems. “This is a digital coup,” one USAID source told me. www.wired.com/story/elon-m...

you’re fired. wait you’re rehired. email us a list of things you’ve done today wait forget it you’re fired again. come back your job was important. you’re fired. or hired. come in to the office. wait the office has no computers go home. we are the department of government efficiency.

18F was doing exactly the type of work that DOGE claims to want – yet we were eliminated shortly after midnight. Read our letter to the American people: 18f.org

If you worked for 18F and got fired, Group together to start a consulting company. It’s just a matter of time before DOGE needs you to fix the mess they inevitably create. They will have to hire your company as a contractor to fix it. But on your terms. I’m happy to invest and/or help

Rather than violate their oath or comply with Musk’s illegal requests, 21 civil service employees resigned today from Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (formerly the United States Digital Service), stating they would not use their technical expertise to dismantle critical public services.

I appreciate @donmoyn.bsky.social letting this writing on “The Weaponization of Trauma” be a guest piece on his remarkable blog, Can We Still Govern. See the link below. And listen to the @nytimes.com episode of The Daily, which was the anchor for this writing: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Tag yourself. I'm "Fight, Flight, Freeze" and "Grief & Mourning."

The US Digital Service (USDS) - now the US DOGE Service - is being weaponized by the Trump administration to target career federal employees, dismantle safeguards, and enable corruption. 👀 Read more on our site. 🔗 wethebuilders.org #DefendDemocracy #SaveOurServices #AltUSDS #fedworkers

What is your ethical stance? Civic technologists need an ethical stance – a clear articulation of what we are willing to participate in and where we draw the line. Without one, we risk becoming complicit in the very harms we sought to prevent. Read more here: lnkd.in/gdC3sCyv

As the more mainstream press continues to flail on this story, Wired is all fucking over it.

#SWtech this post from Ariel at Beeck is important for social work students and social workers to be aware of: bsky.app/profile/arie...

The digital infrastructure of the United States Government is both critical and fragile. Many of us who work in digital government have been trying to figure out what’s going on as norms and protocols are being subverted — Thread on some of what we know so far:

The surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa Credit:NASA

If you're struggling to find ways to support your teams this week, this article from Harvard Business Review is a great place to start... "The Psychology Behind Effective Crisis Leadership" Thank you to @rdietkus.bsky.social for sharing it with me.

In the latest episode of Design As, we explore how care shapes everything from daily products to our most authentic selves with @rdietkus.bsky.social. Listen to the full episode at designobserver.com/design-as-ca... or wherever you get your podcasts.

This is wildly cool. I’m a bit fixated on illustrations of neurons from the 1800s and there’s a small collection of them here (and an example of one from Cajal).

i have like six copies of this

I think the keys to a healthy technology ecosystem are: affordable housing, medicare for all, and student loan forgiveness/college finance reforms. There are plenty of people who would start and work for small cool companies if the cover charge for being alive weren't so high.

Healthcare workers, are you feeling the strain? It's time to prioritize your well-being! Burnout is real, and it's more than just "work being hard". @drjessigold.bsky.social reminds us that it's a combination of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a reduced sense of personal accomplishment

This is one of many books on my list that I want to read sooner rather than later. If you aren’t following the Othering & Belonging Institute (not on here … yet) please do. Get on their mailing list.

Never forget alt text again: 1. Settings 2. Accessibility 3. Require alt text before posting

Pinky Norway lights 🌌✨

A comet over the mountains in Osaka, Japan