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Rob McDowall AMRSPH MIHSCM FRSA
@mcdowall.me
2.7K followers 1.3K following 720 posts
Chair, Welfare Scotland | Experts by Experience Panel at 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Poverty and Inequality Commn | AMRSPH Assoc | Fellow of Royal Society of Arts | MIHSCM Institute Health & Social Care Mgmt | 🏳️‍🌈 ♿️ https://mcdowall.me #LGBT+ | Medical Cannabis Patient | He/Him
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mcdowall.me
Rob McDowall AMRSPH MIHSCM FRSA @mcdowall.me · 14d
Happy to confirm that ScotGovt have replied to confirm they have no intention to change Scots law to mirror UK Govt plans to give powers to police in E&W to prohibit repeated protests. #HumanRights #Protest #Scotland
An audio version of this letter can be accessed by going to https://bit.ly/scotgovprotest
Reposted by Rob McDowall AMRSPH MIHSCM FRSA
gabrielmalor.bsky.social
Fed. judge holds that the Trump administration engaged in coercive and retaliatory conduct in violation of the First and Tenth Amendments in its pretextual attacks on the University of California system.

PI granted.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Defendants do not deny any of this. Instead, their principal argument is that the UC might not agree to the proposed conditions for restoring funding, so Plaintiffs’ present case is too speculative to be heard. But Plaintiffs’ harm is already very real. With every day that passes, UCLA continues to be denied the chance to win new grants, ratchetting up Defendants’ pressure campaign. And numerous UC faculty and staff have submitted declarations describing how Defendants’ actions have already chilled speech throughout the UC system. They describe how they have stopped teaching or researching topics they are afraid are too “left” or “woke,” in order to avoid triggering further funding cancellations by Defendants. They also give examples of projects the UC has stopped due to fear of the same reprisals. These are classic, predictable First Amendment harms, and exactly what Defendants publicly said that they intended. The undisputed record demonstrates that Defendants have engaged in coercive and Case 3:25-cv-07864-RFL Document 90 Filed 11/14/25 Page 2 of 76 3 retaliatory conduct in violation of the First Amendment and Tenth Amendment. It also shows that they have flouted the requirements of Title VI and IX and cancelled funding in an arbitrary and capricious manner while ignoring required procedural safeguards. None of the jurisdictional
November 15, 2025 at 12:19 AM
mcdowall.me
This really is vile in the extreme.

People granted asylum in the UK will only be allowed to stay in the country temporarily, in a major change of policy to be announced by the home secretary on Monday.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
UK set to limit refugees to temporary stays
Shabana Mahmood is expected to say the era of permanent protection for refugees is over, in major changes to the UK's asylum and immigration system.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 15, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Reposted by Rob McDowall AMRSPH MIHSCM FRSA
npr.org
A judge’s order means more than 600 people arrested by ICE in the Chicago region and held in custody could be released on various conditions but only if they don’t pose a risk to public safety.
Judge says he’ll order release of hundreds of people arrested under feds’ deportation blitz
The 615 detainees are from a list of roughly 1,800 arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the Chicago area between June 11 and Oct. 7, and there could be more to come.
n.pr
November 13, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Reposted by Rob McDowall AMRSPH MIHSCM FRSA
neilmackay.bsky.social
‘So many boys have seen violent pornography that they’re physically harming girls’

I talk to Scotland’s best known school counsellor about the lives of teenagers. She reveals a world of sexual violence, abuse and mental illness

In @heraldscotland.bsky.social

Warning: disturbing & graphic content
How extreme pornography is destroying lives in Scotland's schools
Frances McKendrick is a psychotherapist in Scottish schools. As she brings out a novel based on her experiences, she talks to our Writer at Large…
www.heraldscotland.com
November 9, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Reposted by Rob McDowall AMRSPH MIHSCM FRSA
aclu.org
Trans people have always been here, and always will be.

📸 Jordana Bermúdez
A person at a protest holding a handmade cardboard sign reading "We're not going anywhere" in the blue and pink of the trans pride flag colors.
November 9, 2025 at 12:27 AM
Reposted by Rob McDowall AMRSPH MIHSCM FRSA
gordondarroch.bsky.social
Two panels commemorating the contribution of Black American soldiers towards the liberation of the Netherlands in World War Two have been quietly removed from a cemetery in Limburg. It follows a complaint by right-wing think tank The Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission.
November 8, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Reposted by Rob McDowall AMRSPH MIHSCM FRSA
candicefrederick.bsky.social
www.wired.com/story/mexico...

Mexico City Is the Most Video-Surveilled Metropolis in the Americas
Mexico City Is the Most Video-Surveilled Metropolis in the Americas
Despite 83,000 public cameras, crime in Mexico City remains high—and widespread surveillance raises myriad ethical issues.
www.wired.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Reposted by Rob McDowall AMRSPH MIHSCM FRSA
broadwaybabyto.bsky.social
ICE agents in Chicago violently detain a non verbal autistic man for being “non compliant”

He couldn’t “comply” because of his disability…they don’t care

This is not the first time they’ve gone after a disabled person

They target the most vulnerable because it’s an easy way to meet their quota
November 8, 2025 at 8:15 AM
Reposted by Rob McDowall AMRSPH MIHSCM FRSA
donmoyn.bsky.social
One thing I have marveled at is the way that crowds have been disciplined in capturing immigration enforcement’s lack of discipline.
lorennacleary.bsky.social LorennaCleary.bsky.social @lorennacleary.bsky.social · 6d
Chaos erupted in Little Village.

/
November 8, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Reposted by Rob McDowall AMRSPH MIHSCM FRSA
lawrencehurley.bsky.social
I'm confused by this as it seems to suggest the president doesn't understand how the healthcare system works.
November 8, 2025 at 9:29 PM
mcdowall.me
Trump conjured up Hugh Hefner for decorating tips 💀 🙌
paleofuture.bsky.social Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 6d
Just a little more gold and it will be perfect
Trump in the Oval Office of the White House with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. The walls are decorated with tacky gold bullshit https://flic.kr/p/2rE6s9j
November 8, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Reposted by Rob McDowall AMRSPH MIHSCM FRSA
paleofuture.bsky.social
Just a little more gold and it will be perfect
Trump in the Oval Office of the White House with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. The walls are decorated with tacky gold bullshit https://flic.kr/p/2rE6s9j
November 8, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Reposted by Rob McDowall AMRSPH MIHSCM FRSA
mjsdc.bsky.social
The Trump administration tells the Supreme Court it can’t be compelled to fully fund SNAP because paying out the money would “irreparably harm” the government, while SNAP beneficiaries … *won’t* be irreparably harmed by going hungry? The balance of equities here is completely upside down.
On the other side of the ledger, respondents have not established irrep- arable harm that warrants the extraordinary relief they seek—and certainly no rea- son to not at least administratively stay the decision below to avoid a further run on SNAP funds and further chaos. There is no doubt that the absence of full SNAP benefits may harm certain Americans who rely upon them. But USDA has worked to mitigate these harms through partial payments in an effort to navigate the difficult circumstances posed by the shutdown. And while respondents have pointed to inju- ries that may follow from limited SNAP benefits, they have not explained why it is necessary to fully fund SNAP regardless of the costs elsewhere—and why it is neces- sary or equitable to jeopardize the operational integrity of a safety-net program for children so SNAP could be fully rather than partially funded.
November 8, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Reposted by Rob McDowall AMRSPH MIHSCM FRSA
prisonculture.bsky.social
"The average voter believes a SNAP recipient gets $20/day, more than 3 times the actual amount of $6."
November 8, 2025 at 12:43 AM
Reposted by Rob McDowall AMRSPH MIHSCM FRSA
mvinuesa.bsky.social
The Scott Monument as seen through the Advocate’s Close on the Royal Mile, Edinburgh

#UrbanGaze #Scotland #Edinburgh #uk #EastCoastKin #BlueSky #blueskyphotography #photography #travel #cities #RoyalMile
November 6, 2025 at 4:23 PM
mcdowall.me
Trump really is hardworking. Working hard to make life as difficult as possible for those with the least. People just trying to feed themselves and their families are pawns in Trump’s power play.
lawrencehurley.bsky.social Lawrence Hurley @lawrencehurley.bsky.social · 7d
NEW: Trump is asking Supreme Court to act by 9:30pm tonight to block the ruling that requires SNAP payments to be made.
November 7, 2025 at 11:56 PM
mcdowall.me
Now this, this is journalism. It’s always those with the least who suffer the most when cuts are made.
marisakabas.bsky.social Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 7d
New — While some states have received SNAP benefits for November and USDA is supposedly pushing through all federal payments soon, that doesn’t erase the psychological terror of the last few weeks.

I spoke with 20+ SNAP recipients in 16 states about preparing for a possible future with no food:
The voices of SNAP
Recipients have become political pawns. They explained, in their own words, what Trump withholding funds has been like.
www.thehandbasket.co
November 7, 2025 at 11:52 PM
Reposted by Rob McDowall AMRSPH MIHSCM FRSA
marisakabas.bsky.social
New — While some states have received SNAP benefits for November and USDA is supposedly pushing through all federal payments soon, that doesn’t erase the psychological terror of the last few weeks.

I spoke with 20+ SNAP recipients in 16 states about preparing for a possible future with no food:
The voices of SNAP
Recipients have become political pawns. They explained, in their own words, what Trump withholding funds has been like.
www.thehandbasket.co
November 7, 2025 at 10:55 PM
Reposted by Rob McDowall AMRSPH MIHSCM FRSA
newrepublic.com
The Trump administration has ordered visa officers to deny immigrants who are obese or have certain health issues, in yet another instance of the president’s strange obsession with physical traits. trib.al/b0AtL8r
Trump Says U.S. Visas Can Be Denied to Fat People From Now On
New State Department guidance encourages embassies and consulates to deny visas to people with obesity or other health issues.
trib.al
November 7, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Reposted by Rob McDowall AMRSPH MIHSCM FRSA
wgaeast.bsky.social
The WGA East stands with @condeunion.bsky.social and @nyguild.bsky.social! #1u
WGA East Statement on the firing of Conde United Workers “The Writers Guild of America East condemns the unlawful firing of four members of Condé United, who were terminated for demanding answers as to why Condé Nast unceremoniously shuttered Teen Vogue, a publication known for its fearless reporting on topics like reproductive rights, the labor movement, and climate activism. These workers were fired for engaging in collective action, a right guaranteed under federal law. Retaliation for union activity has no place in our industries. We stand with our friends and colleagues at the New York NewsGuild and demand that these workers be reinstated.”
November 7, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Reposted by Rob McDowall AMRSPH MIHSCM FRSA
glaad.bsky.social
“This decision will cause immediate, widespread, and irreparable harm to all those who are being denied accurate identity documents,” said Jessie Rossman, legal director of the @aclum.bsky.social
Supreme Court Allows Trump Administration To Enforce Discriminatory Passport Policy | American Civil Liberties Union
WASHINGTON–The Supreme Court of the United States today granted a request from the Trump administration to stay a preliminary injunction in Orr v....
www.aclu.org
November 7, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Reposted by Rob McDowall AMRSPH MIHSCM FRSA
ruthwatson.bsky.social
Tax the billionaires.
rbreich.bsky.social Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 8d
“The billionaire class has sought to convince those making $30-an-hour that their enemies are those earning $20-an-hour. They want the people to fight amongst ourselves so that we remain distracted from the work of remaking a long, broken system.”

-Zohran Mamdani
November 6, 2025 at 11:28 PM
Reposted by Rob McDowall AMRSPH MIHSCM FRSA
nhannahjones.bsky.social
We must note that all the condemnation of Tucker Carlson platforming Nick Fuentes has been about anti-Semitism and there has been an alarming and revealing silence around his anti-Black racism and white supremacy. When the head of the Heritage Foundation apologized, he only cited anti-Semitism.
November 6, 2025 at 5:50 PM
mcdowall.me
If you are disabled and or chronically ill and you are on the Priority Service Register, ensure your contact details are up to date to ensure suppliers can pre-warn you about planned disruptions and arrange temporary power supply equipment if service delivery is affected in an emergency. (1/2)
Letter from SP Energy Networks which encourages customer to update their contact information on the Priority Service Register.
November 6, 2025 at 11:12 PM
Reposted by Rob McDowall AMRSPH MIHSCM FRSA
dimitridrekonja.bsky.social
To wrap our brains around a number we don't normally think of:
1 million seconds is 11.5 days
1 billion seconds is 31.7 years
1 trillion seconds is 31,700 years

This is a cult, and no person is worth paying this much to
npr.org NPR @npr.org · 8d
JUST IN: Tesla shareholders have overwhelmingly approved a pay package of extraordinary proportions for Elon Musk, passing the measure with 75% of the vote, according to preliminary results announced at Tesla's annual shareholder meeting.
Tesla shareholders approve Elon Musk's trillion-dollar pay package
Tesla shareholders have approved a pay package for Elon Musk that could allow him to earn an unprecedented one trillion dollars' worth of stock.
n.pr
November 6, 2025 at 10:41 PM