Heather Young
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heatheryoungsonoma.bsky.social
Heather Young
@heatheryoungsonoma.bsky.social
76 followers 59 following 99 posts
I like most people, but you won’t like me if you aren’t serious about honest business, good government, basic equality, and decent frugality. Plus able to observe human frailty and laugh at ourselves.
> I love opera, doggies, and my 2010 red Mustang GT
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heatheryoungsonoma.bsky.social
Heather Young @heatheryoungsonoma.bsky.social · Mar 29
Positively terrifying. And I say this as a retired computer professional. We could easily be without any social security at all for a year.

www.wired.com/story/doge-r...
DOGE Plans to Rebuild SSA Code Base in Months, Risking Benefits and System Collapse
Social Security systems contain tens of millions of lines of code written in COBOL, an archaic programming language. Safely rewriting that code would take years—DOGE wants it done in months.
www.wired.com
Reposted by Heather Young
sivav.bsky.social
Why are you using “outdated” rather than “false,” “disproven,” or “batshit crazy?”
npr.org NPR @npr.org · Jun 14
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. apparently embraces the outdated "miasma theory" of disease instead of the widely accept "germ theory" of disease, which may help explain some of the actions he's been taking.
Ancient miasma theory may help explain Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s vaccine moves
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. apparently embraces the outdated "miasma theory" of disease instead of the widely accept "germ theory" of disease, which may help explain some of the actions he's been taking.
n.pr
June 14, 2025 at 10:29 PM
heatheryoungsonoma.bsky.social
This makes as much sense as anything we’re going through right now —
April 8, 2025 at 3:45 PM
heatheryoungsonoma.bsky.social
Positively terrifying. And I say this as a retired computer professional. We could easily be without any social security at all for a year.

www.wired.com/story/doge-r...
DOGE Plans to Rebuild SSA Code Base in Months, Risking Benefits and System Collapse
Social Security systems contain tens of millions of lines of code written in COBOL, an archaic programming language. Safely rewriting that code would take years—DOGE wants it done in months.
www.wired.com
March 29, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Reposted by Heather Young
waldo.net
Hi, I'm the guy who used to oversee the federal government's agency IT telecommunications contracts. This is extremely bad. There is absolutely no need for this. Not only is it a huge security exposure, but the simplest explanation for this is that it is meant to be a security exposure.
Elon Musk’s Starlink Expands Across White House Complex
Trump administration officials said the company donated the internet service, saying the gift had been vetted by the lawyer overseeing ethics issues in the White House Counsel’s Office.
www.nytimes.com
March 18, 2025 at 2:53 AM
Reposted by Heather Young
wired.com
DOGE has spent the last six weeks on a supposed crusade to audit the government and stop fraud, waste, and abuse.

But two federal auditors with years of experience say that DOGE’s actions are the furthest thing from what an actual audit looks like.
wrd.cm/420UPoq
‘It’s a Heist’: Real Federal Auditors Are Horrified by DOGE
WIRED talked to actual federal auditors about how government auditing works—and how DOGE is doing the opposite.
www.wired.com
March 18, 2025 at 8:29 PM
heatheryoungsonoma.bsky.social
What a sad sign.
March 19, 2025 at 1:17 AM
heatheryoungsonoma.bsky.social
The best reporting on DOGE and I guarantee it’s not too technical for you! Please follow “Wired” —
wired.com WIRED @wired.com · Mar 18
They're called public records for a reason. Starting today, WIRED will *stop paywalling* articles that are primarily based on public records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, becoming the first publication to partner with @freedom.press to offer this for our new coverage.
Wired is dropping paywalls for FOIA-based reporting. Others should follow
As the administration does its best to hide public records from the public, Wired magazine is stepping up to help stem the secrecy
freedom.press
March 18, 2025 at 11:34 PM
heatheryoungsonoma.bsky.social
Maybe now we’ll start seeing a little sanity in the markets? Some corrections from the White House??
March 18, 2025 at 11:31 PM
Reposted by Heather Young
newrepublic.com
If America doesn’t wake up, his fantasy will become our nightmare.
Trump’s Imperial Fantasy: To Be Polk, McKinley, and Putin—All at Once
Trampling rights, imposing tariffs, gobbling up others’ territories. Trump is imitating his role models to a T.
newrepublic.com
March 17, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Reposted by Heather Young
wired.com
Thousands of US Department of Agriculture employees, including food inspectors and disease-sniffing dog trainers, remain out of work, leaving food to rot in ports and pests to proliferate.
DOGE’s Cuts at the USDA Could Cause US Grocery Prices to Rise and Invasive Species to Spread
Thousands of US Department of Agriculture employees, including food inspectors and disease-sniffing dog trainers, remain out of work, leaving food to rot in ports and pests to proliferate.
wrd.cm
March 17, 2025 at 10:06 AM
Reposted by Heather Young
scottlincicome.bsky.social
"Alcoa warns Trump's aluminum tariff could cost 100,000 US jobs" https://buff.ly/3QWNK3r
February 27, 2025 at 1:02 AM
Reposted by Heather Young
profgalloway.com
Q: how to 6x DOGE savings ($2.5b)?

A: Cut subsidies to Tesla ($15b)
February 26, 2025 at 12:37 AM
Reposted by Heather Young
wired.com
💪 you heard that right
katie-drummond.bsky.social Katie Drummond @katie-drummond.bsky.social · Feb 26
I had the privilege of talking to @apnews.com about WIRED's Elon Musk and politics coverage.

Most important thing: We're not slowing down, we're not stopping, and we're going to cover this story, relentlessly, for as long as we need to.

apnews.com/article/elon...
Not known for political coverage, Wired takes a leading role in tracking Elon Musk's team
The tech outlet Wired set up a new politics team in time for the presidential election — but its most impactful work is coming after the election is over.
apnews.com
February 26, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Reposted by Heather Young
jonshorman.bsky.social
NEW - Rep. Mark Alford tells fired KC federal workers ‘God has a plan’ at hostile town hall

Folks, I've been covering politics for a dozen years in Kansas and Missouri and this is probably the most intense, angry town hall I have ever seen

www.kansascity.com/news/politic...
Rep. Mark Alford tells fired KC federal workers ‘God has a plan’ at hostile town hall
The Missouri Republican faced an angry crowd during a Monday town hall in Belton.
www.kansascity.com
February 24, 2025 at 7:26 PM
heatheryoungsonoma.bsky.social
Two weeks ago I contacted #minnesotapublicradio re: a large donation for more coverage of the DOGE systems incursions, but only received stalling and crickets. This message is a last attempt to give them money @kairyssdal.bsky.social @kimberlyadams.bsky.social regarding #marketplace #marketplacetech
February 26, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Reposted by Heather Young
transform6789.bsky.social
Almost like it’s a feature and not a bug
colborne.bsky.social Michael Colborne @colborne.bsky.social · Feb 11
“The data showed conclusively that far-right populism was “the strongest determinant for the propensity to spread misinformation”, they concluded, with MPs from centre-right, centre-left and far-left populist parties “not linked” to the practice.”

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/f...
Far-right populists much more likely than the left to spread fake news – study
Amplifying misinformation is now part of radical right strategy, says Dutch study of tweets by MPs in 26 countries
www.theguardian.com
February 11, 2025 at 9:20 AM
heatheryoungsonoma.bsky.social
Good summary of the Treasury takeover — if too restrained on the level Musk-oid interference with the computer code.

[free access] What is Elon Musk getting up to with America’s payment system?
econ.st/3WWUXUe
What is Elon Musk getting up to with America’s payment system?
Nobody is sure, many are worried
econ.st
February 11, 2025 at 9:54 AM
heatheryoungsonoma.bsky.social
Of course they did.
Musk DOGE Pick Led Cybersecurity Cuts at Citrix. Hacks Followed
February 10, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Reposted by Heather Young
timothysnyder.bsky.social
Of course it’s a coup. Miss the obvious, lose your republic.
open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p...
Of course it’s a coup
Miss the obvious, lose your republic
open.substack.com
February 5, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Reposted by Heather Young
basjacobs.bsky.social
Recommended - Nate Silver - The Game Theory of Trump’s Tariff Threaths - Silver Bulletin: open.substack.com/pub/natesilv...
The game theory of Trump's tariff threats
Why he’s picking on Canada and Mexico — and why he’s playing a dangerous game.
open.substack.com
February 7, 2025 at 7:26 AM
Reposted by Heather Young
basjacobs.bsky.social
Maurice Obstfeld - Trump’s Inflationary Triple Threat - Project Syndicate: prosyn.org/NkyKiAF
Trump’s Inflationary Triple Threat | by Maurice Obstfeld - Project Syndicate
Maurice Obstfeld warns that the incoming administration’s agenda would weaken the Fed and destabilize the financial system.
prosyn.org
November 25, 2024 at 4:19 PM
heatheryoungsonoma.bsky.social
For the econ geeks.
voxeu.org VoxEU @ CEPR @voxeu.org · Feb 4
What do policymakers get wrong about US trade deficits?

In this VoxTalks Economics, Maurice Obstfeld unpacks decades of research on global trade imbalances and whether popular narratives hold up—especially as Trump 2.0 trade policies take shape.
🎧 Listen now: cepr.org/multimedia/w...

#EconSky
A promotional graphic for a VoxEU podcast features Maurice Obstfeld speaking into a microphone with the title, "What policymakers get wrong about US trade deficits."
February 10, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Reposted by Heather Young
evirae.bsky.social
I've subscribed.

Have you? (You should, v affordable & worth it.)
dell.bsky.social dell cameron @dell.bsky.social · Feb 6
Update from WIRED head @katie-drummond.bsky.social.

We're hosting a webinar for subscribers w/ our reporters and editors next Thursday, Feb 13 @ 1pm ET.
System Update by Katie Drummond: Ever since Elon Musk dove headfirst into backing Donald Trump’s presidential bid last year—to the tune of $280 million in contributions—WIRED has been tracking the billionaire’s political exploits and growing sphere of influence within the GOP and the Trump administration more specifically. We’ve been sourcing up, talking to people within and around federal agencies, as well as experts in disciplines including cybersecurity, AI, medicine, and more, about Musk’s potential impact. What would Musk do, we wanted to understand, once Trump took back the White House on January 20? How would our government—and our country —change with Trump at the steering wheel and Musk riding shotgun? Now the world, and WIRED, are finding out. The entire WIRED newsroom, from editors and reporters to fact-checkers and photo editors, has been working relentlessly to unearth new information about what exactly Elon Musk and his allies are doing across federal agencies, and to what end. What is changing, how, and what are the consequences? Amid the findings of our reporting, one overarching fact has become extremely clear: Musk is now in the driver’s seat, and he is implementing sweeping, shocking, and largely unchecked changes across the entirety of our country’s federal apparatus. So what do we know so far? WIRED has in recent days revealed that Elon Musk has taken over swaths of government infrastructure, from installing his lackeys in senior positions within governmental HR to leading the charge on a chaotic “deferred resignation program”—one that closely echoes a similar Musk initiative at Twitter—that could see millions of federal workers leave their posts. Musk has been instrumental in attempting to dismantle USAID, with the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cutting off funding for lifesaving work before the State Department put the majority of USAID personnel on administrative leave. Every day, we’ve revealed new details on who, exactly, Musk has installed inside federal agencies —they include at least six young men, aged 19 to 24, with little or no government experience. We’ve also documented what those and other Musk acolytes are doing, from conducting “sneak attack” meetings to discuss civil servants’ code and projects to accessing the federal systems that handle Social Security payments and tax returns to announcing plans to transform a key federal tech agency into the AI-fueled equivalent of a “startup software company.” Of course, we’re also keeping close tabs on likely agency heads and members of Trump’s cabinet. His pick for FBI director, Kash Patel, repeatedly claimed at a Senate hearing that he’d never promoted QAnon’s theory. We tracked all the times he did. And though RFK Jr. said he’d support vaccines if he became Health and Human Services Secretary, we outlined his long history of anti-vax positions. We’re not done. Our reporters are getting hundreds of new tips every day and are publishing their latest reporting on WIRED.com at a breakneck pace. To say this moment is unpredictable would be an understatement, but trust me—we’ll continue to do our jobs with utmost vigor, and we’ll work to bring you the most authoritative, trustworthy coverage of tech’s all-out invasion of the American government. We’ve gained tens of thousands of new subscribers in the past few days. If you’d like to join them, you can support us here. P.S. We’ll be hosting a webinar with the editors and writers leading this coverage next Thursday, February 13, at 1pm ET. It’s exclusively for subscribers; if you become one today, you will receive an invitation prior to the event.
February 7, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Reposted by Heather Young
wyden.senate.gov
It’s past time for Treasury to come clean on Musk’s takeover. People's Social Security, Medicare, and their most sensitive personal data is at risk. I'm not going to stop until I get answers.
February 7, 2025 at 5:38 PM
heatheryoungsonoma.bsky.social
Thank you! My representative is useless.
wyden.senate.gov Senator Ron Wyden @wyden.senate.gov · Feb 7
It’s past time for Treasury to come clean on Musk’s takeover. People's Social Security, Medicare, and their most sensitive personal data is at risk. I'm not going to stop until I get answers.
senatefinance.bsky.social Senate Finance Committee @senatefinance.bsky.social · Feb 7
NEWS: Responding to Evidence of a Treasury Cover-Up, Wyden Demands Bessent Come Clean on Musk Infiltration of Treasury Payment Systems
February 7, 2025 at 6:08 PM