Larry S Williams, MA
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lswma.bsky.social
Larry S Williams, MA
@lswma.bsky.social
2.2K followers 1.9K following 5.8K posts
Sociologist by training, public employee by occupation, lover of the arts (but not so artistic myself), married to vibrant Lebanese woman with a small business, dad and stepdad to four kids ranging from elementary (the artist) to college (the entrepreneur)
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lswma.bsky.social
I think this longer & nuanced view of the federal workforce from Brookings is more compelling, & it addresses the shift of federal projects to grants. The current administration is cutting many grants as well as federal employees (except for the police state).

www.brookings.edu/articles/the...
This is a snippet from the attached article with a graph showing federal employment staying very close to the 2 million employee headcount with some variation by administration and economic circumstances.
July 10, 2025 at 12:51 AM
lswma.bsky.social
Searched for "work progress administration" and "future of work."

Results?
Connecting the WPA to the Future of Work: While the WPA was a response to a specific economic crisis, its approach and legacy offer insights relevant to discussions about the future of work: • Government as a Job Creator: The WPA demonstrated the potential for large-scale government intervention to create jobs during times of economic hardship. This model could be considered for addressing potential job displacement caused by automation in the future, possibly through new public works programs or initiatives focused on emerging industries. • Investing in Public Infrastructure: The WPA's focus on infrastructure development provides a historical precedent for how public investment can contribute to economic recovery and create employment opportunities. In the context of the future of work, such investments could focus on areas like renewable energy infrastructure, digital infrastructure, and sustainable development. • Adapting to Change: The concept of adapting old buildings and programs to new uses, as mentioned in the context of a potential circular economy model, highlights the importance of fostering resilience and finding innovative solutions to address societal and economic challenges. This adaptability will be crucial in navigating the changes brought about by the future of work. • Workforce Development: The WPA's aim to employ people on projects that provided long-term benefits underscores the need to equip individuals with the skills necessary for the jobs of the future. Investing in education, training, and retraining programs will be essential to help workers adapt to the evolving demands of the labor market. Key Differences: • Cause of Disruption: The WPA was created in response to the economic downturn of the Great Depression, while the future of work is being shaped by technological advancements and the changing global economy. • Focus: The WPA primarily focused on providing immediate employment through public works projects, while discussions about the future of work encompass a broader range of issues, including skills development, social safety nets, and the equitable distribution of wealth. o In Conclusion: The WPA, a historical example of large-scale government intervention for job creation and infrastructure development, offers valuable insights for addressing the challenges of the future of work. Its legacy suggests that public investment in infrastructure, adaptable solutions, and workforce development could play a vital role in navigating the disruptions brought about by technological advancements and ensuring a more equitable and prosperous future of work. --- The coming divide - LinkedIn Feb 3, 2025 - Insights from the community * Artificial...
June 21, 2025 at 4:06 PM
lswma.bsky.social
"Congress may end a key federal employee retirement benefit"

www.npr.org/2025/06/12/n...
Staying for the benefits Federal employees across the country perform complex, critical work that Americans depend on. The jobs are not the most exciting, nor the best paid. Still, many federal workers stay for decades, in part because of the government's retirement package, which far outpaces what most companies provide. The Federal Employees Retirement System, known as FERS, is often described as a three-legged stool. It includes a pension, a Thrift Savings Plan akin to a 401(k), and - like nearly all U.S. workers - Social Security benefits. OPB Public Broadcasting - This is NPR C NPR One
June 12, 2025 at 2:56 PM
lswma.bsky.social
Reposting a screen shot of Trump and Musk looking at the ceiling of the Oval Office.
An Amazon ad shows a child throwing glowing sticky balls on the ceiling. The top of the ad says, "THE BALL IS STUCK TO THE CEILING AND NEEDS PARENTAL HELP TO REMOVE, GREAT PARENT-CHILD TOY"
May 31, 2025 at 1:13 AM
lswma.bsky.social
This "big beautiful bill" was supposed to be discussed at the budget committee about 25 minutes ago. C SPAN says, "In Recess."
May 19, 2025 at 2:26 AM
lswma.bsky.social
I'm penciling ✏️ this in as my final biennium before retiring (at what will be 30 years) in 2027. It looks like the overall look is going out with a *whimper* and not a *bang*. Fortunately I'm still young at heart, and my little guy is entertaining me with art 🖼️.

opb.org/article/2025...
Art by Alexander Williams, age 8, in 9 cells, purple marker on white paper. I don't know what they all are, but I think there are some airports in the mix.
May 14, 2025 at 3:38 PM
lswma.bsky.social
Ha ha. The pencils sometimes come in a pack with more than that, but I guess we can share with other families if things are getting that bad. Right now it looks like a pack of 72 pencils for $10.95. So, five pencils ✏️ will be about 76 cents. Is he saying that's all we'll have for school supplies?
Picture of a 72 pencil pack for $10.95 from officesupply.com
May 4, 2025 at 11:44 PM
lswma.bsky.social
Broken links now at the Women's Bureau. I sent a request for this resource to the FOIA e-mail at the archives...

"Advancing Opportunities for Women through Apprenticeship" is either unavailable or I just don't have security clearance to know how to help tradeswomen.
Shows a link to a Resource called: "Advancing Opportunities for Women through Apprenticeship" on the Women's Bureau page, USDOL. Shows the message received when trying to access the resource from the Women's Bureau page. Shows where the PDF of the access denied resource should have been available, per a web search.
May 4, 2025 at 10:50 PM
lswma.bsky.social
Welcome to the new *Know Nothing Party*

www.nytimes.com/live/2025/05...
May 4, 2025 at 9:36 PM
lswma.bsky.social
I clipped this from a headline about Snooker, but I'm hoping it is a premonition of some sort from the BBC.
Part of a headline from the BBC app says, "Williams defeats Trump."
May 3, 2025 at 10:35 PM
lswma.bsky.social
Reposting with the alt text.
EM4 This meeting condemns the Supreme Court ruling defining the term 'woman' with respect to the Equality Act as being based on 'biological sex', which they refer to as a person who 'was at birth of the female sex', as reductive, trans and intersex-exclusionary and biologically nonsensical. We recognize as doctors that sex and gender are complex and multifaceted aspects of the human condition and attempting to impose a rigid binary has no basis in science or medicine while being actively harmful to transgender and gender diverse people. As such this meeting: i. Reiterates the BMA's position on affirming the rights of transgender and non-binary individuals to live their lives with dignity, having their identity respected. Reminds the Supreme Court of the existence of intersex people and reaffirms their right to exist in the gender identity that matches their sense of self, regardless of whether this matches any identity assigned to them at birth. iii. Condemns scientifically illiterate rulings from the Supreme Court, made without consulting relevant experts and stakeholders, that will cause real-world harm to the trans, non-binary and intersex communities in this country. IV. Commits to strive for better access to necessary health services for trans, non-binary and gender-diverse people.
April 27, 2025 at 5:19 PM
lswma.bsky.social
I have a friend that shares your anniversary day of emergence. Mine was yesterday.

I love drawings, but my 8 year-old is a better artist, so I'll share one of his.
Line drawing ✍️ of a smiling woman with long lashes by Alexander Williams, age 8.
April 22, 2025 at 9:06 PM
lswma.bsky.social
Alas, I was only able to find one duvet at Pendleton Woolen Mills, and it says it's "imported."

www.pendleton-usa.com/product/dese...
Picture of the "Desert Star Duvet" cover from Pendleton Woolen Mills, which shows it's "imported."
April 20, 2025 at 9:55 PM
lswma.bsky.social
Reminds me of the days when Gandhi wore homespun so as not to support British imperialists. How will this look on the Press Secretary?

ordinaryphilosophy.com/tag/homespun....
Gandhi wearing a homespun garment that covers his waist to upper thighs as he spins more thread.
April 17, 2025 at 7:01 PM
lswma.bsky.social
Is everyone welcome anymore?

opb.org/article/2025...
Article title and bylines: What did I say in class today? 6: Teachers feel watched under Trump's anti-DEI push Leila Fadel (NPR), Arezou Rezvani (NPR), Taylor Haney (NPR), Kyle Gallego-Mackie (NPR) Apr. 10, 2025 2 p.m. Photo of the teacher with a caption that says: Sarah Inama is a teacher in Idaho who had a poster in her classroom that read, "Everyone is welcome here," along with an image of hands with varying skin tones. The poster had never drawn any attention, until recently. Text in the article reads: In a statement to NPR, a district spokeswoman said it wasn't the words on the poster that was the issue, but the different colored letters and varying skin tones of the hands that they "determine to potentially express viewpoints regarding specific identity groups." Inama still teaches her world civilization class and the poster she was ordered to take down last month is still hanging in her classroom, but she's demoralized by the incident. "There are only two opinions of that poster: You either believe that everyone is welcome here or you don't," she said.
April 10, 2025 at 11:57 PM
lswma.bsky.social
Hani Richter writes,

"'Thanks America, that'll be all': How the world's media are covering tariffs

"The Guardian in Britain posed the question: 'Liberation from what?'"

Tariffs latest: Wall Street opens sharply lower on recession fears - www.reuters.com/world/us/don...
April 3, 2025 at 3:17 PM
lswma.bsky.social
Approval of the President's economic policies are about to fall off a cliff.

You didn't like how Biden managed the recovery from the pandemic? Wait until you see Trump devalue the entire global economy for personal vanity. By summer he will likely have economic approval ratings down to 25-30%.
Chart shows approval for Trump's handling of the economy in 1st term between 45% and mid-50s. Approval for Biden's handling of the economy falling to mid-30s. Trump started around 43% economic approval in current term but has already fallen to 37% and looks to be quickly approaching Biden's ending level of mid-30s.
April 3, 2025 at 1:03 AM
lswma.bsky.social
scholar.google.com/scholar?q=%2...
From Google Scholar: Why customer service frustrates consumers: Using a tiered organizational structure to exploit hassle costs Anthony Dukes, Yi Zhu Marketing Science 38 (3), 500-515, 2019 Many customer service organizations (CSOs) reflect a tiered, or multilevel, organizational structure, which we argue imposes hassle costs for dissatisfied customers seeking high levels of redress. The tiered structure specifies that first-level CSO agents (e.g., call center operators) be restricted in their payout authority. Only by escalating a claim to a higher level (e.g., a manager), and incurring extra hassles, can a dissatisfied customer obtain more redress from the firm. We argue that the tiered structure helps the firm to control redress costs by (1) screening less severe claims so that such customers do not escalate their claims to a manager and (2) screening illegitimate claims. Our main result is that a firm can be more profitable if it uses a tiered CSO. The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2019.1149.
March 30, 2025 at 11:07 PM
lswma.bsky.social
Tesla's share price has been hit hard after public anger at Elon Musk - www.reuters.com/graphics/TES...
Chart shows the stock value of BYD (China's largest automaker) up 35.01 percent, while the stock value of Tesla is down 36.73 percent since Trump's inauguration.
March 30, 2025 at 4:04 PM
lswma.bsky.social
Civilization will disappear? Just a snapshot in time shows we've added 146,807 people to the Earth just today. It will take a while yet to reach net 0 growth.

Any fool should know that it is the grotesque misdistribution of wealth and resources that imperils civilization (and democracy).
Worldometers screen print shows 277,625 births and 130,818 deaths today for a net population growth of 146,807. For the year, births total 31,822,547 and deaths 14,994,933 for a net growth of 16,827,614.
March 30, 2025 at 1:28 AM
lswma.bsky.social
Anyway, just a thought...

Geo Group: "I'm curious how your involvement with detaining international students for exercising free speech rights on college campuses is impacting the company's reputation and shareholder value."
Screen print from the comments section of an information request to Geo Group: "I'm curious how your involvement with detaining international students for exercising free speech rights on college campuses is impacting the company's reputation and shareholder value."
March 30, 2025 at 12:27 AM
lswma.bsky.social
This photo has that *one person against the machinery of the regime* feel of the *stand against tanks* photo from Tiananmen Square.

Turkey detains more than 1,000 in protests since Istanbul mayor's arrest, minister says - www.reuters.com/world/middle...
Screen print of the linke article shows a photo with the caption “Police officers use pepper spray on a demonstrator wearing dervish clothes in Istanbul, Turkey, March 23, 2025. REUTERS/Umit Bektas”
March 24, 2025 at 2:39 PM
lswma.bsky.social
I meant to put the cartoon itself. Trying again. Here it is from Monte Wolverton…

www.wolvertoon.com
The website section is titled, “Trump billionaires slouching toward White House.” Below that is a political cartoon with “Slouching toward plutocracy” written at the top. It shows slouching old men moving to the right and up a road to the White House. At the front is Trump with his signature hairstyle, the others are named, Musk, Lutnick, Loeffler, Feinberg, Ramaswamy, Stephens, and Isaacman.
March 24, 2025 at 1:52 PM
lswma.bsky.social
But if you're a fan of the "Portland suffered damage to its reputation" theories, those are in the article too.

For what it's worth, I think Lehner actually projected the possibility of this square root pattern as we started to emerge from the pandemic. He was a good state economist.
March 24, 2025 at 1:45 AM
lswma.bsky.social
David R Witt wrote about this cartoon in a post to Instagram.

*The Ethics of Dissent*

“Rosemary O'Leary shows that the majority of guerrilla government cases are the manifestation of inevitable tensions between bureaucracy and democracy…”

www.goodwillbooks.com/the-ethics-o...
From an Instagram post: dwitt75 Coming up on 8 years ago, shortly after Trump was inaugurated, I drew this cartoon as my protest to the administrations open denial of scientific facts, and to support people within the National Park service and their dissent. The cartoon went viral, having millions of shares and retweets across several platforms, it was included in the book 'Ethics of Dissent' by Rosemary O'Leary, someone in the park agency recreated the last panel in the comic strip, and someone else printed it out in a large format and held it as a protest sign during a Trump visit to Philadelphia. One of the highlights of my life, and I hope to never draw Trump again. #voteharriswalz2024 @altnationalparkservice November 3, 2024
March 23, 2025 at 6:13 PM