Rob Leary
@rob-leary.bsky.social
Reposted by Rob Leary
Image of library book display labeled:
“It's A Warning Not An Instruction Manual.”
Books on display:
• On Tyranny
• Twenty Lessons From
The 21st Century
• 1984
• A Handmaids Tale
• Diary of Anne Frank
• Parable of The Sower
• Fahrenheit 451
• Animal Farm
• Brave New World
~TAiLS of a Bookworm
“It's A Warning Not An Instruction Manual.”
Books on display:
• On Tyranny
• Twenty Lessons From
The 21st Century
• 1984
• A Handmaids Tale
• Diary of Anne Frank
• Parable of The Sower
• Fahrenheit 451
• Animal Farm
• Brave New World
~TAiLS of a Bookworm
May 13, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Image of library book display labeled:
“It's A Warning Not An Instruction Manual.”
Books on display:
• On Tyranny
• Twenty Lessons From
The 21st Century
• 1984
• A Handmaids Tale
• Diary of Anne Frank
• Parable of The Sower
• Fahrenheit 451
• Animal Farm
• Brave New World
~TAiLS of a Bookworm
“It's A Warning Not An Instruction Manual.”
Books on display:
• On Tyranny
• Twenty Lessons From
The 21st Century
• 1984
• A Handmaids Tale
• Diary of Anne Frank
• Parable of The Sower
• Fahrenheit 451
• Animal Farm
• Brave New World
~TAiLS of a Bookworm
Reposted by Rob Leary
Trump is proposing a $1 trillion military budget.
Roughly half of US defense spending goes to private military contractors, with investigations finding that these companies routinely price-gouge.
Oh, and the Pentagon has failed seven straight audits.
"Fiscal responsibility."
Roughly half of US defense spending goes to private military contractors, with investigations finding that these companies routinely price-gouge.
Oh, and the Pentagon has failed seven straight audits.
"Fiscal responsibility."
May 13, 2025 at 10:45 PM
Trump is proposing a $1 trillion military budget.
Roughly half of US defense spending goes to private military contractors, with investigations finding that these companies routinely price-gouge.
Oh, and the Pentagon has failed seven straight audits.
"Fiscal responsibility."
Roughly half of US defense spending goes to private military contractors, with investigations finding that these companies routinely price-gouge.
Oh, and the Pentagon has failed seven straight audits.
"Fiscal responsibility."
Reposted by Rob Leary
There is no "center" between decency and indecency, between democracy and authoritarianism, between a government of billionaires and a government of the people.
If Democrats move to "the center", they will pave the way for the next Trump.
If Democrats move to "the center", they will pave the way for the next Trump.
The Failures of “Centrism”
By moving to the so-called “center,” Democrats have failed to fight the forces that led us to Donald Trump: widening inequality, economic insecurity, and the unchecked political power of corporations and the rich. Watch.
www.youtube.com
March 7, 2025 at 8:03 PM
There is no "center" between decency and indecency, between democracy and authoritarianism, between a government of billionaires and a government of the people.
If Democrats move to "the center", they will pave the way for the next Trump.
If Democrats move to "the center", they will pave the way for the next Trump.
Reposted by Rob Leary
go.bsky.app/3R9Pi2i
Big Night! Updated Team Pro Democracy Starter Pack 1 and 2 - Here’s Pack 2 - Please consider following and Resharing!
Big Night! Updated Team Pro Democracy Starter Pack 1 and 2 - Here’s Pack 2 - Please consider following and Resharing!
February 15, 2025 at 12:19 AM
go.bsky.app/3R9Pi2i
Big Night! Updated Team Pro Democracy Starter Pack 1 and 2 - Here’s Pack 2 - Please consider following and Resharing!
Big Night! Updated Team Pro Democracy Starter Pack 1 and 2 - Here’s Pack 2 - Please consider following and Resharing!
Reposted by Rob Leary
go.bsky.app/N2BmyFf
New and Improved - Team Pro Democracy Starter Pack 1 - Give it a look and please reshare to give it maximum reach - Thanks!
New and Improved - Team Pro Democracy Starter Pack 1 - Give it a look and please reshare to give it maximum reach - Thanks!
February 15, 2025 at 12:06 AM
go.bsky.app/N2BmyFf
New and Improved - Team Pro Democracy Starter Pack 1 - Give it a look and please reshare to give it maximum reach - Thanks!
New and Improved - Team Pro Democracy Starter Pack 1 - Give it a look and please reshare to give it maximum reach - Thanks!
Reposted by Rob Leary
Epic by @wired.com
“…you must be aware that it is not a
crime for anyone — whether WIRED journalists, X posters, or otherwise — to identify individuals openly conducting government work that is of the utmost public concern.”
crime for anyone — whether WIRED journalists, X posters, or otherwise — to identify individuals openly conducting government work that is of the utmost public concern.”
![February 4, 2025
Edward R. Martin, Jr.
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia
Patrick Henry Building
601 D Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20530
Transmitted via email
Re: Threats to prosecute critics of DOGE
Dear Interim U.S. Attorney for D.C. Edward R. Martin, Jr.:
We write to raise serious concerns about your recent public statements threatening to prosecute those who
"target" or "impede" Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) within the Executive Office of the President. We request that you publicly commit to abide by the First Amendment, which your office is sworn to uphold and Musk himself claims to champion, in any DOGE-related investigations or prosecutions you may pursue.
On Monday, you tweeted a letter to Musk asking him to use the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia to protect DOGE staff and their work and directing him to refer "any questionable conduct or details that [Musk] find[s] or notice[s]" to your office.' In the letter, you assert that "actions in any way that impact [DOGE's] work may break numerous laws," and that you commit to the pursuit of
"all legal action against anyone who impedes [Musk's) work or threatens [Musk's] people." You also state that you will "protect DOGE and other workers no matter what," citing past protests in Washington, D.C., which you refer to as riots.
As you know, DOGE, or the United States DOGE Service as it is formally known, is a government entity established within the Executive Office of the President; by executive order, DOGE is supposed to access only "unclassified agency records." The day before your letter, WIRED reported about and named six young engineers working for DOGE — Akash Bobba, Edward Coristine, Luke Farritor, Gautier Cole Killian, Gavin Kliger, and Ethan Shaotran. The experience and qualifications of public employees is of significant public interest.
Following this news report, a user on X — the social media platform owned by Mr. Musk — made a post also naming th…](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:o4pdps2jkn7uhrdgadni7djk/bafkreibo4srxmqoq44eo4bp5wyc26moq2mvevrpvyul5eibwjeh6l6acia@jpeg)
![X has since suspended the account of the user who posted the names.
As an experienced attorney holding such an important public position, you must be aware that it is not a crime for anyone — whether WIRED journalists, X posters, or otherwise — to identify individuals openly conducting government work that is of the utmost public concern. The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that the First Amendment protects the right to publish newsworthy information that the publisher lawfully obtains, including names far more sensitive than those of government personnel.' Musk himself has publicly touted DOGE's engineers while citing "media reports" regarding them.
Nor is it a crime to harshly criticize government employees and officials, even if transparency and criticism "impede" their work? Moreover, while certain true threats are unprotected and may be criminally punished, they are limited to serious expression[s]' conveying that a speaker means to
'commit an act of unlawful violence."$ Hyperbolic speech, even using threatening language, is entitled to full First Amendment protection.'
You must also surely be aware that the First Amendment protects Americans' right to peaceably assemble, especially to protest government actions.' The First Amendment severely constrains the government's ability to limit protests in public forums, such as the public streets of Washington, D.C." The government also cannot ban or restrict future protests based on unlawful conduct alleged to have occurred at past protests. 2
Threatening to prosecute First Amendment speech and activity is not only at odds with the U.S.
Constitution, it is also entirely inconsistent with Musk's own stated principles and the right of the American people to know what the government is up to. Musk describes himself as a free speech absolutist and has proposed a massive declassification of government records, opining that all government records should be public by default. '3 Just three months ago, Musk publicly posted…](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:o4pdps2jkn7uhrdgadni7djk/bafkreigtzd6v5yrwc6ikbo6jmt77r4yc5oikqeop4g3a6qswpxbhjtzxuq@jpeg)
![government employees with whom he disagrees on X.' If it is Musk's intention for the U.S. Attorney's Office to censor the press and public from identifying and discussing those conducting DOGE's work on his behalf, that would be incredibly hypocritical.
It is also vital that the U.S. Attorney's Office maintain the highest ethical standards and avoid even the appearance of impropriety. Rule 3.1 of the Rules of Professional Conduct for the Washington, D.C. Bar, of which you are a member, states: "A lawyer shall not bring or defend a proceeding, or assert or controvert an issue therein, unless there is a basis in law and fact for doing so that is not frivolous."Is Under Rule 3.8, prosecutors are additionally prohibited from filing in court or maintaining a charge "that the prosecutor knows is not supported by probable cause."l6 The same rule provides that "[i]n exercising discretion to investigate or to prosecute," prosecutors shall not "improperly favor or invidiously discriminate against any person."17
Threatening to file frivolous charges against Americans and vaguely insinuating that wide swaths of constitutionally-protected speech and activity could invite criminal investigations and prosecutions may already violate these and other rules of professional conduct. Actually doing so almost certainly would.
Additionally, publicly offering the Office of the U.S. Attorney's services to Musk in the context of his asserting that protected expression is a criminal act is unbecoming of your public office and your duties as a public servant. Your oath is to the U.S. Constitution - including the First Amendment - not to President Donald Trump, Musk, or DOGE's desire to operate in secrecy and without criticism.
We request that you immediately (a) identify the specific "targeting" of DOGE staff your letter to Musk was referring to and what specific laws you contend it violated, (b) publicly commit to not investigate or prosecute journalists or others for reporting on or publish…](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:o4pdps2jkn7uhrdgadni7djk/bafkreihjaig2236xfdb6rhe5u5644xzvjc5p2lva7fkj6rc3z3sthfswbi@jpeg)
February 6, 2025 at 4:44 AM
Epic by @wired.com
Reposted by Rob Leary
The Blue Report
The top links on Bluesky over the last 24 hours. Updated hourly.
theblue.report
February 6, 2025 at 2:47 AM
Did you know that the area of the state of Alaska is equal to 429.3 Rhode Islands?
February 2, 2025 at 4:43 AM
Did you know that the area of the state of Alaska is equal to 429.3 Rhode Islands?
Reposted by Rob Leary
First they came for the immigrants, and I spoke out, because I’ve read the damn poem before and I know how it ends.
January 25, 2025 at 2:30 AM
First they came for the immigrants, and I spoke out, because I’ve read the damn poem before and I know how it ends.
Reposted by Rob Leary
It's damn telling how fast corporate America quit diversity.
Seems like those marginalized people who've been telling us about racism, sexism, bigotry, bias, and exclusion might have been right all along.
Seems like those marginalized people who've been telling us about racism, sexism, bigotry, bias, and exclusion might have been right all along.
January 25, 2025 at 4:05 PM
It's damn telling how fast corporate America quit diversity.
Seems like those marginalized people who've been telling us about racism, sexism, bigotry, bias, and exclusion might have been right all along.
Seems like those marginalized people who've been telling us about racism, sexism, bigotry, bias, and exclusion might have been right all along.
Reposted by Rob Leary
To instrumentalize what my sister is saying below: every time someone says DEI say “you mean civil rights?” Every time someone says they are against woke reply “oh so you’re a segregationist!” Words have meaning! Don’t allow that nonsense to stand.
Only saying once on bsky b/c I know it is not entirely useful, but it is totally exhausting that in 2016 some of us said “they’re Nazis,” some of us screamed “they’re segregationists,” and a whole lot of very serious people now posting about them being Nazis and segregationists gaslight us for years
January 24, 2025 at 12:46 PM
To instrumentalize what my sister is saying below: every time someone says DEI say “you mean civil rights?” Every time someone says they are against woke reply “oh so you’re a segregationist!” Words have meaning! Don’t allow that nonsense to stand.
Reposted by Rob Leary
@altonbrown.bsky.social has a book tour that coincides with a “farewell“ live show tour this year.
Book Tour 2025 - Alton Brown
Sixty-Something years in the making! The ink is just about dry on the first printing of my debut essay collection, Food for Thought.
altonbrown.com
January 25, 2025 at 2:41 AM
@altonbrown.bsky.social has a book tour that coincides with a “farewell“ live show tour this year.
Reposted by Rob Leary
Costco’s shareholders voted overwhelmingly to reject a proposal from a conservative think tank aimed at getting the company to roll back its diversity hiring practices.
Costco's shareholders overwhelmingly reject anti-DEI proposal
Costco's shareholders voted overwhelmingly to reject a motion that would seek report on the risks of diversity, equity and inclusion in the company's hiring practices.
www.npr.org
January 24, 2025 at 12:28 AM
Costco’s shareholders voted overwhelmingly to reject a proposal from a conservative think tank aimed at getting the company to roll back its diversity hiring practices.
Reposted by Rob Leary
The real reason Musk, Zuckerberg, and Bezos are supporting Trump. www.vox.com/future-perfe...
The broligarchs have a vision for the new Trump term. It’s darker than you think.
The real reason Musk, Zuckerberg, and Bezos are supporting Trump.
www.vox.com
January 20, 2025 at 4:19 PM
The real reason Musk, Zuckerberg, and Bezos are supporting Trump. www.vox.com/future-perfe...
Reposted by Rob Leary
People falling for fake/“jokey” screenshots which purport to report or quote something
Which is why if you’re gonna post a screenshot always:
- provide link to the source ✅
- provide alt txt ✅
Probably a good idea to not share/amplify posts with screenshots that do not have these two things!
Which is why if you’re gonna post a screenshot always:
- provide link to the source ✅
- provide alt txt ✅
Probably a good idea to not share/amplify posts with screenshots that do not have these two things!
January 19, 2025 at 9:33 PM
People falling for fake/“jokey” screenshots which purport to report or quote something
Which is why if you’re gonna post a screenshot always:
- provide link to the source ✅
- provide alt txt ✅
Probably a good idea to not share/amplify posts with screenshots that do not have these two things!
Which is why if you’re gonna post a screenshot always:
- provide link to the source ✅
- provide alt txt ✅
Probably a good idea to not share/amplify posts with screenshots that do not have these two things!