Rob Callaghan
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robbiesolid.bsky.social
Rob Callaghan
@robbiesolid.bsky.social
MLS Student at Queens College
Reposted by Rob Callaghan
The coolest thing I’ve seen today is that a bunch of volunteer public health professionals and developers have restored the CDC website from before January 20th 2025.

This differs from an archive in that they want to rebuild the links between pages and replicate the full website.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
restoredcdc.org
March 9, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Reposted by Rob Callaghan
This tool is amazing and gives you the numbers to explain the human impact — at the district level.

democrats-budget.house.gov/legislation/...
The Republican Rip Off
democrats-budget.house.gov
February 26, 2025 at 1:45 AM
Reposted by Rob Callaghan
I will never not promote libraries, they are a vast public good and worth celebrating for themselves, and also they buy lots of books, which keeps a whole bunch of authors in the business. Please support them!
I recall you promoting libraries as well, as long as we're reading.
February 25, 2025 at 12:52 AM
Reposted by Rob Callaghan
What’s happening now is part of a plan to end democracy:

“It is clear that Thiel sees corporations as the governments of the future and capitalists such as himself as the kings, and it is also clear that this is a shockingly common view in Thiel’s cohort.”

thebaffler.com/latest/mouth...
Mouthbreathing Machiavellis Dream of a Silicon Reich | Corey Pein
Meet the neo-reactionaries who influenced the rightward drift of Silicon Valley.
thebaffler.com
February 23, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Reposted by Rob Callaghan
At least 12 universities now have hiring freezes and nearly 30 have cut PhD admissions this year

If you hear of other places you can add them to this google doc:
I created a brief spreadsheet of reductions I've heard of so far. Any additions you know of (especially if you have the links/receipts) would be great: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
Graduate Reductions Across Biomedical Sciences (2025)
docs.google.com
February 23, 2025 at 1:16 AM
Reposted by Rob Callaghan
“That is why Trumpists are so focused on “ending DEI” in the federal workforce. They see anti-discrimination and inclusion as a ladder of upward mobility for people they do not believe should have one.”
The Great Resegregation
The Trump administration’s attacks on DEI are aimed at reversing the civil-rights movement.
www.theatlantic.com
February 22, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Reposted by Rob Callaghan
I was set to launch my book at the Carter Library next month.

This week, we were told all events now need approval from the National Archives. The next day, my event was forced to relocate.

A book about the working homeless. A book about civil rights. Apparently these topics are now off limits.
February 22, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Reposted by Rob Callaghan
He nails it.
February 22, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Reposted by Rob Callaghan
"Save Our Services is ​'a beacon call to the broader public. It’s a distress signal that we want people to come out with us.'”
The Movement Supporting Public Employees Is Rising
Thousands of workers across the country hit the streets this week to declare their opposition to Trump and Musk who, under the guise of "efficiency," are slashing and burning public services.
inthesetimes.com
February 22, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Reposted by Rob Callaghan
In 2024, the NLRB filed a complaint against Tesla for interfering in a union drive at their Buffalo, NY assembly plant.

Today:
February 20, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Reposted by Rob Callaghan
"It’s a familiar Silicon Valley mindset, the reason startups are forever reinventing a bus, or a bodega, or mail. It’s the implacable confidence that if you’re smart at one thing you must be smart at all of the things."

www.wired.com/story/doge-i...
The Incompetence of DOGE Is a Feature, Not a Bug
A series of mistakes by DOGE shows just how arbitrary and destructive this slash-and-burn strategy can get.
www.wired.com
February 20, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Reposted by Rob Callaghan
BREAKING: AFSCME, AFGE, UNAC/UHCP, & allies file lawsuit seeking to block the unlawful mass firings of probationary federal employees. “These mass firings are yet another unlawful attempt by this billionaire-run administration to gut public services" said Pres. Saunders
February 20, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Reposted by Rob Callaghan
Major news! A court in Montana has just declared SB458, a bill that "defines sex" in a way that ends the legal recognition of transgender people in Montana, as facially unconstitutional.

This is the first time a bill defining sex has been ruled on!

Huge win for trans people in MT!
February 19, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Reposted by Rob Callaghan
REVEALED: we identified the operator of an overtly racist X account, "GlomarResponder," as ICE Assistant Chief Counsel James Rodden, based on an overwhelming number of biographical details matched through publicly available documents, other social media activity, and courtroom observation.
ICE Prosecutor in Dallas Runs White Supremacist X Account
The Observer has identified the operator of “GlomarResponder,” an overtly racist social media account, as ICE Assistant Chief Counsel James Rodden, based on an overwhelming number of biographical details matched through publicly available documents, other social media activity, and courtroom observation.
www.texasobserver.org
February 19, 2025 at 10:04 PM
Reposted by Rob Callaghan
Iowa's House File 274, which would criminalize librarians, passes out of the House Education Committee. It can now be heard on the floor.

What this bill is, what it would mean for library and school workers, and why it was rushed through.

bookriot.com/iowa-rushes-...
Iowa Rushes, Advances Librarian Criminalization Bill
Introduced last week, Iowa's librarian criminalization bill has already made it to the House floor.
bookriot.com
February 19, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Reposted by Rob Callaghan
I spoke to a whole bunch of federal employees who are organizing to stay on the job and challenge Musk's wrecking crew inthesetimes.com/article/fede...
Federal Workers Rise up Against Musk, Trump and Drastic Cuts
"These guys are trying to take a torch to the entire concept that we should care about each other as humans.”
inthesetimes.com
February 14, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Reposted by Rob Callaghan
Our research university leaders are totally failing us in the authoritarian moment. Not even trying to loudly & publicly defend the project of academia or the institutions. Just choosing a combination of “keep our heads down” & anticipatory compliance. Shamefully inadequate to the moment.
February 15, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Reposted by Rob Callaghan
Librarians will need some guidance from @amlibraryassoc.bsky.social on this: how do we, as information professionals, vet the authority of information if the authority can no longer be trusted? How do we navigate THE department of health putting out misinformation? 📚 #skybrarians
Vaccine sceptic RFK Jr is now a powerful force in US science: what will he do?
Kennedy has expressed support for some fields, but has also declared he’d like a ‘break’ in infectious-disease research.
www.nature.com
February 13, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Reposted by Rob Callaghan
How long until the Library of Congress faces a purge? Should historians be getting what resources they can now? I'm imagining anything related to the civil rights movement, anti-fascism, and even public health could be gone soon.
February 13, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Reposted by Rob Callaghan
I'm hearing now that *every* technologist CFPB hired to investigate Big Tech was fired this evening. That's somewhere between 70-100 people.

wired.com/story/dozens-of-cfpb-workers-terminated-in-after-hours-firing-blitz/
Dozens of CFPB Workers Fired in After-Hours Blitz
Some affected employees of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau were notified with an email that addressed them as [EmployeeFirstName][EmployeeLastName], [Job Title], [Division].
wired.com
February 14, 2025 at 12:51 AM
Reposted by Rob Callaghan
Newly organized workers at Minneapolis club First Avenue ratify their first collective bargaining agreement.

25 to 55% raises over 3 years = 7.4 to 14.6% annual raises.

Plus boosts to predictable schedules, safety, & respect.
www.startribune.com/first-avenue...
February 12, 2025 at 1:14 AM
Reposted by Rob Callaghan
“I think the people who are making these decisions are very clear that they want to create a society that’s based on deep-set inequities that are hard baked & don’t transform whether that’s around race, class, or gender."

- Todd Wolfson, AAUP President

apnews.com/article/trum...
Trump's DEI order leaves academic researchers fearful of political influence over grants
President Donald Trump’s order declaring diversity, equity and inclusion policies illegal has thrown into doubt the future of research Kendra Dahmer has been doing on intestinal parasites in India and...
apnews.com
February 10, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Reposted by Rob Callaghan
Today, ALA and a bipartisan coalition of civil society groups, archivists, librarians, & historians strongly reaffirmed that the Archivist of the United States should be appointed based on professional qualifications, not politics.

Read our letter to the Administration: www.ala.org/sites/defaul...
February 12, 2025 at 12:23 AM
Reposted by Rob Callaghan
great turnout in support of AFGE and federal workers on general right in front of the Capitol Building
February 11, 2025 at 5:32 PM