digiphile.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy - Profile | ThreadSky

Last night, the Trump administration ended 18F after more than a decade in which its staff helped agencies to deliver better, more effective services for the American people. It is a loss for open culture, open source software, and open vision for digital […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

🚨🌥️Secretary Kennedy proposed eliminating public comment from proposed HHS decisions https://www.statnews.com/2025/02/28/rfk-jr-eliminating-public-comment-hhs-decisions-richardson-waiver/ It’s a frontal attack on the public’s right to know public business […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

The Trump administration ended the U.S. Open Government Advisory Committee today, which was chartered to co-create a national plan to improve government transparency & accountability for the Open Government Parternship, & offer recommendations on emerging issues. Grim sign […]

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

For 15 years, I’ve come here to think about what Lincoln would do. He was flawed, as are we all, but I find comfort & purpose here, 20 score & 8 years since our nation was founded, conceived in liberty.🗽 We must rededicate ourselves to the proposition that […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

submitted 6 days ago • 0 comments

I am pro-democracy. I am against authoritarianism. I am against corruption. I am for for good governance. I believe in the rule of law & the consent of the governed. I believe in freedom of information, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, and freedom to petition our government. 🇺🇦🏛️🇺🇸

submitted 6 days ago • 0 comments

We are seeing the “Twitter Files” playbook run on the U.S. government, at the same time Musk runs the hostile takeover plays he ran on Twitter. Formerly obscure open data gets amplified on X with intentional distortion, co-creating bespoke alternative realities […]

submitted 8 days ago • 0 comments

My daughter & I finally unboxed Wyrmspan & learned how to play. She beat me, which fills me with pride. If you enjoy Wingspan🦅 & love dragons🐉 then this may also be up your alley. I have a LOT more pattern detection to do before I grok how to build […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

submitted 8 days ago • 0 comments

February 21, 2025, DC — AP sued the White House Chief of Staff Wiles, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, & Taylor Budowich, 10 days after the Trump administration began denying access in an unconstitutional effort by President Trump to control the speech of the free press […]

submitted 9 days ago • 0 comments

I bought the last carton of eggs at the Trader Joe’s near Eastern Market in DC at 9:30 AM. Paid $3.49. Shortages due to bird flu could grow worse. 30M culled in recent months. More to come. Vaccinating ~300M birds may not protect flocks, as influenza virus […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

submitted 11 days ago • 0 comments

I took my daughter on a walk to our local museums & talked about art 🖼️ & science 🚀 on her winter holiday. We are blessed with an abundance of evidence of human creativity💡& ingenuity 🧫 here in Washington, alongside memorials and monuments. It’s good to […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

submitted 12 days ago • 0 comments

Weaponized transparency at DOGE makes a mockery of good governance https://civic-texts.ghost.io/weaponized-transparency-at-doge-makes-a-mockery-of-good-governance-2/

submitted 14 days ago • 0 comments

On Friday, the Deputy Archivist of the United States announced his early resignation after decades of honorable public service. Another civil servant will keep NARA operating. https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/14/politics/national-archives-leadership-forced-out-trump/index.html His departure will be […]

submitted 15 days ago • 0 comments

New: The Truman Commission showed Americans why Congress must not ignore the world’s wealthiest “dollar a year man” at DOGE https://civic-texts.ghost.io/the-truman-commission-showed-americans-why-congress-must-not-ignore-the-worlds-wealthiest-dollar-a-year-man-at-doge/

submitted 17 days ago • 0 comments

If you’d like to hear me speak at length instead of posts here, I joined a podcast winter to talk about data, journalism, and the battle for truth in a hot dis/information bar. https://www.techsequences.org/podcasts/2025/02/the-battle-for-truth-in-modern-journalism/ Spoiler alert: facts are […]

submitted 18 days ago • 0 comments

I joined a bipartisan coalition of nonprofits, journalists, archivists, & librarians on a letter to President Trump protesting the unwarranted firing of AOTUS Shogan & urging the White House to reaffirm the independent, professional stewardship of the National Archives […]

submitted 18 days ago • 0 comments

Inspectors general fired by President Trump file a lawsuit contending their removals were illegal and are asking a judge to reinstate them. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.277385/gov.uscourts.dcd.277385.1.0_1.pdf

submitted 19 days ago • 0 comments

We stopped by the National Botanic Garden for water & 🚽, after early dismissal for a winter snow. Best indoor air in DC, plus wonderful rotating exhibits with exotic plants. They’re installing thousands of orchids in the conservatory for “Masters of […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

submitted 19 days ago • 0 comments

The secrecy with which DOGE staff are operating “is highly unusual for those working in government. Aside from those conducting classified or intelligence work, the names of public employees are not generally kept secret.” https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/07/us/politics/musk-doge-aides.html […]

submitted 22 days ago • 0 comments

Deputy Archivist William Bosanko is now the acting Archivist of the United States. I wrote what I know of former Archivist Shogan’s honorable service and about what President Trump removing an AOTUS without reason or cause means now, & could mean in the future […]

submitted 22 days ago • 0 comments

Press access & taking questions is table stakes. If a president won’t disclose taxes or visitor logs, they aren’t transparent. If any official or appointee won’t divest from conflicts of interest, they aren’t ethical. If they issue gag orders or tellspeople to sign NDAs, they don’t love free speech.

submitted 23 days ago • 0 comments

February 2025: a constitutional crisis in Washington mixes with a civic information emergency https://civic-texts.ghost.io/a-constitutional-crisis-in-washington-mixes-with-a-civic-information-emergency-2/ If news seems too good or too bad, hold on: Verify, then verify.

submitted 23 days ago • 0 comments

The General Service Administration relaunched a https://GSA.gov/open website that documents #OpenGov policies, programs, & platforms the agency stewards for all Americans, including like Challenge.gov, Data.gov, CitizenScience.gov, Performance.gov and Regulations.gov. (USASpending.gov is a […]

submitted 23 days ago • 0 comments

Fantastic exploration of what public AI is and why it could matter by @glichfield: https://open.substack.com/pub/futurepolis/p/like-bridges-but-for-ai-the-naming Like the open (government) data and open source software that drives it, public AI could like a form of digital public infrastructure […]

submitted 24 days ago • 0 comments

Be Amazing To Each Otter 🦦💞 This might seem maudlin, but this is hard time in history. If you can, be kind: Everyone bears hidden burdens we cannot see. Loving our neighbors & helping strangers remain radical acts in 2025, but that is what this moment asks of all of us. Hate has no home here.

submitted 27 days ago • 0 comments

Elon Musk destroyed public records when he deleted the @18F Twitter account, but staff still at work at GSA — for now. https://18f.gsa.gov/about/ Contrary to what Musk’s tweet implied, leading to false headlines, the Direct File service is also still operational. USDS built it with Treasury […]

submitted 27 days ago • 0 comments

The IRS’ direct file service opened for 25 states today. It’s a historic example of how civic technology can work for good. https://civic-texts.ghost.io/direct-file-shows-how-civic-tech-can-work-for-good-2/

submitted 34 days ago • 0 comments

How’s everyone holding up this morning? Last week in Washington felt like a month: https://civic-texts.ghost.io/trumps-blatantly-unconstitutional-acts-test-the-rule-of-law-in-the-united-states/ What good news did you read today that lifted your spirits or gave you hope?

submitted 35 days ago • 0 comments

We are living through the greatest test to the rule of law in the United States since the Civil War. https://civic-texts.ghost.io/trumps-blatantly-unconstitutional-acts-test-the-rule-of-law-in-the-united-states “Blatantly unconstitutional” acts can only be checked by Congress & the Supreme Court.

submitted 37 days ago • 0 comments

In response to disappearing members, @GovTrack added a Missing Legislators feature. https://www.govtrack.us/posts/471/2025-01-22_stay-the-course-new-govtrack-capabilities-and-government-accountabilitys-outlook

submitted 38 days ago • 0 comments

New CivicTexts: Thoughts on #InaugurationDay, #MLKDay, preemptive pardons, oligarchy, and good governance https://civic-texts.ghost.io/thoughts-on-inauguration-day-on-pardons-oligarchy-and-good-governance-2/

submitted 41 days ago • 0 comments

Monument walks at night in winter always offer different perspectives on art. The statues at the FDR Monument hit differently. I wonder how many Americans now know what life was like for our elders before Social Security, or during the Great Depression. A […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

submitted 44 days ago • 0 comments

Good morning from frigid Washington, where unshoveled concrete is a sheet of ice, dog feces turned to granite overnight, & a hot cup of coffee turned tepid while I supervised hounds skidding over frozen tundra. What’s the view from your window today?

submitted 46 days ago • 0 comments

Watching President Joe Biden’s farewell address to the nation with my daughter on YouTube, as one does. https://www.youtube.com/live/gMwqdDzGdx8?si=eda3J-DwwPLV_BrL

submitted 46 days ago • 1 comment

I took a first pass at writing long-awaited White House guidance on open data up: https://civic-texts.ghost.io/good-news-for-the-open-social-web-and-open-government-data/ Also noted: a big day for the open social web, risks to the continuity of Congress, the meaning off the special counsel’s […]

submitted 46 days ago • 0 comments

This White House finally issued the guidance on open government data. Congress mandated 6 years ago, on the anniversary of Trump signing the bill into law. The irony of publishing it as a PDF is …sharp […]

submitted 46 days ago • 0 comments

Big week for U.S. Senators performing their Constitutional duty to provide advice & consent for nominees. @danielschuman @ americalabs.org makes a strong case for asking former FL AG Pam Bondi about secret law, which is anathema to an open democracy […]

submitted 48 days ago • 0 comments

Big day for the open social web. The Mastodon ecosystem and technical platform components, including the name, copyrights, and other assets, will now be operated by a new nonprofit organization. They will continue to host mastodon.social and mastodon.online. They will be based in Europe. A U […]

submitted 49 days ago • 0 comments

The Supreme Court seems likely to codify an ugly precedent that will be no doubt cited by authoritarian nations around the globe that merrily filter, ban, and block social platforms where their peoples express themselves about human rights abuses […]

submitted 51 days ago • 1 comment

New: -The 119th Congress open up to AI -Supreme Court dances around TikTok -Celebrating the U.S. Open Government Advisory Committee (#OGFAC) https://civic-texts.ghost.io/119th-congress-ai-scotus-tiktok-ogfac/

submitted 51 days ago • 0 comments

My newsletter is being indexed & linked from Memeorandum, which is good to see. It took years of effort & original reporting & analysts to get https://e-PluribusUnum.org treated as legitimate by the White House, Congress, & news media. I have found no […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

submitted 51 days ago • 0 comments

I wrote long today. Cut two sections, still ended up with a lot. This could have been three different pieces. I had more to say on each than I thought. Feedback welcome, as always […]

submitted 52 days ago • 0 comments

The CSPAN livestream of President Carter’s state funeral is up online, for all to see. All living Presidents are there: past, present, & future. A visual reminder that we are all Americans, first, obligated to put our country & Constitution before party or […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

submitted 53 days ago • 0 comments

For decades, I’ve worked as a journalist, open data advocate, & disinformation researcher. I fact-checked, & was fact-checked & peer-reviewed. Getting it right always came first. Facts remain sacred. Meta bent the knee today, but the truth still matters. As Maria Ressa says, #HoldTheLine

submitted 54 days ago • 0 comments

The USGSA posted its assessment of the completion of the U.S. #OpenGov Commitments for the Open Government Partnership: https://www.gsa.gov/governmentwide-initiatives/us-open-government/fifth-us-open-government-national-action-plan/summary-of-progress A high […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

submitted 55 days ago • 0 comments

I played Risk:LEGACY last night. Enjoyed it immensely. Against the odds, I won. My signature & a continent I named will persist in future games. I played a LOT of Risk in the 80s & 90s. This was a great reboot with less onerous game mechanics & evolving […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

submitted 57 days ago • 0 comments

If adopted in the 119th Congress, new rules will instruct offices, officials, & staff to continue to integrate AI into the operations & functions of the US House of Representatives […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

submitted 60 days ago • 0 comments