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mirandaspivack.bsky.social
Author Backroom Deals in Our Backyards: How Government Secrecy Harms Our Communities -and the Local Heroes Fighting Back. Fighting for good at the grassroots can lead to profound change. Preorder: https://thenewpress.com/books/backroom-deals-our-backyards
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@dmey.bsky.social @danrodricks.bsky.social

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

Freedom for people to engage with medical professionals to discuss their own medical needs is surely a personal liberty.

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

Federal payments to Elon Musk's SpaceX and Tesla are substantial: wapo.st/3EV4yVJ

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

A planned ambush. I hope that gets reported out in detail.

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

The Department of Government Ineptitude open.substack.com/pub/contrari...

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

Looking for bookstores, communities, civic organizations, podcasts - all ideas welcome! thenewpress.com/books/backro... is out May 6 & is especially timely with its real life examples of people fighting local, state and federal government secrecy that harms communities and benefits big business.

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

www.commondreams.org/news/bernie-...

submitted 8 days ago • 0 comments

Is a correction coming from DOGE? www.wired.com/story/elon-m...

submitted 14 days ago • 0 comments

thehill.com/media/514849...

submitted 15 days ago • 0 comments

The federal civilian worker payroll totaled $271 billion in 2022. The annual cost of permanently extending Trump's tax cuts that primarily benefited rich individuals? $400 billion. Keep this in mind as Trump and DOGE lay off thousands of federal workers.

submitted 17 days ago • 90 comments

President Trump nominated David Keeling to head the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The agency is supposed to ensure worker health and safety. Keeling worked for Amazon, which was investigated by OSHA for workplace safety violations. www.osha.gov/news/newsrel...

submitted 17 days ago • 0 comments

Secrecy and no public accounting as Elon Musk spends your tax dollars and removes data and docs you paid for. New Lawsuit Seeks Musk’s Communications, Pushes Back Against DOGE’s Secretive Efforts to Invade Agencies and Evade Oversight - American Oversight americanoversight.org/new-lawsuit-...

submitted 20 days ago • 1 comment

A way forward to end erasure of data that your tax dollars paid for.

submitted 21 days ago • 0 comments

An example of the interconnections between foreign policy and flourishing financially at home: www.startribune.com/usaid-shutte...

submitted 21 days ago • 0 comments

Having worked in the Balkans w local independent media orgs, I can attest that they are part of the soft power that helps keep Americans safe at home. And yes, they receive directly or indirectly USG support. Or they did. www.ft.com/content/10b6...

submitted 24 days ago • 0 comments

Presumably, someone will let the judge overseeing this case know.

submitted 25 days ago • 0 comments

Preorder link here if you are looking for a how to book on keeping local, state and federal governments transparent. thenewpress.com/books/backro...

submitted 26 days ago • 0 comments

The states are asking to be complicit in growing federal secrecy instead of serving their Constitutional role as a check on the federal government. My book is all about local activists pressing on local, state and federal secrecy. A how-to for action now. thenewpress.com/books/b

submitted 26 days ago • 0 comments

The gathering legal storm: www.nytimes.com/2025/02/04/u...

submitted 27 days ago • 0 comments

This is a very thoughtful piece worth a read from @vermontgmg.bsky.social : www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/musk-s-jun...

submitted 29 days ago • 0 comments

Local activism can be ginned up. My forthcoming book Backroom Deals in Our Backyards shows how some people already have figured this out and offers a playbook for newbies: thenewpress.com/books/backro...

submitted 31 days ago • 0 comments

A lawsuit from Amazon re Wash State probe seeks to protect trade secrets from public disclosure. Most states are willing to do this. The problem is: who decides what is a trade secret? Usually, it's the private company b/c state/local govts generally are not equipped to figure this out.

submitted 33 days ago • 1 comment

Hello, is there an update on this data gathering website with important information about immigration? Thanks.

submitted 37 days ago • 1 comment

For many people mulling next steps after January 20, going local is a key way to have an impact and push or change. My book is all about people who made change in their communities. Backroom Deals in Our Backyards is out May 6. thenewpress.com/books/backro...

submitted 43 days ago • 1 comment

#booksky #books

submitted 52 days ago • 0 comments

Thrilled w/ praise for Backroom Deals in Our Backyards: How Government Secrecy Harms Our Communities -and the Local Heroes Fighting Back. Thanks @morisy.bsky.social, @raskin.house.gov, linda greenhouse, james hohmann & sara ganim thenewpress.com/books/backro... @thenewpress.bsky.social Pls preorder!

submitted 53 days ago • 0 comments

Taking a photo on public property where the no trespassing signs are apparently not sufficiently evident resulted in this: When defending a Florida wetland results in a trip to jail floridaphoenix.com/2024/12/12/w...

submitted 80 days ago • 0 comments

Another piece of evidence about increased government secrecy at the state/local level, which is often first pitched as a means for greater transparency. A key theme of my forthcoming book, which has an entire chapter about Alabama and secrecy: thenewpress.com/books/backro...

submitted 82 days ago • 1 comment

So excited that my book - Backroom Deals in Our Backyards - has been honored with @thenewpress.bsky.social Studs and Ida Terkel Award as @thenewpress.bsky.social reissues Studs Terkel's Division Street America. Publisher Ellen Adler described my book thusly:

submitted 104 days ago • 5 comments

Hi Blue Sky, I am a journalist, former WaPo, current freelance NYTimes. My book Backroom Deals in Our Backyards - How Government Secrecy Harms Our Communities and the Local Heroes Fighting Back will be out in May 2025. All about how to make change at the grassroots thenewpress.com/books/backro...

submitted 109 days ago • 2 comments