The whole GSA PBS (Public Buildings Services) department was fired tonight and I can't help but wonder if they thought it was the *other* PBS. Because I'm sure they're rabid about Daniel Tiger and Molly of Denali.
I no longer know which narrative I'd prefer:
1. Lots of people support what's happening
2. People voted for him but really didn't believe this would happen
3. The election was rigged.
Favorite quote of the day on the 2% risk of an asteroid hitting earth in 2032. "Every time I drink 2% milk it's milk 🤷♀️"
I used to think Stardew Valley was relaxing. Then I played with my 6yo 🙄 Do we really have to talk to everyone?
Gulf of Star Lake. Stolen from /r/pittsburgh
Perhaps a government shutdown is just what we need to remind people how important these services are. Painful, yes, but maybe it's the medicine we need right now. Airports, ports, all of it.
Nothing says "failing upwards" like getting fired for racism and then rehired based on a Twitter poll. The real fear of DEI is the impact on mediocrity.
Maybe you want to look for spikes in spending patterns so you can game the market. Maybe you just want to sell it to somebody who does.
Perhaps. But also for all of the reasons you want massive troves of information like this. One of the most successful political maneuvers in history was the purchase of MySpace so the data could be used to micro-target voters.
What Musk is doing right now is aggregating the data. Even if we stop him from infiltrating further, he's got an immense amount of data he can train models on or dig into for leverage. It's hard to take knowledge "back".
As a generalist, I caution you to beware of us. We think we can do anything. The only guardrails are humility and oversight, and when both are missing, there’s a problem.
Why not just share his Bluesky post?
Elon Musk is a terrible president.
The DEI caused the plane crash narrative is a distraction. The tariffs are a distraction. Whatever insane nonsense Trump spews that the media will chase like cats chasing a laser light is a distraction. The only story that counts right now is the wholesale hijacking of control of the US government.
Tech bros are very like the "AI" they've created: good at math and regurgitating other people's work but lacking context or deep knowledge for the problems they're trying to solve.
The newest OPM doc on the "buyout" feels suspect
Day 9.
Precedented times would be nice.
Trump and Elon are really speed running the FAFO phase of messing with government systems. On the upside, maybe people will learn how important this stuff is when they suddenly can't access it:
www.cnbc.com/2025/01/28/t...
Why @bbroome.bsky.social was fired from WaPo today.
open.substack.com/pub/bbromba/...
What are you reading right now and why?
I'm reading The Fifth Risk for TPG book club and Onyx Storm for escapism.
I saw an email like this to a federal employee today and which instructed them to report anybody working on DEI initiatives to OPM. This is a very dark timeline.
So say we all.
Once, at a Submachine show, some nazi skins came in and started seig heiling like Elon Musk. The band stopped playing and beat the crap out of them. Maybe we need to be more punk.
Have you ever woke up still mad at somebody for their in-dream behavior? How long are you allowed to stay mad? 😂
I need a new shirt to wear to tech conferences that says, "no, I don't want to talk to you about our AI strategy."
Maybe you want to work at Human Services? That's mostly what we do
Look, if the only way to shut down some of these awful nominations is to ask their moms for character references, I'm here for it.
They're not that comfortable and if the foot things that hold them together come loose they're a pain to get back in.
One of us. One of us 😂
