Croc
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lightcroc.bsky.social
Croc
@lightcroc.bsky.social
25 followers 12 following 360 posts
a place to vent, please ignore
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lightcroc.bsky.social
They hate you and want you to suffer

www.cbsnews.com/news/nih-lay...
Among the cuts on Friday were around 50 employees at the NIH's National Cancer Institute, or NCI. They had worked in the institute's Office of Communications and Public Liaison overseeing programs like the Cancer Information Service, which provides answers to doctors and patients about cancer, and updates to databases summarizing cancer information for healthcare providers.
May 6, 2025 at 2:50 AM
lightcroc.bsky.social
I had a dream that I read this quote on an informational plaque next to a memorial shaped like a coffin dedicated to all who lost their lives as a result of the illegal USAID shutdown

www.politico.com/news/2025/04...
The State Department official pushed back on the idea that Rubio was against a full shutdown of the agency: “Any assertion that we are looking to keep USAID operational is categorically false.”
April 19, 2025 at 1:23 PM
lightcroc.bsky.social
For those (like me) who are wondering, Kenneth Jackson was a political appointee at USAID and was instrumental to its dismantling. Not hard to guess what his plans are for USIP.

www.npr.org/sections/goa...
Over the weekend, USAID staff were told in an email by Ken Jackson, assistant to the administrator for management and resources, that the "pause on all foreign assistance means a complete halt" and that USAID staff should help ensure that aid work aligns with Trump's America First policy and that staff who to ignore these orders could be disciplined. NPR obtained a copy of the email. "Failure to abide by this directive, or any of the directives sent out earlier this week and in the coming weeks, will result in disciplinary action. I will hold leaders accountable to ensure their employees adhere to these expectations," the email said. "We have a responsibility to support the President in achieving his vision. This will require each of us to be flexible, to work at a pace we may not be accustomed to, to challenge the basic assumptions surrounding foreign aid, and to make decisions that ensure the United States becomes safer, stronger, and more prosperous."
March 18, 2025 at 4:42 AM
lightcroc.bsky.social
*giving a TED talk, gesturing wildly at my slides* THIS is how you build a social network
Karen: I have only 9 posts. Gonna have to get my skeets on. Karen: I'm sorry I said that. Jeremy: You were right to say it Karen, say it with your whole chest, get your skeet on
November 13, 2024 at 6:44 AM
lightcroc.bsky.social
This does a great job of explaining the coming mass deportation program and how little our institutions can or will do to stop it. Really fucking bleak when the silver lining is that the scale of the misery that 47 is promising is not physically possible

radleybalko.substack.com/p/trumps-dep...
So in sum, we’d have a deportation army working for a DHS or DOJ staffed with Trump loyalists who don’t believe in birthright citizenship, don’t believe that even naturalized citizens are “real” citizens, and who, like Trump, believe immigration enforcement officers should be “unleashed” from the constraints that come with respecting the rights of the people they detain. And if they should illegally beat or shoot someone, or mistakenly deport a U.S. citizen or legal resident, Trump’s DOJ won’t prosecute them*, and they can’t be sued. Every incentive nudges them toward cruelty, exuberance, and erring on the side of arrest, and there’s really no disincentive for going too far. (*The federal courts have thrown out attempts by state prosecutors to criminally charge federal law enforcement officers under state law.)
November 11, 2024 at 2:55 AM
lightcroc.bsky.social
I have a whole episode of Last Week Tonight written out in my head (minus the comedy, I'm not good at that) about Loper Bright and Trump vs. US. I'm really hoping we actually will see something like it.
So, what can we do? Well, the best way to fend off dictators is to never let them take power in the first place. Before anything else, we need to vote to ensure that Trump is decisively defeated in November. Now, hold on, before you punch your TV or throw your phone across the room, I know how tired you are of hearing people tell you that, and I know how insufficient it sounds as a solution. And you're absolutely right! To be clear, with this Supreme Court in place, voting on its own is simply not enough to prevent America from tipping over into totalitarianism. It will likely take years of concerted effort to repair our constitutional guard rails. But we can only ever hope to do that if the people in power do not abuse their absence. So far, only one candidate has pledged not to take advantage of the executive branch's new immunity, and it is not Trump.
July 15, 2024 at 5:07 PM
lightcroc.bsky.social
Even severe weather is trying to suppress media accountability these days
Screenshot of a headline from The Weather Channel: "Major Hurricane Beryl's Next Target - Videos from The Weather Channel"
July 2, 2024 at 3:45 PM