Parisa Vinzant
@pvinzant.bsky.social
A writer, strategist, and poet. Columnist for PA TIMES. Previously served as a technology and innovation city commissioner. She/her. MPA. (DM for Signal)
Reposted by Parisa Vinzant
New, from me: Musk is not just destroying core government functions, he is also destroying the tech capacity of government.
The people with serious tech skills who care about fixing govt have been fired. Both 18F and the US Digital Service are gone.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/skilled-te...
The people with serious tech skills who care about fixing govt have been fired. Both 18F and the US Digital Service are gone.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/skilled-te...
Skilled technologists are being forced out of government
18F and USDS are gutted by DOGE
donmoynihan.substack.com
March 2, 2025 at 1:01 AM
New, from me: Musk is not just destroying core government functions, he is also destroying the tech capacity of government.
The people with serious tech skills who care about fixing govt have been fired. Both 18F and the US Digital Service are gone.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/skilled-te...
The people with serious tech skills who care about fixing govt have been fired. Both 18F and the US Digital Service are gone.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/skilled-te...
Reposted by Parisa Vinzant
Start saving now, says former SSA chief www.cnbc.com/2025/03/01/d...
Social Security has never missed a payment. DOGE actions threaten 'interruption of benefits,' ex-agency head says
New changes at the U.S. Social Security Administration may put its ability to deliver monthly benefit checks at risk, former agency head says.
www.cnbc.com
March 3, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Start saving now, says former SSA chief www.cnbc.com/2025/03/01/d...
Reposted by Parisa Vinzant
Call your Reps & Senators on Tuesday. Tell them your views on the President acting lawlessly to thwart appropriations passed by Congress.
Call them: 202-224-3121
Call them: 202-224-3121
Unconstitutional. Appropriations bills are laws. If the president is not bound by them, he can make laws by fiat and is acting like a dictator. No Democrat can vote for any appropriations or debt ceiling bill while this is happening.
Breaking news: President Donald Trump has decided to pause all future deliveries of U.S. military assistance to Ukraine in an extraordinary move aimed at pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the negotiating table with Russia.
March 4, 2025 at 1:36 AM
Call your Reps & Senators on Tuesday. Tell them your views on the President acting lawlessly to thwart appropriations passed by Congress.
Call them: 202-224-3121
Call them: 202-224-3121
Reposted by Parisa Vinzant
Unconstitutional. Appropriations bills are laws. If the president is not bound by them, he can make laws by fiat and is acting like a dictator. No Democrat can vote for any appropriations or debt ceiling bill while this is happening.
Breaking news: President Donald Trump has decided to pause all future deliveries of U.S. military assistance to Ukraine in an extraordinary move aimed at pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the negotiating table with Russia.
Live updates: Trump administration to pause deliveries of military assistance to Ukraine, officials say
The latest news on President Donald Trump’s return to the White House and the new Congress.
www.washingtonpost.com
March 4, 2025 at 1:22 AM
Unconstitutional. Appropriations bills are laws. If the president is not bound by them, he can make laws by fiat and is acting like a dictator. No Democrat can vote for any appropriations or debt ceiling bill while this is happening.
Reposted by Parisa Vinzant
All of this! Insightful analysis on what Trump, Vance and our American government did yesterday against #Ukraine from @timothysnyder.bsky.social.
open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p...
open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p...
The War Trump Chooses
That wasn't Trump against Zelens'kyi. It was Americans against reason
open.substack.com
March 1, 2025 at 6:38 PM
All of this! Insightful analysis on what Trump, Vance and our American government did yesterday against #Ukraine from @timothysnyder.bsky.social.
open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p...
open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p...
Reposted by Parisa Vinzant
Cutting half of the agency staff will harm all Social Security beneficiaries, and it may be financially devastating for some, but it will be almost universally devastating for people with disabilities. The disability benefit system is already broken, these cuts will smash it to smithereens.
February 28, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Cutting half of the agency staff will harm all Social Security beneficiaries, and it may be financially devastating for some, but it will be almost universally devastating for people with disabilities. The disability benefit system is already broken, these cuts will smash it to smithereens.
Reposted by Parisa Vinzant
Here I react to the shameful encounter between American leaders and media and the Ukrainian president. No doubt there were more, but I saw five failures on our side: of hospitality, decency, democracy, strategy, and independence. Please watch and share.
snyder.substack.com/p/five-failu...
snyder.substack.com/p/five-failu...
Five Failures in the Oval Office (video)
America hurt itself badly today.
snyder.substack.com
February 28, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Here I react to the shameful encounter between American leaders and media and the Ukrainian president. No doubt there were more, but I saw five failures on our side: of hospitality, decency, democracy, strategy, and independence. Please watch and share.
snyder.substack.com/p/five-failu...
snyder.substack.com/p/five-failu...
DOGE has until recently been quietly terminating leases of SSA offices...
A lot we still don't know but thanks to those like @levin.house.gov we may learn more about what's actually happening.
But will it be in time to 🛑 the horrible ripple effects to American seniors who rely on SSA benefits?
A lot we still don't know but thanks to those like @levin.house.gov we may learn more about what's actually happening.
But will it be in time to 🛑 the horrible ripple effects to American seniors who rely on SSA benefits?
UPDATE: we got a response from the Social Security Congressional Liaison that raises as many questions as it answers. Does not definitively confirm or deny local offices will be impacted. We will continue to get to the bottom of it.
I am deeply concerned that the DOGE website says a Social Security Office in Carlsbad, CA has been closed. Trying to get confirmation. Hands off Social Security, Elon Musk!
February 27, 2025 at 4:59 PM
DOGE has until recently been quietly terminating leases of SSA offices...
A lot we still don't know but thanks to those like @levin.house.gov we may learn more about what's actually happening.
But will it be in time to 🛑 the horrible ripple effects to American seniors who rely on SSA benefits?
A lot we still don't know but thanks to those like @levin.house.gov we may learn more about what's actually happening.
But will it be in time to 🛑 the horrible ripple effects to American seniors who rely on SSA benefits?
My latest: Survival resources for potential fed civil service #whistleblowers. Please share with a friend or colleague.
KEY pts:
-Be Wary of Internal Reporting
-Plan, Protect Yourself
But only share on truly encrypted channels like @signal.org. @aspanational.bsky.social
patimes.org/whistleblowi...
KEY pts:
-Be Wary of Internal Reporting
-Plan, Protect Yourself
But only share on truly encrypted channels like @signal.org. @aspanational.bsky.social
patimes.org/whistleblowi...
Whistleblowing: Survival Resources - PA TIMES Online
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization. By Parisa VinzantFebruary 24, 2025 If you are a federal civil servant choosing to remai...
patimes.org
February 25, 2025 at 7:17 PM
My latest: Survival resources for potential fed civil service #whistleblowers. Please share with a friend or colleague.
KEY pts:
-Be Wary of Internal Reporting
-Plan, Protect Yourself
But only share on truly encrypted channels like @signal.org. @aspanational.bsky.social
patimes.org/whistleblowi...
KEY pts:
-Be Wary of Internal Reporting
-Plan, Protect Yourself
But only share on truly encrypted channels like @signal.org. @aspanational.bsky.social
patimes.org/whistleblowi...
This article is a MUST READ from a #propaganda expert.
3 Trump social posts in 5 days decoded:
"From justification to normalization to reinforcement, this approach moves power from assertion to entertainment—until the performance itself becomes reality."
open.substack.com/pub/usamomin...
3 Trump social posts in 5 days decoded:
"From justification to normalization to reinforcement, this approach moves power from assertion to entertainment—until the performance itself becomes reality."
open.substack.com/pub/usamomin...
Trump’s Social Posts are Shaping Power
Three posts in five days working together to normalize authoritarian rhetoric.
open.substack.com
February 25, 2025 at 6:33 PM
This article is a MUST READ from a #propaganda expert.
3 Trump social posts in 5 days decoded:
"From justification to normalization to reinforcement, this approach moves power from assertion to entertainment—until the performance itself becomes reality."
open.substack.com/pub/usamomin...
3 Trump social posts in 5 days decoded:
"From justification to normalization to reinforcement, this approach moves power from assertion to entertainment—until the performance itself becomes reality."
open.substack.com/pub/usamomin...
👏Thank you, for doing your duty. In this case, resigning in protest was the only #ethical option. Otherwise these civil servants' high-in-demand #tech skills would have been weaponized against Americans and used to gut the services and benefits paid for by our tax dollars.
apnews.com/article/doge...
apnews.com/article/doge...
Federal technology staffers resign rather than help Musk and DOGE
Twenty-one civil service employees have resigned from billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, saying they're refusing to use their technical expertise to “dismantle ...
apnews.com
February 25, 2025 at 6:23 PM
👏Thank you, for doing your duty. In this case, resigning in protest was the only #ethical option. Otherwise these civil servants' high-in-demand #tech skills would have been weaponized against Americans and used to gut the services and benefits paid for by our tax dollars.
apnews.com/article/doge...
apnews.com/article/doge...
Reposted by Parisa Vinzant
This is potentially a huge deal, since it is an internal appeals board laying out criteria saying some probationary firings were illegal, e.g. for citing performance rationales with no evidence.
Could rippled out to include many more employees.
www.govexec.com/workforce/20...
Could rippled out to include many more employees.
www.govexec.com/workforce/20...
Oversight agency finds Trump’s federal worker firings unlawful, asks for some employees to be reinstated
The findings could have sweeping impacts for the tens of thousands of recently dismissed workers.
www.govexec.com
February 25, 2025 at 4:21 AM
This is potentially a huge deal, since it is an internal appeals board laying out criteria saying some probationary firings were illegal, e.g. for citing performance rationales with no evidence.
Could rippled out to include many more employees.
www.govexec.com/workforce/20...
Could rippled out to include many more employees.
www.govexec.com/workforce/20...
Reposted by Parisa Vinzant
The Trump / Musk administration’s extortion of vulnerable American ally Ukraine should be a #FrontPage and multiple day story.
Will it be?
h/t @reuters.com
www.reuters.com/business/us-...
Will it be?
h/t @reuters.com
www.reuters.com/business/us-...
Exclusive: US could cut Ukraine's access to Starlink internet services over minerals, say sources
U.S. negotiators pressing Kyiv for access to Ukraine's critical minerals have raised the possibility of cutting the country's access to Elon Musk's vital Starlink satellite internet system, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
www.reuters.com
February 22, 2025 at 1:50 AM
The Trump / Musk administration’s extortion of vulnerable American ally Ukraine should be a #FrontPage and multiple day story.
Will it be?
h/t @reuters.com
www.reuters.com/business/us-...
Will it be?
h/t @reuters.com
www.reuters.com/business/us-...
Thanks @theguardian.com for sticking up for the @apnews.com, the First amendment, and press freedom!
The ‘Gulf of America’ feud is about something bigger: Trump wants to control the media | Margaret Sullivan
The ‘Gulf of America’ feud is about something bigger: Trump wants to control the media | Margaret Sullivan
The president punished the AP for choosing its own language, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The press must show unity
www.theguardian.com
February 22, 2025 at 4:27 AM
Thanks @theguardian.com for sticking up for the @apnews.com, the First amendment, and press freedom!
"Rule #1: Believe the autocrat." Before Masha Gessen wrote Surviving Autocracy, they wrote 6 essential rules in 2016 and these rules are still relevant today. www.nybooks.com/online/2016/...
February 19, 2025 at 10:13 PM
"Rule #1: Believe the autocrat." Before Masha Gessen wrote Surviving Autocracy, they wrote 6 essential rules in 2016 and these rules are still relevant today. www.nybooks.com/online/2016/...
Hey media, this thread is important context as to why when reporting breaking news to be careful about word choice as key facts emerge. Michelle King was clearly FORCED out her job because she refused to break agency procedures. She didn't 'retire' in a vacuum. She resigned in PROTEST.
Days later, Musk’s team sought access to agency data but refused to follow proper procedures, instead plugging in an external hard drive. Ms. King resisted the request. By Monday night, both she and her chief of staff, Tiffany Flick, were out of their jobs.
February 19, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Hey media, this thread is important context as to why when reporting breaking news to be careful about word choice as key facts emerge. Michelle King was clearly FORCED out her job because she refused to break agency procedures. She didn't 'retire' in a vacuum. She resigned in PROTEST.
Rule #3 - Institutions will not save you. Before Masha Gessen of @nytimes.com wrote her book, Surviving Autocracy, they warned "it took Putin a year to take over the Russian media and 4 years to dismantle its electoral system; the judiciary collapsed unnoticed." www.nybooks.com/online/2016/...
February 19, 2025 at 7:18 AM
Rule #3 - Institutions will not save you. Before Masha Gessen of @nytimes.com wrote her book, Surviving Autocracy, they warned "it took Putin a year to take over the Russian media and 4 years to dismantle its electoral system; the judiciary collapsed unnoticed." www.nybooks.com/online/2016/...
This is autocracy. Trump is trying to take over and wield power through independent government agencies. Remind you of anyone? Yep, Putin.
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
Trump order challenges independence of FCC, FTC and financial regulators
The order is the latest example of Trump’s embrace of a broad and controversial theory of executive power. The White House is confident the Supreme Court will bless his approach.
www.washingtonpost.com
February 19, 2025 at 7:08 AM
This is autocracy. Trump is trying to take over and wield power through independent government agencies. Remind you of anyone? Yep, Putin.
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Parisa Vinzant
It is perfectly legal to know your rights and to educate others about them, too.
EVERYONE in the United States, citizen or not, has rights. I will not allow this administration to intimidate us from helping you know about them.
Here’s our shareable guide ⬇️: (pt. 1/2)
EVERYONE in the United States, citizen or not, has rights. I will not allow this administration to intimidate us from helping you know about them.
Here’s our shareable guide ⬇️: (pt. 1/2)
February 14, 2025 at 11:47 PM
It is perfectly legal to know your rights and to educate others about them, too.
EVERYONE in the United States, citizen or not, has rights. I will not allow this administration to intimidate us from helping you know about them.
Here’s our shareable guide ⬇️: (pt. 1/2)
EVERYONE in the United States, citizen or not, has rights. I will not allow this administration to intimidate us from helping you know about them.
Here’s our shareable guide ⬇️: (pt. 1/2)
YES. Yet another reason another civil servant had to resign. That's the only ethical action when faced with illegal actions such as this. Thank you, Michelle King, for your more than 30 years of public service.
He has your social security and your banking information
🚨 SCOOP 🚨
The acting Social Security commissioner has left the agency after a clash over providing DOGE access to sensitive data
It follows our reporting that DOGE is seeking access to personal financial data at the IRS for every taxpayer, business and nonprofit.
The acting Social Security commissioner has left the agency after a clash over providing DOGE access to sensitive data
It follows our reporting that DOGE is seeking access to personal financial data at the IRS for every taxpayer, business and nonprofit.
February 18, 2025 at 3:58 AM
YES. Yet another reason another civil servant had to resign. That's the only ethical action when faced with illegal actions such as this. Thank you, Michelle King, for your more than 30 years of public service.
Reposted by Parisa Vinzant
Elon Musk is making wild claims that #DOGE has found evidence of massive Social Security fraud....
The reality is that Musk's young engineers don't seem to be able to understand COBOL databases while Musk is misrepresenting the Social Security data
www.wired.com/story/elon-m...
The reality is that Musk's young engineers don't seem to be able to understand COBOL databases while Musk is misrepresenting the Social Security data
www.wired.com/story/elon-m...
No, 150-Year-Olds Aren't Collecting Social Security Benefits
Elon Musk claims to have found rampant fraud in the Social Security Administration. There's a much simpler explanation.
www.wired.com
February 17, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Elon Musk is making wild claims that #DOGE has found evidence of massive Social Security fraud....
The reality is that Musk's young engineers don't seem to be able to understand COBOL databases while Musk is misrepresenting the Social Security data
www.wired.com/story/elon-m...
The reality is that Musk's young engineers don't seem to be able to understand COBOL databases while Musk is misrepresenting the Social Security data
www.wired.com/story/elon-m...