Stephen Barnard
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socsavvy.bsky.social
Stephen Barnard
@socsavvy.bsky.social
76 followers 70 following 6 posts
Sociologist of Media, Culture, & Technology | Department Chair | Author | Latest books: http://bit.ly/hhmed2024 | http://bit.ly/amas2020
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socsavvy.bsky.social
"transforming Juneteenth into “Juneteenth National Independence Day” against the backdrop of the past few years of retrenchment simply creates another instance of hypocrisy. What we were promised was a reckoning, whatever that meant. What we got was a day off."
The Hollowness of This Juneteenth
The holiday was always an implicit warning that what had been done could be done again.
www.theatlantic.com
June 19, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Reposted by Stephen Barnard
jacobtlevy.bsky.social
CNN commentary that is willing to be much clearer than what we're seeing in the big newspapers.
www.cnn.com/2025/01/29/p...
But winning an election doesn’t give a president a right to simply ignore the law – indeed Trump swore an oath to uphold it just nine days ago. And the government spending in question was contained in laws passed by Congress – which, under the Constitution, controls the power of the purse. Trump has the chance to write and propose new laws but can’t simply ignore those on the books. A similar disregard for the law was evident in the president’s summary dismissal of prosecutors who investigated him under former special counsel Jack Smith. The career prosecutors are not political appointees and therefore enjoy civil service protections that govern the terms of their employment. Trump and his allies have long argued that large corps of liberal bureaucrats frustrate the goals of Republican presidents. And the dozen or so officials thrown out of the DOJ were told that they could not be trusted to carry out Trump’s agenda – even though prosecutors are meant to follow the law not political agendas. The White House insists that the president’s Article Two constitutional powers mean he’s within his right to fire anyone. This is an argument headed for the courts too. Trump’s effort to repeal birth right citizenship as part of his immigration crackdown also appears to fly in the face of the Constitution – which the president lacks the powers to amend. Trump’s firing of more than a dozen watchdog officials from inside government agencies late last week seems to follow a similar principle – that a law on the books doesn’t apply to him. The statute requires Trump to give 30 days’ notice to Congress of such terminations, which he declined to do. But Miller told Tapper that the law that has been on the books for generations is unconstitutional. “Absolutely it is. I don’t even think so. I know it is,” he said. But presidents and their advisers are not kings and don’t get to decide what is constitutional. If they did, the system of US democratic governance would collapse.
January 29, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Reposted by Stephen Barnard
chrisuggen.bsky.social
Hundreds of incarcerated folks are fighting fires in California— earning between $5.80 and $10.24 per *day* plus $1 per hour during active emergencies. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
‘Essential’: nearly 800 incarcerated firefighters deployed as LA battles wildfires
The firefighters earn $5.80-$10.24 per day plus $1 an hour when responding to active emergencies, according to CDCR
www.theguardian.com
January 11, 2025 at 3:40 PM
socsavvy.bsky.social
And just like that, we're back to the era of color-blind racism (and other -isms) at Meta. Not surprising, but definitely disappointing....
caseynewton.bsky.social Casey Newton @caseynewton.bsky.social · Jan 10
NEW: Meta just killed its diversity, equity and inclusion program. Employees aren't buying the company's argument that it's the result of a 'shifting legal landscape.' What they're saying inside the company ➡️ www.platformer.news/meta-kills-d...
Another employee noted in an internal post how reactive the company had become, dramatically changing policies and positions based on one relatively close election. "It's a bit crazy, just thinking that if the election result was different — none of this would happen? Does it mean we were doing things that we did not believe in? Are we going to have such big changes every time power shifts?" Responded another employee: "Apparently the current direction of the wind is the way we 'lean in.'"
January 10, 2025 at 8:52 PM
socsavvy.bsky.social
I'm excited to announce the official release of my newest book, Hacking Hybrid Media: Power and Practice in an Age of Manipulation. The book, published by Oxford University Press, is based on five years of mixed method research examining manipulative media practices.
December 7, 2024 at 2:32 AM