Miloš Forman
“The cornerstone of democracy is free press – that's the cornerstone. I'm convinced if the press ... it was not possible, of course, but if the free press existed through this century, there wouldn't be Hitler there wouldn't be Stalin, there wouldn't be all this incredible price people have to pay for their freedom.”
— Miloš Forman, film director and screenwriter
2026 is the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi. Francis was not only a great saint and mystic; he was also an important poet. His most famous prayer was the poem that marked the beginning of Italian poetry.
Canticle of All Creatures DANA GIOIA
Iranian women's football team begin journey home after five withdraw asylum claims in Australia
Tlaib introduces legislation to protect whistleblowers, journalists from targeting by Espionage Act Michigan Advance
Sealed section names officials who drafted unlawful debt recovery scheme – and who were referred to corruption watchdog for further investigation
Jamelle Bouie Interview on Work Is Four Letters
GOLIKEHELLMACHINE has an interview series called Work is Four Letters he describes like this:
Most people think their jobs are boring or pointless or bullshit, but I don’t; if you look around you, everything you see was made by someone, somehow, and that’s really interesting to me. Work is Four Letters is an occasional series — edited for brevity and clarity — highlighting what people do for work and why they do it.
The conversations are informative and robust. The latest interview was with NYT columnist Jamelle Bouie and I found both his description of how he thinks about his job and the ways he DOES his job interesting. Also this nugget about our current experience:
I think the big thing that I’d like people to take away is an understanding that not everything we’re experiencing now has happened before — I reject that. The past is truly a different country. Although you can find historical analogies, they’re just that: analogies. They aren’t one-for-one equivalents. But what you can say is that past generations of Americans have had to sort out their own struggles, and have faced similar questions that we face today, similar questions about the nature of our country, the nature of who belongs here, etc., etc.
26 Useful Concepts for 2026
- Healthy User Bias: People who try supplements or practices that might have health benefits are naturally more health-conscious, and likely already healthier, than those who don’t. This is one reason there are so many studies suggesting some intervention has health benefits; they’re confusing the benefits of the intervention with the benefits of being the kind of person who tries it…”
DOGE employee stole Social Security data – put it on a thumb drive
TechCrunch: “A former employee of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiencyreportedly stole Americans’ personal data from the U.S. Social Security Administration and stored it on a thumb drive, according to a whistleblower complaint reported by The Washington Post. The former DOGE software engineer told co-workers at his new job that he “possessed two tightly restricted databases of U.S. citizens’ information” and was planning to use the information at his new company, according to the report, which added that the Social Security Administration’s inspector general is investigating the whistleblower complaint.
The former DOGE employee, whom The Washington Post did not name, worked at the Social Security Administration last year. In October he then left to work at a government contractor, where he told colleagues that he had obtained two databases, called “Numident” and the “Master Death File,” according to The Post, which reported that the databases could include records for “more than 500 million living and dead Americans, including Social Security numbers, places and dates of birth, citizenship, race and ethnicity, and parents’ names.” The man also reportedly claimed that he previously had unrestricted “God-level” access to the SSA’s systems.
A spokesperson for the Social Security Administration, which is still under control by DOGE, denied that a former employee stole data on U.S. citizens. The spokesperson said the Washington Post was “desperate for clicks and eager to publish fake news to scare seniors.” The inspector general’s office; which is independent from the Trump administration, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This is the latest case of a suspected breach of Americans’ personal data linked to DOGE and its incursion into the Social Security Administration. In January, two DOGE members were suspected of accessing and sharing Social Security numbers that were off-limits to them as part of an effort to aid an advocacy group that intended to “overturn election results in certain States,” according to a lawsuit. Another whistleblower within the agency last year said that DOGE members put Americans at risk by uploading hundreds of millions of Social Security records to a vulnerable cloud server. Also last year, a judge blocked DOGE from accessing SSA systems, accusing the Musk-led agency of being “essentially engaged in a fishing expedition” in search of fraud. ..
See also Protections For Whistleblowers and Others: Selected Agency Actions Regarding Reports of Potential Wrongdoing GAO-26-107650 – Tips and disclosures from the public, including workers, are an important source of information for agencies that enforce the law or issue regulations. However, workers who wish to notify agencies of potential wrongdoing risk reprisals from their employers and may have concerns about what their organizations’ non-disclosure and employment agreements allow. Differences in mission and statutory authority mean that federal agencies use a variety of mechanisms to protect disclosers and encourage them to report wrongdoing.
These range from providing confidentiality to those who come forward with information to incentivizing disclosures through award programs. In addition, some agencies have warned that organizations’ overly broad non-disclosure agreements are unenforceable if they contain language that restricts employees’ ability to report concerns about wrongdoing to the government.
