#Agency for International Development

[robpegoraro]

Weekly output: Musk digitally deleting USAID, Arm vs. Qualcomm, U.K. vs. Apple, 8K TV, Bletchley Park

One of this week’s published stories began with reporting weeks ago; another began with notes and photos taken months ago. 2/3/2025: Musk’s Minions Deleting Digital Presence of US International Development Agency, PCMag I could not just write about the weird digital erasure Elon Musk and his goons have been inflicting on the online presence of the U.S. Agency for International Development without…

[saywhat-politics]

Elon Musk's attempt to unilaterally dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development likely violated the United States Constitution, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang ordered Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency to immediately give USAID employees access to their "email, payment, security notification, and all other electronic systems," and ordered a pause on any efforts to shut down USAID.

[pettytiredandjewish]

IMPORTANT

Hey- To those who works in museums and libraries:

Trump just signed an executive order to dismantle the institute of museum and library services

(and six other federal agencies: the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, the U.S. Agency for Global Media, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, and the Minority Business Development Agency.)

Please spread the word

[justinspoliticalcorner]

David Badash at NCRM:

Legal and political experts are raising alarms over what they describe as a deepening constitutional crisis after associates and close allies of Elon Musk—whom President Donald Trump appointed to lead the newly created temporary Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—reportedly gained access to or locked employees out of at least four federal agencies: the U.S. Treasury, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the General Services Administration (GSA). “USAID being unlawfully dismantled. DOGE member has closed HQ. New tranche of workers cut off email,” wrote the former Assistant USAID Administrator for Global Health, Atul Gawande. “Staff tell me, ‘It is frightening being inside USAID right now. Our checks and balances failed. Congress has abdicated its responsibilities.’ And Sec. [of State Marco] Rubio has abdicated his.” The Atlantic’s Norman Ornstein is a political scientist and co-author of the book, “It’s Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided With the New Politics of Extremism.” Dr. Ornstein writes, “All of this is completely illegal; we have people who are not a part of government staging a coup right in front of our eyes. Not a single Republican in Congress objecting, Democrats floundering, the press treating it as a misdemeanor. Beyond frightening.” “This is how democracy dies,” responded economist Tony Annett, a 16-year veteran of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). “The opposition does nothing. The media play it down. The bureaucrats comply.” Longtime congressional reporter Jamie Dupree writes, “Congress approved money to run USAID. Trump is evidently ready to shut it down. The Constitutional crisis may already be here.”

Unelected coup leader Elon Musk’s unlawfully destroying several agencies under the shield of the scam agency known as Department of Government Efficiency has brought us towards a constitutional crisis. #MuskCoup

See Also:

Steady (Dan Rather): Doing Trump’s Dirty Work

Dispatches From A Collapsing State (Jared Yates Sexton): A Coup in Plain Sight: An Explainer as the Crisis Solidifies

[allthegeopolitics]

A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to restore funding for hundreds of foreign aid contractors who say they’ve been devastated by President Donald Trump’s abrupt — and in their view illegal — 90-day blanket freeze. U.S. District Judge Amir Ali, a Washington, D.C.-based appointee of President Joe Biden, said the Trump administration failed to account for the extraordinary harm caused by the broad-based halt to foreign aid.

Continue Reading.

[blondebrainpowered]

A child drinks from a water tap in the town of San Lorenzo, constructed by USAID/Ecuador, in 2003.

Before the construction of this water system, families in the community of Calderon in the San Lorenzo municipality of Ecuador were forced to obtain their water supply from unprotected and contaminated sources, which caused illness and disease among the people. USAID’s Northern Border Development Program built this water system in 2002 and it benefits around 450 community members.

This photo won third place in a photo contest commemorating the 50th anniversary of USAID, in 2011. The water taps were installed by the USAID Northern Border Development Program in Ecuador, in conjunction with the UN's International Organization for Migration. The program also included infrastructure like roads, canals and bridges.

An audit by the USAID Inspector General concluded that the program had achieved about 90% of its planned results. The report was very recently removed from the USAID website, but can still be found on the Internet Archive.

[jacksproject2025]

Warm your hands by the fires of the burning deep state. 😌

[theeleventhsignofthezodiac]

USAID (United States Agency for International Development) logo

[arcaneartiste]

In case you've been wondering where I've been the last year and a half- I was a graphic designer for USAID's Bureau for the Middle East. (Contractor, but still!) It was a crazy and incredible ride, but also as you can imagine it took a lot from me emotionally. I worked with some of the most incredible people in the world and got to publicize amazing projects.

I was told to stop work on January 27th due to the foreign aid stop work order. It's been three months and I'm on the job market. It's absolutely sucked. I've been furloughed before, but last time it wasn't international news. Processing losing your job sucks enough without also processing the collapse of the US government 🙃

My portfolio website is now the one place on the web where some fact sheets about USAID's work in the Middle East still survive, so I'd appreciate if if you could check that out. We did some amazing work, and I'm gutted that the current administration is flushing that down the toilet.

Please advocate to Congress for international aid. I don't think people here in the US realize the sheer scale of USAID. The US provided major funding to the UN, WHO, and innumerable large and small organizations across the globe. Now these organizations aren't getting the funds that they were promised (ie. appropriated funds), let alone any new funds.

I'm lucky to have a selfie from my first day in-office at USAID and a selfie from my last day (which was the day of the stop work order). I designed the office sign I'm standing next to :)

[youthchronical]

Emboldened by Trump, Serbia’s Leader Cracks Down on Activist Groups

Unable to calm student-led protests that just kept growing, Serbia’s strongman leader, Aleksandar Vucic, reached for some tried-and-tested scapegoats, unleashing his media attack dogs on foreign-financed groups that have nettled him for years. But what started as a familiar ritual of intimidation against groups that document issues like corruption, human rights abuses and electoral fraud — and…

[saywhat-politics]

By  GARY FIELDSUpdated 6:38 AM MST, February 27, 2025Share

WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of U.S. Agency for International Development workers who have been fired or placed on leave as part of the Trump administration’s dismantling of the agency were being given a 15-minute window Thursday and Friday to clear out their workspaces.

The first USAID workers arrived under heavily overcast skies for what appears likely to be their final visit to the now-closed Washington headquarters of the 6-decade-old aid agency. A small and somber group of supporters greeted them.

Large numbers of federal officers also were waiting outside, with at least seven intercepting one of the first workers who appeared, rolling a suitcase behind him, to escort him inside. While larger bureaus at the agency are urging supporters to turn up to “clap out” staffers over the next two days, a Trump administration ban on USAID staffers speaking publicly also has many fearing retaliation if they speak publicly.

[jessica-marie-baumgartner]

Now we know why so many government organizations pushed the "starving children in third world countries" narrative.

Americans are generally good people who want to help others. But instead of helping others, USAID was feeding the terrorists who kill the starving children they so heartily preached about. I don't want a refund, I want retribution. And I'm not talking about money.

No amount of money can compensate for the damage USAID caused. None. I want prosecutions. I want everyone who authorized propaganda, payments to terrorists, and dirty dealings to finish out their days behind bars or face the full punishment for treason.

[downthetubes]

Lakes International Comic Art Festival launches UK Development Agency for Comics

The Lakes International Comic Art Festival (LICAF) has announced it has formalised its role as the UK Development Agency for Comics. The new Agency for Comics will be based in Barrow-in-Furness, where the Government and private sector is investing in a bold programme of cultural renewal. The announcement was made at a reception held in the UK’s House of Commons yesterday, Wednesday 30th April,…

[jyou-no-sonoko19]

Seasons of Lilith is currently close to the end of its first arc, and I thought it would be fun to get it back in the tag, rather than reblogging the same post, which is stuck in its comfy orbit.

If you're feeling nostalgic for CAoS and if you read Answers for Mary, please consider picking up SoL, which I humbly believe to be a solid development of the style and themes of AfM. For a neat breakdown of the AfMverse timeline, as well as links to all the small fics that fall before AfM, between it and SoL, and after SoL, check out this post.

SEASONS OF LILITH CHAPTERS, ARC ONE:

Chapter One: A Path Obscured Chapter Two: Prevention is Better Chapter Three: Seals and Scaffolding Chapter Four: A Feeling That Persists Chapter Five: Atmospheric Pressure Chapter Six: To Converse, with Past and Future Chapter Seven: False Equivalence Chapter Eight: Expectations Chapter Nine: Prelude, in Reproach Sharp Chapter Ten: Onward and Inward Chapter Eleven: The Memory of Bones Chapter Twelve: Postpartum, fragment i Chapter Thirteen: Postpartum, fragment ii Chapter Fourteen: Postpartum, fragment iii Chapter Fifteen: Postpartum, abscedo  Chapter Sixteen: Creatures of Limbo Chapter Seventeen: Precarities of Trust Chapter Eighteen: Breathing Room Chapter Nineteen: Guilt by Omission Chapter Twenty: Outsiders Chapter Twenty-one: Conditional Release Chapter Twenty-two: Poco a poco Chapter Twenty-three: Abeyance of Vision Chapter Twenty-four: Confessions and Heresies (of the Heart)  Chapter Twenty-five: No Less Defiant in Knots Chapter Twenty-six: La Grande Trompeuse

[jordenb12]

How can a law firm leverage video content to improve SEO and client engagement?

[thepastisalreadywritten]