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Rachael Dietkus

@rdietkus.bsky.social
437 followers 395 following 16 posts

care for the public / lifelong advocate / designer / social worker / organizational ecologist / space nerd / tech ethicist / founder of www.socialworkerswho.design

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Rachael Dietkus
John Skiles Skinner @skiles.blue · 17/09/2026
Well they finally did it. DOGE got rid of my friend Anne, the only remaining person at the web design system for the entire US government. The replacement appears to be AI-generated code with no dedicated human oversight.
nextgov.com
GSA’s web design system head replaced with Treasury AI engineer
The U.S. Web Design System is intended to help the federal government build accessible and mobile-friendly websites.
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Reposted by Rachael Dietkus
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 16/07/2026
WARNER: You said you wanted to 'traumatize the federal workforce.' Give yourself a grade on how much trauma you've brought. VOUGHT: I think we've done an incredible job in running the CFPB WARNER: Don't use bureaucratic mumbo jumbo. I actually think you've done a pretty damn good job.
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 16/07/2026
Sen. Alsobrooks tells Vought "I have been waiting for the opportunity to come face to face with you" and repeatedly calls his actions "depraved" and "evil"
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Alex Hanna @alexhanna.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Today @dairinstitute.bsky.social is releasing the Luddite Lab Resource Hub. The hub hosts case studies, resources, and political education for unions, labor organizations, and workers who want to fight “AI” and automation at work. labor.dair-institute.org
Screenshot of the Luddite Lab website. The word Luddite Lab is in the top left corner. The tables in the top read: Case Studies, Primers, Resource Library, Contact Us, and About. The text below reads: “The Luddite Lab Resource Hub provides resources for unions, labor organizations, and worker-organizers fighting AI and automation at work. The lab provides strategies for worker-led governance and oversight of new technology through case studies, primers, and a resource library.” Below, there are five cards: Case Studies (Stories from worker organizers resisting AI), Primers (Applied research insights into AI, automation, and the future of work), Resource Library (Additional resources from partners), Contact Us (Ways to connect with the Luddite Lab team), and About (About the Luddite Lab project and team)
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Space @redditspaceviewes.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
Scandinavia at night from the ISS
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Space @redditspaceviewes.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
Clearest image of Pluto
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Karly Kingsley @karlykingsley.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
If Russell Vought wants a progress report on how his federal worker “trauma strategy” is performing, Virginia, who has the 2nd largest federal workforce, flipped 13 seats blue yesterday.
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Puff the Magic Hater @mskellymhayes.bsky.social · 30/10/2025
Today was a heavy one. I know folks are hurting over the harms our best efforts didn't prevent. It's not a fair fight, and these things are going to happen. Too often, the best we can do is document the damage done.
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Rachael Dietkus @rdietkus.bsky.social · 16/08/2025
Beyond excited that I get to speak at @sdingov.bsky.social (SDinGov) next month. Will you be there?! Let’s definitely connect!
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Rachael Dietkus @rdietkus.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
(1) Social workers have a professional Code of Ethics and many need to have a masters degree, a license, and tons of continuing education to do (and keep doing) what we do. (2) Understanding trauma comes from far more than a one-hour snake oil webinar (often from someone marketing to your pain).
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Jonathan B. Singer, PhD, LCSW @jbsinger.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
@laurigoldkind.bsky.social starting of #NASW2025 plenary on #ArtificialIntelligence. Great overview. #SWTech @naswsocialworkers.bsky.social
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Rachael Dietkus @rdietkus.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
But… we don’t need trauma-informed care, design, tech, policy, governance. Nah. 😏
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Shobita Parthasarathy @shobitap.org · 06/06/2025
I learned so much talking to ProPublica for this story. It's a telling window into how Trump/DOGE are using AI to shrink the government and the consequences. And even though this use is particularly ham-handed, it's a good example of the limitations of the technology more generally.🧵 @propublica.org
propublica.org
Inside the AI Prompts DOGE Used to “Munch” Contracts Related to Veterans’ Health
Experts who reviewed the code for ProPublica found numerous and troubling flaws in the system, providing a disturbing glimpse into how the Trump administration is allowing artificial intelligence to g...
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Paris Marx @parismarx.com · 27/03/2025
I was so happy to have Kate and Milo from @altusds.bsky.social on the show! The way they spoke about tech development shows how differently it can be done if the will is there. It’s so different from techies who build tools for themselves then say everyone else should just learn to code.
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Phillip T. Alden @philalden.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
Fascinating conversation. If you want to know what the U.S. Digital Service (USDS) does and why it’s being fucked up this is a good episode to listen to. I will also recommend the podcast, “System Crash” that @parismarx.com does with @brianmerchant.bsky.social. Both are excellent.
overcast.fm
DOGE Is Gutting the US Digital Service w/ Kate Green and Milo — Tech Won't Save Us
Paris Marx is joined by Kate Green and Milo to discuss how Elon Musk’s DOGE is dismantling the US Digital Service and the consequences that has on really improving service delivery in government. Kate...
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
New, from me: Trump recently issued a memo giving the Office of Personnel Management, and not agencies, final say on which new employees get to stay in government. This centralization of personnel authority tells us a lot about Trump's mode of governing. 🧵 donmoynihan.substack.com/p/centralizi...
donmoynihan.substack.com
Centralizing Personnel Authority
A new Trump move seeks to evade court orders and empower DOGE
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John Skiles Skinner @skiles.blue · 21/03/2025
I helped build a government AI system. DOGE fired me, rolled the AI out to the whole agency, and implied the AI can do my job and the jobs of the others they've fired. It can't. But, what DOGE accidentally revealed about themselves in the process is fascinating. 🧵
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 20/03/2025
NEW: In October, we published secret recordings of Russell Vought discussing plans to eviscerate entire agencies and decimate the morale of federal workers if Trump won a second term. It's hard to imagine a more prescient piece of journalism, our editor-in-chief @sengelberg.bsky.social writes.
propub.li
The October Story That Outlined Exactly What the Trump Administration Would Do to the Federal Bureaucracy
Historians have hindsight when they look into the past; journalists have the facts on the ground and context to help them look ahead. That means we can sometimes be surprised by how prescient a story ...
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Portland Digital Corps @pdxdigitalcorps.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
Thanks for all the excitement, we'll get this thing going shortly. Get on our mailing list at digitalcorpspdx.org
digitalcorpspdx.org
Digital Corps of Portland - A volunteer-powered, short-term civic tech initiative
PDX Digital Corps is a short-term civic initiative connecting tech volunteers with Portland-area organizations to solve real digital problems through focused, short-term projects.
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Rachael Dietkus @rdietkus.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
Tonight, I re-read this ‘Trauma and Design’ piece I wrote 4 years ago (May 2021) on Medium, although I could have easily written it in the last 8 weeks. It’s eerily relevant to current events. Please read + reshare. Link: medium.com/surviving-id...
medium.com
Trauma and Design
written by Rachael Dietkus, LCSW
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makena kelly @makenakelly.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
NEW: The WIRED crew takes you inside the first 6 weeks of DOGE, laying out in great detail how Elon Musk installed loyalists across government who gained access to our country's most sensitive computer systems. “This is a digital coup,” one USAID source told me. www.wired.com/story/elon-m...
wired.com
Inside Elon Musk’s ‘Digital Coup’
Musk’s loyalists at DOGE have infiltrated dozens of federal agencies, pushed out tens of thousands of workers, and siphoned millions of people’s most sensitive data. The next step: Unleash the AI.
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Nicole Tersigni @nicsigni.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
you’re fired. wait you’re rehired. email us a list of things you’ve done today wait forget it you’re fired again. come back your job was important. you’re fired. or hired. come in to the office. wait the office has no computers go home. we are the department of government efficiency.
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Alt18F @alt18f.bsky.social · 01/03/2025
18F was doing exactly the type of work that DOGE claims to want – yet we were eliminated shortly after midnight. Read our letter to the American people: 18f.org
18f.org
We're not done yet | 18F
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Mark Cuban @mcuban.bsky.social · 02/03/2025
If you worked for 18F and got fired, Group together to start a consulting company. It’s just a matter of time before DOGE needs you to fix the mess they inevitably create. They will have to hire your company as a contractor to fix it. But on your terms. I’m happy to invest and/or help
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Alt National Park Service @altnps.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Rather than violate their oath or comply with Musk’s illegal requests, 21 civil service employees resigned today from Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (formerly the United States Digital Service), stating they would not use their technical expertise to dismantle critical public services.
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Rachael Dietkus @rdietkus.bsky.social · 22/02/2025
I appreciate @donmoyn.bsky.social letting this writing on “The Weaponization of Trauma” be a guest piece on his remarkable blog, Can We Still Govern. See the link below. And listen to the @nytimes.com episode of The Daily, which was the anchor for this writing: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
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Matt Henry 🥄 @matthenry.fyi · 21/02/2025
Tag yourself. I'm "Fight, Flight, Freeze" and "Grief & Mourning."
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Alt US Digital Service @altusds.altgov.info · 22/02/2025
The US Digital Service (USDS) - now the US DOGE Service - is being weaponized by the Trump administration to target career federal employees, dismantle safeguards, and enable corruption. 👀 Read more on our site. 🔗 wethebuilders.org #DefendDemocracy #SaveOurServices #AltUSDS #fedworkers
wethebuilders.org
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Rachael Dietkus @rdietkus.bsky.social · 09/02/2025
What is your ethical stance? Civic technologists need an ethical stance – a clear articulation of what we are willing to participate in and where we draw the line. Without one, we risk becoming complicit in the very harms we sought to prevent. Read more here: lnkd.in/gdC3sCyv
An illustration of pink, orange, and yellow flames with a purple background.
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dan sinker @dansinker.com · 02/02/2025
As the more mainstream press continues to flail on this story, Wired is all fucking over it.
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Rachael Dietkus @rdietkus.bsky.social · 02/02/2025
#SWtech this post from Ariel at Beeck is important for social work students and social workers to be aware of: bsky.app/profile/arie...
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Ariel Kennan @arielmai.bsky.social · 01/02/2025
The digital infrastructure of the United States Government is both critical and fragile. Many of us who work in digital government have been trying to figure out what’s going on as norms and protocols are being subverted — Thread on some of what we know so far:
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Space @redditspaceviewes.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
The surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa Credit:NASA
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Jeana @jeana-with-a-j.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
If you're struggling to find ways to support your teams this week, this article from Harvard Business Review is a great place to start... "The Psychology Behind Effective Crisis Leadership" Thank you to @rdietkus.bsky.social for sharing it with me.
hbr.org
The Psychology Behind Effective Crisis Leadership
It is often said that a strong vision makes a good leader. But in a crisis, people don’t need a vision to inspire them–they’re already raring to act. Instead, they need what psychologists call “holdin...
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Design Observer @designobserver.com · 16/01/2025
In the latest episode of Design As, we explore how care shapes everything from daily products to our most authentic selves with @rdietkus.bsky.social. Listen to the full episode at designobserver.com/design-as-ca... or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Rachael Dietkus @rdietkus.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
This is wildly cool. I’m a bit fixated on illustrations of neurons from the 1800s and there’s a small collection of them here (and an example of one from Cajal).
Image of a neuron as illustrated in the 1800s by Cajal.
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Tony Corsentino @notalegalrecord.net · 02/01/2025
i have like six copies of this
Title page of The Oxford Handbook of Hoarding and Acquiring, part of the Oxford Library of Psychology series.
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Erika Hall @erikahall.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
I think the keys to a healthy technology ecosystem are: affordable housing, medicare for all, and student loan forgiveness/college finance reforms. There are plenty of people who would start and work for small cool companies if the cover charge for being alive weren't so high.
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Jonathan B. Singer, PhD, LCSW @jbsinger.bsky.social · 17/12/2024
Healthcare workers, are you feeling the strain? It's time to prioritize your well-being! Burnout is real, and it's more than just "work being hard". @drjessigold.bsky.social reminds us that it's a combination of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a reduced sense of personal accomplishment
socialworkpodcast.blogspot.com
How Do You Feel? Interview with Jessi Gold, MD
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Rachael Dietkus @rdietkus.bsky.social · 24/11/2024
This is one of many books on my list that I want to read sooner rather than later. If you aren’t following the Othering & Belonging Institute (not on here … yet) please do. Get on their mailing list.
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Ashlee 🤟🏻 @ashleemboyer.com · 20/11/2024
Never forget alt text again: 1. Settings 2. Accessibility 3. Require alt text before posting
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The deep painter @thedeeppainter.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
Pinky Norway lights 🌌✨
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Science Explorist @scipexplorist.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
A comet over the mountains in Osaka, Japan
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