That was deliberate same with Mrs Biden wearing a red dress on election day. He weren't happy.
Canada needs a D.O.G.E.
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DOGE taxing a sledgehammer to government waste..
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Here's how to check if your employer is spying on you
While there's no foolproof way to know whether you're being monitored, some techniques could provide insight
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Danielle Abril
Published Feb 11, 2025 • Last updated 1 day ago • 6 minute read
Employee work is monitored concept.
Employee work is monitored concept.
While President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service continues to shake up government, some federal workers are increasingly concerned their work communications could be monitored and used against them.
The reality is, your bosses may be able to see everything you’re doing on your phone or computer. So how can you be sure?
Employers have a growing number of ways to keep tabs on workers. They can gather details from common workplace apps and use monitoring software to see what’s happening on the company’s WiFi. For some employers, the goal may be to protect sensitive company information or track employee performance, but there are bigger privacy implications for employees.
“There’s little transparency,” said Hayley Tsukayama, associate director of legislative activism at the digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). “Even figuring out what is on your computer can be a huge step to figuring out how you want to deal with it.” (Tsukayama is a former tech reporter at The Washington Post.)
While there’s no foolproof way to know whether you’re being monitored, some techniques could provide insight, according to privacy and security experts. It also may be a good time to consider locking down your personal communications, too, with office mandates taking effect and the government gaining access to federal workers’ sensitive information.
– – –
Know what tech is riskiest
You’re at a higher risk for spying if you’re using a company-issued device, which offers the least privacy and will ultimately return to your employer, experts say. But you also could be exposed if you downloaded work software on your personal device or use your job’s networks. To be safe, do these checks on any device or network you use for work.
– – –
Check your devices for tracking software
There are a few settings on your smartphones and computers that may allow for your workplace to remotely monitor you.
Check to see whether your device has mobile device management software, or MDM, installed. It allows your employer to remotely monitor your activities and take control of the devices. On an iPhone, go to Settings → General → VPN & Device Management. You should see a profile listed if your employer is using the software. On an Android, search for a setting called Device Admin Apps. (The setting name may differ slightly depending on your device.) On a Windows laptop, go to Settings → Accounts → Access Work or School. It’s under Privacy & Security → Profiles on a Mac.
Another way to check for employer software – also called “bossware” – is to review what’s running in your laptop’s background by checking your task manager or activity monitor, Tsukayama said. For quick access on PCs, press Ctrl + Alt + Delete. On a Mac, you can access the activity monitor by clicking on Utilities in your apps folder. Scroll through the list of running apps and Google the ones you don’t recognize.
Coworker.org, an organization that aims to support workers, offers a list of bossware and employment tech. Note that some programs may be invisible to you, Tsukayama said, citing EFF research.
Look for remote sharing settings, which would allow your employer to remotely control your device, including the microphone and camera, advises privacy researchers Diana Freed, a fellow at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, and Julio Poveda, a PhD student at the University of Maryland. On Macs, it will be under System Settings → General → Sharing. On Windows, it should be under Settings → System.
Finally, check to see whether you are the administrator of your device. Start-up screens may ask you to log in as a separate user than the administrator, or your computer may prompt you for an administrative password anytime you try to download an app. That could indicate your employer has control, Tsukayama said.
– – –
Inspect your extensions and apps
Scroll through all of the applications installed on your laptop and research any you don’t know. Which are regularly asking you to install updates? Are you familiar with what those apps do? Were you ever asked to install an app for troubleshooting with your IT department?
“Be curious,” Tsukayama advised. “Look for the marketing material for the app you find. They will often list, as features, the things they can do.”
Check your web browser extensions, recommends Mark Ostrowski, an engineering lead at cybersecurity firm Check Point Software Technologies. If you have browser extensions that are part of your company’s security tools, they will probably make themselves known, he added. A pop-up might warn you not to put patient information into ChatGPT, for example. Or it may say that it’s checking downloaded files for malicious content.
While these extensions usually monitor for security issues, they can also track user habits. If the company decided to audit you, it may see that you’ve been spending half the day shopping on Amazon, Ostrowski said.
– – –
Understand your network
Using your company’s WiFi or virtual private network (VPN) could also leave you exposed.
Even if you’re on a personal device on a work network, your employer may be able to see activities including messages, browsing activity and social media posts, Ostrowski said. Any traffic flowing through a company VPN, which companies often use for security purposes, can also be monitored, Freed and Poveda said. Use your personal hotspot over company connections for personal activities. You can also use a personal VPN on a personal laptop without company software on the work WiFi, Ostrowski said.
– – –
Don’t trust apps you use for work
A lot of your activities are collected by your workplace apps. Even if you don’t use company devices or networks, your boss still may be able to get a sense of what you’re typing, searching or saying.
Tools like Microsoft Office, Slack, Google Workplace and Zoom often track user activity for safety, security or compliance. But they also allow administrator accounts (that’s your employer) to retrieve information in some cases.
“If I [an employer] want to look at the content of the email that you’re sending through the corporate account, that can be done today directly between the [software provider] and the company’s security team,” Ostrowski said. “There’s no way for the employee to see that.”
That means your employer may be able to see an email you sent your doctor or a message to your colleague criticizing your boss. It could see how many meetings you attended and whether you had your camera or microphone on during them.
AI technologies are coming that can offer companies new, more thorough opportunities for surveillance in the future.
– – –
Know your rights
“Workers don’t have a lot of legal rights” in this context, Tsukayama said. “So you don’t have much ground to push back.”
What can you do? Review your workplace policies. Not all employers will outline the surveillance they use, but some do, Tsukayama said. If you are part of a union, ask for guidance and rely on it when you have concerns. You can also ask the IT department directly.
The best protection? Keep your personal and work data separate. If you’re worried about your employer seeing your child’s baby pictures, sensitive medical information or flirtatious text messages to your partner, keep them off work devices, if possible. Even if it means carrying two phones.
“Once you put it out there, just assume it can be seen,” Ostrowski said.
torontosun.com
While there's no foolproof way to know whether you're being monitored, some techniques could provide insight
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Danielle Abril
Published Feb 11, 2025 • Last updated 1 day ago • 6 minute read
Employee work is monitored concept.
Employee work is monitored concept.
While President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service continues to shake up government, some federal workers are increasingly concerned their work communications could be monitored and used against them.
The reality is, your bosses may be able to see everything you’re doing on your phone or computer. So how can you be sure?
Employers have a growing number of ways to keep tabs on workers. They can gather details from common workplace apps and use monitoring software to see what’s happening on the company’s WiFi. For some employers, the goal may be to protect sensitive company information or track employee performance, but there are bigger privacy implications for employees.
“There’s little transparency,” said Hayley Tsukayama, associate director of legislative activism at the digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). “Even figuring out what is on your computer can be a huge step to figuring out how you want to deal with it.” (Tsukayama is a former tech reporter at The Washington Post.)
While there’s no foolproof way to know whether you’re being monitored, some techniques could provide insight, according to privacy and security experts. It also may be a good time to consider locking down your personal communications, too, with office mandates taking effect and the government gaining access to federal workers’ sensitive information.
– – –
Know what tech is riskiest
You’re at a higher risk for spying if you’re using a company-issued device, which offers the least privacy and will ultimately return to your employer, experts say. But you also could be exposed if you downloaded work software on your personal device or use your job’s networks. To be safe, do these checks on any device or network you use for work.
– – –
Check your devices for tracking software
There are a few settings on your smartphones and computers that may allow for your workplace to remotely monitor you.
Check to see whether your device has mobile device management software, or MDM, installed. It allows your employer to remotely monitor your activities and take control of the devices. On an iPhone, go to Settings → General → VPN & Device Management. You should see a profile listed if your employer is using the software. On an Android, search for a setting called Device Admin Apps. (The setting name may differ slightly depending on your device.) On a Windows laptop, go to Settings → Accounts → Access Work or School. It’s under Privacy & Security → Profiles on a Mac.
Another way to check for employer software – also called “bossware” – is to review what’s running in your laptop’s background by checking your task manager or activity monitor, Tsukayama said. For quick access on PCs, press Ctrl + Alt + Delete. On a Mac, you can access the activity monitor by clicking on Utilities in your apps folder. Scroll through the list of running apps and Google the ones you don’t recognize.
Coworker.org, an organization that aims to support workers, offers a list of bossware and employment tech. Note that some programs may be invisible to you, Tsukayama said, citing EFF research.
Look for remote sharing settings, which would allow your employer to remotely control your device, including the microphone and camera, advises privacy researchers Diana Freed, a fellow at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, and Julio Poveda, a PhD student at the University of Maryland. On Macs, it will be under System Settings → General → Sharing. On Windows, it should be under Settings → System.
Finally, check to see whether you are the administrator of your device. Start-up screens may ask you to log in as a separate user than the administrator, or your computer may prompt you for an administrative password anytime you try to download an app. That could indicate your employer has control, Tsukayama said.
– – –
Inspect your extensions and apps
Scroll through all of the applications installed on your laptop and research any you don’t know. Which are regularly asking you to install updates? Are you familiar with what those apps do? Were you ever asked to install an app for troubleshooting with your IT department?
“Be curious,” Tsukayama advised. “Look for the marketing material for the app you find. They will often list, as features, the things they can do.”
Check your web browser extensions, recommends Mark Ostrowski, an engineering lead at cybersecurity firm Check Point Software Technologies. If you have browser extensions that are part of your company’s security tools, they will probably make themselves known, he added. A pop-up might warn you not to put patient information into ChatGPT, for example. Or it may say that it’s checking downloaded files for malicious content.
While these extensions usually monitor for security issues, they can also track user habits. If the company decided to audit you, it may see that you’ve been spending half the day shopping on Amazon, Ostrowski said.
– – –
Understand your network
Using your company’s WiFi or virtual private network (VPN) could also leave you exposed.
Even if you’re on a personal device on a work network, your employer may be able to see activities including messages, browsing activity and social media posts, Ostrowski said. Any traffic flowing through a company VPN, which companies often use for security purposes, can also be monitored, Freed and Poveda said. Use your personal hotspot over company connections for personal activities. You can also use a personal VPN on a personal laptop without company software on the work WiFi, Ostrowski said.
– – –
Don’t trust apps you use for work
A lot of your activities are collected by your workplace apps. Even if you don’t use company devices or networks, your boss still may be able to get a sense of what you’re typing, searching or saying.
Tools like Microsoft Office, Slack, Google Workplace and Zoom often track user activity for safety, security or compliance. But they also allow administrator accounts (that’s your employer) to retrieve information in some cases.
“If I [an employer] want to look at the content of the email that you’re sending through the corporate account, that can be done today directly between the [software provider] and the company’s security team,” Ostrowski said. “There’s no way for the employee to see that.”
That means your employer may be able to see an email you sent your doctor or a message to your colleague criticizing your boss. It could see how many meetings you attended and whether you had your camera or microphone on during them.
AI technologies are coming that can offer companies new, more thorough opportunities for surveillance in the future.
– – –
Know your rights
“Workers don’t have a lot of legal rights” in this context, Tsukayama said. “So you don’t have much ground to push back.”
What can you do? Review your workplace policies. Not all employers will outline the surveillance they use, but some do, Tsukayama said. If you are part of a union, ask for guidance and rely on it when you have concerns. You can also ask the IT department directly.
The best protection? Keep your personal and work data separate. If you’re worried about your employer seeing your child’s baby pictures, sensitive medical information or flirtatious text messages to your partner, keep them off work devices, if possible. Even if it means carrying two phones.
“Once you put it out there, just assume it can be seen,” Ostrowski said.
Here's how to check if your employer is spying on you
While there's no foolproof way to know whether you're being monitored, some techniques could provide insight
Al Qaida terrorist’s college tuition funded by USAID, records show
Author of the article
enette Wilford
Published Feb 11, 2025 • Last updated 1 day ago • 3 minute read
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) provided “full funding” for an al-Qaida terrorist to attend college in Colorado, unearthed documents appear to show.
This wild discovery comes as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) continues to investigate U.S. government agencies, looking for cases of overspending, corruption and fraud.
Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born jihadist, was killed in a 2011 drone strike in Yemen. A central figure in al Qaida, he had contact with military psychiatrist Nidal Hasan before the latter shot 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009, officials said at the time, according to Fox News.
USAID, an independent agency and main international humanitarian and development arm of the U.S. government, managed more than $40 billion in combined appropriations, accounting for around 40% of the globe’s aid budget.
However, DOGE and Republican lawmakers have accused USAID for bankrolling numerous questionable programs over the years, with DOGE head Elon Musk launching a sweeping funding freeze that has shut down most of the agency’s programs around the world.
A copy of a document that appears to show a USAID form dated June 1990 was shared widely on social media. It outlined that al-Awlaki was granted funding to attend the college by fraudulently claiming he was a Yemeni national and qualified for an exchange visa.
The unearthed document previously was reported by George Washington University’s research and archival institution, the National Security Archive, Fox News noted.
“This form, dated 1990, confirms that Anwar al-Awlaki was qualified for an exchange visa and that USAID was providing ‘full funding’ for his studies at Colorado State University,” the archive, which included a copy of the document, reported in 2015.
“The document lists Anwar’s birthplace incorrectly as Sanaa, Yemen’s capital, which he later said was a deliberate falsehood offered at the urging of American officials who knew his father so that he could qualify for a scholarship reserved for foreign citizens.”
When asked to list an address, the document reports that al-Awlaki listed his address as “c/o USAID/Sana’a.”
Colorado State University confirmed to the outlet that al-Awlaki attended the school “under the name spelling of Anwar Alaulaqi,” from 1990-94, graduating with a Bachelor’s of Science in civil engineering.
He worked as a Muslim cleric in Denver, San Diego and Falls Church, Va., before moving to Yemen in 2004.
But four years before that, Al-Awlaki was preaching at a San Diego mosque where he reportedly first met Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi, two of the 9/11 hijackers, Fox reported.
Al-Awlaki was arrested in 2006 in Yemen on suspicion of holding terrorist ties, with U.S. intelligence viewing him as a terrorist sympathizer until about 2009, NBC News previously reported.
That year, he was linked to the Fort Hood shooting as well as the attempted bombing of a flight to Detroit on Christmas Day.
The Obama administration authorized operations to capture or kill al-Awlaki in 2010, with a drone strike in Yemen on Sept. 30, 2011 ultimately sealing his fate.
The unearthed document reportedly connecting al-Awlaki to USAID funding comes as Musk works on dismantling the agency, which the Tesla CEO dubbed a “criminal organization.”
Trump said in an interview with Fox News over the weekend that his administration and DOGE are on a mission to cut government waste.
“We have to solve the efficiency problem,” Trump said.
“We have to solve the fraud, waste, abuse, all the things that have gone into the government. You take a look at the USAID, the kind of fraud in there.”
foxnews.com
torontosun.com
Author of the article
enette WilfordPublished Feb 11, 2025 • Last updated 1 day ago • 3 minute read
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) provided “full funding” for an al-Qaida terrorist to attend college in Colorado, unearthed documents appear to show.
This wild discovery comes as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) continues to investigate U.S. government agencies, looking for cases of overspending, corruption and fraud.
Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born jihadist, was killed in a 2011 drone strike in Yemen. A central figure in al Qaida, he had contact with military psychiatrist Nidal Hasan before the latter shot 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009, officials said at the time, according to Fox News.
USAID, an independent agency and main international humanitarian and development arm of the U.S. government, managed more than $40 billion in combined appropriations, accounting for around 40% of the globe’s aid budget.
However, DOGE and Republican lawmakers have accused USAID for bankrolling numerous questionable programs over the years, with DOGE head Elon Musk launching a sweeping funding freeze that has shut down most of the agency’s programs around the world.
A copy of a document that appears to show a USAID form dated June 1990 was shared widely on social media. It outlined that al-Awlaki was granted funding to attend the college by fraudulently claiming he was a Yemeni national and qualified for an exchange visa.
The unearthed document previously was reported by George Washington University’s research and archival institution, the National Security Archive, Fox News noted.
“This form, dated 1990, confirms that Anwar al-Awlaki was qualified for an exchange visa and that USAID was providing ‘full funding’ for his studies at Colorado State University,” the archive, which included a copy of the document, reported in 2015.
“The document lists Anwar’s birthplace incorrectly as Sanaa, Yemen’s capital, which he later said was a deliberate falsehood offered at the urging of American officials who knew his father so that he could qualify for a scholarship reserved for foreign citizens.”
When asked to list an address, the document reports that al-Awlaki listed his address as “c/o USAID/Sana’a.”
Colorado State University confirmed to the outlet that al-Awlaki attended the school “under the name spelling of Anwar Alaulaqi,” from 1990-94, graduating with a Bachelor’s of Science in civil engineering.
He worked as a Muslim cleric in Denver, San Diego and Falls Church, Va., before moving to Yemen in 2004.
But four years before that, Al-Awlaki was preaching at a San Diego mosque where he reportedly first met Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi, two of the 9/11 hijackers, Fox reported.
Al-Awlaki was arrested in 2006 in Yemen on suspicion of holding terrorist ties, with U.S. intelligence viewing him as a terrorist sympathizer until about 2009, NBC News previously reported.
That year, he was linked to the Fort Hood shooting as well as the attempted bombing of a flight to Detroit on Christmas Day.
The Obama administration authorized operations to capture or kill al-Awlaki in 2010, with a drone strike in Yemen on Sept. 30, 2011 ultimately sealing his fate.
The unearthed document reportedly connecting al-Awlaki to USAID funding comes as Musk works on dismantling the agency, which the Tesla CEO dubbed a “criminal organization.”
Trump said in an interview with Fox News over the weekend that his administration and DOGE are on a mission to cut government waste.
“We have to solve the efficiency problem,” Trump said.
“We have to solve the fraud, waste, abuse, all the things that have gone into the government. You take a look at the USAID, the kind of fraud in there.”
The Anwar al-Awlaki File
Anwar al-Awlaki FBI surveillance, graduate school application, drone killing legal justifications, other documents from Scott Shane's book, Objective Troy
nsarchive2.gwu.edu
USAID reportedly bankrolled al Qaeda terrorist's college tuition, unearthed records show
USAID reportedly fully funded al-Qaeda terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki's tuition in the early 1990s to attend Colorado State University, unearthed document purport to show.
Al Qaida terrorist’s college tuition funded by USAID, records show
USAID provided “full funding” for an al Qaeda terrorist to attend college in Colorado, unearthed documents appear to show.
The Govt of Canada: Working for everybody except Canada and Canadians.
There needs to be a provincial counterpart as well. I dunno about the other provinces but there are at least a few school boards in Ontario that desperately need to be forensically audited.
I'd say the same in NB too, ESPECIALLY where we have two different Education Authorities (and 2 Health Authorities)
Axed U.S. federal workers face relatives who celebrate their firing
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Matt Sedensky
Published Mar 07, 2025 • 4 minute read
NEW YORK — Scrambling to replace their health insurance and to find new work, some laid-off federal workers are running into another unexpected unpleasantry: Relatives cheering their firing.
The country’s bitterly tribal politics are spilling into text chains, social media posts and heated conversations as Americans absorb the reality of the government’s cost-cutting measures. Expecting sympathy, some axed workers are finding family and friends who instead are steadfast in their support of what they see as a bloated government’s waste.
“I’ve been treated as a public enemy by the government and now it’s bleeding into my own family,” says 24-year-old Luke Tobin, who was fired last month from his job as a technician with the U.S. Forest Service in Idaho’s Nez Perce National Forest.
Tobin’s job loss sent him scurrying to fill prescriptions before he lost his health insurance and filling out dozens of applications to find whatever work he can, even if it’s at a fast-food restaurant. But some relatives reacting to his firing as “what has to happen to make the government great again” has been one of the worst parts of the entire ordeal.
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“They can’t separate their ideology and their politics from supporting their own family and their own loved ones,” says Tobin.
Kristin Jenn got a similar response from members of her family after she learned the National Park Service ranger job she was due to start had been put on hold by the billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency hiring freeze. She thinks it’s likely the job will be eliminated altogether.
As she has expressed her disappointment over potentially losing her dream job, some members of her mostly conservative family have unfriended her on social media. Others are giving her the silent treatment. Nearly all favour such cuts even if she’s a victim of them.
“My life is disintegrating because I can’t work in my chosen field,” says Jenn, 47, from Austin, Texas. “Lump on top of that no support from family — it hits you very hard.”
The strife has extended to Jenn’s mother, a former federal employee herself. When she has criticized the administration’s actions, her mother simply says she supports the president.
“She has somehow been convinced that public servants are a parasite and unproductive even though she was a public servant,” says Jenn.
The federal job cuts are the work of DOGE, which has been tearing through agencies looking for suspected waste. No official tally of firings has been released, but the list stretches into the thousands and to nearly every part of the country.
More layoffs are expected as DOGE continues its work.
Eric Anderson, 48, of Chicago, was still absorbing the shock of being fired from his National Park Service job as a biological science technician when he came across his aunt’s social media post celebrating the DOGE cuts. The gist, Anderson said, was, “Man, it sure is great seeing all this waste being knocked off.”
He grows angry thinking about it.
“Do you think I’m a waste?” he says, his voice rising as he recalls the post. “There are a lot of people out there that are hurting right now that are not a waste.”
Erica Stubbs, who was working as a forestry technician with the U.S. Forest Service in Boulder, Colorado, is avoiding social media after seeing hate for federal workers.
Though most people in her life have been supportive since she was fired, some have made passing comments about the necessity of eliminating jobs like hers.
“What they tell me is it’s just cutting out the waste, the excess spending — that your job’s not that important,” says 27-year-old Stubbs. “I’m not saying it’s the most important job in the world but it’s my job. It’s important to me.”
Social media is teeming with posts reveling the layoffs and urging DOGE: “Fire more!” In a fiercely divided country, many saw the cutbacks through their own political lens.
One man’s devastation, it turns out, can be another man’s delight.
Riley Rackliffe, who was working as an aquatic ecologist at Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Nevada, was buoyed that his firing led so many friends and relatives to reach out, offering to pass his resume along, call their congressman or even help with his mortgage.
Mixed with that, though, has been the vitriol.
When his firing made the local news, a Facebook posting of the story led to a storm of comments deriding him and championing the layoffs. One person called Riley, who is 36 and holds a Ph.D., a “glorified pool boy” whose job nearly anyone could do.
Even some of Rackliffe’s friends paired their expressions of consolation for Rackliffe with support for cutting jobs they contended were unnecessary government bloat.
“Hey, I’m sorry you lost your job but I think we really need to cut out some of this waste in the government,” Rackliffe said one friend texted him, saying he supported DOGE’s aims. “He basically said, ‘We’ve got to do this. We’ve got to rip off the Band-Aid.”
What stings most, Rackliffe says, is the contention that people like him were lazy and worthless, collecting big paychecks for meaningless work.
“It’s really hurtful for the president to insinuate that you don’t exist or that your job consisted of sitting at home doing nothing and cashing the paycheck,” he says. “I’d like to see him sifting through spiny naiad in 120-degree weather looking for parasitic snails. He’s the one that goes golfing on the government dime. I don’t even know how to golf.”
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Matt Sedensky
Published Mar 07, 2025 • 4 minute read
NEW YORK — Scrambling to replace their health insurance and to find new work, some laid-off federal workers are running into another unexpected unpleasantry: Relatives cheering their firing.
The country’s bitterly tribal politics are spilling into text chains, social media posts and heated conversations as Americans absorb the reality of the government’s cost-cutting measures. Expecting sympathy, some axed workers are finding family and friends who instead are steadfast in their support of what they see as a bloated government’s waste.
“I’ve been treated as a public enemy by the government and now it’s bleeding into my own family,” says 24-year-old Luke Tobin, who was fired last month from his job as a technician with the U.S. Forest Service in Idaho’s Nez Perce National Forest.
Tobin’s job loss sent him scurrying to fill prescriptions before he lost his health insurance and filling out dozens of applications to find whatever work he can, even if it’s at a fast-food restaurant. But some relatives reacting to his firing as “what has to happen to make the government great again” has been one of the worst parts of the entire ordeal.
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
“They can’t separate their ideology and their politics from supporting their own family and their own loved ones,” says Tobin.
Kristin Jenn got a similar response from members of her family after she learned the National Park Service ranger job she was due to start had been put on hold by the billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency hiring freeze. She thinks it’s likely the job will be eliminated altogether.
As she has expressed her disappointment over potentially losing her dream job, some members of her mostly conservative family have unfriended her on social media. Others are giving her the silent treatment. Nearly all favour such cuts even if she’s a victim of them.
“My life is disintegrating because I can’t work in my chosen field,” says Jenn, 47, from Austin, Texas. “Lump on top of that no support from family — it hits you very hard.”
The strife has extended to Jenn’s mother, a former federal employee herself. When she has criticized the administration’s actions, her mother simply says she supports the president.
“She has somehow been convinced that public servants are a parasite and unproductive even though she was a public servant,” says Jenn.
The federal job cuts are the work of DOGE, which has been tearing through agencies looking for suspected waste. No official tally of firings has been released, but the list stretches into the thousands and to nearly every part of the country.
More layoffs are expected as DOGE continues its work.
Eric Anderson, 48, of Chicago, was still absorbing the shock of being fired from his National Park Service job as a biological science technician when he came across his aunt’s social media post celebrating the DOGE cuts. The gist, Anderson said, was, “Man, it sure is great seeing all this waste being knocked off.”
He grows angry thinking about it.
“Do you think I’m a waste?” he says, his voice rising as he recalls the post. “There are a lot of people out there that are hurting right now that are not a waste.”
Erica Stubbs, who was working as a forestry technician with the U.S. Forest Service in Boulder, Colorado, is avoiding social media after seeing hate for federal workers.
Though most people in her life have been supportive since she was fired, some have made passing comments about the necessity of eliminating jobs like hers.
“What they tell me is it’s just cutting out the waste, the excess spending — that your job’s not that important,” says 27-year-old Stubbs. “I’m not saying it’s the most important job in the world but it’s my job. It’s important to me.”
Social media is teeming with posts reveling the layoffs and urging DOGE: “Fire more!” In a fiercely divided country, many saw the cutbacks through their own political lens.
One man’s devastation, it turns out, can be another man’s delight.
Riley Rackliffe, who was working as an aquatic ecologist at Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Nevada, was buoyed that his firing led so many friends and relatives to reach out, offering to pass his resume along, call their congressman or even help with his mortgage.
Mixed with that, though, has been the vitriol.
When his firing made the local news, a Facebook posting of the story led to a storm of comments deriding him and championing the layoffs. One person called Riley, who is 36 and holds a Ph.D., a “glorified pool boy” whose job nearly anyone could do.
Even some of Rackliffe’s friends paired their expressions of consolation for Rackliffe with support for cutting jobs they contended were unnecessary government bloat.
“Hey, I’m sorry you lost your job but I think we really need to cut out some of this waste in the government,” Rackliffe said one friend texted him, saying he supported DOGE’s aims. “He basically said, ‘We’ve got to do this. We’ve got to rip off the Band-Aid.”
What stings most, Rackliffe says, is the contention that people like him were lazy and worthless, collecting big paychecks for meaningless work.
“It’s really hurtful for the president to insinuate that you don’t exist or that your job consisted of sitting at home doing nothing and cashing the paycheck,” he says. “I’d like to see him sifting through spiny naiad in 120-degree weather looking for parasitic snails. He’s the one that goes golfing on the government dime. I don’t even know how to golf.”
Axed U.S. federal workers face relatives who celebrate their firing
Some laid-off federal workers are running into another unexpected unpleasantry: Relatives cheering their firing.
Meh, conservatives hate whom they're told to hate. Cult followers are pretty much brainless by definition.
Axed U.S. federal workers face relatives who celebrate their firing
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Matt Sedensky
Published Mar 07, 2025 • 4 minute read
NEW YORK — Scrambling to replace their health insurance and to find new work, some laid-off federal workers are running into another unexpected unpleasantry: Relatives cheering their firing.
The country’s bitterly tribal politics are spilling into text chains, social media posts and heated conversations as Americans absorb the reality of the government’s cost-cutting measures. Expecting sympathy, some axed workers are finding family and friends who instead are steadfast in their support of what they see as a bloated government’s waste.
“I’ve been treated as a public enemy by the government and now it’s bleeding into my own family,” says 24-year-old Luke Tobin, who was fired last month from his job as a technician with the U.S. Forest Service in Idaho’s Nez Perce National Forest.
Tobin’s job loss sent him scurrying to fill prescriptions before he lost his health insurance and filling out dozens of applications to find whatever work he can, even if it’s at a fast-food restaurant. But some relatives reacting to his firing as “what has to happen to make the government great again” has been one of the worst parts of the entire ordeal.
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“They can’t separate their ideology and their politics from supporting their own family and their own loved ones,” says Tobin.
Kristin Jenn got a similar response from members of her family after she learned the National Park Service ranger job she was due to start had been put on hold by the billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency hiring freeze. She thinks it’s likely the job will be eliminated altogether.
As she has expressed her disappointment over potentially losing her dream job, some members of her mostly conservative family have unfriended her on social media. Others are giving her the silent treatment. Nearly all favour such cuts even if she’s a victim of them.
“My life is disintegrating because I can’t work in my chosen field,” says Jenn, 47, from Austin, Texas. “Lump on top of that no support from family — it hits you very hard.”
The strife has extended to Jenn’s mother, a former federal employee herself. When she has criticized the administration’s actions, her mother simply says she supports the president.
“She has somehow been convinced that public servants are a parasite and unproductive even though she was a public servant,” says Jenn.
The federal job cuts are the work of DOGE, which has been tearing through agencies looking for suspected waste. No official tally of firings has been released, but the list stretches into the thousands and to nearly every part of the country.
More layoffs are expected as DOGE continues its work.
Eric Anderson, 48, of Chicago, was still absorbing the shock of being fired from his National Park Service job as a biological science technician when he came across his aunt’s social media post celebrating the DOGE cuts. The gist, Anderson said, was, “Man, it sure is great seeing all this waste being knocked off.”
He grows angry thinking about it.
“Do you think I’m a waste?” he says, his voice rising as he recalls the post. “There are a lot of people out there that are hurting right now that are not a waste.”
Erica Stubbs, who was working as a forestry technician with the U.S. Forest Service in Boulder, Colorado, is avoiding social media after seeing hate for federal workers.
Though most people in her life have been supportive since she was fired, some have made passing comments about the necessity of eliminating jobs like hers.
“What they tell me is it’s just cutting out the waste, the excess spending — that your job’s not that important,” says 27-year-old Stubbs. “I’m not saying it’s the most important job in the world but it’s my job. It’s important to me.”
Social media is teeming with posts reveling the layoffs and urging DOGE: “Fire more!” In a fiercely divided country, many saw the cutbacks through their own political lens.
One man’s devastation, it turns out, can be another man’s delight.
Riley Rackliffe, who was working as an aquatic ecologist at Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Nevada, was buoyed that his firing led so many friends and relatives to reach out, offering to pass his resume along, call their congressman or even help with his mortgage.
Mixed with that, though, has been the vitriol.
When his firing made the local news, a Facebook posting of the story led to a storm of comments deriding him and championing the layoffs. One person called Riley, who is 36 and holds a Ph.D., a “glorified pool boy” whose job nearly anyone could do.
Even some of Rackliffe’s friends paired their expressions of consolation for Rackliffe with support for cutting jobs they contended were unnecessary government bloat.
“Hey, I’m sorry you lost your job but I think we really need to cut out some of this waste in the government,” Rackliffe said one friend texted him, saying he supported DOGE’s aims. “He basically said, ‘We’ve got to do this. We’ve got to rip off the Band-Aid.”
What stings most, Rackliffe says, is the contention that people like him were lazy and worthless, collecting big paychecks for meaningless work.
“It’s really hurtful for the president to insinuate that you don’t exist or that your job consisted of sitting at home doing nothing and cashing the paycheck,” he says. “I’d like to see him sifting through spiny naiad in 120-degree weather looking for parasitic snails. He’s the one that goes golfing on the government dime. I don’t even know how to golf.”
Axed U.S. federal workers face relatives who celebrate their firing
Some laid-off federal workers are running into another unexpected unpleasantry: Relatives cheering their firing.
Wonder if Canada should offer employment to all those laid off; we certainly could use the employees.
