Mei-Ling McNamara

The Volunteer Data Hoarders Resisting Trump’s Purge Can librarians and guerrilla archivists save the country’s files from DOGE?

“Everything at risk.” We knew when “alternative facts” emerged as accepted parlance that our online archives would need safeguarding. Important piece in the @newyorker as required reading for our digital times. The Guerrilla-Librarian Resistance www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...

Can the Media’s Right to Pursue the Powerful Survive Trump’s Second Term? New York Times v. Sullivan and other landmark Supreme Court decisions protect the press’s ability to investigate public figures. But a growing right-wing movement seeks to overturn them.

New York Times v. Sullivan and other landmark Supreme Court decisions protect the press’s ability to investigate public figures. But a growing right-wing movement seeks to overturn them. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/03/m...

The Words Federal Agencies Are Discouraged From Using Under Trump Federal agencies have issued guidance to employees on hundreds of terms to limit or avoid using. An analysis of government websites shows many of the same words being removed.

These Words Are Disappearing in the New Trump Administration www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

David Graeber: After the Pandemic, We Can’t Go Back to Sleep In an essay penned shortly before his death, David Graeber argued that post-pandemic, we can’t slip back into a reality where the way our society is organized — to serve every whim of a small handful ...

David Graeber argued that post-pandemic, we can’t slip back into a reality where the way our society is organized — to serve every whim of a small handful of rich people while debasing and degrading the vast majority of us - is seen as sensible or reasonable jacobin.com/2021/03/davi...

White House seizes control of press pool, will decide which outlets cover events with president The move reverses the long established precedent of journalists determining who participates in the press pool.

Journalists and news outlets in the US will need to show solidarity, agility and resourcefulness as never before. This is what censorship in real time looks like. www.politico.com/news/2025/02...

A.P. Sues Trump Officials Over White House Ban The wire service sued three of them for denying its reporters access to press events. The White House has objected to The A.P.’s references to the Gulf of Mexico in articles.

The A.P. complaint says that it is suing “to vindicate its rights to the editorial independence guaranteed by the United States Constitution and to prevent the executive branch from coercing journalists to report the news using only government-approved language.” www.nytimes.com/2025/02/21/b...

Ten days and still without power or phone signal in #Connemara after #StormÉowyn. We have entered a new phase of infrastructure collapse. A novel I’m reading got wet and we’re down to drying it by the gas heater #cookingthebooks

Day 7. Five candles, three cats and a circa 1982 gas heater we’ve discovered in the toolshed #Connemara #StormÉowyn

Still no power, heat or phone signal in #Connemara. Day 6 and not a single visit from a TD to be found. The Farmers Union have done a ton to clear the roads of fallen trees, but we are not projected to get electricity back until the 4th. A lot of elderly and isolated people out here. Unacceptable.

This is an insane statistic. In 2010, I was 25 and living in Dublin. It was far from an economic paradise (the recession was really gearing up, and me and about fifty people I knew would leave within the next 18 months) but I only knew one person my age, maybe two, who lived with their parents.

Listening to @rteone.rte.ie Liveline right now - just heartbreaking. So many vulnerable people left destitute in the wake of #StormEowyn. The media needs to start holding leadership accountable to this humanitarian disaster unfolding in #Ireland.

Trump Seeks to Paralyze Independent Privacy and Civil Liberties Watchdog The Trump White House has told three Democratic-selected members of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board to resign or be fired, which would stop the independent agency from functioning.

Trump Seeks to Paralyze Independent Privacy and Civil Liberties Watchdog www.nytimes.com/2025/01/22/u...

Meta wants Section 230 baked into EU trade agreements and globally to protect itself from liability

Zuckerberg urges Trump to stop the EU from fining US tech companies Comparing the bloc’s antitrust penalties to tariffs, the Meta boss argued that Brussels is “screwing with” American industry.

#Meta have long been eyeing how they can use trade agreements to get around Europe’s stringent digital laws. After the sting of a €797 million fine for breaching EU anti-trust laws and more investigations pending, Zuckerberg sees his chance in a Trump presidency. www.politico.eu/article/zuck...

Tech giants told UK online safety laws ‘not up for negotiation’ Senior cabinet minister promises not to dilute new measures despite Musk comments and Zuckerberg’s attacks on countries ‘censoring’ content

Britain’s new laws to boost safety and tackle hate speech online are “not up for negotiation”, a senior government minister has warned, after Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg vowed to join Donald Trump to pressure countries they regard as “censoring” content. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Just 57 companies linked to 80% of greenhouse gas emissions since 2016 Analysis reveals many big producers increased output of fossil fuels and related emissions in seven years after Paris climate deal

57 companies are responsible for 80% of global greenhouse gas emissions since 2016.

These companies include fossil fuel giants like Chevron, Shell, and BP, who have been raking in record profits.

The profits of Big Oil should not be more important than the future of our planet.

Knight Rider - Original Show Intro | NBC Classics YouTube video by NBC Classics

How did I ever forget how epic Knight Rider’s opening theme tune was? Gen Xers living in simpler times m.youtube.com/watch?v=oNyX...

Fireside chat

i love resource journalism that patiently takes the time to tell you “why you shouldn’t fly a drone during a firefight”—i also hate that we clearly need it

With both Meta and X, as with Elon's attempts to undermine the state, the UK government needs to remember that it is actually, you know, a government of a nation and can just do things like this. We should be taking lessons from Brazil's approach.

What’s a Fact, Anyway? Journalists put more stress on accuracy than ever before. The problem is, accuracy is a slippery idea.

What’s a Fact, Anyway? Trust is something that journalists ask for. It’s also something that they give. Just as readers learn about the world from the news, so journalists learn from their sources. www.newyorker.com/news/the-wee...

I spent the last two years investigating #Meta, and these statements explain so much

Meta disbands diversity team and says DEI has become ‘charged’ Another major change from Meta.

Meta disbands diversity team and says DEI has become ‘charged’

How to live on the edge of a disappearing coastline | Aeon Essays In a changing climate, the instinct is to save everything you can. But maybe letting go is braver – and better for the future?

Climate change discourse often centres on two temporalities: the urgent extremes of the present and the deadlines and the targets and forecasts that stretch into our futures.What role can the past play in guiding us through this anxious structure of feeling? aeon.co/essays/how-t...

I’m predicting this sentencing rub will take up 10 mins of the inauguration speech

Despite this, you can bet the public will be hearing every day for the next four years: "THERE IS NO CASE, THERE WAS NEVER A CASE, and this whole Scam fully deserves to be DISMISSED."

This headline should not be normalised - completely extraordinary

Google donates $1 million to Trump’s inaugural committee Like other Silicon Valley behemoths, search and advertising giant has worked to make nice with the president-elect ahead of his second term.

New: Google just donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration, falling in line behind Meta, Amazon & other tech giants Trump vilified. Will feature event on YouTube homepage (#2 in world, behind Google). Google founder Sergey Brin once said he was “deeply offended” by Trump’s first win wapo.st/4a8R2Jm

Still my favourite lines to read when I wake up to an unexpected blanket of #sneachta outside my window ❄️🌨️

Opinion | Disasters Have Made L.A. What It Is Los Angeles may have a reputation for being superficial, but it is in fact a territory that might, at any moment, upend (or even end) your life.

"To live in California meant to understand that disaster could strike at any instant, which is to say that there is nothing we can count on, nothing that will guarantee safe passage through the world. The only solution is to assess your risks and keep on living." www.nytimes.com/2025/01/09/o...