ProPublica
@ProPublica@newsie.social  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago

“ProPublica’s reporting revealed these cancelled contracts were delivering essential services … and exposed the cruel and dumb AI formulas DOGE bros used to cancel contracts,” Sen. Blumenthal said. “Veterans and all Americans deserve transparency.”

https://www.propublica.org/article/doge-veterans-affairs-ai-senator-investigation?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#DOGE#Veterans#AI#Health#Government #Technology #Journalism#Transparency
ProPublica
@ProPublica@newsie.social  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago

Senators Demand Investigation Into Canceled VA Contracts, Citing “Damning Reporting From ProPublica”
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The senators are calling for a federal watchdog to investigate the Trump administration’s killing of hundreds of VA contracts. Among their concerns: ProPublica revealed DOGE used artificial intelligence to mark contracts as “munchable.”
https://www.propublica.org/article/doge-veterans-affairs-ai-senator-investigation?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News#DOGE#Veterans#AI#Health#Government #Technology
Zhi Zhu 🕸️
@ZhiZhu@newsie.social  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago

"CHILDREN ARE DYING because medicines have been abruptly cut off, & risks of Ebola, tuberculosis & other diseases reaching #America are increasing — while medicines sit uselessly in warehouses.

After #ElonMusk boasted about feeding #USAID “into the wood chipper” over a weekend, he claimed that no one had died as a result...

Come with me on a trip to the villages where your aid cuts are killing #children. Open your eyes."

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/21/opinion/waste-musk-trump.html

#Musk#Trump#USPol#Politics#Health#World

Text from article: I’ve been traveling through Sierra Leone and Liberia to gauge the impact of Trump’s closing of U.S.A.I.D., to see how bad things have gotten since an earlier trip through South Sudan and Kenya. Here’s what I see: Children are dying because medicines have been abruptly cut off, and risks of Ebola, tuberculosis and other diseases reaching America are increasing — while medicines sit uselessly in warehouses. After Elon Musk boasted about feeding U.S.A.I.D. “into the wood chipper” over a weekend, he claimed that no one had died as a result. Secretary of State Marco Rubio repeated that claim just last month. So I challenge them both: Come with me on a trip to the villages where your aid cuts are killing children. Open your eyes. And if you dare to confront actual waste and abuse — the kind that squanders lives as well as money — join me in the village of Kayata, Liberia,
Text from article: I’ve been traveling through Sierra Leone and Liberia to gauge the impact of Trump’s closing of U.S.A.I.D., to see how bad things have gotten since an earlier trip through South Sudan and Kenya. Here’s what I see: Children are dying because medicines have been abruptly cut off, and risks of Ebola, tuberculosis and other diseases reaching America are increasing — while medicines sit uselessly in warehouses. After Elon Musk boasted about feeding U.S.A.I.D. “into the wood chipper” over a weekend, he claimed that no one had died as a result. Secretary of State Marco Rubio repeated that claim just last month. So I challenge them both: Come with me on a trip to the villages where your aid cuts are killing children. Open your eyes. And if you dare to confront actual waste and abuse — the kind that squanders lives as well as money — join me in the village of Kayata, Liberia,
Text from article: I’ve been traveling through Sierra Leone and Liberia to gauge the impact of Trump’s closing of U.S.A.I.D., to see how bad things have gotten since an earlier trip through South Sudan and Kenya. Here’s what I see: Children are dying because medicines have been abruptly cut off, and risks of Ebola, tuberculosis and other diseases reaching America are increasing — while medicines sit uselessly in warehouses. After Elon Musk boasted about feeding U.S.A.I.D. “into the wood chipper” over a weekend, he claimed that no one had died as a result. Secretary of State Marco Rubio repeated that claim just last month. So I challenge them both: Come with me on a trip to the villages where your aid cuts are killing children. Open your eyes. And if you dare to confront actual waste and abuse — the kind that squanders lives as well as money — join me in the village of Kayata, Liberia,
Zhi Zhu 🕸️
@ZhiZhu@newsie.social  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago

"One of the most dangerous things a woman can do in a poor country is get pregnant. The Guttmacher Institute estimates that #American assistance has prevented some 34,000 maternal deaths per year around the world. That suggests that ending such aid may lead #women to perish in pregnancy approximately once every 15 minutes."
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/21/opinion/waste-musk-trump.html

#ElonMusk#Musk #Doge#Trump#GOP#USPol#Politics#USAID#Health#Healthcare#World #News#US#USA

Text from article: So when I hear glib talk about waste and abuse in U.S.A.I.D., I think of how we American taxpayers purchased ambulances for Liberia at a cost of more than $50,000 each and then abruptly cut off gasoline funds, leaving a young mom to bleed to death. Freeman is buried in an unmarked grave on the edge of the forest. Her two daughters, ages 3 and 6, weep for their mother. “The three of us sit together and cry,” said Freeman’s younger sister, Annie. One of the most dangerous things a woman can do in a poor country is get pregnant. The Guttmacher Institute estimates that American assistance has prevented some 34,000 maternal deaths per year around the world. That suggests that ending such aid may lead women to perish in pregnancy approximately once every 15 minutes.
Text from article: So when I hear glib talk about waste and abuse in U.S.A.I.D., I think of how we American taxpayers purchased ambulances for Liberia at a cost of more than $50,000 each and then abruptly cut off gasoline funds, leaving a young mom to bleed to death. Freeman is buried in an unmarked grave on the edge of the forest. Her two daughters, ages 3 and 6, weep for their mother. “The three of us sit together and cry,” said Freeman’s younger sister, Annie. One of the most dangerous things a woman can do in a poor country is get pregnant. The Guttmacher Institute estimates that American assistance has prevented some 34,000 maternal deaths per year around the world. That suggests that ending such aid may lead women to perish in pregnancy approximately once every 15 minutes.
Text from article: So when I hear glib talk about waste and abuse in U.S.A.I.D., I think of how we American taxpayers purchased ambulances for Liberia at a cost of more than $50,000 each and then abruptly cut off gasoline funds, leaving a young mom to bleed to death. Freeman is buried in an unmarked grave on the edge of the forest. Her two daughters, ages 3 and 6, weep for their mother. “The three of us sit together and cry,” said Freeman’s younger sister, Annie. One of the most dangerous things a woman can do in a poor country is get pregnant. The Guttmacher Institute estimates that American assistance has prevented some 34,000 maternal deaths per year around the world. That suggests that ending such aid may lead women to perish in pregnancy approximately once every 15 minutes.