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US government struggles to rehire nuclear safety staff it laid off days ago

bbc.com

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Re: US government struggles to rehire nuclear safety staff it laid off days ago

#561

Post by insane_dreamer »

tim333 wrote: post #429
yeyeyeyeyeyeyee wrote: post #254

The US is busy making the biggest own-goal one could imagine. From a position of world-wide dominance and respect, it is being destroyed at a rate that is too quick for most to even start to comprehend what the outcome of these actions will be. I suspect the consequences of these actions will be carried for the rest of our lives, as they are not so easy to turn back. Lots of other countries are standing by watching w…

NYT sub headline just now: >...concerns that the U.S. will abandon Europe and align with President Vladimir Putin of Russia. Nothing to worry about with Musk doing nazi salutes and Trump looking at hanging with the nearest we have to a modern reich.

The US just decided to negotiate with Putin directly, leaving Europe out of it even though they're the ones affected by the Russia-Ukraine war, not the US.

And Vance explicitly said that Russia can't be expected to go back to the pre-war borders. In other words, Russia gets what they want (Donbas).

Re: US government struggles to rehire nuclear safety staff it laid off days ago

#562

Post by insane_dreamer »

rayiner wrote: post #327
dukeyukey wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Americans should care because America isn't the world. So much wealth and power derives from people seeing you as the good guy. Blowing that up will make America poorer.

The US is far less dependent on trade than the average country. We could close our borders to the world entirely and be fine after an initial discomfort. And nobody has has seen America as the “good guy” in my lifetime. We’re the country that destabilizes Latin American and Asian countries, bombs the Middle East, etc. I used to think there was at least a logic to all that, but it turns out our elites were just ideolo…

While American, I've lived most of my life abroad, and share with your world view of the US.

But after having spent years living in China, and being very familiar with the political situation there and their global ambitions, I'm afraid that the alternative to the US is even worse.

Have a democratic system has somewhat of a moderating effect on the worst impulses of the US elite. China has no such guardrails.

Re: US government struggles to rehire nuclear safety staff it laid off days ago

#563

Post by JumpCrisscross »

s1artibartfast wrote: post #555
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #518

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'd have expected a debate about healthcare cost and actual reforms It was all show no thought. The big questions remain unanswered. Where are costs inflated between pharmaceuticals, providers, hospital administrators, insurance administrators and patients seeking unnecessary care? How do we reform insurance when most people hate our healthcare system while simultaneously liking their own coverage? Luigi didn't add…

>The big questions remain unanswered. Where are costs inflated between pharmaceuticals, providers, hospital administrators, insurance administrators and patients seeking unnecessary care? Pharma costs are inflated by R&D costs and promotion. Insurance overhead is actually relatively lean, but base cost is primarily driven by cost of goods, and to a lesser extent admin. Provider costs are inflated by high legal and re…

If you had to pick one policy that maximises impact and messagability, what would it be?

Re: US government struggles to rehire nuclear safety staff it laid off days ago

#564

Post by s1artibartfast »

afavour wrote: post #353
mschuster91 wrote: post #308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the insiduous thing we're seeing - when you have to work two jobs just to make rent on a dilapidated shack for a slumlord you don't have time to protest, and when your healthcare insurance depends on having a job (because there aren't charity-run hospitals around any more) you can't afford the risk getting fired for going on a strike, much less actual "direct action". On top of that, mass media controls the na…

> just look how fast Luigi Mangione got out of the news. What news would there be? He was arrested and locked up, his court case hasn’t started. Should we have “Luigi still in jail” headlines?

This is the failure mode of the anarcho-liberal awareness premise.

"Awareness" is almost never the limiting factor to policy change.

This is why awareness based movements such as occupy, BLM, and climate protests go nowhere. Everyone is aware of climate change, police brutality, or inequality.

Organized opposition with leverage and a compelling alternative is the bottleneck. Awareness isn't a policy position and doesn't advance debate.

Luigi did not have a thesis capable of changing minds. I dont know and haven't seen a single example of someone having their mind changed. Just people more fired up on their priors.

Re: US government struggles to rehire nuclear safety staff it laid off days ago

#565

Post by insane_dreamer »

ndsipa_pomu wrote: post #241
anon7000 wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why people think it’s a good idea to put this wealthy dickwad in charge of one of the most (allegedly) important projects in the current admin is beyond me. Move fast and break things is a stupid policy to apply to public policy.

Whether or not it's a good idea depends on what outcome you desire. If the aim is to weaken the U.S. then putting a foolish unelected billionaire in charge of things that he has no idea about is a great idea.

I don't think Trump's aim is to weaken the US. I don't think here's some big secret Russia conspiracy.

I think the situation is much simpler. Trump wants to be king. What happens to America in the future is immaterial. And a king needs a kingmaker, who in this case also wants to be MOTU.

Re: US government struggles to rehire nuclear safety staff it laid off days ago

#566

Post by insane_dreamer »

roenxi wrote: post #233
someothherguyy wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is firing large amounts of people on a whim going to solve the problem of people not caring about their work? From what it sounds like (w.r.t. Agenda 47 / Project 2025) DOGE is fund seeking for massive planned programs, not returning money to the citizenry or restructuring for efficiency. It sounds like they are illegally looting agencies and programs that congress already funded, so they can fund the admin's pro…

It doesn't look like DOGE is trying to fund anything; at this stage my guess is they're trying to hack off the propaganda arm of the CIA/NSA and the web of NGOs on the theory that it is funding anti-Trump messaging. Otherwise targeting USAID for savings early is a bit pointless; what is $50 billion a year to the US government? They're $36 trillion in debt with no plausible path out of the hole. Annual deficit is arou…

> it might be a propaganda effort to make Team Trump look busy

this. the optics are important for the Trump base

Re: US government struggles to rehire nuclear safety staff it laid off days ago

#567

Post by insane_dreamer »

glimshe wrote: post #174
itronitron wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> federal employees are much more likely to return Not necessarily. It's generally understood that federal employees accept a lower salary in exchange for career stability. If a career as a federal employee now has higher risk then at least some people will be expecting a higher salary.

The advocates of Musk's firings will say that if these people could command a higher salary, they should be in the private industry producing goods and services for the population rather than the inherently wasteful government positions.

Thankfully this isn't the case or you would get the least talented people in government, making it even more ineffective and wasteful.

Re: US government struggles to rehire nuclear safety staff it laid off days ago

#568

Post by NewJazz »

bagels wrote: post #253
NewJazz wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The good news is that GDP is positively correlated with greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels. Lower GDP, lower temp. I mean the famines will certainly "help"... I don't think the Senate will let it get that far, though. Only takes a few Rs in the House to impeach. 67 senators is a hard climb but 0% YoY GDP decline could do it... Or it could give Trump the stimulus he so badly craves.

They won't go hungry. I don't think famine will stop them. They don't want to lose their dictator that is willing to advance their agenda.

But they need to have a strong economy AND strong, consistent revenue to fund their defense budget. Don't forget that...

Re: US government struggles to rehire nuclear safety staff it laid off days ago

#569

Post by insane_dreamer »

pjmlp wrote: post #71
vasco wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That isn't much of a point because federal employees are much more likely to return than Twitter technical staff. Interesting approach, specially because it's not my country.

The problem with ongoing US "experiments" is how much the rest of the planet is dependent on American companies, related economics and politics, regardless of it not being our country, the schockwaves will be felt.

There's going to be major efforts especially in Europe, to de-couple from the US. We saw this to some extent in Trump 1.0 but he didn't actually do much due to the ineptness of those around him and a Senate that was still dominated by the anti-MAGA GOP "old guard". This time it is much, much worse.

Re: US government struggles to rehire nuclear safety staff it laid off days ago

#570

Post by insane_dreamer »

adtac wrote: post #11
sour-taste wrote: post #2

This is LITERALLY the twitter layoffs playing out again. They fired people who had credentials and other things they needed so had to hire them back. Everything else aside why repeat the same mistakes? Just go a little slower and give agencies time to compile accurate lists of necessary employees

People should read Elon Musk by Walter Issacson. Here's an excerpt from the chapter on his "algorithm": > [Step 2] Delete any part or process you can. You may have to add them back later. In fact, if you do not end up adding back at least 10% of them, then you didn't delete enough. He thinks this is a feature, not a bug. Is he wrong? I don't think so.

> Is he wrong?

When it comes to government, yes.

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