Statement on the comments from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth • Hacker News Board

Re: Statement on the comments from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth

#201

Post by ch4s3 » Sat, Feb 28, 2026, 3:49 AM UTC

crossroadsguy wrote: post #156

inerte wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also the case against tariffs, a quick (maybe AI hallucinated) search shows `Victor Owen Schwartz` was part of the challenge. Democracy isn't dead folks, but it takes more work than usual.

And gets harder in a country where even the judges are political appointees and apparently that’s by design. (I resisted adding a smiley here because this is rather sad)

The courts are actually striking down a lot of government overreach recently. The tariffs were just overturned, and the administration was blocked from using the national guard for law enforcement. In fact this administration has lost more Supreme Court cases than any other administration at only 1 year in.

Re: Statement on the comments from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth

#202

Post by yesimahuman » Sat, Feb 28, 2026, 3:50 AM UTC

tokyobreakfast wrote: post #93

youarentrightjr wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a Hegseth malapropism, which is why it's slightly disturbing that Dario continues to use it. edit: To be clear, Hegseth didn't create it, merely has popularized its use recently. Eg his speech at Quantico last Sept

"I learned the word a week ago therefore it is new." The term—and its use in the now-Department of War—dates back to the late 80s.

It is so clearly being used to a much greater and more deliberate degree during this administration. Pretending otherwise is foolish

Re: Statement on the comments from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth

#203

Post by biophysboy » Sat, Feb 28, 2026, 3:51 AM UTC

tokyobreakfast wrote: post #184

biophysboy wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

?? I am genuinely asking ... nevermind, another person answered

Your response came off a bit aggressive. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, though. It's been in use a really long time.

Thanks. I don't think this DoD invented the term. I was trying to verify my own impression that they use it more often in public comms.

Re: Statement on the comments from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth

#204

Post by swat535 » Sat, Feb 28, 2026, 3:53 AM UTC

inerte wrote: post #65

ch4s3 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, a few law firms targeted by EOs fought them in court last year and won.

Also the case against tariffs, a quick (maybe AI hallucinated) search shows `Victor Owen Schwartz` was part of the challenge. Democracy isn't dead folks, but it takes more work than usual.

The problem is that it's a never ending game of attrition, and the government can always outspend you.

For example, in case of tariffs, they found another loophole and went on their way.

It's nice to have a little guy take a stand, but without major collective pressure, nothing will change.

Re: Statement on the comments from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth

#205

Post by steve_adams_86 » Sat, Feb 28, 2026, 3:54 AM UTC

8note wrote: post #118

steve_adams_86 wrote: post #68

Anthropic is welcome to set up shop here in Canada! I hear Victoria BC is great. Absolutely brimming, overflowing with technology talent

whats going on round tectoria/viatec nowadays? im looking to go buy a house there next

I'm out of the loop, but the last local tech job I had was with instant domains inc. That was great. These days I'm doing marine/geo science work with an NGO and I don't hear much about the local scene. A lot of the old players are still around, but there must be something new and interesting happening.

A coworker mentioned there's an autonomous marine sensing startup right in the downtown area. I want to look into that.

Any specific areas you want to buy in?

Re: Statement on the comments from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth

#206

Post by jkells » Sat, Feb 28, 2026, 3:55 AM UTC

But of course, wholesale surveillance on the rest of the world is fine.

I guess our democracies don't count and we don't have any rights.

Re: Statement on the comments from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth

#207

Post by remarkEon » Sat, Feb 28, 2026, 3:55 AM UTC

ParentiSoundSys wrote: post #167

remarkEon wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The United States government held scientist at essentially gunpoint in secret towns to make the bomb happen. Not sure what your point is, other than to note that in a previous era people had a better gauge of what time it was.

Are you saying that we should consider the Chinese government to be an existential threat and menace to world peace on the same level as Nazi Germany? What if the side that did Operation Paperclip and is currently champing at the bit to impose Total Surveillance on its own citizenry maybe isn't The Good Guys?

There is no evidence that this was a condition of the deal for working with the government on this. PRC already is a Total Surveillance state. The claim made by Anthropic is very specific, and it's that they feel that the law has not caught up to how AI can be used to aggregate very large amounts of data that can be obtained without a warrant through data brokers. The government already does this. Maybe you agree with Anthropic's point here, and it's certainly a good one, but they are building up a face-saving argument over what is already established precedent. An is vs. ought dichotomy and raising it as a redline is ridiculous.

At the end of the day I think many people simply want the United States to lose this race so they can feel good about their principles.

Re: Statement on the comments from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth

#208

Post by steve_adams_86 » Sat, Feb 28, 2026, 3:56 AM UTC

thirtygeo wrote: post #88

steve_adams_86 wrote: post #68

Anthropic is welcome to set up shop here in Canada! I hear Victoria BC is great. Absolutely brimming, overflowing with technology talent

Actually why is nobody in Cali just trying to join Canada - would be better for everyone in terms of more similar culture and values. Weird that it isn't discussed more

Those of us in the Cascadian movement have been talking about it for decades!

Re: Statement on the comments from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth

#209

Post by steve_adams_86 » Sat, Feb 28, 2026, 3:57 AM UTC

pesus wrote: post #103

thirtygeo wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually why is nobody in Cali just trying to join Canada - would be better for everyone in terms of more similar culture and values. Weird that it isn't discussed more

If I had to guess as a lifelong California resident, I'd say the salary discrepancy is probably the biggest factor. I'd also guess the weather and lack of available jobs would be the next biggest factors, not necessarily in that order.

No, imagine the salary potential, not the discrepancy. Ape stronger together. We'd be a new world super power

Re: Statement on the comments from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth

#210

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Feb 28, 2026, 3:59 AM UTC

19123127 wrote: post #172

lebovic wrote: post #94

I used to work at Anthropic, and I wrote a comment on a thread earlier this week about Anthropic's first response and the RSP update [1][2]. I think many people on HN have a cynical reaction to Anthropic's actions due to of their own lived experiences with tech companies. Sometimes, that holds: my part of the company looked like Meta or Stripe, and it's hard not to regress to the mean as you scale. But not every patt…

Why did they work with Palantir then, which is the integrator in the DoD? It does not take a genius to figure out where this was going. I don't know why a personal testimony to the effect that "these are the good guys" needs to be at the top of every Anthropic thread. With respect to astroturfing and stealth marketing they are clearly the bad guys.

[deleted]