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Everyone at NSF overseeing the Platforms for Wireless Experimentation is gone

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Re: Everyone at NSF overseeing the Platforms for Wireless Experimentation is gone

#451

Post by ajross »

cyberax wrote: post #270
ajross wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

States have "power", but not money. There are no state level science grants anywhere at the scale of the linked article.

CA spends around $11B on the University of California system. The NIH budget is $47B. I haven't done the math, but I would hazard that the total amount of money spent on science by the Federal and the individual state authorities would be comparable. It's just that historically the Federal government was leading with the fundamental research, but if push comes to shove, states can start spinning up replacement progra…

Running a university and administering research grants aren't remotely the same thing. Does any of that $11B go to fund science?

Re: Everyone at NSF overseeing the Platforms for Wireless Experimentation is gone

#452

Post by acdha »

graemep wrote: post #390
tialaramex wrote: post #376

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Populism requires that you're popular. Brexit clones were extremely popular for the right across Europe right up until Brexit actually happened, and then suddenly they all remembered they'd never wanted anything to do with such a stupid plan and began scrubbing praise for it from their materials, back to "reform" and tinkering at the edges. The trick is to be First. You can sell "Just do X and it'll be great" unless…

> until Brexit actually happened, and then suddenly they all remembered they'd never wanted anything to do with such a stupid plan Why is Brexit perceived so badly in the EU? Economically the UK has done about as well or better than the other big European economies.

What makes you think the UK is doing better? Most reports have found the opposite, with costs in the hundreds of billions range versus where the economy would otherwise have been:

https://www.euronews.com/business/2024/01/12/brexit-here-is-...

https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/london-mayor-says-brexit-ha...

https://news.sky.com/story/brexit-new-report-suggests-uk-311...

One potential confound is that the UK was starting with a strong position so if you just compare it to, say, Portugal it’s still looking better but that doesn’t tell you the gap wouldn’t have otherwise been even wider.

Re: Everyone at NSF overseeing the Platforms for Wireless Experimentation is gone

#453

Post by mnau »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #261
abirch wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In addition to these scientists, I heard from my friends in academia that they will be taking fewer PhD students because they're unsure of the funding. We may be looking at a lost decade.

Maybe China will start accepting international PhD students? I don’t see anyone else who could pick up the slack.

No point unless coupled with ability to immigrate. Why would China educate foreigners only to see them leave? There is no payoff.

It makes sense in US because of for-profit universities and easier immigration. That is not situation over there.

Re: Everyone at NSF overseeing the Platforms for Wireless Experimentation is gone

#454

Post by try_the_bass »

exe34 wrote: post #358
try_the_bass wrote: post #339

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just that there is no practical difference between "seeming unaccountable" and "being unaccountable", especially if, as you say, "the levers of accountability could have been pulled", but weren't. If the departments aren't being held accountable, they are, by definition, acting unaccountably. You seemed to disagree, and be trying to make a distinction where no practical difference can be found. You also seem to agree…

> but weren't Does that imply unaccountable, or does it mean Congress thought they were doing a good job?

Again, if these agencies are never actually held accountable, this is functionally identical to "unaccountable".

I mean, what if Congress created them to be unaccountable? Then both things would be true!

Re: Everyone at NSF overseeing the Platforms for Wireless Experimentation is gone

#455

Post by richrichardsson »

rob74 wrote: post #389
tialaramex wrote: post #376

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Populism requires that you're popular. Brexit clones were extremely popular for the right across Europe right up until Brexit actually happened, and then suddenly they all remembered they'd never wanted anything to do with such a stupid plan and began scrubbing praise for it from their materials, back to "reform" and tinkering at the edges. The trick is to be First. You can sell "Just do X and it'll be great" unless…

Well, the AfD wants Germany to withdraw from the EU, and the only reason why ruling right-wing populist parties in eastern Europe (e.g. Hungary) don't do it is because it's the hand that still feeds them money (despite them continuously biting it). TBF, Brexit was a particularly bad idea because of the Northern Ireland situation, so others can still feed the illusion that their *exit would be "cleaner"...

Reducing the problems of Brexit to the Northern Ireland situation is quite blinkered.

Businesses (especially smaller ones) have suffered immensely as a result of supply chain issues, lopsided bureaucracy and red-tape.

Re: Everyone at NSF overseeing the Platforms for Wireless Experimentation is gone

#456

Post by acdha »

alfiedotwtf wrote: post #283
BLKNSLVR wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We may be looking at a lost decade. We're looking at the US wilfully letting go of the possibiility of remaining the most powerful nation in the world. Reduced health, reduced education, reduced funding for research, reduced international aid programs (which both garner goodwill whilst also creating a bulwark against those who profit from misery), reduced oversight / regulation of the power of capital, alienation o…

> We're looking at the US wilfully letting go of the possibility of remaining the most powerful nation in the world. It’s not hard to understand why people believe Trump Is a Russian asset

Yes - we don’t have proof that he is, but looking at things like the way he’s handling the Russian invasion of Ukraine makes it a fair question to ask whether it would be any different if he was.

I’ve had a similar debate over the DOGE effort to install political commissars throughout the executive branch. There’s one alarm about how skipping a lot of safeguards would make it easier for an adversary to get inside (either by compromising one of their people or relying on the defense being so disrupted) but there seems to be an equally strong argument that a foreign intelligence agency might choose to stay out because nothing they could do would harm U.S. interests more and getting caught might trigger a strong enough reaction to halt the damage.

Re: Everyone at NSF overseeing the Platforms for Wireless Experimentation is gone

#457

Post by _heimdall »

tsimionescu wrote: post #370
pfannkuchen wrote: post #366

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of people don’t like that “regulation” has been delegated to unelected agencies instead of having congress make laws. Is the current structure of agencies with delegated regulatory powers specified in the constitution? I don’t think so. It isn’t explicitly forbidden, but it’s not like it’s what the founders had in mind or wrote down. The current administration’s approach is activist in the sense that it would b…

What "many people" don't like about this system is just how effective it is at regulating their businesses. The alternative - that the 535 members of Congress should regulate every detail of every facet of federal life - is completely untenable. The reality is that Congress has been effectively neutralized as a law making institution for at least two decades, barely able to do more than pass the budget and one or two…

Said differently, most people don't care about principles.

The government is designed based on certain principles that define how it is meant to work, and there's a reasonable case to be made that the executive branch should not have the authority to functionally create laws or run their own courts. That just doesn't matter to most people, as you said they're happy if those regulations work for them.

The same situation pops up in most peoples' political views too. Most people pick a view on a topic rather than an underlying principle, ending up with contradictory views.

My father-in-law will talk a lot about older Republican talking points like smaller governments and individual rights and freedoms. Then abortion comes up and he wants governments to create laws telling people what they can or can't do with their body, or social security comes up and he's strongly in favor of more taxes and welfare/entitlement programs.

Re: Everyone at NSF overseeing the Platforms for Wireless Experimentation is gone

#458

Post by michael1999 »

rob74 wrote: post #389
tialaramex wrote: post #376

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Populism requires that you're popular. Brexit clones were extremely popular for the right across Europe right up until Brexit actually happened, and then suddenly they all remembered they'd never wanted anything to do with such a stupid plan and began scrubbing praise for it from their materials, back to "reform" and tinkering at the edges. The trick is to be First. You can sell "Just do X and it'll be great" unless…

Well, the AfD wants Germany to withdraw from the EU, and the only reason why ruling right-wing populist parties in eastern Europe (e.g. Hungary) don't do it is because it's the hand that still feeds them money (despite them continuously biting it). TBF, Brexit was a particularly bad idea because of the Northern Ireland situation, so others can still feed the illusion that their *exit would be "cleaner"...

And AfD has topped out at 20% after Musk's "help".

Re: Everyone at NSF overseeing the Platforms for Wireless Experimentation is gone

#459

Post by dashundchen »

rayiner wrote: post #434
dashundchen wrote: post #301

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Neither of your articles have any proof or evidence the $20 million funds to Bangladesh are real. It's just what Trump claimed off the cuff. Trump is a known liar. It's why his supporters are always telling other people not take him literally They lied about $50 million for condoms in Gaza, just like he lied about Haitian immigrants eating pets and the dozens of other lies he spews out daily. DOGE has posted a ton of…

https://www.highergov.com/grant/AID388A1700003/

That still doesn't match what Trump, DOGE/Musk or you claimed.

That organization has many employees, not 2 like Trump claimed.

It operates in countries around the world, not just Bangladesh. It's unlikely all those funds were spent in Bangladesh there like Trump was claiming.

Bangladeshi government officials can't confirm Trump's claim.

Musk/DOGE lied about what the funds were used for, and lied that they somehow saved the money by cancelling the contract - the funds were already almost entirely granted. Cancelling a contract doesn't mean those funds already spent are returned.

The org does monitor elections, but did you know that the US also has international observers during our elections?

There's no indication any funds went to election interference. A quick browse of their site shows they conducted a few surveys and held some workshops to encourage women to engage in the the political process - if you consider that election interference, I'm not sure what that says about you.

Seems like a great idea to me in a country that frequently ranks near the bottom in studies of global women's rights.

This is the problem. Trump and Musk spew out lies and make wild out-of-context claims, they get repeated thought because it fits a partisan view. But it takes effort to debunk lies so they spread faster than they can be responded to.

Re: Everyone at NSF overseeing the Platforms for Wireless Experimentation is gone

#460

Post by MandieD »

RealityVoid wrote: post #343
readthenotes1 wrote: post #5

[flagged]

I did not live through it, but Ceaușescu in the 80's had gotten it stuck in his mind to pay Romanian national debt. So they enforced a set of draconic measures that decreased the quality of life of the populace immensely. Not saying that is what will happen here, but this is the first thing I associate in my mind when I hear of some "decisive" leader trying to pay the country's debts.

Ceausescu also had that insane forced-birth policy where women under 45 (later relaxed to 40, but then raised back to 45) who had not yet had 4 (later 5) children were not only banned from using birth control or getting abortions, they were regularly pregnancy tested.

Sure, it resulted in a baby boom, but it also ended up creating those infamous orphanages full of neglected children: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decree_770

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