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Federal workers ordered to return to offices without desks, Wi-Fi and lights

cnn.com

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Re: Federal workers ordered to return to offices without desks, Wi-Fi and lights

#61

Post by exe34 »

rob74 wrote: post #41
bloomingkales wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think people didn’t want to believe it when they blamed DEI for the helicopter crash. The algebra looks like this: Privatize FAA = x + y Where x is any discovery or event related to the FAA, and where y is any red meat justification (dei|immigration|trans). There are many such equations: Strategic bitcoin reserve = x + y. Long two years, just going to leave this here. They will always find x and y to complete their…

Since you mention the FAA, I wonder what will happen if the NTSB's report on the Washington disaster doesn't match Trump's preconceived conclusions, e.g. by placing most of the blame on the (female) helicopter pilot. If he interferes there, that will be the final straw convincing me that the US is unfortunately no better than the "banana republics" it used to make fun of anymore...

> If he interferes there,

How will you know at this point? Would he need a sharpie this time, or will he just shout at them over the phone and change the conclusions?

Re: Federal workers ordered to return to offices without desks, Wi-Fi and lights

#63

Post by wat10000 »

rob74 wrote: post #41
bloomingkales wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think people didn’t want to believe it when they blamed DEI for the helicopter crash. The algebra looks like this: Privatize FAA = x + y Where x is any discovery or event related to the FAA, and where y is any red meat justification (dei|immigration|trans). There are many such equations: Strategic bitcoin reserve = x + y. Long two years, just going to leave this here. They will always find x and y to complete their…

Since you mention the FAA, I wonder what will happen if the NTSB's report on the Washington disaster doesn't match Trump's preconceived conclusions, e.g. by placing most of the blame on the (female) helicopter pilot. If he interferes there, that will be the final straw convincing me that the US is unfortunately no better than the "banana republics" it used to make fun of anymore...

I doubt he'll care at that point. It’s already been (subjective) years since that crash.

Re: Federal workers ordered to return to offices without desks, Wi-Fi and lights

#64

Post by droopyEyelids »

dataangel wrote: post #54
selykg wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely insane that this is what we've come to. It is mind blowing to me that this is what people want. We are regressing this country so rapidly that we are likely to become one of those shithole countries the president so loudly proclaimed Haiti, El Salvador and others were.

This what a huge chunk of HN wanted! HN was all aboard the Trump train for years and the mods admonished anyone being too critical of other users for it, it's when I wrote off most of the people here as morons.

I’ll never forget the Great HN Vote where everyone decided to get on board the Trump Train

Re: Federal workers ordered to return to offices without desks, Wi-Fi and lights

#66

Post by baggachipz »

selykg wrote: post #34
Aurornis wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It is mind blowing to me that this is what people want. It is not what people want. The Trump administration’s popularity is already below 50%, and much lower among independents (around 30% depending on the poll). Many people aren’t yet aware of what’s happening. A lot of the electorate is getting their news from filtered sources like Fox News or various far right media outlets. Joe Rogan has gone all in on praisin…

> Anecdotally, I have some extended family who were very pro-Trump. One of them recently discovered that her job was funded through a federal grant, and now it’s likely going to be cut even though she doesn’t work for the government directly. They also discovered that one of their family members is covered by Medicaid through an avenue that’s looking like it will be cut. They went through a stage of disbelief, but no…

They will always refuse to admit they were wrong or that they were duped. The reasons for hardships and failure will always be due to the group of "others" stymieing their progress. The enemy is both cleverly evil and simultaneously feckless. I know some trumpies and they think things are going swimmingly.

Re: Federal workers ordered to return to offices without desks, Wi-Fi and lights

#67

Post by exe34 »

trhway wrote: post #42

i do wonder how Musk is planning to get FAA approvals for SpaceX if the federal stuff is decreased. Is he going to wait many weeks, months, years like the others will be waiting or is he personally going to cut the line? Or may be getting rid of FAA permits at all? Back to the time of great unlimited aviation and rocketry innovation. I personally have a bunch of non-traditional designs i'd like to get airborne/launch…

He'll just get his own account to approve his flights.

Re: Federal workers ordered to return to offices without desks, Wi-Fi and lights

#68

Post by wat10000 »

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #47
trhway wrote: post #42

i do wonder how Musk is planning to get FAA approvals for SpaceX if the federal stuff is decreased. Is he going to wait many weeks, months, years like the others will be waiting or is he personally going to cut the line? Or may be getting rid of FAA permits at all? Back to the time of great unlimited aviation and rocketry innovation. I personally have a bunch of non-traditional designs i'd like to get airborne/launch…

Why not just ignore the law like they're mostly doing already?

The law only matters to the extent that it’s enforced. Get rid of all the enforcers, and you’re home free.

Re: Federal workers ordered to return to offices without desks, Wi-Fi and lights

#69

Post by Aurornis »

selykg wrote: post #34
Aurornis wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It is mind blowing to me that this is what people want. It is not what people want. The Trump administration’s popularity is already below 50%, and much lower among independents (around 30% depending on the poll). Many people aren’t yet aware of what’s happening. A lot of the electorate is getting their news from filtered sources like Fox News or various far right media outlets. Joe Rogan has gone all in on praisin…

> Anecdotally, I have some extended family who were very pro-Trump. One of them recently discovered that her job was funded through a federal grant, and now it’s likely going to be cut even though she doesn’t work for the government directly. They also discovered that one of their family members is covered by Medicaid through an avenue that’s looking like it will be cut. They went through a stage of disbelief, but no…

All of the news stories about unlikely Trump voters having regrets are just ragebait. Journalists can always find someone for readers to laugh at because they voted for someone who was openly against them, but that’s a different issue.

The real interesting voter regret is when the likely Trump voters start realizing that their guy isn’t who they thought. It’s not going to happen quickly because denial and rationalization can go on for a very long time.

I am starting to see it in some of the VCs and crypto people I know personally and follow on Twitter. The launch of the Trump memecoin went through a rationalization cycle where the crypto people tried to spin it as a good thing, but now nearly all of them have given up and agreed it was a bad move for crypto

One of the loudest pro-Trump VCs in my state has gone from being a cheerleader to asking questions about what DOGE is actually doing. The trigger for him was, strangely enough, Musk having public issues with the parents of two of his children. Something about realizing that he’s not a good family man and father finally broke his illusions of Musk as the perfect hero.

I think it’s little things like this that will start making people ask questions about their heroes. The more topics and agencies they get their hands on, the more people will be impacted and be forced to reconcile their reality with their imagined ideals of this administration.

Re: Federal workers ordered to return to offices without desks, Wi-Fi and lights

#70

Post by CapricornNoble »

Interesting that the CNN article makes no mention of how badly under-utilized government office spaces are.

https://wolfstreet.com/2025/01/25/doge-seeks-to-shed-vast-am... “A recent report from Sen. Joni Ernst, a Republican from Iowa who chairs the Senate DOGE caucus, found that not one of the headquarters for any major agency or department in Washington is more than half full. GSA-owned buildings in Washington, D.C., average about a 12% occupancy rate. The government owns more than 7,500 vacant buildings across the country, and more than 2,200 that are partially empty.”

DOGE is hamfisted in its execution but why are we spending massive amounts of money for office buildings while people work from home? I'm a fan of remote work and would prefer that we crash the Commercial Real Estate market by canceling leases rather that stuffing people back into cubicle farms, but I think the context of trying to kill two birds with one stone (improve building utilization and also identify who is actually doing work and not just fucking off) makes some sense.

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