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What's happening inside the NIH and NSF

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Re: What's happening inside the NIH and NSF

#721

Post by m_fayer »

CalRobert wrote: post #580
brylie wrote: post #497

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an expat in the EU, I have a surreal sense of being a bystander at an ongoing emergency scene. I don’t want to be yet another gawker as this situation is unfolding but am struggling to come up with actions that are within my power to take as a form of protest, resistance, or solidarity. What are some practical actions that we can take to resist these sweeping changes?

Similar (moved to the EU 12 years ago) The best thing I can think of is to make the EU a strong, powerful, wealthy democracy that can defend itself from invasion and try to encourage other democracies around the world. Which means we have a lot of work ahead, to put it mildly.

The EU suddenly feels flimsy and badly defended. I hope that negative motivation puts the fear into people and motivates action faster than this reality can be exploited by bad actors, who seem to be ready and waiting.

Re: What's happening inside the NIH and NSF

#722

Post by CalRobert »

preisschild wrote: post #606
CalRobert wrote: post #580

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Similar (moved to the EU 12 years ago) The best thing I can think of is to make the EU a strong, powerful, wealthy democracy that can defend itself from invasion and try to encourage other democracies around the world. Which means we have a lot of work ahead, to put it mildly.

For that to work, the individual governments need to give more of their responsibilities up to the EU level, which is unfortunately somewhat unpopular.

Unfortunate indeed :-(

It's 2025. You can drive across most European countries in a day (a long day, in some cases, but still).

If Europe wants to stick to the borders a bunch of kings and princes hashed out in blood a hundred+ years ago it can, for the moment, but if we do, there's a decent chance it will just be crushed by the next global superpower (US, China, or weirdly enough maybe Russia considering how much influence they have over many US politicians now).

I love Europe. I was proud to become an EU citizen and my favourite scarf is an EU flag. I think it's an amazing place full of amazing countries and people. And it still can be! But for it to continue to exist, we MUST work together. Militarily, economically, and even practically (why is it so hard to book train tickets across 3 countries again?)

I know it stings, but the reality is the wolves are at the gates. Democracy has its back against the wall and we need a force that can fight back. Or government of the people, by the people, for the people, will soon perish from the Earth.

Re: What's happening inside the NIH and NSF

#723

Post by leereeves »

rayiner wrote: post #705
jmward01 wrote: post #490

This is a coup and we are calmly debating budgets. Debating the % of budget and how useful organization x is and if y will still get grant money, and, and, and... All of this is ignoring the big elephant in the room that there is one single person deciding everything that happens in government as if they were a king. The right thing to be debating is how we can stop this from continuing and how we can hold those resp…

A “coup” implies an overthrow of the legal structure of power. Who is being overthrown?

[flagged]

Re: What's happening inside the NIH and NSF

#724

Post by woodpanel »

xp84 wrote: post #503
jmward01 wrote: post #490

This is a coup and we are calmly debating budgets. Debating the % of budget and how useful organization x is and if y will still get grant money, and, and, and... All of this is ignoring the big elephant in the room that there is one single person deciding everything that happens in government as if they were a king. The right thing to be debating is how we can stop this from continuing and how we can hold those resp…

As far as I can tell, Trump is doing things he openly announced he would do for at least a year. So all of this is either a result of robust public support for his policies, or, (my preferred explanation) an even more robust public repudiation of the only alternative that was put forward by the other party, a candidate famous for dropping out before Iowa in 2020 but somehow was coronated the nominee without any voter…

> Declaring it a 'coup' is as silly as when Trump lost in 2020 and declared it a 'rigged election.'

At this point any discussion on HN about Trump delivering his campaign promises (which got him a resounding electoral victory) seems to be filled with elitist rage ("Every single IT board I'm on") and thus is just proving his point.

This is the blowback for the medical overreach of the covid years, for the 1984-esque re-labeling of open gender- and race-based discrimination as DEI, for basically shaming every opposing view as

> evil, fascist, dastardly white supremacists

and many more transgressions.

I'm saying this as a non us citizen working in a sector in Europe that is very likely to get absolutely clobbered by Trump. The blame is simply to put at the losing side.

Them denying the merit of their loss, the lack of any introspection and instead just one-upping their everybody-i-disagree-with-is-hitler mantra is at least comforting in the sense that I know they shouldn't be in charge.

Re: What's happening inside the NIH and NSF

#725

Post by sam345 »

tootie wrote: post #682
mc32 wrote: post #678

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Large organizations suffer from rot. They need periodic retrenchment -in the private sector there are economic pressures to re-organize; in the government the tendency is for greater taxation. Throwing out the baby along with the bath water is not the answer but neither is the status quo.

[flagged]

Agencies are not a separate branch they are part of the executive branch. There is no separation of power issue.

Re: What's happening inside the NIH and NSF

#726

Post by CalRobert »

m_fayer wrote: post #721
CalRobert wrote: post #580

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Similar (moved to the EU 12 years ago) The best thing I can think of is to make the EU a strong, powerful, wealthy democracy that can defend itself from invasion and try to encourage other democracies around the world. Which means we have a lot of work ahead, to put it mildly.

The EU suddenly feels flimsy and badly defended. I hope that negative motivation puts the fear into people and motivates action faster than this reality can be exploited by bad actors, who seem to be ready and waiting.

Agreed, but I don't think I'd say sudden. Some have been pointing out that weak militaries and pacifism were a luxury afforded only through naivete and wishful thinking. Hell, Ireland's whole defense strategy is "but everyone likes us!" and "well I'm sure Britain will help in a pinch".

Re: What's happening inside the NIH and NSF

#727

Post by XajniN »

skissane wrote: post #431
baq wrote: post #414

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not happening. Getting significantly more than $100k is close to impossible in most careers in any other country and the dollar is the safest currency to get paid in. Not convinced the desperate folks who want to move despite these are good hires. Anecdotally the only people working any job at all outside of USA that I’ve met were doing that because of their non-US wives not liking it stateside. This isn’t a large gr…

> Not happening. Getting significantly more than $100k is close to impossible in most careers in any other country There are literally millions of people around the world who earn significantly more than US$100K and don’t work in the US. e.g. in Australia, many medical specialists earn more than US$200k - it is common for experienced oncologists, cardiologists, paediatricians, gastroenterologists, etc, to earn more t…

That’s spare change for a US doctor.

Re: What's happening inside the NIH and NSF

#728

Post by leereeves »

tootie wrote: post #682
mc32 wrote: post #678

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Large organizations suffer from rot. They need periodic retrenchment -in the private sector there are economic pressures to re-organize; in the government the tendency is for greater taxation. Throwing out the baby along with the bath water is not the answer but neither is the status quo.

[flagged]

> Trump and Musk are actively destroying the separation of powers of the branches of government.

I'm afraid that's just factually wrong. What Trump and Musk are doing is called impoundment of appropriated funds[1] and it is Constitutional and consistent with the separation of powers, and was in fact considered one of the powers of the President until 1974.

In 1974, Congress passed the Impoundment Control Act, making it illegal (but not unconstitutional), and that will no doubt be fought in the Courts, but it seems likely the the current Supreme Court will overturn the act, making what Trump and Musk are doing legal.

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impoundment_of_appropriated_fu...

Re: What's happening inside the NIH and NSF

#729

Post by tyingq »

leereeves wrote: post #723
rayiner wrote: post #705

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A “coup” implies an overthrow of the legal structure of power. Who is being overthrown?

[flagged]

Routinely reaching past the defined limits of the executive branch could be described as a coup. Depending on the event/circumstances, it's congress being overthrown, or the constitution, etc.

Assuming a definition of coup like "violent overthrow or alteration of an existing government by a small group" there's a reasonable case to be made.

Re: What's happening inside the NIH and NSF

#730

Post by macinjosh »

jmward01 wrote: post #490

This is a coup and we are calmly debating budgets. Debating the % of budget and how useful organization x is and if y will still get grant money, and, and, and... All of this is ignoring the big elephant in the room that there is one single person deciding everything that happens in government as if they were a king. The right thing to be debating is how we can stop this from continuing and how we can hold those resp…

No, we the people voted for this. This is what democracy looks like.
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