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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

#811

Post by TeMPOraL »

jjk166 wrote: post #634
TeMPOraL wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Twitter lost 84% of its revenue. How much of that is because of politics? Already at the point of takeover, Musk was so hated by half the US for various reasons that it became profitable for major publishing platforms to abandon Twitter/X "on principle". When you're in that situation, nothing on the object-level can help you - neither good management nor technical competence. Revenue depends indirectly on the publi…

> How much of that is because of politics? The US government is a lot more affected by politics than twitter will ever be.

Different kind of politics. For the Twitter-affecting kind, I'm struggling to come up with a term that wouldn't be seen to some as offensive.

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

#812

Post by futuraperdita »

drawkward wrote: post #385
lokimedes wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have go go back to the collapse of the British empire to witness anything this grand. And that was driven by external factors.

This is Russia driven. Its right out of Aleksandr Dugin's playbook for Russian political dominance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundations_of_Geopolitics

I believed this at the beginning of the Ukraine war and went to read Dugin's philosophy to get a sense of where this was all headed. I believe that the Dugin-centric view of Russian _realpolitik_ is an intellectual meme moreso than an accurate view of reality.

Dugin's thought is being used as a rosetta stone in Kremlinology, but I believe that _Foundations of Geopolitics_ has been coöpted as an intellectual veil for a bare Russian imperialism. There is not a lot of evidence that Russia is trying to enact actual Duginist political thinking (which is a specific kind of ethnocentrism highly influenced by Heidegger; he outlines it in _The Fourth Political Theory_). It's being used in a way not dissimilar to Marx being co-opted as a means to domination in Leninism.

We are looking for a more complex answer to a simple problem, which is that an authoritarian leader obsessed with dominance wants to expand that sphere of power where he feels wronged. It doesn't have to be intellectual.

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

#813

Post by iteratethis »

This is the Musk algorithm in action.

He cuts, removes and simplifies until it starts to hurt, and then slightly dials it back. He does this with rocket engines and staff.

Now he's doing it with government services and the US as a whole is doing it with its allies.

The problem with the latter is that you can't dial it back. Countries don't really like it when you threaten to annex them, disrupt their economies on a whim and negotiate about them behinds their backs.

Not only is the US no longer an ally of said countries, it's a hostile nation. 80 years of cooperation and trillions of dollars were wiped out in a single speech.

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

#814

Post by aussiegreenie »

drawkward wrote: post #385
lokimedes wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have go go back to the collapse of the British empire to witness anything this grand. And that was driven by external factors.

This is Russia driven. Its right out of Aleksandr Dugin's playbook for Russian political dominance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundations_of_Geopolitics

Russia can not dominate *ANYTHING*. Its economy is about the size of Australia's despite having nearly four times the population. Its much-vaunted military could not defeat a minnow like Ukraine.

Yes, Russia has nuclear weapons but no one would commit suicide by using them.

Russia is dying, so are Italy, Japan and China etc.

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

#815

Post by cindylmcindy »

iteratethis wrote: post #813

This is the Musk algorithm in action. He cuts, removes and simplifies until it starts to hurt, and then slightly dials it back. He does this with rocket engines and staff. Now he's doing it with government services and the US as a whole is doing it with its allies. The problem with the latter is that you can't dial it back. Countries don't really like it when you threaten to annex them, disrupt their economies on a w…

[flagged]

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

#816

Post by hn_throwaway_99 »

Erem wrote: post #807
throaway89 wrote: post #799

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The whole issue with the idea that "Trump is destroying democracy," isn't that what Trump is doing is NOT damaging to democracy, or corrupt, or what have you. It is. But Trump will be gone in 4 years. There will be a new Republican nominee. Whatever (and I mean, whatever) that nominee says will be the new party line. And the idea that the Republicans are willing to continue an actual overthrow of law and order in the…

> the idea that the Republicans are willing to continue an actual overthrow of law and order in the US is...close to a fantasy No, imagining them continuing to do what they have been doing in the open is not fantasy. Imagining them somehow "snapping back" to supporting constitutional order is much more fantastical. Especially in the face of the anti-judiciary salvos of JD Vance -- a leading candidate for the next nom…

Yeah, TBH I find throaway89's comment a little baffling.

I'm not that concerned that Trump said what he said. I'm concerned that he said that and there was no pushback from Republicans or probably about half the country (and I'm guessing that at least a third of the country vehemently, enthusiastically supported the idea).

I saw a good post recently that described what is happening as essentially a "'cold' civil war". That is, in normal times, there may be strong disagreements about policy, the role of government, etc., but there is general agreement on the framework of democracy, the role of institutions, etc. But it feels to me now that we're past that point, where each side essentially sees the other in "existential threat" terms.

For me personally, I don't want to be there, but if you believe that it's fine for the President of the US to declare the rule of law null and void, then there is no middle ground, primarily because if you're declaring the rule of law null, then the only option for both sides is non-legal conflict. I can't think of a statement that is more "anti-American" to me than that. Which is again why I'm open to the idea (TBH actually I'm really hoping) that I'm either misinterpreting the statement or there is some other reason to think it's not as catastrophic as I view it.

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

#817

Post by jjk166 »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #811
jjk166 wrote: post #634

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> How much of that is because of politics? The US government is a lot more affected by politics than twitter will ever be.

Different kind of politics. For the Twitter-affecting kind, I'm struggling to come up with a term that wouldn't be seen to some as offensive.

Pretty sure it's the same type of politics. If you think private, profit driven corporations are reluctant to deal with individuals viewed as problematic by their customers, wait until you see how elected, popularity driven officials deal with people viewed as problematic by their constituents.

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

#818

Post by celdon25 »

collingreen wrote: post #477
celdon25 wrote: post #430

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You say that as if everyone hasn’t had first hand experience with them. That’s a very out of touch perspective.

First hand experience with who, democrats? If that is your point then I have to disagree with you from my own personal experience. I've had a bunch of conversations over the last few years with Republican voters who have had zero interaction with anything except the mentioned straw/boogieman democrats. Almost all of those conversations have followed a path of "what would reasonable policy be for X" and then looking u…

They interacted with you though, didn't they? Sounds like you didn't sell them.

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

#819

Post by rzz3 »

Aloisius wrote: post #620
rzz3 wrote: post #520

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“Uppers”? I thought the leading theories were MDMA and Ketamine (and recovering from neck surgery), neither of which are best-described by the word “uppers”, nor is that behavior an effect that “uppers” generally have (e.g. cocaine, (meth)amphetamines).

The MA in MDMA is methamphetamine. That said, it's also an empathogen that promotes prosocial behavior, which isn't the word I'd use to describe the behavior happening.

That’s not how chemicals work. It’s not “methylenedioxy” mixed with methamphetamine, it’s an entirely distinct molecule. MDMA is an enpathogen, an aspect which contradicts OP’s key point.

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

#820

Post by drawkward »

aussiegreenie wrote: post #814
drawkward wrote: post #385

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is Russia driven. Its right out of Aleksandr Dugin's playbook for Russian political dominance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundations_of_Geopolitics

Russia can not dominate * ANYTHING* . Its economy is about the size of Australia's despite having nearly four times the population. Its much-vaunted military could not defeat a minnow like Ukraine. Yes, Russia has nuclear weapons but no one would commit suicide by using them. Russia is dying, so are Italy, Japan and China etc.

And yet, Russia has bent the US to its will regarding Ukraine. Curioius.
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