Trump / Musk (other than DOGE)

[Healing]

My system sent a very brief “oh, this shit is bad, but there’s nothing you can do” notice, this AM re: grants and future research funding.

The damage this admin has likely done, in two weeks, to medical research advancement likely takes years to recapture, and that’s if they turn the research dollars back on, quickly. These advanced research labs require specialized supply chains, protocols, trainings, and most importantly, recruits with elite capabilities. The US doesn’t consistently produce the number of people with elite capabilities needed to conduct this type of life saving and enhancing research. The blanket financial shock to the research ecosystem will likely damage our ability to recruit top minds from outside the US, possibly for many years, as those people have a plethora of choices. Why sign-up to work in a lab at UNC, under the constant threat of revanchist, xenophobic, and capricious fascists when you likely have a home country option, or the likes of Cambridge, McGill, etc. interested in your services?

It’s almost like the intention is to cull the herd. Hell, next year’s flu vaccine development has been compromised.

 

[mpaer]

Out of curiosity, does this hit the indirect costs for already awarded grants or just the ones to be awarded?

Probably no one knows Orangeturd probabaly has not thought that out

 

[Carolina Fever]

There is not one thing Trump has done since being in office that has been positive.

 

[aGDevil2k]

The dumbest part is when people think Elon really cares about government waste

He wants the money for himself and his projects. And the followers keep thinking he's for them. It's mind blowing

The only rich people that care are Melinda Gates and Mackenzie Scott

 

[mpaer]

The state of NC (UNC, Duke, NCSU, others) receives ~$2B in NIH Funding. Most in the RTP area.

This will eliminate thousands of jobs.

Where the hell is thom tillis and senator Bud light on all this?

 

[Mulberry Heel]

The state of NC (UNC, Duke, NCSU, others) receives ~$2B in NIH Funding. Most in the RTP area.

This will eliminate thousands of jobs.

And librul-hating Trumpers will rejoice. They're gloating right now at all of the "useless" government workers and experts and researchers and scientists and so on who are going to lose their jobs. One of the underrated aspects of Trumpism is that it is to a great extent a class war by working-class, mostly non-college educated rural and suburban whites against the professional classes, and under Trump 2.0 that war is now going full throttle. If you're an expert in any field, you're the enemy and should lose your job, so you can replaced by Trump and Musk loyalists who in most cases have no experience in the jobs they're being hired to do and in some cases are barely out of college. It's quite literally crazy and isn't going to work, but they're hellbent on going through with it, all so they can punish the libs and professional classes and make them suffer, and of course pay for their next big tax cuts for people like themselves. And when the shit finally hits the fan they'll somehow find a way to blame the very people they're trying to fire for all of the problems and disasters they've caused.

 

[Mulberry Heel]

Where the hell is thom tillis and senator Bud light on all this?

Cowering at the feet of Dear Leader and Elon and, in the case of Tillis at least, praying that they don't get primaried by an even nuttier and more extreme Trumper in 2026.

 

[nycfan]

 

[nycfan]

 

[BlooVooDoo]

Severance pay isn’t really a thing for staff in academia. When positions are cut, they give you maybe 3 months notice. If we had to cut positions because of this and then the Trump administration backtracked the following week, we couldn’t simply reappoint them. We would have to advertise, interview, go through the HR salary approval process, make an offer and wait for a response. A month is lightning quick for that process. Ten weeks is typical.

 

[nycfan]

 

[nycfan]

“… Last year, the Biden administration ordered a phaseout of single-use plastic from the federal government’s food service operations, events and packaging by 2027, and from all other federal operations by 2035.

It was not clear whether Mr. Trump planned to call off that wider effort, or whether he was focused just on bringing back plastic straws. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for clarification.

The U.S. government is considered the world’s biggest buyer of consumer goods, and its planned shift away from plastic had been considered a significant milestone in a global effort to tackle a plastics pollution crisis.

The Biden administration had said that the plan, which it called the first comprehensive strategy to tackle plastic use nationwide, aimed to reduce demand for disposable plastic items while also helping to create a market for substitutes that are reusable, compostable or more easily recyclable. …”

Trump Vows to End Paper Straws Initiative and Bring Back Plastic

The move would run counter to a Biden administration push to cut back on single-use plastic, which was considered a milestone.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Carolina Fever]

Hopefully the media can fight back and keep hounding Trump and the courts can have common sense and stop this nonsense.

 

[Mulberry Heel]

Hopefully the media can fight back and keep hounding Trump and the courts can have common sense and stop this nonsense.

There is already evidence that Elon is just ignoring court orders and going ahead with his plans anyway. We could soon easily reach the point at which members of Team Trump will just start ignoring court orders, and if so there's nothing the courts can do to stop them unless Congress or the Supremes intervene, which is very unlikely.

 

[BlooVooDoo]

I think this is correct. Get the right number for costs and give universities an efferent way to make plans. But this is kind of the way corporations do it. They do the cuts and then see where they've gone too far.

Out of curiosity, does this hit the indirect costs for already awarded grants or just the ones to be awarded?

I don’t know what you mean here, but you should understand that Facilities and Administrative costs are negotiated in advance between NIH and research institutions. A university has to provide detailed information relevant to the cost of those expenses. That’s why places in high COL areas generally have higher rates. And they’re very pragmatic about what can apply. For instance, F&A helps cover the cost of maintaining and staffing a research animal facility, but per diem cage charges come from direct funds on a grant. So someone housing 30 monkeys pays more than someone with 30 cages of mice. But indirect costs from all grants (even those that don’t use animals) help ensure the viability of a research animal program.

 

[Silence Dogood]

I find it odd, those that wanted see Trump’s tax returns, don't want to see where their tax dollars are going. Those that are screaming the loudest about uncovering the fraud have the most to hide.

 

[farce©]

Damn, these Trumpers believe a lot of bullshit

 

[Healing]

There is already evidence that Elon is just ignoring court orders and going ahead with his plans anyway. We could soon easily reach the point at which members of Team Trump will just start ignoring court orders, and if so there's nothing the courts can do to stop them unless Congress or the Supremes intervene, which is very unlikely.

Agree. It’s why I hold zero confidence in the courts, at the moment; they have no guns, no propaganda machine, and no mobs. We need institutions to attempt vigorous resistance, if they’re not already irreparably compromised (see SCOTUS), but only bc IMO we need a record to demonstrate the manner these institutions protect and enhance human well being, amidst the unavoidable destruction coming down the pike.

I think we’re looking at a US that in 5 to 20 years will have to execute a new and thorough version of Reconstruction.

 

[Mulberry Heel]

Agree. It’s why I hold zero confidence in the courts, at the moment; they have no guns, no propaganda machine, and no mobs. We need institutions to attempt vigorous resistance, if they’re not already irreparably compromised (see SCOTUS), but only bc IMO we need a record to demonstrate the manner these institutions protect and enhance human well being, amidst the unavoidable destruction coming down the pike.

I think we’re looking at a US that in 5 to 20 years will have to execute a new and thorough version of Reconstruction.

Agreed, but hopefully not after a bloody Civil War this time.

 

[lawtig02]

What Trump is doing to this country is the best gift China could possibly receive. China is in a ton of trouble demographically and economically. But Trump is handing them lasting global influence on a silver platter.