Trump47 First Week & Beyond Catch-All

[sringwal]

Yikes.

I think that most corporate and higher ed DEI programs, even if well-intended, are awkward, clunky, poorly-executed, and ultimately in many cases an inefficient and ineffective utilization of resources. I've long thought that elite college admissions practices should ignore race and sex altogether in favor of socioeconomic and geographic diversity. I also think that corporate hiring practices should almost always favor qualification and related experience over all else.

That said, it truly is fascinating that the people most obsessed with ending DEI programs never replace DEI programs with anything that actually *ensures* merit-based hiring. Instead, they promote ideologues and loyalists: RFK Jr. to run NIH (despite having no qualifications and gunning down steroids and raw milk); Tulsi Gabbard to ODNI (despite having never worked in intelligence), and Pete Hegseth to run the DOD (despite a severe alcohol problem and having never risen to a senior military role). They complain about nominations like Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, despite her having a better resume than most people who receive the same honor (and a notable lack of sexual harassment charges, right Brett? Or porn addiction, lookin' at you, Clarence!).

Conservatives don't care about merit. They never have. As with everything else in the conservative movement, it was all a lie.

Counterpoint - diversity appears to lead to higher profit margins in corporations.

Diversity wins: How inclusion matters

Although the business case for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) is stronger than ever, many companies’ progress has stalled. A systematic approach and bold action can help.

www.mckinsey.com

"Moreover, we found that the greater the representation, the higher the likelihood of outperformance. Companies with more than 30 percent women executives were more likely to outperform companies where this percentage ranged from 10 to 30, and in turn these companies were more likely to outperform those with even fewer women executives, or none at all. A substantial differential likelihood of outperformance—48 percent—separates the most from the least gender-diverse companies.

"In the case of ethnic and cultural diversity, our business-case findings are equally compelling: in 2019, top-quartile companies outperformed those in the fourth one by 36 percent in profitability, slightly up from 33 percent in 2017 and 35 percent in 2014. As we have previously found, the likelihood of outperformance continues to be higher for diversity in ethnicity than for gender."

 

[CFordUNC]

Counterpoint - diversity appears to lead to higher profit margins in corporations.

Diversity wins: How inclusion matters

Although the business case for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) is stronger than ever, many companies’ progress has stalled. A systematic approach and bold action can help.

www.mckinsey.com

"Moreover, we found that the greater the representation, the higher the likelihood of outperformance. Companies with more than 30 percent women executives were more likely to outperform companies where this percentage ranged from 10 to 30, and in turn these companies were more likely to outperform those with even fewer women executives, or none at all. A substantial differential likelihood of outperformance—48 percent—separates the most from the least gender-diverse companies.

"In the case of ethnic and cultural diversity, our business-case findings are equally compelling: in 2019, top-quartile companies outperformed those in the fourth one by 36 percent in profitability, slightly up from 33 percent in 2017 and 35 percent in 2014. As we have previously found, the likelihood of outperformance continues to be higher for diversity in ethnicity than for gender."

Wow. Thanks for that link- that's great to hear! I should probably do a little more research before opining next time. That's really neat- and really, makes complete logical sense.

 

[farce©]

Having federal departments dedicated to making sure enough non-white, straight, cis people are employed seems like an incredible waste of money.

Yeah, preventing discrimination shouldn’t be function of government.

 

[BlooVooDoo]

Eliminating FEMA is such a boneheadedly stupid idea that I have to imagine it would meet bipartisan opposition. The Red State legislators living in Hurricane and Tornado alley know how important federal aid is during a disaster, and that their careers would end as soon as a disaster impacted their states as the inevitably failed response to it would be entirely their responsibility. But, I'm sure more than a few would be happy to let thousands of their constituents die needlessly just to "own the libs."

Most Republicans in Congress are too pussified to say anything against him. Even those that do water down their criticisms to something like “well, I probably wouldn’t do that, but I’m not the president and don’t have all the information he has, so it’s probably best to just wait and see what happens.”

 

[altmin]

So every disaster would require a separate vote to appropriate funds from Congress? With conditions or not, or various poison pills or not? God knows the kind of nonsense red state MAGAs would put in relief bills; Bible classes in all schools taught by fundamentalist preachers, outlawing dreadlocks, forbidding vaccination requirements for public schools, wait…

Then having the equipment that FEMA owns/deploys either in storage somewhere in each individual state, or renting it from a state that does own it.

 

[Ramrouser]

DEI in the federal government is chasing a problem that doesn't exist. The federal workforce is almost 19% Black - which is an overrepresentation (which is fine). Where's the problem? We don't need useless and expensive DEI departments in federal agencies.

 

[sringwal]

Right! Democrats are awful at messaging.

Wow. Thanks for that link- that's great to hear! I should probably do a little more research before opining next time. That's really neat- and really, makes complete logical sense.

Well, exactly. It completely make sense. And it's a study that I have seen discussed by non-politicians a fair amount.

And, yet, because democrats are so awful at messaging, it doesn't come up a lot in the political sphere, at least from what I have seen. Democrats should be shouting "diversity = profitability" from the rooftops. It should be in everywhere - campaign speeches, TV interviews, social media.

 

[CFordUNC]

Right! Democrats are awful at messaging.

Well, exactly. It completely make sense. And it's a study that I have seen discussed by non-politicians a fair amount.

And, yet, because democrats are so awful at messaging that it doesn't come up a lot in the political sphere, at least from what I have seen. Democrats should be shouting "diversity = profitability" from the rooftops. It should be in everywhere - campaign speeches, TV interviews, social media.

No freaking kidding!

 

[sringwal]

DEI in the federal government is chasing a problem that doesn't exist. The federal workforce is almost 19% Black - which is an overrepresentation (which is fine). Where's the problem? We don't need useless and expensive DEI departments in federal agencies.

Eh. That is very much a "true, but..." claim

Three charts on diversity in the federal government's workforce | USAFacts

A new Office of Personnel Management report reveals that the proportions of white workers and men in the government are higher than their proportions of the US population overall. This is especially true at the senior level.

usafacts.org

 

[gtyellowjacket]

You just wrote another novel admitting that allegations established by only a preponderance of the evidence, i.e. "more likely than not", the lowest standard in any court and used primarily in civil courts, were a major factor in a man getting two life sentences plus 40 years. I have a problem with that. And I find your idiotic prediction abouty how any criminal trial would have turned out but for excluded evidence to be utterly ridiculous. There is other evidence that all these paid hits were being suggested to him by others, and that he had no part in actually coming up with the plans for them. So I have no idea how a criminal trial would have turned out. The fact that you seem positive about what the result would be is, well, arrogant. Sorry you feel bullied when anyone challenges your constant over the top uninformed arrogance. Entertain the possibility that you are a big part of the problem. Again. But try and be more concise this time.

This was what was crazy to me. I fully believe he tried to have people murdered, but that's not nearly the same as proving it. Could he even mount a defense if he wasn't charged? How in the world could that be part of sentencing when it wasn't even proven? That seems crazy to me.

 

[ZenMode]

Yeah, preventing discrimination shouldn’t be function of government.

There are already laws against discrimination. DEI isn't preventing discrimination, it's creating a different kind of discrimination.

 

[4thgenheel]

Trump is anti gay? News to me. Maybe some on the evangelical right but not Trump.

once again, GTFOH. you are living on earth 2.

trump is the head of the republican party and republican politicians all over this country have been passing anti-lgbtq legislation at every opportunity at increasingly breakneck speeds. right wing SC talisman clarence thomas wants to overturn obergfell.

no one on the right is an ally to the lgbtq community, full stop.

 

[Enigma94]

Yep this dude has the Karen Hill "babe in the woods" routine working overtime. It just spiraled out of control on me, I really didn't mean for it to get so big! The federal officers made me go along with murder for hire, I would never normally do something like that!

 

[ZZLPHeels]

I dunno — apparently what Trump has told legislators is he wants to replace FEMA with block grants to affected states (sometimes with conditions other times not?) and let the state agencies apply the funds as they see fit. So I think a lot of Red States might embrace that.

The grants are useless in an emergency. You don't need money until you are in the recovery phase. In the response phase, you need highly trained rescuers and their equipment. There is not a single state that has enough of both to manage a major disaster on their own. That's why during Helene we had FEMA teams from as far away as California show up. If FEMA ceases to exist, those teams are not coming anymore.

 

[gtyellowjacket]

It may seem crazy to you, but apparently it isn't to lawyers.

Also, why is there this reflexive reaction to defend a well documented arbiter of drug trafficking, computer hacking, fraud, illegal gun running, and criminal conspiracy. When combine these are life sentence worthy (per my understanding). Set aside the evidence he sought contract killings (can't believe I have to say that); he still facilitated unquestionable crimes against society.

I get that but I don't think facilitating that is the same as doing it. Its illegal and should be, like a bank laundering drug money, but I don't think its worthy of a life sentence. The contract murder would be, but again, it needs to be proven.

 

[EyeballKid]

I get that but I don't think facilitating that is the same as doing it. It’s illegal and should be, like a bank laundering drug money, but I don't think it’s worthy of a life sentence. The contract murder would be, but again, it needs to be proven.

Meh, to me it’s as though he ran an organized crime ring. He didn’t launder the money, distribute the kiddie porn, sell the fentanyl, or smuggle and sell humans…he just created and ran the platform on which all of that took place, and was largely untraceable.

That, to me, is certainly worthy of a life sentence.

 

[nycfan]

Trump Halts Offshore Wind Leasing and Federal Permitting for Wind Projects​

Insight | January 23, 2025​

In a memorandum issued Jan. 20, 2025, President Donald Trump halted federal offshore wind energy leasing and directed federal administrative agencies to cease the issuance and renewal of permits and approvals for onshore and offshore wind projects. The memorandum is sure to disrupt the wind energy generation development industry, at least until its scope is better understood.

As it relates to offshore leases, the memorandum withdrew all areas within the Outer Continental Shelf from new or renewed wind energy leasing, effective Jan. 21, 2025, and continuing until the memorandum is revoked. The memorandum does not alter existing leases, however, it directs the secretary of the interior to “conduct a comprehensive review of the ecological, economic, and environmental necessity of terminating or amending any existing wind energy leases.”

Applicable to offshore and onshore wind projects, the memorandum orders a comprehensive assessment of federal wind leasing and permitting practices, considering environmental impacts to wildlife and “the economic costs associated with the intermittent generation of electricity and the effect of subsidies on the viability of the wind industry.” The memorandum does not specify a timeframe for completion of the assessment. However, until the assessment has been conducted, the memorandum requires that “relevant agencies … not issue new or renewed approvals, rights of way, permits, leases, or loans for onshore or offshore wind projects.”

It is too early to grasp the full impact of this pause in federal leasing, permitting and other agency action, even for projects that require only state and local permits and authorizations. However, the broadly written memorandum signals the new administration’s stark policy shift related to wind projects.

Trump Halts Offshore Wind Leasing and Federal Permitting for Wind Projects @McGuireWoodsLLP

In a memorandum issued Jan. 20, 2025, President Donald Trump halted federal offshore wind energy leasing and directed federal administrative agencies to cease the issuance and renewal of permits and approvals for both onshore and offshore wind projects. The memorandum is sure to disrupt the wind...

insights.mcguirewoods.net

----
Dude fucking hates windmills, but this is still absurd.

 

[lawtig02]

DEI in the federal government is chasing a problem that doesn't exist. The federal workforce is almost 19% Black - which is an overrepresentation (which is fine). Where's the problem? We don't need useless and expensive DEI departments in federal agencies.

Wow! That’s just 1% less than the percentage of attorneys in your firm who are felons. See, stats are fun!

 

[nycfan]

It’s not illogical to hypothesize that ttump and the billionaire class are actively trying to accelerate global warming.

It takes years to develop these projects and by the time they are into permitting they are pretty far along. I just closed a wind construction facility end of last year and now, though the permitting is mostly local, wondering if FERC is going to quite cooperating with even basic things for wind projects? We're not just talking about front-end situations like developers seeking to lease federal land onshore or offshore for a new project, we're talking about everything that is in process/under construction being impacted by uncertainty, at a minimum. Nuts.

 

[ZenMode]

Trump Halts Offshore Wind Leasing and Federal Permitting for Wind Projects​

Insight | January 23, 2025​

In a memorandum issued Jan. 20, 2025, President Donald Trump halted federal offshore wind energy leasing and directed federal administrative agencies to cease the issuance and renewal of permits and approvals for onshore and offshore wind projects. The memorandum is sure to disrupt the wind energy generation development industry, at least until its scope is better understood.

As it relates to offshore leases, the memorandum withdrew all areas within the Outer Continental Shelf from new or renewed wind energy leasing, effective Jan. 21, 2025, and continuing until the memorandum is revoked. The memorandum does not alter existing leases, however, it directs the secretary of the interior to “conduct a comprehensive review of the ecological, economic, and environmental necessity of terminating or amending any existing wind energy leases.”

Applicable to offshore and onshore wind projects, the memorandum orders a comprehensive assessment of federal wind leasing and permitting practices, considering environmental impacts to wildlife and “the economic costs associated with the intermittent generation of electricity and the effect of subsidies on the viability of the wind industry.” The memorandum does not specify a timeframe for completion of the assessment. However, until the assessment has been conducted, the memorandum requires that “relevant agencies … not issue new or renewed approvals, rights of way, permits, leases, or loans for onshore or offshore wind projects.”

It is too early to grasp the full impact of this pause in federal leasing, permitting and other agency action, even for projects that require only state and local permits and authorizations. However, the broadly written memorandum signals the new administration’s stark policy shift related to wind projects.

Trump Halts Offshore Wind Leasing and Federal Permitting for Wind Projects @McGuireWoodsLLP

In a memorandum issued Jan. 20, 2025, President Donald Trump halted federal offshore wind energy leasing and directed federal administrative agencies to cease the issuance and renewal of permits and approvals for both onshore and offshore wind projects. The memorandum is sure to disrupt the wind...

insights.mcguirewoods.net

----
Dude fucking hates windmills, but this is still absurd.