4 ms·

It is a little buried in there, but it is worth noting that the cut in funding is going to have a major impact on some important climate change research groups

It is a little buried in there, but it is worth noting that the cut in funding is going to have a major impact on some important climate change research groups and facilities. It should not be a surprise that the governor who scrapped the funding is a Republican. This isn't just a part of an anti-government or even anti-education strategy, it is a part of the war on science (specifically regarding climate change).

aaronbrethorst 7y ago
I found this link via https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/carnage https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/carnage, which includes another link to a bomb-shell of a piece on the 'consultant' who's spearheading this effort: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/meet-the-right-wing-consultant-who-goes-from-state-to-state-slashing-budgets https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/meet-the-right-wing-consu...
- 657df026-caa 7y ago
  For those who did not click, this consultant is "the itinerant grim reaper of state budgets who has for more than twenty years been going from state to state when a new Republican governor comes into power cutting state spending down to the bone and making way for tax cuts for the wealthy." For some of these people, I honestly have a hard time telling just how much they actually believe in these policies, and how much it happens to serve their other ideological interests by proxy even though they know full well that their economic policies of choice are a load of malarkey. I mean, history has shown a trail of bodies from these kinds of moves.
  - quibbler 7y ago
    "Making way tax cuts for the wealthy" - yeah, that article is totally not biased.
kartan 7y ago
> This isn't just a part of an anti-government or even anti-education strategy Big corporations should be paying way more taxes. It would be a good way to avoid creating such undemocratic centers of power. Education is a human right: Article 26. (1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit. * https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/ https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/
- atmosx 7y ago
  Uneducated population doesn’t understand the repercussions of their choices and can be easily controlled through FUD. There have been regimes (e.g. Portugal’s military dictatorship) who made lack of education an official policy.
  - mistermann 7y ago
    This implies educated people can't also be easily controlled. It may require different specific tactics, but I see little evidence that they can't also be controlled, generally speaking.
  - molmalo 7y ago
    Your post sparked curiosity in me, and I googled it... but according to Wikipedia, the Portuguese dictatorship expanded literacy to cover most of the population, and also made a: > strong investment in secondary and university education, which experienced in this period one of the fastest growth rates of Portuguese education history to date. [1] So, it seems like Wikipedia contradicts your statement... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estado_Novo_(Portugal)#Education https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estado_Novo_(Portugal)#Educati...
    - 657df026-caa 7y ago
      While that is true in this specific instance, history is pretty rife with dictators slaughtering entire classes of educated people. Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge are the first example I have off the top of my head.
mattkrause 7y ago
The UA system does a lot of unique research. Similar cuts hit (say) UNC or Berkely would be a tragedy too, but a lot of the people and projects could move to Duke or Stanford pretty easily. Not many places have icebreaker research vessels like the RV Sikuliaq, herds of reindeer and muskoxen (UAF's large animal research station), or giant RF transmitters for studying the ionosphere (HAARP--and no, it doesn't control the weather).
- ksaj 7y ago
  > (HAARP--and no, it doesn't control the weather) Or your mind. The first time I ever heard of HAARP was a wonky conspiracy theory that it was being used for mind control, purposely dumbing down the masses, no less. Once I discovered what it actually is, I found it quite interesting.

aaronbrethorst 7y ago

I found this link via https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/carnage https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/carnage, which includes another link to a bomb-shell of a piece on the 'consultant' who's spearheading this effort: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/meet-the-right-wing-consultant-who-goes-from-state-to-state-slashing-budgets https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/meet-the-right-wing-consu...

657df026-caa 7y ago
For those who did not click, this consultant is "the itinerant grim reaper of state budgets who has for more than twenty years been going from state to state when a new Republican governor comes into power cutting state spending down to the bone and making way for tax cuts for the wealthy." For some of these people, I honestly have a hard time telling just how much they actually believe in these policies, and how much it happens to serve their other ideological interests by proxy even though they know full well that their economic policies of choice are a load of malarkey. I mean, history has shown a trail of bodies from these kinds of moves.
- quibbler 7y ago
  "Making way tax cuts for the wealthy" - yeah, that article is totally not biased.

kartan 7y ago

> This isn't just a part of an anti-government or even anti-education strategy Big corporations should be paying way more taxes. It would be a good way to avoid creating such undemocratic centers of power. Education is a human right: Article 26. (1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit. * https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/ https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/

atmosx 7y ago
Uneducated population doesn’t understand the repercussions of their choices and can be easily controlled through FUD. There have been regimes (e.g. Portugal’s military dictatorship) who made lack of education an official policy.
- mistermann 7y ago
  This implies educated people can't also be easily controlled. It may require different specific tactics, but I see little evidence that they can't also be controlled, generally speaking.
- molmalo 7y ago
  Your post sparked curiosity in me, and I googled it... but according to Wikipedia, the Portuguese dictatorship expanded literacy to cover most of the population, and also made a: > strong investment in secondary and university education, which experienced in this period one of the fastest growth rates of Portuguese education history to date. [1] So, it seems like Wikipedia contradicts your statement... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estado_Novo_(Portugal)#Education https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estado_Novo_(Portugal)#Educati...
  - 657df026-caa 7y ago
    While that is true in this specific instance, history is pretty rife with dictators slaughtering entire classes of educated people. Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge are the first example I have off the top of my head.

mattkrause 7y ago

The UA system does a lot of unique research. Similar cuts hit (say) UNC or Berkely would be a tragedy too, but a lot of the people and projects could move to Duke or Stanford pretty easily. Not many places have icebreaker research vessels like the RV Sikuliaq, herds of reindeer and muskoxen (UAF's large animal research station), or giant RF transmitters for studying the ionosphere (HAARP--and no, it doesn't control the weather).

ksaj 7y ago
> (HAARP--and no, it doesn't control the weather) Or your mind. The first time I ever heard of HAARP was a wonky conspiracy theory that it was being used for mind control, purposely dumbing down the masses, no less. Once I discovered what it actually is, I found it quite interesting.