4 ms·

It's the American experience that decisions are made at the executive level based on faulty intelligence, while people working at the coal face such as yourself

by beachy 1y ago

It's the American experience that decisions are made at the executive level based on faulty intelligence, while people working at the coal face such as yourself have a much better understanding of what's really going on. Case in point the Vietnam war, which cost thousands of lives because decisions were based on statistics from the field which had been heavily manipulated as they percolated upwards. Right now, just as one tiny example, we see the effect of tariffs on prototyping services such as JLPCB, a chinese-based company which makes on demand printed circuit boards. There is no way that it makes sense to dramatically increase the costs to US companies and citizens of creating PCBs which are critical components at the heart of many new products. All that will do is to drive innovation away from the gifted hacker working from his garage in Michigan, and towards countries other than the USA who can order PCBs at reasonable prices. I'll guarantee that no one understands this at the level where these decisions are made.

donnachangstein 1y ago
[flagged]
- theshackleford 1y ago
  > In case it wasn't completely clear: stop sending the Chinese money This is the same thing I’m working to sell people on, only in regards to the US. Working hard to get them to dump US software products and services. Fingers crossed!
- Henchman21 1y ago
  These tariffs are designed to destroy the American economy and primacy on the world stage.
  - myko 1y ago
    Pretty much this. Anyone who has paid attention to trump's work knows the goal is to destroy the USA
    - simpaticoder 1y ago
      I've paid attention, and I don't think his goal is to "destroy the USA". His goal is self-enrichment, and side-effects don't matter. He is a master at promising the world, and then deflecting blame when he doesn't deliver, and yet the people love him anyway. It is very easy to destroy something under those circumstances without having the goal of destruction. See Hanlon's Razor.
      - gusgus01 1y ago
        I prefer the corollary: Any sufficiently advanced stupidity is indistinguishable from malice. At this point, whether it's stupidity, or others taking advantage of that stupidity to induce malicious actions. It doesn't really matter and they should be regarded as malicious and stopped.
        simpaticoder 1y ago
        There is a sense in which wilful ignorance IS malicious. Whether the fruits of that ignorance are therefore malicious is another question. I'm not a lawyer, but I know that they make a clear distinction between intent and ignorance. That is how, in fact, ignorance (or its appearance), becomes a strength. You cannot lie if you don't know. Even better is when you display ignorance but then somehow also have millions of people convinced they can read between the lines that you are not ignorant. "The best way to lie is to tell the truth and not be believed," as Twain once said.
      - Henchman21 1y ago
        I agree with what you’re saying here, but I think it’s important to note that as much as Mr. Trump is convinced he is in charge, there are quite obviously people pulling his strings. He’s a useful tool for more powerful people to wield, and their goals loosely align.
- beachy 1y ago
  > If you don't like it: learn to wire wrap Actually I know how to wire wrap. I last did it 40 years ago. Technology's moved on.
  - donnachangstein 1y ago
    [flagged]
- umbcorp 1y ago
  I'm one of those garage hackers, I have a quote from PCBWay, $286 for 20 boards including assembly service. I also got quotes from companies in U.S. - $2700 from a popular company in bay area - $2000 from another new pcb company. With tarrifs, my PCBWay order is around $789. I'm new to PCB Design, I cannot afford to do $2700 mistakes, with PCBWay hardware is more accessible.
  - donnachangstein 1y ago
    Why are you building 20 boards if you are new to PCB design and can't afford mistakes? That's tremendously risky. Even pros build a couple proto boards for the first run, and sometimes hand assemble them if able, not.... 20?
decimalenough 1y ago
> It's the American experience that decisions are made at the executive level based on faulty intelligence, while people working at the coal face such as yourself have a much better understanding of what's really going on. The article notes that the people being axed are NSF execs making funding decisions, and contrasts this with the NIH, where panels of outside experts make the call. I can't say I have personal experience with either, but all things being equal, the NIH's model sounds like it would work better, no?
- sleet_spotter 1y ago
  NSF also uses expert panels to recommend grants for funding. The systems are very similar.
- magicalist 1y ago
  > The article notes that the people being axed are NSF execs making funding decisions, and contrasts this with the NIH, where panels of outside experts make the call. I believe you're mistaken on both counts? The contrast mentioned in the article is just that for the NSF, division directors alone can potentially scuttle approved grants.
benzible 1y ago
"Faulty intelligence" accepts that DOGE / Russell Vought / Project 2025 are sincerely concerned with government spending. The evidence says that this is deliberate sabotage of government functions to erode public trust. Consider: Douglas Holtz-Eakin (former Republican CBO director) noted DOGE is specifically "going into agencies they disagree with" for ideological reasons, targeting programs that are a tiny fraction of the federal budget. https://thefulcrum.us/governance-legislation/doge-layoffs-trump-administration https://thefulcrum.us/governance-legislation/doge-layoffs-tr... OMB Director Russell Vought explicitly stated his intention for federal workers to be "traumatically affected" - showing disruption is the intended goal. https://www.govexec.com/transition/2025/04/project-2025-wanted-hobble-federal-workforce-doge-has-hastily-done-and-more/404390/ https://www.govexec.com/transition/2025/04/project-2025-want... DOGE cut specialized IRS teams that brought in billions despite small costs. One team of <10 people had recovered $5 billion over four years before being fired. https://www.propublica.org/article/how-doge-irs-cuts-will-cost-more-than-savings-trump-musk-deficit https://www.propublica.org/article/how-doge-irs-cuts-will-co... DOGE has repeatedly made fraud claims that "none have held up under scrutiny" - appearing designed to undermine public trust rather than address actual problems. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_of_Government_Efficiency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_of_Government_Effic... The pattern is clear: target high-visibility but relatively low-cost programs (like NSF internships) that provide tangible benefits to citizens. When services deteriorate, people naturally ask "why am I paying taxes for this?" - which is exactly the intended outcome. A $10k internship that launches careers and advances American innovation is precisely the type of program that makes visible the value of government - which is why it's being targeted despite minimal fiscal impact.
- Loughla 1y ago
  Something, something small enough to drown it in the bathtub. This isn't new. Republicans have always worked to erode government offerings to justify further cuts. What is new is the scale and speed. Is there literally nothing Congress can do or are they just doing nothing?
  - breckenedge 1y ago
    They’ve been doing nothing for decades.
mattgrice 1y ago
Well, OK but none of this is based on faulty intelligence as you mean it. Faulty intelligence maybe in the sense that their brains are broken and that is a very different thing.
throwawaymaths 1y ago
thats not entirely accurate. a great conterexample was the mark XIV torpedo during world war two. it was faulty and the workers at the bureau of navy ordinance couldnt get their heads out of their asses to fix the problem. meanwhile sailors were dying. admirals and captains kept trying to fix the problem until finally one admiral (king iirc) got so pissed off he shoved the changes through and reformed the bureau of ordinance. https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/Admin-Hist/USN-Admin/USN-Admin-8.html https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/Admin-Hist/USN-Admin/US...
- beachy 1y ago
  A great counterexample indeed. Top down hustle getting things moving.

by beachy 1y ago

donnachangstein 1y ago

[flagged]

theshackleford 1y ago
> In case it wasn't completely clear: stop sending the Chinese money This is the same thing I’m working to sell people on, only in regards to the US. Working hard to get them to dump US software products and services. Fingers crossed!
Henchman21 1y ago
These tariffs are designed to destroy the American economy and primacy on the world stage.
- myko 1y ago
  Pretty much this. Anyone who has paid attention to trump's work knows the goal is to destroy the USA
  - simpaticoder 1y ago
    I've paid attention, and I don't think his goal is to "destroy the USA". His goal is self-enrichment, and side-effects don't matter. He is a master at promising the world, and then deflecting blame when he doesn't deliver, and yet the people love him anyway. It is very easy to destroy something under those circumstances without having the goal of destruction. See Hanlon's Razor.
    - gusgus01 1y ago
      I prefer the corollary: Any sufficiently advanced stupidity is indistinguishable from malice. At this point, whether it's stupidity, or others taking advantage of that stupidity to induce malicious actions. It doesn't really matter and they should be regarded as malicious and stopped.
      - simpaticoder 1y ago
        There is a sense in which wilful ignorance IS malicious. Whether the fruits of that ignorance are therefore malicious is another question. I'm not a lawyer, but I know that they make a clear distinction between intent and ignorance. That is how, in fact, ignorance (or its appearance), becomes a strength. You cannot lie if you don't know. Even better is when you display ignorance but then somehow also have millions of people convinced they can read between the lines that you are not ignorant. "The best way to lie is to tell the truth and not be believed," as Twain once said.
    - Henchman21 1y ago
      I agree with what you’re saying here, but I think it’s important to note that as much as Mr. Trump is convinced he is in charge, there are quite obviously people pulling his strings. He’s a useful tool for more powerful people to wield, and their goals loosely align.
beachy 1y ago
> If you don't like it: learn to wire wrap Actually I know how to wire wrap. I last did it 40 years ago. Technology's moved on.
- donnachangstein 1y ago
  [flagged]
umbcorp 1y ago
I'm one of those garage hackers, I have a quote from PCBWay, $286 for 20 boards including assembly service. I also got quotes from companies in U.S. - $2700 from a popular company in bay area - $2000 from another new pcb company. With tarrifs, my PCBWay order is around $789. I'm new to PCB Design, I cannot afford to do $2700 mistakes, with PCBWay hardware is more accessible.
- donnachangstein 1y ago
  Why are you building 20 boards if you are new to PCB design and can't afford mistakes? That's tremendously risky. Even pros build a couple proto boards for the first run, and sometimes hand assemble them if able, not.... 20?

decimalenough 1y ago

> It's the American experience that decisions are made at the executive level based on faulty intelligence, while people working at the coal face such as yourself have a much better understanding of what's really going on. The article notes that the people being axed are NSF execs making funding decisions, and contrasts this with the NIH, where panels of outside experts make the call. I can't say I have personal experience with either, but all things being equal, the NIH's model sounds like it would work better, no?

sleet_spotter 1y ago
NSF also uses expert panels to recommend grants for funding. The systems are very similar.
magicalist 1y ago
> The article notes that the people being axed are NSF execs making funding decisions, and contrasts this with the NIH, where panels of outside experts make the call. I believe you're mistaken on both counts? The contrast mentioned in the article is just that for the NSF, division directors alone can potentially scuttle approved grants.

benzible 1y ago

"Faulty intelligence" accepts that DOGE / Russell Vought / Project 2025 are sincerely concerned with government spending. The evidence says that this is deliberate sabotage of government functions to erode public trust. Consider: Douglas Holtz-Eakin (former Republican CBO director) noted DOGE is specifically "going into agencies they disagree with" for ideological reasons, targeting programs that are a tiny fraction of the federal budget. https://thefulcrum.us/governance-legislation/doge-layoffs-trump-administration https://thefulcrum.us/governance-legislation/doge-layoffs-tr... OMB Director Russell Vought explicitly stated his intention for federal workers to be "traumatically affected" - showing disruption is the intended goal. https://www.govexec.com/transition/2025/04/project-2025-wanted-hobble-federal-workforce-doge-has-hastily-done-and-more/404390/ https://www.govexec.com/transition/2025/04/project-2025-want... DOGE cut specialized IRS teams that brought in billions despite small costs. One team of <10 people had recovered $5 billion over four years before being fired. https://www.propublica.org/article/how-doge-irs-cuts-will-cost-more-than-savings-trump-musk-deficit https://www.propublica.org/article/how-doge-irs-cuts-will-co... DOGE has repeatedly made fraud claims that "none have held up under scrutiny" - appearing designed to undermine public trust rather than address actual problems. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_of_Government_Efficiency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_of_Government_Effic... The pattern is clear: target high-visibility but relatively low-cost programs (like NSF internships) that provide tangible benefits to citizens. When services deteriorate, people naturally ask "why am I paying taxes for this?" - which is exactly the intended outcome. A $10k internship that launches careers and advances American innovation is precisely the type of program that makes visible the value of government - which is why it's being targeted despite minimal fiscal impact.

Loughla 1y ago
Something, something small enough to drown it in the bathtub. This isn't new. Republicans have always worked to erode government offerings to justify further cuts. What is new is the scale and speed. Is there literally nothing Congress can do or are they just doing nothing?
- breckenedge 1y ago
  They’ve been doing nothing for decades.

mattgrice 1y ago

Well, OK but none of this is based on faulty intelligence as you mean it. Faulty intelligence maybe in the sense that their brains are broken and that is a very different thing.

throwawaymaths 1y ago

thats not entirely accurate. a great conterexample was the mark XIV torpedo during world war two. it was faulty and the workers at the bureau of navy ordinance couldnt get their heads out of their asses to fix the problem. meanwhile sailors were dying. admirals and captains kept trying to fix the problem until finally one admiral (king iirc) got so pissed off he shoved the changes through and reformed the bureau of ordinance. https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/Admin-Hist/USN-Admin/USN-Admin-8.html https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/Admin-Hist/USN-Admin/US...

beachy 1y ago
A great counterexample indeed. Top down hustle getting things moving.