4 ms·

White House used keywords to kill billions worth of California research grants

81 points by petethomas 3mo ago

ShinyLeftPad 3mo ago
Another example of keyword driven policies https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/diversity-documents-that-werent-about-dei-were-purged-from-osha-websites/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/diversity-documen... I wonder how many grants were cancelled because some keyword matched but it had completely nothing to do with DEI
- yieldcrv 3mo ago
  They should pass the pages through Gemini for classification first
- Larrikin 3mo ago
  The DEI grants shouldn't have been cancelled just because they were DEI either
conartist6 3mo ago
do we have a word for the kind of crime where a person is found guilty of attempting to undermine the nation itself?
- fragmede 3mo ago
  Tree, son!
- mindslight 3mo ago
  Yes, but it's become a swear word along with the F-word.
- soulofmischief 3mo ago
  https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=%2Fprelim%40title18%2Fpart1%2Fchapter115&edition=prelim https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=%2Fprelim%40title18... §2381. Treason Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States §2382. Misprision of treason Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States and having knowledge of the commission of any treason against them, conceals and does not, as soon as may be, disclose and make known the same to the President or to some judge of the United States, or to the governor or to some judge or justice of a particular State, is guilty of misprision of treason and shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than seven years, or both Is our sitting President and his administration guilty of these crimes? Well, good question, but I do know that I feel a strong chilling effect over the idea of even suggesting that to be the case on the public internet, and that chilling effect itself may provide the answer.
- eithed 3mo ago
  Lol if Trump is convicted of treason because some researchers didn't get a grant
_blk 3mo ago
With a nation this far endebted you'd think people might think it reasonable to question billions in grants.. Don't spend money you don't have is one of the best advices my parents ever gave me.
- saulpw 3mo ago
  Your parents didn't have the legal authority to print money. It's almost like running a household is different from running a business, is different from running a nation.
- blooalien 3mo ago
  > With a nation this far endebted you'd think people might think it reasonable to question billions in grants.. One might also question the wisdom of starting yet another ongoing war, or throwing piles of money at putting a president's name everywhere it wasn't asked for, or truckloads of money "renovating" national monuments only to have to throw more money at re-doing the job because it was half-assed by an unqualified crew, or literal tens of billions at ICE (kinda sorta) doing their job worse than ever before... Guess how much money's been wasted on all that?
  - _blk 3mo ago
    We may disagree on what spendings are necessary but I get your frustration. Spending should be questioned everywhere and I don't mind it starting in academia... It's not like it couldn't be parallelized to other areas
- cosmicgadget 3mo ago
  Was another piece of advice that personal finance is absolutely nothing like running a business or country? And of course your straw man is "this is just DOGE trying to save tax dollars", completely ignoring the premise of the article and all other readily-available information.
- Sabinus 3mo ago
  That argument is rolled out every time the Republicans want to cut anything, but then they don't actually balance the books. Trump is responsible for 25% of the national debt and the DOGE cuts did not move the needle at all.

81 points by petethomas 3mo ago

Another example of keyword driven policies https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/diversity-documents-that-werent-about-dei-were-purged-from-osha-websites/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/diversity-documen... I wonder how many grants were cancelled because some keyword matched but it had completely nothing to do with DEI

yieldcrv 3mo ago
They should pass the pages through Gemini for classification first
Larrikin 3mo ago
The DEI grants shouldn't have been cancelled just because they were DEI either

conartist6 3mo ago

do we have a word for the kind of crime where a person is found guilty of attempting to undermine the nation itself?

fragmede 3mo ago
Tree, son!
mindslight 3mo ago
Yes, but it's become a swear word along with the F-word.
soulofmischief 3mo ago
https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=%2Fprelim%40title18%2Fpart1%2Fchapter115&edition=prelim https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=%2Fprelim%40title18... §2381. Treason Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States §2382. Misprision of treason Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States and having knowledge of the commission of any treason against them, conceals and does not, as soon as may be, disclose and make known the same to the President or to some judge of the United States, or to the governor or to some judge or justice of a particular State, is guilty of misprision of treason and shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than seven years, or both Is our sitting President and his administration guilty of these crimes? Well, good question, but I do know that I feel a strong chilling effect over the idea of even suggesting that to be the case on the public internet, and that chilling effect itself may provide the answer.
eithed 3mo ago
Lol if Trump is convicted of treason because some researchers didn't get a grant

_blk 3mo ago

With a nation this far endebted you'd think people might think it reasonable to question billions in grants.. Don't spend money you don't have is one of the best advices my parents ever gave me.

saulpw 3mo ago
Your parents didn't have the legal authority to print money. It's almost like running a household is different from running a business, is different from running a nation.
blooalien 3mo ago
> With a nation this far endebted you'd think people might think it reasonable to question billions in grants.. One might also question the wisdom of starting yet another ongoing war, or throwing piles of money at putting a president's name everywhere it wasn't asked for, or truckloads of money "renovating" national monuments only to have to throw more money at re-doing the job because it was half-assed by an unqualified crew, or literal tens of billions at ICE (kinda sorta) doing their job worse than ever before... Guess how much money's been wasted on all that?
- _blk 3mo ago
  We may disagree on what spendings are necessary but I get your frustration. Spending should be questioned everywhere and I don't mind it starting in academia... It's not like it couldn't be parallelized to other areas
cosmicgadget 3mo ago
Was another piece of advice that personal finance is absolutely nothing like running a business or country? And of course your straw man is "this is just DOGE trying to save tax dollars", completely ignoring the premise of the article and all other readily-available information.
Sabinus 3mo ago
That argument is rolled out every time the Republicans want to cut anything, but then they don't actually balance the books. Trump is responsible for 25% of the national debt and the DOGE cuts did not move the needle at all.