Octopus Overlords

Smoove_B wrote: Tue Feb 11, 2025 10:46 am
Regardless, I read something over the weekend that suggested University of Alabama was one of the top recipients of NIH money. It was something like $700 million in 2022 and $900 million in 2023. If that money is cut off, it is going to be absolutely devastating to that school and the surrounding community. I'm having a hard time believing the intention of this administration is to punish a state like Alabama, but maybe they view the higher ed communities in deeply red states as the enemy, so they don't care.

Isgrimnur wrote: Thu Jun 06, 2024 10:47 am Oh, and Tuberville can go fuck himself.

LawBeefaroni wrote: Tue Feb 11, 2025 3:53 pm

Smoove_B wrote: Tue Feb 11, 2025 10:46 am
Regardless, I read something over the weekend that suggested University of Alabama was one of the top recipients of NIH money. It was something like $700 million in 2022 and $900 million in 2023. If that money is cut off, it is going to be absolutely devastating to that school and the surrounding community. I'm having a hard time believing the intention of this administration is to punish a state like Alabama, but maybe they view the higher ed communities in deeply red states as the enemy, so they don't care.

Tommy Tuberville, meet your own petard. You fuck.

LordMortis wrote: Tue Feb 11, 2025 4:38 pm Time to start degoogling my life. This is going to suck. Not even sure where I want to begin nor how. The worst is I really appreciate syncing calendar and email from desktop to phone so easily.

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.4254793 ... FQAw%3D%3D

LordMortis wrote: Tue Feb 11, 2025 4:38 pm Time to start degoogling my life. This is going to suck. Not even sure where I want to begin nor how. The worst is I really appreciate syncing calendar and email from desktop to phone so easily.

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.4254793 ... FQAw%3D%3D

LordMortis wrote: Tue Feb 11, 2025 4:38 pm The worst is I really appreciate syncing calendar and email from desktop to phone so easily.

LordMortis wrote: Tue Feb 11, 2025 4:50 pm Way to make it all sooooo much better. This is going to take some time and effort. Fortunately, I never trusted chrome and FF makes it easy to switch to DuckDuckGo. I honestly could leave youtube without to much effort and can easily mostly leave it. Unfortunately, I've really integrated their calendar and gmail into my omnipresent existence.

stessier wrote: Tue Feb 11, 2025 4:43 pm

LordMortis wrote: Tue Feb 11, 2025 4:38 pm Time to start degoogling my life. This is going to suck. Not even sure where I want to begin nor how. The worst is I really appreciate syncing calendar and email from desktop to phone so easily.

https://www.google.com/maps/@35.4254793 ... FQAw%3D%3D

In fairness, Google's reasoning for the change is reasonable and content neutral. They go off the GSCIS for the country. Outside the US it will show both designations as they do with other contested areas. I think Mexico might see only The Gulf of Mexico.

Smoove_B wrote: Tue Feb 11, 2025 10:46 am I'm very mixed on it. On the one hand, yeah, F those Red states; they voted for this.

On the other, I can't help but think it suggests there's a coalition of Blue States forming and this might edge us closer to an official (administrative?) Civil War as the divide grows. I honestly think it's going to be a weather event or some other type of large-scale disaster (like the next wildfire situation) that is going to potentially bring this to a head, depending on where and when it happens and if there's a situation where money/aid is quickly being funneled to a Red state but clearly being withheld to a Blue one.

gbasden wrote: Tue Feb 11, 2025 7:39 pm I strongly believe we are going to see political violence start to occur and sooner rather than later. There is simply too much anger on both sides, and with Trump smashing everything it's going to boil over.

Smoove_B wrote: Tue Feb 11, 2025 7:43 pm

gbasden wrote: Tue Feb 11, 2025 7:39 pm I strongly believe we are going to see political violence start to occur and sooner rather than later. There is simply too much anger on both sides, and with Trump smashing everything it's going to boil over.

I'm 100% with you.

Blackhawk wrote: Tue Feb 11, 2025 7:46 pm There's a reason that me and mine have been keeping a low profile locally. Commenting on any area internet site is done only through an alias account, for example.

waitingtoconnect wrote: Wed Feb 12, 2025 3:03 am

Calling it for what it is. State capture.

And if Musk is allowed to take over OpenAI he could hold so much sway over our lives he could be the most powerfully man who has ever lived.

We could have a man who could control space exploration, AI, TikTok, Twitter and worse the US government. If he gains control of the government, it won’t matter who the president is.

stessier wrote: Wed Feb 12, 2025 6:58 pm FWIW, any one in Congress can submit a bill saying anything. Doesn't mean anything is going to come of it.

After issuing two stays, U.S. District Judge George O'Toole has declined to block the Trump administration's deferred resignation program for federal employees.

The ruling comes more than two weeks after the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) sent an email to more than 2 million civilian employees of the federal government with the subject line "Fork in the Road."

...

In his ruling, O'Toole wrote that the plaintiffs — the labor unions — lack standing to challenge the "Fork" directive, because they are not directly impacted by it.

"Instead, they allege that the directive subjects them to upstream effects including a diversion of resources to answer members' questions about the directive, a potential loss of membership, and possible reputational harm," O'Toole wrote in his decision. "This is not sufficient."

O'Toole also stated that the court lacks subject-matter jurisdiction. Federal employees, he noted, are supposed to take their workplace complaints to the independent agencies set up to review personnel matters within the government.

Yet on Tuesday, attorneys for the unions asked O'Toole to consider that President Trump ousted the chair of the Federal Labor Relations Authority and a member of the Merit Systems Protection Board, two forums where claims brought by civil servants are reviewed.

"These terminations have now fundamentally weakened these entities and undermined their bipartisan composition, further impairing any purported opportunity for 'meaningful judicial review,'" the attorneys wrote.

O'Toole did not rule on the legality of the deferred resignation program.

In a statement, OPM spokesperson McLaurine Pinover said the agency was pleased that the court had rejected "a desperate effort" to strike down the deferred resignation program.

"As of 7:00 pm tonight, the program is now closed," she wrote Wednesday evening. "This program was carefully designed, thoroughly vetted, and provides generous benefits so federal workers can plan for their futures."

A short while later, federal employees began receiving emails from OPM, informing them that any resignations received after 7:20 pm ET, February 12, 2025, will not be accepted.

More than 65,000 federal employees, roughly 3% of the federal workforce, had agreed to resign as of Tuesday morning, according to a spokesperson at OPM.

Smoove_B wrote: Wed Feb 12, 2025 10:57 pm Judge declines to block buyout:

After issuing two stays, U.S. District Judge George O'Toole has declined to block the Trump administration's deferred resignation program for federal employees.

The ruling comes more than two weeks after the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) sent an email to more than 2 million civilian employees of the federal government with the subject line "Fork in the Road."

...

In his ruling, O'Toole wrote that the plaintiffs — the labor unions — lack standing to challenge the "Fork" directive, because they are not directly impacted by it.

"Instead, they allege that the directive subjects them to upstream effects including a diversion of resources to answer members' questions about the directive, a potential loss of membership, and possible reputational harm," O'Toole wrote in his decision. "This is not sufficient."

O'Toole also stated that the court lacks subject-matter jurisdiction. Federal employees, he noted, are supposed to take their workplace complaints to the independent agencies set up to review personnel matters within the government.

Yet on Tuesday, attorneys for the unions asked O'Toole to consider that President Trump ousted the chair of the Federal Labor Relations Authority and a member of the Merit Systems Protection Board, two forums where claims brought by civil servants are reviewed.

"These terminations have now fundamentally weakened these entities and undermined their bipartisan composition, further impairing any purported opportunity for 'meaningful judicial review,'" the attorneys wrote.

O'Toole did not rule on the legality of the deferred resignation program.

Status:

In a statement, OPM spokesperson McLaurine Pinover said the agency was pleased that the court had rejected "a desperate effort" to strike down the deferred resignation program.

"As of 7:00 pm tonight, the program is now closed," she wrote Wednesday evening. "This program was carefully designed, thoroughly vetted, and provides generous benefits so federal workers can plan for their futures."

A short while later, federal employees began receiving emails from OPM, informing them that any resignations received after 7:20 pm ET, February 12, 2025, will not be accepted.

More than 65,000 federal employees, roughly 3% of the federal workforce, had agreed to resign as of Tuesday morning, according to a spokesperson at OPM.

"This program was carefully designed"

waitingtoconnect wrote: Thu Feb 13, 2025 12:39 am The union just gas no standing to bring a case. It’s not some mega victory, Jesus.

It's wild to see all the conspiracy brained Alex Jones types who hyperventilated for years over "the Amero" and a supposed North American Union that was going to be brought in by Obama as the ultimate tyranny.

Then Trump starts talking about annexing Canada, Greenland and Panama and all of a sudden they're salivating at the prospect of building an empire.

Same thing with "using the military as a domestic police force". They can't wait to see Trump shooting protestors.

They'd love a "one world government" if they thought Trump or Elon would be in charge.

Isgrimnur wrote: Thu Feb 13, 2025 1:55 pm State of the Union Address should be fun.

Zaxxon wrote: Thu Feb 13, 2025 1:56 pm

Isgrimnur wrote: Thu Feb 13, 2025 1:55 pm State of the Union Address should be fun.

A little awkward, though. Musk has never been eloquent.

Zaxxon wrote: Thu Feb 13, 2025 1:56 pm

Isgrimnur wrote: Thu Feb 13, 2025 1:55 pm State of the Union Address should be fun.

A little awkward, though. Musk has never been eloquent.