Trump's Second Term

[JayUtah]

Agreed. I worked as a contractor at LLNL under contract from the NNSA.

Apropos of this, DOGE has fired something like 300 employees from the NNSA. (Other sources report only 50 terminations.) CNN is reporting that DOGE was apparently unaware that this organization has primary responsibility for securing the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile. The Dept. of Energy is now hoping to rescind some of the terminations.

This is what happens when "efficiency" and the propriety of spending is being decided by unqualified, uninformed blowhards and techno-kids. "Move fast and break things" cannot possibly work when this is the actual United States and not some throwaway tech company, and there is no safety net.

 

[The Don]

A large number of National Park employees have been fired and seasonal employees have not been hired. The upshot is that the National Park Service will be critically understaffed including safety related posts like EMT and fire management.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-forest-service-fires-3400-workers-park-service-cuts-1000-2025-02-14/

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...onal-park-trump-federal-firings-b2698653.html (may be paywalled)

Apparently it's been reported all bookings for Yellowstone have been cancelled. Mrs Don and I have some cabins booked for May/June, we have no way of telling whether we will be able to stay there.

I get the feeling that the approach is to fire everyone but then attempt to rehire people simply required to keep the lights on.

 

[Gulliver Foyle]

Apropos of this, DOGE has fired something like 300 employees from the NNSA. (Other sources report only 50 terminations.) CNN is reporting that DOGE was apparently unaware that this organization has primary responsibility for securing the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile. The Dept. of Energy is now hoping to rescind some of the terminations.

This is what happens when "efficiency" and the propriety of spending is being decided by unqualified, uninformed blowhards and techno-kids. "Move fast and break things" cannot possibly work when this is the actual United States and not some throwaway tech company, and there is no safety net.

"Move fast and break things" only works for stuff that's so unimportant that nobody will notice they're broken.

 

[zooterkin]

More repercussions of inexperienced people moving fast...

Musk claims there are people who are 150 years old claiming social security. It seems the explanation is actually that the birth date field is empty, because not accurately known, and because the epoch for COBOL is May 20th 1875, an empty field shows up as an age of 150.

Elon Musk claims there are 150-year-olds on Social Security

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk made claims earlier this week that there are 150-year-olds on Social Security.

www.fox5dc.com

Nope. There are no 150-year-olds on Social Security. It's COBOL!--UPDATED Feb 17

Elon Musk claimed that his team found 150-year-old people collecting Social Security! He implied there were dead people being sent benefits, with checks cashed by someone else. But no—the people getting paid are very much alive. They are collecting...

www.dailykos.com

 

[The Don]

"Move fast and break things" only works for stuff that's so unimportant that nobody will notice they're broken.

And it presumes that things can be put back together.

If you fire a bunch of highly skilled, highly marketable people don't be too surprised when they're not eager to reapply for their jobs a few months down the line when you realise that maybe it's a good idea to have competent people in charge of the US nuclear weapons stockpile.

 

[The Don]

More repercussions of inexperienced people moving fast...

Musk claims there are people who are 150 years old claiming social security. It seems the explanation is actually that the birth date field is empty, because not accurately known, and because the epoch for COBOL is May 20th 1875, an empty field shows up as an age of 150.

Elon Musk claims there are 150-year-olds on Social Security

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk made claims earlier this week that there are 150-year-olds on Social Security.

www.fox5dc.com

Nope. There are no 150-year-olds on Social Security. It's COBOL!--UPDATED Feb 17

Elon Musk claimed that his team found 150-year-old people collecting Social Security! He implied there were dead people being sent benefits, with checks cashed by someone else. But no—the people getting paid are very much alive. They are collecting...

www.dailykos.com

If called out on this lie, he will simply gloss over it and say that you can't bat 1.000 when you're trying to save the US from fraud and woke.

 

[JayUtah]

And it presumes that things can be put back together.

Back in the heyday of Silicon Valley—where the strategy was most popular—you could shutter a failed company, regroup, recapitalize, and get a new company up and running in a month or two. Failure had no real consequences. The relevant markets rewarded innovation over stability or longevity. And it was only money, and there was plenty of that to be had at the time.

If you fire a bunch of highly skilled, highly marketable people don't be too surprised when they're not eager to reapply for their jobs a few months down the line when you realise that maybe it's a good idea to have competent people in charge of the US nuclear weapons stockpile.

When I was contracting for the NNSA, they had the highest concentration of Top Secret and Compartmentalized clearances at Energy. Elon Musk would almost certainly not have qualified to work there. They are highly skilled, highly trusted, and take their responsibility absolutely seriously. Stockpile stewardship is one of the most important, most sensitive things that exist in the United States. I guarantee that 19-year-old "Big Balls" has no idea what he's doing and would absolutely not qualify to work there. This is getting very serious.

 

[JayUtah]

And it presumes that things can be put back together.

Back in the heyday of Silicon Valley—where the strategy was most popular—you could shutter a failed company, regroup, recapitalize, and get a new company up and running in a month or two. Failure had no real consequences. The relevant markets rewarded innovation over stability or longevity. And it was only money, and there was plenty of that to be had at the time.

If you fire a bunch of highly skilled, highly marketable people don't be too surprised when they're not eager to reapply for their jobs a few months down the line when you realise that maybe it's a good idea to have competent people in charge of the US nuclear weapons stockpile.

When I was contracting for the NNSA, they had the highest concentration of Top Secret and Compartmentalized clearances at Energy. Elon Musk would almost certainly not have qualified to work there. They are highly skilled, highly trusted, and take their responsibility absolutely seriously. Stockpile stewardship is one of the most important, most sensitive things that exist in the United States. This is not something you give to a 19-year-old named "Big Balls."

 

[JayUtah]

More repercussions of inexperienced people moving fast...

We still wonder why an exercise ostensibly aimed at reducing fraud and fiscal waste seems to employ no forensic accountants or economists. It's all supposedly computer geniuses, who are meant to be adept at pushing the buttons but apparently have no idea what the buttons do. We're supposed to believe these kids are so smart at computers that they can do any job. Now we find out they can't even do theirs.

 

[AmyStrange]

And it presumes that things can be put back together.

If you fire a bunch of highly skilled, highly marketable people don't be too surprised when they're not eager to reapply for their jobs a few months down the line when you realise that maybe it's a good idea to have competent people in charge of the US nuclear weapons stockpile.

I'm no expert on government matters (by any means), but I wouldn't doubt that some (if not many) will go into lobbying.

From what I understand, there's a lot of money in doing that.

That probably won't help the lying fat clown one bit, but that's just my opinion.

Your mileage may vary of course.


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[Mojo]

More repercussions of inexperienced people moving fast...

Musk claims there are people who are 150 years old claiming social security. It seems the explanation is actually that the birth date field is empty, because not accurately known, and because the epoch for COBOL is May 20th 1875, an empty field shows up as an age of 150.

You can't expect these people to understand how computers work.

 

[AmyStrange]

We still wonder why an exercise ostensibly aimed at reducing fraud and fiscal waste seems to employ no forensic accountants or economists. It's all supposedly computer geniuses, who are meant to be adept at pushing the buttons but apparently have no idea what the buttons do. We're supposed to believe these kids are so smart at computers that they can do any job. Now we find out they can't even do theirs.

Doesn't the government have some of those or have they all been given the heave-ho?


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[dirtywick]

We still wonder why an exercise ostensibly aimed at reducing fraud and fiscal waste seems to employ no forensic accountants or economists. It's all supposedly computer geniuses, who are meant to be adept at pushing the buttons but apparently have no idea what the buttons do. We're supposed to believe these kids are so smart at computers that they can do any job. Now we find out they can't even do theirs.

it's what many people think, probably they themselves think that. zuckerberg, musk, these guys made so much money, that they must be geniuses and they think they got all the answers. people buy into it, they must be a genius, look at all the money they made in business. and we need to run the government like a business, why not ask the guys that made all the money.

a lot of the money they made, imo, is funny money on paper and in crypto, it's not real. it's all stock in tech companies in a bubble, and the tech doesn't work as advertised, social media sucks, the ai sucks, and the robots are guys in suits and the cars are guys with remote controls. and they're going to show you exactly how incompetent they are, and they work for a con man that made his fortune in reality tv and gold plated hotels.

 

[The Great Zaganza]

a simple question no one on the "they are so rich so they must be so smart" crowd can answers is: was no on in US history as smart? Or is there a reason that has nothing to do with their business acumen that explains their freakish wealth?

 

[Mojo]

More repercussions of inexperienced people moving fast...

Musk claims there are people who are 150 years old claiming social security. It seems the explanation is actually that the birth date field is empty, because not accurately known, and because the epoch for COBOL is May 20th 1875, an empty field shows up as an age of 150.

Even taking that birth date as correct he's clearly exaggerating.

They'd only be 149.

 

[The Great Zaganza]

del

 

[Mojo]

del

Mange tout, Rodney, mange tout.

 

[AmyStrange]

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-forest-service-fires-3400-workers-park-service-cuts-1000-2025-02-14/

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...onal-park-trump-federal-firings-b2698653.html (may be paywalled)

I know a trick around that, that sometimes works.

You just have to be really fast and do it before the subscription popup appears.


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[Andy_Ross]

Donald says he is above the law apparently

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump

He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.

 

[The Great Zaganza]

Donald says he is above the law apparently

odd that that argument never worked for any assassin.