In my head canon, at least half the characters on The Big Bang Theory have left the Untied States. Raj reluctantly moved back to India to avoid ICE and Sheldon and Amy got jobs at a university in British Colombia because of Trump’s defunding science
What rock has the NYT been under? Trump decimated NIH funding, thousands of post docs had visas cancelled.
There is almost no biomedical research now, and that means no hope.
Why?..because the conservatives ruin everything.
Also, because fuck you is why. We cannot be giving money to smarty pants poindexters who think they know more than me! What they need is some more Jesus.
Who needs science when all truth is in the Bible? Also, who needs some bits of the Bible when all truth is in the other bits of the Bible? It’s just a matter of knowing which is which. If in doubt about this, check the Bible.
Science and Religion can harmoniously exist.
Quiet? I saw news articles about the cuts in grants a while ago.
He started cuts literally first month in office. Started banning words in research grant proposals.
I’m at a big university. It’s been chaos for researchers non stop since he’s been in office.
To be fair, we’re not exactly the norm when it comes to being aware of things that are going on.
Found this gem in that recent CBS News poll regarding US military action in Venezuela:
Just one in five Americans have heard a lot about the U.S. military buildup in the first place.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/poll-venezuela-u-s-military-action-trump/
Fucking horrifying.
The article is about something much more sinister than not giving out appropriated money: The administration is now giving out nearly all of the appropriated money, but by paying a termed lump sum to far fewer projects—the only money these projects will ever get for at least four years, paid out in one payment right now, effectively halving the grant money projects receive while simultaneously meeting the obligations to congressional appropriations, decreasing investment in science and research, and preparing to allow for drastic budget cuts to science research next year.
The article explains this much better than I can, complete with visualizations after every sentence since this is _The Upshot _:
In the past, the N.I.H. typically awarded grants in five annual installments. Researchers could request two more years to spend this money, at no cost. Under the new system, the N.I.H. pays up front for four years of work. And researchers can get one more year to spend this money. Which means that they get less money on average, and less time to spend it.
As a result of this quiet policy shift, the average payment for competitive grants swelled from $472,000 in the first half of the fiscal year to over $830,000 in the last two months.
From $472,000–a-year to $830,000–for-four-years, and that’s unadjusted for inflation.
It feels like the only long term bets being made are for more cash. We have money. What we need is science, culture, and fucking HOPE.
