Re:What's Happening Inside the NIH and NSF
by bad_haircut72 on Tuesday February 04, 2025 @08:37PM
(#42942353)
I feel like were on the same side but youre gonna need a (credible!) source that US govt money was funding virus research in China, that doesnt seem to pass the sniff test
Re:What's Happening Inside the NIH and NSF
by stainablesteel on Tuesday February 04, 2025 @08:45PM
(#42942423)
is this sarcasm? it's been known for years and we got some more "official" info recently
this is the grant, but this was public info for years https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Year-...
Re:What's Happening Inside the NIH and NSF
by bad_haircut72 on Tuesday February 04, 2025 @08:54PM
(#42942518)
No its not sarcasm, thanks for the reference. However since you were rude Im gonna ignore this evidence (this attitude can work for or against Republicans I guess)
Re:What's Happening Inside the NIH and NSF
by dekhn on Tuesday February 04, 2025 @08:58PM
(#42942551)
I'll be less rude: the US funded virus research in China. Some people argue this was wise because it gave us insight into China's bioweapons plans, or be prepared for world disasters, or whatever. It's still not entirely clear why NIH leadership thought this was a good idea, given our understanding of China's relative immaturity in working with dangerous viruses, as well as preventing that funding from going to US researchers.
Re:What's Happening Inside the NIH and NSF
by bad_haircut72 on Tuesday February 04, 2025 @09:21PM
(#42942792)
I had sorta thought this was a right wing conspiracy, as it seemed so unlikely to be true. I can very clearly understand why the new administration is being ruthless with them now, especially given Trumps experience with Covid (a more enlightened leader might say the buck stopped with him instead of blaming underlings, but I digress). Thanks for replying.
Re:What's Happening Inside the NIH and NSF
by dekhn on Wednesday February 05, 2025 @01:25PM
(#42952898)
I'm not sure how to interpret what you're saying. NIAID has worked with China for decades, https://www.niaid.nih.gov/research/niaid-research-china which spans multiple partisan administrations. I think (but can't find at the moment) that there was a law mandating NIAID work with China to keep up-to-date on evolving biodefense. The complaint is really about the establishment, not decisions from a specific president or party.
Re:What's Happening Inside the NIH and NSF
by amluto on Tuesday February 04, 2025 @09:51PM
(#42943074)
> the "drops in the bucket" mindset is the problem, the federal government absurdly overspends
The federal government almost certainly does absurdly overspend, but you’re missing the point: all of these drops in the bucket add up to far less than the deficit.
Also, for better or for worse, operating departments efficiently may well be the executive branch’s job, but setting all these budgets is Congress’s job, not the executive branch’s. In fact, Congress tried, not all that long ago, to allow the President to veto specific line items, and the Supreme Court struck it down:
political opponents of the newly elected administration are obviously going to go fully hysterical over any change, they already did last time. the science industries in the US aren't going anywhere, neither is research at the universities.
the ideological discrimination and money laundering coming out of these departments are going to end. and did we all forget about COVID? The fact that the NIH funded the research that happened in china ILLEGALLY, because this was a really stupid idea and we found that out the hard way, and it was covered up, and we were lied to, it killed millions, destroyed economies on a global scale.... do we really not want to see this agency dissected under a microscope? They need to be investigated.