NPR

Enzedder wrote: Thu Mar 20, 2025 5:26 am Fun fact: A blue whale’s anus can stretch to about 3.5 feet in diameter—making it the second-largest asshole on the planet.

sockwithaticket wrote: Thu Mar 20, 2025 1:56 pm Away from the headlines, RFK jr. thinks we should allow bird flu to run unchecked so as to identify birds that are immune.

dpedin wrote: Thu Mar 20, 2025 4:07 pm

sockwithaticket wrote: Thu Mar 20, 2025 1:56 pm Away from the headlines, RFK jr. thinks we should allow bird flu to run unchecked so as to identify birds that are immune.

Probably thinks the same about measles!

I'm still waiting to hear the details of his new research proposal into the links between vaccines and autism and in particular how they decide who gets the placebo!

sockwithaticket wrote: Thu Mar 20, 2025 1:56 pm Away from the headlines, RFK jr. thinks we should allow bird flu to run unchecked so as to identify birds that are immune.

Rhubarb & Custard wrote: Thu Mar 20, 2025 9:10 pm Europe hasn't actually done anything yet. So far it's just hot air

Biffer wrote: Thu Mar 20, 2025 9:59 pm

Rhubarb & Custard wrote: Thu Mar 20, 2025 9:10 pm Europe hasn't actually done anything yet. So far it's just hot air

The budgetary changes etc are actually massive.

Biffer wrote: Thu Mar 20, 2025 9:59 pm

Rhubarb & Custard wrote: Thu Mar 20, 2025 9:10 pm Europe hasn't actually done anything yet. So far it's just hot air

The budgetary changes etc are actually massive.

geordie_6 wrote: Thu Mar 20, 2025 10:27 pm

Biffer wrote: Thu Mar 20, 2025 9:59 pm

Rhubarb & Custard wrote: Thu Mar 20, 2025 9:10 pm Europe hasn't actually done anything yet. So far it's just hot air

The budgetary changes etc are actually massive.

Particularly the German decisions recently.

geordie_6 wrote: Thu Mar 20, 2025 10:27 pm

Biffer wrote: Thu Mar 20, 2025 9:59 pm

Rhubarb & Custard wrote: Thu Mar 20, 2025 9:10 pm Europe hasn't actually done anything yet. So far it's just hot air

The budgetary changes etc are actually massive.

Particularly the German decisions recently.

Rhubarb & Custard wrote: Fri Mar 21, 2025 8:48 am

geordie_6 wrote: Thu Mar 20, 2025 10:27 pm

Biffer wrote: Thu Mar 20, 2025 9:59 pm

The budgetary changes etc are actually massive.

Particularly the German decisions recently.

There's the potential for those to be big, but they may yet end in little. What for instance happens if a coalition partner says to the German Chancellor this money needs to be invested into Germany to make Germany great again, and the military isn't something we can afford at this time? Or what happens if there are surprise results in Poland's elections, one wouldn't expect that but how many called the recent Romanian election in advance?

I hope the intimated extra spend on the military does come to something, but boots and equipment in place with a resolve to use them is a thing, words speaking to future actions not so much.

Uncle fester wrote: Fri Mar 21, 2025 8:20 am The department of education stuff is just bonkers.

Slick wrote: Fri Mar 21, 2025 10:21 am

Uncle fester wrote: Fri Mar 21, 2025 8:20 am The department of education stuff is just bonkers.

Like a lot of this stuff it's not quite as bonkers as the breathless headlines suggest though

Raggs wrote: Fri Mar 21, 2025 10:45 am

Slick wrote: Fri Mar 21, 2025 10:21 am

Uncle fester wrote: Fri Mar 21, 2025 8:20 am The department of education stuff is just bonkers.

Like a lot of this stuff it's not quite as bonkers as the breathless headlines suggest though

Is it not? The DoE is roughly there to try and ensure all kids have a fair shake. The ones living in rich areas, already get well funded through state taxes, DoE tries to balance things up. Whether that's through funding, focusing on areas where education is lacking, or discrimination approaches.

Trump lied about the USA spending the most on education and being low down on the educational league tables, they're roughly where their spend equivalent would put them.

Poor states/schools are going to get hammered by this.

Biggest thing though, is it's supposed to go through a 2/3rds congressional support to pass I believe. If Trump just drives it through, it's a massive step closer to dictatorship, if congress folds, it's also a big step.

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education, fulfilling a campaign pledge and a long-cherished goal of some conservatives.

Accusing the agency of "breath-taking failures", the Republican president vowed to return the money it controls to individual states.

"We're going to shut it down as quickly as possible," Trump said, although the White House acknowledged that closing the agency outright would require an act of Congress.

The move is already facing legal challenges from those seeking to block the agency's closure as well as sweeping cuts to its staff announced last week.

Most US children attend public schools, which are free and run by local officials.

A common misconception is that the federal education department operates US schools and sets curriculum, but that is primarily done by states and local districts.

A relatively small percentage of funding for primary and secondary schools - about 13% - comes from federal funds. Most of the money comes from state and local taxes.

Established in 1979, the department administers student loans and runs programmes to help low-income students.

But Trump has accused it of indoctrinating young people with racial, sexual, and political material.

Surrounded by children seated at school desks in the White House on Thursday, Trump said "the US spends more money on education by far than any other country", yet he added that students rank near the bottom of the list.

The Unesco Institute for Statistics said the US spends roughly 5.4% of its GDP on education, which is higher than many countries but not all.

The department's budget last year was $238bn (£188bn), which is less than 2% of federal spending.

The White House stated that his administration would move to cut parts of the department that remain within legal boundaries.

The executive order is likely to face legal challenges, like many of the Trump administration's efforts to shrink the size of the federal government.

At the signing ceremony, Trump praised Linda McMahon, whom he appointed to lead the department, and expressed his hope she would be the last secretary of education.

He said he would find "something else" for her to do within the administration.

After Trump signed the order, Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy announced plans to bring legislation aimed at closing the department.

But Republicans hold a slim 53-47 majority in the Senate, and closing a federal department would require 60 votes, making such a goal a longshot.

But even if the department is not formally closed, the Trump administration could decimate its funding and staff as it has done with the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which subsequently stopped many of its programmes and humanitarian work.

The text of the executive order does not include specifics on what actions the administration will take and which programmes might be axed.

It orders McMahon to "take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure" of the department and give authority of such matters to state and local governments.

It also directs her to ensure "the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely".


Soon after she was sworn in, McMahon sent the department's 4,400 employees a memo titled "Our Department's Final Mission", a possible reference to Trump's aim to close it.

"This is our opportunity to perform one final, unforgettable public service to future generations of students," she wrote.

"I hope you will join me in ensuring that when our final mission is complete; we will be able to say that we left American education freer, stronger, and with more hope for the future."

Earlier reports suggested Trump would look to end some of the department's programmes and send others to different departments, such as the Treasury, something that still may happen but wasn't made clear in his executive order.

America's largest teachers' union recently decried Trump's plans, saying he "doesn't care about opportunity for all kids".

In its statement, the American Federation of Teachers said: "No-one likes bureaucracy, and everyone's in favour of more efficiency, so let's find ways to accomplish that.

"But don't use a 'war on woke' to attack the children living in poverty and the children with disabilities."

For more than 40 years, conservatives have complained about the department and floated ideas to abolish it.

Just two years after it was established by Democratic President Jimmy Carter, his Republican replacement, Ronald Reagan, led calls to undo it.

It is the smallest agency in the president's cabinet and takes up less than 2% of the total federal budget.

Some of those staff have already been affected by the Trump administration's sweeping workforce cuts, led by the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge).

Nearly 2,100 people at the agency are set to be placed on leave from Friday.

Efforts by Doge to slash federal spending and radically restructure - or simply abolish - many government agencies have been overseen by tech billionaire Elon Musk.

Slick wrote: Fri Mar 21, 2025 10:55 am

Raggs wrote: Fri Mar 21, 2025 10:45 am

Slick wrote: Fri Mar 21, 2025 10:21 am

Like a lot of this stuff it's not quite as bonkers as the breathless headlines suggest though

Is it not? The DoE is roughly there to try and ensure all kids have a fair shake. The ones living in rich areas, already get well funded through state taxes, DoE tries to balance things up. Whether that's through funding, focusing on areas where education is lacking, or discrimination approaches.

Trump lied about the USA spending the most on education and being low down on the educational league tables, they're roughly where their spend equivalent would put them.

Poor states/schools are going to get hammered by this.

Biggest thing though, is it's supposed to go through a 2/3rds congressional support to pass I believe. If Trump just drives it through, it's a massive step closer to dictatorship, if congress folds, it's also a big step.

I think this is a decent article from the BBC

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education, fulfilling a campaign pledge and a long-cherished goal of some conservatives.

Accusing the agency of "breath-taking failures", the Republican president vowed to return the money it controls to individual states.

"We're going to shut it down as quickly as possible," Trump said, although the White House acknowledged that closing the agency outright would require an act of Congress.

The move is already facing legal challenges from those seeking to block the agency's closure as well as sweeping cuts to its staff announced last week.

Most US children attend public schools, which are free and run by local officials.

A common misconception is that the federal education department operates US schools and sets curriculum, but that is primarily done by states and local districts.

A relatively small percentage of funding for primary and secondary schools - about 13% - comes from federal funds. Most of the money comes from state and local taxes.

Established in 1979, the department administers student loans and runs programmes to help low-income students.

But Trump has accused it of indoctrinating young people with racial, sexual, and political material.

Surrounded by children seated at school desks in the White House on Thursday, Trump said "the US spends more money on education by far than any other country", yet he added that students rank near the bottom of the list.

The Unesco Institute for Statistics said the US spends roughly 5.4% of its GDP on education, which is higher than many countries but not all.

The department's budget last year was $238bn (£188bn), which is less than 2% of federal spending.

The White House stated that his administration would move to cut parts of the department that remain within legal boundaries.

The executive order is likely to face legal challenges, like many of the Trump administration's efforts to shrink the size of the federal government.

At the signing ceremony, Trump praised Linda McMahon, whom he appointed to lead the department, and expressed his hope she would be the last secretary of education.

He said he would find "something else" for her to do within the administration.

After Trump signed the order, Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy announced plans to bring legislation aimed at closing the department.

But Republicans hold a slim 53-47 majority in the Senate, and closing a federal department would require 60 votes, making such a goal a longshot.

But even if the department is not formally closed, the Trump administration could decimate its funding and staff as it has done with the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which subsequently stopped many of its programmes and humanitarian work.

The text of the executive order does not include specifics on what actions the administration will take and which programmes might be axed.

It orders McMahon to "take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure" of the department and give authority of such matters to state and local governments.

It also directs her to ensure "the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely".


Soon after she was sworn in, McMahon sent the department's 4,400 employees a memo titled "Our Department's Final Mission", a possible reference to Trump's aim to close it.

"This is our opportunity to perform one final, unforgettable public service to future generations of students," she wrote.

"I hope you will join me in ensuring that when our final mission is complete; we will be able to say that we left American education freer, stronger, and with more hope for the future."

Earlier reports suggested Trump would look to end some of the department's programmes and send others to different departments, such as the Treasury, something that still may happen but wasn't made clear in his executive order.

America's largest teachers' union recently decried Trump's plans, saying he "doesn't care about opportunity for all kids".

In its statement, the American Federation of Teachers said: "No-one likes bureaucracy, and everyone's in favour of more efficiency, so let's find ways to accomplish that.

"But don't use a 'war on woke' to attack the children living in poverty and the children with disabilities."

For more than 40 years, conservatives have complained about the department and floated ideas to abolish it.

Just two years after it was established by Democratic President Jimmy Carter, his Republican replacement, Ronald Reagan, led calls to undo it.

It is the smallest agency in the president's cabinet and takes up less than 2% of the total federal budget.

Some of those staff have already been affected by the Trump administration's sweeping workforce cuts, led by the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge).

Nearly 2,100 people at the agency are set to be placed on leave from Friday.

Efforts by Doge to slash federal spending and radically restructure - or simply abolish - many government agencies have been overseen by tech billionaire Elon Musk.

Nothing there disagrees with what I've said. It unreasonably punishes the poor and disabled/disadvantaged. Most the federal spending is on programs attempting to level the playing field. And again, rich areas don't need much federal funding, but poorer districts can be majority covered by federal funds. Over the whole school system, yes it's a relatively small amount (though slashing 13% off school budgets is pretty massive on it's own), but schools and areas that need it the most, will be hit the hardest, and they won't have the state/district funding to cover the loss, not even close.

Slick wrote: Fri Mar 21, 2025 11:09 am

Nothing there disagrees with what I've said. It unreasonably punishes the poor and disabled/disadvantaged. Most the federal spending is on programs attempting to level the playing field. And again, rich areas don't need much federal funding, but poorer districts can be majority covered by federal funds. Over the whole school system, yes it's a relatively small amount (though slashing 13% off school budgets is pretty massive on it's own), but schools and areas that need it the most, will be hit the hardest, and they won't have the state/district funding to cover the loss, not even close.

I wasn't disagreeing with what you said either. I just think some of the reporting is way over the top.

As the article says, it's unlikely to get voted through and it's something successive governments have considered doing since Carter.

Rhubarb & Custard wrote: Fri Mar 21, 2025 11:35 am

Slick wrote: Fri Mar 21, 2025 11:09 am

Nothing there disagrees with what I've said. It unreasonably punishes the poor and disabled/disadvantaged. Most the federal spending is on programs attempting to level the playing field. And again, rich areas don't need much federal funding, but poorer districts can be majority covered by federal funds. Over the whole school system, yes it's a relatively small amount (though slashing 13% off school budgets is pretty massive on it's own), but schools and areas that need it the most, will be hit the hardest, and they won't have the state/district funding to cover the loss, not even close.

I wasn't disagreeing with what you said either. I just think some of the reporting is way over the top.

As the article says, it's unlikely to get voted through and it's something successive governments have considered doing since Carter.

Fo those who wanted to do it how many wanted to put something else in place Vs how many wanted to scorch the earth and say job done?

Yeeb wrote: Fri Mar 21, 2025 11:50 am Don’t know what it’s like in the US, but in UK it seems that teachers are pretty bad at spending money effectively. Trumps quote that they spend loads but rank near the bottom , for once doesn’t sound unreasonable.

See also local government workers , planners , health trust execs in charge of procurement , councils road maintenance depts…

Uncle fester wrote: Fri Mar 21, 2025 2:19 pm

Yeeb wrote: Fri Mar 21, 2025 11:50 am Don’t know what it’s like in the US, but in UK it seems that teachers are pretty bad at spending money effectively. Trumps quote that they spend loads but rank near the bottom , for once doesn’t sound unreasonable.

See also local government workers , planners , health trust execs in charge of procurement , councils road maintenance depts…

Tory strategy of ruining a service into the ground and then saying "see it doesn't work so we must privatise".

sockwithaticket wrote: Fri Mar 21, 2025 3:29 pm

Uncle fester wrote: Fri Mar 21, 2025 2:19 pm

Yeeb wrote: Fri Mar 21, 2025 11:50 am Don’t know what it’s like in the US, but in UK it seems that teachers are pretty bad at spending money effectively. Trumps quote that they spend loads but rank near the bottom , for once doesn’t sound unreasonable.

See also local government workers , planners , health trust execs in charge of procurement , councils road maintenance depts…

Tory strategy of ruining a service into the ground and then saying "see it doesn't work so we must privatise".

That, plus Yeeb's premise is the sort of flippant, over-exaggeration founded in nonsense that we've all come to expect from him. Teachers have been asked to do more with less for about the last 20 years. If anything, that we still have a somewhat functional education system is testament to being able to use resources effectively. See also the other groups he maligned.

Yeeb wrote: Fri Mar 21, 2025 3:48 pm
Actually you are being full of shit here, have been a governor at a school as well as a largish nhs trust and whilst such excessive wastes have been trimmed from the newspaper articles about £30 lightbulbs and loo rolls, there is still an ingrained ‘other peoples money’ attitude within public sector that has my sales guys rubbing their hands with glee when they secure a health or education tender as it’s +10% margin at least.
I only malign groups that deserve to be mocked.

Raggs wrote: Fri Mar 21, 2025 10:45 am

Slick wrote: Fri Mar 21, 2025 10:21 am

Uncle fester wrote: Fri Mar 21, 2025 8:20 am The department of education stuff is just bonkers.

Like a lot of this stuff it's not quite as bonkers as the breathless headlines suggest though

Is it not? The DoE is roughly there to try and ensure all kids have a fair shake. The ones living in rich areas, already get well funded through state taxes, DoE tries to balance things up. Whether that's through funding, focusing on areas where education is lacking, or discrimination approaches.

Trump lied about the USA spending the most on education and being low down on the educational league tables, they're roughly where their spend equivalent would put them.

Poor states/schools are going to get hammered by this.

Biggest thing though, is it's supposed to go through a 2/3rds congressional support to pass I believe. If Trump just drives it through, it's a massive step closer to dictatorship, if congress folds, it's also a big step.

Rhubarb & Custard wrote: Thu Mar 20, 2025 9:10 pm Europe hasn't actually done anything yet. So far it's just hot air

bok_viking wrote: Sat Mar 22, 2025 10:46 am

Rhubarb & Custard wrote: Thu Mar 20, 2025 9:10 pm Europe hasn't actually done anything yet. So far it's just hot air

Yeah I am not sure how much Europe will actually do outside of talking a lot. Europe has been kissing the feet of the USA and acted as their vassal for so long (even when most of it ended up being harmful to the European economy) that I just cannot see them doing their own thing for long before crawling back to the USA. The EU and G7 have been empowering the USA for decades now even if it is against their best interests or values. Europe has lost its backbone long ago.

tabascoboy wrote: Sat Mar 22, 2025 3:11 pm The secret behind the apparent drive to decrease education levels?