Re: Bloody typical.
No, this is yesterday’s train. Today’s train comes tomorrow!
2392 publicly visible posts • joined 31 Jul 2007
What on earth are you saying. Anyhoo, it doesn't matter what you say/think. The USAID is shut down. The good projects will be continued by the State Department and the rubbish will stay shut down. The NGO money troughs are now officially empty and all the fat piggies will have to find real work. Oh, the horror.
First they looked at what dodgy things the Treasury is paying and who is doing it, then they went to the worst offender which was USAID. Now they are identifying the useful programs and moving them to the State Department. Everything else will stay halted. That sounds about right to any sensible person.
In the military, what civilians call unclassified data is classified Restricted. Also, ‘Need to know’ always applies. So if people don’t need to know, then they cannot read ‘unclassified’ Restricted data either. So that is why. Anyhoo, to get Confidential clearance (what you need for HR and payroll type work) really just means you need to sign a few forms to ensure you are aware of the applicable laws.
No, I think your knee jerk reaction is not warranted. See this article which explains the system issues at the Treasury - mostly human problems, but the computer system can be blamed too for lack of checks: https://www.newsmax.com/politics/elon-musk-doge-fraud/2025/02/08/id/1198368/
Well, shipping 30000 tons of good Midwest grain to a disused port where it gets dumped and rots and feeds the rats because there is no distribution system, really, really, really is not a good idea, but that is exactly what happens in practice.
Ayup - There is so much fraud going on and the USA is so big that it adds up and becomes mind boggling. See this about the estimated $B1 per week of fraudulent payments at the Treasury, because the officials simply don’t follow the already existing procedures properly: https://www.newsmax.com/politics/elon-musk-doge-fraud/2025/02/08/id/1198368/
Exactly. Feel Good Aid projects tend to be done in isolation. The result is that once done, there is no maintenance and after a year or two, it has all gone to pieces. No matter what we are talking about, everything needs maintenance to be really useful.
The rep of a clothes dryer once was very angry with me and insisted that I must have done something to it to make it fail under warranty. He insisted they are designed to fail 6 months after, not before. Asked him how long the new motor will last - Oh, the new one will last forever!