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Reuters:
Trump orders sweeping freeze for federal grants and loans
Trump order set to halt supply of HIV, malaria drugs to poor countries, sources say
Apparently based on this memo (pdf).
This seems very... crude. The question is if it's purposefully crude, if there's some structural reason it can't be better implemented, or if the person in charge is incompetent.
Also, impoundment? We'll see?
Sure is fun being a grad student in STEM and pouring every waking moment into a grant proposal due in the next few weeks to see this news today!
We’ll see if the United States decides to continue being a scientific powerhouse or if we’ll all get chased away to other countries..
Chinese value excellence. No politics in universities either, they make students take an hour or two of political theory at universities, but that's about it. Activism is not tolerated at all.
Between the demographics and all, it's quite likely at least half of cutting edge research is going to happen there.
These days you can evaluate that quite fast. The idea no doubt is to starve the beast of left-wing NGOs that infests so much of the West.
It's depressing that in Europe, the Comission of Retards funds 'climate' NGOs which are then used to justify these policies and lobby for more of it. The end result is, insofar climate is concerned dismal. Once the truly impactful policies like banning ICE in cars or banning all heating that's not a heat pump, politicians balk because it's political suicide and activists howl in outrage how they're dooming the planet.
In the US you have the same thing. Veritas, ever ready to ruin someone's horny time sent some hunk at an EPA official who then proceeded to blab about how they're throwing 'gold bricks off the Titanic' to fund the NGO complex. Of course, the funniest part is that a lot of this was happening under the "Inflation Reduction Act".
I went to American grad school. I have reviewed Chinese research papers. I can't exaggerate the sneering contempt American researchers have for them. In every way trivial and not worth publishing. People around here keep calling things "slop". This is the real slop we need not concern ourselves with.
I've worked in China a bit. I married a Chinese woman. I understand that they are smart and hardworking. If this were a computer game then their high stats would make them win. But they just don't. The factory workers can't follow instructions without a taskmaster standing over them. The researchers publish large numbers of papers worth nothing at all. Something is missing. I blame culture. Chinese people in America working as engineers are productive. Participating in our work culture cures them.
How do we square this with real world happenings? Deepseek, DF-21, Chinese batteries, the fact that they're now selling basic everything at competitive prices etc?
I am aware there's shitty research and Chinese are unusually good at gaming systems, but they deliver.
Or, you know, they operate the world's biggest HSR system without incurring massive casualties.
Their high speed trains derail sometimes and some have been slowed down to make them less likely to derail. They also have high ticket costs and low ridership. The system is propped up by government spending and could not sustain itself on ticket costs. I know some people really like high speed rail, but I'm not too hot on it in general and Chinese HSR in particular.
I have worked in Chinese factories. I know they can make stuff. I also know Chinese factory workers need constant monitoring and correction. There's something off with their work culture. They are not lazy. But if they have to be careful rather than fast they can't do it without someone like me watching them. And when I leave they start doing the work really sloppy and fast.
I don't see any contradiction between Chinese research publications being trash and also they make batteries and electric cars and DJI drones. They just need good factory supervision and quality control.
I think you are extremely overindexing on your experience. A century or so ago they were stereotyped as lazy too. This is a matter of culture that can change very quickly.
I've never heard of a lazy Chinese stereotype. My American public schooling taught me about how they were worked very hard in abusive indentured servitude in the 1800s.
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