ted byfield on Nostr: [1/2] I get the sense that a lot of people involved in academia think they understand ...
[1/2] I get the sense that a lot of people involved in academia think they understand what’s going on with the NIH thing but really don’t.
The change in funding policy involves jaw-dropping amounts of money, and if that money goes away then edus will cut it from other areas. “Other areas” means non-STEM fields: humanities, arts, social sciences (HASS). So: NIH is both a target for the anti-science crazies and a *vector* for attacking HASS fields for the culture warriors.
I’ve heard lots of people say the courts will stop Trump. On the contrary, it looks like like NIH funding is the hill he’s choosing to die on, except — as we’ve seen again and again — he’s like Freddie Kruger, he just won’t die. A court told him he can’t do it, but he’s doing it *anyway*, and he’s making noises about ignoring the courts *in general*. I’ve heard people say, basically, “The Supreme Court won’t like that!” They’ll be fine with it. The rightists have shown again and again they don’t about principle or precedent but they *do* love being on the winning team. They will understand this is a battle they can’t win, and that they need to make it look like they aren’t losing — so they’ll cook up some rococo argument that gives him what he wants. And if you haven’t figured it out yet, the story of the liberals on the court has been one of decline for decades now: the rightists know the libs will just get more and more ulcers writing dissents until they finally resign or retire.
The change in funding policy involves jaw-dropping amounts of money, and if that money goes away then edus will cut it from other areas. “Other areas” means non-STEM fields: humanities, arts, social sciences (HASS). So: NIH is both a target for the anti-science crazies and a *vector* for attacking HASS fields for the culture warriors.
I’ve heard lots of people say the courts will stop Trump. On the contrary, it looks like like NIH funding is the hill he’s choosing to die on, except — as we’ve seen again and again — he’s like Freddie Kruger, he just won’t die. A court told him he can’t do it, but he’s doing it *anyway*, and he’s making noises about ignoring the courts *in general*. I’ve heard people say, basically, “The Supreme Court won’t like that!” They’ll be fine with it. The rightists have shown again and again they don’t about principle or precedent but they *do* love being on the winning team. They will understand this is a battle they can’t win, and that they need to make it look like they aren’t losing — so they’ll cook up some rococo argument that gives him what he wants. And if you haven’t figured it out yet, the story of the liberals on the court has been one of decline for decades now: the rightists know the libs will just get more and more ulcers writing dissents until they finally resign or retire.