a-very-tired-jew:

So we’ve come to the first Friday of Trump’s second term and my fiance sent me this handy dandy website.

POTUS Tracker | Lukewin.es

It tracks what legislature and executive orders have been signed/passed or are being considered and it provides the schedule, and location of the President.

There are numerous things to be worried about with this administration, but I’d like to bring attention to this executive order.

President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology – The White House

This is likely why Musk, Zuckerberg, Bezos, Chew, and other AI and tech billionaires were there. They, and other people like Trump and co, view themselves as leaders in tech, AI, and “science”. Except they’re all business in the worst ways possible. You’re not seeing research publications come out from these names in any capacity. They’re there to advise the President on how to exploit science and technology in the worst way possible.

The other likely nefarious motivation is that they get to solicit all government institutions, universities, and science and research bodies for information in order to “advise” the President. Then after 2 years they get to leave with all that information having been made available to them.

You don’t think these tech billionaires and co aren’t itching at the chance to get access to research before it’s published and circulated? That they get access to information that might even be proprietary, private, or some level of classified because they are presidential advisors?

Also consider that this is a way for disgraced scientists that engage in things like climate change denialism and antivax rhetoric to become presidential advisors as well. Many of these scientists are not respected in the scientific community for letting their personal biases, beliefs, and lack of morals (e.g. taking bribes to publish fake results) compromise and undermine the work that is and has been done. They’ve long since been kicked out and relegated to political think groups where they can “research” and “publish” all day long and scream into their echo chamber.

There is no way they actually put reputable scientists on this advisory board and let them run it as it should hypothetically be. If they do and it does run that way then I will be pleasantly surprised. But consider who this president is, who he pals around with, and who the sycophants have been lately.

This is another grift.

And our science sector is going to suffer for it.