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President Donald Trump and His Daughter Ivanka To Unveil a New Federal Computer Science Initiative With Major Tech Backers (recode.net)

From a report: President Donald Trump will issue a new directive Monday to supercharge the U.S. government's support for science, tech, engineering and mathematics, including coding education, three sources familiar with the White House's thinking told Recode. To start, Trump is set to sign a presidential memorandum at the White House later today that tasks the Department of Education to devote at least $200 million of its grant funds each year to so-called STEM fields, as the administration seeks to train workers for high-demand computer-science jobs of the future. And on Tuesday, Trump's daughter and advisor, Ivanka, is expected to head to Detroit, where she will join business leaders for an event unveiling a series of private-sector commitments -- from Amazon, Facebook, Google, GM, Quicken Loans and others -- meant to boost U.S. coding and computer-science classes and programs, the sources said.

135 of 260 comments (clear)

  1. Say what... by ILoveFatCashews · · Score: 3, Funny

    Must be "Bring Your Daughter to STEM Work" day at Slashdot.

    1. Re: Say what... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Pretty sure it's Creimer just talking to himself on sock puppet accounts. He's stooped real low these days.

      Who the fuck is creimer??

    2. Re:Say what... by Joce640k · · Score: 1

      I thought Trump was against funding schools

      It depends on who's paying Trump so they can be in charge of the funds.

      eg. Betsy Devos, she paid Trump hundreds of millions for her billion dollar education gig.

      --
      No sig today...
    3. Re:Say what... by bobbied · · Score: 2

      Yea, like big donors don't get hired by both parties when they are in power. It's politics, get used to it.

      It's not like the secretary of Education is all that big of a deal....

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    4. Re:Say what... by LifesABeach · · Score: 1

      I know a whole bunch of H1B's are clapping their hands with joy now.

  2. Companies want cheap workers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It doesn't matter if there are no American applicants or if there are hundreds of American applicants. As long as there is one person from India willing to do the work for 20k a year, they will pick that person.

    1. Re:Companies want cheap workers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Yep. And has been pointed out time and time again, STEM pay doesn't reflect a huge demand. Inflation adjusted, I'm making less than I did 10 years ago - and paying more for health insurance contributions on top of that.

      Policy makers are always behind the curve. Always.

      When they were screaming about nursing shortages, my wife - a nurse, BSN, RN - was getting laid off. See, the healthcare industry was screaming about nursing "shortages" for so long and kids jumping into nursing programs created plenty of nurses.

      I see the exact same thing happening in STEM. STEM isn't so hot now but policy makers still think it's 1999.

      Unless you are truly gifted or truly love it, stay away. I was at a commencement a few months ago and half the class was graduating with CS degrees; so nothing is dying. Most of the jobs at the job fair was this: "Have you tried turning it off and on again?" type of jobs - dead end shit pay.

      Where to go? I have no idea. You never know how the job market will turn. But one profession that is the least risky for job demand is Medical Doctor.

      Other than that, be sure to pick your parents well and get billionaires like Ivanka. She did great! She chose a billionaire and chose to be smoking hot!! She goofed on the legs though. Colonel Sanders gets a stiffy over them.

    2. Re:Companies want cheap workers by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Then explain the multiple open job positions posted all across the country on job sites. It took me all of a week to find a new job in the 6-figure range. Yes there are Indians that claim they'll do it for $20k a year and companies get what they pay for.

      Have you considered that you don't have modern, relevant job skills if someone in India is taking them?

    3. Re:Companies want cheap workers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Yes and then start doing all your shopping in India, paying Indian depressed economy prices, because that's the only way that could work.

    4. Re:Companies want cheap workers by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      You can't apply for a job with modern skill X unless you have already done modern skill X for a legitimate job. That's the trap that people get into, and open source projects and book learning usually doesn't count.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    5. Re:Companies want cheap workers by Tablizer · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It could be you're coming in a tad too high for the work that is up for bid.

      While some of IT pays relatively well compared to other careers, it's mostly that other careers have stagnated or shrank. Plus, IT requires constant retraining/relearning (usually on your own dime), and has agism and RSI problems associated with it. It's a risky long-term career.

      While IT has done relatively well compared to other careers, it's still fairly stagnated itself if you look at longer term trends and post-40 IT salaries. The rich get richer and the rest get squeezed. The pattern continues. The left say tax the rich to put money back into the 99%'s economy, and the right say rich-tax-cuts and "deregulation" will finally make trickle-down work "properly". Further discussion of those is the usual "culture wars" debate most have heard already.

    6. Re:Companies want cheap workers by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 2

      Really? Then why is it when I change my status on LinkedIn to 'looking' I get hounded by recruiters? Why did it take applying to all of a single job listing to find a new job?

      Maybe 90% of the companies you apply to toss your resume because you don't have anything relevant on there. Any number of my peers could find a job with out any problems.

    7. Re:Companies want cheap workers by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      Maybe you're lying about the skills you do have, or at least stretching the truth lots. Or you just happen to live in the right place.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    8. Re:Companies want cheap workers by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 2

      Then maybe you should have thought about that when you decided to never learn anything new on the job. I could word my resume any number of a dozen different ways depending on what the job position asked for. But that meant going above and beyond showing up to work every day.

      I volunteered for new projects. I learned how to do skill X and apply it to my desk job.

      Getting a college degree doesn't set you for life. It gives you a bit of breathing room and a head start until the rest of the world catches up. I graduated ~15 years ago. There is a clear divide between type A and type B workers.

      Type A seems to be the loudest that everyone is stealing their job. They can't find any jobs with their skill sets. A has sat on their hands for the last decade and turned the crank and nothing more. Forget Indians, Jenkins is stealing their jobs daily. We used to build software manually. If your only skillset you picked up is how to compile software, flash and test it your job relevancy is fading fast.

      Type B took on new opportunities. They didn't see a new technology as 'stealing' their job they used it to supplement their work. They stayed up to date on which direction their industry was going.

      When faced with being replaced by computers Dorthy Vaughan and other 'human computers' stepped up operate the computers. I wonder if her peers that didn't sat around complaining about electrons stealing their jobs.

    9. Re:Companies want cheap workers by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      live in the right place.

      The right place to live is where the job is. Our ancestors followed the food out of Africa. Grandpa went where the CCC said there was work. If you plant your feet and whine there aren't any jobs it's not the job's problem, it's yours.

      Maybe you're lying about the skills you do have, or at least stretching the truth lots.

      Or actually have relevant skills.

    10. Re:Companies want cheap workers by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      So you worked in some places that allowed you to work on side projects. Good for you. For every one of those places there are ten companies that want you to stick to your *actual job*.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    11. Re:Companies want cheap workers by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 2

      Your skillset.

      • Simulink Embedded Coder
      • ISO 26262
      • DO-178C
      • CANape/CANalyzer
      • dSpace/ETAS Hardware in the Loop testing.

        Are the big keywords I search for. Python, Matlab, Data Analytics all turn up noise. Also a smattering of SQL, Linux, Cloud, etc knowledge that really isn't relevant to the jobs I apply to but has definitely come in handy.

        What area of the country you are in.

        Flyover Country. But I've found and applied to jobs across the US.

        Your age.

        Closer to 40 than 30.

        Where did you get your degree.

        Big 10.

        Now, are there any details that could guide me on what skills I'm missing? Nope!

        Well, I don't know what skills you have.

    12. Re:Companies want cheap workers by losfromla · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yeah, because perhaps because they don't want to share a 1 bedroom apartment with 20 other males and would instead like to have a family and a decent standard of living. We cannot win in a race to the bottom. Nobody wins that, not even the damnable H1-B workers that are taking those underpaying jobs. They are destroying the very thing they came here for.

      --
      Only I can judge you.
    13. Re:Companies want cheap workers by losfromla · · Score: 1

      smoking hot is of course in the eye of the beer-holder. I think she's at best average, I give her about a 5 - 5.5, of course I'm from Southern Cali so am exposed to significantly better looking women.

      --
      Only I can judge you.
    14. Re:Companies want cheap workers by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 1

      No. Working on actual projects incorporating new skills.

      "Hey analyze these million files, I don't care how you do it"

      "I wonder what sort of analysis tools Python has" "Hrm, I wonder if I could use Jenkins to automate batch running of analysis".

      Tada. New resume buzz words.

    15. Re:Companies want cheap workers by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 1

      What should I tell my "old" co-workers? People that also stayed up to date with relevant technology?

    16. Re:Companies want cheap workers by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 1

      require lots of extra hours

      I guess they might if you're slow. It's more 'get your work done' not "Sit in a desk for 40 hours" style job.

      a very broad yet specialized skill set,

      Define broad and specialized.

      lots of stress?

      Not in the least.

    17. Re:Companies want cheap workers by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 1

      E-mails? I'm getting phone calls.

    18. Re:Companies want cheap workers by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      It took me all of a week to find a new job in the 6-figure range.

      Yeah, and on that job you met your wife, Morgan Fairchild, which whom you have had sex.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    19. Re:Companies want cheap workers by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 2

      What ever you want to believe. But these "the sky is falling" comments are getting old. I've read slashdot for 17 years at this point and during college I have believed them. I was terrified of my 30s. That time came and went. I went out job searching and found none of the problems I had been hearing about.

      Then I figured out at work exactly 'who' those people were making these comments. They're useless warm bodies that are only kept around because it's too much of a hassle to get rid of them, for now. They graduated college and thought they learned everything they ever needed to learn and never bothered to learn anything new again. They gnash their teeth when you suggest something new. It's not India's problem it's their own. I see people in their 60s being hired back half time because they want the work and they managed to stay up to date on the technology (and in some cases they invented it).

      If you have relevant skills for 2017 you should have no problem finding a job anywhere in the US. Hell, we're hiring. Every company I know of is hiring right now because there is a shit ton of work to do. From big companies all the way down through their nth tier suppliers has a lot of work that needs to get done. Instead there are a bunch of whip repairmen whining that it's everyone else's problem they didn't bother to learn something other than how to repair whips.

      Those job listings I posted to above are real. If you're not getting them that's your problem. Not industry's.

    20. Re:Companies want cheap workers by computational+super · · Score: 1

      Careful 'bout that line of thinking bud - because if there's somebody out there willing to do our job for $20k a year, there's surely somebody out there willing to do your McJob for $500/year.

      --
      Proud neuron in the Slashdot hivemind since 2002.
    21. Re:Companies want cheap workers by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      What ever you want to believe.

      Nah, I believe you dude. I was just poking fun.

      If you have relevant skills for 2017 you should have no problem finding a job anywhere in the US.

      And the most relevant skill is being able to pay off your student loan while spending 50% of your income on housing costs. Guys like you and me got our educations back in the day when the expense was pretty trivial. I actually graduated with more money than I started school with, thanks to tuition waivers and working as a TA. It's not like that any more.

      I've read slashdot for 17 years

      The first step is admitting you have a problem. Good for you.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    22. Re:Companies want cheap workers by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 1

      chosen to live in an incredibly high cost of living area of the country

      I live in the middle of the country on 20+acres. ~3000 sqft house with land and a pole barn was around $250k. I earn ~3x the median household income of $40k for my county.

      chosen to spend more hours

      No.

      chosen to educate yourself further in your non working hours,

      1. Mostly during my working hours.

      2. Oh god not an education. Stop. Make the learning stop!. No wonder your type can't find a job.

      all in order to compete with your fellow workers who can't switch jobs without losing their visas.

      All of my American peers aren't on Visas. The Indian ones live in India.

      anyone else having unreasonable expectations.

      Like I've said of your type before. You graduated college and thought you were done learning until retirement. You want to sit around doing 1990s work being paid adjusted for inflation and never have to worry about work. Personally I think the future sounds fun so I'll work like it's 2017 so that in 2030 I'm not doing 2017 work anymore.

    23. Re:Companies want cheap workers by BigDaveyL · · Score: 1

      You've been lucky then.

      I have gotten scolded (eventually laid off) for doing that sort of thing at my old job - "I don't have the budget for you to be doing that sort of scripting on these projects." Boss would rather have done crap by hand.

      At my job before that, I did that sort of thing but there was limited funds/advancement so that's why I left to go to the aforementioned job that promised to let me go do my own thing.

    24. Re:Companies want cheap workers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      it doesn't matter what "they" will pick if you're not an idiotic slave you will work for yourself anyways. whiney fuckers...

    25. Re:Companies want cheap workers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Really? Then why is it when I change my status on LinkedIn to 'looking' I get hounded by recruiters?

      Because recruiters have to make money too. Usually it's ten of them all calling you about the same job.

    26. Re:Companies want cheap workers by TheSync · · Score: 1

      while spending 50% of your income on housing costs.

      Then vote for massive deregulation of housing in urban areas. Every US city should look like Hong Kong with 60-story apartment towers!

    27. Re:Companies want cheap workers by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      Well, I guess if you think online video chat is a substitute for actually doing things together I can understand how you think you didn't give anything up.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    28. Re:Companies want cheap workers by ranton · · Score: 1

      Congratulations, your compensation package is better than most tech workers at Fortune 500 companies. You are the exception, not the rule.

      $120k may be better than the average compensation package for tech workers at Fortune 500 companies, but it isn't much higher. If I go to a recruiter trying to find a quality developer with 10 years of experience in the Chicago suburbs, I am not going to get any quality applicants offering less than six figures. One of our software dev VPs was recently nearly fired because he had an open position for six months when the CTO found out he was only offering $80k for the role. You can get a decent college grad around here for that amount, but this role required the person to have a significant amount of industry knowledge.

      --
      -- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
    29. Re: Companies want cheap workers by makerfixer · · Score: 1

      Recruiters are realtors who had their car break down. I have a PE and a good set of skills but get 2-3 phone calls, 5 targeted new connections with emails upon accepting a week at minimum. LinkedIn works well and the big opportunities are usually a friend of mine or former co-worker calling and giving me a heads-up to get in front of someone before they can even post a job.

    30. Re:Companies want cheap workers by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      The same thing happened to me. I was configuring middleware, and some of the fields had javascript. There was a problem that required changing the javascript. It didn't seem that difficult to me so I changed it and tested it, everything worked fine. Well they ran up one side of me and down the other for doing something that apparently wasn't my job.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    31. Re: Companies want cheap workers by makerfixer · · Score: 1

      Take charge of your career. Take charge in general.. I showed up on time every day and wore appropriate clothing used to work. I saw the light during my first job and just started taking charge of what needed to be done and decided to be independent of others. The exact opposite of a victim/tell me what I they did wrong to not understand I was perfect for their job....

    32. Re:Companies want cheap workers by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      Personally I couldn't consider that enough to put 'python' on my resume, because I had hacked my way through one script. That's what I meant by stretching the truth.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    33. Re:Companies want cheap workers by Creedo · · Score: 1

      After the first few, learning a new programming language is just syntax. If you have experience in python, call it out. Be honest("I worked with it, but I'm not an expert"), but don't sell yourself short, either. When I'm interviewing someone, I'm looking for flexibility in coding. I'll throw out a few challenges, but I'm not looking for gotchas. Hell, I take python pseudo code all the time, because any half ass programmer with google can get that right. I want to see your thought process. Same for when I was being interviewed. Passed with flying colors because I can think around the problem and see ways to solve it, regardless of the language involved.

      --
      All that is necessary for the triumph of good is that evil men do nothing.
    34. Re:Companies want cheap workers by Creedo · · Score: 1

      Well they ran up one side of me and down the other for doing something that apparently wasn't my job.

      If that is accurate(and I have no reason to doubt you), I would be spreading my resume like pollen in spring. Any place that hammers on you for legitimate improvements is a place to leave ASAP. If it's a contract, document your work, note the boundaries that they threw up in your path, collect your paycheck and move on.

      Now, if you work in a strictly controlled and regulated environment, such as some parts of healthcare or military engineering, then I could see why fooling around with a standard library would get you in trouble. If you are doing on the fly changes to a system that is under change management, say for FDA regulatory reasons, you are definitely treading on thin ice. But I assume that you would have included that tidbit if it applied to your scenario.

      --
      All that is necessary for the triumph of good is that evil men do nothing.
    35. Re:Companies want cheap workers by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 1

      It's just another language.

      How well should I know it before I'm allowed to? If I had to rank it at that time I'd probably fall between my Matlab and C. Now I'd probably put it between my Simulink and Matlab on the scale of Simulink, Matlab, C, PHP, C++, VBA, C#, to Java. Last week I had to write a CDLL wrapper. Next week it may be C#. I'll grab the C# documentation, run it through some regex and have it spit out a mostly assembled Python class.

      And if my industry started moving to a new language I might hack out a few scripts in one year. Then in year 2 start playing around with it at work. 5-10 year cycles for migrating technology and languages should be expected to be the norm. So if in year 5+ I get laid off I can put the 'shiny new thing' and still have all the 'they're never going to get away from this' tech. It's a rather employable niche.

      If a job called for it I'd go on and on about my ClearCase experience. However I don't even put that on my LinkedIn out of shame. It'd take me a week of being laid off to re-write v2.0 of my Python Clearcase Voodoo

      I just don't understand those that do the same thing year after year. That's more than enough time to get bored and move on. The future is waiting. It's going to be pretty cool if we eventually get there.

    36. Re:Companies want cheap workers by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 1

      Now, if you work in a strictly controlled and regulated environment,

      Funny you should mention that.... it's more or less what I'm doing. We have voodoo scripts and Excel files turning out software because that is what got certified.

      We're coming up on getting certification on future devices and the build environment. I've moving all of that to Jenkins and automated builds. And code compliance checking (MISRA C : 2012).

      No more "oh, I guess that merge didn't work". We're ~15 years behind other industry devops.

      Same goes for unit testing physical I/O instead of having a test engineer running dSpace, all automated.

    37. Re:Companies want cheap workers by Sparowl · · Score: 1

      If you are doing your retraining/relearning on your own time/dime, then you might want to reconsider your job compensation. I usually spend about 2 hrs/day making sure I'm up to date on current technologies, or training on new programs coming into our organization.

    38. Re:Companies want cheap workers by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      You mean something that's directly job-related? That's one thing, but often the Next Big Thing (or diff thing) you wish to learn is not part of the current co's plan. For example, if you are in an MS shop and want to learn PHP frameworks (or vise versa), most co's will get angry if you spend 2 hours a day on the other.

    39. Re:Companies want cheap workers by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 1

      .... That's still better than I grew up, better than my grandparents on back grew up. It wasn't too long ago that you didn't know if anyone was a live unless you somehow saw them again in person.

    40. Re:Companies want cheap workers by jeff4747 · · Score: 1

      I get a constant flood of recruiters whether or not I am set to looking. They aren't actually looking for me. They are looking for me to reject their position so that they can justify an H1B visa.

      How do I know? They're offering jobs in cities I do not live in, which require experience far, far, far below mine. Position wants 3 years, I have 20. Pay is commiserate to 3 years experience.

      Anyone who has spent a nanosecond recruiting knows that I will not be interested in the position. Which is exactly why they send it to me.

      Keep pretending all those recruiters really want you.

    41. Re: Companies want cheap workers by Reverend+Green · · Score: 1

      More and more tech workers are waking up to the old truth that capitalism - and particularly it's modern incarnation, financialism - is a curse on human society. The many toil and suffer for the benefit of the few. Living standards are collapsing even as despoilation of the environment continues unabated. Millions languish in the dungeons and torture chambers of our gulag.

      What remains is for us to find a new way forward. The flaws of 20th century Leninist-Stalinist Communism are well known, and few wish to repeat the mistakes of the Soviet Union. Yet without a positive vision for the future, a real alternative, all our verbal opposition to financialism is little more than sophomoric angst.

      What will be your contribution to the future, comrade?

    42. Re: Companies want cheap workers by Reverend+Green · · Score: 1

      Out of curiosity, what are your tech skills that are so very relevant at the moment? And what salary did you accept for what job role?

    43. Re: Companies want cheap workers by Reverend+Green · · Score: 1

      Damn that would be awesome.

    44. Re:Companies want cheap workers by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      Honestly, I think the other more senior people in my group grew concerned that I could do something they couldn't. I was a relative newcomer at the time.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    45. Re:Companies want cheap workers by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      Was python your job? Then put it under your job. Python wasn't your job, so you shouldn't be putting it there. It's that simple. I guess I can see how some people have such an easy time landing a job though. I'm just going to go through an alphabetical list of languages now and make a script in each one, and I can claim I know every language on my resume.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    46. Re:Companies want cheap workers by fluffernutter · · Score: 2

      That's why many families don't move apart. Even in the nomadic age you mentioned previously, families moved together. Humans did this because it was safest and made sense. Moving apart from your family to make more money is a fairly recent trend, like highly processed food.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    47. Re:Companies want cheap workers by Creedo · · Score: 1

      Honestly, I think the other more senior people in my group grew concerned that I could do something they couldn't. I was a relative newcomer at the time.

      That's bad news, too. If they are doing that, I can pretty much guarantee that they are undermining your reputation behind your back. If they are in the management chain, run. If not, try to work around them.

      --
      All that is necessary for the triumph of good is that evil men do nothing.
    48. Re:Companies want cheap workers by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 1

      That's not how engineering works. It shows up on my Resume like this:

      "Validated Simulink plant models against test cell data".

      and I can claim I know every language on my resume.

      Do it and report back.

    49. Re:Companies want cheap workers by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      Oh I left shortly after.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
  3. Oh yay by computational+super · · Score: 3, Insightful

    $200 million in government grants to fund offshore initiatives.

    --
    Proud neuron in the Slashdot hivemind since 2002.
  4. Jobs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Until they kill the H1B program, all it will do is further depress wage growth as domestic talent pools swell.

  5. It's a trick. Get an axe. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    As the article alludes to, most of these same tech companies just left the administration en mass after the 'very reluctant/weak/late condemnation of nazis' debacle.

    This is effectively taking proposals that have already been thrown at them, and using it as an excuse to get large amounts of money from these jilted companies, and 'manage' them at their whim.

    Here's what these companies should do: Create their OWN organization to manage any funds they want to use effectively, and just ignore the noises from this administration.

    Better than letting DeVos have any potential control over it.

  6. COMPUTER SCIENCE!! by Osgeld · · Score: 1

    The only high tech job in the entire world, get ya coders here get ya coders here! o fuck we need engineers and those maf dorks too back to India maybe next time guys

  7. Weak Journalism by ranton · · Score: 5, Interesting

    the White House later today that tasks the Department of Education to devote at least $200 million of its grant funds each year to so-called STEM fields

    So how much does the Department of Education (DoE) currently devote to STEM field grants? You are looking at around a $70 billion budget, with tens of billions already going to various grants. What is even the point of releasing this kind of news if no one can even tell if it is an improvement on what we already do?

    --
    -- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
    1. Re:Weak Journalism by drew_kime · · Score: 4, Insightful

      What is even the point of releasing this kind of news if no one can even tell if it is an improvement on what we already do?

      The difference is now you know we're doing it. Did you know before this story came out how much we were spending on STEM? No? Well you do now. Winning bigly!

      --
      Nope, no sig
    2. Re:Weak Journalism by will_die · · Score: 1

      Digging around from previous news releases what is already known this $200 million it is for computer programming camps directed at "coding education programs that target women and minorities".
      This would be in line with similar programs considering that the federal government spend $100 million on getting hispanic students into STEM classes.

    3. Re:Weak Journalism by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 1

      So how much does the Department of Education (DoE) currently devote to STEM field grants?

      Quite probably more than 200M. I know it was well funded. It's a common practice to talk about how big an absolute number you're assigning to a program when cutting it.

      Fun fact, the websites about STEM funding on the Dept. of Ed. website still talk exclusively about Obama and his programs.

      --
      Your ad here. Ask me how!
    4. Re:Weak Journalism by swillden · · Score: 1

      What is even the point of releasing this kind of news if no one can even tell if it is an improvement on what we already do?

      The difference is now you know we're doing it. Did you know before this story came out how much we were spending on STEM? No? Well you do now.

      No, I still don't. I know that the Department of Education has been asked to spend at least $200M of existing funds on CS. But I don't know how much we were spending before, and I don't even if we're increasing the funding level.

      Winning bigly!

      So much winning. Trump did say that we'd get tired of it. I certainly am.

      --
      Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
  8. Re:It's a trick. Get an axe. by MightyMartian · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm not sure why they're paying attention to the Administration at all. Nobody else is. Congress is basically acting as if the White House was vacant (which, in a metaphorical sense, it is)

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  9. theodp by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

    Theodp, you don't need to submit as "anonymous". We know it is you

  10. More probable outcome: by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 1

    This is more likely just going to further suppress wages in these fields with an even greater glut of workers that they won't pay decent wages to and continue outsourcing work to other nations.

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
  11. Re:What's in it for him? by JackieBrown · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What a useless and incredibly vague question. What's in it for any president/politician? Money, public service, fame, patriotism, votes, bored, or a combination?

    It's bad enough reading articles with no proof accuse Trump of crazy conspiracies, but to imply without evening try to come up with a conspiracy or evil motive is just lazy.

  12. Re:What's in it for him? by Tablizer · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Votes? Heck no, most voters don't know or care about IT labor. Big corporations simply want cheap IT labor and are lobbying heavily to get it. IT is becoming a bigger part of their costs, and so they are looking for ways to reduce the costs. If they can't get cheap H1B's, then they want cheap Americans. Thus, if schools flood the market with IT workers, corporations can pay less. Many graduates may still be unemployed or unemployable, but that's NOT co's concern; they only care about profits. Unemployment and college debt is somebody else's problem in their minds. "Big Farma" did the same with farming labor: back-braking work for 3rd-world wages. Rinse, repeat, IT.

  13. All smoke screen by no-body · · Score: 1

    to distract from other issues going against common sense and logical steps for the common good of a nation and - world as whole.
    Just look at this tinderbox North-Korea and who plays with matches on it. Can light up any time, nothing is learned from history by an Idiot!

    1. Re:All smoke screen by hord · · Score: 1

      I wonder how much all the military action in NK is going to cost us. Probably far in excess of $200 million. I have no idea why an English speaking orangutan has this level of authority.

    2. Re:All smoke screen by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      Not to mention the issues with the NFL on the domestic side. True seeds for revolution in that.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
  14. Re:Wow by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    Holy f*ck, he's signing a memo! Shit just got real y'all!

    Yes, it looks really serious this time.

  15. Re: What's in it for him? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    It's probably okay, but like most things Trump related, I'm skeptical. He announced he wanted to invest in infrastructure, but his plan seemed to want toll roads (yuck). On the surface it looks okay, but I bet there is something there about withholding funds for climate change type stuff. I'll put it down as "wait and see."

  16. Re:What an embarrassing buffoon by nnet · · Score: 1, Troll

    Krooked Kushner.

  17. Re:What's in it for him? by WheezyJoe · · Score: 4, Funny

    Otherwise he wouldn't be doing it.

    Easy. A computer big and huge enough that it can someday house his consciousness when his astonishingly healthy body someday craps out, so he can continue to MAGA for all time until America was won so much even his most ardent, NFL-hating MAGA fans are tired of winning. It will be huge. It will be gold. It will be huge and gold, and they will call it the "BFC T-1000" and it will rule and it will be incredible, people, believe me.

    --
    Take it easy, Charlie, I've got an Angle...
  18. $200M isn't going to "supercharge" squat by enjar · · Score: 5, Insightful

    My town has 9 schools (1 pre-K, 4 elementary, 2 middle, 1 high school). The tab to run the district for a year is ~$65M. This works out to about $11k/student, which is pretty near the national average for school expenditures. There are about 50 million students in public schools in the US. So $200M/50M = $4/student. For a classroom of 25 kids, that's $100. Maybe you can pick up an Arduino kit. For a district that spends $11K/yr on a student, $4 is a rounding error. If this was $2B that would be $40/student, which for a classroom would be $1000, which could actually be used for technology initiatives -- buying equipment, IT staff to manage the equipment, teaching materials, hiring teachers and the like.

    1. Re:$200M isn't going to "supercharge" squat by gweihir · · Score: 2

      Naa, $2B would still be a joke. Make that $20B per year and you start getting somewhere.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    2. Re:$200M isn't going to "supercharge" squat by enjar · · Score: 1

      Definitely agree with you there, although it doesn't necessarily need to be all STEM. I had more class and extracurricular options as a kid in the 80's than my kids have today. Shop classes are a distant memory, anything art related (choir, band, orchestra) is withering on the vine, and in many places honors or AP level classes are nonexistent. Sports fees, club fees, lab fees -- it's ridiculous. Every one of these things can be useful to some kid in some way. It doesn't need to be STEM all the time, there are plenty of other jobs that companies need people to do that aren't coding and still are an important part of making a company successful.

    3. Re:$200M isn't going to "supercharge" squat by gweihir · · Score: 1

      Indeed. And it is pretty important to let kids see and try a lot of different things.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    4. Re:$200M isn't going to "supercharge" squat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The way I'd do it is to spend $100k per teacher to hire 1000 STEM teachers, and send them to the poorest inner city schools. Spend the other $100M to outfit the afterschool lab for each of these teachers (including yes, Arduinos).
      You can reach 100,000 inner city students overnight, and to show the DNC shills that run these inner cities how the real education is done.
      MAGA!

  19. Supercharge? Is that like "supersize"? by gweihir · · Score: 2

    I.e. more fat, more sugar, less agility and less quality everywhere? I think I see where Trump is going with that. He is trying to re-create the success of the fast-food industry in education! Genius!

    --
    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
  20. Re:Wow by Gorobei · · Score: 1

    It's a game changer! Promising to devote $200M/yr is like $4/year for each student. I admit it's not new money, and they are spending more than that already on STEM, but still, it's a great pro-science initiative. I'm sure Betsy DeVos will spend it wisely on consultants and charter school initiatives. Liberals will be shocked at how amazing the results will be.

  21. Re:What's in it for him? by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    A computer big and huge enough that it can someday house his consciousness when his astonishingly healthy body someday craps out, so he can continue to MAGA...

    The Orangenator. Thanks for fueling some grueling nightmares, dude. Can I bill you for lost sleep?

  22. Flies to honey by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

    Ultimately the number of people attracted to STEM will reflect the ease of obtaining sizable and life long opportunities in the STEM field, regardless of what schools do. It's up to corporations to decide what they want.

    --
    Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
  23. Re: What's in it for him? by bestweasel · · Score: 1

    640K is enough for Trump's brain.

  24. Re: What's in it for him? by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 1

    So, in your mind, he isn't doing exactly that already?

    --
    Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
  25. Re:It's a trick. Get an axe. by cyberchondriac · · Score: 2

    I'm not sure why they're paying attention to the Administration at all. Nobody else is. Congress is basically acting as if the White House was vacant (which, in a metaphorical sense, it is)

    Nobody's paying attention? They can't shut up about it.

    --

    Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
  26. Re: What's in it for him? by Tailhook · · Score: 1, Insightful

    the left can just lie back and chill

    Please, do exactly that. Please keep confusing fake celebrity outrage for public sentiment. Please keep believing the same polls they fed you before Trump won the election. Don't change a thing.

    --
    Maw! Fire up the karma burner!
  27. Publicity Stunt For Ivanka by LostInTaiwan · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I don't understand why Ivanka is involved with this project. Sure, we need more women in STEM, but I feel that Ivanka has always been more about the superficial feel good cosmetic of sales and marketing, antithetic to unglamorous logic driven grunt work of STEM. Oh', I forgot, she is the president's daughter.

    Other may disagrees, but I look at this as a $200 million dollar public funded campaign effort to groom Ivanka for the Trump dynasty.

    Slowly we drift into the idiocracy. . . .

    1. Re:Publicity Stunt For Ivanka by Voyager529 · · Score: 1

      I think you're right, this $200M is largely a feel-good measure, primarily for the sake of appearance. The problem is that we really can't get much more than that anymore. People who know STEM well *and* have a desire to teach are rare to begin with; those who are willing to teach below the college level and put up with the political headaches, endless grading, just-above-the-poverty-line wages, and general classroom drama are one in a million. Meanwhile, computers themselves are becoming evermore locked down devices making self-discovery almost impossible - and opening them up with the willingness to deal with the occasional malice or malware outbreak is guaranteed to be the one thing IT and superintendents agree on. It's always taken self-motivation to get into STEM fields and stay in them (frequently requiring one to overcome social pressures not to), but at least when things were 'more open' and 'more available', a payoff was more practical.

      Throwing $200 million at the STEM education problem is going to leave us with a $200 million problem, and I'll even give Ivanka enough credit to believe that she's likely aware of this fact. At the same time, truly solving the problem is going to be long, bumpy, and expensive. Even if Donald Trump gave away every penny of his $3.5 billion net worth to this one particular problem, and did it so perfectly that it was able to put all of the right things into all of the right hands at all of the right schools in a way that brought zero pushback or any other sort of difficulty to the situation as to universally end up with a solution instead of Yet Another Problem, it would still take at least a decade for the effects start to be felt within the industry, and likely another decade to actually make a difference. That's an incredibly tough sell for even the most optimistic person with enough money and/or power to make that sort of change, when there's a chance that $200 million might have even a positive-even-if-superficial effect that is immediately visible.

  28. No kids until the companies bring the jobs by rsilvergun · · Score: 3, Interesting

    why the hell would I let my kid go into IT. There's no jobs except for the top math wizs, and there's always jobs for those guys. This is just another transparent attempt to lower wages for the few folks left who have jobs.

    End the H1-B and J1 programs first, then us parents will talk about giving you our kids. Until then my kid's going into Medical because they have a bloody Union (the AMA) and have so far resisted mass importation of cheap labor.

    --
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    1. Re:No kids until the companies bring the jobs by techno-vampire · · Score: 1

      why the hell would I let my kid go into IT.

      Whatever gave you the idea that you have any control over what line of work your children go into?

      --
      Good, inexpensive web hosting
  29. Re:What an embarrassing buffoon by losfromla · · Score: 1

    True, all of it.

    --
    Only I can judge you.
  30. $200 million? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    The article must be wrong. $200 million to improve STEM education in the U.S.

    http://nces.ed.gov claims there are 50.4 millions students enrolled in public primary and secondary schools in America today.

    A Raspberry Pi Zero costs $5, assume you can get a super cheap cheap Chinese power supply, a USB cable and a 1m micro-HDMI to HDMI cable for $1.

    That would mean that with students pairing up, they could share a Raspberry Pi Zero with no screen.

    Maybe we can consider the average salary of a teacher is $56,383 as per referenced on niche.com

    Assuming a full work year of 2000 hours (grading homework makes the average normal work day 10+ hours for a teacher which balances the summer vacation)... that would mean about $28.19 per hour to employ a teacher. If the average class size is 24 students (ny times) for primary and secondary schools, there must be 2.1 million school teachers. (Adjustments probably should be made to compensate for more than one teacher per 24 students as is typical in secondary education... there is also phys-ed, music, etc...

    So consider maybe 3 millions teachers for 50.4 million students each making about $28.19 an hour. $200 million (employment taxes not included) is enough to buy 7.1 million hours of teachers or about 2 1/3 hours extra per teacher per year.

    So, Donald Ana Ivanka are going to celebrate making the cost of a borderline useless computer with teachers unqualified to use them that have no screens?

    Guys... did they even spend 2.3 hours thinking about this?

    What will it cost to make the announcement? Seriously, the press releases, secret service for the president and Ivanka, the budgeting process, the work required at the schools to manage the additional money, etc...

    Will $200 million even cover the cost of passing this? We're off by a minimum of an order of magnitude possibly two before this is meaningful.

    And BTW... this isn't a Trump thing. This is a stupid fucking Washington thing. Pick a number pick enough to sound impress to the general public. Then sell it for political capital. It costs basically nothing. They don't even have to hand the money out. No one would be wiser for it and if they do hand it out, it'll be insulting as hell to the schools... forget that from this, the amount a school will receive won't even cover the cost of erasers in the science classes.

    If you're going to promote computer science and technology in schools, learn to do basic math first.

    Great job ass heads in Washington!!!

  31. Re:It's a trick. Get an axe. by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    I'm not sure why they're paying attention to the Administration at all.

    That's the real story here, imo.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  32. Re:What's in it for him? by pr0fessor · · Score: 2

    IT jobs in my area of the US are far and few but the number of people with degrees working in other fields is staggering. I've not kept in close contact with everyone I went to college with but of those that I do keep in touch with none actually work in a tech related field. My brother has a cs degree and does maintenance for the local school district.

    People sometime ask why I've stuck in my position for so long because there is no real opportunity for advancement. It's not that I don't get offers it's that they want me to relocate and for barely over what I currently make into areas with a much higher cost of living.
     

  33. Total Trump Sell-Out; So Sad! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Trump can't win any battles. So he sells out to the criminal oligarchs of Micro$oft, Apple, Google, Facebook/SpyAgency, ilk.
    Kim Jong Un is right; Donald is a dotard, moron, swamp creature himself.

    So Sad. So pathetic. So Donald Trump Selling out Americans.

    Where's our Wall?
    Where's our commitment to American workers?
    Where's the breaking up of abusive monopolies?
    Where's the reining in of Governmental and Corporate Corruption?

    Drain the Swamp?

    Donald you just raised the water level.

    So sad. So infuriating. Perhaps Kim Jung Un is right; Donald is deranged.

  34. Re:What an embarrassing buffoon by Deadstick · · Score: 1

    What is surprising is that there are still Trump supporters out there.

    I thought Larry the Cable Guy cleared that up.

  35. Give it time... by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 1

    Just wait - no doubt soon we'll be hearing that he has Equifax providing the computer security training.

  36. Re:It's a trick. Get an axe. by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1

    We're certainly paying attention to them here. Which of the following is a smarter career move at Google, in a CNN newsroom, or in the Yale faculty lounge: to admit to voting for Donald Trump, or to proudly proclaim you are a member of the Resistance?

    --
    Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
  37. Embedded guy in flyover country. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Alright, I get it - I figured. I'm the AC that asked the questions.

    I was advised to learn those skills - and I did.

    But, I don't have work experience in them.

    My interview questions always include, "How many years of on the job experience do you have?"

    Which I reply, "None".

    I am in Metro-Atlanta. My advisor DOES have experience and when he was laid off at 45 years old, it took over a year to get another job.

    I am 58.

    I have nothing to add that would be constructive to this thread.

  38. Government picking winners and losers... by mi · · Score: 2, Interesting

    President Donald Trump will issue a new directive Monday to supercharge the U.S. government's support for science, tech, engineering and mathematics, including coding education

    Whether it is lead by Trump or Obama, government should not — indeed, must not — involve itself in the markets, including the higher education market. Not the government of a free country, anyway...

    The Central Planning, that Statists like so much, is both inefficient and opressive.

    --
    In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
    1. Re: Government picking winners and losers... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Well, mi, Im glad you are finally ProChoice. Yew, let's get the government out of the free capitalist market of abortion provision! Not just women's health issues, but also get government. Out of the bedroom and bathroom. Smoke weed if you want! Got a contract dispute, settle it like men, with fists. Not tortious so called judges!

      #MAGA

    2. Re:Government picking winners and losers... by BadDreamer · · Score: 1

      So the Scandinavian countries are inefficient and opressive [sic]? Thanks for the information, nobody in them seems to notice!

    3. Re:Government picking winners and losers... by dywolf · · Score: 1

      Wrong again.

      --
      The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
  39. Re:It's a trick. Get an axe. by Trailer+Trash · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Yeah, nobody's paying attention to President Trump <eyeroll>

    He just tricked half the NFL players into embarrassing themselves last weekend - the guy's a fucking genius at manipulating left-wingers. They're not only paying attention, they're dancing to his tune.

  40. Re:What's in it for him? by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    IT and perhaps all of STEM is becoming increasingly specialized such that you pretty much have to move to different cities and states as demand changes. If you value stability in both location and the type of work you do, IT is probably NOT for you. Sys admin use to be a fairly "generic" field that you could find in any city, but cloudness is moving many of such jobs into cloud "warehouses", which are not likely located where your given house is. Sure, it's a gradual change, but new openings are more likely to be at a cloud warehouse.

    It used to be a gov't job in IT was stable, but the fractious and polarized political climate has given gov't IT a boom/bust cycle also. While you are more likely to keep your job in gov't than the private sector, you still may have to move to where-ever the current administration's pork is. (Both parties have their favorite pork.) Plus, gov't pay is typically about 15% lower than private sector. You may get more retirement benefits, but you won't see those until you retire.

  41. Re:What's in it for him? by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    You got just the quality of writing yuo paid for, sir. Capitolism!

  42. Re:What's in it for him? by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    I'm sorry that you find reality depressing. Perhaps there is a fitting medication for you.

  43. Nake Fews! [Re: What's in it for him?] by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    Hillary runs Trump's brain on a home server in her bathroom closet? There's a fun conspiracy for ya. Oh, and it's been hacked by Russians.

  44. Re: Donald Trump is President Obama's BITCH!! by Type44Q · · Score: 1

    Funny how being a smooth-talker can make all the difference.

  45. Re:It's a trick. Get an axe. by argStyopa · · Score: 1

    Wait, you're suggesting that people and companies should do their own thing, instead of routing it through the federal government ?

    What a crazy idea!

    But...how in heavens could anything get accomplished if the government's not running it?

    --
    -Styopa
  46. This by DaMattster · · Score: 1

    This from the man who's organization still runs unpatched Exchange Servers from 2003.

  47. Does a hissy fit on Twitter count as suicide? by shanen · · Score: 2, Insightful

    These days I just hope that General Kelly can keep #PresidentTweety from reading any of these discussions. Might make Trump apoplectic. In simplified Trump-speak, the Donald might throw another hissy fit.

    Trump's frequent hissy fits just embarrass all of us and make Putin laugh. Actually, a severe seizure could kill him, and I think Pence could be an even worse leading occupant (insofar as Pence's brain seems to be made of lead).

    Oh yeah. About the story. Trump knows nothing, NOTHING. Sergeant Schultz would be so proud.

    "Hey, Donald. They ain't disrespecting the flag. They're disrespecting YOU."

    General Kelly better tighten up the leash.

    --
    Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
  48. Re:What's in it for him? by Grismar · · Score: 2

    By now, it's not so much imply as it is extrapolate or induce.

  49. Re:It's a trick. Get an axe. by hey! · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Yes, you have succinctly described the "new normal": people can't stop talking about stuff they aren't really paying attention to.

    --
    Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
  50. Re:Better Solution by hey! · · Score: 1

    And flood the STEM fields with people with neither talent nor affinity for them.

    Let me tell you the problem with education, which is that we have this model of higher education that dates from the time where the doubling time for the volume of human knowledge was measured in centuries. A medieval gentleman could attend a university and obtain a pretty good grounding of everything that his culture knew, then go home with a cart full of books (if he could afford them) to start a library that a hundred years later would hardly need any new works at all.

    Today the rate of doubling of knowledge is measured in decades. That programming course you took twenty years ago is hopelessly obsolete, as is the statistics course very likely. STEM requires a new life long commitment to learning. And this by the way works well for liberal arts classes, which are very useful, but not so useful for twenty-year-olds. It's not that young people don't have insights into the human condition, but those insights are not fully formed yet, and in fact never will be.

    --
    Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
  51. cuts $9.2B dollars, wants credit for $.2B increase by happyjack27 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    okay so let me get this straight, trump cuts 9.2 billion dollars from the DOE's budget, wants credit for $200M that he didn't even fund - he's just saying that of the money already allocated to grants, this much should go to STEM.

    Meanwhile, when obama was president, he proposed a 4 billion dollar inceare in DOE's budget to go specifically to CS education, but that didn't pass because of republicans.

    So the net score is: Obama +4 billion (blocked by republicans), Trump -9.2 billion (republicans love it).

    And he wants to sell this as him supporting STEM?!?

  52. Re:Better Solution by Murdoch5 · · Score: 1
    To directly quote my self:

    Keep the grades and standards the same.

    STEM isn't about learning a single programming language or a single methodology, it's about getting the base and then expanding it. If you're a Computer Engineer or Embedded System Engineer, which I have a degree in both, and you don't know JavaScript, C, C#, MySQL, Maria, MongoDB, Ruby, PHP and a number of other programming languages then you're out of shape and will have a very hard time getting a job.

    It's not what you learned 20 years ago that you base your career path on, it's about what you do with what you learned that will make your career path. If two people apply for a useful job, such as an Engineering Job, and one has a degree in Embedded Engineering and the other has an SJW degree in Gender Studies, who do you think is going to get the job and who do you think is going to end up on government assistance? Liberal Degrees are toilet paper, they're all about feel-good concepts, hugs, and crying, instead of real-world application and progression.

  53. Re:What an embarrassing buffoon by bobbied · · Score: 1

    There will be zero nukes traded with the USA and DPRK... Trust me... There may be bullets, mortars, and other conventional kinetic weapons used, but no nukes.

    First, DPRK may have blown a couple of holes in a mountain or two using nuclear devices and flown a ICBM into the pacific ocean, but they've not demonstrated the ability to put the two things together. They are getting close, but it's still no cigar for Little Kim if he decides to pop a nuke. I doubt he can, yet....

    Second DPRK simply cannot have that many nukes to set off. They might manage two or three, but I don't see that they have enough infrastructure to have enough material for more. Of course, somebody may be shipping the stuff to them so who really knows, but something tells me Little Kim basically has a small arsenal of nuclear gravity bombs and no air force that can deliver them... Yet...

    I'm guessing that this will play out as follows: Trading verbal insults will continue in this tit for tat exchange, with DPRK getting more and more ridiculous in their rhetoric in their attempts to "one up" Trump. But this is a valid tactic by Trump. He realizes that Kim has a big problem staying in power, and should Kim lose face with his people, even a small percentage of them, he's going to be forced to start taking big chances and eventually he will make a big mistake. The natives will be getting restless. Then when you couple the *real* actions Trump is taking in isolating DPRK in the financial and trade areas, Kim's military will be in an ever lower and lower level or readiness, lacking food, fuel and other necessary supplies.

    This *might* go badly if somebody in the north pulls the trigger and starts the shooting war, but DPRK won't last a day on their own. Regime change will likely be the end of it, well that and the rebuilding contracts.... :) China and Russia can mess this up of course, but I doubt they will risk a shooting war with the USA if the DPRK is not made part of South Korea.

    --
    "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
  54. You must be a liar! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    If your kid wants to go into IT, try any combination of security, database, virtualization, Linux, and/or system programming. Chuck in some routing and switching for added benefit.

    Wow, it's like you've seen my resume! Linux, system programming, virtualization, security, databases, networking, routing, switching. I've done all of those things.

    And you know what? There's still not even one job for me anywhere.

    Cool story, liar.

  55. Yeah but think how much better it could be by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

    if they could get Americans for that $20k/yr.

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  56. I'm guessing about the same by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

    folks don't go into Liberal arts because it's too costly. They do it because they can't hack the work for a medical degree. And nobody I know goes into CS. That's not because of the cost, it's because there are no jobs and haven't been for at least 10 years. Bring the jobs and the students will come back.

    And can we stop dumping all over the liberal arts? You know Journalism is a liberal arts degree, right? And History? Jeez, and you wonder why things are going to pot in this country.

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    1. Re:I'm guessing about the same by fatwilbur · · Score: 1

      there are no jobs and haven't been for at least 10 years

      And what planet do you live on?! I hope some youngster doesn't read your comment and get discouraged, we've been actively trying to push more kids into CS.

      The large company I work for, which has offices in many major centers across US and Canada, usually always has opportunities for skilled IT staff. Sure there are local cyclical downturns in job markets, but fact remains a CS degree is a ticket to a very upper middle class lifestyle anywhere in NA if you have a bit of smarts. Especially if you get into a specialized field, say automation, SCADA, security, analytics, the list goes on.. A CS degree is a ticket to an extremely well paying and satisfying job, and we tell that to as many youngsters as we can.

      Perhaps the issue is that I'm not in the tech industry (eg. Google, Facebook). The beauty of IT is that every single company need an IT dept. Another point to be very aware of, especially if you've seen how they work, is that no sourcing company will ever replace be able to replace you if you're smart.

    2. Re:I'm guessing about the same by Murdoch5 · · Score: 1

      History is the field of learning about stuff that happened in the past, because you're not smart enough to progress humanity into the future. Journalism is about misrepresenting facts to fit someones view point, for instance look at the Huffington Post, one of the biggest Misandristic publications on the planet, or look at the Globe and Mail, so liberalized that it can't even tell which way is up.

      I'll stop dumping on the liberal arts when the collective groups of study which make it up, stop being a representation of the people that are the least likely to help humanity.

  57. Re:Better Solution by hey! · · Score: 2

    You think you can force people into STEM and they'll all turn out to be good at it?

    I think we can look at Indian IT workers to see how that will go. India has its share of talented people, and because India is huge that translates to a lot of very talented people. But the demand for IT talent there has produced three classes of people:

    (1) People who have a natural talent for the work.
    (2) People who by dint of effort have learned to be good at the work.
    (3) People who by dint of effort have learned to be good at passing tests.

    The harder you push, the further down this list you reach.

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    Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
  58. You can't support science and current religeon by Lost+Penguin · · Score: 1

    Current Trump supporters are anti-science, anti-fact and Anti-American.

      If he does truly support education, he should change the head of the department of education from a flat earthed, anti-science person first; or would coming out in support of science cause them to drop their support, can they blame "liberals", for "eroding his morals"?

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    I am the unwilling control for my Origin.
  59. More accurate subject line by TsuruchiBrian · · Score: 1

    Trump attaches name to program that does something for somebody, in attempt to coverup ineptitude by throwing random shit at wall and seeing what sticks...

    He couldn't cite one fact about the healthcare bill(s) he was pushing. He didn't know the difference between medicare and medicaid. He doesn't know the difference between health insurance and life insurance. He doesn't even know anything about the things he does care about, much less the things he doesn't care about. He'll still put his name on it, though.

    He's not just an embarrassment to the United States. He's an embarrassment to all of humanity.

  60. Re: What an embarrassing buffoon by MrPeach · · Score: 1

    And we are supposed to respect the opinion of an anonymous coward? I think not.

  61. Re:What an embarrassing buffoon by Maritz · · Score: 1

    What is surprising is that there are still Trump supporters out there.

    Trump supporters are total fucking strangers to the truth. It's why they're Trump supporters in the first place.

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    I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
  62. Re: Donald Trump is President Obama's BITCH!! by Maritz · · Score: 1

    Funny how being a smooth-talker can make all the difference.

    Compared to Trump, Forrest Gump is a fucking 'smooth-talker'.

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    I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
  63. Re:What an embarrassing buffoon by Maritz · · Score: 1

    They have enough conventional artillery to turn Seoul into ash in the blink of an eye. A metropolitan area with a population of about 30 million. They don't need the nukes.

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    I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
  64. Re:What an embarrassing buffoon by Maritz · · Score: 1

    What is surprising is that there are still Trump supporters out there.

    There are quite a few of us given the job approval polls... Which I trust just about as much as the polling that said "He has no path to 270" early in November of 2016. LOL

    The question is, who will the democrats run in 2020 who has more support? I mean if Hillary couldn't win the election when he didn't have one ounce of experience as a politician or in government service, he's going to be unbeatable with 4 years of actual experience...

    You're assuming that americans elect based on competence. I think we can throw that notion out of the fucking window.

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    I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
  65. Re:What's in it for him? by JackieBrown · · Score: 1

    But that's BS. Most (loud) people never gave him a chance. And most businesses are acting loudly against them for fear of boycotts and riots. In other words, people hate him and are doing everything they can to intimidate others into either (easy route) hate him too or stay very quiet and hope not to be noticed.