That’s how bad the anti-science sentiment has gotten in this country. For fuck’s sake, tell your friends and family to educate themselves with actual facts and information!!!
to educate themselves
In other words, to do their own research?
I’ll show myself out…
The zealots always attack the scientists and teachers first.
First they came for the…
Polk’s warning to employees came two days later, after receiving a report about an employee who was “assaulted” at a Starbucks. “This is probably one of the saddest emails I have had to write of late,” he said in the email, which was obtained by ProPublica.
Polk wrote that Nicola Fox, an associate administrator at NASA, said at a meeting that an employee was confronted at a Starbucks by someone “because she was a federal employee.” The worker was working on her computer and was identified by her badge and a logo, he wrote.Existing protocol is to hide the badge when on camera or not on duty. It’s a matter of opsec and not broadcasting the presence of a federal employee to anyone nearby trying to spy on federal employees. The badges are used to access secure facilities, and to log in to computer systems including work laptops. The incident in question and the response seems to indicate that it is unsafe to work in public, and that work should be done at an official/secured location. Only expose a federal ID when necessary and when at an appropriate location. These were technically the rules already, they’re just getting reinforced using the DOGE panic and this Starbucks incident as justification.
Are you suggesting it was the victims fault for getting harassed?
No!
Not the victim’s fault. If anything it’s contradictory design goals of the two purposes of a badge.
The primary purpose of a badge is for identification and authorization to enter a facility. When within the facility, the badge should be visible and prominently displayed so that security can identify you. When outside the facility, the badge should be tucked into your shirt and hidden so that federal employees can’t be tracked or easily identified.
Badges are also used for auth in an IT setting. Laptop badge-reading dongles or slots are designed to be used at the facility. This means that the image of your face and agency logo and colored stripe corresponding to employee level (e.g. purple for intern) stick out and stay visible. You can still use your ID to prove you are in an appropriate location without removing it from your computer and thereby logging out of everything you were working on.
Badge technology is designed around the assumption that you are working at a secure facility and should have the badge easily visible. People use their laptops at conferences or while visiting universities, and are easily identified as NASA center employees at a distance by their badge sticking out of their laptop. In spite of the fact that their badge is supposed to remain hidden when not in a secure facility, the devices are designed to display them proudly as if they were in a facility where that’s appropriate.
Does that mean that no one should ever use their work computers when not physically at work? That’s the new guidance. Maybe that’s also a way to crack down on remote work and ensure people come in to an appropriate facility.
Another solution that could work is to cover the dongle with a napkin so it isn’t visible when it doesn’t need to be. Maybe have a stealth-mode dongle for people who need to use their tech while on the go. Then the stealth-mode dongle wouldn’t be appropriate to use at a secure facility. Maybe have the stealthy ID guard be removable, against regulations to use at a facility (enforced by not letting you connect directly to a federal internet connection with the guard on), yet required to connect to the VPN for work outside of the facility without broadcasting your identity to everyone in the vicinity.
Competing desires to be easily identified while in a secure facility, and to be able to operate with stealth while in public.
This is a solvable problem, but it hasn’t been a problem in the past for someone to have their NASA badge and logo on display at a coffee shop.
Who is harassing NASA? Is there anything more iconically American than an astronaut? Not anymore, apparently.
Google “Musk ISS astronaut” and click on the News tab. The manchild billionaire already seeded the stupidity, it just spreads now.
People are harassing NASA employees now? Harassing our best and brightest? I hate this country…
Musk have always had a grudge against nasa
I work in the space industry and on a daily basis with NASA. Not a single one has mentioned being harassed
I’m not sure that would be something that arises in casual conversation. Do any of your black or female colleagues discuss every instance of racism or sexism they experience? Perhaps they mention it sometimes, but likely not with every occurrence. Just because it’s not talked about, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
Is it actually happening, or are they trying to make it seem like that’s happening?
Lying about being a victim is a core part of fascist practices. But it’s also a huge part of their demonization of the current system which isn’t filled with fascist leadership yet.
