general

It also says "The forbidden words are" rather than "The known forbidden words are"

Which seems like a pretty big detail that WaPo wouldn't miss

The post isn't writing a story about the policy shift, because nobody would care

They're writing a story about 7 "controversial" words that will no loger appear on expense reports

As fed to them by a source within the CDC

What do you mean nobody would care about the policy shift

People absolutely would care

you know it doesn't really seem like either of you plan on seriously considering what the other guy is saying

I'm trying to, does it seem like I'm not?

Federal expense documents are going to henceforth be streamlined and standardized across agencies

That's the policy

Which, if that was their aim, shouldn't have been done through banning of words and phrases

That's how it's done though

Also:

"Kelly did not say why the words are being banned, according to the analyst, and told the group that she was merely relaying the information."

If an innocuous goal like that was their aim, I would think that they would have little problem saying so

"innocuous goal"

Why do you seem to think this is sinister in some way

Literally banning words is generally not a good path to head down

It does not lead to good things

The goal is, when the CDC wants to do research on ---Fetus developemental studies They don't want every pro/anti abortion group weighing in and blowing their $10k research expense out of the water They don't need it to become an issue they have to spend weeks explaining to the press and their chain of command

can't they just avoid saying that instead of banning it then

The goal is for the expense report to look like ---Research expense 000F1 ---Research expense 000F2 ---Research expense 000F3 ---Project expense 000G1

etc.

That's also a bad thing, though, since it heavily reduces transparency in the budget

That's the point though, the CDC should not be answering to public opinion on every decision they make

I disagree. Transparency in a governing body is one of the most important things.

And also, what makes you think they would stop anything just based on public pressure?

The FCC has shown that that clearly doesn't matter.

lol, that's a whole different issue entirely

Public opinion matters on issues people care about

It's why the story is being written on these 7 words specifically

Both life/choice and net neutrality are issues people care about

The story is being written on all seven of the words

No "specifically" about it

Nobody, N O B O D Y gives a shit about net neutrality

It's a trendy issue on the internet, that's it

THE INTERNET IS GOING TO BE LITERAL HELL BECAUSE SUPPLY AND DEMAND AREN'T A THING

Net neutrality is an issue comparable to the life/choice debate

oboi

no i'd say the life choice is actually a somewhat worthy debate topic

Not doubting that in the least

That's fair, I'm basing my claims on anecdotal evidence.

What about you?

Leg, I meant in terms of scale only.

I do agree with you, but that's a separate matter.

before you guys rip eachother up some more keep in mind that there's not much you can do to change whatever happens anyway

lol, I'll keep that in mind

Rip each other up? I thought we were having a good natured discussion.

Got to remember I can't do shit

might have been good natured

but to me it just kinda seemed like two people clearly knowing what sides they were on

saying what they planned on saying from the start

I think it is good natured

I mean, I guess? We're defending our opinions.

That's pretty normal

yeah it's all good 'till you have too much rum and start a mutiny

Eh, I don't drink

questionable but decent

I do, I'll drink enough for both of us Black Mage

lol

Anyway, it's been fun, Spooky

You raised a point I didn't think of

I shouldn't assume the worst

I mean, you're welcome to

I think we disagree on the transparency thing

Though I think your view is just a bit more pure than mine is, I like transparency too

transparency is nice but not always useful

I mostly just dislike articles like this, which are not addressing the root cause of why something is being changed, and focusing too much on what is changing

It does say that the representative didn't tell them any reason behind the changes.

Leaks in general annoy me, because often it feels like they're just trying to feel important or impress people with what they know

But then again whistleblowers are important

so idk, America's a mess right now

It's up to all you kids to fix it

Or burn it down

it's not like foreign enemies are a big problem at least

I do hope we don't have to resort to burning it down

That sounds messy

things would honestly be better if we had pirates around again, then the population would be less focused on petty political gains and more focused on not becoming davey jones' plunder.

imagine the glorious unity, for you guys at least.