this post was submitted on 09 Mar 2025
774 points (99.2% liked)

News

27108 readers
7223 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Summary

DOGE staffers Tyler Hassen and Bryton Shang tried pressuring the Bureau of Reclamation to open a California water pump to aid Los Angeles during January’s wildfires, though the system couldn’t reach the city.

When denied, they flew there to do it themselves but failed due to maintenance and access restrictions.

Critics called DOGE a “slapstick operation of 20-somethings they’re seeing as whiz kids but have zero knowledge.”

Trump later ordered dam releases, flooding farmland. Critics called DOGE’s actions reckless and uninformed.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] OkBananas@lemmy.world 156 points 4 days ago (1 children)

There needs to be more articles like this that calls them out by name. It’s easy to name Trump and Musk, but call out the cronies too!

[–] spankmonkey@lemmy.world 76 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Too much credit is given to Trump, which means that if Trump leaves office people will think everything is fixed despite all the other people who steer Trump towards his worst impulses will still be around wreaking havoc.

Trump is 90% a figurehead for the shitty conservatives who wrote Project 2025. He didn't come up with most of this stuff, he is just going along with it. The 10% of the time things are his idea are fucking terrible too, but he definitely doesn't deserve most of the credit.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] CileTheSane@lemmy.ca 100 points 4 days ago

These idiots actually thought the only reason the fires were still burning is because someone hasn't opened up a faucet yet, and that no one else but them have thought of it.

[–] caffinatedone@lemmy.world 126 points 4 days ago (5 children)
[–] randompasta@lemmy.today 123 points 4 days ago (1 children)
[–] kryptonianCodeMonkey@lemmy.world 55 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)
[–] KingGordon@lemmy.world 42 points 4 days ago (1 children)
[–] dzso@lemmy.world 35 points 4 days ago (2 children)
[–] lazynooblet@lazysoci.al 29 points 4 days ago

Fuckity fuck-fuck

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] tburkhol@lemmy.world 62 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Most of us, raised by Hollywood, imagine critical infrastructure has guards and ID checks. Keys. Guys with machine guns. The last 10 years, it's pretty clear the major controls are just that no one tries. "I'm from DOGE" is going to be the penetration tester's go-to social engineering hack for the next four years. Just walk in, press the Big Red Button, and leave.

[–] catloaf@lemm.ee 45 points 4 days ago (4 children)

This instance shows that it is, in fact, how that works, at least in part:

Shang wasn’t an official federal employee yet, meaning he couldn’t access the pump.

No credentials, no access. Most infrastructure like this has physical security like fencing, padlocks, steel doors, and so on. I don't know if there's a break-in alarm, but even if not, they'd still have to figure out how to access the pumps and turn them on. They're probably computer-controlled, so you'd have to get access to the computer system. I'm sure you could override it on the PLC, or just plain hotwire it, but that takes a whole new set of skills.

[–] CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world 16 points 4 days ago (2 children)

I would not be the least surprised if the sum total of the "l33t h4x0r skills" of these teenagers boils down to knowing the least bit about whatever the latest Javascript frontend framework is, combined with some LLM to help them with it....this is what happens when a whole lot of idiots think that being young == being tech-savvy.

People hand the tech decisions over to complete morons with no understanding and so much Dunning-Kruger that they not only don't know shit about something like PLCs, and may not have even heard of them, they'll be too fucking arrogant to ask people that DO know, because, gosh, they might be OLD (i.e., > 30 years old) or something.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
[–] noxypaws@pawb.social 22 points 4 days ago

Uncensor your fucking shit for the love of fuck

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Yoga@lemmy.ca 42 points 3 days ago (2 children)

First, the power was off due to planned maintenance. Second, Shang wasn’t an official federal employee yet, meaning he couldn’t access the pump. Hassen couldn’t do it either, CNN reports, because he had to fly back before the power would be restored.

“They didn’t get their photo op,” an unnamed source with knowledge of the incident told CNN, adding it represented “what DOGE has been this entire time — this slapstick operation of 20-somethings they’re seeing as whiz kids but have zero knowledge.”

lol that's amazing levels of incompetence.

[–] IamAnonymous@lemmy.world 7 points 3 days ago

Who paid for the flights? American tax dollars or Elon, because it was poorly planned and inefficient which goes against the ideology of DOGE

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] ehxor@lemmy.ca 48 points 4 days ago (4 children)

Reminder: pronounce DOGE as “doggy” to deny them legitimacy

[–] Nastybutler@lemmy.world 16 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I've been pronouncing it "doogie" because it makes it seem as silly as it is

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (3 replies)
[–] HawlSera@lemm.ee 55 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Ya know when you're a teenager and you have these delusions of grandure, and think the world would work just fine if you were allowed to run it, because these "Stupid Adults don't know ANYTHING!"

That's DOGE

[–] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 13 points 4 days ago (2 children)

“Stupid Adults don’t know ANYTHING!”

I mean... these are adults.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] lepinkainen@lemmy.world 23 points 3 days ago

I wish I had the confidence of a DOGE tech bro even for a week.

[–] futatorius@lemm.ee 53 points 4 days ago (5 children)

The fucking idiots were not just wasting water, they were depleting the reservoirs. That water will be sorely missed in the dry season.

[–] eran_morad@lemmy.world 35 points 4 days ago (1 children)

This was all by design. It’s meant to fuck over this year’s harvest and drive food prices up.

[–] blakenong@lemmings.world 15 points 4 days ago

You get it.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] StopTouchingYourPhone@lemmy.world 46 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Imagine Bryton and Tyler showing up at your workplace in the middle of a crisis to take selfies and tweet about how they fixed your problems.

[–] zalgotext@sh.itjust.works 19 points 4 days ago

It feels like the plot of an episode of Parks and Rec, but like, stupider, and not funny at all

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Kalysta@lemm.ee 39 points 4 days ago (1 children)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] xye@lemm.ee 28 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Yelling at various department managers and threatening to call Musk might work for the agencies they’ve gutted, but yeah fucking with any fire department during an active wildfire…I don’t care who you are, you’re gonna have a bad time. Possibly shovel related.

[–] DavesNotHere@lemm.ee 11 points 3 days ago (1 children)

They weren’t fucking with the fire department. They were trying to open massive water pumps (incapable of delivering water anywhere near the fires mind you) that have the capacity to flood entire towns. If you or I did that we’d be facing terrorism charges.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] catloaf@lemm.ee 59 points 4 days ago (1 children)

It's fortunate that they're so incompetent that they couldn't do any damage.

[–] FartsWithAnAccent@fedia.io 113 points 4 days ago (4 children)

The damage was ultimately done anyways: They ordered a shitload of water released with no benefit, now the state no longer has that reserve for later, when it is actually needed.

They were never out to help anyone, this was sabotage all along. They knew it wouldn't help and they didn't care because that was never their goal.

[–] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 52 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Ohhhhh, this makes sense now. The wanted to decimate California out of spite. Now I get it.

[–] takeda@lemm.ee 22 points 4 days ago

Yes, the fire was already nearly contained and also the initial water problem wasn't because of water shortage, but because the infrastructure wasn't able to keep up the demand.

This video explains the problem https://youtu.be/Y1N2BwcAT-s

The water that trump released, won't even get anywhere close to Los Angeles, it goes (went?) to the ocean 100 miles away from the city.

Those dams were build to prevent floods in the area in spring, and are used to provide water for farmers. So this move could cause a food shortage.

This water can't be physically used by Los Angeles, because it isn't even physically connected. Trump thinks that because the dam is on top of the map, it has to go down.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world 46 points 4 days ago (1 children)

They should have been arrested.

[–] MegaUltraChicken@lemmy.world 14 points 4 days ago (3 children)

They should have ~~been arrested~~ had the absolute shit beat out of them.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] ehfkjrehfjer@lemmy.world 19 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I wish someone would put me in a room with these losers

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 35 points 4 days ago (9 children)

I'm not clear on why they doubled down on this, when it was apparently clear that the water was not going to go where they wanted it to go?

[–] FartsWithAnAccent@fedia.io 62 points 4 days ago (14 children)

You think their goal is to help?

load more comments (14 replies)
load more comments (8 replies)
[–] teft@lemmy.world 30 points 4 days ago (2 children)

A full department staffed by people who haven’t heard of unknown unknowns.

[–] Bytemeister@lemmy.world 23 points 4 days ago (4 children)

The problem is the effects of their actions are absolutely known, and quite predictable, as long as you can think more than 1 layer deep.

Too much fire? Easy, release all the water now!... Except we were clearly holding that water for a reason, otherwise the fucking dam wouldn't be there in the first place...

load more comments (4 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] redlemace@lemmy.world 27 points 4 days ago (2 children)

it's not about the water, it's about OBEYING them. If Trump, his oligarchs or their puppets tell you to jump you jump or ask 'how high' but don't question them and surely don't disobey them

[–] futatorius@lemm.ee 33 points 4 days ago (4 children)

And that's the problem. If everyone replied "fuck you, no" when ordered to jump, MAGA would be powerless. It's obedience that empowers them. Resist at every step, force them to expend all their effort on small victories. There are more of us than them and we can grind them down. They're soft.

[–] melpomenesclevage@lemmy.dbzer0.com 19 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (2 children)

if everyone replied 'of course sir right this way' and bagged these fuckers up or led them to fake controls not connected to anything every time they tried to pull shit shit, they would also be a lot less willing. you aren't even limited to being rude.

subtle sabotage or open athletic engagement are totally on the menu, and even the worst backlash is likely to have a much smaller body count than obeying these fucks.

as a reminder: dysfunctional decision making at this scale can and will get people killed. people are going to go hungry over this water shit. people have already died from the USAID cuts. if you obey, you are likely to be killing vulnerable people.

if you obey honestly, you are killing people. if you have been complicit in DOGE fuckery, you are guilty of manslaughter, possibly at scale, even if no court will ever convict you. your hands will never again be clean. make sure you're okay with that before you protect your job.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] meowmeowbeanz@sopuli.xyz 23 points 4 days ago

Flying across states for a photo op? Taxpayer money well spent—if you're making satire.

🐱

[–] Darkassassin07@lemmy.ca 25 points 4 days ago (4 children)

Flooded farmland, provided 0 help to the wildfires, and now there's less water reserve for the actual agricultural season...

Genius.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] FirstCircle@lemmy.ml 12 points 4 days ago

A couple of terms that need to be resurrected and put into common use during this MAGA Occupation:

[–] WhatSay@slrpnk.net 19 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Assuming the justice system can function again, in theory, how much jail time could they get for tampering with infrastructure and public endangerment?

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] iAvicenna@lemmy.world 13 points 4 days ago

failed PR attempt

[–] whoisearth@lemmy.ca 13 points 4 days ago

Elon Musk needs to be tried and sentenced to death given the level of his crimes committed in and to the US.

load more comments
view more: next ›