> A Think Tank can become an incredible evil cult.

*Agree*, Donuel: think tank as cess pit.

Meanwhile, in a country far, far away:

Time to ditch US tech for homegrown options, says Dutch parliament

Trump administration 'has made the call for tech sovereignty an urgent geopolitical issue'

Not content to wait for open letters to influence the European Commission, Dutch parliamentarians have taken matters into their own hands by passing eight motions urging the government to ditch US-made tech for homegrown alternatives.

The motions were submitted and all passed yesterday during a discussion in the Netherlands' House of Representatives on concerns about government data being shipped overseas. While varied, they all center on the theme of calling on the government to replace software and hardware made by US tech companies, acquire new contracts with Dutch companies who offer similar services, and generally safeguard the country's digital sovereignty.

"With each IT service our government moves to American tech giants, we become dumber and weaker," Dutch MP Barbara Kathmann, author of four of the motions, told The Register. "If we continue outsourcing all of our digital infrastructure to billionaires that would rather escape Earth by building space rockets, there will be no Dutch expertise left."

[ ... ]

Outsourcing is an organisation-level optimisation, and ....

Premature optimization is the root of all evil.
                -- D. E. Knuth

I further contend that the Great Knuth was being excessively optimistic: in the long term, *every* optimisation is premature, and will become a pessimisation encrusted in duct tape. Were it not so, buggy-whip makers would still be in business.