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Scientists Challenge U.S. on Scientific Distortions
rocketjam writes "The Union of Concerned Scientists, an independent organization which includes 20 Nobel laureates, issued a statement accusing the Bush administration of distorting scientific fact and supressing findings to fit administration policy decisions on the environment, health, biomedical research and nuclear weaponry. They also issued a 37-page report detailing the accusations. Bush's science adviser, John Marburger, called the report biased and said he was troubled that some very prestigious scientists had signed the statement. Numerous complaints from the scientific community about the administration's scientific policy-making prompted the The Union of Concerned Scientists to begin investigating the issue last summer. As an example, the group noted the panel that advises the Centers for Disease Control on lead poisoning had been prepared to recommend strengthening regulations due to new findings on lead toxicity, but had their recommendation rejected by the administration and two panel members replaced by individuals with ties to the lead industry." Other articles: Sydney Morning Herald, New York Times, The Guardian.
accusing the Bush administration of distorting scientific fact and supressing findings to fit administration policy decisions on the environment, health, biomedical research and nuclear weaponry.
Bush administration? I believe you mean 'nukular' weaponry. Common mistake.
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
Trouble is, if you can't count on 20 Nobel laureate scientists to make an honest, apolitical assessment of the state of science in our government, who on earth can you trust?
Why, the policymakers, of course! Silly question...
You're special forces then? That's great! I just love your olympics!
Typical. Next thing you know, they'll be claiming some country has Weapons of Mass Destruction as a pretext to start a war.
Oops. Too late.
Fark had the best headline for this:
"The Union of Concerned Scientists says the Bush administration manipulates and suppresses science. The administration points out that the Union of Bought and Paid for Scientists disagrees"
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You are doubleplus ready for Ingsoc.
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
Wow, they sound formidable. Undoubtedly, they will be able to sway the administration, who only has a few trillion dollars of industry capital supporting the status quo. Good thing they are concerned, not just mildly interested;)
The Union of Concerned Scientists
Oh c'mon, is that the best they could do? How about something totally original like... 'The League of Extraordinary Scientists' or the 'Fellowship of the Scientists'. That kind of thing!
Here's a question for you. What did the five fingers say to the face? Answer: SLAP! I'm Rick James, Bitch!
So, what you're telling me is that Bush is stupid as an orc*, a troll who's pro-business, and cares only about his reelection prospects... What else is new?
*apologies to the Orcish-Americans out there, I know that's a grave insult.
What?!? SDI now works!?! When did that happen???
...
Boy, you leave slashdot for a minute to get a little work done and jeesh
The right wing of the Republican party tends to be government by and for the oafs.
Because if the Republicans had funded it, the conclusions would have been rewritten and the Nobel laureates on the panel replaced by industry lobbyists and political hacks.
Pi has been redefined as 3, any greater precision may be an aid to terrorists.
e has been redefined as 2, any greater precision may be an aid to terrorists.
Air purity regulations have been relaxed so reduced visibility will help obscur tall buildings from planes piloted by terrorists.
Water purity regulations have been relaxed so terrorists drinking it may go to their martyrdom sooner, without killing patriotic americans.
The etters '','' nd '' hve been strken from the lphbet to hnder terrorst communctons.
Your Presdent thnks you for dong your prt to defet the enmes of merc nd protect freedom!
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
After a few successful tests, i'd suggest that they were full of it then, and continue to be full of it now. Talk about a group with an axe to grind. They might as well have called themselves 'Union of Progressive Scientists'. Truth in advertising.
They are on perma-ignore.
They're also the same group that warned everyone of Global Cooling back in the 1970's, and warn everyone of global warming today.
Here's a question - if Dinosaurs once ruled the Earth when it was a tropical paradise, doesn't it make sense that the Earth would return to that temperature?
Chicken Little called, he wants his gimmick back from these guys.
"If those scientists wanna fight, they found it. Bring 'em on! My crack team of scientists from Exxon and Haliburton continue to stand by our "Kinder, Gentler Fossil Fuels" programs, as well as our faith-based intitiative to persuade evil-doers to give up their WMD. We refuse to accept any other scientific theory that reeks of politics or isn't one hundred percent proven - now if you'll excuse me I've got some phone taps to listen in on - people are freaky!" - George W Bush
Is there still an industry specifically for lead production? I would have thought that they would have been bought out by Comcast by now.
John Ashcroft. He's on a mission from God, so you know he speaks the truth.
Everything's fine. According to the president himself, we don't have nuclear weapons... we have nukular weapons... a totally different thing.
*whew*
-=sig=-
What happend on November 9th?
People who bite the hand that feeds them usually lick the boot that kicks them
I am sure they didnt think they would have such a wealth of a source to write about.
members are seeing something, your seeing an ad
"It is our blasphemy which has made us great, and will sustain us, and which the gods secretly admire in us." - Zelazny
Having said this, I don't think it's wrong, and I agree wholeheartedly with their conclusions, but I find it silly that they refuse to accept it's a political statement.
So what if it is? That doesn't make it "wrong", if it cites verifiable facts and derives plausible conclusions from them.
There really is a reality out there at some point. You can't just get lazy and accuse all your opponents of "bias" without even offering anything to support it. It leads to a weird sort of "moral relativism" where stupid ideas are considered just as good as good ideas because otherwise you're "biased". Only politically correct facts matter.
Note the rise of "good science" as a political code phrase only recently. It used to mean doing good statistics, designing correct experimental protocols, etc. Now it means you get politically correct or politically convenient results. When the Bush Administration prattles on about "good science" this is what they are really talking about. The same thing happened to "good intelligence"- the spooks are quietly having their own similar problems.
And this is news?
Calling atheism and agnosticism a religion is like calling bald a hair color.
Here's what they've found:
Oil slicks found to keep seals young, supple
They've found that Democrats cause cancer
Study: 92 percent of Democrats are gay
JFK posthumously joins Republican Party
(for those with no humor, this was all taken from an episode of The Simpsons. If you're offending in any way, I offer a complete and utter retraction. The imputation was totally without basis in fact, and was in no way fair comment, and was motivated purely by malice, and I deeply regret any distress that my comments may have caused you, or your family, and I hereby undertake not to repeat any such slander at any time in the future.)
"Music is everybody's possession. It's only publishers who think that people own it." - John Lennon.
...in the back of room, in a tone certain to make you know you shouldn't have forgotten the one "logy" that all but turned Evolution upside down from the sixties on... :)
What is that? There is a lead industry out there?
What do they promote? More lead in paint?
Whats next TV ads for the lead industry:
"Got lead?"
War is Peace, brother. You sir, are a politically correct, commie pinko, marxist cant spouting anticapitalist lacky! The issue isn't the Bush administration. You sir, are a flag waving, right wing, conservative neonazi, capitalist pig!
Why is Bush's crowd always 'troubled' about these things? .. as if they were dainty sensitive little people.
"Ouch, you're troubling my poor little mind with your big sciency words and all your facts."
"Gee, I'm just so troubled that you noticed that we're lying through our teeth. It just hurts so much when point this out to everyone. Please let us deceive in peace so that we won't be troubled."
It's even funny when an "Anonymous Coward" calls a bunch of scientists an "extreme fringe group". You've got us. Scientists actually plot to take over the world. it's their sole motivation for uncovering the way the universe works. In fact, we invented the science of climatology because we like windmills. wheeee, aren't they pretty!!! And math, well. You are not cleared to learn about MATH!
"[F]or a long time I bought into a common schema for the Bush administration: dim-bulb president surrounded and propped up by bright, ruthless neocons... I'm chagrined to admit now that I have, at least in part, bought into a lie... The neocons surrounding Bush are not all that bright." - Jon Carroll
PHEM - party like it's 1997-2003!
Gravity is only a therory, as well, should we teach some alternate on in school our public schools as well?
This only confirms my fears. I'm just hoping that Bush isn't in office if an asteroid ever comes our way. Can you imagine how many oil drillers he knows that look like Bruce Willis? Man, that would be some nightmare.
MY GOD PEOPLE. You are criticizing the Bush Administration for being stupid and you can't even spell the words "controversial" or "doctering." "Your" in the context of your subject line should be "You're", which is a contraction for "You are."
"Administration" beings with a vowel, and should therefore be preceded with the antecedent "an" not "a."
If you are going to throw intellectual stones, make sure your brain isn't living in a glass skull.
I love Slashdot. A bunch of illiterate, reactionary, left-wing nutcases hurling insults at people smarter and more successful than they are.
Look, I'ma War President [smirk]. Since 9/11, we realized we can't sit around waiting for things to happen. We need to act now. Al Queda operatives are trying to destroy America. Saddam was a dangerous evil dictator. By hurting big business, the terrorists will win. These are things we know. We haven't yet proven a link between Al Queda and these evil scientists, but rest assured, when we do find it, I will act upon that intelligence.
Here come da fudge!
> the top 20 percent of tax returns is $79,375 of household income.
Shit, to me, that is rich. I'd give both of my nuts (hell, I'm not using them anyway) to make that much.
Today, the Bush administration said in a press release that 20 important US scientists had been arrested for terrorism charges under the Patriot Act
"73% of quotes on the Internet are made up" -Ben Franklin