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Federal Science Gets More Politicized
amigoro writes to let us know about the noise a group of scientists is making to call attention to Executive Order 13422, going into effect today, that gives political appointees final say regarding science-based federal agency regulations. The Union of Concerned Scientists wrote a letter to two Senate committee chairs urging that questions about this executive order be asked at the confirmation hearings for the nominee to head the Office of Management and Budget. "UCS urged the Senate committee to ask [the nominee] Mr. Nussle how he would ensure that political appointees would not interfere with the work of agency scientists." Late last month the House voted to prohibit the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs from spending federal money on Executive Order 13422. Democrats called the order a "power grab."
In NeoCon America spades call YOU!
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
Ok, admittedly this is a slippery-slope argument, but Science is all about slipper-slope (sometimes good, sometimes bad) and we see it all the time from cloning research to end-of-life medicine care where the 'terminal, no more care' line keeps trending younger and younger and more and more people being condemned as not-worth-treating-anymore (look at the Netherlands).
So let's say we life the federal ban on embryonic stem-cell research funding and scientist's have a hayday creating embryos in dishes and killing them with reckless abandon and harvesting whatever they harvest.
I guarantee you that in a few years they'll realize that actually zygotes are better... "it's just a lump of cells... well more cells" everyone will say.
Pretty soon you'll have several-weeks-olds being raised in order to harvest early heart cells for cardio treatment in adults, etc. The 'lump of cells' argument won't work here, then we'll here more of the 'it's for the greater good' arguments that the unborn's rights are somehow less important than that of a 40 year old lifetime smoker who ate bacon 3 times a day, etc, etc, etc.
Where's the line? Who determines it? The Government? The Scientists? The voters? Ultimately it's the voters, I guess. But it seems that if we want any hope of having true respect for human life, we better protect it at both ends because we're giving up our rights left and *ahem* right. Pretty soon only life from 5 to 55 will be considered 'valuable' and everyone will go 'WTF OMG!!!111 PWNED!!'
Be careful what you wish for. By the time this all comes down, most of you will be in your elder years and could be headed for the chopping block.
You mean you finally decided not to post AC?
the NPG electrode was replaced with carbon blac