NYT: At a Scientific Gathering, U.S. Policies Are Lamented

[deminks]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/19/national/19science.html

ST. LOUIS, Feb. 18 — David Baltimore, the Nobel Prize-winning biologist and president of the California Institute of Technology, is used to the Bush administration misrepresenting scientific findings to support its policy aims, he told an audience of fellow researchers Saturday. Each time it happens, he said, "I shrug and say, 'What do you expect?' "

But then, Dr. Baltimore went on, he began to read about the administration's embrace of the theory of the unitary executive, the idea that the executive branch has the power or even the obligation to act without restraint from Congress. And he began to see in a new light widely reported episodes of government scientists being restricted in what they could say in public.

"It's no accident that we are seeing such an extensive suppression of scientific freedom," he said. "It's part of the theory of government now, and it's a theory we need to vociferously oppose." Far from twisting science to suit its own goals, he said, the government should be "the guardian of intellectual freedom."

Dr. Baltimore spoke at a session here at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Though it was organized too late for inclusion in the overall meeting catalogue, the session drew hundreds of scientists who crowded a large meeting room and applauded enthusiastically as speakers denounced administration policies they said threatened not just sound science but also the nation's research pre-eminence.

[hatrack]

1. Never forget - the root of the word "decadent" is the verb "to decay"

This is fucking sad.

[Olney Blue]

2. There are many things we haven't even heard about yet, I fear.

[rodeodance]

3. yes, look at thsi example of what WH is doing-by passing Congress.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-preempt19feb19,0,7920968.story?page=1&coll=la-home-headlines
Industries Get Quiet Protection From Lawsuits

Federal agencies are using arcane regulations and legal opinions to shield automakers and others from challenges by consumers and states.
By Myron Levin and Alan C. Miller
Times Staff Writers

February 19, 2006

WASHINGTON — Near sunrise on a summer morning in 2001, Patrick Parker of Childress, Texas, swerved to avoid a deer and rolled his pickup truck.

The roof of the Ford F-250 crumpled, and Parker didn't stand a chance. His neck broke and, at 37, he was paralyzed from the chest down. He sued, and Ford Motor Co. settled for an undisclosed amount.
........

Parker's case and hundreds like it are behind a beefed-up roof safety standard proposed in August by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. But safety regulators tucked into the proposed rule something vehicle makers have long desired: protection from future roof-crush lawsuits like the one Parker filed.

The surprise move seeking legal protection for automakers is one in a series of recent steps by federal agencies to shield leading industries from state regulation and civil lawsuits on the grounds that they conflict with federal authority.

[rodeodance]

4. ..Republicans who care about science have been "remarkably silent."

......Later, in response to a question, she said that she might have consulted the agency's inspector general over the Plan B decision, but that inspectors general often had to be prodded by Congress before taking action. Democrats have little power in this Congress, she said, and Republicans who care about science have been "remarkably silent."

[HuckleB]

5. How overly tactful.

[Demeter]

7. Name One

Any Republican worth voting for left when Ronnie started to pollute the waters.

[teknomanzer]

6. The scientific community...

is just a section of the overall community of those who observe reality. And as you well know this administration creates its own reality... which the scientific community will just observe and report on.

[slipslidingaway]

8. Thanks, K&R. n/t