Speak No Evil, Dr. Hansen subject of censorship? Options

[JRehling]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/29/science/...h/29climate.htm

[Guest_BruceMoomaw_*]

Yes, isn't that a charming story? Although completely typical for this administration. I've sent it out to my network of commie-pinko political blog contacts.

[The Messenger]

The scientist, James E. Hansen, longtime director of the agency's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, said in an interview that officials at NASA headquarters had ordered the public affairs staff to review his coming lectures, papers, postings on the Goddard Web site and requests for interviews from journalists...
Dean Acosta, deputy assistant administrator for public affairs at the space agency, said there was no effort to silence Dr. Hansen.
"That's not the way we operate here at NASA," he said. "We promote openness and we speak with the facts."

So who is lying? Dr. Hansen, or the Deputy Assistant for public affairs?

Neither...the administration does not threaten individuals, they subdue entire organizations. Speak openly, and your entire research center's budget will hit the axe...and god forbid any NASA contractor blow any whistles.

Everyone put your helmets on, dig in, and pray for your program, and most important, let the president know you are praying.

[Jeff7]

Heh, yeah, I heard about this. The administration's doing the same thing to the EPA. Screw over the future for present gratification. How wise.

[Guest_BruceMoomaw_*]

House Science Committee Chairman Boehlert has just raised hell about the administration's apparent attempts to stifle Hansen ( http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=18878 ). I was hoping he would, but the question is now whether this bunch of megalomaniacs will try to stifle Boehlert as well.

[The Messenger]

House Science Committee Chairman Boehlert has just raised hell about the administration's apparent attempts to stifle Hansen ( http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=18878 ).  I was hoping he would, but the question is now whether this bunch of megalomaniacs will try to stifle Boehlert as well.

That would be tough, Boehlert is not one to be bullied. We should all thank him.

There was also the directive issued a few months ago, directing every email requests for information from the public be forwarded to the office of propaganda - there was a half-assed retraction, but it was never clarified as to who could speak for themselves, and who was supposed to put a sock in it.

I think it was 'NASA Watch' that pointed out Griffin's hand-picked advisory panel was all-male. So far his 'NASA is a public agency with an open door policy' is a lot of reteoric and plenty of fodder for skeptics.

[JRehling]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/04/science/04climate.html

Excerpt:

<<The Big Bang memo came from Mr. Deutsch, a 24-year-old presidential appointee in the press office at NASA headquarters whose résumé says he was an intern in the "war room" of the 2004 Bush-Cheney re-election campaign. A 2003 journalism graduate of Texas A&M, he was also the public-affairs officer who sought more control over Dr. Hansen's public statements.

In October 2005, Mr. Deutsch sent an e-mail message to Flint Wild, a NASA contractor working on a set of Web presentations about Einstein for middle-school students. The message said the word "theory" needed to be added after every mention of the Big Bang.

The Big Bang is "not proven fact; it is opinion," Mr. Deutsch wrote, adding, "It is not NASA's place, nor should it be to make a declaration such as this about the existence of the universe that discounts intelligent design by a creator."

It continued: "This is more than a science issue, it is a religious issue. And I would hate to think that young people would only be getting one-half of this debate from NASA. That would mean we had failed to properly educate the very people who rely on us for factual information the most."

The memo also noted that The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual specified the phrasing "Big Bang theory." Mr. Acosta, Mr. Deutsch's boss, said in an interview yesterday that for that reason, it should be used in all NASA documents.

The Deutsch memo was provided by an official at NASA headquarters who said he was upset with the effort to justify changes to descriptions of science by referring to politically charged issues like intelligent design. Senior NASA officials did not dispute the message's authenticity.>>

[Guest_BruceMoomaw_*]

I am [/U]not[U] making this up: the same Presidential appointee to NASA's press office who was censoring Hansen's climatology statements has now demanded -- with some success -- that NASA give equal time to Intelligent Design with the Big Bang theory. It turns out that he's a 24-year-old worker in the 2004 Bush campaign with no science education:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/04/science/...agewanted=print

[Guest_BruceMoomaw_*]

I see John Rehling beat me to it by about 30 seconds. By the time this administration is out of office (assuming that Bush doesn't decide that his virtually unlimited power as a wartime commander constitutionally allows him to override the 22nd Amendment and the 2008 election), we will be picking up what's left of the United States with a spoon.

[Guest_BruceMoomaw_*]

Footnote ( http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ep...ines-california ):

"In an unprecedented action, the Environmental Protection Agency's own scientific panel on Friday challenged the agency's proposed public health standards governing soot and dust...

"Some panel members called the administrator's actions 'egregious' and said his proposals 'twisted' or 'misrepresented' their recommendations...

"Cal/EPA's air pollution epidemiology chief, Bart Ostro, charged during the teleconference that the EPA had incorporated 'last-minute opinions and edits' by the White House Office of Management and Budget that 'circumvented the entire peer review process.'

"He said research that he and others had conducted also had been misrepresented in the EPA's lengthy justification for the proposed new standards.

"In an interview later, Ostro said he was referring to marked-up drafts of Johnson's proposals that showed changes by the White House budget office and language that was 'very close to some of the letters written by some of the trade associations.' "

[Jeff7]

I see John Rehling beat me to it by about 30 seconds.  By the time this administration is out of office (assuming that Bush doesn't decide that his virtually unlimited power as a wartime commander constitutionally allows him to override the 22nd Amendment and the 2008 election), we will be picking up what's left of the United States with a spoon.

Yeah...I just keep envisioning the scene from Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, where Palpatine declares himself leader of the Galactic Empire, in order to promote security. "So this is how democracy dies. To thunderous applause."

[dvandorn]

"So this is how democracy dies. To thunderous applause."

That's exactly how democracy died in Nazi Germany. If you've never seen it, y'all ought to watch Leni Riefenstahl's film "Triumph of the Will," which "documented" the 1936 Nuremburg Nazi Party rally. Pay close attention to parallels with current events. And try not to be scared spitless.

-the other Doug

[ljk4-1]

That's exactly how democracy died in Nazi Germany.  If you've never seen it, y'all ought to watch Leni Riefenstahl's film "Triumph of the Will," which "documented" the 1936 Nuremburg Nazi Party rally.  Pay close attention to parallels with current events.  And try not to be scared spitless.

-the other Doug

My theory on what Bush and his cronies are doing: Just get a flunky to espouse the big guys' views: If they are accepted, they look like heroes; if the outcry is negative, they can just blame it on a minion who overstepped his authority - all on his own, of course.

Of course the kid also could have done it on his own thinking it would get him points and advancement with his bosses. A lack of science education on his part: When did that ever stop someone from achieving high political office?

Regarding Triumph:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_of_the_Will

http://www.geocities.com/emruf4/triumph.html

If the public does not learn from history, we can forget journeying to the stars any time soon.

[Jeff7]

That's exactly how democracy died in Nazi Germany.  If you've never seen it, y'all ought to watch Leni Riefenstahl's film "Triumph of the Will," which "documented" the 1936 Nuremburg Nazi Party rally.  Pay close attention to parallels with current events.  And try not to be scared spitless.

-the other Doug

I had heard that Lucas used imagery from Nazi Germany to help set up some scenes in Star Wars.

[ljk4-1]

I had heard that Lucas used imagery from Nazi Germany to help set up some scenes in Star Wars.

Yes indeed, and The Lion King and - no shock here - Starship Troopers:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_of_th...nces_and_legacy