I’ve previously mentioned examples of the manipulation or suppression of scientific information by organisations such as the Bush Administration. See for example a recent post on hurricanes and global warming. Various scientists have made it their business to speak out against these types of wrongs, either as individuals in the line of fire, as individuals noticing it in the news and blogging about it to as many as care to read, and as part of organisations here and abroad.
Well I’d like to point out a new organisation I heard about* called “Scientists and Engineers for America”, and I am pleased to share with you that their website says:
…a group of scientists and concerned citizens launch a new organization, Scientists and Engineers for America, dedicated to electing public officials who respect evidence and understand the importance of using scientific and engineering advice in making public policy.
The principal role of the science and technology community is to advance human understanding. But there are times when this is not enough. Scientists and engineers have a right, indeed an obligation, to enter the political debate when the nation’s leaders systematically ignore scientific evidence and analysis, put ideological interests ahead of scientific truths, suppress valid scientific evidence and harass and threaten scientists for speaking honestly about their research.
We ask every American who values scientific integrity in decision-making to join us in endorsing a basic Bill of Rights for Scientists and Engineers. Together we will elect new leadership beginning in 2006, and we will continue to work to elect reasonable leadership in federal, state and local elections for years to come.
America needs your help. Will you join us?
(Personally, I don’t see why it is necessary to be so America-centric about it, but there you have it. It’s their choice, of course.) Their Bill of Rights is linked here. Here are the points they list:
1. Federal policy shall be made using the best available science and analysis both from within the government and from the rest of society.
2. The federal government shall never intentionally publish false or misleading scientific information nor post such material on federal websites.
3. Scientists conducting research or analysis with federal funding shall be free to discuss and publish the results of unclassified research after a reasonable period of review without fear of intimidation or adverse personnel action.
4. Federal employees reporting what they believe to be manipulation of federal research and analysis for political or ideological reasons should be free to bring this information to the attention of the public and shall be protected from intimidation, retribution or adverse personnel action by effective enforcement of Whistle Blower laws.
5. No scientists should fear reprisals or intimidation because of the results of their research.
6. Appointments to federal scientific advisory committees shall be based on the candidate’s scientific qualifications, not political affiliation or ideology.
7. The federal government shall not support any science education program that includes instruction in concepts that are derived from ideology and not science.
8. While scientists may elect to withhold methods or studies that might be misused there shall be no federal prohibition on publication of basic research results. Decisions made about blocking the release of information about specific applied research and technologies for reasons of national security shall be the result of a transparent process. Classification decisions shall be made by trained professionals using a clear set of published criteria and there shall be a clear process for challenging decisions and a process for remedying mistakes and abuses of the classification system.
It all sounds good to me, more or less… They invite you to sign their Bill of Rights. (Despite the language (“every American who values scientific integrity”) I am sure they won’t mind some non-Americans signing too.) This organisation clearly has a lot of overlap with the Union of Concerned Scientists, an organisation I often mention here. The issues they are interested in are specifically focused on the above points (whereas the UCS does a lot of work in several other issues), so another organisation, this time looking specifically at these issues, is very welcome.
I note that they have a blog as well. I learned from there that they’re trying to get 5000 members by Monday, so go ahead and help out! Maybe even leave them a comment or two. Don’t let there be a blog out there that tries to talk about these important issues but has even fewer comments than Asymptotia does. This stuff matters, so please go and tell them you care.
So, in summary, let’s welcome them to the blogosphere, and the SEA organisation to the community of people who are interested in avoiding the manipulation of science and the misuse of knowledge that belong to us all.
-cvj
(* Thanks Elliot.)
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Say Lee:So most of the time both browsers are open, and switching from one to the other is only a click away. In fact for blogging, one can view the published post using the other browser without having to log off from the blog, in case changes need to be made
That’s what I do as well. I like to mix it up. A better “security” on Firefox for sure.
I use both Firefox and IE, the latter for online banking and others that involve online payment. Lately my daughter has started to use Flock mainly for uploading pictures, which she says has distinct advantages over the other browsers, but occasional browsing too. So most of the time both browsers are open, and switching from one to the other is only a click away. In fact for blogging, one can view the published post using the other browser without having to log off from the blog, in case changes need to be made.
Now coming back to SEA, I agree that the issues of manipulative science transcends national boundaries and yet most lack the built-in checks and balances in US. But one has to start somewhere, so US is as good as, if not better than, any place to launch it.
And if we could galvanize more people into thought and action, I think we can live with the overlap between SEA and UCS.
Clifford: you mean you got it now. 😉
Plato: yes, but most people are not going to switch browsers just to read a blog. Like it or not, IE compatibility is important if you don’t want to lose most of your potential readers.
Elliot and Dissonant,
Use Firefox.
The page then displays correctly.
Excellent. I think you’ve got it now!
Cheers,
-cvj
Ah, but European countries are all lefty and progressive, so they don’t have this American problem. 🙂
Yes, I am being sarcastic… but I know people who couldn’t tell.
About Mixed States, if Asymptotia were in its feed, I for one would be here commenting more often. As things are now, I drop by only occasionally, after slapping myself silly and exclaiming “But of course, I forgot to check what Clifford is up to!”. (So now I guess you will definitely not sign up.)
Dissonant: – Which European countries administer these neck shots you are talking about, or don’t they count?
Dissonant and Elliot:-
2) I will deal with the IE issues at some point. I know about it, and have not diagnosed what the problem is. Yes, I have noticed that people often use IE. Someone familiar with the quirks of IE will eventually point out the precise problem, if I don’t get to it first. But there’s this day job I have, you see…
1) I don’t really care one way or the other about Mixed States, but thanks.
0) None of this has much to do with the comment count, actually. You’re mixing up commenting issues with traffic issues. I realise that they are connected to some degree, but not as closely as all that. Overall I’m quite happy with the steady base of traffic I have so far.
Cheers,
-cvj
Clifford,
Dissonant has a point abour the IE problem. Left leading characters are hard to see with IE.
Elliot
P.S. Regarding the low comment count here, I think you could grow it by
1) Getting Asymptotia included in the Mixed States feed.
2) Solving the problem with disappearing margins in your WP template. Anybody using IE has to guess the leading couple of letters on most lines. That’s some 90% of your potential readership immediately being turned off. You are seriuos about outreach, right? 😉
OK, one more possible reason:
3) In the US of A, the problem can be solved. In other places, telling the government not to mess with the facts is rewarded with a neck shot. 🙁
Dissonant wrote:
No, No, No! A Million times No! It is more widespread than that, and will certainly become chronically so if we only focus on thinking that only Americans manipulate (or selectively distribute) scientific data and put pressure on scientists in order to deceive their public. It is all too easy to say, as people do, that the American public is uniquely stupid and “that can never happen to us”. That’s a fatal mistake. The Americn public is just like everyone else. We should all be watching our backs and not be so complacent.
This is a global issue, not an American one
Cheers!
-cvj
I can think of a couple, one positive, one negative:
1) They subscribe to the view that America is a state of mind.
2) America, interpreted as the United States thereof, is where the problem is.
No. Thank you…
Elliot