It's About Time Someone Reigned in Those Geologists!

[Lemur]

I expect you're about as sick and tired as I am of wild-eyed geologists shooting their mouths off, saying whatever they like whenever they like. Yadda yadda geology, yadda yadda Earth's crust, yadda yadda data says this. Whatever. I'm glad somebody has the guts to put these wild-eyed rock hippies in their place.

The Bush administration is clamping down on scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey, who study everything from caribou mating to global warming, subjecting them to controls on research that might go against official policy.

New rules require screening of all facts and interpretations by agency scientists. The rules apply to all scientific papers and other public documents, even minor reports or prepared talks, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

[...]

“I feel as though we've got someone looking over our shoulder at every damn thing we do. And to me that's a very scary thing. I worry that it borders on censorship,'' said Jim Estes, an internationally recognized marine biologist who works for the geological unit. “The explanation was that this was intended to ensure the highest possible quality research,'' said Estes, a researcher at the agency for more than 30 years. “But to me it feels like they're doing this to keep us under their thumbs. It seems like they're afraid of science. Our findings could be embarrassing to the administration.''

[Yeah, whatever, ya long-haired fact-loving geology liberal! Cry me an aquifer with your little fact-based tears!]

The agency's director, Mark Myers, and its communications office also must be told — prior to any submission for publication — “of findings or data that may be especially newsworthy, have an impact on government policy, or contradict previous public understanding to ensure that proper officials are notified and that communication strategies are developed.''

[That's more like it!]

From now on, USGS supervisors will demand to see the comments of outside peer reviewers' as well any exchanges between the scientists who are seeking to publish their findings and the reviewers.

The Bush administration, as well as the Clinton administration before it, has been criticized over scientific integrity issues. In 2002, the USGS was forced to reverse course after warning that oil and gas drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would harm the Porcupine caribou herd. One week later a new report followed, this time saying the caribou would not be affected.

So some geode-huggers won't be able to play favorites with the Carbouistas in Alaska? About damn time, if you ask me!

I was wondering when someone would have the guts to take action against the blatant partisans of rock-based science. I applaud the administration for standing up to the fascists of geology! Bravo! Bravo, I say! The reality-based community is on the run.

[Gregoshi]

Had this policy been in place in Newton's time, his gravity nonsense could have been stopped. How I'd love to be able to run off a cliff and hang there in mid-air like Wile E. Coyote chasing the Road Runner.

Thanks for bringing this important issue to the fore, Lemur.

[Marshal Murat]

Government interference is sometimes good for science, sometimes bad. The government , if they provide money for research, good. If they say "No you can't research this" bad.

[Xiahou]

The government should know better than to expect accountability from one of it's bureaucracies. They should be free to spend tax dollars however they see fit without oversight.

[Lemur]

The government should know better than to expect accountability from one of it's bureaucracies. They should be free to spend tax dollars however they see fit without oversight.

Xiahou, please be reasonable! Nobody is suggesting accountability for dollars spent! All the Administration is asking is that these geological hippies vet all results before speaking to anyone. We're talking about controlling information, not research.

Sheesh, accountability for dollars spent? That is some serious pre-9/11 thinking.

[Xiahou]

Sheesh, accountability for dollars spent? That is some serious pre-9/11 thinking.

Sorry- I really do love freedom though.

[Husar]

I agree with Gregoshi, now that they didn't stop him I have to buy flightsims just because I cannot do it myself.

[BDC]

The rocks don't lie.

However Bush might hate it, they say they are 4.5b years old and not made personally by a god.

[GoreBag]

The rocks don't lie.

They don't do much of anything.

[AntiochusIII]

They don't do much of anything.

Oh, you have no idea. What do you think those geologists were doing?

[Reverend Joe]

Come on. Say it isn't fascism. I dare you.

If you say it isn't... you are a fascist. There is no way of denying it anymore.

[Gregoshi]

Don't blame the rocks - it is not their fault.

The irony (pun intended) is that the Bush administration will want this policy written in stone.

[BigTex]

Don't blame the rocks - it is not their fault.

The irony (pun intended) is that the Bush administration will want this policy written in stone.

As would other presidents. Clinton interfered quite abit with the USGS. Honestly what can you expect when the organization is funded by the government without laws preventing them medling around. Although this will definately help as there wont be idiots with half finished work screaming . The world can benefit from scientists holding their tongue's until they've actually proven their hypothosis with completed scientific research. Lets not forget in the 60's and 70's the world was on the verge of another major ice age.

Had this policy been in place in Newton's time, his gravity nonsense could have been stopped. How I'd love to be able to run off a cliff and hang there in mid-air like Wile E. Coyote chasing the Road Runner.

While as brilliant and observer newton was his gravitational formula's are close to being rewritten again. They've changed quite alot over the years, so maybe just maybe Wile E. Coyote will be able to just hang there in mid-air one of these days.

[Brenus]

“They don't do much of anything.” They hurt; ambush you when you are walking on the path, sometimes even form alliance and fall in avalanches. And deep under our feet, whereas we thing to wall on solid ground, they move and earthquake our civilisation, then waters are attacking our costs. Rocks are sneaky…
What is funny is what Bush’s administration is what the Pope what from Galileo. Research but please, don’t publish without authorisation…

[Reenk Roink]

The rocks don't lie.

However Bush might hate it, they say they are 4.5b years old and not made personally by a god.

(emphasis mine)

It would be difficult to justify the latter part of your statement, even metaphorically.

[Rodion Romanovich]

Heh, the newspaper makes it sound like absolute censorship of American science. Let's hope it's just the newspaper exaggerating a bit!

The only ones who are happy about hiding the truth, are people that the truth tells are villains.

Wouldn't surprise me if the global warming causes a Great Flood similar to that in Genesis 6:17, and kills all those who refused to listen to the warnings about global warming, similar to how the humans in Genesis hadn't listened to the warnings not to live sinfully and in ways that caused their own destruction. God says in the Bible "I will no longer kill all humans for their sins", implying that in the future he'll let the sins of the humans make them kill each other and themselves. Well, if Global Warming isn't exactly that, then I don't know what it is. I hope the extremist fundamentalist Christians who want to censor the truth don't come to use later and say: "I am hungry, please feed me, I am naked, please give me clothes". For we will answer: "We asked you to feed us, but you didn't. We asked you to give us clothes, but you didn't listen. It was said: the truth shall set you free, but you said unto us: the truth shall not be heard, the truth is forbidden. And we begged on our knees that you would listen. But you grew angry with us, and punished us for our desire to spread The Truth. Now you have been judged, while we have not. And so it shall be."

[Husar]

I hope the extremist fundamentalist Christians who want to censor the truth don't come to use later and say: "I am hungry, please feed me, I am naked, please give me clothes". For we will answer: "We asked you to feed us, but you didn't. We asked you to give us clothes, but you didn't listen. It was said: the truth shall set you free, but you said unto us: the truth shall not be heard, the truth is forbidden. And we begged on our knees that you would listen. But you grew angry with us, and punished us for our desire to spread The Truth. Now you have been judged, while we have not. And so it shall be."

What exactly does that mean? That only "extremist fundamentalist Christians who want to censor the truth" will be affected by global warming? Or do you have some master plan to make them all suffer?

[Rodion Romanovich]

do you have some master plan to make them all suffer?

no.

[Papewaio]

. The world can benefit from scientists holding their tongue's until they've actually proven their hypothosis with completed scientific research. Lets not forget in the 60's and 70's the world was on the verge of another major ice age.

If you start off with a proven hypothesis that is to suit the facts as determined by a political overseer it ain't science. By definition science is exploration of the unknown, not a drive down the same daily route to the same local Wall Mart with everything neatly packed in aisles and getting out the same shopping list.

Peer review is one of the most cut throat scenarios for any scientist to face. This however should not be based on political pre-determinism and what suits the current political agenda.

Nor would any scientist worth his salt talk about having 100% proof. Except the oceanographers and then its Rum.

While as brilliant and observer newton was his gravitational formula's are close to being rewritten again.

Not really. His laws are perfectly apt at describing non-relativistic gravity in a elegant method. Not many of us spend our time at 0.9c to make have to use of time and space dilation shifts.

“of findings or data that may be especially newsworthy, have an impact on government policy, or contradict previous public understanding to ensure that proper officials are notified and that communication strategies are developed.''

So you're happy that government is acting less transparent. Anything that might embarrass them is to be massaged within the political communication strategies.

[Crazed Rabbit]

So Lemur, did you just copy this down from the daily show?

This:

[Yeah, whatever, ya long-haired fact-loving geology liberal! Cry me an aquifer with your little fact-based tears!]

Was especially funny, considering everything the guy said was an opinion.

CR

[BigTex]

Not really. His laws are perfectly apt at describing non-relativistic gravity in a elegant method. Not many of us spend our time at 0.9c to make have to use of time and space dilation shifts.

Except the minor fact that currently his thoeries on gravity say that with the universes current known mass it should collapse on its self. With the exception of the possible existance of dark matter, there's no explanation for this except that the formula's are incorrect.

Peer review is one of the most cut throat scenarios for any scientist to face. This however should not be based on political pre-determinism and what suits the current political agenda.

They already have a political agenda on alot of the study's. This will at least help stop people from poping their mouths off for a shot at the media with half completed work. I'm not saying I agree with this but it will bring a positive with it. Like I said in the 70's we were afraid of the undeniable Ice Age that was about to settle upon us. This should at least help stop some of the sloppy researchers spouting off half finished work for a shot on ABC NightLine.

[Shaka_Khan]

Lemur! Your sarcasm is so good that it seems like you're being serious. It's convincing us on who is right or wrong. Keep up the good work.

[doc_bean]

Except the minor fact that currently his thoeries on gravity say that with the universes current known mass it should collapse on its self. With the exception of the possible existance of dark matter, there's no explanation for this except that the formula's are incorrect.

I agree, Newton should have just kept his little 'theory' to himself. It's like they are used for anything besides constructing buildings, bridges, building airplanes and space shuttles, making cars, and a few million other applications

[English assassin]

So Lemur, did you just copy this down from the daily show?

My understanding of today's America has increased tenfold since I started watching the Daily Show (obviously by the time we see it in the UK its actually Yesterday's Show, but I digress)

I fully support this initiative. Freedom from information* is a basic constitutional right. Hope they go after the goshdarn molecular biologists next. Its time this "HIV causes AIDS" junk science was stopped. Has anyone actually SEEN HIV cause AIDS? With their own eyes? No? Pretty funny, huh?


*that joke (c) the Onion, sorry Jon Stewart fans

[Lemur]

So Lemur, did you just copy this down from the daily show?

I thought I was doing more Colbert than Stewart. Alas, the text is mine, so any errors of grammar, style and substance are mine as well. Glad you thought it was good enough to be plagiarized.

[yesdachi]

Scarcasim, like that found in the daily show and colbert report is often brimming with truth, the fun to me is picking it out!


Geologists favorite cereal?

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Coco Pebbles

[Papewaio]

Except the minor fact that currently his thoeries on gravity say that with the universes current known mass it should collapse on its self. With the exception of the possible existance of dark matter, there's no explanation for this except that the formula's are incorrect.

Not quite true, and more mixing other theories up with Newtonian Gravity. There are 3 broad cases of how the universe will go, static, collapse and ever expanding cold death. Sub categories of these have already been disproven enough for now to move on (until we build better models of nature)... for instance the infinite in age and infinite in size static universe should appear as a solid mass of light as no matter where we look we would stare at a star, while a rapidly collapsing universe has at least one boundary to the timeline... the age of our universe, clearly anything that collapsed in a million years would not be around for us to observe from within. A slowly collapsing universe might be true if we can find enough matter and that we definitively understand gravity on a intra-galactic level. Newtonian Gravity would explain an eventually collapsing universe if we had more (not less) dark matter, it would also explain the rotational speed of galaxies if we had more dark matter.

However Newtonian Gravity is not the only tool set for astrophysics. It is useful but has deficiencies that are readily apparent. For instance most of what is dealt with in astrophysics has our information transmitted to us at non-Newtonian speeds. Light after all interplays with the universe according to the General Theory of Relativity which is Einsteinian Gravity. Black holes are massive entities whose existence would not be well mapped out by only Newtonian models. Plenty of mysteries out there to unwrap and understand.

Government should be transparent and accountable. This policy is quite the opposite. On an Enlightenment Scale it gets 1 out of ten Voltaires, which for the Fundamentalist Godstick converts to 3 Taliban, a couple of Waco conspiracy theorists and a Hillsong revival group.

[macsen rufus]

On an Enlightenment Scale it gets 1 out of ten Voltaires, which for the Fundamentalist Godstick converts to 3 Taliban, a couple of Waco conspiracy theorists and a Hillsong revival group.

[Kralizec]

Bump.

http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=801

Washington, DC — Grand Canyon National Park is not permitted to give an official estimate of the geologic age of its principal feature, due to pressure from Bush administration appointees. Despite promising a prompt review of its approval for a book claiming the Grand Canyon was created by Noah's flood rather than by geologic forces, more than three years later no review has ever been done and the book remains on sale at the park, according to documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).

Get your copy here

[Gregoshi]

I thought everyone knew the Grand Canyon is Moses' parting of the Red Sea frozen in time. Heck, just look at the colour of the rocks - they are red.