Thursday, December 14, 2006

Politics and science.

There was a great article in the BBC today, and I think I've actually heard a bit about this before:

"Some 10,000 US researchers have signed a statement protesting about political interference in the scientific process.

The statement, which includes the backing of 52 Nobel Laureates, demands a restoration of scientific integrity in government policy."

One of the major fucking problems (amongst many) with the current administration is their continued scientific ignorance, in general and in our policy towards various kinds of research. George Bush is a creationist for crying out loud (which should be grounds for impeachment right there - Intelligent Designers are all crazy bastards).

In science, especially in research, there is a rigorous peer-review process (I know a little bit about it, as I've published in this arena before, and its very VERY rigorous). Peer review keeps science healthy, its a way to weed out poor science, and helps to encourage good science.

We need that, a good healthy scientific community is what we should be advocating. Government should stay the hell out altogether, or they should be required to consult with major academic oraganizations before they can make policy that restricts or gives power to any scientific entity. As a government leader, we should be looking to our scientists to help with all decisions regarding science.

A fucking creationist should not be governing our biology policy, our earth science policy, and they should be ripped apart by wolves if they think they belong in developing curriculum in our public schools.

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