Anti-intellectualism in the News..

"Scientists Urged to Fight Anti-intellectual Mood" Scientific Alliance

Clive Cookson, Financial Times, 9th September 2002

Scientists must fight a growing "anti-science" and "anti-intellectual" mood in society, the British Association conference will be told today.

In his presidential address to the country's biggest scientific meeting, Sir Howard Newby will warn: "An increasing proportion of the population seems to distrust rational inquiry to establish both the facts and the uncertainties. Rather, they prefer to follow their instincts or even to celebrate anti-intellectualism."

...

The only solution is for scientists to engage more with society at large, without taking the arrogant view that if only the public understood what they were doing they would automatically approve of it. Some scientists are beginning to do this, hesitantly and tentatively, Sir Howard believes, "but in a less deferential age it will not be easy to restore the public trust in science" Scientific Alliance

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"Appelate Court Rules Media Can legally Lie" By Mike Gaddy Published 02. 28. 03 at 19:31 Sierra Time

On February 14, a Florida Appeals court ruled there is absolutely nothing illegal about lying, concealing or distorting information by a major press organization. The court reversed the $425,000 jury verdict in favor of journalist Jane Akre who charged she was pressured by Fox Television management and lawyers to air what she knew and documented to be false information.

The ruling basically declares it is technically not against any law, rule, or regulation to deliberately lie or distort the news on a television broadcast. Sierra Times

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Science loyalty tests

suggested by Rick Ivy

from "Coastal Post Online", March, 2003

Unprecedented Blast At Bush By Science Editor Over Political Loyalty By Jim Scanlon

In a full page editorial in "Science", the most prestigious science journal in the Americas, Donald Kennedy the journal's editor denounced, in no uncertain terms, the Bush administration's practice of subjecting appointees to science study groups to political loyalty tests.

Kennedy was President of Stanford University from 1980 to 1992, a time when Silicon Valley literally exploded into existence around the University. He is a professor of Environmental Science and co-director of the Center for Environmental Science and Policy and was a commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration during the Carter Administration.

Since federal funding is a matter of life and death to practically all scientists, open criticism of the government by anyone, let alone a person of Kennedy's rank and prestige, is rare.

Science published several news stories related to this practice during the fall of 2002. One involved the wholesale replacement of the advisory committee to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) without even consulting the Director. Other stories involved committees on Lead Poisoning, Human Research Protection, Genetic Testing and Workplace Injuries. The last, involved the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health has been regarded with fear and loathing by ultra conservative critics for over 30 years. Bush appointees have often been scientists associated with polluting industries like coal and oil.

Kennedy wrote that, it was not so unusual that the Bush Administration examines candidates for compatibility with its values, but that the practice cuts so deep: "... the current epidemic now invades areas once immune to this kind of manipulation".

A nominee for a committee on Muscular Dystrophy Research is interviewed by a White House Liaison Officer and questioned about her views on Bush Administration policies unrelated to the work of the committee. She is asked if she supports the president's embryonic stem cell policy.

A distinguished professor of psychiatry is questioned by a White House Staffer on "any views that might be embarrassing to the president, " on needle exchange and on whether he voted for George Bush. When he answers no, the staffer asks him "Why didn't you support the president?"

Kennedy writes that the Federal Advisory Committee Act requires that committees be balanced with "...no inappropriately influenced by the appointing authority."

President Bush and his staff have made no secret they adhere to, and strongly support fundamentalist Christian beliefs and organizations which are, with a few exceptions, anti science. That is, with the exception of paleontology and petrology which are useful in discovering and exploiting oil. Coastal Post

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"Better dead than read" suggested by Chip Eastham

"In a letter to an inquiring senator, Assistant Attorney General Daniel Bryant said Americans who borrow or buy books surrender their right of privacy." San Francisco Chronicle

Brownshirt to manage journalists

Is One of Election 2000's GOP Goons Slated to Oversee the Media in Iraq?

A BUZZFLASH READER COMMENTARY,March 17, 2003 by Maureen Farrell

On the heels of Kate Adie's claim that the U.S is threatening to shoot down satellite uplink positions of independent journalists stationed in Iraq (giving credence to her observation that the Pentagon is "entirely hostile to the free spread of information") comes news that:

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Former Bush campaign aide Jim Wilkinson, (forever seared into the American psyche as the spokesman for GOP Miami-based protesters clamoring to stop the Florida ballot re-count during the 2000 election) has been hired as Tommy Frank's top spokesperson at the media center, and will be responsible for overseeing 42 military public affairs officers charged with managing hundreds of international correspondents covering the war.

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Ever the good soldier[veritable brownshirt], (though a civilian, Wilkinson reportedly wears a military desert camouflage uniform to work), Wilkinson is poised to "manage" journalists working at the center, many of whom are currently enjoying Ritz-Carlton accommodations, open bars and free buffets and belly dancing. "It's a first-class war," said Peter Lloyd, correspondent for Australian Broadcasting Corp. ...

http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/03/03/17_goon.html

Al Capone's Foreign Policy

From MSNBC:

The notion is that the United States needs to intimidate countries with its power and assertiveness, always threatening, always denouncing, never showing weakness. Donald Rumsfeld often quotes a line from Al Capone: "You will get more with a kind word and a gun than with a kind word alone."

But should the guiding philosophy of the world’s leading democracy really be the tough talk of a Chicago mobster? In terms of effectiveness, this strategy has been a disaster. It has alienated friends and delighted enemies.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/885222.asp?0cv=KA01

	
Subject: censorship


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University of Montana Professor suspended for in-class comments on Bush 
LAST EDITED ON Apr-01-03 AT 01:08 AM (ET)
"It looks like University of Montana linguistics professor Dennis Holt is out 
of a job. He's suspended with pay after making strong comments in class about 
President Bush and his administration's approach to the war in Iraq. Holt was 
entering his second semester at Montana. We tried to get an official comment 
from UM officials but they did not return our calls. Ironically enough, 
University of Montana professors are preparing for what they call a "teach out" 
this coming Wednesday. Professors say it's their duty to prod students into 
other ways of thinking because they say there's more to the war than what's 
presented in the media."

http://kpax.com/newspage.html

Anti Ignorance Web

Censorship in the News

Censorship in the News, continued

Intellectual Values