Breaking News: Obama and Science & Technology
In this campaign, both the Dems and the GOP have been disappointingly willing to treat matters associated with religious doctrine of higher importance than those associated with science.
Sciencedebate 2008 tried to rectify that during the primary season but Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John McCain turned down the opportunity to address science concerns as part of the debates. (This should tell you something disturbing about our country -- particularly when these questions naturally overlap the general din of "health care" and "alternative energy".)
Sciencedebate 2008 is a concerned citizens initiative and is cosponsored by the National Academy of Science, National Academy of Engineering, AAAS, and other major US Organizations. It's petition has been co-signed by a tremendous number of institutions and individuals representing the best of American Science and Technology.
Obama has finally answered the 14 questions posed, McCain is expected to do as as well. From the press release:
Please recommend this post as Sciencedebate is the premier science/technology thrust in this campaign and needs as much exposure as it can get.
Sciencedebate 2008 tried to rectify that during the primary season but Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John McCain turned down the opportunity to address science concerns as part of the debates. (This should tell you something disturbing about our country -- particularly when these questions naturally overlap the general din of "health care" and "alternative energy".)
Sciencedebate 2008 is a concerned citizens initiative and is cosponsored by the National Academy of Science, National Academy of Engineering, AAAS, and other major US Organizations. It's petition has been co-signed by a tremendous number of institutions and individuals representing the best of American Science and Technology.
Obama has finally answered the 14 questions posed, McCain is expected to do as as well. From the press release:
The top 14 questions address energy policy, national security, economics in a science-driven global economy, climate change, education, health care, ocean health, biosecurity, clean water, space, stem cells, scientific integrity, genetics, and research.I strongly recommend that if you want to elevate science in policy decisions and increase the value scientific and critical thought in American society to visit the site.
The 14 questions were developed from over 3,400 questions submitted by more than 38,000 signers of the ScienceDebate2008 initiative. The questionnaire is a joint effort led by ScienceDebate2008, with Scientists and Engineers for America, AAAS, the National Academies, the Council on Competitiveness, and several other organizations, together representing over 125 million voters.
Please recommend this post as Sciencedebate is the premier science/technology thrust in this campaign and needs as much exposure as it can get.
Advertisement
McCain will wait until after Obama has answered so he can pick apart his answers rather than offering up any of his own.
I wonder how he'll tie being a POW into the anwers...
August 30, 2008 6:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't think so. I think that he, like Obama, will wait until after the national convention to release the answers.
August 30, 2008 6:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
I didn't read every single answer to the questions (really, the ones that interested me), but what I did read was so on-target, I'm left a little speechless. Have we ever had a President so committed to a robust scientific community? To expanding the exploration of science in our society? Not to mention the commitment to transparency and commitment to not be swayed by ideology.
Thanks, CT. You just made my day.
August 30, 2008 8:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, we did. Long time ago. Kennedy. He was the guy who said we'd make it to the moon before the end of the decade. We made it.
August 31, 2008 4:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
History doesn't bear you out.
JFK knew that the moon was pure politics and he had little interest in science beyond getting there. He specifically told Jack Webb (Chief Admin for NASA) in 1963 that NASA could expect no budgets for broader science goals.
I highly recommend your reading THE MAN WHO RAN THE MOON by Bizony for a scholarly biography on Jack Webb (which becomes part and parcel with a history of the politics at NASA in the 60's). Get it at
http://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Ran-Moon-History/dp/1560257512
August 31, 2008 12:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Governor Palin responds to the science community on global warming and polar bear endangerment:
http://gov.state.ak.us/archive-32835.html
That is: ignore your own scientists when they give you a report, by telling the public that there are other scientists, unmentioned, elsewhere, unspecified, that might come to different conclusions. Therefore the science is unsettled, therefore do nothing.
This is the republican approach to the relevance of science to public policy. Which is to say, relevant when it supports commercial interests, irrelevant when it does not.
Recommend this thread.
August 30, 2008 9:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is the best argument I have ever heard of that stops and global warming deniers in their tracks. Want to talk about exhaustive research to debunk absolutely any argument the deniers can come up with? This high school science teacher has the straight scoop.
Check this out and foward
How it all ends (or we are in the test tube)
August 31, 2008 12:13 AM | Reply | Permalink
Holy crap, that is about the most brain dead statement I have seen yet on climate change. Polar bears are dying at a steady clip and she can release a statement like that? Amazing and not in a good way.
August 31, 2008 10:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
Highly recommended. It will be so nice to have an administration committed to moving us forward again, rather than one committed to a pre-Galilean worldview.
August 30, 2008 9:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
If only one would have any truck with the general public by calling it what it is.
August 31, 2008 3:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good find.
Thanks.
August 30, 2008 9:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
I would also encourage you to go to the Research!America site to see the candidates' responses to questions about science and health.
http://www.yourcandidatesyourhealth.org/presidential.php
McCain's lack of response is disturbing. Also FYI, the Republican platform just released a plank that would outlaw all embryonic stem cell research, whether publicly or privately funded. So, if a scientist relying on public or private funds uses those stem cells in his research on Alzheimer's disease, cancer, diabetes, stroke, etc..., he would be imprisoned and fined a huge amount of money. Don't believe the bunk about adult stem cells being just as good. They're not. They elicit a massive host-response reaction and can't be used in therapy.
Obama has some excellent scientists advising him in the life and physical sciences. I don't think McCain gives a shit about science. Really, I don't. And then he picks a VP who doesn't believe in evolution. I could scream but I'm tired of screaming.
August 30, 2008 9:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is very true. ;-)
August 30, 2008 10:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
I hope you know first hand! That would be a good thing. I know a few of them.
August 30, 2008 11:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
I used to work for Ken Wilber a man I consider one of the father's of Integral Theory. One of the first things I recognized in Senator Obama when I first saw him that made me want him to be our president was his capacity for integral thinking. He is able to include multiple perspectives, paradoxes,etc. I have observed that he is highly interested in surrounding himself with great minds and diverse opinions. He is a more evolved, more aware leader. This is great news for our country and for the world.
August 31, 2008 1:34 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you, Clearthinker. This is a goldmine of information. Obama's responses once again demonstrate he lives in a world of higher order thinking.
It became obvious to me once I emerged from a media-driven funk mid-week that the only way for Obama (and the country) to win this election is by contacting voters -- in person. Sending $20.08 to the campaign when I'm able isn't enough.
Although, not a leader by nature, I went to Obama campaign headquarters yesterday and told them I'm ready to knock on doors. They're preparing a list of people who might be interested in doing the same for me to contact during the week. We will begin our odyssey next Saturday morning.
Surprisingly, headquarters had only one side-by-side comparison sheet of McCain and Obama positions. This one addressed women's issues. The better informed we are when we knock on doors, the more persuasive we'll be. If our contacts are on the fence, we have to be able to present both sides in such a way as to facilitate critical thinking that leads them to make a choice in their best interest. An in your face approach won't work. It has to be reasoned to stick.
What I'm trying to do now is create side-by-sides on issues of peak interest to the demographic we plan to contact. The information you led us to, Clearthinker, will be very helpful. In the meantime, if anyone knows a source for comparisons I can print out, please reply. Thanks!
August 31, 2008 9:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
August 31, 2008 9:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
Would you be willing to post your side-by-side when it's ready? I'd like to see it!
August 31, 2008 10:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
KateO, glad to! In the meantime, a commenter on Kos provided a link with a side-by-side I'm using as a template.
Obama Materials
August 31, 2008 11:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you! Very helpful.
August 31, 2008 11:30 AM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry, I erred on the link somewhere.
Obama Materials
August 31, 2008 11:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
'commended.
I signed this petition a while back, and I'm glad that it finially got some traction.
From what I see here, Obama will make great decisions regarding federal-level oversight. He can identify the major issues and the different sides to each issue, which is far and away more than what we can expect from McCain or Bush.
August 31, 2008 12:39 PM | Reply | Permalink