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Unaccustomed as I am to defending the Bush Administration, I do not see anything in the quoted passage or the full article to suggest that information about an actual breakthrough was kept from the public. The issue on stem cells is whether to fund research that could result in a breakthrough in the future. In the other examples cited, such as global warming, there is no scientific evidence that is being kept from the public. It's all there on the Web for anyone who is interested. The issue is how one evaluates the information and draws policy conclusions from it. In these cases, the Administration had reached a conclusion on the issues, and political appointees were expected not to undermine the Administration position in public. Duh! I think it is a valid criticism that, in most of these cases, the Administration position is driven by an "ideological, theological or political agenda", rather than by analysis of the science, and I think they are generally wrong. But I still don't see any breakthrough (or even essential information) being kept from the public. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Peggy Willocks" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Wednesday, July 11, 2007 1:03 PM Subject: The real truth on stem cells >I am politically savvy enough to know that certain things are kept from the > public if they don't go along with administrative wishes. But I never would > have thought such tactics would be used if a scientific breakthrough were to > be found. > > What do you think about this? I'm sure this isn't the first time, nor will > it be the last. > (Quoting from the Washington Post, July 11, 2007) > "Anything that doesn't fit into the political appointees' ideological, > theological or political agenda is often ignored, marginalized or simply > buried," (Former surgeon general Richard Carmona) said. "The problem with > this approach is that in public health, as in a democracy, there is nothing > worse than ignoring science or marginalizing the voice of science for > reasons driven by changing political winds." > > For the full story > http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/10/AR2007071001 > 422.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn