The NYT has an article today on the surgeon general's testimony about
administration interference in science:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/11/washington/11surgeon.html?_r=1
&oref=slogin&ref=health&pagewanted=all
or
http://tinyurl.com/yqywak
(quote)
The administration, Dr. Carmona said, would not allow him to speak or
issue reports about stem cells, emergency contraception, sex education,
or prison, mental and global health issues. Top officials delayed for
years and tried to “water down” a landmark report on secondhand smoke, he
said. Released last year, the report concluded that even brief exposure
to cigarette smoke could cause immediate harm.
Dr. Carmona said he was ordered to mention President Bush three times on
every page of his speeches. He also said he was asked to make speeches to
support Republican political candidates and to attend political
briefings.
And administration officials even discouraged him from attending the
Special Olympics because, he said, of that charitable organization’s
longtime ties to a “prominent family” that he refused to name.
“I was specifically told by a senior person, ‘Why would you want to help
those people?’ ” Dr. Carmona said.
(end quote)
The worst part is that *nobody* is surprised.
Chak
--
How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young,
compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant
of the weak and strong, because someday in your life you will have been
all of these.
--George Washington Carver
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