Posted on 12/22/2008 6:20:35 AM PST by PROCON
Accomplished and outspoken, they’re likely to tackle climate change head-on.
Call it the “green team” or the “dream team.” Either way, President-elect Barack Obama’s choices to fill top science and environment-related posts in his new administration represent a remarkable assembly of talent.
With his picks well in hand, Mr. Obama is positioned to reverse what many see as eight years of sluggish action in the US and internationally on global warming. The picks also boost the prospects for wider use and further development of alternative energy sources. And the nominees – particularly those who come directly out of the science community – are expected to be strong advocates for erasing political interference with government research.
Many groups have sent the transition team a list of actions Obama could take to achieve the goals during the first 100 days, most of which could be accomplished by executive order.
“In terms of appointing top scientists to key agency positions, we haven’t seen the caliber of scientists we’re seeing now,” says Joshua Reichert, managing director of the Pew Environment Group. “Probably more important, we haven’t seen such highly respected scientists who also have been outspoken conservation advocates.
(Excerpt) Read more at features.csmonitor.com ...
If O wants to be fair and wants real change, he should get scientists from both sides of the GW issue.
You may forward this on to your big list from #36-
Metmom, I’m surprised you’re confused about what they mean by “science” and “political interference with government research”...
It was obvious to me, in reading this quote, exactly what they were referring to:
EMBRYONIC STEMCELL RESEARCH
(creating embryos in order to kill them for research purposes)
It’s all about abortion and not allowing any value to be assigned to the conceived, unborn human. Embryonic stemcell research, and cloning to do same, removes all human value from the embryo, and by extension, the unborn.
Yes you are. With this level of emotional venom spewed in the name of conservatism, conservatism is screwed. This is not an intellegent and thoughtful analysis of anyting. It sounds like the drunken rant of angry gutshot old men. It is pathetic. What I read nowhere on this thread is rational analysis.
What is very sad is that Obama has picked a far more qualified science team than Bush did. No administration could have been more ineffectual on the scientific front than the Bush administration. It is an embarassment to conservatives actually.
Like politics has been any friend to science to begin with.
OH, on the contrary -
if you’re a “scientist” studying politically correct topics and coming to politically correct conclusions,
there’s BIG grant money involved.
Obama Planning to Scrap Shuttle Replacement, Says NASA [use decades-old military rockets instead..]
I was thinking more along the lines of the Soviet Union and Cambodia, for example.
I forgot the research welfare gravy train.
Too early in the morning.
Neither. -he will soar on the wings of an eagle...it was a rhetorical question, I know.
no, no. He meant exactly that.
Politicians must no longer interfere with these brilliant unelected bureaucrats, as they issue carbon reducing mandates onto us lowly serfs.
It’s for our own protection, ya know.
When you see the phrase “government research,” then understand the issue is federal money. Research has devolved into the pursuit of the mundane, the profane, and the insane, for reason that many in the field have careers and bank accounts tied to the government dole. Competition for federal grants is fierce. If a research department fails to spend funds acquired, it will likely be unsuccessful at increasing its share in the next cycle of largess. Research is about power, or the perception of power… it has never been about science. Science searches for objective truth, in spite of power. The “giants” of the past rightly understood that all truth comes from God:
Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543) Polish astronomer. First mathematical system of planets going around Sun. Attended European universities. 1497 Became Canon in Catholic Church. 1533 Presented his system at Vatican. Pope Clement VII approved, urged Copernicus to publish; also by Catholic Bishop Guise, Cardinal Schonberg, and Protestant Professor George Rheticus. Copernicus never under threat of persecution. Referred to God in his works. Did not see his system in conflict with Bible.
Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1627) Philosopher. Established Scientific Method for discovery of truth, service to country and Church. Rejected atheism: “…a little philosophy inclineth man’s mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth men’s minds about to religion; for while the mind of man looketh upon second causes scattered, it may sometimes rest in them, and go no further; but when it beholdeth the chain of them confederate, and linked together, it must needs fly to Providence and Deity.”
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) Mathematician, Astronomer. Early work on light. Established laws of planetary motion. Came close to Newtonian concept of universal gravity. His idea of force changed astronomy radically. Extremely sincere, pious Lutheran. Works contain writings how space, heavenly bodies represent the Trinity. Suffered no persecution for open avowal of sun-centered system. Allowed to stay in Catholic Graz as a Professor (1595-1600) when other Protestants had been expelled!
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) 1633 Published controversial work on solar system, but showed no proofs of his sun-centered system. His telescope discoveries did not indicate a moving earth, and his sole proof, based on tides, was invalid. He ignored Kepler’s elliptical orbits. After debate with the Pope, Galileo placed the Pope’s arguments in the mouth of simpletons, thus offending his old friend. He was then forbidden to teach his sun-centered system, but he did useful theoretical work on dynamics. Expressly said the Bible cannot err. Saw his system as alternate interpretation of biblical texts.
Rene Descartes (1596-1650) Mathematician, Scientist, Father of modern philosophy. Roman Catholic. Retained deep faith. At 24, sought to gather knowledge in one system of thought. Asked what could be known if all else doubted. Proposed “I think therefore I am.” Sought to establish God’s existence. Only if God exists and would not want us deceived by experiences, can we trust senses and logical thought processes. Wanted his God centered philosophy adopted as standard Roman Catholic teaching. (Rene Descartes and Francis Bacon are regarded as key figures in development of scientific methodology. Both men had systems in which God was important, and both were more devout than the average for their era.)
Isaac Newton (1642-1727) Genius, innovator in Optics, Mechanics, Mathematics, Chemistry. Saw mathematics, numbers central in all. Devoutly religious. Considerable work in biblical numerology. Aspects of beliefs not orthodox, but thought theology very important. In his system, God essential to nature, absoluteness of space. From Principia: “The most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion on an intelligent and powerful Being.”
Robert Boyle (1791-1867) Chemist. Founder, key member of Royal Society. Encyclopedia Britannica: “His will endowed lectures ‘for proving the Christian religion against notorious infidels.’ Devout Protestant. Promoted Christian religion, giving money to translate, publish New Testament into Irish, Turkish. In 1690, developed theological views in The Christian Virtuoso, to show study of nature a central religious duty.” Wrote against atheists. More devoutly Christian than average in his era.
Michael Faraday (1791-1867) Son of blacksmith, and one of greatest scientists of the 19th century. Work on electricity, magnetism revolutionized physics, and led to computers, telephone lines, etc. Faraday was a devout Christian and member of Sandemanians, which significantly influenced and strongly affected the way in which he approached and interpreted nature. Originating from Presbyterians, the Sandemanians rejected idea of state churches, and tried to go back to New Testament Christianity.
Gregor Mendel (1822-1884) Abbot. Laid mathematical foundation of genetics in 1856 (3 years before Darwin published Origin of Species). Unknown until 1900, when botanists, rediscovered him. 1860’s notable for X-Clubs, dedicated to lessen religious influence, propagate image of conflict between science and religion. Darwin’s cousin, geneticist Francis Galton, a proponent of eugenics, wrote how the “priestly mind” not conducive to science, while a monk made breakthroughs in genetics.
Lord William Thomson Kelvin (1824-1907) Physicist. More religious than average for era. Argued key issue in the interpretation of Second Law of Thermodynamics was explanation of irreversible processes. Noted if entropy always increased, the universe would reach state of uniform temperature and maximum entropy, from which it would not be possible to extract any work: “Heat Death of the Universe.” Proposed (with Rankine) thermo dynamical theory, based on primacy of energy concept, on which he believed all physics should be based. Stated the two laws of thermodynamics expressed indestructibility and dissipation of energy. Tried to demonstrate invalidity of equipartition theorem. Calculated age of Earth from its cooling rate; concluded that it was too short to fit Lyell’s theory of gradual geological change, or Darwin’s theory of the evolution of animals though natural selection. Used field concept to explain electromagnetic interactions. Speculated electromagnetic forces propagated as linear and rotational strains in elastic solid, producing “vortex atoms” which generated the field. Proposed these atoms consisted of tiny knotted strings, and type of knot determined type of atom. This led Tait to study properties of knots. Kelvin’s theory said ether behaved like an elastic solid when light waves propagated through it. Equated ether with the cellular structure of minute gyrostats. With Tait, Kelvin published Treatise on Natural Philosophy (1867), important for establishing energy within the structure of the theory of mechanics. (Later republished under title Principles of Mechanics and Dynamics by Dover Publications).
Sir George Gabriel Stokes (1819-1903) British Mathematician and Physicist. Established the science of hydrodynamics and the laws of viscosity. Possessed a deep Christian faith in era when many nominal, apathetic, or anti-Christian.
James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) Possessed a deep Christian faith in era when many nominal, apathetic, or anti-Christian. Encyclopedia Britannica: “Maxwell regarded as scientist of 19th century who had greatest influence on 20th century physics; ranked with Newton, Einstein for fundamental contributions.” Creationist, estimated Earth 20-100M yrs, upper limit 500M.
Max Planck (1858-1947) Physicist. Quantum Theory. Revolutionized understanding of atomic, sub-atomic worlds. 1937 lecture “Religion and Naturwissenschaft” expressed view God everywhere present: “holiness of the unintelligible Godhead conveyed by holiness of symbols.” Atheists attach too much importance to symbols. Believed in almighty, all-knowing, beneficent God; that Science, religion wage “tireless battle against skepticism, dogmatism… against unbelief, superstition” with goal “toward God!”
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) Physicist. Britannica: “Firmly denying atheism, expressed belief in ‘Spinoza’s God who reveals himself in the harmony of what exists.’ Said to physicist “I want to know how God created this world, I am not interested in this or that phenomenon, in the spectrum of this or that element. I want to know His thoughts, the rest are details.” On Uncertainty Principle “God does not play dice.” On religion “Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.”
The above listed were men of faith, vision and conviction. Far removed from the money craving whores whom claim themselves “scientists” today, the “giants” of the past, on whose shoulders we stand, did not pervert science with a defiant moral relativism, for they sought the Truth of God… that Truth which is revealed in all His Creation. Today, we have prostitutes posing as men of science, men who hold disdain for divine truth, and a blind ambition for temporal power. So it is no surprise that such men are drawn to Barak Obama… We are drawn to that which corrupts us.
Barak Obama is a sock puppet for the “unseen” power brokers, the ego maniacs and their money changers, who have long worked their plans against individual liberty (or, more correctly, its illusion), in favor of the new paradigm... global collectivism. Obama is a magnet for those individuals consumed with envy and self-interest. He holds a natural appeal to those who see their share of the manna, and scheme how they may increase its size. Obama is a tool for the unseen powers in their ascent up the pyramid, to the all seeing eye of Horus.
Reference the meaning of symbols: http://www.crossroad.to/Books/symbols1.html
Lysenko will be excellent. Crop yields will increase forever.
A useless science advisor. A secretary of energy [DOE is mostly an R&D outfit for those who don’t know] who was the epitome of a do nothing Bush appointee. We agreed to dump zillions into ITER, as a sop to the French and Japanese in return for support on Iraq [sic], even though technically it is a bad idea. Bush adopted a reasonable policy on expanding nuclear energy but let his f-all useless minions drive it into the dirt because he was to far above the fray to kick some tail and fire folks who were unwilling to execute his programs. His science appointees have been about as useless and inept as his FEMA appointee in Katrina who didn’t even know what was on the news on CNN.
PS On the global warming front, the approach was entirely ideological, to the point that a lot of the nonsense could have been put to rest had Bush insisted that we fund high quality research to try to understand whether it is an issue or not. Instead his administration fueled the flames by suppressing research activities as much as possible.
Thanks for the info. and BTW, Merry Christmas!
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