Sad news to me. When I was 7 or 8, I wrote to NASA to send me everything they had on space, planets, black holes, UFOs, project Blue Book; so you see a FOIA request is not that strange a concept to me. Those were the days, the good old days, when federal agencies were responsive to the public. This was a time when NASA had a public mandate that included studying the earth itself, deleted by Bush political cronies to obscure the impact of global warming and divert costs to future generations. This was a time when John F. Kennedy was sending men to the moon, and he meant it, really! He was no George Bush with a pie in the sky Mars shot which distracts. Instead of vainly sending humans to the surface of Mars at great cost, consider all the good cheap missions which would increase our understanding of the universe; but that would pull back the curtain enough it upsets the right wing no nothings that run the White House.
The US has slipped to seventh on the list of most innovative countries in a report from the World Economic Forum. This should alarm business people as well as environmentalists; and concern everyone else in between.
BBC - The US has lost its position as the world's primary engine of technology innovation, according to a report by the World Economic Forum.
The US is now ranked seventh in the body's league table measuring the impact of technology on the development of nations.
A deterioration of the political and regulatory environment in the US prompted the fall, the report said.
Note the report cites a deterioration of the regulatory environment. Don't read that as 'too much regulation' - it reads to me as not enough guidence and protections to perform the business of innovation successfully.
Countries were judged on technological advancements in general business, the infrastructure available and the extent to which government policy creates a framework necessary for economic development and increased competitiveness.
It's essential that the Dems reverse the science-hostile policies of the Bush Administration.
The US was first in the prior list. My suggestions for getting us back to the top:
- Reinstate NASA's mission statement "to understand and protect our home planet; to explore the universe and search for life; to inspire the next generation of explorers ... as only NASA can." Now more than ever, we need to turn our telescopes on ourselves to understand the forces which drive the planet. The Bush Administration simply wants us in the dark.
- Drop the manned Mars mission in favor of the cost equivalent of 20 robotic probe missions. I think the Mars Rovers proved this point.
- Stem Cells. We've already lost to South Korea and Europe which don't let Church Law dictate what is legal in the public sphere of scientific research.
I'm surprised it's not the business community that's leading the calls for Bush's impeachment. If I sat on a board of directors, I'd be pissed. Since I do sit on the Earth, I'm still pissed; but not quite as well connected.