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posted by martyb on Tuesday February 21 2017, @12:48PM   Printer-friendly
from the not-ignoring-ignorance dept.

From the I've-heard-enough-and-won't-take-it-anymore department, http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-39024648

The BBC reports that former Congressman Rush Holt, now part of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), is the spokesman for a movement "standing up for science".

His remarks reflect growing concern among researchers that science is disregarded by President Trump.

Scientists across the US plan to march in DC on 22 April.

[...] "To see young scientists, older scientists, the general public speaking up for the idea of science. We are going to work with our members and affiliated organisations to see that this march for science is a success."

Mr Holt made his comments at the AAAS annual meting in Boston as President Trump appointed a fierce critic of the Environmental Protection Agency as its head. Scott Pruitt has spent years fighting the role and reach of the EPA.


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  • (Score: 2) by VLM on Tuesday February 21 2017, @09:10PM

    by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday February 21 2017, @09:10PM (#469882)

    By analogy the dude we're discussing has a PHD and its quite legit to call him "doctor".

    Now if he parrots D party line politics while under cover of academic authority and achievement, well OK whatever.

    Lets try an experiment and put the good doctor in a labcoat (I don't think theoretical physicists wear lab coats, but whatever) and give him a stethoscope and have him make a commercial for tobacco companies explaining how smoking is really healthy for people and he's a doctor so he should know.

    I think people would rightly get wound up about that, as part of the reason we give people like that status and authority and titles of nobility (the degree granting system) and enormous amounts of taxpayer support is we trust them not to mislead us.

    And with respect to quantum computing, the dude we're talking about does a hell of a great job upholding that moral and ethical deal. But when he starts pimping obsolete political views, or making misleading TV commercials about the health benefits of smoking, well, thats kinda breaking the deal.

    AK, if I read him right, is promoting the idea that if the dude was just a random schlub on the internet it wouldn't matter. But he's not. He's a taxpayer supported, grant of nobility holding, authority figure representing "science". So that's a problem.

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