At least Some Americans know the truth about the Conservative Win

In his article Conservative win not big Canadian lurch to right, John Nichols makes some very valid observations about the state of Canadian politics after the last election.

Very astutely, he advised his readers that although Canada now has a Conservative government, it is a minority and was elected with only 36% of the popular vote, which means that 64% of the country voted for more left-wing parties. If it werent for the flawed "first-past-the-post" system we use

He also points out that of the people who voted Conservative, 54% of them voted strictly for a change, [b]NOT[/b] because they support right-wing policies. Only 41% admitted voting for them solely on their policies. So, 41% of 36% = not quite 15% of all the Canadians who voted (really the only ones who count, the rest obviously don't care!) support Conservative social policies...

Glad to see at least one American is taking notice! :-)

US Judge decides email surveillance without evidence is OK

Using the Patriot Act as their excuse, the Justice Department has convinced an obviously Republican Judge has approved the use of email surveillance of people, even when there is no proof of wrongdoing. I know that the US has been hit with some pretty bad events in the past few years with regards to terrorism, but somehow, I don't believe giving police powers they can abuse without even needing any evidence is what should be permitted in a supposed "free" country.

Benjamin Franklin said it best:

They that would give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.

So much for the land of the free and home of the brave... Maybe more like the land of Big Brother and home of the Cowardly Administration. I don't understand why more Americans aren't fighting against such totalitarian acts.

Bush politburo member at NASA faked credentials

So the little 24-yearold Republican Politburo member who was trying to muffle all the intelligent people at NASA for President Bush was a fake. George C (does C stand for "Caught Lying?") Deutsch was Bush's man at NASA, given a cushy job trying to push a conservative agenda over science and hide the fact Bush's administration has done nothing about climate change and global warming. He received the job after working on the Bush campaign.

Of course, now the truth is out. Turns out, Georgie-boy Deutsch faked his credentials. His resume stated he has a "Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, Class of 2003" from Texas A&M.

From NY Times:

Mr. Deutsch, 24, was offered a job as a writer and editor in NASA's public affairs office in Washington last year after working on President Bush's re-election campaign and inaugural committee, according to his résumé. No one has disputed those parts of the document.

According to his résumé, Mr. Deutsch received a "Bachelor of Arts in journalism, Class of 2003."

Yesterday, officials at Texas A&M said that was not the case.

"George Carlton Deutsch III did attend Texas A&M University but has not completed the requirements for a degree," said an e-mail message from Rita Presley, assistant to the registrar at the university, responding to a query from The Times.

Repeated calls and e-mail messages to Mr. Deutsch on Tuesday were not answered.

Mr. Deutsch's educational record was first challenged on Monday by Nick Anthis, who graduated from Texas A&M last year with a biochemistry degree and has been writing a Web log on science policy, scientificactivist.blogspot.com.

After Mr. Anthis read about the problems at NASA, he said in an interview: "It seemed like political figures had really overstepped the line. I was just going to write some commentary on this when somebody tipped me off that George Deutsch might not have graduated."

He posted a blog entry asserting this after he checked with the university's association of former students. He reported that the association said Mr. Deutsch received no degree.

A copy of Mr. Deutsch's résumé was provided to The Times by someone working in NASA headquarters who, along with many other NASA employees, said Mr. Deutsch played a small but significant role in an intensifying effort at the agency to exert political control over the flow of information to the public.

Such complaints came to the fore starting in late January, when James E. Hansen, the climate scientist, and several midlevel public affairs officers told The Times that political appointees, including Mr. Deutsch, were pressing to limit Dr. Hansen's speaking and interviews on the threats posed by global warming.

Yesterday, Dr. Hansen said that the questions about Mr. Deutsch's credentials were important, but were a distraction from the broader issue of political control of scientific information.

"He's only a bit player," Dr. Hansen said of Mr. Deutsch. " The problem is much broader and much deeper and it goes across agencies. That's what I'm really concerned about."

"On climate, the public has been misinformed and not informed," he said. "The foundation of a democracy is an informed public, which obviously means an honestly informed public. That's the big issue here."

Seems to me, President Bush has been caught with his hand in the cookie jar trying to alter truth and make his warped beliefs that the world is fine sending billions of tons of crap into the atmosphere by burning the oil that made his family and friends rich. Not only did he send in his hatchet man to turn science into spin, but he sent someone who lied about their qualifications for doing such a thing! Oh President Bush, what a tangled web you weave...

NASA Chief Backs Agency Openness

Last week I added an article about a NASA climatologist who was being silenced for his predictions about global warming. I had one ostrich dispute the entire belief the world is getting warmer and several who, like me, agree that those who dispute it are simply hiding from reality.

Today, in a New York Times article NASA chief Michael D. Griffin called for "scientific openness" within NASA, with the following statement:

"It is not the job of public-affairs officers," Dr. Griffin wrote in an e-mail message to the agency's 19,000 employees, "to alter, filter or adjust engineering or scientific material produced by NASA's technical staff."

Within the interview are some interesting clues that show the extent to which the Bush administration is going to stop NASA scientists from talking openly about global warming.