Trump Administration Orders Communications Blackout For US Scientists

originally posted by: gernblan
They're not telling the reason why this is actually happening. It's because the Democrats are stalling on most of his appointments so he's basically not letting them do any more damage in the meanwhile.

Bull. The Republicans have the majority in the Senate AND Congress.

Are you saying Trump doesn't have full support from his party?


???

originally posted by: Grimpachi
It looks like Trump is creating a Ministry of Truth where his administration will only allow scientific discoveries that agree with his agenda to be disseminated to the public.

Uh huh. It's happened before and it will happen again. Take CWD...

CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE (CWD): A Growing Threat

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a serious issue affecting …wild deer, elk and moose populations. This fatal deer version of “mad cow disease” emerged in a research facility in Colorado in the 1960s. Over the next decades, schemes to exploit ‘captive wildlife’ for profit were legalized. Deer and elk—and their diseases—were transported across the continent. CWD eventually spread from captive herds in game farms to wild populations.

NO ACCIDENT

…it turns out that domesticating animals has created most of the infectious diseases we suffer.

…Every factor contributing to this disease-creation, or “pathogenesis,” is getting worse. Most astonishing…it’s no accident. Politicians continue to promote and even subsidize risky practices long after science has shown that domestication can be a disease factory. And germs evolve faster than any animal—including people.

The feature length documentary No Accident will investigate the causes and the carnage of lethal epidemics, and it chronicles one of today’s most insidious examples—right in the heart of North America.

CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE (CWD)
“If this brain-wasting disease jumps to humans, as mad cow did, the implications are unthinkable. Unlike mad cow, CWD is highly contagious. With the patient counsel of some of the foremost experts in the world, No Accident pieces together the story of the greatest policy failure the wildlife conservation movement has ever seen.”

NOTE:

More than 200 biologists and other researchers in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service confirm that they have been directed to alter their official scientific findings, says a survey released last week. The scientists say business interests apply political pressure to reverse scientific conclusions that might interfere with profits, including timber, grazing, development and energy companies. "The pressure to alter scientific reports for political reasons has become pervasive at Fish and Wildlife offices around the country," says Lexi Shultz of the Union of Concerned Scientists. According to critics, the Bush administration routinely alters science to suit political objectives.

edit on 25/1/17 by soficrow because: format

edit on 25/1/17 by soficrow because: oops

edit on 25/1/17 by soficrow because: to add NOTE

Scientists will still be on ATS.

They will still be on Reddit.

They will still be on 4chan, Youtube, chats, forums, comment sections, etc.

They will also publish and review papers, as per their professions.

They will no longer be able to use social media to push an agenda. How is this a bad thing?

a reply to: BlueAjah

Ah. Alternate facts.

a reply to: ventian

(Scientists) will no longer be able to use social media to push an agenda. How is this a bad thing?

The gag orders go MUCH further than a social media ban, as they have in the past.

and the ramifications can be far-reaching. Eg, See CWD post above.

Talk about misrepresenting what happened. It's not a blackout of scientists, it's telling government agencies to not send anything out without it being reviewed for now, until the new administrations policies are in place.

Spin at it's worst for purely partisan reasons. I foresee both parties loosing lots of members as they join we Independents. We tend to research and discard the purely political for crap headlines and biased spin to find out what truly happened.

originally posted by: soficrow
a reply to: BlueAjah

originally posted by: BlueAjah
In the daily press briefing today, Spicer said that this order did NOT come from Trump or the White House.

He said he understands that the order came from within their own departments, and that they were requesting people to follow existing policies, because people were violating them.

Maybe it really is just a survival strategy. But then again, we already know Spicer lies through his teeth. And clearly feels pretty foolish about it.

POST-TRUTH, ALT-FACTS. Remember?

That much is true, he is embarrassed, I don't doubt that. Not sure even if he lies so much as not making the story critique correct. You can't do that, the job is there to do the bidding of the admin, each time thus far the buck passed to an unknown entity, the first time ultimately, not arguably back to Trump, this time a faceless department, "My understanding is" Those press secretary guys don't have the priviledge for rhetoric any more, or if they ever did.
However it's clear that the press, partisan as it usually is, is closing ranks against the same sort of crap that some of them, not all, used to dole out as daily fare, against something far worse.

One of the biggest threats to America is how many are completely scientifically illeterate and can't read a paper to asses bad data (hence why people think biased reports from 'scientists' paid by the oil industry is somehow proof global warming is hoax.

This is very dangerous move - Trump is openly anti-science, as are many in his cabine. He's deleting billions of US dollars and centuries of research made by the best scientists in the worlds at and with his messiah complex, thinks any old thing he makes up is 'true science' but won't let people expose the criminally incompetent flaws - banning scientists from free speech and presenting valid scientific data to the public or calling out Trumps constant lies and ignorance about science not only means he's mimicking a dictator but risks sending the US back a a few hundred years. If he continues, expect a mass exodous/brain drain from scientists who refuse to be gagged just so Trump can push completely unfounded and disproven 'trump science'. Don't see how he'll maintain the US position of super power when all the respected ones move to Europe and cripple American innovation, technology and the like - which will sink any tertiarry economy.

Luckily some bodies tried to place gagging orders on have has the sense to open other accounts to expose how clueless and dangerous he is --- twitter.com... I hope for the US and the worlds sake he grows up and admitts the consensus of millions of highly respected scientists and individual studies is far, but his record so far shows he has no interest in facts and is instead more concerned about silencing any facts/opinions/experts who can easilly debunk his cabinet (who was the guy who claimed there's no evidence cigarettes cause any harm the other day - but refused to provide any evidence (as there is none). Then you rejoin the modern world instead of heading to the stone age and causing even worse comprehension of sciece before the innevitable major crises occur.


Also I urge any US types who opose dictatorol approaches, are scientists or enjoy the luxury of basic sanitation and safe drinking water, or care about their kids and future generations chances of survival to attend the science march on washington - www.scientistsmarchonwashington.com...

a reply to: soficrow

i'm an environmental scientist in local government and my employer has strict social media guidelines. They essentially boil down to "don't embarrass us" and "don't represent us". If I want to talk to my citizens I've got to go through the proper chain of command and I take that opportunity as much as I can. Violating this policy is the one sure-fire way of jeopardizing my otherwise rock-solid job security.

If these departments weren't operating under a similar policy they should have been. The right data presented the wrong way can have severe repercussions, just as the wrong data presented the right way can.

Trump is making Putin proud with KGB crap. He will have to change his name to Trumpski.

He may be even worse than Bush by the time he's through.

originally posted by: bastion

Also I urge any US types who opose dictatorol approaches, are scientists or enjoy the luxury of basic sanitation and safe drinking water, or care about their kids and future generations chances of survival to attend the science march on washington - www.scientistsmarchonwashington.com...

S& Thanks.

Scientists' March on Washington

…We are working to schedule a March for Science on DC and across the United States. We have not settled on a date yet but will do so as quickly as possible and announce it here.

…An American government that ignores science to pursue ideological agendas endangers the world.

Twitter: @ScienceMarchDC
Facebook: www.facebook.com...
Reddit: /r/scientistsmarch
Get Email Updates
To help: goo.gl...
Contact: [email protected]

a reply to: netwarrior

I agree. My problem is that the gag orders are not restricted to casual social media.

We are not talking about respected scientists irresponsibly shooting their mouths off on Facebook! ...But what about sites where scientists dialogue with one another and critique each others' papers, ideas and work? Virtually all the journals have commentary sections that can be considered "public."

originally posted by: Blaine91555
Talk about misrepresenting what happened. It's not a blackout of scientists, it's telling government agencies to not send anything out without it being reviewed for now, until the new administrations policies are in place.

Uh huh. Sure.

Spin at it's worst for purely partisan reasons.

Tsk. Ad Hominem fallacy.

I have been advocating for Open Access to scientific information for the past 16-odd years on ATS. My motives have dick-all to do with partisanship.

a reply to: soficrow


That was directed at the articles with the bad headlines, not you?

originally posted by: Blaine91555
a reply to: soficrow


That was directed at the articles with the bad headlines, not you?

Oh. Sorry. But ...ALL of them? Including Fortune and Bloomberg?

a reply to: soficrow

Trump appears to be muzzling scientists just like Canada did

'It's Day 4 and It's Already Happening': Rachel Maddow Sounds the Alarm on Trump's Science Gag Order

Trump silences government scientists with gag orders

Make America Gagged Again

and..........

It's just an attempt to get the flow of information under control by routing it through a review process, so they know what is going out to the public under the auspices of the government. It's not an attempt to silence science.

a reply to: Blaine91555

Check this out. It only addresses the gags on the EPA but I kinda focused on this bit:

William K. Reilly, who was EPA administrator under Republican President George H.W. Bush, said what seems to be happening with science at the agency is “going down a very dark road.”

The EPA's 14-page scientific integrity document, enacted during the Obama administration, describes how scientific studies were to be conducted and reviewed in the agency. It said scientific studies should eventually be communicated to the public, the media and Congress "uncompromised by political or other interference."

The scientific integrity document expressly "prohibits managers and other Agency leadership from intimidating or coercing scientists to alter scientific data, findings or professional opinions or inappropriately influencing scientific advisory boards." It provides ways for employees who know the science to disagree with scientific reports and policies and offers them some whistleblower protection.

Thanks to Profusion for the link, on this OP Trump administration: EPA studies, data must undergo political review before release.

Also note: The 'gagging scientists' road taken by the Bush administration was already pretty dark!

a reply to: Blaine91555

It's just an attempt to get the flow of information under control by routing it through a review process, so they know what is going out to the public under the auspices of the government. It's not an attempt to silence science.

You must be under 30.

I fondly remember my own youthful naivete.

Sweet.

Ooops. Looks like I accidentally deleted my OP quote from the Associated Press and Bloomberg. So here it is.

AP/Bloomberg: Trump Admin Orders EPA Contract Freeze And Media Blackout

…”This decision could have damaging implications… from delaying testing for lead in schools to restricting efforts to keep drinking water clean to holding up much-needed funding to revitalize toxic brownfield sites,” Schumer said.

The executive director for the advocacy group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, Jeff Ruch, said the orders go beyond what has occurred in prior presidential transitions.

“We're watching the dark cloud of Mordor extend over federal service,” Ruch said Tuesday, referring to the evil kingdom in the epic fantasy "The Lord of the Rings."

…In a test of what the new administration will tolerate, the official Twitter account of the Badlands National Park published a series of posts Tuesday accurately quoting climate science data that included the current record-setting high concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The tweets were soon deleted.

So. Problem? What problem?

originally posted by: Rosinitiate
There should be a black out on science dissemination until all lobbyists are corralled and hanged.

Any scientist who modifies the data on behalf of lobbyists should be corralled and hung.

Then perhaps a real discussion on truth can take place. I doubt that's what he has in mind however.

Horrifying!!

But I like it!!