Lamar Smith Proposing Bill Dictating Science Publication

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Texas vs. North Carolina Steel Cage Match in Science Stupid

Look out, North Carolina — Texas is not going to let you run away with the title of State Most Shamefully Committed to the Stupid Political Ruination of Science. Despite North Carolina’s impressive recent yearlong streak of stunning science-related legislative psychosis — from legislating against the sea itself to removing scientists from scientific commissions to giving up on such scientific staples as counting – Texas won’t give up without a fight.

Witness congressperson Lamar Smith, who has floated a bill for the U.S. House of Representatives that would require scientific research to pass political litmus tests. Smith gained notoriety a week before the bill when he sent a letter to the NSF demanding explanation of some science that didn’t seem to live up to his exacting standards.

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/plugged-in/2013/05/06/texas-vs-north-carolina-steel-cage-match-in-science-stupid/

[boutons_deux]

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=213295&highlight=lamar

[RandomGuy]

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/plugged-in/2013/05/06/texas-vs-north-carolina-steel-cage-match-in-science-stupid/

I was actually made a little bit nauseous reading all the related links there.

The Republican war on science continues apace.

Why Republicans Embrace Simpletons and how it hurts America (http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=187146&page=5&highlight=Republican+war+on+science)

[DarrinS]

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=213295&highlight=lamar

And Fuzzy even posted in that thread. smh

[FuzzyLumpkins]

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=213295&highlight=lamar

GFY

:)

[FuzzyLumpkins]

And Fuzzy even posted in that thread. smh

The title is ambiguous as to the content. That is why I decided not to post in that one.

And considering that you post every wsj and nyt op-ed you can get your hands on in a new thread that is pretty rich coming from you.

[DarrinS]

The title is ambiguous as to the content. That is why I decided not to post in that one.

And considering that you post every wsj and nyt op-ed you can get your hands on in a new thread that is pretty rich coming from you.


I haven't really been posting many threads lately, but, whatever.

[RandomGuy]

In any event, there’s an obvious practical reason for the opportunity. Smith reached a term limit as Judiciary committee chairman, a limit that was reimposed by the GOP in 2010, and he was forced to step down. Since Congress often chooses committee leaders based on seniority (Smith was the senior most member who hadn’t already served as chairman in the science committee), he was already on a short list of potential candidates, regardless of his science credentials. Those credentials are arguably important for the creation of balanced, informed, and effective policy, but Congress’ hat-sorting traditions aren’t designed to appoint leadership based on subject matter expertise

Sigh. We need scientists... we get hack lawyers.

Smith at least didn't go so far as the other nutbag conservatives in the running for the chairmanship who think there is an international scientist conspiracy around global warming.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

I was actually made a little bit nauseous reading all the related links there.

The Republican war on science continues apace.

Why Republicans Embrace Simpletons and how it hurts America (http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=187146&page=5&highlight=Republican+war+on+science)

Lamar Smith says the "liberal media" is the greatest threat to America.

I say it's he and his ilk trying to conform the truth to their worldview rather than then other way around are. From the way I treat WC it's probably obvious I hate people that do that. The truth no matter how repugnant is still the truth.

After WW2 it became obvious that pie in the sky wishful thinking doesn't work when the opposition doesn't share your same delusions. It highlighted where the rubber meets the road on this issue. Empiricism trumps want.

[RandomGuy]

I haven't really been posting many threads lately, but, whatever.

What do you think, do scientists need Congessional oversight of what should be funded?

[FuzzyLumpkins]

What do you think, do scientists need Congessional oversight of what should be funded?

This is more than that. This bill is akin to the one that NC passed where you cannot use certain words. You cannot say "sea level rise" or reference works that do in official NC documents. This would provide such oversight to the review process from what I understand.

[George Gervin's Afro]

I think science is overrated.


sincerely,

gop

[DarrinS]

What do you think, do scientists need Congessional oversight of what should be funded?


When I need funding for a particular project, I have to make a strong business case for the project. I guess it doesn't work that way with the PUBLIC's money.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

When I need funding for a particular project, I have to make a strong business case for the project. I guess it doesn't work that way with the PUBLIC's money.

And this is why the US is marginalized in physics. The thing that cracks me up about GOP types that idolize Reagan but go with the anti-intellectual schtick is Reagan was very much so for scientific progress. He initiated the Waxahachie Collider project. Clinton and Gramm killed it and that literally was the end of an era. We went from the space program and DARPA to religious inspired luddites.

What is the point of civilization. 100 years from now, people are not going to look back on the past hundred years and give a shit about the stock market or solvency of the US banking industry barring a collapse but they will consider the scientific developments. That is why Hellenic era guys like Herotodus, Archimedes, Pythagorus, etc are remembered and other than the statesman not many analogous works of the Roman period much less the 1000 years or so following the first sacking of Rome.

[DarrinS]

And this is why the US is marginalized in physics. The thing that cracks me up about GOP types that idolize Reagan but go with the anti-intellectual schtick is Reagan was very much so for scientific progress. He initiated the Waxahachie Collider project. Clinton and Gramm killed it and that literally was the end of an era. We went from the space program and DARPA to religious inspired luddites.



Really? No progress since then, huh? Mmmmkay.

-sent from my iPhone

[rjv]

from what i recall the waxahachie SSC was killed off for a myriad of reasons, one of the biggest being its out of control budget. it was costing billions and was no where close to being on schedule. and reagan's interest in science was probably married to his john wayne approach to the cold war. by 1993 particle physics and weaponry took different paths (as did the cold war) and those facts coupled with the runaway budget was all congress needed to pull the plug. the DOE's secrecy on the project didn't help gather much support for the project either (not that particle physics was ever going to enjoy the romantic appeal of space exploration anyway). particle physics is more of an international effort nowadays anyway.

if we have learned anything at all about congress and science it should be that the primary impetus is based on motivations that usually lie outside the domain of intellectual curiosity. it really is more concerned with: 1) what kind of weapon can it make 2) how much can we generate by controlling the patents for the product 3) what does it protect us from potentially ?

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Really? No progress since then, huh? Mmmmkay.

-sent from my iPhone

:lol iPhone used as an example of technological progress.
:lol UTSA engineering degree

miniaturized led pixels, capacitive touchscreens, signal processing techniques, and data transfer protocols were invented long before.

[DarrinS]

:lol iPhone used as an example of technological progress.
:lol UTSA engineering degree

miniaturized led pixels, capacitive touchscreens, signal processing techniques, and data transfer protocols were invented long before.

A stoner making fun of me. I'm wounded, really. :lmao

[FuzzyLumpkins]

from what i recall the waxahachie SSC was killed off for a myriad of reasons, one of the biggest being its out of control budget. it was costing billions and was no where close to being on schedule. and reagan's interest in science was probably married to his john wayne approach to the cold war. by 1993 particle physics and weaponry took different paths (as did the cold war) and those facts coupled with the runaway budget was all congress needed to pull the plug. the DOE's secrecy on the project didn't help gather much support for the project either (not that particle physics was ever going to enjoy the romantic appeal of space exploration anyway). particle physics is more of an international effort nowadays anyway.

if we have learned anything at all about congress and science it should be that the primary impetus is based on motivations that usually lie outside the domain of intellectual curiosity. it really is more concerned with: 1) what kind of weapon can it make 2) how much can we generate by controlling the patents for the product 3) what does it protect us from potentially ?

Those are all fair points however it was still the end of an era especially in terms of GOP politics. We can quibble about motives and I have heard various accounts of what garnered Reagan's interest. It really is besides the point. As you point out the motives have changed and that is what matters at this point.

And if by international effort you mean EU effort then I agree with you. Then again, the EU doesn't have a bilateral political symmetry where one half does everything in its power to co-opt or render unsolvable any public work project.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

A stoner making fun of me. I'm wounded, really. :lmao

That is the best you have? That I smoke pot?

You prove time and again your degree is not worth the paper it's printed on by virtue of your ignorance in engineering. Math, technology, physical processes, system modeling and evaluations etc, you display marked ignorance.

vs.

I smoke pot.

You aren't fit for the work your degree prescribes.

[DarrinS]

That is the best you have? That I smoke pot?

You prove time and again your degree is not worth the paper it's printed on by virtue of your ignorance in engineering. Math, technology, physical processes, system modeling and evaluations etc, you display marked ignorance.

vs.

I smoke pot.

You aren't fit for the work your degree proscribes.


You aren't fit to be an intern at my office. :lmao

[FuzzyLumpkins]

You aren't fit to be an intern at my office. :lmao

I work on medical imaging. You work for a software development firm. I have experience with various microcontrollers but that doesn't sound like it would be applicable. Then again I do know how to write with C# and Java and that is what your hiring required so.....

We can add critical thinking and logic to things you suck at.

[DarrinS]

.

[rjv]

I work on medical imaging. You work for a software development firm. I have experience with various microcontrollers but that doesn't sound like it would be applicable. Then again I do know how to write with C# and Java and that is what your hiring required so.....

We can add critical thinking and logic to things you suck at.

hey-we may be peers... what branch of medical imaging have you been or are you involved with ?

[FuzzyLumpkins]

I got on a project startup with one of my old professors. We are miniaturizing a 3D imaging system for the gastrointestinal tract.

[TeyshaBlue]

Noboby cares 'bout your ass cameras.:p:

[DarrinS]

Noboby cares 'bout your ass cameras.:p:



It takes an asshole to know.... oh, nevermind. :lol

[FuzzyLumpkins]

I see you have had no lesions in your lower intestinal tract. That is a good thing.

[TeyshaBlue]

Tee'd that one up.

[DeadlyDynasty]

I saw him rush for 200 yards against the Colts in the playoffs

[exstatic]

One of the happiest days in my life is when I was redistricted out of this asshat's congressional. I actually refused to answer when people asked my who my congressman was. I was that embarrassed.

[RandomGuy]

Lamar Smith says the "liberal media" is the greatest threat to America.

I say it's he and his ilk trying to conform the truth to their worldview rather than then other way around are. From the way I treat WC it's probably obvious I hate people that do that. The truth no matter how repugnant is still the truth.

After WW2 it became obvious that pie in the sky wishful thinking doesn't work when the opposition doesn't share your same delusions. It highlighted where the rubber meets the road on this issue. Empiricism trumps want.

Eyup.

[RandomGuy]

When I need funding for a particular project, I have to make a strong business case for the project. I guess it doesn't work that way with the PUBLIC's money.

You didn't really asnswer my question, although I can read between the lines enough to get and answer and know you have no idea how science works.

Not surprising.

It is that kind of short-sighted, anti-intellectual bias that drives the Republican War on Science.

[insulting rant redacted]

Why do you not know how science works? Do you not care or actively think that the scientific method is wrong somehow?

[Winehole23]

The new chair of the House of Representatives science committee has drafted a bill that, in effect, would replace peer review at the National Science Foundation (NSF) with a set of funding criteria chosen by Congress. For good measure, it would also set in motion a process to determine whether the same criteria should be adopted by every other federal science agency.


The legislation (http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/HQRA13_001_xml.pdf), being worked up by Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX), represents the latest—and bluntest—attack on NSF by congressional Republicans seeking to halt what they believe is frivolous and wasteful research being funded in the social sciences. Last month, Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) successfully attached language to a 2013 spending bill that prohibits NSF from funding any political science research for the rest of the fiscal year unless its director certifies that it pertains to economic development or national security. Smith's draft bill, called the "High Quality Research Act," would apply similar language to NSF's entire research portfolio across all the disciplines that it supports.

http://news.sciencemag.org/2013/04/u.s.-lawmaker-proposes-new-criteria-choosing-nsf-grants

[boutons_deux]

http://news.sciencemag.org/2013/04/u.s.-lawmaker-proposes-new-criteria-choosing-nsf-grants

red state cretins

[Winehole23]

Lamar Smith knows exactly what he's doing.

[boutons_deux]

The inherited-wealth 78209 cretin DOESN'T KNOW the damage he's doing to US scientific research, in the face of rising advances in scientific research in Europe and Asia.

[boutons_deux]

Lamar Smith knows exactly what he's doing.

which is what? what's his objective? and who's paying for it?

[pgardn]

One of the happiest days in my life is when I was redistricted out of this asshat's congressional. I actually refused to answer when people asked my who my congressman was. I was that embarrassed.

Same, I'm out of the Clown's district. Some of my neighbors asked what I thought about being out kind of casually (big Reps), always with the signs in the yard. I told them happy. They asked why. I said science and walked away before anymore debate.

And Krauthammer of the WP wrote a whole article about why conservatives thought liberals were stupid. Like it could not possibly be that this thought might be mutual.

[boutons_deux]

He's belongs to a cult called Christian SCIENCE.

Their Guy is referred to as Christ The SCIENTIST ! :lol

[Winehole23]

http://science.house.gov/sites/republicans.science.house.gov/files/documents/HHRG-113-SY-20121204-SD001%20.pdf

[Winehole23]

http://www.texastribune.org/2013/12/12/texas-lt-gov-hopefuls-voice-support-creationism/

[boutons_deux]

http://www.texastribune.org/2013/12/12/texas-lt-gov-hopefuls-voice-support-creationism/

TX, esp the Repug/redneck/bubba/rurual/"Christian" TX, is a national embarrassment.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

I really wish chicanos would vote more. The shit white people put up there is a disgrace.

[Wild Cobra]

Have any of you actuallybread the bill?

Both Scienctific[Fiction] American articles lie about the bill text. What are you guys going by?