Consider this a bonus Quote of the Week, but since it’s not climate/science/weather related I didn’t give it top billing for QOTW this week. That honor went to a study from the Max Planck Institute.
You are probably thinking though that I’m going to write about something related to satellite sensing or NASA GISS. Maybe with Jim Hansen or Gavin Schmidt as topics? No, there’s even more FAIL than those two can muster. It’s about their boss.
h/t to a zillion people who wrote in, but borrowing a bit from Russ Steele at NCWatch:
Charles Bolden, head of NASA, tells Al Jazeera in a video that:
…the “foremost” task President Obama has given him is “to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with predominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science, math, and engineering.”
Thus, NASA’s primary mission is no longer to enhance American science and engineering or to explore space, but to boost the self-esteem of “predominantly Muslim nations.”
I can think of a few satirical images I could create to illustrate this folly, but they’d probably start a Jyllands-Posten style jihad.
Exploring space didn’t even make the top three things Obama wants Bolden to accomplish. The other two are:
…”re-inspire children to want to get into science and math” and “expand our international relationships,”
See the video below if you find this quote unbelievable.
chip says:
July 6, 2010 at 4:38 pm
“Therefore, there is long game value in pointing out very clearly that when we in the european judeo-christian part of the world were doing the Dark Ages, the Islamic world was doing the cutting edge scientific thought, the astronomy, the literature, the architecture, music and all sorts of great works, and that a lot of the science we in the first world are doing today stands on the shoulders of work done by the great Islamic scholars and of the middle ages.”
There were scientists in the Middle East who did great work DESPITE religion, not because of it. The muslim rulers today are the inheritors of an ideology that destroyed science, so please, don’t conflate scientific achievement with anything written in the Koran.
The head of NASA can appeal to children all over the world if he wishes, but to appeal to the “Muslim world” as if the religion has anything to contribute to science is idiocy.
Absolutely agree!
Robert of Ottawa says:
July 6, 2010 at 4:42 pm
Mohammad Al Wright and his brother Mohammad ibn Wright invented flight. A capacity later developed by Mohammad Al Boeing of course; and who could forget the M26 Flying Fortress?
And of course you’ve been talking to Obama bin Token Lotsa Weed, right?
Charles Bolden, head of NASA, tells Al Jazeera in a video that:
Charles Bolden, head of NASA, tells Al Jazeera in a video that:
…the “foremost” task President Obama has given him is “to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with predominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science, math, and engineering.”
What’s more, it had nothing to do with Muhommadism or any other religion. So why make the attribution? It is muddled thinking.
I said nothing of numerals at all, and what revisionism are you referring to, or have you mistaken me for someone else?
Boldren is a retired Air Force two-star.
Generals come in two flavors, they say, the fighters like Patton and Schwarzkopf, and the
sycophantspoliticians like Colin Powell and Obama’s entire current Joint Chiefs of Staff.I guess we now know which flavor Boldren is.
The “arabic numerals” we use today are nothing like the ones you’ll find in Arabic countries. You might recognize the 1 and the 9, but their zero looks like a decimal point, and their five looks like our zero. If you see a 7, it’s really their six.
The muslims did carry the scientific torch for us during the Dark Ages, but Western culture has carried it since. There are plenty of scientists in India and Pakistan who happen to be muslim, but the stricter muslim societies don’t care much for non-koranic-compliant research. Yes, I know, bigoted, racist, ignorant, prejudiced, etc.
I’m about a fifth of the way through Atlas Shrugged. It is purely uncanny the way Ayn Rand has described Obama’s America, half a century distant from her. I hope the novel has a happy ending.
April E. Coggins Said:
“Spartacus: Since you admit to not being an American, let me help you. NASA is an acronym for National Aeronautical and Space Agency. It is funded by American taxpayers for the purpose of American space exploration. It is not for purpose of elevating the self-esteem of a particular religion or other countries because they are predominantly Muslim.”
I appreciate your explanation but I’ll try not consider that you think I’m dummy because I’m not an American, at the point of not knowing what NASA acronym means. Now your explanation, thought its true, its a rather naive. NASA largely surpassed the frontiers of the USA and largely benefits from the investigation results from Investigators from other countries. Look for the sources of global temp data. Do you think that all world thermometers have been installed by americans payed by american taxpayers and with american workers?!!! After all, echoes from the NASA alarmism on climate change are not limited to USA frontiers and that matters to me. American tax payers are surely the main funding resource to NASA but that’s far from being the only source of NASA profiting (and I include here financial and scientifically profiting). I have many ties to NASA in common projects (and common funding) that largely reject your narrow view. That does not mean that I agree with all they say. After all I’ve also made into Jim Prall’s list of climate scientists, as a skeptic with publications about climate, and I was surprised to be ranked very well to what I was expecting 😉
“And this whole “three things Obama charged me to do” are obviously not the only three things given him to do, they are obviously the three talking points this guy wants to bring to this particular audience. ”
No, he said this was the foremost task that Obama had given him. Clearly, it can’t be the foremost task, but it’s also clear that Obama has declared this a responsibility for NASA, which is painfully ridiculous. And let’s not forget what a famous person said recently:
“Don’t tell me words don’t matter.”
What you see before you is the result of all that has gone before. Every culture, religion, political system, tribe, etc. throughout history has contributed to both human advancement and to human misery.
All have practiced genocide, slavery, torture, etc. to some degree. All have practiced compassion and high morality. Often concurrently.
We all survive and die in the same sewer.
Curiousgeorge,
Your quote, “We all survive and die in the same sewer,” reminded me of Oscar Wilde’s famous quote:
“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
Muphry’s Law strikes. Boldren was a Marine two-star.
Funny, with the exception of dead Congressman Murtha, you don’t expect Marines to be of the sell-out variety. Maybe that’s just marketing. Sad in any event.
Alexander Feht says:
July 6, 2010 at 4:48 pm
,i>I am not surprised. I am not even appalled. This kind of evil nonsense coming from Washington is to be expected: we let loose this evil, we asked for it.
Our welfare-state civilization is obviously flawed in its very foundation. Perhaps, for any positive change to take place, the surreal, Kafkaesque, self-loathing world of the modern “progressive thinking” must run it course, and collapse under its own weight.
Aliens won’t help, we must be our own enemies. Think of it as of an evolution in action.
Alexander,
WE –the American People– didn’t let lose anything.
Rather, it was the cadre of multinational industrialists and bankers who’ve overtaken us in our own land, who’ve done the deed.
While the American People were asleep, their government was stolen from them.
The results are those of which you speak.
Spartacus says: “Sorry .. I can’t find anything wrong with this phrase…”
Its not the English, Spartacus. Its the fact that the “foremost task” of NASA is supposed to be Aeronautics and Space Exploration, not helping Muslims “to feel good about their historic contribution to science, math, and engineering.”
Besides this Spartacus, what point do you see in helping Muslims to feel good about their historic contribution to science, math, and engineering?
“Once, when we westerns were “barbarians”, trying to enforce christianism by the power of the sword, muslims were worried with maths (you forget that 1, 2, 3, 4… 0 are the arabic numerical notation), were looking at the stars, giving great contributions to astronomy and had a incredible advanced architecture.”
If you study history during the time when “we westerns were “barbarians”, trying to enforce christianism by the power of the sword”, the muslims were doing likewise, (spreading Islam by the power of the sword).
“you forget that 1, 2, 3, 4… 0 are the arabic numerical notation”
No Spartacus 0,1, 2, 3, 4,5,6,7.8,9 are ENTIRELY western numerals, the actual arabic numerals are ٠.١.٢.٣.٤.٥.٦.٧.٨.٩
They are only CALLED “Arabic numerals”, who borrowed by them from the Indians, who invented them and who also invented the Zero.
Similarly a lot of their “great contributions to astronomy and had a incredible advanced architecture” came from the Christian and Persian lands that they conquered.
“.. it’s possible to see great scientists that come from the muslim world. ” It is possible but we dont see that despite their enormous wealth. Theocracy doesnt breed scientists, they breed mullahs and mosques. Even Turkey, which is a presently secular but with an Islamic party in power, has one mosque to every 900 citizens and one hospital for every 600,000. It has 90,000 Imams, much more than teachers or doctors.
The best way for muslim countries to produce great scientists is to become secular and turn to science and away from theocracy.
And finally Spartacus, science is secular, neither Muslim nor Christian or any other religion. “Muslim” science is an oxymoron.
RofO, reading my original post carefully, I see you confuse my comments with those of the Roman slave. The blockquotes should help readers figure out who says what…but not always.
Smokey says:
July 6, 2010 at 6:53 pm
I wasn’t aware of the Wilde quote, but apparently we share a similar outlook. Thank you for bringing his thought to my attention. 🙂
Unfortunately, the world seems lately to be frolicking in the gutter rather than looking to the stars.
All I can say is “save the date, November 2nd”.
Has it been 4 years yet?
Another piece of the Obama puzzle.
Tom in Texas says: “Has it been 4 years yet?”
Alas no, though it seems like much longer. But dont wait. Cant you impeach him for something like sheer incompetency? Or lying? (Saying he could when he couldnt).
And dont tell me you cant, Yes you can.
Well, at least NASA’s mission no longer includes spreading climate alarmism. Perhaps this means Hansen will be stepping aside soon?
Some push-back from the former NASA chief.
Since no one has pointed it out: Major General Charles Bolden (USMC ret) is an extremely accomplished aviator. Naval Academy ’68. 100 missions over Viet Nam in the A6. Test pilot. Naval Academy Commandant. Long NASA career as an astronaut. Four shuttle flights, two as shuttle commander. Total of 680 hours on orbit. I’ve met him. Very impressive man, humble, yet clearly in command. Good family man. Good guy.
I feel horrible for him to be put in this ridiculous position by the Obama administration. This interview is indefensible, but I only blame Charlie for having agreed to serve this president. He’s going to carry out the order as best he can. It’s a crying shame to see him humiliated in this way.
Since when has this blog been taken over by ~snip~
Ideas have consequences. We are beginning to see the promised “change”.
The “Manchurian President” is beginning to reveal his agenda.
Will his eligibility ever be validated?
It’s now the National Arabic and Shiite Administration. Just what we need, taxpayer money being spent on encouraging more muslim thugocracies to build ICBMs and nukes…
No one gets it. The people who know politics are the scientists, the scientists are politicials etc. It is “Alice in Wonderland” The only problem is real peoples lives will be affected for years by this series of ,might I kindly say, crazy decisions.