Brief by Kip Hansen
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has apologized for emailing out a fund-raising promotion that was misleading and apparently politically motivated — that is, they have apologized to me, personally, when I contacted them with an email questioning the content of the email. In case you have forgotten, the AAAS is the publisher [ed] of the journal Science, widely considered to be one of the world’s top academic journals.
The membership-drive email contained an image similar to the one at the beginning of this article — “Tomorrow’s Science Needs You Today. Now more than ever, science needs supporters like you”. The email version I received was this:
The text of the message read:
You’ve read the headlines. You know scientific institutions are being stifled. Scientists and engineers are regarded with suspicion in the very institutions that should be a safe haven for them.
So our work is cut out for us in 2018. But the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is fighting back. Become a member to help us:
Defend evidence-based policies, Advocate for government funding in research, Educate policymakers, Champion the public benefits of science, and more!
“Good heaven’s!” I thought, “Science is being undermined…scientific institutions are being stifled. Not only that, but scientists and engineers are regarded with suspicion in the very institutions that should be a safe haven for them.” “That’s serious!” I concluded, “Why don’t I know about this?”
Readers here know that I write about science news and can correctly assume that I follow current events concerning science, and general science news, pretty closely. How did this situation develop and escape my attention?
I wrote to the AAAS, using their “Media Inquiry” button on their website:
I am a science essayist — and I am puzzled over an email I received from the AAAS — apparently fund-raising — with this text:
“You’ve read the headlines. You know scientific institutions are being stifled. Scientists and engineers are regarded with suspicion in the very institutions that should be a safe haven for them.”
Science is my field — I follow science news carefully daily — it is my bread and butter — and I haven’t the slightest idea what the AAAS is going on about.
Can you have someone contact me either by telephone or email to give me details of “scientific institutions … being stifled” and how individuals donating to AAAS would remedy it?
Much to my surprise, I received an almost immediate reply from the AAAS’ Chief Information & Engagement Officer – Director of Membership. Adding to my surprise, the reply was this:
Thank you for contacting AAAS. I appreciate that brought to our attention the distracting and fiery sentences in the email you received from AAAS. I believe the copywriters of this email were trying somehow to generalize this event: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/22/climate/epa-scientists.html?src=twr&_r=0.
Unfortunately, we missed the mark badly. The AAAS Marketing team failed at many levels here and for that I take full responsibility. I have taken steps to stop future sends of this email as well instituting stronger review processes in our development of marketing material.
I do hope you see this [as] an isolated failure by a few people within AAAS and not indicative of AAAS as a whole.
Thank you again for bringing this to our attention, [signature]
I found this reply very encouraging — at least when asked by the media [and WUWT is a media outlet, being among the world’s most viewed science, climate, and weather websites], one person at the AAAS realized that they were doing “alarm bells promotion” — ringing the alarm calling for public help to fight some public menace. Unfortunately, the “public menace” in this case is imaginary, existing only in the minds of those, like this journalist at the NY Times, can see only through the tainted lens of US two-party politics and whose every printed word is biased by their party-affiliation and cultural leaning — writing Party Talking Points as if they were somehow connected to reality.
In this case, the “AAAS Marketing team copywriters” — apparently in agreement with the bias of the NY Times’ Lisa Friedman — took their “story”, according to the AAAS’ Information Officer, from this NY Times article: E.P.A. Cancels Talk on Climate Change by Agency Scientists. The story is that just prior to the State of the Narragansett Bay and Watershed conference in Oct 2017, the EPA cancelled the appearance of three EPA associated speakers who were to address the meeting on the subject of Climate Change. The conference was designed to draw attention to the health of Narragansett Bay, the largest estuary in New England and a key to the region’s tourism and fishing industries. The article in the Times reports that the US EPA partially funds the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program and that the three scientists did not speak at the event which was held to release a 400-page report on the state of the Narragansett Bay, to which they had contributed substantial material.
Autumn Oczkowski, a research ecologist at the E.P.A.’s National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory Atlantic Ecology Division in Rhode Island, was scheduled to give the keynote address. [according to the Times, her speech intended to address climate change and other factors affecting the health of the estuary] Rose Martin, a postdoctoral fellow at the same E.P.A. laboratory [Rose Marin studies march marsh grasses] and Emily Shumchenia, an E.P.A. consultant, were scheduled to speak on an afternoon panel entitled “The Present and Future Biological Implications of Climate Change.”
The Times further reports “Rhode Island’s entire congressional delegation, all Democrats, will attend a morning news conference. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, an outspoken critic of Mr. Pruitt [current Director of the EPA], will be among the speakers.”
I suggest reading the NY Times’ article — it is an interesting example of Editorial Narrative being translated into a news item. Lisa Friedman is a reporter on the Times’ climate beat — she reports to the Science Editor, who sets, in conjunction with the paper’s senior editors and owners, the Editorial Narratives on science topics including climate. In this piece she manages to get in several of the Times’ overall Narratives — anti-Trumpism, “Republicans are anti-science”, “Scientists are being censored [by Republicans or Conservatives or ‘people we don’t like’], “The EPA is being dismantled”, and several other misrepresentations of reality. Regardless of one’s position on any of the details, the political-party bias could not be more blatant — and the odd anti-Anti-Science spin makes my head spin!
There are several important issues here:
1: The contributions of the EPA staffers (one is actually a propaganda science-communications consultant), include such [utterly nonsensical] wisdom as this from the executive summary of the report:
“Sea level in Rhode Island rose nine inches as measured at the tide gauge in Newport from 1930 to 2015 and 6.6 inches at Providence from 1938 to 2015. NOAA projects that sea level at Newport could rise as much as 3.4 feet by 2050 and eleven feet by 2100, considering factors such as rapid melting of land-based polar ice.”
Reality Intervenes — At tide station 8452660 Newport, Rhode Island, according to NOAA Tides and Currents, “The mean sea level trend is 2.73 millimeters/year with a 95% confidence interval of +/- 0.16 mm/yr based on monthly mean sea level data from 1930 to 2016 which is equivalent to a change of 0.90 feet in 100 years.”
[NB: Newport, RI station does not have a same-structure co-located CORS station — so this data may or may not be accurate, even locally. There is a CORS station mounted on a hill at the Naval Station — which has a vertical velocity of (downwards) of 1.3 mm/yr to 2.2 mm/yr — depending on the reference epoch used. ]
2: The United States Environmental Protection Agency does not have a mission to track, measure, or make regulations or policy regarding Climate Change. It is not their remit [definition: “the task or area of activity officially assigned to an individual or organization.”]. The EPA’s core mission (2018 draft document) is:
EPA’s Mission: To Protect Human Health and the Environment
Goal 1 – Core Mission: Deliver real results to provide Americans with clean air, land, and water.
Goal 2 – Cooperative Federalism: Rebalance the power between Washington and the states to create tangible environmental results for the American people.
Goal 3 – Rule of Law and Process: Administer the law, as Congress intended, to refocus the Agency on its statutory obligations under the law.
There is no mention of Climate Change in their mission statement; as a result, the current EPA website page (still the same since January 2017) for Climate Change is this:
3: Lisa Friedman, at the NY Times, fails to mention that EPA staff and contractors are not being paid to junket and deliver political speeches about Climate Change. The EPA staffers could/should have been there to talk about water pollution and how the EPA is going to improve the situation but have no business whatever talking about Climate Change — particularly events that are primarily political events featuring prominent Democrats and anti-Administration figures.
There seems to be some rather strange idea floating around that public employees, such as those of the governments various alphabet agencies (NOAA, NASA, EPA, FDA, CDC…..), ought to be allowed to travel about on the public’s dime and on public time, delivering speeches and presentations composed of their personal opinions on topics that may or may not be part of their professional work at these agencies. This idea is categorically incorrect. The topic is covered generally at the U.S. Office of Government Ethics website. Public employees are allowed to speak as individuals and may express their opinions freely — however, they may not appear in any official capacity as E.P.A. employees (administrative, regulatory, enforcement or scientific) on government time and make presentations without prior approval from the agency. Such appearances are work assignments — not personal choices. The same rules apply in most corporations.
Pulling the speakers from the State of the Bay conference (news conference) at the last minute was probably rude — ill-mannered even. But the actions of employees and how they spend their work time is under the direction of their employer — in this case the EPA — which had been in a year-long re-focusing phase attempting to meet the third of three mission goals: Mission: Goal 3 – Rule of Law and Process: Administer the law, as Congress intended, to refocus the Agency on its statutory obligations under the law.
Governmental executive-branch agencies have been widely accused in the last decade of over-reaching their original purposes, operating out-of-bounds, wandering off-mission, grabbing power without legal basis and over-regulating the country. The E.P.A. most of all.
A new administration has been in power for the last year — one with very different ideas about how government should be conducted and what the proper roles of executive branch agencies should be. It is a positive step that the EPA has begun to rein in the advocacy actions of its employees and re-direct them to the areas of responsibility laid out for them in acts of Congress and other federal law.
I support the AAAS in its attempt to attract bright young minds to the study and practice of Science — and to help bring the benefits Science has brought us to the attention of the general public. I applaud their Chief Information Officer for pulling back the politically-motivated and inflammatory membership ad — and for his sincere apology.
I would like to see the AAAS more involved in the area of correcting science communications — fact-checking public announcements that misrepresent new “breakthroughs” in science and medicine; calling out scientists that distort their scientific fields in the name of advocacy; setting up a strict Code of Ethics for scientists speaking to the press and public so that personal opinions are clearly noted and differentiated from scientific fact; rein in some of the outrageous grandstanding that substitutes for science communications; support the likes of Mike Rowe, Judith Curry, Susan Crockford, Roger Pielke Jr. and others who have been attacked for communicating science accurately. . . . . . There is more to be added to this list.
I’d like to hear from scientists of all types on this topic in the comments. How could the AAAS actually help save Science from its run-way practitioners, such as those who told the State of the Narragansett Bay program that “NOAA projects that sea level at Newport could rise as much as 3.4 feet by 2050 and eleven feet by 2100, considering factors such as rapid melting of land-based polar ice.”
# # # # #
Author’s Comment Policy:
Glad to answer your questions, provide extra links and defend my own opinions. Always interested in reading what you have to say.
I try to answer all comments addressed specifically to me — by beginning them with: “Kip…”
I will not engage in any sort of two-party political squabbles in comments — in my opinion, the US system of two-party politics is what is wrong with this country. (Actually, I won’t discuss this opinion here either, sorry.)
Let’s hear what everyone has to say about how the AAAS could save science from itself.
# # # # #
The only thing new here is we can now openly address our concerns with Climate Change advocacy without retribution. It’s about time. More “calling out” of the CC hysteria needs to happen. Getting the MSM to take part is another story that may be taking care of itself with their collapse of impartiality and accuracy being so rampant.
The media collapse is all but total now. Who in their right mind pays any attention whatsoever to the legacy media? Virtually all of it is a byword for deception, outright lies and globalist political spin. Independent news sources on the internet now dwarf the legacy media.
In theory, the mainstream media are committed to independent reporting without bias and should always be reminded and held to that standard.
Within a decade, the media collapse (newspapers, TV, etc) will be complete, to be replaced by opinionated blogs in the new multi-channel media.
It’s incumbent on WUWT to maintain and improve its reputation as a balanced, sceptical – not biassed or leaning to denial – reporter of information on climate.
Lorne White ==> I agree with you without reservation on this: “It’s incumbent on WUWT to maintain and improve its reputation as a balanced, sceptical – not biassed or leaning to denial – reporter of information on climate.”
The MSM is now the “Famous peoples libido and genitals report”. 9 of 10 stories are about a famous person being horny.
Frank – I don’t think it is just the MSM reporting libido and genitals (I JUST got the ‘ladies and gentlemen’ malapropism). They all seem to do it. Fox as well as the others. OANN does it also, but just under the Entertainment section.
Apparently, readers are interested in this. Why… I have no idea.
Libs have so seriously over played their hand it’s scary….and how do they try to fix it?…..by doubling down
More and more, as I discuss the subject of climate change with my associates, I find my self quoting Gary Zukav.
“Acceptance without proof is the fundamental characteristic of Western religion, rejection without proof is the fundamental characteristic of Western science.”
I have yet to have any reason to change my belief that the climate change “crisis” is a religion, not a science.
If the EPA would spend as much time and money on monitoring the environment and enforcing the law of the land over the next 5 years as they spent on the last 5 years on issues outside their remit, I would be satisfied.
I must say I take exception to the Gary Zukav quote. “Western Religion” assuredly is a euphemism for Christianity. Christianity is based on the bodily resurrection of Christ, that it happened as a real event in time. The Bible is clear that it happened and that there were hundreds of eye witnesses to both Christ’s death and resurrection. Now, the question of whether or not the Bible accounts are true is certainly at play. But accepting Christian truth claims without proof is not what Christianity is based upon.
What about when he flew off into space the next day, was that a real event in time as well?
To Klem (next commenter): There was an interval of forty days between the Resurrection and the Ascension, still observed by Christians in the liturgical denominations and some others. You could look it up . . . Also, Noah’s Ark has almost certainly been spotted and photographed from space, near the top of Mt. Ararat in Turkey, though the Turkish government will not permit anyone to go near it. The more archaeological work is done, the more the Bible’s historical statements are substantiated.
Fry, did you miss the entire point of the story of Thomas? Have you ever even read a Catechism? The entire point is faith.
While these events were chronicled and purportedly had numerous witnesses at the time, our only documentation is a group of books, only two of them possibly from actual eyewitnesses, written at least 40 years after the fact by very invested parties. There is no independent corroboration. However, there are a lot of books that we are almost certain were written significantly after the fact.
Again, this is why faith is such an important tenet of the Christian religion. It cannot pass any reasonable level of proof.
T. Fry – January 15, 2018 at 7:13 pm
T. Fry, it is not a good idea, ….. nor even remotely believable, …… to be citing or mimicking Biblical content/context as proof or evidence that the content/context of the Bible is factual and true.
You can‘t be citing the printed stories in yesterday’s newspaper as proof or evidence that the published stories in yesterday’s newspaper are factual and true.
And likewise, you can’t be citing the content/context of any of the IPCC AGW Reports as proof or evidence that the content/context of the IPCC AGW Reports are factual and true
Ben of Houston seems to have a radical misunderstanding of what official Christianity means by the word “faith”. Everyone raised Christian has repeatedly heard 1 Peter 3:15 “Always be ready to give reasons for the hope you have”. Some of the oldest extra-biblical Christian documents we have (2nd century) are just such attempts to provide a reasoned basis grounded in evidence. That doesn’t prove the authors were *right*, but it does demonstrate that the idea of there being any merit in believing anything without evidence is quite alien to the foundations of Christianity. Just as science has people who want evidence, people who want to push political agendas, and people who just go along with whatever they are old, religion has the *full* spectrum too. Individuals are not the intellectual system and the intellectual system is not any individual.
@Klem: there is no statement anywhere in the Bible or Catholic or Reformed theology that Jesus ever “flew off into space”. He “was taken up” (and the area is sufficiently) and hidden by a cloud (or possibly fog). That is the claim. There are two references to the event: the one in Acts gives a timeframe and the one in Luke does not. There is nothing physically impossible about what is actually described.
s/sufficiently/sufficiently hilly/ Wretched new el cheapo laptop.
Sam Cogar doesn’t seem to grasp that the bible is a collection of writings by multiple people, and that the New Testament contains several letters written by eye witnesses. “Quoting the bible” is a modern turn of a phrase that obscures what is actually occurring: We are quoting eye witnesses as they report that Jesus was raised from the dead. These witnesses did not recant their accounts, even under pain of death. And, the radical changes in their lives, along with their lifelong devotion to making sure as many people as possible were told about the resurrection, add validity to their accounts.
It is obvious some people are simply color blind to the truth. But truly color blind people accept there is something there they can’t see. They don’t speak dismissively about either the colors they can’t see, or the people able to see them.
Matthew Schilling – January 16, 2018 at 7:50 pm
Matthew, your “badmouthing” about what you perceive is my ignorance of the origin of the Christian Bible is not proof or evidence that your nurtured Religious beliefs in/of the contents/context of the aforenoted Bible are literal truths and historically factual.
What you probably have never been told is the fact that ….. if not for Roman Emperor Constantine I you would not have your Bible for reading n’ believing. Thus, your aforenoted “collection of writings by multiple people” would not have happened if Emperor Constantine had not ordered/demanded that all Christian bishops attend the First Council of Nicea in AD 325. Read more @ur momisugly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Council_of_Nicaea
So Matthew, your aforenoted statement that “the New Testament contains several letters written by eye witnesses” ….. would mean that ALL of those “letters” would be a minimum of 325 years old when they were published in the first Christian Bibles. And the sad part is, that “belief” would be more believable for Christianity ….. than is the “beliefs” of Christians that Jesus Christ had several “scribes”, with pen and papyrus, that followed him (Jesus) around and “transcribed” (wrote down) all of the (325+ years old) “quoted” text attributed to “Him” that is included in the New Testament.
Matthew, the composer/publishers of the 1st Christian Bible …… picked n’ selected, ….. restated n’ rewrote …… and authored new verbiage ….. that they believed was necessary for appeasing and controlling their illiterate congregations.
Cult, not religion.
Yes, it’s a cult. A totalist cult:
“…[A] group or movement exhibiting a great or excessive devotion or dedication to some person, idea, or thing and employing unethically manipulative techniques of persuasion and control (e.g., isolation from former friends and family, debilitation, use of special methods to heighten suggestibility and subservience, powerful group pressures, information management, suspension of individuality or critical judgment, promotion of total dependency on the group and fear of leaving it, etc.) designed to advance the goals of the group’s leaders to the actual or possible detriment of members, their families, or the community.[…]
“Totalist cults are likely to exhibit three elements to varying degrees:
(1) excessively zealous, unquestioning commitment to the identity and leadership of the group by the members,
(2) exploitative manipulation of members, and
(3) harm or the danger of harm.
“Totalist cults may be distinguished from “new religious movements,” “new political movements,” and “innovative psychotherapies” (terms that can be used to refer to unorthodox but relatively benign groups), if not by their professed beliefs then certainly by their actual practices.”
– Source: Cultism: A Conference for Scholars-Policy Makers, Cultic Studies Journal, 1986, Volume 3, Number 1, pages 85-96 3
People have a difficult time understanding “faith,” with regard to the belief we Christians have in God.
Because of all of the stuff we know to be true and reliable, following regular scholarly methods of historical analysis, EXACTLY LIKE ANY OTHER INQUIRY INTO THE VERACITY OF NARRATIVES IN HISTORY, we are able to “go out on a limb,” and believe other information from God.
So, even though none of us were around to witness God create the universe, we have faith that this claim is true. We have faith that there is an afterlife, and we can spend it with God, despite the lack of observable truth for that.
I can trust someone to pay money back, or pick me up on time from the airport. But that does not mean I can solidly have faith in what that person says about tomorrow’s weather, or who might win the Superbowl.
“Faith” is when we can trust someone a lot, across many areas, even before some challenge arises, and when the challenge arises we simply know we will be supported. Like the way many of us can not only trust our parents for this or that, but we have faith that they will ALWAYS support us, and be on our side. No matter what.
“Faith” in marriage often refers to fidelity. But “faith” in marriage can also mean that each partner is totally committed to the other, come what may – “through thick and thin,” “good times and bad.”
“Faith” does not mean “unsupported belief.” That is “blind faith.”
Sorry to get political: but if you have “faith” in the mainstream media, you will not question a news story. You can have your faith in the MSM broken if you figure out the MSM is often misleading, if not downright honest.
You can trust a story is true, and, further, you can have faith that anything you see in the MSM is, generally, true.
I hope this helps.
It is very sad when the scientific atheists allow themselves to be irrational in one area – religion – and espouse views that are NOT anything close to accurately representing regular Christianity, even though what we believe is no big mystery.
I would not claim to accurately represent Islam, or Buddhism, so I am guarded and tentative if I discuss those. I once commented that it was against Islam to smoke, and I got corrected – I now know that Islam has some sort of instruction against intoxicants, and for some, smoking fits this, and for others it does not – either way, I am cautious when trying to discuss aspects of other religions where I am not an expert.
It is disingenuous or ignorant for the atheist-scientific people to paint an incorrect picture of Christianity, then criticize it. Or, to then go and tell me what I believe and why.
Chances are, there is a normal, Bible-believing congregation near each and every one of you. I can almost guarantee you can find an informed person in some position of leadership to answer most any question you have about Christianity. And, they will probably be happy to do that. Christianity is not some secret, hidden, esoteric belief system – nope, we pretty much lay it all out there. [Which precludes us from being a cult; you are allowed to question and learn and explore.]
“Acceptance without proof “
How can you prove a thing that hasn’t been defined? Such a nebulous thing cannot be either proven or disproven.
Here’s a slightly different scenario adopted by another lefty institution. I’m not sure what the European Space Agency’s policy is on advocacy but their employees seem to spend half their time criss crossing Europe and the world giving science-light talks to schools, universities and institutions about their work. It’s all in the name of scicomm but it’s really just pretty space pictures and cuddly spacecraft toys and photo ops. I feel the underlying theme is very much self-serving: “look how useful we are and how exciting our work is- you’ll remember this and never object to paying more tax for large ESA budget proposals”. But no science (maths, physics, chemistry) is being done, or communicated in the process and it’s all flights, hotel bookings and wages on my dime.
scute1133 ==> Personally,, I don’t mind that (EU) kind of thing so much — in the US we used to have astronauts junketing to schools all over America — they were true (if flawed) heros and the kids, including myself, loved them. The Space Program, internationally, needs the public to stay enthusiastic — it is expensive and, in the eyes of many, unnecessary. so a little promotion to the kids, who in just a few years will be voters, is a wise move on the part of the Program.
Not everyone agrees with the push for Space over the push for ending hunger and suffering on Earth. Me? I’m for a sensible prioritization of effort — and doing both.
Kip: sorry to disagree, but any “selling” of one’s interests for future acceptance/support is indoctrination. Children do not have the knowledge background to either assess the information or be aware of alternative interpretations. Just teach kids basic science. They have a natural interest in most things, including space exploration. Public enthusiasm in anything varies considerable and changes over time.
And those employees promoting CAGW are releasing tonnes of CO2 with every journey that could be done by webinar.
Do they not believe?
Are they hypocrites?
the followup to this will be countless school kiddies, thrilled by the wonders of sci-lite that they aspire to emulate their predecessors – They’ll in time flood the universities and due to demand, half arsed lecturers will be employed (rated up to Professors so they satisfy the ‘our uni has moar Prof’s than your uni’ mentality) . Of course to make it easier for the lecturing staff the course will be watered down and grades handed out like lollies.. the students will in turn graduated, ignorant and filled with the surety of their knowledge they will take the positions of those-who-came-before and the ignoration cycle will continue.
I’ve seen it before. An Advanced Diploma course I had the pleasure of delivering ended up so watered down I quit. Years later students were passing who were unable to tell you what pH meant.. but they were QUALIFIED !
This is useful to see in real time the connections between NYT and AAAS. It’s as bad as we thought.
‘Scientists and engineers are regarded with suspicion in the very institutions that should be a safe haven for them.’
Just what kind of engineers are being referred to here? Public institutions and universities? I doubt very much that there are any engineers other Nye who are seeking a safe haven.
Exactly. What kind of scientist or engineer needs a ‘safe haven’? The concept is an ultimate insult to science and rationality in general.
A lot of chemical engineers end up working in state and Federal EPA positions. Other engineers also work in other regulatory capacities. I presume it’s these kinds of engineers that are being referred to.
Only those of us that can’t hang it or those that haven’t switched to consultant jobs. No one good stays at the agency for long. Industry pays so much better that it makes no sense for any competent engineer to stay at the agency.
Greg ==> Well, that was my question too…..what danged scientists and engineers? Where? Turns out that it is the ubiquitous made-up news….made up by the copywriters at AAAS (since chastened) following on slanted, biased pseudo-news from the NY Times.
The AAAS has apologized — and pulled the ad.
2 things; 1) They only apologized to you. 2) No one knows the add was pulled. the damage was already done.
David ==> Did you receive the ad in your email? Have you, or anyone you know, been “damaged” by the emailed ad? What damage would that be that you speak of, anyway? If you have been substantially damaged by this egregious action of the AAAS — or are the member of a group so damaged — then your options include personal and class action law suits.
“Just what kind of engineers are being referred to here?”
Benben claims to be an engineer, as I recollect…
If this nonsense about climate “change” ever stops being an attempt to corrupt a branch of real science into a theology, somebody please let me know??
Meantime, I will address my pleas for reason and an end to the nonsense to Shu, the Egyptian god of light and air, personifying the weather and the atmosphere, often portrayed as kneeling on one knee and holding up the sky. Perhaps Shu could bring snow to Cairo and dump a load on the New York Times while he’s at it.
You are praying to the wrong Egyptian God – try Seth the deity of typhoons, chaos and generalised disruption. What today’s witless NYT/Guardian writers would doubtless call “the dark side”.
Good luck with your efforts though and let us know if it works,
…but not the god of spelling corrections..
So they claim they will not send this out in the future but say nothing about sending out a correction.
What a joke.
Looks to me like the AAAS just screwed the pooch and is no longer a “501(c)3 organization” charitable organization.
They’re fully taxable now, and all donations are no longer tax deductible.
ATheoK ==> They certainly have violated no law, nor any tax code, they have simply sent out a a foolishly written fund-raising appeal — if that was the standard, nearly all charitable organizations would be shut down.
ATheoK ==> Including my family-based charity….I have been guilty of shining a brighter light on our efforts than perhaps was always warranted. (Long since corrected — but confession is good…)
I disagree Kip.
Where else, but in the Democrat progressive world are any of these claims found?
As you, yourself verified, Kip; these claims are only valid in the world of extreme Democrat partisanship.
That makes the funding request letter itself political grandstanding, while supporting a Democrat position.
From IRS:
Email funding requests based on alarmism and false propaganda is not any part of educational or research purpose.
You’ve been apologized to, loosely.
What will AAAS state to responders eager to fund the fight against ‘anti-science’ and to free ‘stifled voices’?
ATheoK ==> You are always free to disagree. Federal Tax law and its exemptions for these types of organizations is complex — but scientific and educational organizations fully qualify and the larger they are, the better their lawyers are in making sure they do not violate the rules regarding exemption status.
I am president of a non-profit 501(c)(3) myself, and am fairly well acquainted with the rules.
While you might not like how they fund-raise, it is certsaintly no worse than what many “save the children” type groups do, and far more correct than organizations like Greenpeace and EDF.
I dropped my SCIEVCE subscription, and my AAASD membership, several years ago when it became apparent that AAAS had become deeply politicized. It seems to have gotten worse.
BTW, I teach science, the scientific method, critical thinking, and how to differentiate among science, religion, and junk science. Warping young minds into thinking for themselves! Every semester I tell all my classes that I am not politically correct, and if they seek a politically correct professor, they should seek elsewhere. Very few do.
Wouldn’t it have been better to stay in and fight from within, rather than just give up?
Paraphrasing Nigel in Santa Barbara above:
Science, cults and junk science.
Religions are characterised by easily identifiable criteria:
There is a Founder.
The Founder claims to have received a Divine Revelation (i.e. it is not merely imputed by followers).
The Founder suffers severely at the hands of religious opponents.
There is a Book of teachings and social laws.
The Founder confirms the truth of the one that preceded him and foretold his coming.
The Founder gives signs that will presage the appearance of one who will come after him and directs followers to accept him..
A civilisation based on the teachings of the Founder arises in which those (especially social) teachings are implemented at scale.
None of these things apply to the carbon cult. There is no founder, there is no book, there is no confirmation of past prophecy. “Prophecies” are meaningless computer projections. Defense of their assertions is weak, and accompanied by boundless back-biting, calumnies, vacuous assertions of ill-intent by their detractors and an appeal to a narrative of pervasive ‘funding’ by imaginary all-powerful opponents.
Good to know someone is “fighting the good fight,” as it were. Sad that it’s necessary to “stand out” as not being politically correct in the field of science.
Wow. I may continue my subscription after all.
I had been considering dropping my subscription due to the flagrant pseudo-science constantly being peddled in the magazine for years now, usually concerning environmental or climate so-called science. All of these articles should start with “Assume anthropogenic Climate Change is 100% true and proven, then…” and go into the article. I consider this on par with starting a physics paper with “Assume the Earth is shaped like a cube…”. One can assume anything, but without the assumptions stated the paper may or may not make any sense. Since I do not agree with the assumptions, I can then skip the article without wasting my time – or if curious and bored enough can go ahead and read it.
This “Chief Information & Engagement Officer – Director of Membership” person gives me real hope that there are people at the magazine that actually understand science.
It has been disheartening to watch major sources of science news and findings one-by-one fall into the pit of political activism-at-any-cost.
Now watch this individual pay for his/her courage by being attacked viciously by the activists.
Robert of Texas ==> We will have to see if there is blow-back from this piece — the possibility of that is the reason that I did not include the AAAS officer’s name …
Kip,
AAAS may have apologized to you personally, but have they made a public apology for that ad?
Kamikazedave ==> If the public is offended, they can write to the AAAS and point it out. I have acted for myself and have received an explanation and apology.
My intention was to bring the matter to the attention of the executive level of the AAAS with the assumption that they are reasonable and well-intentioned people — as proved to be the case.
Messages from the AAAS go straight into my spam folder.
Climate Change is a Political Battle, Not a Scientific One
Real climate scientists have been arguing against the climate alarmists for years, and they have done a great and helpful job. With basically zero resources, they have been able to at least fight the extremely well-funded climate alarmists to a stand still. With the recent election of President Trump, the balance has definitely tilted towards … Continue reading
https://co2islife.wordpress.com/2017/04/04/climate-change-is-a-political-battle-not-a-scientific-one/
Progressives are Out Of Touch on a Biblical Scale; NAACP Should Demand Re-Direction of Climate Change Funding to Inner-Cities
https://co2islife.wordpress.com/2018/01/15/progressives-are-out-of-touch-on-a-biblical-scale-naacp-should-demand-re-direction-of-climate-change-funding/
NAACP should change their name so white people can say it without being labeled racist.
“NAACP should change their name so white people can say it without being labeled racist.”
So, that would be the NAAPC (The National Association for the Advancement of People of Color).
Excellent post. Getting the EPA re-focused is very important both for the EPA itself and for the American public. The people need to understand that government business is to be conducted free of politics.
I voted for President Obama and thought he was a good president, with some salient exceptions. Possibly his biggest failure in public policy was his overreaching on climate change, spurred in part by the failure of Congress to pass the climate change bill in 2010. The Clean Power Plan, among other things, was an attempted end run around the Constitution’s separation of powers doctrine.
Part of Obama’s unfortunate legacy was conversion of the EPA into an instrument of politics. Trump, to his credit, is attempting to reverse the the climate change promotion. I’m afraid Mr. Pruitt’s efforts may succeed in changing turning around the climate change meme but he’s certainly not been successful in changing the EPA’s public image. Being a political lightning rod fits his personality but, in my opinion, does not improve the public’s view, though it appears some positive things are happening inside the EPA.
Simply defund the EPA. Let the states handle it.
sailboarder ==> I don’t know where you sailboard — but I bet it is on the water somewhere. The EPA has done excellent work — not always perfectly or evenly — in cleaning up America’s streams, rivers, lakes, and [near-shore] oceans. Thta’s 1/3 of their job — and though one can always argue details and methods, they have accomplished a lot of good.
I grew up in Los Angeles and surfed the beaches there (way too many days a year) — the air (away from the beach) was stinking and made one’s eye and lungs hurt and the water on the beaches was at times unpleasant (especially near sewage discharge points, like D&W).
Defunding is a lousy idea — re-focusing and reining in excesses and over-stepping is a much better idea.
Kip Hansen, you are right about the EPA. They have done good work that has greatly improved our quality of life. And an agency with this mission needs to be at the federal level, so there will be a uniform policy and execution. The EPA simply needs to be managed properly. The Obama administration did a grave disservice by making the EPA another legislative body. I hope Trump can fix this but I will remain skeptical until I see it.
“. . into an instrument of politics”
Seems a couple of other agencies got the message. The IRS, for one.
Then there is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the FBI,
the Federal Communications Commission, the POTUS apologizing to the world for being the great country that it is, and . . .
As science is a process, it is probably best to judge the scientist by an assessment of his/her process which begins by: does the scientist first state their assumptions. We assume this to be true and that to be true and we are trying to answer this question… Then, here are the methods we will/did use to answer the question. The results are:… In the Discussion we found “this” which supports our answer to the question. We found “that” which leads away from our answer to the question we were/are trying to answer which is more similar to others assessments. We believe our results, along with other people’s results support our answer to the question. It is my opinion that AAAS might channel its resources, including salaries for employees towards facilitating a more universal application of the science process.
The specialty of one of the scientists mentioned — should ‘march’ grasses be ‘marsh’ grasses?
NW Sage ==> a sage you are — and “marsh” it is.
An excellent article.
Peter JMS ==> Thank you, Peter.
Bully for Mr. Hansen!
Any chance we can get Mike Rowe to write a response, too?
Javert Chip ==> Isn’t this post Mike Rowe’s response?
I recall posting some of this before, but it seems especially relevant since our largest (by their measurement) scientific research honor society has now joined “forces” with AAAS.
https://www.sigmaxi.org/news/article/2018/01/09/top-research-associations-join-forces-to-support-science-and-engineering
I have been a member of Sigma Xi for some 4 decades and recently received a solicitation for financial support for their new initiative “stepping out of the comfort zone” policies which are–
(1) Protect critical research from budget cuts
(2) Defend our international colleagues from discrimination
(3) Petition for the use of science in policy
I recently wrote the Sigma Xi president a three page letter about my concerns including this–
“I am convinced that the academic administrative community, including science, does not understand the extent of how the public at large, much of it educated and/or skilled, is skeptical about the current state of education and research. This not only has to do with training of the subsequent work quality of education, but also that of the scholarly and research product.” I also included information about the recent BioScience paper defaming Susan Crockford. I do not expect an answer, which is OK if they do their homework. So far Sigma Xi has not been as corrupted as AAAS, but I ran across this recently by Tee Guidotti, a past president of Sigma Xi and an international consultant on health, safety, and environment management and sustainability.
.
“We are also seeing the fusion of the natural sciences and social sciences, in the form of analysis and proposed solutions of so-called “sociotechnical” or “wicked” problems. Outside the laboratory, this synthesis is one of the biggest growth areas in research today.”
HDHoese ==> Science, as an enterprise, has a serious public relations/public perception problem, brought on by its own practitioners, who have failed to police their own. Judith Curry, over the years, has run many posts on the problem and the philosophy of science.
The Social Sciences are, in my view, in much greater trouble than the physical sciences — publishing and accepting findings based on nearly delusional associations producing “results” no one can replicate — despite this failure, these results become the foundation of a hundred further studies producing nonsense results. We must work to prevent the pollution of the physical sciences with the dubious findings of [most] social scientists.
If no public retraction was issued then perhaps the reply you received was only to appease you. Maybe you go on the ‘non-sucker’ list now.
National Geographic needs to apologize. I follow them on Facebook, and over and over again I find articles that encourage teachers to teach AGW, using evidence from little snippets of time. Here’s an example: https://blog.education.nationalgeographic.org/2015/01/19/weekly-warm-up-3-ways-we-are-warming-up-on-snow-days/
Cynthia ==> NG abandoned science for advocacy years and years ago.
Cynthia and Kip – right again. I subscribed to Nat Geo for years and finally let my subscription go this year. The last straw was a cover story last summer on “the science of transgenderism”. Close behind was a story a few months ago on the happiest countries in the world. Not joking. This is not so much an abandonment of science as a descent into trivia – appealing to whom, millennials?
Kip ==> So very sad
Key phrase, “The AAAS Marketing team”!
The AAAS in nothing more than a “marketing team” using scare tactics to bilk money from the general public to pay for their own lavish drug and drunken transracial parties!
Ha ha
I would say that the AAAS’ Chief Information & Engagement Officer – Director of Membership, has no intention of changing the marketing tactics of that organization. He may have apologized to you, but their techniques have not changed a bit. Several times a week, I see a request for members and donations on Facebook. They are generally different, but universally targeting blaming the right for attacking science and appealing to the left to try and stop the assault. Every post is just as inaccurate and inflammatory as the one quoted above.
The email you received Kip, could not be an accident, or the result of a few rogue members of the marketing team. Their entire marketing campaign is just the same way, and it is very effective. Judging by the comments under each posting, they are getting a lot of donations with their misinformation, attacks of the President and thinly-veiled political rhetoric.
My guess is that the AAAS’ Chief Information & Engagement Officer – Director of Membership was lying through his teeth and playing you for a fool.