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[Centaur]

Below is a link to Sunday's New York Times article indicating that restrictions have been placed on NASA's top climate scientist.

tinyurl.com/d5p79

(Note* I have converted the long link into a simple one, as it was not clickable before. Thanks Curt for the lead!)

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Climate Expert Says NASA Tried to Silence Him

The top climate scientist at NASA says the Bush administration has tried to stop him from speaking out since he gave a lecture last month calling for prompt reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases linked to global warming.

The scientist, James E. Hansen, longtime director of the agency's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, said in an interview that officials at NASA headquarters had ordered the public affairs staff to review his coming lectures, papers, postings on the Goddard Web site and requests for interviews from journalists.

Dr. Hansen said he would ignore the restrictions. "They feel their job is to be this censor of information going out to the public," he said.

Dean Acosta, deputy assistant administrator for public affairs at the space agency, said there was no effort to silence Dr. Hansen. "That's not the way we operate here at NASA," Mr. Acosta said. "We promote openness and we speak with the facts."

He fell out of favor with the White House in 2004 after giving a speech at the University of Iowa before the presidential election, in which he complained that government climate scientists were being muzzled and said he planned to vote for Senator John Kerry.

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Oh, I do believe that pressure has been placed upon him to shut-up. That and other areas...

[Maddad]

I read part of that article. There's a difference between saying NASA, "Tell me in advance when you're going to say something like that so I don't get surprised" and forbidding NASA to make the release.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Rep. Boehlert Responds to Accusations Concerning NASA's "Silencing" of Climate Scientist

WASHINGTON - House Science Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) sent the attached letter today to Dr. Michael Griffin, Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), in response to articles in the New York Times and the Washington Post this weekend concerning NASA's treatment of Dr. James Hansen, Director of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies.


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January 30, 2006

Dr. Michael Griffin
Administrator
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Washington DC 20546

Dear Dr. Griffin:

I am writing in response to several recent news articles indicating that officials at NASA may be trying to "silence" Dr. James Hansen, the director of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

It ought to go without saying that government scientists must be free to describe their scientific conclusions and the implications of those conclusions to their fellow scientists, policymakers and the general public. Any effort to censor federal scientists biases public discussions of scientific issues, increases distrust of the government and makes it difficult for the government to attract the best scientists. And when it comes to an issue like climate change, a subject of ongoing public debate with immense ramifications, the government ought to be bending over backward to make sure that its scientists are able to discuss their work and what it means.

Good science cannot long persist in an atmosphere of intimidation. Political figures ought to be reviewing their public statements to make sure they are consistent with the best available science; scientists should not be reviewing their statements to make sure they are consistent with the current political orthodoxy.

NASA is clearly doing something wrong, given the sense of intimidation felt by Dr. Hansen and others who work with him. Even if this sense is a result of a misinterpretation of NASA policies - and more seems to be at play here - the problem still must be corrected. I will be following this matter closely to ensure that the right staff and policies are in place at NASA to encourage open discussion of critical scientific issues. I assume you share that goal.

Our staff is already setting up meetings to pursue this issue and I appreciate NASA's responsiveness to our inquiries thus far. I would ask that you swiftly provide to the Committee, in writing, a clear statement of NASA's policies governing the activities of its scientists.

NASA is one of the nation's leading scientific institutions. I look forward to working with you to keep it that way, and to ensure that the entire nation gets the full benefit of NASA sciences.

Sincerely

[Signed]

Sherwood Boehlert
Chairman


Source: www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=18878

==================

NASA feathers about to be rustled!...

[Centaur]

We the people pay Dr. Hansen's salary through funding authorized by Congress. His situation is not comparable to that of a person working for a private company. He is a civil service employee hired many years ago. He is not a political appointee. He is not dealing with military secrets. He was speaking toward anyone responsible for heat-trapping emissions, not necessarily the government. If Hansen has learned something or has developed an opinion within his area of expertise while I am paying him, I demand the right to be told what it is. So should Congress. Otherwise, our supposedly democratic government is utilizing das Führerprinzip. As a member of a democratic society, I expect tax-paid researchers to provide me with candid reports with which I can make informed decisions before I make policy requests of my elected officials. I’m sorry if that is inconvenient for politicians in a government of the people, by the people, for the people.

[Centaur]

The Saturday New York Times reports that the NASA Administrator has sent a memo to his employees demanding openness in scientific and engineering matters. The Times article also discusses the 24-year-old politically appointed Public Affairs Officer who served as the point man in the Hansen affair, and who insisted that scientists word reports to be consistent with the validity of the concept of Intelligent Design. Click link: www.nytimes.com/2006/02/04/science/04climate.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

NASA Chief Backs Agency Openness

A week after NASA's top climate scientist complained that the space agency's public-affairs office was trying to silence his statements on global warming, the agency's administrator, Michael D. Griffin, issued a sharply worded statement yesterday calling for "scientific openness" throughout the agency.

"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."

Other National Aeronautics and Space Administration scientists and public-affairs employees came forward this week to say that beyond Dr. Hansen's case, there were several other instances in which political appointees had sought to control the flow of scientific information from the agency.

In the months before the 2004 election, according to interviews and some documents, these appointees sought to review news releases and to approve or deny news media requests to interview NASA scientists.

Repeatedly that year, public-affairs directors at all of NASA's science centers were admonished by White House appointees at headquarters to focus all attention on Mr. Bush's January 2004 "vision" for returning to the Moon and eventually traveling to Mars.


Full story at Curt's link - (requires registration).

============

The Big Bang memo came from Mr. Deutsch, a 24-year-old presidential appointee in the press office at NASA headquarters whose résumé says he was an intern in the "war room" of the 2004 Bush-Cheney re-election campaign. A 2003 journalism graduate of Texas A&M, he was also the public-affairs officer who sought more control over Dr. Hansen's public statements.

I'm all for youth in all areas of public service, but a 24 year old political hack has no place in such a sensitive position...anywhere. This is a good example.

Good for Griffin!... #Thumbsup#

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Phil Plaitt - The Bad Astronomer" throws in on NASA's "Hush" attempts

[/b]

From Phil's blog comes this outrage on the developing story of the at NASA and assciated responses from readers on the punk kid with the attitude:

Man, I hate being right sometimes.

I’m so livid I can hardly type straight about this. Because of that, and because of the seriousness of this issue, I am writing a disclaimer:

I want to be clear that what you are about to read is my personal opinion and not necessarily anyone else’s. I have based this blog entry on what I have read in newspapers and blogs. I have also had many discussions with other scientists about related issues, and so I have been able to form what I think is an informed and reasonable position on this.

Got this so far? Deutsch had this position as NASA public relations specialist given to him by the current administration, and according to Dr. Hansen he used it to suppress information about global warming. This issue was important enough to NASA officials that Mike Griffin, NASA’s Administrator, sent an email on Friday, Feb. 3 to all NASA employees (and which is now posted on the NASA website) saying that "It is not the job of public-affairs officers to alter, filter or adjust engineering or scientific material produced by NASA’s technical staff."

I agree wholeheartedly, of course, and I also want to make clear that I think that scientific suppression is not representative of the demeanor in general at NASA, nor of NASA’s Public Affairs Office as a whole. In fact, the NYT article makes this clear, stating "[Hansen] and intermediaries in the agency’s 350-member public-affairs staff said the warnings [of "dire consequences" if they talked about global warming] came from White House appointees in NASA headquarters" (emphasis mine; in the article Dr. Hansen clearly also strongly disagrees with policy statements by the other PAO political appointee, Dean Acosta).

Read the entire blog entries at his site: www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2006/02/04/outrage-at-attacks-on-nasa-science/

==========

The blog's content gives good point of views on this sorry and poor management style.

Incompetence in all levels in our lives, sigh...

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Griffin Lays Out NASA Position On Openness

Washington DC (SPX) Feb 06, 2006
NASA administrator Michael Griffin has laid out his agency's position on unauthorized statements by employees. He released the statement last Friday in the wake of recent media reports that a NASA climate scientist had been prevented from speaking on climate change, and that the Inspector General had been attempting to silence safety warnings about the space shuttle.

In the first instance, James E. Hansen, the chief climate scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., claimed he was ordered to clear his public statements with agency's public information officials. Hansen had contested the Bush administration's position on climate change during a lecture at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco last December.


"NASA has always been, is, and will continue to be committed to open scientific and technical inquiry and dialogue with the public. The basis for this principle is codified in the Space Act of 1958, which requires NASA to 'provide for the widest practicable and appropriate dissemination of information concerning its activities and the results thereof,'" Griffin continued.

He also said the job of NASA's Office of Public Affairs is "to convey the work done at NASA to our stakeholders in an intelligible way. It is not the job of public affairs officers to alter, filter or adjust engineering or scientific material produced by NASA's technical staff. To ensure timely release of information, there must be cooperation and coordination between our scientific and engineering community and our public affairs officers."

More here: www.spacedaily.com/reports/Griffin_Lays_Out_NASA_Position_On_Openness.html

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

George Deutsch Did Not Graduate From Texas A & M University

This entry from a youngman who attended A&M University and did some research on his blog:

-------

Through my own investigations I have just discovered that George Deutsch, the Bush political appointee at the heart of administration efforts to censor NASA scientists (most notably to prevent James Hansen from speaking out about global warming), did not actually graduate from Texas A&M University. This should come as a surprise, since the media has implied otherwise, with even The New York Times describing the 24-year-old NASA public affairs officer, as “a 2003 journalism graduate of Texas A&M.” Although Deutsch did attend Texas A&M University, where he majored in journalism and was scheduled to graduate in 2003, he left in 2004 without a degree, a revelation that I was tipped off to by one of his former coworkers at A&M's student newspaper The Battalion. I later confirmed this discovery through the records department of the Texas A&M University Association of Former Students.

At this point, while I am unaware of whether Deutsch graduated from college at all, it is clear that he did not graduate from A&M, and he may have intentionally misled people to believe that he did. The idea that NASA let a 24-year-old journalism major, with no experience in science or technology, other than writing a few articles about video games, determine what scientists were able to communicate to the public was pretty bad. The fact that he was censoring scientific information on global warming and the big bang made things more interesting, especially since he was a political appointee doing this to prevent challenges to the Bush administration’s policies. But now, finding out that he did not even graduate from Texas A&M, and may not have graduated from college at all leaves is absolutely outrageous. George Deutsch, as I wrote before, needs to be removed from this post immediately.

Full story here: scientificactivist.blogspot.com/2006/02/breaking-news-george-deutsch-did-not.html

==========

Get's better and better all the time...

[Centaur]

admin said:

Get's better and better all the time...

The Wednesday New York Times reports that NASA Public Affairs Officer, George Deutsch, 24, has resigned following discovery that he never graduated from Texas A&M. www.nytimes.com/2006/02/08/politics/08nasa.html

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

A Young Bush Appointee Resigns His Post at NASA

George C. Deutsch, the young presidential appointee at NASA who told public affairs workers to limit reporters' access to a top climate scientist and told a Web designer to add the word "theory" at every mention of the Big Bang, resigned yesterday, agency officials said.

Mr. Deutsch's resignation came on the same day that officials at Texas A&M University confirmed that he did not graduate from there, as his résumé on file at the agency asserted.

Officials at NASA headquarters declined to discuss the reason for the resignation.

"Under NASA policy, it is inappropriate to discuss personnel matters," said Dean Acosta, the deputy assistant administrator for public affairs and Mr. Deutsch's boss.

The resignation came as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was preparing to review its policies for communicating science to the public. The review was ordered Friday by Michael D. Griffin, the NASA administrator, after a week in which many agency scientists and midlevel public affairs officials described to The New York Times instances in which they said political pressure was applied to limit or flavor discussions of topics uncomfortable to the Bush administration, particularly global warming.

"As we have stated in the past, NASA is in the process of revising our public affairs policies across the agency to ensure our commitment to open and full communications," the statement from Mr. Acosta said.

The statement said the resignation of Mr. Deutsch was "a separate matter."

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 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.

Full story at Curt's link...

========

Excellent!...Now the punk kid can go and play Xbox to his hearts desire. But it's systemic and he was a minor cog in a big wheel of ignorance...

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

The Net rejoices on the Resignation of the Young NASA Goof

I have been receiving mails and links on the news of the much deserved resignation on Bush appointee George C. Duetch, the former NASA Public affairs officer. Here are some links to blogs discussing it:

Phil Plaits Blog:

www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2006/02/07/deutsch-resigns-from-nasa/

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From the world of crap:

blogs.salon.com/0002874/2006/02/04.html

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From NASA Watch:

www.nasawatch.com/archives/2006/02/george_deutsch_1.html

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And the Original blog that started it all and was the genesis of the resignation, none other than Nick Anthis of the "Scientific Activist":

scientificactivist.blogspot.com/2006/02/breaking-news-george-deutsch-did-not.html

My contribution to his blog:

Chicago Astronomer Joe said...
Nick,

You are to be congratulated and recognized for revealing what should never have been allowed to occur. You did the job that NASA wasn't allowed to find out.

Was the punk a patsy?...perhaps. A cog in a large wheel of ignorance, but you got him! And in a sense, you got them all. In my activities, I have been instrumental in the removal of incompetence and corruption from high positions in this fair city...and let me tell you, I sleep better. Sometimes, the little guy wins!...

I have highlighted this thread on my astronomical forum, and if you were here in Chicago, I would buy you a drink!

Kudos, my friend.

Joe Guzmán
Administrator
The Chicago Astronomer
astronomer.proboards23.com

Wed Feb 08, 05:50:55 PM

------

There are quite a few links on his site discussing this and relaying the news. I highly recommend a perusal...

He deserves the Medal of Freedom, Pulitzer or some other recognitions for his nosing around and discovering the 24 year old punks deception. Good journalism.

Hansen must be smiling!... ;D

All my best Nick... #Thumbsup#

[Centaur]

On Monday I expressed my concern over the NASA/Hansen/Deutsch situation through e-mails to my two US Senators (Durbin & Obama) and my US Representative (Kirk). Sen. Durbin’s assistant phoned immediately and assured me they were on the case. I have not yet heard from the other two. Kirk is in the President’s party, and Obama is apparently having too much fun trying to give Sen. McCain anger management lessons.

Also on Monday I e-mailed NASA PAO George Deutsch to discuss his behavior. Tuesday I asked him to verify his college degree. I received no responses from him. Then I alerted NY Times environmental reporter Andrew Revkin to Nick Anthis’ blog regarding Deutsch’s resume. Here is Andy's response, which I received Wednesday morning.

indeed.
after seeing nicholas's post monday night, i checked directly with registrat at TAMU and confirmed.
story came out last nite in NYT>
www.nytimes.com/2006/02/08/politics/08nasa.html

Shortly after I alerted NASA headquarters to the confirmation, Deutsch resigned.

thanks for reading!
andy

Our campaign to oust Deutsch may have succeeded too quickly. Now the higher-ups may not feel compelled to answer for Deutsch’s misdeeds while in office, since he appears to have resigned over a resume flap. As NASA scientist James Hansen warned on Tuesday, the censorship problem has become pervasive across federal agencies.

Far more needs to be done to root out this evil. If you object to political commissars filtering scientific (or any other) research before it reaches you, then express your concern to your federal legislators. Just type each one’s name into a browser, and you will quickly find his/her website and contact procedure.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Curt,

No...let's not feel we acted too hastily. It is a victory over incompetence, ignorance and brash bullying.

Perhaps we could have squeezed more juice out of this, but I am content for now to have this punk out. Damn....I can't seem to find a pic of this kid...

I commend you - ( ) - for notifying your representatives and the NYT, and it was something I should have done. It has rung with me and as always...I learned something from you. I will in the future. Perhaps we could use the Chicago Astronomer as a platform to use as a tool in future endeavours such as this.

The little guy won out, albeit a small victory...many are grateful at NASA and in the space/astronomical community for this developement. There's a place for the likes of him in the fast food service industry.

Martini's for everyone!

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Jim Hansen - Unmuzzled!

In recent developements at NASA regarding the disgraced resignation of the man-child, I did some looking into Hansen's activities and thought I would pass along some interesting links.

---------------

Putting Some Heat on Bush

In his worn navy windbreaker, 63-year-old climatologist James E. Hansen looks more like the Iowa farm native that he is than a rebel -- but he's both.

Hansen, a lifelong government employee who heads NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, has inspired both anger and awe in the nation's scientific and political communities since publicly denouncing the Bush administration's policy on climate change last year.

Speaking in the swing state of Iowa days before the presidential election, Hansen accused a senior administration official of trying to block him from discussing the dangerous effects of global warming.

In the University of Iowa speech, Hansen recounted how NASA Administrator "Sean O'Keefe" ( Another incompetent - ), told him in a 2003 meeting that he shouldn't talk "about dangerous anthropogenic interference" -- humans' influence on the atmosphere -- "because we do not know enough or have enough evidence for what would constitute dangerous anthropogenic interference."

But Hansen said that scientists know enough to conclude we have reached this danger point and that their efforts to get the word out are being blocked by the administration. "In my more than three decades in government, I have never seen anything approaching the degree to which information flow from scientists to the public has been screened and controlled as it has now," Hansen said. He added that although the administration wants to wait 10 years to evaluate climate change, "delay of another decade, I argue, is a colossal risk."

Hansen, who also took on Bush's father, President George H.W. Bush, on the question of climate change in the late 1980s, is undeterred. An advocate for caps on carbon dioxide emissions and stricter fuel standards for automobiles -- two policies that Bush advisers say would hurt the U.S. economy -- Hansen said he has to oppose what he said is the government's choice to delay action on new regulations to limit emissions under the guise of seeking more scientific research.


Full story here from the Washington Post: www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19162-2005Jan18.html


--------------

Here is an Audio interview with Hansen who talks about NASA and climate change on Boston's NPR radio station

.
---

The lead story on page one of the New York Times last Sunday read: top NASA climate scientist says the Bush administration is trying to stop him from speaking out on global warming.

The scientist is James E. Hansen - NASA's number one climate watcher, who says he's been muzzled on a dire threat facing the planet. The media James Hansen was trying to talk to? Well, yes, it was NPR, as the Times reported, but more specifically, it was us -- On Point.

And today he will talk to us about the danger of a different planet being inevitable soon without dramatic action, and the danger of politics cutting the public off from the warnings of their own scientists.

Listen to a conversation with NASA's top climate scientist James E. Hansen -- unmuzzled.


Hear it here: tinyurl.com/by3xo

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And here is Hansen's NASA webpage on Space studies:

www.giss.nasa.gov/

==========

Imagine a 24 year old punk kid checking over a 63 year old expert's work.

[Centaur]

admin said:

Hear it here: tinyurl.com/9jsxf

Are the politcal commissars at work again? All I get from the link is "The page cannot be found."

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Try this....


www.onpointradio.org/shows/2006/02/20060203_a_main.asp

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

No gags on science

January 31, 2006

IF THE United States is ever going to get serious about climate change, it will be because scientists like NASA's James E. Hansen persuade the public that the Bush administration's policy of denial is a prescription for disaster. But the public won't get to hear the truth from Hansen if the administration has its way. Ever since Hansen said in December that unchecked greenhouse gas emissions could make the earth ''a different planet," NASA has tried to control the public appearances and interviews of its premier climate scientist. Instead of muzzling Hansen, President Bush should be listening very carefully.

Hansen and other scientists studied the most recent data, including 2005 temperature readings that made it the warmest year on record, and concluded that policy makers have to be concerned about ''tipping points" in global warming. There could be irreversible changes, such as the breakup of the Greenland or West Antarctic ice sheets, with sea level increases flooding densely inhabited coasts. Another ''tipping point" could occur if warming causes the Gulf Stream current to shut down, which would lead to Siberian conditions in Northern Europe.

If Americans knew more about scenarios like these, they would reject the Bush administration's feel-good mantra that climate change deserves more study but no mandatory action. Effective action would require two policy changes that Bush opposes: raising the fuel-efficiency standards of cars and sport utility vehicles, and capping the carbon dioxide emissions of the nation's electric plants. Carbon dioxide is the main greenhouse gas contributing to global warming. Coal, the fuel that emits the most carbon dioxide, produces 51 percent of the nation's electric power.

The attempted gagging of Hansen, first reported in The New York Times, is just the latest example of the administration obscuring the facts on global warming. In 2002, the Environmental Protection Agency was forced to omit a section on the risks of climate change from an annual report that for six years had included the subject. In 2003, the EPA buried an analysis by its staff showing that a carbon-capping proposal by Senators John McCain and Joseph Lieberman would not cause any serious harm to the economy.

President Clinton, whose record on climate change was scarcely better than Bush's, called it the world's biggest problem at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland on Saturday. It could, he said, ''fundamentally end the march of civilization as we know it, and make a lot of the other efforts that we're making irrelevant and impossible." The presidency of Clinton's successor risks becoming irrelevant if it doesn't take Hansen's warnings seriously.

Story source here from the Boston Globe: www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2006/01/31/no_gags_on_science/

======

I like non-conformists!... #Thumbsup#

[Centaur]

I’ve received another call from Sen. Dick Durbin’s aide regarding the situation. As I feared might delay a deeper investigation, the Senator plans to lay low on this issue for now because Deutsch is out of the picture and some will want to look upon this as merely being a false resume case. Not being with the party in power means he has to be more selective in choosing an example of political interference that can be pursued aggressively. In the meantime, he would encourage anyone with knowledge of coercion of federal agency experts by public affairs officers to contact his office at: [e-mail] or [phone].

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Hansen to Speak on the Issue

This from the Bad Astronomer blog:

"Just a quick update: Jim Hansen will be speaking Friday in New York about global warming and the recent kerfuffle at NASA. He will be speaking as part of panel on the recent attacks on science. The speaker lineup is very impressive. I have also been told it won’t be webcast, which is unfortunate. However, a lot of press will be there, so we’ll be reading about it this weekend."

======

Let's see what tidbits come out of this gathering.

Also,

Curt,

Excellent that you are in contact with Durbin's office, and appraised on their stance. Let's all keep a strong tie to our Federal Representatives and make sure we are heard...

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Former NASA Spokesman Speaks Out - Does a Radio interview

A controversy involving allegations of censorship at NASA has apparently led to the resignation of a public affairs officer at the agency.

George Deutsch, 24, was the junior spokesman in Washington for the agency. He joined the agency after working for the Bush election campaign in 2004.

Deutsch is accused of threatening a NASA scientist with "dire consequences" for his stance on global warming.

James Hansen, NASA's chief climatologist, claimed in a January 29 story in the New York Times that the White House was trying to restrain his comments on the consequences of global warming.

Deutsch's resignation comes not only after that story was published, but also after allegations came to light that he had falsified his resume.

Deutsch's resume allegedly claimed he had an undergraduate degree in journalism from Texas A&M.

However, university records indicated Deutsch left school before receiving his degree. The audio in this story is a four-part interview with George Deutsch by WTAW's Brian Cain.

Access to the radio interview can be found here: wtaw.com/news.php?phase=show&item=1080

===========

Let's listen to the man-child twist and turn. I wonder why he agreed to it anyway?... #dunno#

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Former NASA Public Affairs Official Says He's Under Attack

A staffer who resigned from NASA after he was accused of restricting access to a noted climate scientist said Thursday he was targeted because of his political ties.

George C. Deutsch, 24, resigned from the agency's public relations department earlier this week.

“What you do have is hearsay coming from a handful of people who have clear partisan ties and they are really coming after me as a Bush appointee,'' he told radio station WTAW. “I was an easy target. I was low-hanging fruit.''

The New York Times reported Wednesday that Deutsch attempted to limit reporters' access to Jim Hansen, a noted NASA climate scientist, and insisted that a Web designer insert the word “theory'' before any mention of the Big Bang.

Deutsch denied the allegations.

“I have never been told to censor science, to squelch anything or to insert religion into any issue, absolutely not,'' said the former Bush campaign worker.

Source from Space.com: www.space.com/news/ap_060210_deutsch_response.html
=============

How can one take the word of the man-child when he lied about the credentials? There are plenty of Bush appointees a NASA, many incompetent and brash, but this kid went beyond what was necessary. I do believe that he got pressure from above to qualm Hansen's wake up call, but let's hope the thugs, political hacks-cronys-pals and other idiots leave science to the experts...

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

NASA Revising Public Affairs Policies

NASA is revising its public affairs policies following allegations that political appointees tried to muzzle the agency's top climatologist, who is known for speaking his mind about global warming.

NASA Administrator Mike Griffin told a luncheon audience here Feb. 9 that scrutiny of the agency's communications policies and procedures would continue despite the abrupt resignation of NASA press aide George Deutsch, the 24-year-old political appointee thrust into the spotlight in late January when The New York Times reported allegations that he took part in an effort to stifle climatologist James E. Hansen, the outspoken director of the New York-based Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

Hansen's claims prompted House Science Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.) to send Griffin a sternly worded letter criticizing NASA's conduct. "It ought to go without saying that government scientists must be free to describe their scientific conclusions and the implications of those conclusions to their fellow scientists, policymakers and the general public," Boehlert wrote.

David Goldston, a long-time Boehlert aide and the Science Committee's staff director, told Space News that Boehlert's concerns did not end with Deutsch's resignation. "It's not over as far as we are concerned and we are glad to see it's not over as far as NASA is concerned either," Goldston said. "George Deutsch was part of the problem but he wasn't the whole problem, and NASA is quite properly pursuing other elements of the problem including the need to develop clearer policies."

Goldston, who has been working with NASA to investigate Hansen's claims that public affairs personnel tried to silence and intimidate him, said he was pleased that NASA appears to share Boehlert's commitment to see the problem resolved.

"There are people other than George Deutsch, both political and career, who have mishandled matters concerning Hansen and perhaps other scientists," Goldston said. "But again NASA is not taking a case-closed attitude toward this and they are doing exactly what we would hope and expect. The chairman has spoken directly to the administrator and deputy administrator about this and both of them have the same exact attitude as we do about openness and they're doing exactly what they should be doing."

In Griffin's first public comments about the controversy since authoring a "Statement on Scientific Openness" sent to agency personnel and later posted to the NASA Web site, he reaffirmed his commitment to free discourse but also talked about the importance of maintaining clear distinctions between factual observations and policy recommendations.

"Nothing is more important to this agency or to me than a free and open discourse on technical subjects," Griffin said during a question-and-answer session following his National Space Club speech. "Now there is a line where technical subjects cross over into policy recommendations. ... Some folks don't wish to observe that line. And if they don't, as long as people speak as private citizens, my attitude is let me hold your coat for you. You can get into that fray and get beat up. You just can't label it as an agency position."

Deutsch, in his first interview since he resigned Feb. 7 after it was revealed that he misrepresented his academic credentials to NASA, said that he had done nothing improper and that he was the victim of a partisan smear campaign.

"There has yet to be any proof of any scientific watering down or any scientific censorship coming out of NASA in regards to Hansen or anybody else. What you do have is hearsay coming from a handful of people who have clear partisan ties and they are really coming after me and the rest of the Bush appointees because this is a partisan issue," Deutsch said in a Feb. 9 interview with Bryan, Tex.-based WTAW News Talk radio. "It's a culture war issue.

They do not like Republicans. They do not like people who support the president. They do not like Christians. And if you are perceived as disagreeing with them, or being one of those people, they will stop at nothing to discredit you."

Full story here at Spacenews.com: www.space.com/spacenews/businessmonday_060213.html

===============

This kid is nuts!...

Incompetence and corruption knows no political affiliation, or religious belief. A bully comes in all colors and sizes...glad one got slapped down!... #Thumbsup#

Now...let's identify the rest.

[Maddad]

admin said:

“I was an easy target. I was low-hanging fruit.''

Some just think he was a fruit.

[Centaur]

AFP published an article today that begins:

ST. LOUIS, United States (AFP) - The US space agency NASA is under increasing pressure from Congress and the scientific community to make sure its researchers remain independent after the agency's top expert on climate publicly denounced attempts to censor his work.

For the full article, click:

news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060222/sc_afp/usscienceclimatenasa_060222024902

[Centaur]

NASA scientists appear pleased with their admistrator's handling of the censorship controversy. See NY Times article:

www.nytimes.com/2006/03/14/politics/14nasa.html?th&emc=th

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Scientists Commend NASA's Progress on Communications

A review of communications policies at NASA, set off by reports that political appointees had tried to muzzle some agency scientists, received a public vote of support yesterday from dozens of scientists and other staff members at the space agency.

More than 140 NASA scientists, engineers and other civil servants from research centers across the country put their names on a statement, distributed in an e-mail message last night, that applauded the agency's administrator, Michael D. Griffin, for following up on his Feb. 4 pledge of "scientific openness."

"His subsequent actions have reinforced his words," the statement said.

The review began after political appointees altered news releases and Web presentations against the wishes of some NASA scientists and tried to restrict public comments by James E. Hansen, a top NASA climate scientist. Dr. Hansen has repeatedly said that global warming caused by humans poses an urgent threat, a position at odds with that of the Bush administration.

Several civil servants involved in the review said in recent interviews that they were confident that the changes being considered would, if they gained final approval, limit the potential for political interference.

=======
Thanks for the link Curt...

Great I say, but the insidious spector of this type of people are all around us and in the dark corners of NASA.

Load them all up and shoot them to Enceladus...plenty of water there...

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

NASA announces new communications policy

In what is being described as a new "commitment to openness -- NASA's administrator in Washington issued a new communications policy.

Administrator Michael D. Griffin said Thursday the policy details the role of those who release information to the public directly or through the news media, The New York Times reported Friday.

Griffin said the new policy ensures that NASA scientists and engineers can discuss their work in public and state their opinions, however, when they state a personal opinion, the NASA scientist should make clear that it is personal and not agency policy.

Two months ago, James E. Hansen, director of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, told The Times the Bush administration had tried to keep him from speaking after he gave a lecture in December calling for reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases linked to global warming. Hansen and other agency officials said administration appointees had demanded to review his lectures and publications in advance.

Griffin said political appointees would not unduly influence the new openness policy.

Story here: www.physorg.com/news63036577.html

===========

Let's hope so.

[Centaur]

Pasted below is the response I received from Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill) regarding the letter I mentioned earlier in this thread.
____________________________

Dear Curt:

Thank you for contacting me with your concerns about political appointments at NASA and their influence on the focus of the Administration. I appreciate the benefit of your comments on this matter.

I share your view of the importance of maintaining America's leadership in science and technology. I am committed to working with my colleagues in the Senate to find the most effective way to support our scientists and engineers, while also investing in our youth to meet the growing worldwide demand for educated individuals in the math and sciences. American companies and technological leadership has been spurred by important NASA research. I appreciate your suggestion that NASA should focus on unmanned scientific missions, and I will share your comments with my colleagues on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, which has jurisdiction over NASA.

Also, government officials should be expected to have expertise in their respective fields of employment, and that they should be held to high standards when they are in such important positions. Furthermore, the American people have a right to expect that policy decisions will be based on substantiated evidence, not conjecture or politically skewed research. There is no question that American politicians must make a better effort to keep politics out of policy, especially in times like these. I will look further into the allegations about Mr. Deutsch's behavior.

Again, Curt, thank you for contacting me with your concerns. Please stay in touch.

Sincerely,

Barack Obama
United States Senator