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replied to petersuber's status

Update. From , "I Used to Run the . Here’s What Worries Me."
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/opinion/trump-public-health-funding-nih.html

"I’ve spent over five decades as a scientist in academia and the federal government, including as director of the NIH. Never before have I seen my profession so politicized as it is now under the administration…For baffling reasons, the executive branch is now waging war on America’s scientific enterprise. This assault includes nominating leaders hostile to science and unqualified for their roles; issuing a barrage of executive orders that disrupt research by restricting meetings, publications, travel and grant making; censoring ideas and even certain words from scientific discourse; and trying to withhold billions of dollars from universities and other research institutions that help pay the costs of research."

PS: In addition to being a former NIH director, Varmus is a Nobel laureate (1989 Medicine) and co-founder of @ …

Update. "The Trump Administration Is Targeting Science. The Scientific Integrity Act Could Help Protect It."
https://blog.ucsusa.org/kellickson/the-trump-administration-is-targeting-science-the-scientific-integrity-act-could-help-protect-it/

"The Scientific Integrity Act ( Act) is a bipartisan bill re-introduced on February 6th in the US House of Representatives… [It] would include language prohibiting scientific or research misconduct; preventing intimidation or attempted coercion to alter or censor scientific or technical findings; and allowing public dissemination of scientific and technical findings…It would ensure that scientific conclusions are not made based on political considerations but based on the best available science."

Update. "The administration and Elon are reportedly taking aim at , the agency responsible for the National Weather Service and many other crucial functions."
https://www.fastcompany.com/91274927/trump-wants-to-dismantle-the-agency-that-provides-weather-forecasts-it-will-make-your-life-worse

" specifically noted NOAA as a target, as well. The Heritage Foundation’s 900-page right-wing playbook called the agency “one of the main drivers of the change alarm industry” and recommended it be “dismantled and many of its functions eliminated” and instead . It’s not clear what that would look like, though experts have said it isn’t a good idea—and that private weather companies wouldn’t even want that change because they’d have to bear the cost of collecting weather data that’s currently given to them for free."

replied to petersuber's status

Update. I applaud this open letter from 48 US scientific societies to US researchers, educators, and academics.
https://unitedsciencealliance.org/

"Today, science is under threat…We need scientific research to support the health and safety of people and our planet. We need policy decisions that are grounded in research and data…We will champion scientific integrity, including academic freedom, the inclusion of diverse perspectives, and policies grounded in scientific evidence…Scientific truths are nonpartisan. It has never been more important to recommit to scientific knowledge, and to ensure you have access to data, are free from censorship, and are able to do your valuable work."


@academicchatter

Update. "This position is a response to concerns raised regarding prohibition of specific terminology, and restrictions on researchers’ activities and collaborations. [Committee on Publication Ethics] considers that authors and editors are best placed to determine the appropriate language to be used in their respective fields, to ensure that research is communicated appropriately…COPE supports the World Association of Medical Editors ()’s statement that editorial decisions must remain unaffected by the authors’ nationality, ethnicity, political beliefs, race, or religion. Publication choices should not be swayed by external governmental policies, unless compliance with applicable laws is at stake.”
https://publicationethics.org/guidance/cope-position/banned-terms-scholarly-publications-and-restrictions-researchers-activities

replied to petersuber's status

Update. The Union of Concerned Scientists (, @ucsusa) just released this open letter to Congress. I signed and hope you will too.
https://secure.ucsusa.org/a/2024-save-science-save-lives

"I am asking you to defend the science and scientists that keep Americans safe. The Trump administration's current agenda is eviscerating the protections that Americans count on and support: clean air and water; safe food and medicine; products that won't harm us; and protection from extreme weather and other damaging effects of climate change…Protecting rigorous and independent science is a common-sense, nonpartisan goal."

replied to petersuber's status

Update. "Join academic workers across the country in fighting restrictions on research - Feb. 19th Rally."
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe53wTzsA1T6b6-QxZtt20Yq1k2IX23YnDgKCli4mcTMRwYLA/viewform

"For the last three weeks, we have seen unprecedented attacks on science that have severely impacted our day-to-day work as scientists, researchers, and clinicians - funding that sustains critical scientific research to improve human health has been dramatically cut, research is being censored, and scientists are losing their jobs…The work we do is a public good and essential for the health of each and every American, now and in the future. We must fight to save science so we can continue doing the work that keeps Americans healthy."

h/t @ClimateJenny

replied to petersuber's status

Update. @juddlegum and provide more evidence that the team is taking down valuable govt pages — this time pages on workplace safety — that use language in ways that have nothing to do with the kind of DEI Trumpists oppose.
https://popular.info/p/in-botched-dei-purge-osha-trashes

For example, they're taking down pages that refer to "diversity of state-specific…regulatory requirements" and "diverse conditions under which EMS responders could work."

PS: It's no accident that this might remind you of the brainless firing of US nuclear security staffers, which Trumpists are still trying to reverse. Autopilot ransacking.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/16/us/politics/trump-national-nuclear-security-administration-employees-firings.html