Thinking as a Hobby 3477732 Curiosities served |
2004-07-28 9:10 AM Pro-Science President Previous Entry :: Next Entry Read/Post Comments (1) In this Nature article regarding Ron Reagan's speech and stem cell research, they note:
Now, I'm obviously very pro-science, very interested in science...and I'm really wondering which party and President is more pro-science (or perhaps, less anti-science). First, on the stem cell issue, as I've said before, I strongly support such research, but I won't pretend that it doesn't come with a large amount of controversial baggage. It's a morally thorny issue, and I don't think the Bush compromise (allowing existing stem cell lines to be used for research) was an altogether unreasonable one. As this Forbes article notes, in March 17 new stem cell lines were announced by the private research institute at Harvard, demonstrating that not all good research has to be funded with Federal dollars. When it comes to space exploration, as this article notes:
As with stem cell research, I don't necessarily want to see massive new funding for NASA. What I would like to see, especially from Republicans, is praise for private space flight, the sort of entrepreneurial, competitive, free-market vision that they're supposed to love. I'd like to hear the candidates talk about more deregulation of space and a new era of space exploration led by private industry. Sigh. If anything, Democrats seem more hostile towards the idea of spending money on space exploration. The party of John F. Kennedy seems to have become much less visionary and much more insular. Kennedy tapped into American imagination and our competitive spirit, though that competition was primarily with the Soviet Union. But a visionary today could tap into that same spirit, noting competition among entrepreneurs and innovators. Kerry said:
And this is a common refrain from Democrats. What are we doing in space when we can't take care of problems down here? Without realizing that "up there" and "down here" are linked. That innovation creates new industry which creates new jobs and greater prosperity. On other issues, such as energy, Bush has spoken out in favor of hydrogen cell technology, though from what I understand of it, it's not much of a solution. Bush's missile shield sounds like pretty bad science too. And earlier this year, a bunch of reputable scientists spoke out about what they see as abuses of science by the Federal government:
But as bad as Bush seems to be on the issue of science, I can't help but wonder if Kerry is really any better. Read/Post Comments (1) Previous Entry :: Next Entry Back to Top |
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