Yahoo! News - Bloggers Make Debut at Democratic Convention:
"The Democratic Party invited a select list of Internet bloggers to cover the convention for the first time, treating them like any other credentialed reporter. The Republicans will do the same at their convention in New York which begins on Aug. 30. "
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Los Angeles Times: Bush Took Quote Out of Context, Researcher Says
Los Angeles Times: Bush Took Quote Out of Context, Researcher Says
How could the President of the United States possibly be placed in this situation. He cites an unpublished, undergraduate paper on the positions of Fidel Castro and the Cuban government, and gets it wrong! Who checks materials before they are submitted to President Bush?
How could the President of the United States possibly be placed in this situation. He cites an unpublished, undergraduate paper on the positions of Fidel Castro and the Cuban government, and gets it wrong! Who checks materials before they are submitted to President Bush?
A Very Bad Idea!
Ideas on WHO Delegates at Odds (washingtonpost.com):
"WHO has agreed to send invitations to specific scientists through the U.S. government, rather than to contact the experts directly. This arrangement, largely a matter of protocol, is one the organization has with China, Russia and a few other of its 192 member countries.
"HHS officials, however, believe WHO has acceded to its request that the U.S. government be allowed to 'identify an appropriate expert who can best serve both of our organizations' after WHO provides a general description of the expertise it is seeking."
It is hard enough for WHO to put together a good expert committee without HHS getting in the way! Getting a group together that knows the current scientific and clinical literature, and the health conditions in the countries that need help from WHO is hard. WHO deals with real issues -- the best treatment for malaria, how to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, how to deal with malnutrition, diahrreal disease and respiratory disease. Failure in the quality of advice given by such committees is measured in death and disability. Scientists and doctors generally see an ethical responsibility to participate in these meetings giving their best advice, independent of the political stance of their governments.
The article goes on to say that HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson's special assistant for international affairs, William R. "Steiger also noted that federal employees 'do not and cannot' participate as individuals but 'serve as representatives of the U.S. government at all times and advocate U.S. government policies.'" If so, I hope they will no longer be invited to serve on committees of the Institute of Medicine, the National Academy of Sciences, nor the National Academy of Engineering. The Academies expect people they appoint to give their individual best professional judgment, not the positions of their employers.
"WHO has agreed to send invitations to specific scientists through the U.S. government, rather than to contact the experts directly. This arrangement, largely a matter of protocol, is one the organization has with China, Russia and a few other of its 192 member countries.
"HHS officials, however, believe WHO has acceded to its request that the U.S. government be allowed to 'identify an appropriate expert who can best serve both of our organizations' after WHO provides a general description of the expertise it is seeking."
It is hard enough for WHO to put together a good expert committee without HHS getting in the way! Getting a group together that knows the current scientific and clinical literature, and the health conditions in the countries that need help from WHO is hard. WHO deals with real issues -- the best treatment for malaria, how to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, how to deal with malnutrition, diahrreal disease and respiratory disease. Failure in the quality of advice given by such committees is measured in death and disability. Scientists and doctors generally see an ethical responsibility to participate in these meetings giving their best advice, independent of the political stance of their governments.
The article goes on to say that HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson's special assistant for international affairs, William R. "Steiger also noted that federal employees 'do not and cannot' participate as individuals but 'serve as representatives of the U.S. government at all times and advocate U.S. government policies.'" If so, I hope they will no longer be invited to serve on committees of the Institute of Medicine, the National Academy of Sciences, nor the National Academy of Engineering. The Academies expect people they appoint to give their individual best professional judgment, not the positions of their employers.
Monday, July 19, 2004
Too many countries?
Economist.com | Too many countries?
:
"'Why Globalisation Works' is a long, serious book, addressed to economists and to academics in neighbouring disciplines as much as to the intelligent general reader. But Mr Wolf writes in plain, taut English, without gimmicks or condescension. His book is the definitive treatment of the subject, and an absorbing read for anybody with an appetite for moderate intellectual exertion."
:
"'Why Globalisation Works' is a long, serious book, addressed to economists and to academics in neighbouring disciplines as much as to the intelligent general reader. But Mr Wolf writes in plain, taut English, without gimmicks or condescension. His book is the definitive treatment of the subject, and an absorbing read for anybody with an appetite for moderate intellectual exertion."
The Journal : Can we achieve health information for all by 2015?
The Lancet: "Can we achieve health information for all by 2015?" :
"Universal access to information for health professionals is a prerequisite for meeting the Millennium Development Goals and achieving Health for All. However, despite the promises of the information revolution, and some successful initiatives, there is little if any evidence that the majority of health professionals in the developing world are any better informed than they were 10 years ago. Lack of access to information remains a major barrier to knowledge-based health care in developing countries. The development of reliable, relevant, usable information can be represented as a system that requires cooperation among a wide range of professionals including health-care providers, policy makers, researchers, publishers, information professionals, indexers, and systematic reviewers. The system is not working because it is poorly understood, unmanaged, and under-resourced. This Public Health article proposes that WHO takes the lead in championing the goal of 'Universal access to essential health-care information by 2015' or 'Health Information for All'. Strategies for achieving universal access include funding for research into barriers to use of information, evaluation and replication of successful initiatives, support for interdisciplinary networks, information cycles, and communities of practice, and the formation of national policies on health information. "
"Universal access to information for health professionals is a prerequisite for meeting the Millennium Development Goals and achieving Health for All. However, despite the promises of the information revolution, and some successful initiatives, there is little if any evidence that the majority of health professionals in the developing world are any better informed than they were 10 years ago. Lack of access to information remains a major barrier to knowledge-based health care in developing countries. The development of reliable, relevant, usable information can be represented as a system that requires cooperation among a wide range of professionals including health-care providers, policy makers, researchers, publishers, information professionals, indexers, and systematic reviewers. The system is not working because it is poorly understood, unmanaged, and under-resourced. This Public Health article proposes that WHO takes the lead in championing the goal of 'Universal access to essential health-care information by 2015' or 'Health Information for All'. Strategies for achieving universal access include funding for research into barriers to use of information, evaluation and replication of successful initiatives, support for interdisciplinary networks, information cycles, and communities of practice, and the formation of national policies on health information. "
Scientists horrified by Bush's Bad Science | The Register
Scientists horrified by Bush's Bad Science | The Register:
"What started as a group of 62 scientists fighting what they saw as Bad Science being practiced by the Bush administration has now bloated to a body with more than 4,000 whitecoats calling for change."
"What started as a group of 62 scientists fighting what they saw as Bad Science being practiced by the Bush administration has now bloated to a body with more than 4,000 whitecoats calling for change."
NASA Denies Funding for Key Satellite (washingtonpost.com)
NASA Denies Funding for Key Satellite (washingtonpost.com):
"NASA is allowing a highly successful satellite to fall out of Earth's orbit by refusing to fund it for as little as $28 million, dismaying the scientists and forecasters who use its unique abilities to study climate change and track hurricanes."
Some possible explanations:
If you don't want to acknowledge climate change, then its not a good idea to fund data collection that would document the change?
Good unmanned missions are more cost effective than manned missions. Planning future missions costs less now than funding ongoing missions, future administrations have to pay the costs of new missions, and indeed will suffer from the information lost from prematurely discontinued missions. Manned missions generate more public interest and more political benefit from the party in power than do unmanned missions. If politics matter more than knowledge, one might prematurely curtail current unmanned missions to plan future manned missions.
"NASA is allowing a highly successful satellite to fall out of Earth's orbit by refusing to fund it for as little as $28 million, dismaying the scientists and forecasters who use its unique abilities to study climate change and track hurricanes."
Some possible explanations:
If you don't want to acknowledge climate change, then its not a good idea to fund data collection that would document the change?
Good unmanned missions are more cost effective than manned missions. Planning future missions costs less now than funding ongoing missions, future administrations have to pay the costs of new missions, and indeed will suffer from the information lost from prematurely discontinued missions. Manned missions generate more public interest and more political benefit from the party in power than do unmanned missions. If politics matter more than knowledge, one might prematurely curtail current unmanned missions to plan future manned missions.
The New York Times > Washington > Intelligence: Tiny Agency's Iraq Analysis Is Better Than Big Rivals'
The New York Times > Washington > Intelligence: Tiny Agency's Iraq Analysis Is Better Than Big Rivals':
"With just 165 analysts, the bureau is about one-tenth the size of the Central Intelligence Agency's analytical arm. But its analysts tend to be older (most are in their 40's and 50's), more experienced and more likely to come from academic backgrounds than those at other agencies, and they are more often encouraged to devote their careers to the study of a particular issue or region."
This article is not about K4D, but it does suggest that the quality of analysis (and therefore of the knowledge it produces) is perhaps more dependent on the quality than the quality of the analysts, and that experience and intellectual training of the analysts may be key indicators of the quality of analysis.
What a surprise!
"With just 165 analysts, the bureau is about one-tenth the size of the Central Intelligence Agency's analytical arm. But its analysts tend to be older (most are in their 40's and 50's), more experienced and more likely to come from academic backgrounds than those at other agencies, and they are more often encouraged to devote their careers to the study of a particular issue or region."
This article is not about K4D, but it does suggest that the quality of analysis (and therefore of the knowledge it produces) is perhaps more dependent on the quality than the quality of the analysts, and that experience and intellectual training of the analysts may be key indicators of the quality of analysis.
What a surprise!
Saturday, July 17, 2004
U.S. Blocks Aid to U.N. Population Fund (washingtonpost.com)
U.S. Blocks Aid to U.N. Population Fund (washingtonpost.com):
"The Bush administration will withhold $34 million in congressionally approved assistance to the U.N. Population Fund because of the fund's connection to China and forced abortions, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said yesterday."
"The Bush administration will withhold $34 million in congressionally approved assistance to the U.N. Population Fund because of the fund's connection to China and forced abortions, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said yesterday."
Monday, July 12, 2004
New Cases of Scientific Abuse by Administration Emerge
New Cases of Scientific Abuse by Administration Emerge
: Union of Concerned Scientists
"Thousands More Scientists Join Protest"
: Union of Concerned Scientists
"Thousands More Scientists Join Protest"
Yahoo! News - U.S. Science Policy Swayed by Politics, Group Says
Yahoo! News - U.S. Science Policy Swayed by Politics, Group Says:
"The Bush administration is still packing scientific advisory panels with ideologues and is imposing strict controls on researchers who want to share ideas with colleagues in other countries, a group of scientists charged on Thursday. "
"The Bush administration is still packing scientific advisory panels with ideologues and is imposing strict controls on researchers who want to share ideas with colleagues in other countries, a group of scientists charged on Thursday. "
Friday, July 09, 2004
U.S. Cuts Number of Delegates to World AIDS Meeting
U.S. Cuts Number of Delegates to World AIDS Meeting (washingtonpost.com):
"The move, which officials say is to save money, is interpreted by many AIDS experts as payback for the heckling of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson at the last AIDS conference and further evidence of a 'go-it-alone' attitude in the administration's global AIDS program. "
"The move, which officials say is to save money, is interpreted by many AIDS experts as payback for the heckling of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson at the last AIDS conference and further evidence of a 'go-it-alone' attitude in the administration's global AIDS program. "
Thursday, July 08, 2004
The New York Times > International > Asia Pacific > Health Experts Worry Over Return of Bird Flu in Asia
The New York Times > International > Asia Pacific > Health Experts Worry Over Return of Bird Flu in Asia:
"International health officials are increasingly concerned that a deadly strain of avian influenza has become nearly impossible to wipe out in Asian birds and will pose a continuing threat of starting a global pandemic in people."
But will we hear about it from China this time?
"International health officials are increasingly concerned that a deadly strain of avian influenza has become nearly impossible to wipe out in Asian birds and will pose a continuing threat of starting a global pandemic in people."
But will we hear about it from China this time?
WHO Wants to Start Drug Trial Registry (washingtonpost.com)
WHO Wants to Start Drug Trial Registry (washingtonpost.com):
"The World Health Organization wants to establish an international registry of drug trials to ensure that the public finds out when medications do not work, as well as when they do, officials said yesterday."
"The World Health Organization wants to establish an international registry of drug trials to ensure that the public finds out when medications do not work, as well as when they do, officials said yesterday."
China's 'Honest Doctor'
China's 'Honest Doctor' (washingtonpost.com):
"IN THE MINDS of China's leaders, Jiang Yanyong, the 72-year-old army surgeon who became a national hero for exposing the Chinese government's coverup of the SARS epidemic, could now be the single most dangerous individual to the country. "
"IN THE MINDS of China's leaders, Jiang Yanyong, the 72-year-old army surgeon who became a national hero for exposing the Chinese government's coverup of the SARS epidemic, could now be the single most dangerous individual to the country. "
Tuesday, July 06, 2004
Drugmakers Prefer Silence On Test Data (washingtonpost.com)
Drugmakers Prefer Silence On Test Data (washingtonpost.com):
"The pharmaceutical industry has repeatedly violated federal law by failing to disclose the existence of large numbers of its clinical trials to a government database, according to the Food and Drug Administration. "
"The pharmaceutical industry has repeatedly violated federal law by failing to disclose the existence of large numbers of its clinical trials to a government database, according to the Food and Drug Administration. "
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