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-- 2016 --
September 13: The Psychology Behind Donald Trump's Unwavering Support
Research explains why Donald Trump maintains support despite shocking behavior.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mind-in-the-machine/201609/the-psychology-behind-donald-trumps-unwavering-support
November 10: Trump and Pence on science, in their own words
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2016/11/10/trump-and-pence-on-science-in-their-own-words/?utm_term=.5fe4789becfd
December 13: Donald Trump’s War on Science ... The President-elect’s cabinet appointments speak to a harsh reality: this is an anti-science Administration.
https://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/donald-trumps-war-on-science
December 14: Scientists are Saving Climate Data; This Is Why it Matters
In recent days, efforts have sprung up to archive climate data on federal sites. They’ve been spurred by fears that the Trump administration could take a hostile stance toward climate science and that budget cuts could make data less accessible.
While the administration hasn’t said it’s going to erase or curtail access to climate data, appointments to the Trump transition team and the views of his cabinet nominees have set alarms bells ringing. And with good reason. The data that NASA, EPA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Geological Survey and countless other federal agencies collect is essentially the bedrock of scientific enterprise.
http://www.climatecentral.org/news/scientists-saving-climate-data-why-it-matters-20976
-- 2017 --
January: Preserving Scientific Integrity in Federal Policymaking ... Lessons from the past two administrations and What’s at Stake under the Trump Administration
https://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/attach/2017/01/preserving-scientific-integrity-in-federal-policymaking-ucs-2017.pdf
January 25: Donald Trump's Science Denial Is Becoming National Policy
http://time.com/4646085/donald-trump-science-denial/
March 29: House Votes to Restrict EPA's Use of Scientific Studies ... The bill limits the EPA to using only data available to the public, which would exclude medical records and some peer-reviewed research.
https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2017-03-29/house-votes-to-restrict-epas-use-of-scientific-studies
April 13: Study Confirms Gun Owners Have Smaller Penises
It should be noted that the study only shows a correlation and does not prove a causative effect. That is, while the data clearly show that small penis size is related to gun ownership (4), one cannot say for certain that compensating for small penis size is the motivation for owning a gun. Further research might be helpful in supporting such a causative relationship.
https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2017/04/daniel-zimmerman/study-confirms-gun-owners-smaller-penises-content-contest/
July 21: President Donald Trump’s official nominee for the top science position at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Sam Clovis, has had a varied career—member of the U.S. Air Force, conservative talk show host, economics professor, failed U.S. Senate candidate, a Trump advisor during his Iowa campaign—though none of his roles have been of a scientific nature, even remotely. To boot, Clovis has gone against the consensus of the scientific community and challenges the fact that human action is the main driver of climate change.
https://modernfarmer.com/2017/07/trumps-nominee-usda-science-head-climate-change-skeptic-never-scientist/
July 21: ... there's a stipulation in the Farm Bill that was first added in 2008 that mandates that all nominees to the chief scientist role at the USDA be a scientist -- something Clovis is not.
"The Under Secretary shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, from among distinguished scientists with specialized training or significant experience in agricultural research, education, and economics," the statute reads.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/21/politics/clovis-nominated-to-usda/index.html
July 20: Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue in a statement praised Trump’s nomination of Sam Clovis, a former conservative talk radio show host and professor of business and public policy, for the position.
Perdue said Clovis “has become a trusted advisor and steady hand” who “looks at every problem with a critical eye, relying on sound science and data.”
Clovis has openly questioned the scientific proof for climate change, in a departure from the scientific consensus. In 2014, Clovis said he was “extremely skeptical” of that consensus.
“I have looked at the science and I have enough of a science background to know when I’m being boofed,” he said in an interview on Iowa Public Radio. “And a lot of the science is junk science. It’s not proven.”
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trump-nominates-climate-change-skeptic-usda
July 21: The Union of Concerned Scientists [and others] responded to the nomination with outrage, posting a statement online: "With no background in science, Clovis -- who is also a vocal climate denier -- is an unacceptable and illegal choice for this important role that affects farmers, rural communities, and the health and nutrition of all Americans."
http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/21/politics/clovis-nominated-to-usda/index.html
September 4: That is not all that is controversial about Clovis. As reported by CNN, he used to run a blog on which he wrote racially charged posts, once related being gay with pedophilia and questioned whether President Barack Obama was born in the United States ... Clovis' confirmation hearing before the Senate agriculture committee has not been scheduled.
http://www.npr.org/2017/09/04/547934012/trumps-nominee-to-be-usdas-chief-scientist-is-not-a-scientist
October 21: President Trump's lack of support for science-based decision making has become clear—but we have the power to stop him from putting politics before science at the expense of our health and the environment. This is where our work begins. We must stop him from attacking science and attempting to roll back critical science-based protections.
[let the new Trump administration know we're standing up for science]
https://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/attach/2017/01/preserving-scientific-integrity-in-federal-policymaking-ucs-2017.pdf
November 2: Who is Sam Clovis and how is he connected to Trump, Russia investigation?
Clovis was reportedly questioned by Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team of investigators last week, according to NBC News. Clovis has ties to a former Trump campaign aide who already pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his own Russian connections.
In a letter to Trump, Clovis said he does “not want to be a distraction or a negative influence.” He also mentioned “relentless assaults on you and your team” that "seem to be a blood sport."
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/11/02/who-is-sam-clovis-and-how-is-connected-to-trump-russia-investigation.html
November 2: Sam Clovis withdraws his nomination for USDA’s top scientist post after being linked to Russia probe
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/11/02/sam-clovis-withdraws-nomination-for-udsas-top-scientist-post-after-being-linked-to-russia-probe/?utm_term=.24c4e1333002
December 13: Would you advise Trump on science? Survey examines attitudes of U.S. researchers
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/12/would-you-advise-trump-science-survey-examines-attitudes-us-researchers
December 14: A Year of Trump: Science Is a Major Casualty in the New Politics of Disruption ... From a rollback of environmental protections to attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, here’s a look at the president’s impact on science-related issues
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-year-of-trump-science-is-a-major-casualty-in-the-new-politics-of-disruption/
December 18: No Words Are Actually Banned At The CDC, Its Director Says
https://www.buzzfeed.com/stephaniemlee/the-cdc-director-says-no-banned-words?utm_term=.xqMRv4qPy#.ih0EN40wV
December 19: The 7 words Trump officials banned the CDC from using are now being projected on Trump Hotel
The seven off-limits words [“fetus,” “entitlement,” “diversity,” “transgender,” “vulnerable,” “evidence-based” and “science-based] also applied to supporting materials for Congress and CDC partners.
https://thinkprogress.org/cdc-banned-words-hotel-aba920c8af13/
December 20: "A second HHS agency received similar guidance to avoid using 'entitlement,' 'diversity' and 'vulnerable,' according to an official who took part in a briefing earlier in the week," the Post reported Saturday. "Participants at that agency were also told to use 'Obamacare' instead of ACA, or the Affordable Care Act, and to use 'exchanges' instead of 'marketplaces' to describe the venues where people can purchase health insurance."
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/12/20/572242449/as-cdc-denies-banning-words-hrc-projects-disputed-terms-on-trumps-d-c-hotel
December 20: What we’re seeing ... is not a top-down effort to stamp out certain public-health initiatives, like those that aim to help the LGTBQ community, but, in fact, the opposite: a bottom-up attempt by lifers in the agency to reframe (and thus preserve) the very work they suspect may be in the greatest danger.
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2017/12/there_is_no_ban_on_words_at_the_cdc.html
December 21: Trump's CDC word ban: fact or fiction?
http://triblive.com/news/healthnow/13100410-74/trumps-cdc-word-ban-fact-or-fiction
December 23: In 1795, when considering a new university in his home state of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson pronounced freedom to be “the first-born daughter of science.”
Donald Trump is currently attacking freedom by censoring scientists.
As the New York Times reported in October, scientists in the Environmental Protection Agency were forbidden to speak about climate change at a conference where they were expected to discuss the issue.
It gets worse.
http://www.sunjournal.com/trumps-attacks-on-science/
December 29: Trump Just Made His Most Ridiculous Anti-Science Statement So Far
On Twitter: In the East, it could be the COLDEST New Year’s Eve on record. Perhaps we could use a little bit of that good old Global Warming that our Country, but not other countries, was going to pay TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS to protect against. Bundle up!
December 29
@realDonaldTrump
Here’s the thing, though: this is a weather phenomenon. It isn’t representative of the climate.
http://www.iflscience.com/policy/president-trump-ends2017-taking-dumb-shot-climate-change-science/
-- 2018 --
January 18: Science after a year of President Trump ... After 12 months in office, Trump’s effects on science have been as bad as feared.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-01001-9
January 25: If the Doomsday Clock wants to be relevant, it should at least have a digital version
https://mashable.com/2018/01/25/doomsday-clock-closer-to-midnight-is-flawed/#QAonp1RBhiq3
January 29: Trump is the only climate denier at the helm of a G-20 nation (though Vladimir Putin has flirted with climate denial in the past). He makes the U.S. scientific establishment so furious that some researchers are ditching academia in favor of the campaign trail to oppose his policies from inside the government.
But rather than debunk another baseless thing Trump said about climate science, which others have already done, there's an overlooked, counterintuitive point to be made about Trump's refusal to accept scientific facts. His purposeful ignorance hurts his own agenda.
https://mashable.com/2018/01/29/trump-climate-denial-piers-morgan-hurting-agenda/#PGdTCjXiSaql
January 30: Bill Nye the Science Guy is heading to the U.S. Capitol today (Jan. 30) to watch President Donald Trump give his first annual State of the Union address, the science celebrity announced on Twitter yesterday.
"Tomorrow night, I will attend the State of the Union as a guest of Congressman Jim Bridenstine — nominee for NASA Administrator — who extended me an invitation in my role as CEO of The Planetary Society," Nye tweeted. The Planetary Society, which was co-founded by famed astronomer Carl Sagan in 1980, is a nonprofit organization that advocates for space exploration and funding for planetary science ... "We hope to hear the president make supportive statements regarding space exploration, particularly in the context of recent policy directives supporting human exploration of the moon." Last month, President Trump directed NASA to focus on returning humans to the moon when he announced his first space policy directive.
https://www.space.com/39541-bill-nye-attending-trump-state-of-the-union.html
April 11: Atlantic Ocean circulation at weakest point in more than 1,500 years
New research provides evidence that a key cog in the global ocean circulation system hasn't been running at peak strength since the mid-1800s and is currently at its weakest point in the past 1,600 years. If the system continues to weaken, it could disrupt weather patterns from the United States and Europe to the African Sahel, and cause more rapid increase in sea level on the US East Coast.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180411131642.htm
June 7: Norman always sees the worst in things. ... That's because Norman is a "psychopath" powered by artificial intelligence and developed by the MIT Media Lab.
Norman is an algorithm meant to show how the data behind AI matters deeply.
MIT researchers say they trained Norman using the written captions describing graphic images and video about death posted on the "darkest corners of Reddit," a popular message board platform.
The team then examined Norman's responses to inkblots used in a Rorschach psychological test. Norman's responses were compared to the reaction of another algorithm that had standard training. That algorithm saw flowers and wedding cakes in the inkblots. Norman saw images of a man being fatally shot and a man killed by a speeding driver.
"Norman only observed horrifying image captions, so it sees death in whatever image it looks at," the MIT researchers behind Norman told CNNMoney.
http://money.cnn.com/2018/06/07/technology/mit-media-lab-normal-ai/index.html
August 14: Survey of U.S. government scientists finds range of attitudes toward Trump policies
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/08/survey-us-government-scientists-finds-range-attitudes-toward-trump-policies
September 13: The U.S. Congress today sent President Donald Trump a 2019 spending bill that boosts funding for the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) basic research efforts—and rejects deep cuts to the department’s applied research programs that the White House had proposed.
If Trump signs the bill into law—as many observers expect—DOE’s Office of Science would get a 5.2% spending boost, to $6.585 billion, in fiscal year 2019, which begins 1 October. In contrast, the Trump administration had proposed slashing the Office of Science budget by 13.9% to $5.39 billion.
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/09/congress-sends-trump-energy-spending-bill-includes-healthy-boost-science
September 25: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in Washington, D.C., which funds much of the nation’s biomedical research, has launched a “comprehensive review” of human fetal tissue research, to ensure that it’s complying with laws and regulations. The move comes on the heels of letters to the chiefs of HHS and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in Silver Spring, Maryland, from antiabortion groups and lawmakers decrying a recent FDA contract with a firm that supplies fetal tissue. Fetal tissue research is legal under a 1993 law.
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/09/trump-administration-review-human-fetal-tissue-research
October 17: Trump says he has 'natural instinct for science' when it comes to climate change
President Donald Trump told the Associated Press that he has a "natural instinct for science" that informs his understanding of climate change and allows him to see through the political bias that he accused some scientists of holding.
In his interview, published Wednesday, the president reiterated his belief that the climate is changing but argued that the climate "goes back and forth, back and forth." He claimed that scientists are divided on whether climate change is the result of human activity, even though the vast majority of climate scientists believe that it is.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/10/17/trump-instinct-climate-change-910004
October 25: The White House requested a PowerPoint presentation for President Trump from a group devoted to attacking climate science.
During the transition period after Trump's electoral victory, senior White House aides reached out to the Heartland Institute, a think tank that works to cloud the findings of scientists, to request a presentation on climate change, said James Taylor, the organization's senior fellow for environment and energy policy.
Taylor said the PowerPoint was similar to the group's publication, "Climate Change Reconsidered." The publication, which drew insights from 117 scientists, economists and others, including many funded by the energy industry, concluded that the world needs more fossil fuels and that climate change isn't a problem.
The world's major science academies determined long ago that there is no legitimate academic debate about whether humans are driving climate change. Countless studies have traced how humans are warming the planet at an unprecedented pace through the burning of fossil fuels. Also, global warming is permanently changing parts of the planet, and it won't "go back," as Trump claimed last week.
https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060104341
Undated: We are not holding our breath that President Trump will start backing up his administration’s environmental agenda with scientific facts. But we are holding him accountable for what he says.
President Trump’s torrent of misleading statements and flat-out lies has an army of journalists working 24/7 to set the record straight. To help those who focus, as we do, on climate, energy, and other environmental issues, NRDC will call out Trump whenever he distorts the facts about such matters. Here, we offer our inaugural edition of Trump Lies. We expect to update it regularly.
https://www.nrdc.org/trump-lies
December 19: Open Scientific Collaboration May Be Helping North Korea Cheat Nuclear Sanctions
https://www.npr.org/2018/12/19/675390104/open-scientific-collaboration-may-be-helping-north-korea-cheat-nuclear-sanctions?utm_source=npr_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20181219&utm_campaign=breakingnews&utm_term=nprnews
-- 2019 --
-- 2020 --
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