ShareThisThe Obama administration, publicly committed as it is to let science, not politics, guide scientific decisions, may find that doctrine sorely tested soon. If there's to be any chance a vaccine against the new swine-flu variant can be ready in time to protect people this fall, a decision to start production has to be made by early summer.
But even if the decision is based on science, it will still come with political stakes. Millions of Americans are already dubious about vaccine safety, and millions more question whether the government's response to the H1N1 outbreak has been overblown.
Scientists largely took the fall in 1976, when President Gerald Ford and 40-some million other Americans rolled up their sleeves for a swine-flu shot that turned out to be not only needless, but produced side effects that disabled thousands. Unlike Ford, President Obama won't be able to claim being misled.
P.S: In this climate, it's unclear whether acting Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Richard Besser, who has gotten good marks for his public presence thus far, will be asked to stay on in the post -- or if the pediatrician-epidemiologist even wants to.
This year's battle over flag burning formally began this past week on Capitol Hill, with the introduction of resolutions in support of a constitutional amendment to ban the desecration of Old Glory. But the perennial measure's chances this term look worse than they have in the previous six Congresses.
In past sessions, the House usually gave the matter a resounding victory, only to see the Senate kill it. Last time, it failed in the Senate by one vote -- the closest it's come to success.
Amendment supporters acknowledge it's not a good sign when the president is on record against the amendment -- which Obama opposed in 2006 when he was an Illinois senator -- and the Senate's ranks are substantially less hospitable to the cause now than they have been in the past.
But supporters say they are undaunted, and vow to push for votes in the months ahead.
The Senate's method of publishing its votes is old-fashioned and anything but transparent, and a bipartisan coalition of senators says it's time to modernize.
As it stands now, you basically have to create your own computer database of thousands of votes to analyze or compare voting records. But post the votes on the Senate's Web site in the data format XML, and it's a quick and easy task.
The House has done this for about five years, with no apparent problem. The House also posts its members' campaign-finance reports online -- something the Senate still won't do, either.
Cynics say the Senate's current voting system is calculated to let the lawmakers put their own spin on their records.
Seven Democratic and GOP senators have asked the Senate Rules Committee to order the change to XML records, which, they note, would not cost much to do.
The latest figures from the Justice Department show that 67 percent of more than 7,800 U.S. businesses surveyed said they had detected at least one cyber-crime perpetrated against them.
The department's Bureau of Justice Statistics found that computer viruses were the most prevalent method of attack on the companies in 2005, the most recent year with complete data available. Most victimized were telecommunications and computer-system-design firms, and durable-goods manufacturers.
One troubling stat: Just 15 percent of victimized companies reported the cyber-crimes to authorities. Fearful of harming their firms' reputation, most businesses see no benefit in calling the cops. That means no one knows the real extent of the problem nationwide or its likely enormous cost.
(E-mail Lisa Hoffman at hoffmanl(at)shns.com and Lee Bowman at bowmanl(at)shns.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
Washington Calling
science is the way to go
too much politics is bad for science.
rotten politics
science is a different way for living. it should not be right to mix it with politics. the USA always did this mistake. again they are going to be mistaken. if they make the mistake again the general people will be sufferer.