On June 1, 2004, the American Heart Association released a scientific statement that "Exposure to air pollution contributes to the development of cardiovascular diseases.... this is a serious public health problem due to the enormous number of people affected and because exposure to air pollution occurs over an entire lifetime." Just months before that, the American Cancer Society had stated: "long-term exposure to fine particulate air pollution at levels that occur in North America increased the risk for cardiovascular mortality. The risk increased by 12 percent for every 10-micrograms-per-1-cubic-meter-of-air elevation in fine particle concentration." So now, barely 2 months later, the EPA has commissioned a $30 million study of the link between cardiovascular disease and air pollution. Guess they didn't like what the American Cancer and American Lung folks had to say. Not to worry - we're sure they'll stack the research with Bush-friendly "scientists."

When Dr. Richard Myers of Stanford University was interviewed as a possible candidate for the National Advisory Council for Human Genome Research, he expected tough scientific questions, designed to elicit the depth of his knowledge. Instead, his political leanings were the primary focus. "[The interviewer] wanted to know what I thought about President Bush: Did I like him? What did I think of the job he was doing?" Scores of other scientists tell the same tale of being screened for their politics first, their expertise second - or even third or fourth. The Union of Concerned Scientists, backed by 4,000 scientists - several dozen Nobelists among them, are fighting back. But, they say, so much damage has been done that simply a new administration won't be enough - i.e., Kerry will have some serious "reconstruction" to do.

"The Center for Science in the Public Interest will hold its second national conference [on July 12 in Washington DC] to address the corporate and political manipulation of science and scientists to influence public opinion and public policy on health and the environment. Learn how corporate-funded science is being wielded to frustrate regulation, thwart research on health risks, corrupt evidence-based medicine, suppress information about toxic products, and falsely reassure the public about product safety. Learn more about the latest political and corporate manipulation of the federal scientific advisory process and corporate harassment of scientists. Become part of a growing movement to reassert the primacy of objectivity in science and science-based policymaking. Help forge an agenda to prevent conflicts of interest and corporate domination of federal science advisory committees. Discuss the media's role in disclosing conflicts of interest and press for change."

"The Bush administration has declared war on science," declares Howard Dean, speaking -- as he makes clear -- not just as a political activist, but as a physician. Dean cites several examples: "Recently, a scientist and a bioethics professor were dismissed from the blue-ribbon Council on Bioethics when they disagreed with the Bush administration's proposed ban on new stem-cell line development. In a similar vein and an unusual move, the nomination of public health experts to a CDC lead paint advisory panel were rejected by Tommy Thompson, and replaced with researchers with financial ties to the lead industry...Is it any wonder that these outrages have been perpetrated on an unsuspecting public and an enfeebled press? Will it be long before a prominent panel of fundamentalist theologians, conservative columnists, and a few token scientists take up the question of whether the theory of evolution should be banned from the nation's classrooms?"

Since Bush took office, the climate in America's scientific community has gone from uneasy, to dismayed, to horrified. Why? Because of the systematic destruction and/or perversion of science by the administration to promote its own political agenda. To this end, scientists have been harassed out of jobs, pressured to change results, had their studies thrown out or suppressed, been replaced by grossly unqualified persons whose only claim to the job is political toadyism. To quantify this sad state of affairs, the Union of Concerned Scientists has compiled an extensive report that covers every major area where Bush has perverted science, and includes specific cases. If you care about American science, pass this report onto others who care and demand that your legislators speak out on this outrage.

US Newswire: "Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) today expressed its strong opposition to the re-appointment of anti-choice hardliner Dr. David Hager to the FDA Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee. Dr. Hager's term ends on Wednesday, June 30. 'Dr. Hager's ideological agenda compromises the scientific integrity of the FDA,' PPFA National Medical Committee Chairman Dr. Scott Spear said. 'Americans rely on the FDA as a trusted and objective safeguard. When science comes second, public health suffers. pRresident Bush should appoint an unbiased expert who values science above all.' Dr. Hager co-authored a book that recommends scriptural passages and prayers for problems like headaches and premenstrual syndrome, and he is widely known to be opposed to prescribing contraceptives for unmarried women. He also played a prominent role in the creation of a petition designed to pressure the FDA into rescinding its approval of mifepristone."

The Bush EPA has decided that if they don't have to include mining {the source of some of Earth's most toxic waste) in their Toxic Release Inventory, the figures wouldn't look so darn bad. But don't worry - the figures for 2003 will look better - the EPA made sure that the definition of mining disposal would be changed (a favorite Bush fudge tactic - hide something by changing the definition). The EPA released their bogus data the same day the Environmental Integrity Project and the Galveston-Houston Association for Smog Prevention issued a study revealing that the toxic releases reported to the E.P.A. were "four to five times" lower across the country than was accurate. The groups said the discrepancy occurred because the agency allowed companies to use dated methods of collecting information and because it trusted the companies to monitor themselves." Yeah, AS IF!!

After Iraq and the economy, what is Bush's biggest weakness? Environmental issues. In this area, he is without a leg to stand on - legions of scientists, including dozens of Nobelists are aligned against his disastrous policies. The data that can be used against him is overwhelming. So what is the White House response? Make "environmentalist" synonymous with "terrorist," and thereby appeal to hysteria, rather than reason. This has always been his modus operandi when he is confronted by facts and his accountability are demanded - raise a terrorist alarm! So now he is using the FBI to do just that - "coincidentally" right before the Democratic convention, which will be attended by thousands of environmentalists. It wouldn't surprise anyone to find FBI provocateurs among the demonstrators at conventions - to insure Bush gets "results."

Remember that $15 billion Bush pledged to fight AIDS in Africa. Yeah, that's right - the money that never seems to find its way to Africa. Well, turns out that about ONE-THIRD of it can only be used to teach sexual abstinence. Yep, $5 BILLION to teach often desperately poor native women how to abstain from having sex forced on them by husbands or by bands of armed insurgents (who now roam many areas of Africa, such as Sudan). A group of more than 60 top US scientists, including 20 Nobel laureates, have condemned Bush for its blatant manipulation and distortion of science to promote his "Political agenda" (a polite way to say "bizarro world religious crusade").

There are only four or five "scientists" unprincipled enough to sell out both their souls and their scientific scruples to undermine the planet's future in exchange for a few pieces of silver. But Patrick J. Michaels is one of them. For years, he has been on the corporate take, making a killing by testifying, writing, and pontificating against the concept of global warming and other concepts that may threaten the flow corporate blood money. Guess who one of Michaels't top sponsors is? The Western Fuel Association, a consortium of coal barons - coal-fired power plants being the single biggest source of greenhouse gases. Now, predictably, attack dog Michaels (now with the Cato Institute - snicker, snicker!) has been sicced on "The Day after Tomorrow. For more about Michaels and his kind, see http://democrats.com/view.cfm?id=2506

Once again, Bush has silenced a scientist to promote corporate interests. US NewsWire: "Today, the FDA admits hiding the potential risk of anti- depressants to children: The FDA barred its top expert from testifying at a conference convened to determine what guidance the FDA should give to the public about new studies linking anti- depressants to suicide in children. The expert concluded that children given anti-depressants were almost twice as likely as those given a placebo to become suicidal. (New York Times, 4/16/04). This isn't the first time the Bush White House has misused science for political gain." For a detailed look at Bush's inconscionable abuse of Science, read: http://dc.indymedia.org/newswire/display_printable/91186/index.php

Here's just one example of Bush atrocities detailed by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr in a MUST READ AND PASS ON article: "As a favor to utility and coal industries, America's largest mercury dischargers, the EPA sat for 9 months on a report exposing the catastrophic impact on children's health of mercury... Among the findings of the report: The bloodstream of 1 in 12 US women is saturated with enough mercury to cause neurological damage, permanent IQ loss, and diseases in their unborn children. The list goes on. In Oct 2001 Gale Norton, re: a Senate inquiry on the effects of oil drilling on caribou in ANWR, falsely claimed that the caribou would not be affected, because they calve outside the area targeted for drilling. She later explained that she somehow substituted 'outside' for 'inside.' She also substituted findings from a study financed by an oil company for some of the ones that the Fish and Wildlife Service had prepared for her."