Not so much news as confirmation

Sigh.

There have been entire books written about politicians telling scientists to shut up. So this article is just more confirmation of a disturbing and apparently increasing trend.

The American Surgeon General was told not to talk about about stem cells; emergency contraception, but had to mention President Bush three times on every page of his speeches. Although the Surgeon General is a distinctly medical post, it wouldn't have surprised me if he was told not to talk about evolution, either.

In many cases, such spin seems completely pointless because, as Richard Feynman once said, "Nature cannot be fooled." But most politicians think in time frames of years at best, whereas scientists typically think much longer time frames.