Today,В in a coincidence interesting enoughВ to make me suspectВ someone in theВ White House reads Planet Waves,В President Obama has signed an executive order overturning the Bush Administration’s policy on stem-cell research. The president signsВ the order whileВ the Full MoonВ overhead is conjunct Saturn inВ the sign of VirgoВ and Uranus conjuncts the Sun in Pisces. Pluto in Capricorn, the sign of big government witnesses the signing.
If ever there was a day for government to right the wrongs committed against the sciences governing human health and healing of life on the planet, this is it. By signing this bill, the President has spared the country from another year of the manipulation of science for political gain — also known as the politicization of science which isВ second only to the global war on terrorВ as the most damaging in repercussions to life on the planet as we know it.В Today, in signing the executive order on stem-cell research, the Obama Administration will also issue a statement insulating science from political influence.
From pharmaceuticals to climate change, science policies over the last eight years under the Bush Administration was at times so unbelievable we had to suppress our incredulity to cope. It was quite literally a war waged on knowledge. Here are some of the highlights:
- Scientists were asked for non-scientific reasons to inappropriately exclude or alter technical conclusions in Food and Drug Administration (FDA) documents.
- Scientists were pressured into approving or rejecting new drugs despite concernsВ from their scientific findings;
- Interior Department officials manipulated scientific findings on public land use to favor Bush policy goals and assist land developers.
- AnВ Interior Department official was forced to resign for illegally providing non-public documents to oil industry and property rights groups.
- In a 2006 Science journal,В the United States ranked second to last in a group of thirty-four developed countries surveyed in the number of adults who accept the theory of evolution.
- According to a 2005 article from the UK Guardian, there exist State Department papers showing that the Bush Administration thanked Exxon executives for the company’s active involvement in helping to determine climate change policy, including the USВ stance on the Kyoto protocol.
- In 2007, the Christian Science Monitor reported that since 2003 and particularly after Hurricane Katrina, the Bush Administration broadly attempted to control which scientists could speak with reporters, as well as edited scientists’ testimony on climate science and key legal opinions.
- Information about comprehensive sex education was removed from the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) website.
- Performance measures for abstinence-based sex education programs were altered to make them appear more effective.
- The National Cancer Institute’s website was changed to reflect the Bush Administration view that thereВ may be risk of breast cancer associated with abortions.
This list is what is nowВ public. There’s probably more that will need to be dug out, exposed to light and allowed to die like mildew in the sunshine.
We knowВ what is accomplished with a pen and a policy can save lives or end them. We will hear lots of neighingВ over stem-cell research the next few days with arguments about the sanctity of life from Torquemadas of religious extremism.В It’s hard to believe those arguments in the face of people getting sick and dying because of the incessant lies, denial of scienceВ and the refusal toВ allow fact to govern debate. But today, Uranus has arm wrestled Saturn to the floor. What was done today under the clinical eye of the waxing full exacting Virgo moon and the compassionate and barrier-dissolvingВ Pisces sun will save lives.В We make way for the new, and we willВ open our mindsВ to fact. Hopefully, we’ll be slapped back to common sense.
In celebration of turning away from eight years of ignorance and allowing the sciences back into science to doВ theВ work needed in life-saving research, I return to one of my most favorite movie endings in the world: the end of Kill Bill Volume 2. AfterВ theВ heroine disposes the last of the bad men and she’s re-united with her child,В it suddenly dawns on her that what she’s been fighting againstВ has finally been defeated.В She collapses on her bathroom floor, hugging herself, simultaneously giggling and sobbing in joy and disbelief.
Believe this. Today, for our health, the health of our children and the world we live in, we’ve won.
Yours & truly,
Fe Bongolan
San Francisco
Patty:
I was hoping you would write. You have every right to fear what has been done in the name of science in this and many ages. But I have every hope that there are many more out there who work to make science and science under government responsible.
And speaking as someone who has worked for the public sector–the government still needs to work to EARN our trust. We don’t necessarily give it to them outright. Its actions, not words that will make the difference…on both our parts.
Hello all – sorry for the vent too. Just have too many people in my family dependent upon the good sense of our men and women in public office, myself included since I am a retiree – and the little man-partner too who goes on medicare this year.
There is a lot of fear among the older people and with good reason. We notice it more because we spend so much time in the nursing home environment.
I do have a good friend whose son is a professor in the nanoscience field, and he is sure this new funding will bring positive results for needed cures. I am not as convinced that the ethics are good (I call it karma), especially after reading all the information about morgellon’s diseases being the products of nano-science gone awry. A little dna here and there can’t hurt? I just don’t know. If I was having a baby today i would demand all the afterbirth and umbilical cord blood in a bag to take home and bury for fear my partial progeny would become a tic on old yeller or something.
Hey Victoria, you are right. It is pretty bad when the comedians have to point out the ethics issues of broadcast economics to the experts.
Mystes, Fe, Be, Victoria and all – love and blessings and hopes for a warm and rainy spring.
Patty, bk, mystes:
I think its hard not to feel despair and fear. Its almost become an addiction in this last decade, as well as addiction to outrage, which is the same coin, different side.
Pendulum, meaning, swinging back from one extreme to another, is a necessary part of the momentum to break free. We are recovering in some respect from being lied to on the deepest of levels, and that takes getting through. No way out but that one.
We are in affect, suffering from a battered wife syndrome. It will take time to build trust societally. But we do have availability of commmunity here. This is something that’s not only a resource but a treasure.
Patty, I too am so sorry about the way your aunt died, and agree with most of what you say. Eric has taught us that Chiron raises awareness (as you pointed out), no matter how long it takes. He just keeps getting “in our face” until we understand. This is a hopeful thing, isn’t it? Especially when conjunct Neptune which is conjunct the U.S. moon. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts/feelings. Fe has expressed gratefulness for the baby steps we are starting to see with the fall of the Bush regime and nobody here believes that the government, any government will cure all our ills and make us happy, happy. She observes the pendulum swing in effect now, and any movement away from where we were will engender euphoria, but it is only temporary.
People like you and Fe and victoria and mystes will work toward balancing the areas so out of whack, like healthcare, housing values, jobs, etc. . . . .all the wrongs that need righting. Why else would we be here?
concerning health care, let me count the stories of the “modern medicine go round” gone awry in the last couple of years. From my end, so much for preventative medicine. It’s time to become acquainted with your local alternative healers. It costs too much? Your insurance doesn’t cover it? Blow those pictures and get to it. Always wanted to add some healing techniques to your bag of skills, but don’t want to afford the training. Costs too much? Blow that picture and get on it. Think compassion.
Should have editted before sending, I believe they are eating each other up.
Patty, I am so sorry to hear about your aunt and her painful passing. You’re getting smacked around from several directions, yes? Breathe, show a little fang, get someone to tell you a joke once or twice a day. It won’t make the pain go away, but it may help you get into a better position to work with it.
I agree with you about the spoilage and the way that kid’s expectations have been raised. There are some difficult adjustments ahead for the Гјberprivileged among us, and unfortunately, many old kids/young teens are part of that demographic.
lovelove,
m
patty, thanks for the insertion from your corner. I’m not picking up on the fear, maybe I am in denial. Of course it is the name of the area I live in. But you are right, it is good not to get complacent. Fe has got her work cut out for her. You are going to stay on this stuff right?
Sharing of resources, will involve choices, and not always pleasant I am sure.
What I do sense is a wishful thinking that the housing market can’t go any lower, that things are going to go back to business as usual. I think the big dollar dumps into the ‘too big to fails’ are a way of putting the brakes on the changes, allowing some air space to adjust and allowing us to slide into available cracks to keep things running and start moving in the direction of what will be. To me, it’s about facing the change, making personal living adjustments, and finding the opportunities.
When I hear the bogus talk like that of your town council, I see many many people shaking their heads. Those talkers just don’t get it. It’s like the stock market analyst on tv saying people have to put their trust in the market. It’s like the villagers who complain to government cuz the neighbor’s grass is 2 inches longer than they like. Like the city of Green Bay going to poor homeowners and fining them because they don’t like the way the property looks. They just don’t get it. Or maybe they do and they are taking it out on others. Many many are saying, how dare they do that at a time like this. Where is the compassion? Compassion is becoming a household word with every unrealistic move.
Remember how everyone put all their energy into the retirement plan. Well, now we have retirement by default. Maybe, just maybe, if we put all our energy into human rights (ie the constitution here in the u.s.) and compassion, it will happen.
And check the madoff thing, the wealthy are starting to each other up. Won’t need to watch wwf anymore, just check the news.
patty:
I think there’s a pendulum effect at work here. The operational word from the last eight years was denial of fact. What we’re working towards is regaining of fact in scientific argument and practice, tempering the religiosity from the research and application so that people can benefit.
As for worship of science, I can’t say. What I do appreciate is that science is being re-applied, and not politicized to fit a particular political, or religious control agenda, which is what the right wing did the last eight years.
Oh boy – the blinders are on everyone. Don’t forget that Neptune and Chiron are still at work here, and science can be madly delusional as well as euphoric. The next step is healthcare reform – so watch for early signs of euthanasia; that is, withholding expensive medical treatments from people (usually the elderly) who are deemed hopeless. We see this to a certain extent in the HMOs where it is nearly impossible to get expensive tests such as MRIs. My aunt was diagnosed with lung cancer two weeks ago and died last Friday night. She had been in the hospital a year ago and given x-rays that didn’t show up the cancer – their diagnosis: COPD, advanced. My cousin said that the janitor at the hospital knew as much as those doctors. My aunt died writhing in pain.
I can’t see giving science a free pass on nano-technology. These bastards have already caused enough problems with the weird bugs they’ve created. People are turning science into their religion, and what we have here is more Catholicism, ie – too much religion and not enough God. Where is the moral compass?
Remember the heretic burnings! The creep warning is HIGH. I am getting the creepy crawlies just thinking about this. But with that said, be aware that nano-science never came to an end – the only difference is that now the taxpayers PAY for it all. The whine factor from the scientists was certainly high enough. Reminds me of our local high school principal who actually had the nerve to shed tears in front of the town council when talking about the poor children’s needs in our town. Ho-hum, yeah right. The poor little wee ones have indoor pools, tracks, tennis, air conditioning, and you name it. We have a nation of spoiled brats on our hands, and spoiled adults too, ready to bankrupt the country for the pot o gold at the end of the rainbow. I’m surprised government doesn’t mandate each family to purchase 10 lottery tickets apiece a week to fund the so called stimulus, especially since this week’s $6.50 increase in cigarette taxes will cause many to finally quit smoking. That was most likely needed to make up for the loss of revenues from oil sales!! Make no mistake, the government stands to make (lose) the most money from oil revenues.
I do not find any joy in any of what is happening within our government. I think that a lot of Americans are actually having their eyes opened by the chiron conjunction, but not in the joyful way that is portrayed here. Most Americans are alarmed beyond measure, and dangerously quiet!
A War on Knowledge; have not heard it put that way but it’s a perfect expression of the Bush Regime. And victoria. . . . “I didn’t know what to say”? Well, that DID make me giggle; thanks! She’s right about the good reporting Fe; thanks again. This must be what it feels like when a patient wakes up from a coma, or a prisoner is freed and finally sees daylight; stunned and speechless. It will take some time to comprehend it all, but indeed, “let’s never forget”.
As long as the baby don’t get throwed out with the bathwater, I’m all for it.
victoria:
Consider the fact we’re speechless to even be celebrating the fact that facts are returning to science. We’ve been in the Dark Ages for eight long enough years to be aghast at what was done to us and the rest of the world.
Its hard to believe that in the 21st century, there really was a war on knowledge. Let’s never forget that.
I’m glad you replied to this be. It is such good reporting, fe, I didn’t know what to say.
bk:
You should giggle also.
I hope so. I need a good sob.
bk:
Your astrological analysis is touching alot of sweet spots at once. And I think things are breaking through not just here but in the way we’ve been sold the bill of goods on Wall Street. Thank you for bringing me some needed information. There will be more soon.
Dear Fe,
Thanks for bringing this list to our attention. My God, I had no idea, for example, that the Bush Administration promoted the idea that abortions might lead to breast cancer.
Several years ago when I first became aware of the triple conjunction of Neptune, Jupiter and Chiron in Aquarius, I wondered what manifestations we Americans would witness. Since the USA Moon was being affected by these three jumbo archtypes, and I was at the time furious with the pharma giants (can’t recall just what it was though) I imagined/hoped for a major legal (Jupiter) expose’ on the drug companies (Neptune). This would raise the consciousness(Chiron) of the American public (US Moon), and lead to a clampdown on their profiteering at the people’s expense. I had not realized that the Uranus/Saturn (too much freedom/clamp down) opposition would be in effect at the same time, but, as you say “from pharmaceuticals to climate change. . . .” , this too could become a reality, and another reason to hug ourselves and simultaneously giggle and sob in joy and disbelief!