corrente

Just one more little act of degradation. And what is one among so many?

The U.S. government will send only one-quarter as many people to the huge international AIDS conference starting Sunday in Bangkok as it sent to the last one in Barcelona.

The decision to cut attendance, which comes as the Bush administration is rolling out its five-year, $15 billion global AIDS treatment plan, was reached long after many government scientists had made plans to attend the conference, which is held every two years. Dozens of scientific presentations were withdrawn, about 50 will be published only as summaries and not presented publicly, and dozens of meetings -- many designed to train Third World AIDS researchers and foster international collaboration -- were canceled.

Wow! Way to show those scientists respect!

The move, which officials say is to save money, is interpreted by many AIDS experts as payback for the heckling of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson at the last AIDS conference

No, that can't be true! The Bush administration is known for its lack of petty-mindedeness generosity of spirit!

The decision has caused consternation at the CDC and the NIH and among AIDS scientists outside the government whose work is funded by those agencies. Almost nobody was willing to speak on the record because of fears of retaliation.

"What can I say? I can't say anything," an anguished NIH researcher said.
(via WaPo)

Retaliate? The Bush administration?

It couldn't be, could it, that with $15 billion to spend, Bush doesn't really want scientists involved in the process?