The Fish & Wildlife Service has had to reverse a ruling, after figuring out that the administration interfered. Not surprising to those of us who actually follow stuff like this, unfortunately.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday reversed seven rulings that denied endangered species increased protection, after an investigation found the actions were tainted by political pressure from a former senior Interior Department official.
In a letter to Rep. Nick Rahall, D-West Virginia., the agency acknowledged that the actions had been “inappropriately influenced” and that “revising the seven identified decisions is supported by scientific evidence and the proper legal standards.” The reversal affects the protection for species including the white-tailed prairie dog, the Preble’s meadow jumping mouse and the Canada lynx.
The rulings came under scrutiny last spring after an Interior Department inspector general concluded that agency scientists were being pressured to alter their findings on endangered species by Julie MacDonald, then a deputy assistant secretary overseeing the Fish and Wildlife Service.
MacDonald resigned her position last May.
Rahall in a statement said that MacDonald, who was a civil engineer, “should never have been allowed near the endangered species program.” He called MacDonald’s involvement in species protection cases over her three-year tenure as an example of “this administration’s penchant for torpedoing science.”
Read the whole thing. Looks like this is just the tip of the iceberg. (Which gets me to thinking: when all the icebergs have melted, what will we use for a metaphor?)
cleek
it’s just the tip of the zit.
it’s just the nose of the guinea worm.
D-Chance.
WE’RE ALL GONNA DIIIIIIEEE!
craigie
Fixed
Jen
We will use, “this is just the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport of Larry Craig’s sexuality”
Awkward, yet reflects the meaning of the metaphor.
Let me take this opportunity to go off-topic and correct something that is extremely important. Last week I said that MST3K, of which I am a fan, is the pinnacle of geekiness. The husband corrects me and says that this is the pinnacle of geekiness. We report, you decide.
Zifnab
Icebergs never existed. They were just made up by that cronic wacko liar Al Gore – the one who allegedly invented the Internet and was the inspiration for Love Boat. If you believe in icebergs, you really are just one of those wide-eyed liberals who are too busy whining about Global Climate Mumbo Jumbo to see the glorious successful victory in Iraq.
Ed Drone
“(Which gets me to thinking: when all the icebergs have melted, what will we use for a metaphor?)”
The tip of the Sears Tower.
Another in the continuing series of simple answers to simple questions.
Ed
fuddmain
The nose of the Polar Bear.
canuckistani
Too contrived. True geekiness flows organically from the minds of geeks and nerds and has funny robots, especially Tom Servo, who is my personal hero.
Jake
At least there is already some effort to clean up after the Parade of Pachyderms. I was worried it couldn’t begin until 2009.
Still pisses me off that we can’t demand she return her wages.
Ed Drone beat me to it, but I was going to use The tip of the Washington Monument.
Jen
But you can see the Sears tower and the Washington Monument. What am I missing?
Pb
A lot of water.
Jen
Dreggas
beat me to it, but I say it’s just the tip of the petronis towers so Pthhhhhhhhhhh!
jcricket
Huuuuge surprise this happened. There was an article this weekend about the same thing at NASA being forced to suppress a report that was critical of the FAA and air safety.
And Michael, but you can draw a straight fucking line from “the scariest words in the English language…” quote from Reagan to shit like this that the Bush admin is pulling. It’s a total self-fulfilling prophecy. Recipe:
1) Start by demonizing the government, insulting government workers at every turn and claim government is never a solution to any problem
2) Then cultivate a sizable wing in your party that regularly argues for the elimination/defunding of one/many government agencies (NEA, FDA, FTC, FCC, IRS)
3) Align yourself with people whose stated goal is to “drown government in a bathtub”
4) Install unqualified hacks or cronies as the head of every agency and task them with enforcing your narrow viewpoint, rather than doing the agencies stated mission.
Viola – government failures across the board.
jcricket
Tip of the Space needle. That one would work.
I don’t think we’ll need metaphors though, we’ll all be living in chaos fighting for food scraps or cannibalizing each other.
Powerline will still be blogging, of course, “Jeb Bush? Great Cannibal? Or Greatest Cannibal ever?”
qwerty42
We already face a variant of this dread issue with “clockwise” (and, obviously, “counter-clockwise”). Not sure how the weather guys are going to be able to describe wind rotation of a hurricane in an era of digital watches
jcricket
I was reading that “kids these days” don’t even wear watches anymore. They just use their cell phones as their time-telling devices.
We’re all doomed. Decline of western civilization, youtube clip at 11.
Punchy
Any reason to believe that someone with that last name may want to keep those bolded animals above OFF the list? Perhaps….because they make cheap hamburger meat for her company? Huh? Huh? Beuller?
Dreggas
Dreggas
Well she definitely wasn’t related to that one that owned a farm…
Punchy
Dregs havin’ all sorts of issues with the blockquoting and bolding, apparently. Unless he REALLY wants us to know he’s not a kid…. ;)
jcricket
Well you are a post-modernist loser, nevertheless.
I proudly wear one of several watches, some with manual winding. I wear them on my left hand facing up, though, so as not to signal that I am gay and want public sex. At least I think that’s what I’m doing.
Dreggas
Eh, that’s what I get for using the mouse to highlight stuff.
Dreggas
So your the bum trying to sell me a watch when I get off the bus each day…
jcricket
How else would I have time to all this commenting?
Chuck Butcher
This is not to say that the FWS doesn’t get involved in pretty stupid stuff regarding endangered species. Last year they spent a boat load of money trying to find Canadian Lynx in NE OR mountains. There has never been any actual evidence they were here, just some annecdotal sightings in an area with plenty of bobcats which are very similar in appearance. Cats are very shy. Trapping and hunting are pretty common out here, no Canadian Lynx, but spend a whacking amount of money looking for them.
If they’d managed to find a couple hairs from one it would have had huge consequences despite no evidence that this has ever been a part of their natural range. The ESA needs to be fixed, not tossed or ignored, fixed.
Dreggas
I dunno, figured you were middle management or, you know, union (said with tongue firmly in cheek).
jcricket
What’s funny is that one of those is true.
Darkness
We will not need metaphors in that case. Fortunately, irony will also be dead.
jcricket
Why do I keep hearing The Doors signing “This is the end…”?
BIRDZILLA
Time to dump the ESA and tell the greens to GO TAKE A HIKE