🚀 go-pugleaf

On Fri, 07 Aug 1998 17:53:53 GMT, address.below.or@web.site (Dr. Jai
Maharaj) wrote:

>
>critics say the episode involving alar and the e-p-a is an 
>example of the scientific method being exploited for political 
>ends. the  e-p-a, they say, wanted to ban alar in any event and 
>merely concocted a study which would support their policy goal. 
>this, say those critics, is an example of "junk science".
>
One could just as easily say that the failure by EPA to recognize the
clear results of earlier studies was junk science, and that the agency
arrived at the logical and scientfically correct conclusion that it
should have in the first place.

>steven j. milloy, a public health expert, is one of a vocal band 
>of critics attacking what they believe is junk science.
>
>milloy: 
>         junk science is flawed analysis, data, information of a 
>         scientific nature that is used to promote private or 
>         personal, or hidden agendas.
>
"My science is 'good science,' your science is 'junk science.'"
Such name-calling does nothing to promote understanding or improve the
quality of research. One recent example of 'junk science' was recently
perpetrated by Dennis Avery who made up numbers on E. coli cases
related to organic food in a widely published newspaper article. He
gave no source, and nobody I've talked to know any reliable agency or
researcher who is collecting and analyzing such data. That is far
worse than the Alar case nearly ten years ago, where the results were
replicated. Whether or not one agrees with the methodology, at least
the data were not fabricated.

>most scientific research strictly adheres to proven and accepted 
>standards of methodology. but steve milloy believes a steadily 
>increasing number of studies fail to maintain or even try to 
>circumvent these standards in the name of achieving fame or a 
>policy goal. 
>
Again, this begs the question and adds nothing to the debate.

Then the ultimate irony:

>Jai Maharaj
>Jyotishi, Vedic Astrologer
>Billionaire financier J. P. Morgan used 
>a scientific astrologer and so can you!
>Latest local and world news available at
>http://www.flex.com/~jai/topnews.html
>Om Shanti

Brian Baker, Ph.D., Technical Director
Organic Materials Review Institute
P.O. Box 12256
Eugene, OR  97440-4456
phone: 541-343-7600    fax: 541-343-8971
omri@efn.org