Read Them and Weep

A New York Times blog lists "11 Questions for Obama’s Science Team." Many are about CO2/global warming, others about the perception of science rather than science itself, the remainder on science education and getting more Americans into scientific careers. These questions were chosen based on reader ratings. I find the questions uniformly lame.

Check this one out:

I am a graduate student of U.C. Berkeley doing thesis research on magnetic fusion energy.

...Climate change is causing drought, inclement whether, and sea level rise. The results of these effects are famine, the rise of 19th century pestilent diseases in underdeveloped countries, and rates of species extinction comparable with astronomic events of millions of years past.

Wow.