Correction: An Anomalous Rise in Public Knowledge
Secrecy News last week misquoted a line in President Obama’s inaugural speech. He did not say: “And those of us who manage the public’s knowledge will be held to account….” What he said was “And those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account….”
The erroneous reference to “public knowledge” was also published by the Washington Post, United Press International, and other news outlets. It may have originated with a mistake by the FDCH transcription service.
The text of the inaugural address on the White House web site says “public dollars,” not “public knowledge,” and it is clear from the tape of the speech that that is correct. Thanks to reader LD for questioning the discrepancy.
There must be lots of historic events that were mistakenly transcribed and reported.
“You can’t make an anomalous rise twice,” said J. Robert Oppenheimer, according to the official record of his momentous hearing before the Atomic Energy Commission in 1954.
But what Oppenheimer actually said was “You can’t make an omelet rise twice” (as noted by Philip M. Stern). Oh well.
The Oppenheimer case is to be reviewed once again in the latest episode of PBS’s American Experience tonight.
Given the unreliability of private market funding for agricultural biotechnology R&D, substantial federal funding through research programs such as AgARDA is vital for accelerating R&D.
“Given the number of existential crises we must collectively confront, I have found policy entrepreneurship to be a fruitful avenue towards doing some of that work.”
We sit on the verge of another Presidential election – an opportunity for meaningful, science-based policy innovations that can appeal to lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
Outdated Bureau of Labor Statistics classifications hampers the federal government’s ability to design and implement effective policies for emerging technologies sectors.