May 26, 2006

NOTE TO READERS:  The text of the speech and links to newspaper articles reporting it begin in paragraph seven.  That is not to say you should skip paragraphs one through six.  

Mayor Bloomberg spoke yesterday to the graduates of Johns Hopkins Medical School in Baltimore.  He received his undergraduate degree at Johns Hopkins in 1964.  (He earned his M.B.A. in 1966 at Harvard Business School.)  When he was first elected Mayor in 2001, Bloomberg was chairman of the board of trustees of Johns Hopkins.
 
His remarks were not particularly related to New York City, and we are not primarily concerned with their alleged political significance, vis a vis Republicans and Democrats.  We believe neither party has a monopoly on either holiness or science, although political geography causes Democrats to rely less vocally on a (or the) Supreme Being.
 
The Bloomberg speech reminded us of a fascinating event in American jurisprudence, the monkey trial of 1925, where a schoolteacher, John T. Scopes, was tried on a charge of teaching evolution in the public schools, a violation of Tennessee law.  He was prosecuted by three time Presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan, a Democrat, and defended by Clarence Darrow, a lawyer from Chicago who has no peers today.  After an eight-day trial which received national attention, the jury found Scopes guilty in nine minutes.  The judge fined the defendant $100, which prosecutor Bryan offered to pay.
 
If you think the days of religious conflict in this country are behind us, you should know about the struggles in middle America over whether "intelligent design", the theory that the world is so complex that only God could have made it, should receive equal time in public schools with the allegedly unproven theories of Charles Darwin.
 
Coincidentally, or as the result of intelligent design, today's newspapers cover a related scientific topic.  Lawrence K. Altman, in the Times, reports: "By studying chimpanzee droppings in remote African jungles, scientists reported yesterday, they have found direct evidence of a missing link between a chimpanzee virus and the one that causes human AIDS."  Once again, we have scientists making discoveries which may be troubling to some people, particularly those who believe that AIDS is divine punishment for human sin.
 
Diversion: {Coincidentally, or as the result of intelligent design, my son Kenan also graduated from medical school yesterday.  The State University of New York's Downstate Medical Center 's ceremony was held in Carnegie Hall.  According to custom, he was hooded by his mother, Dr. Margaret Ewing Stern, a pediatrician.  Kenan's four-year residency will begin in June at Boston Children's Hospital.}
 
We think the substance of the speech is deserves your attention, and we link to the informative New York Times article on B1, by Diane Cardwell, which jumps to B4.  We have not described here what the mayor actually said, preferring that you find out by linking to either the five newspaper accounts, the full text of the speech, or both.
 
Text of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's address to graduates of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, May 25, 2006.
 
Newsday, May 26, 2006
MAYOR'S TOUGH WORDS ON 'POLITICAL SCIENCE' - By Melanie Leftkowitz, p A4,
The lede: "Using strong language but naming no names, Mayor Michael Bloomberg took powerful aim yesterday at those who attack science, criticizing them for ignoring global warming, restricting stem-cell research, interfering in the life and death of Terri Schiavo and challenging evolution."

New York Sun, May 26, 2006
BLOOMBERG CRITICIZES FAITH-BASED SCIENCE:  It's His Latest Step On National Stage – By Jill Gardiner, lead story p1, c6
The lede:  "By warning a graduating class of doctors to reject 'faith-based science,' Mr. Bloomberg yesterday signaled yet again that he plans to use his second term to take the national stage."

The Sun also ran a critical editorial on the speech, p11.  The newspaper, however, does not allow us to link to its editorials.  The Sun disputed many of the mayor's concerns, particularly on the subject of "unintended pregnancies", which the Sun said had led to the birth of many fine and productive people.  The paper said: "In the name of public health, he managed to cast himself athwart the views of religious New Yorkers and other Americans, from fundamentalist Christians to orthodox Jews to Muslims."

New York Daily News, May 26, 2006
MIKES THROWS LEFT AT FOES OF EVOLUTION By Greg Wilson, p8,
The lede:  "Mayor Bloomberg lashed out against conservatives yesterday for ignoring science and common sense on issues like stem-cell research, global warming and even evolution.  Making his latest foray into national issues, the mayor blamed ideologues for trying to drag the nation back decades by disputing scientifically proven facts."

New York Post, May 26, 2006
MIKE GIVES D.C. AN F IN SCIENCE By David Seifman and Stephanie Gaskell, p24,
The lede: "Veering back to his liberal Democratic roots, Mayor Bloomberg warned yesterday that science is under attack from forces that want to roll back the clock for political reasons."  The story went on to quote the mayor directly:  "Today we are seeing hundreds of years of scientific discovery being challenged by people who simply disregard facts that don't happen to agree with their agendas."

Enjoy the Memorial Day weekend.
Remember the purpose for which the day was set aside.