Et Tu, Science and Technology? In another classic case of handwringing by the NYT, the paper implies that the US is becoming a shirtless-with-a-novelty-foam-cowboy-hat-and-airhorn citizen of the global science community. This is the type of commentary I can't stand reading - where the author substitutes a proxy for his/her own opinion in a veiled effort to make a point (i.e., "analysts say . . .", "experts agree that . . .", "analysts point to . . ."). Also, after running through a litany of areas where the U.S. is allegedly "lagging" in the sciences, the author can't help but to fall back on the NYT mantra "without government funding, there can be nothing."

Unfortunately, for many people, including people on the editorial board at the NYT, they refuse to understand that it not a matter of what you conceive - it's what you are able to do with that conception once you reduce it to a commercial form. And once you start making (gasp!) profits from that product, you are certainly going to look for greener pastures when you realize that over half of your money is being siphoned for taxes and labor costs ("labour" for you people in Millwall) . . .

Some comments from the article:

**** "For instance, scientific papers by Americans peaked in 1992 and then fell roughly 10 percent, the National Science Foundation reports. Why? Many analysts point to rising foreign competition, as does the European Commission, which also monitors global science trends. In a study last year, the commission said Europe surpassed the United States in the mid-1990's as the world's largest producer of scientific literature." (just what we need - more mountains of paper)

**** "Patents are a main way that companies and inventors reap commercial rewards from their ideas and stay competitive in the marketplace while improving the lives of millions. Foreigners outside the United States are playing an increasingly important role in these expressions of industrial creativity. In a recent study, CHI Research, a consulting firm in Haddon Heights, N.J., found that researchers in Japan, Taiwan and South Korea now account for more than a quarter of all United States industrial patents awarded each year, generating revenue for their own countries and limiting it in the United States." - since when is licensing a zero-sum game? If you license something, you do so presumably because you can make MORE money from your derivative product.

**** "Moreover, their growth rates are rapid. Between 1980 and 2003, South Korea went from 0 to 2 percent of the total, Taiwan from 0 to 3 percent and Japan from 12 to 21 percent." - Welcome to the party, chum. 23 years, and you finally notice that Pacific Rim companies are filing patents?


**** "More troubling to some experts is the likelihood of an accelerating loss of quality scientists. Applications from foreign graduate students to research universities are down by a quarter, experts say, partly because of the federal government's tightening of visas after the 2001 terrorist attacks." - (cough), well, that and the fact that PhD candidates are starting out in positions that pay less than what most bartenders make . . .