Conservatism and money laundering, the scientific formula for a libertarian government. Flat Earther Lilia Lemoine was appointed parliamentary authority

In just five months, the government made every effort to destroy the scientific and technological system. The ministry was demoted to a secretariat, as Macri did in 2018, and since December 10 it has become dependent on the Chief of Staff. In the first quarter, only $965 million of the $79,431 million funds planned by the ministry were implemented, almost all of them corresponding to security and service expenditures. It not only canceled its funding, but also fired administrative staff and cut back on scholarship and promotion demands for career researchers.

Many Consett institutions also lament that they may cease to operate in a very short period of time due to not being able to meet the ongoing expenses of water, electricity and security. If the BASE law prevails in the Senate and is ultimately approved without amendments, institutions such as the National Genetic Data Bank, the National Agency for the Promotion of Research, Technological Development and Innovation, or INTI, could be disbanded. Others, such as CONSAT, CONA, CNEA and INTA, may not be abolished, but their operations and objectives may be modified.

La Libertad Avanza’s deputy Lilia Lemoine was elected as the first secretary of the Commission for Science, Technology and Productive Innovation in the lower house. The news came as a surprise because on various occasions he has held anti-scientific views, maintaining that the Earth is flat, spreading crazy theories about coronavirus and expressing doubts about the arrival of man on the Moon. For the first time since taking office, through his social networks, he shared a photo with the president of CONICET, cloner Daniel Salamone, and said the following: “To those who lie about the actions of the @JMilei government. Yes, it is not closed, President Daniel Salamon is that 50 billion were allocated without payment, IDB aid was lost and 11 thousand are scholarship holders after that. The tweet was removed from X, but it raised suspicion and concern in the scientific community. “It would not be an exaggeration to say that science in Argentina would collapse if IDB funding were cut.”Valeria Levy, Vice President of the Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences of UBA, immediately responded page 12,

Did you miss IDB help?

juan pablo pazThe former Secretary of Scientific-Technical Expression of the former Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MinCyT), was one of the people in charge of the link with the Inter-American Development Bank. Given the uncertainty, he specifies: “This statement is an ocean of confusion. It appears he is talking about CONICET, as he is referring to Salamon and the scholarship recipients, and he is also referring to the 50 billion pesos that have not been paid. They were not administered by CONISET, but by the former Ministry of Science, from which IDB-funded projects were executed. Paz detailed that $200 million was negotiated during his administration: half was allocated to the National Agency for the Promotion of Research, Technological Development and Innovation (for programs to promote the scientific sector, such as Fontar and Fonarsek, others) and part of the remaining MinCyT.

“We had several lines that were financed thanks to the IDB. One, in particular, was to work for CONICET in Misiones, Corrientes, Santa Fe, Córdoba, San Luis, Mendoza and Tandil, some of which have started and stopped today. An investment of about $30 million,” he adds. And then he offers his take on Lemoine’s point: “It’s not that the IDB gives you the money, you spend it and then surrender it, but they tell you to pay as you go. Authorize for. Everything is on hold due to the current Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology order. Secretary Cosentino said he did not plan to execute the IDB loan. In contrast, the IDB did not cancel anything.,

anna franchiThe former president of CONISAT also provides details. “IDB loans are for specific activities, not for anyone else. When you try to change the destination of the expenditure, you not only have to return the money but may also have to pay a penalty. I don’t think they would allow that money to be used to repay foreign loans that were meant for science and technology., This would be a contradiction in itself. To be honest, I think he is a fool.” And regarding the deputy’s statements about scholarship recipients, he highlighted: “Questioning the number of scholarship recipients means questioning the science and technology system in the medium term. “We already went through this in the 90s, when the explorer’s career took off.”

As the representative of science and technology on campus, Lemoine must, first of all, defend compliance with two laws passed during the previous administration. S&T financing law, which provides for multi-year and orderly growth, with the aim that 1 percent of GDP will be allocated to the sector by 2032; And, on the other hand, 2030 planWhich organizes the spectrum of strategic lines to which the government of the day must commit so that knowledge becomes a state policy.

end of argentina science

valeria levy Together with Guillermo Durán, he leads one of the institutions with the largest number of scientists in the country: the Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences of UBA. From this perspective, he describes the situation researchers are currently facing: “Essentially, IDB funds are used to carry out most research and technological development projects. These are used to purchase reagents, laboratory materials, computer resources, and other supplies. We don’t have enough money even to repair small equipment, leave alone buying new equipment.,

Currently, with Alejandro Cosentino at the head of the sector, a science and technology model is emerging that seeks to establish stronger relations with the private sector and, along the same lines, invites scientists to find their own financing lines. Is. , From here, the fundamental role of the state in allocating resources has blurred in previous administrations.

Paz was responsible for the general coordination of two programs: Build Science (construction or adaptation of infrastructure) and Equip Science (consolidating equipment), the course of which was intended to sound the alarm about the direction being taken by the sector with the Liberal administration. Serves as an example. ,They had a lot of money and should surrender it, but I doubt that will happen because they have stopped all buying. In fact, they never came to ask me a single question about the current management. I am absolutely available, They were only concerned about firing people: the people who are in the former Minseat today do nothing, they have complete inability to manage,

This week, businessmen, industrialists and organizations from the scientific and technological sector expressed their concern about the state of Argentina’s science and technology through letters, in which they warned that “the layoffs and funding cuts that are being made, “That affects the possibility of development.” .” National”. The accessions were presented by the Network of Authorities of Science and Technology Institutions with the work of the Federal Table for Science and Technology, which is one of the places where the resistance of the scientific community gathers.

A flat earther as a reference

Given the appointment of Deputy Lilia Lemoine as First Secretary of the Commission for Science, Technology and Productive Innovation in the Lower House, the concern of various voices through social networks was urgent. conicet physicist diego hurtado He said in X: “Nothing against astrology, tarot or flat earthism. But these things are not taught in (Western) universities. They are not knowledge. Representative Lemoine cannot be First Secretary of the S&T Commission of Deputies. Ending”.

Andrea Gamarnik, a virologist at the Leloir Institute, shared the video, in which Lemoine is seen proposing crazy ideas to deal with Covid to the World Health Organization. In the audiovisual material he is heard saying: “Is it so difficult to catch a coronavirus patient, have them cough on the table, and then go to another person with no risk and lick the table and see if they get infected?”, George Montanari on the same network said: “Okay, it’s no joke, it’s real: We appoint a Flat Earther as the First Secretary of the Commission on Science, Technology and Productive Innovation of the Honorable Chamber of Deputies of the Nation, In the photo he is with Salamone, president of CONICET in this era.

In a 2019 video, the deputy is heard saying the following in reference to flat-Eartherism: “I ask you to open your mind and understand that it is very important to question everything; Even the truths that were drilled into your mind when you were a child. , The flat Earth theory forces you to fight against all of your beliefs and everything you have been taught. According to Flat-Earthers, this (hugging a world map) is a tool used by the world’s governments to convince all elementary school children and all humans that the Earth is actually a sphere.

In addition, the deputy also raised questions on other axes such as the arrival of man on the Moon and pointed to the possibility of a stage production.

horror consistency

From the perspective of the references consulted by page 12, the decision to tap Lemoine in that role matches the Libertarian administration’s approach to science and technology. In fact, the President himself discusses climate change caused by humans – much like Donald Trump – and, during the campaign, he proposed that Consett could be privatized. Even Deputy Bertie Benegas Lynch doubled down on the stakes and promised to stop it if he came to power.

Last year, in a recent interview with Fox News journalist Tucker Carlson, Miley replied: “There have been other high temperature peaks in the world like there are now. This is a cyclical behavior, regardless of human existence, In 2021, in a dialogue with YouTuber Julian Serrano, he expressed: “Global warming is one of the lies of socialism. 10 or 15 years ago there was talk that the planet was going to freeze. Now they argue that it is getting hotter, those who know how these simulations are created will see that the actions are exaggerated in some parameters for the purpose of instilling fear.

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