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Special Report: Inside a Trump-era purge of military scientists at a legendary think tank
reuters.com ^ | 7/30/2019 | charles levinson

Posted on 08/04/2019 4:08:40 PM PDT by bitt

NEW YORK (Reuters) - They’re members of a prestigious academic panel with top-secret clearances who’ve advised the Pentagon on some of America’s most vexing national security issues since the Cold War. Over 60 years, they’ve won 11 Nobel prizes and conducted hundreds of government studies.

The advisory group, known as Jason, is a team of some 60 of America’s top physicists and scientists who spend each summer in La Jolla, California, conducting studies commissioned by the Pentagon and other U.S. government agencies.

On March 28, Trump appointee Michael Griffin – the Pentagon’s chief technology officer – unexpectedly moved to terminate the group.

Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration, objected, telling Griffin’s office the scientists were crucial for keeping America’s nuclear stockpile secure, according to an NNSA official and others affiliated with the Jason program. Gordon-Hagerty’s agency offered to take responsibility for the program. She only needed Griffin’s signature to make it happen.

Griffin refused.

(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Extended News; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: jason; nnsa
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1 posted on 08/04/2019 4:08:40 PM PDT by bitt
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To: Whenifhow; null and void; aragorn; EnigmaticAnomaly; kalee; Kale; 2ndDivisionVet; azishot; ...

orange man bad. /s


2 posted on 08/04/2019 4:09:00 PM PDT by bitt (US intel is there to protect the safety and security of Americans. It is not a political tool.)
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Elections have Consequences!



3 posted on 08/04/2019 4:12:53 PM PDT by KavMan
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To: bitt
They’ve won 11 Nobel prizes and conducted hundreds of government studies.

0 won a nobel prize......and any idiot can conduct a government study. Get back to me when they've done something prestigious like win a 5th grade math bee.

4 posted on 08/04/2019 4:13:54 PM PDT by Repeat Offender (While the wicked stand confounded, call me with Thy saints surrounded.)
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To: bitt

Legendary cold war think tank behind all the key decisions?

Do they mean So called detente with China which is now more powerful than Russia and openly threatening us with the equivalent of a Warsaw Pacific pact? Or those who hamper us with nuclear arms treaties that do not hamper China.

Dangerous bunch of traitors they are.


5 posted on 08/04/2019 4:17:27 PM PDT by JudgemAll (Democrats Fed. job-security in hatse:hypocrites must be gay like us or be tested/crucified)
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To: bitt

Maybe if they held their annual (vacation) conference in Barstow rather than La Jolla they could cut costs ...


6 posted on 08/04/2019 4:18:01 PM PDT by Vesparado (The American people know what they want and they deserve to get it good and hard --- HL Mencken)
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To: Repeat Offender

Exactly. Even ManbearPig has one. The Tight Ends bikini contest has more credibility than the Nobel. I trust Trump on hid decisions than this fluff piece most probably leaked to the press to save their useless jobs..


7 posted on 08/04/2019 4:18:16 PM PDT by max americana (Fired libtards from our company & did so happily at every election since 2008. I hope all libs die.)
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To: bitt

The JASONS have evolved over years to where it was resume enhancer (Check “Super Important Smart Guy” box!) for some academics rather then something that produced anything useful.

Made 3 presentations to them over my 40 year career. The last two were total wastes of time talking to them.


8 posted on 08/04/2019 4:20:35 PM PDT by Reily
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To: bitt

Terminated? Like executed and replaced with their clones?


9 posted on 08/04/2019 4:20:48 PM PDT by eclectic (Liberalism is a mental disorder)
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To: bitt

Is this a group of Nazi scientists we imported in Operation Paperclip? Sure reads like it.

“The Jasons, drawn from America’s elite scientists, are hand-picked by the existing membership. They are known for fiercely guarding their independence and, at times, ruffling feathers.”

So this is an entirely private group that has been funded by and expects to continue to be funded by the taxpayer?

Are they joking? This thing needs an audit starting from the day it was formed.


10 posted on 08/04/2019 4:21:32 PM PDT by thoughtomator (... this has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.)
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To: KavMan

Legendary think tank? Legendary?

Oh, it’s Reuters. Anyone with a degree that actually required work is considered brilliant by their crack (or on crack) staff of top journalists.


11 posted on 08/04/2019 4:22:18 PM PDT by Da Coyote (eh)
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To: Vesparado

Barstow is too close to Nevada where you can buy a hooker for a couple of Jefferson’s and be legal. No Bakersfield is better. They can also report on illegal sex trafficking there also. Wait a minuting we are talking about 60 and 70 year old men seeking the last eruption? Right?
Will Jeffery Epstein pick up the red sex phone?


12 posted on 08/04/2019 4:22:33 PM PDT by Kozy (new age haruspex; "Everyone has a plan 'till they get punched in the mouth.")
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To: max americana

Sixty years?
I see this as more of the President cleaning out
ossified thinking. Just like Bridenstein cleaning
out some of NASA’s entrenched leadership.


13 posted on 08/04/2019 4:22:48 PM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: Da Coyote

There is nothing more useless on the planet than a Think Tank.


14 posted on 08/04/2019 4:24:14 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: bitt

I served on the Army Science Board while in uniform and thereafter and I participated in several other advisory entities. They have provided important contributions over the years, but like anything else, they can become stale or highjacked by someone who is pursuing somone’s agenda. It’s good to shake them up from time to time and some certainly ought to be brought to an end.


15 posted on 08/04/2019 4:27:14 PM PDT by centurion316
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To: Repeat Offender

More recently, the Jasons determined that a rare jungle cricket, not a mysterious radio frequency weapon, likely caused the odd sound that U.S. diplomats in Cuba had suspected caused them to fall ill in late 2016. No definitive cause of the illnesses has been determined.<<

Then they charged $500,000 for determining a cricket did something, that was never confirmed or determined. They should be embarrassed for taking money. We should be embarrassed for giving it.

DK


16 posted on 08/04/2019 4:27:21 PM PDT by Dark Knight
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To: bitt
with top secret clearances means

people commiting treason with impunity.

17 posted on 08/04/2019 4:27:31 PM PDT by va22030
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To: thoughtomator

“Is this a group of Nazi scientists we imported in Operation Paperclip?”

Most, if not all, of them are dead.


18 posted on 08/04/2019 4:28:17 PM PDT by Carriage Hill (A society grows great when old men plant trees, in whose shade they know they will never sit.)
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To: Reily
Made 3 presentations to them over my 40 year career. The last two were total wastes of time talking to them.

I would guess there are multiple people on FR who have presented to them, consulted with them, or otherwise are familiar with their performance. I doubt anyone who has seen them in action will object to withdrawing their funding. Right now, our federal government is spending nearly $1,000,000,0000,000 (one trillion dollars) a year more than it should be. It's time to cut some things, even things that might be nice to keep if they were free.

19 posted on 08/04/2019 4:29:33 PM PDT by Pollster1 ("Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed")
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To: thoughtomator

“hand-picked by the existing membership”

practically the definition of insider, elitist, ossification guaranteed to produce nothing new or useful ....


20 posted on 08/04/2019 4:30:24 PM PDT by catnipman (Cat Nipman: Vote Republican in 2012 and only be called racist one more time!)
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