Test that hypothesis.

So, everything is political. We know that, right? But to really sit down and consider how opinion and politics affect our lives...

For example, yesterday I overheard a woman tell a guy who asked to interview her on a subject say that she doesn't "really know anything about it," just has her own experience, and that she will have to ask her sister, who is politically involved with the issue, if it is OK for her to speak.

What?!

And today in seminar we talked about how science and politics are so embroiled, how people in a university research setting rely on private funding and so are expected to get results that support that private company's message. But at the same time, people who work for a university are protected, so if they come up with a stance, based on facts they have gathered, that is not supported by the politicians with a certain monied constituency to consider, then those politicians will ask that the researcher be fired. Of course, said researcher is protected, but still...

What?

Bottom line is the person doing the research, gathering the information, is expected to put it out in a way that supports someone's viewpoint, preferably someone with money or someone with a gun, or maybe both.

I don't even know if any of that makes sense, what I just said. I was there; I heard it- and talked about it, in the latter case. But it's just not reasonable!