Afarensis is a 3.5-2.8 million year old hominin from the Kada Hadar member of the Hadar formation in the Middle Awash, Ethiopia. He is approximately 41 inches tall, weighs approximately 60 pounds and has a cranial capacity of a whopping 410 cc (approximately). Afarensis is currently considered to be transitional between apes and humans and displays some traits of both. Since he spends a lot of time on the couch watching monster movies, some observers question whether he is an obligate biped (although no one has observed him climbing a tree). He also has a blog called 
According to MSNBC:
Listed as a "new requirement" for foreign travelers on U.S. government business, the memo says that requests for foreign travel "involving or potentially involving climate change, sea ice, and/or polar bears" require special handling, including notice of who will be the official spokesman for the trip.The Fish and Wildlife Service top officials need assurance that the spokesman, "the one responding to questions on these issues, particularly polar bears" understands the administration's position on these topics.
Two accompanying memos were offered as examples of these kinds of assurance. Both included the line that the traveler "understands the administration's position on climate change, polar bears, and sea ice and will not be speaking on or responding to these issues."
Comments
I don't see what the big deal is - they don't want people talking about a subject without their permission. The opinion itself itself is irrelevant. This is an organization asking its employees not to speak on certain subjects without gaining permission.
Posted by: Mike | March 9, 2007 9:45 AM
This is a big deal, they don't want people talking about a subject without their permission. This is a free country, I want federal employees to speak up and speak their mind. They should know and state when their views do not match current management directives, but to gag them and make them parrot non-scientific ideological ideas is a waste of their talent. They work for us, the US, not the president.
Posted by: KevinC | March 9, 2007 10:30 AM
The reason this is a big deal is because the administration is trying to hide facts that contradict their preconceived ideological notions, which is a poor way to plan and implement policy.
Posted by: afarensis, FCD | March 9, 2007 8:04 PM
Guide: "Why didn't you warn me that a polar bear was approaching?"
Visitor: "I would have to call Washington for permission to mention it, first."
Posted by: Monado | March 11, 2007 10:05 PM
Why does the government have a "position" on polar bears? Other than "preferably far away."
Posted by: Monado | March 11, 2007 10:57 PM
Visitor: Why don't we see polar bears?
Guide: The Bush administration won't let us answer that question because we would have to talk about global warming and lots of Bush Cronies would loose money...
Posted by: afarensis, FCD | March 11, 2007 11:07 PM