Perhaps that is what has happened here. If Lee's imprisonment is causing recruitment difficulties at the weapons laboratories, surely this is only because of its effect as a reminder of what those laboratories are really intended for. Newt Gingrich has called upon scientists to take more seriously their responsibilities as citizens. Our reaction to this case seems to only provide more evidence of how divorced our priorities are from real civic responsibility. In that section are listed five items that are supposed to be important stories in that category.
Earth science is a separate discipline from solar physics or astrophysics.
There were many important news events in 1999 in earth science. Park is to be congratulated for the courage he has shown in taking on pseudoscience and the paranormal. Things get pretty shaky when he claims expertise in fields he knows very little about. For example, his objections to the L5 society and the colonization of space. He would have to base that claim on the certain knowledge that there will never be a cheap way to get into orbit.