> No, it is not. Its purpose is different How would you characterize its purpose? > and it does not conduct any research. Doesn't it? It has been issuing res

> No, it is not. Its purpose is different How would you characterize its purpose? > and it does not conduct any research. Doesn't it? It has been issuing research-laden reports every so often. I'd appreciate being disabused of the notion that it engages in research, were it not the case ... > As with any committee of academics, it is full of petty politics. Almost certainly. Would there be - in your view - an environment or institution or process where science could be conducted without the rot of politics? I'd seem to me pettiness and the like are inherently human ...