tagged w/ U.S. Politics
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Back in the early 1990's, Betsy McCaughey wrote "No Exit," an article for The New Republic on the Clinton administration's healthcare reform plan. The piece was filled with falsehoods -- so many, in fact, that the magazine later disowned it. But by then, it was too late; McCaughey and her article had played an instrumental role in killing the Clinton proposal.
Now, she's back, and is again the chief propagator of some of the most pernicious myths about the Obama administration's plan.
McCaughey's latest falsehoods have taken hold with a disturbingly large portion of the American public. But she couldn't get them past "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart, who had her on his show Thursday night and subjected her to one of his better interviews, meticulously picking her points apart and demonstrating their inaccuracy, leaving her stumbling and stammering in an attempt to defend her position. By the end of it, he told her, "I like you -- but I don't understand how your brain works."
Two videos of the interview are below; both are extended beyond what was actually aired on television.Back in the early 1990's, Betsy McCaughey wrote "No Exit," an article... more
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The Obama administration faces a test of its environmental credentials in deciding whether to approve a pipeline carrying greenhouse gas-intensive oil sands fuel from Canada into the US.
Hillary Clinton, secretary of state, is expected to decide as early as this month whether to approve the Alberta Clipper, a 1,000-mile pipeline designed to carry up to 800,000 barrels a day of fuel from Canada's vast oil sands.
Environmentalists say doing so would be at odds with the green economy pledged by the administration.
"Approving new mega-projects like the Alberta Clipper pipeline would lock North America into the old, high-carbon energy economy," said Keith Stewart, director of climate change at WWF-Canada. "We need to invest in the green economy of the future, not pour billions into the Betamax of the energy world."
But Enbridge Energy, the Canadian pipeline builder, said the project would improve US energy security. The pipeline and associated facilities "will serve the national interest ... enhancing the ability to deliver a secure and growing supply of Canadian crude oil, thereby supplementing the diminishing supplies of domestically produced crude oil," the company said in its May application.
It is hard for the US to resist the 175 billion barrels of oil sand reserves, given rising concerns over energy security. But the extraction of a barrel of crude from oil sands is estimated to generate as much as five times more greenhouse gas emissions as from a barrel of conventional crude.
Environmentalists have seized on a delay in granting the permit, which could have come in early July, as a sign it might be rejected. But the state department told the Financial Times it had not finished the review process.
Enbridge is confident it will obtain the permit this month, enabling it to build.
"We're going to start construction at the end of this month," the company said. "We believe we will have a successful outcome and look forward to completion by mid-2010. We're not worried at all."
Canadian environmentalists sent the state department a letter last week urging it to delay a decision until after a climate treaty emerges from the Copenhagen summit. "This decision carries significant implications regarding greenhouse gas pollution and global warming that cannot be duly considered in the absence of clear US climate change policy and an understanding of an international climate treaty," it read.
The Dirty Oil Sands Network said: "Climate security and energy security must go hand in hand. The best way to achieve this is for the Obama administration to keep building a clean energy economy."
end of excerptThe Obama administration faces a test of its environmental credentials in deciding... more
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Wow, Just Wow.
This video showcases Dr. Orly Taitz the lawyer behind a legal chalenge of President Obama's citezenship, the so called "birther" movement's leader. She takes six minuites and in that time spends more time calling David Shuster a nazi than she does providing any facts. Its sad to see our political discussions come down to this garbage. It is sad that there are people willing to believe that the president is a Kenyan citezen and its hard to think that race and political biases aren't the motivating factor behind such people.Wow, Just Wow.
This video showcases Dr. Orly Taitz the lawyer behind a legal... more
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This is the first of what we hope to be many interviews from your friends here at Current: U.S. Politics. Dr. Rand Paul is a full time Physician, the son of republican and libretarian presidential candiate, Ron Paul, and a candidate for the reupublican nomination for Senate in Kentucky. We will be focusing on Healthcare and poverty issues in our interview and WE WANT YOUR HELP. We will be utelizing at least one member submitted question.
We have a preference for questions on Healthcare, Poverty Issues, and the Environmnent but suggestions are by no means limited to these topics. We would ask that users submit no more than two questions for consideration. No suggestion will be accepted later than nine pm thursday of this week.
Thank you so much for your participation and for joining us here at U.S. Politics!This is the first of what we hope to be many interviews from your friends here at... more
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Traverse City -- Michael Moore, by far the most successful documentary filmmaker of all time, is thinking of getting out of the business of making documentaries.
Not right away. He's got the sure-to-be-controversial "Capitalism: A Love Story" due in theaters Oct. 2. But after that?
"While I've been making this film I've been thinking that maybe this will be my last documentary," says the Flint native, who filmed and starred in such hits as "Sicko," "Bowling for Columbine" and "Fahrenheit 9/11." "Or maybe for a while."
Those three films make up half of the top six documentaries ever made, according to boxofficemojo.com. "Fahrenheit 9/11" is handily the highest earning documentary ever, with a domestic take of $119 million.
But now Moore's looking to branch out as a director.
"I have been working on two screenplays over the last couple of years," he says. "One's a comedy, one's a mystery, and I really want to do this."
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Hmm...he actually has worked as a feature narrative director before....
Canadian Bacon anyone?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109370/Traverse City -- Michael Moore, by far the most successful documentary filmmaker of... more
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Amid the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, few issues have sparked more outrage than executives on Wall Street taking home big bucks, even as their companies took risks that sent the country plunging into recession. Just this week, a report from New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo revealed that the first nine banks to receive government bailout funds dished out nearly $33 billion in bonuses last year, with 4,800 employees taking home bonuses over $1 million.
Now, lawmakers in Congress have taken action.
Today, the House of Representatives passed a bill to shut down what some people would consider excessive executive compensation. The vote was 237-185. The Senate has yet to act on the measure.
The bill would give federal regulators the power to restrict pay practices that prompt "inappropriate risk" at financial firms. It also would give shareholders a non-binding annual vote on salary and bonuses for the top executives at all public companies across the countryAmid the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, few issues have sparked... more
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A U.S. ad featuring an Ontario woman who spoke out against the Canadian health-care system may be exaggerating the severity of her condition, say medical experts.
Shona Holmes has appeared in U.S. ads saying she had to go to the Mayo Clinic in Arizona to be treated for a rare type of cyst at the base of her brain — a Rathke's cleft cyst. She mortgaged her home and paid $100,000 to be treated there because getting care in Canada involved a six-month wait, she said. She is currently suing OHIP to recoup those costs.
Holmes, from Waterdown, Ont., said she would have died had she relied on the Canadian health-care system and waited to see a specialist.
But the director of the brain tumour research centre at the Montreal Neurological Institute says he thinks that claim is "an exaggeration."
Dr. Rolando Del Maestro says the lesion Holmes was diagnosed with is benign, and usually slow-growing. It typically does not require urgent attention, he said.
"If it's a real emergency in the sense that the patient's visual function is getting substantially worse, the patients would be brought in immediately and would be operated on the next day," he said.
In 2005, Holmes, complaining of headaches and vision loss, went to see a Canadian doctor and was put on a six-month waiting list to see specialist.
After trying unsuccessfully to expedite the process, she was diagnosed and treated at the Mayo Clinic. Holmes said U.S. doctors considered the cyst a tumour, and that it would cause death if not removed immediately.
But neurosurgeon Michael Schwartz of Toronto's Sunnybrook Hospital says he's never seen or heard of a death from a Rathke's cyst. He told CBC News symptoms can be alleviated if the cyst is drained or part of it removed to take pressure off the optic nerve. "Then the person's vision almost always improves.
"If somebody called me about a patient that was losing her vision or had a structural abnormality of the brain I would see them within days."
Opposition to Obama
The contentious advertisement is being run by a conservative lobby group, the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, opposed to U.S. President Barack Obama's plan to involve the government playing a role in reforming U.S. health care.
It warns that Washington wants to bring in Canadian-style health care that would cause "deadly" delays for people waiting for important medical procedures.
Holmes denies taking any money from Americans for Prosperity for her message. Her publicist, paid for by the lobby group, says she's now declining interviews.
But Holmes told CBC News in an earlier interview she believes Canadians are not speaking up about the problems in the health-care system. She said that every time she thinks about stopping her criticism of the system, she gets "another really sad phone call or desperate phone call of somebody who is tragically trying to get treatment in Canada and can't."
Americans for Prosperity says it has spent nearly $1.8 million US running the ad in Washington, D.C., and 11 states with key senators who are either writing health-care bills or wavering on the issue.
It is one of a handful of commercials that are expected to grow in number and criticism this summer as detailed health bills emerge from the U.S. Congress and dozens of interest groups, companies and labour unions tussle to influence legislators.
[article continued at link]A U.S. ad featuring an Ontario woman who spoke out against the Canadian health-care... more
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Democratic congressman may have some explaining to do to his constituents after telling Politico that a quarter of them back a crazy conspiracy theory.
In an article entitled "GOP headache: The birther issue," Lisa Lerer and Daniel Libit report on how Republicans are finding out that "there’s no easy way to deal with the small but vocal crowd of right-wing activists who refuse to believe that President Barack Obama was born in the United States."
But it's this part in which the Democratic chairman of the House Agriculture Committee is quoted which might have the largest impact:
Out-party politicians have long had to deal with conspiracy theorists on their side — the people who think that the Clintons killed Vince Foster or that the Bush administration helped orchestrate the Sept. 11 attacks.
“Twenty-five percent of my people believe the Pentagon and Rumsfeld were responsible for taking the twin towers down,” said Rep. Collin Peterson, a Democrat who represents a conservative Republican district in Minnesota. “That’s why I don’t do town meetings.”
While there are certainly thousands upon thousands of Americans with legitimate questions about what really happened on 9/11, only the fringe elements have internally convicted Bush officials for "taking the twin towers down."
No doubt, Peterson has his own questions, since in 2002, as a member of the House Intelligence Committee, he said of FBI whistle-blower Coleen Rowley, "It took a lot of guts to do what she did."
Rowley had alleged "that FBI headquarters rewrote Minneapolis agents' pre-Sept. 11 request for surveillance and search warrants for terrorism defendant Zacarias Moussaoui and removed important information before rejecting them," the Associated Press reported in 2002. "Agent Coleen Rowley wrote that the Minneapolis agents became so frustrated that they began to joke that FBI headquarters was becoming an 'unwitting accomplice' to Osama bin Laden's efforts to attack the United States, the officials saidDemocratic congressman may have some explaining to do to his constituents after... more
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Many people seem genuinely baffled that western governments are hyping the arrival of a swine flu pandemic as if it’s the greatest threat to humanity since the bubonic plague, despite the relatively low number of deaths from the virus, unaware that the pharmaceutical industry has been intimately joined at the hip with the state for decades.
Another illustration of that fact is the revelation that one of the UK government’s top advisors on swine flu also happens to be a sitting board member of GlaxoSmithKline, the company selling dangerous and untested swine flu vaccines, as well as anti-viral drugs Tamiflu and Relenza, to the NHS.
“Professor Sir Roy Anderson sits on the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), a 20-strong task force drawing up the action plan for the virus. Yet he also holds a £116,000-a-year post on the board of GlaxoSmithKline,” reports the Daily Mail.
We also learn that Anderson was “one of the first UK experts to call the outbreak a pandemic,” and has been busy on radio and TV pushing the effectiveness of anti-virals to fight swine flu, without telling listeners that he was on the GSK payroll.
Anderson was also a key government advisor during the 2001 foot and mouth outbreak in Britain which led to the slaughter of over 6 million animals and the complete decimation of the farming industry.
Batches of swine flu vaccine destined for Europe are being fast-tracked through safety procedures and there will be no testing on humans whatsoever before millions of people, starting with children and pregnant women, are inoculated as part of mass vaccination programsMany people seem genuinely baffled that western governments are hyping the arrival of... more
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PESHAWAR/MIRAMSHAH: The movement of Afghanistan-based US and Nato troops over the past few days close to North and South Waziristan Agencies has frightened tribesmen, who are already under stress due to the increasing number of drone attacks and a possible military operation by the Pakistan Army.
Official and tribal sources informed The News from the border villages of North Waziristan about the unusual movement of what they termed ìhuge numberî of the US and Nato forces along the Pak-Afghan border.
They said the Nato troops were armed with helicopter gunships, tanks and armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and had started establishing camps and checkpoints along the border.
The residents of border villages, including Dwatoi, Kazha Madakhel and Gorweek, said warplanes and helicopter gunships were seen flying over the border areas between the two neighbouring countries throughout the day. In some of the areas, the tribesmen claimed the planes violated Pakistanís airspace and flew over their villages.
Villagers claimed that the US and Nato forces were brought to the border area in 80 vehicles amid tight security.
A military official based in Miramshah, the headquarters of North Waziristan, said they had also received reports about the troop movement but could not confirm it. Wishing not to be named, he said Pakistanís armed forces were fully alert on their posts along the border with Afghanistan. ìThey often come to the border villages inside Afghanistan and return to their bases after some time. There is no need to be worried,î the official said.
Tribal sources close to the Taliban in Afghanistan said there had been an unprecedented rise in attacks on the US and Nato forces in Afghanistan and their movement in the border areas could be an act of desperation.
They said the foreign forces had particularly suffered losses in Helmand, Paktia, Paktika and Khost provinces, which were close to Pakistanís restive South and North Waziristan tribal regions.
Besides suffering casualties, the sources said, the Taliban militants had made some US and British soldiers hostage in Afghanistan.
The movement of foreign forces close to Pakistanís border and establishment of the checkpoints, along the porous Durand Line, could be part of their strategy to stop the Taliban militants from shifting the kidnapped US and British soldiers to the adjoining tribal areas, said the sources.
On September 3, 2008, the US-led foreign forces carried out their first-ever ground operation in the Pakistani territory, killing 15 Pakistanis, including women and children, in South Waziristanís Musa Nika village near Angoor Adda, close to Afghanistanís Paktika province. The tribesmen fear recurrence of such an attack.PESHAWAR/MIRAMSHAH: The movement of Afghanistan-based US and Nato troops over the past... more
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Russia's struggling economy and its leaders' pragmatism will push it to make deals on nuclear arms reduction as Washington seeks to reset ties with Moscow, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said.
Biden made the remarks in an interview with the Wall Street Journal published on Saturday, after he visited Ukraine and Georgia to reiterate U.S. support for the two former Soviet states at loggerheads with Moscow.
Earlier this month, President Barack Obama, who has said he wanted to "reset" relations with Russia, visited Moscow for a summit in which he and President Dmitry Medvedev pledged to finalize a treaty by December to cut the number of deployed nuclear warhead by each side.
Russians "have a shrinking population base, they have a withering economy, they have a banking sector and structure that is not likely to be able to withstand the next 15 years, they're in a situation where the world is changing before them and they're clinging to something in the past that is not sustainable," Biden said.
He said it was economic hardships that led the Kremlin to seek a reduction in nuclear warheads.
"All of a sudden, did they have an epiphany and say, 'Hey man, we don't want to threaten our neighbors?' No. They can't sustain it," Biden said.
He stressed the Russian leadership's pragmatism.
"These guys aren't absolute average-intellect ideologues who are clinging to something nobody believes in. They're pretty pragmatic in the end," he said.
It is difficult for the former Soviet superpower to deal with "loss of empire," Biden said, and the United States should not overplay its hand in dealing with Russia.
"It is never smart to embarrass an individual or a country when they're dealing with significant loss of face," he said.
In Moscow, a Kremlin official said Biden's critical remarks about Russia were perplexing.WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Russia's struggling economy and its leaders'... more
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Hillary Clinton has said the US will arm Washington's allies in the Gulf region if Iran builds a nuclear weapon.
The US secretary of state said in remarks recorded for a Thai television programme that the White House still wanted Iran to negotiate over its nuclear programme, but warned it would act if it did not halt its activities.
"We will still hold the door open, but we also have made it clear that we'll take actions ... working to upgrade the defence of our partners in the region," she said.
"If the US extends a defence umbrella over the region ... it's unlikely that Iran will be any stronger or safer because they won't be able to intimidate and dominate as they apparently believe they can once they have a nuclear weapon."
The US believes that Iran is using a civilian nuclear programme as a cover for efforts to build an atomic weapon.
Tehran insists that its uranium enrichment activities are simply to meet its energy needs.
'Dissuading Iran'
Hillary Mann Leverett, a former senior US diplomat, said that Obama's stated policy of trying to engage Iran had failed.
"Obama took his position during the primary to engage Iran and others - really in defiance of his own advisers - during the US presidential campaign," she told Al Jazeera.
"[The advisers] tried to walk him back the next day and he refused. It has always been Obama's strategy to engage Iran.
"I think what has happened is that Obama's policy has collapsed, and into the vacuum have stepped his opponents," she said, referring to Clinton.
A senior US official told the Reuters news agency that Clinton's comments should be seen as a arguments aimed at dissuading Iran from pursuing nuclear arms, rather than a sign that the United States is becoming resigned to action.
"She is making an argument to Iran about why they should not do this," the official said.
'Nuclear umbrella'
World powers agreed at a recent summit in Italy that they would assess whether Iran, which is already subject to UN sanctions, was co-operating over its nuclear activities when the G20 meets in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in late September.
The US military has bases in Gulf nations including Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, as well as in Iran's neighbour, Iraq.
Billions of dollars of military aid is already given to some Arab states, while the adminstration of George Bush, the former US president, also suggested providing additional assistance to counter the perceived threat from Iran.
However, the idea of handing weapons to Arab nations in the region was met with criticism from Israel, Washington's foremost ally in the Middle East.
"I was not thrilled to hear the American statement from yesterday that they will protect their allies with a nuclear umbrella, as if they have already come to terms with a nuclear Iran ... I think that's a mistake" Dan Meridor, Israel's minister of intelligence and atomic energy, told Israel's Army Radio.Hillary Clinton has said the US will arm Washington's allies in the Gulf region... more
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First, we did a story about an Army Major who filed suit regarding his deployment to Afghanistan on the grounds that Obama was not America’s legitimate Commander-In Chief.
World Net Daily thought highly enough of this article to link to it on their front page.
Then we did an article pointing out the differences between a Birth Cerificate and a Certification Of Live Birth.
Some of the biggest names in conservative news have weighed in on this topic, such as Michelle Malkin, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and numerous others have offered their opinions.
One of the people at the forefront of this issue is Joseph Farah and his staff over at World Net Daily.
They are even running an online petition demanding Obama produce a long-form birth certificate.
Thanks to the alertness of our great friend and loyal supporter Erica, who gave us the heads-up on this. it appears that the issue of Obama being forced to produce a copy of his birth certificate may prove to be extremely difficult, if not impossible.
On January 21st, 2009, his very first day in office, Barack Obama implemented and signed into law Executive Order 13489.
For those of you who can’t take the time to read it. here is the section that applies:
“Sec.2
Notice Of Intent To Disclose Presidential Records
When the Archivist provides notice to the incumbent and former Presidents of his intent to disclose Presidential records pursuant to section 1270.46 of the NARA regulations, the Archivist, using any guidelines providied by the incumbent and former Presidents, shall identify any specific materials, the disclosure of which he believes may raise a substantial question of executive privilege.”
Now for all of you who commented on our previous articles that we were no more that right-wing nut jobs, that this thing about Obama’s birth certificate was a non-issue, and those of you who tried to shift the focus of the stories, doesn’t this strike you as just a little odd?
That the first order of business Obama took care of on day one of his Presidency was to sign off on an Executive Order that states that only the records he chooses to be made public will be released?
This is the subject that was at the absolute top of his agenda?
If this isn’t proof that Obama is hiding something, I don’t know what is.First, we did a story about an Army Major who filed suit regarding his deployment to... more
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GOP seeks to have Republican Liberty Caucus of Florida State Chairman Removed from Republican Party for speaking against Bush Administration
***This article has been chosen as a discussion topic on PFP Movement Radio, http://www.blogtalkradio.com/pfpmovementradio Friday night at 6pm-8pm. Please Call In To The Show, 347-633-9636. COMMENTS will be included in the show so feel free to discuss or ask questions here on current.com as they will be addressed during the show. This article will also air on Freedom Hour Saturday at 9pm-10pm on Movement TV http://www.peacefreedomprosperity.com/?page_id=36***GOP seeks to have Republican Liberty Caucus of Florida State Chairman Removed from... more
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Tax protesters kept with the Independence Day theme Saturday to declare their independence from federal policies.
“It’s time that we take the country back,” event organizer Bob Frady said to a crowd of more than 200 seated across Washington Street from the state Capitol. “We weren’t going to let Atlanta go without a Tea Party on July 4th.”
The rally, highlighted by patriotic music and speeches from two candidates for governor, was part of the Campaign for Liberty, host of Tea Parties nationwide Saturday.
Attendees touted opposition to federal taxation as a remedy for pollution —- as in the “cap and trade” provision to the energy and global-warming bill the U.S. House of Representatives passed recently.
“The way the government makes you dependent on them is through taxes,” said Rebecca Stopper of Suwanee.
Others feared the results of what they called a federal spending spree to prop up failing banks and auto companies.
When they weren’t sniping at one another from the “soap box” in front of the Capitol, Republican gubernatorial candidates Ray McBerry and John Oxendine added to the anti-government fervor.
“This is your country,” said Oxendine, the state insurance commissioner, “not the politicians in Washington or in this building behind me.”
“The federal tyranny hasn’t stopped,” McBerry said.Tax protesters kept with the Independence Day theme Saturday to declare their... more
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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- California's bond rating is far from golden.
Citing the Golden State's ongoing budget upheaval, Fitch Ratings on Monday downgraded California's long-term debt to BBB, one category above junk bond status. The next step is BBB- before the state's bonds would be considered speculative debt.
Fitch also maintained its so-called negative outlook on California. "[I]nstitutional gridlock could persist, further aggravating the state's already severe economic, revenue and liquidity challenges," Fitch wrote.
The agency had downgraded the state to A- on June 25.
While Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers battle over closing a $26.3 billion budget gap, the state's controller last week was forced to issue IOUs for the first time in 17 years. Some county agencies, state vendors and taxpayers are getting paid in paper. The IOUs help the state controller stave off a deficit of nearly $3 billion for July.
"The fact that they have to take this step shows how tight the state's cash became and how limited their options are in the absence of a budget solution," said Douglas Offerman, Fitch credit analyst. "Without a budget, [the controller's] flexibility gets more and more reduced over time."NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- California's bond rating is far from golden.
Citing... more
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WASHINGTON (AP) - The government is creating a master list of which embryonic stem cells qualify for taxpayer-funded research, now that President Barack Obama has lifted restrictions on the field.
The National Institutes of Health already had said it will fund only science that uses cells culled from fertility clinic embryos that otherwise would be thrown away, not cells created solely for research.
But final rules issued Monday settle a big question: Would new ethics requirements disqualify many of the stem cells created over the past decade, even the few funded under the Bush administration's tight limits?
The NIH came up with a compromise, saying it deems those old stem cell lines eligible for government research dollars if scientists can prove they met the spirit of the new ethics standards. An NIH registry will list all that qualify.
"We think this is a reasonable compromise to achieve the president's goal of both advancing science while maintaining rigorous ethical standards," acting NIH Director Raynard Kington said Monday. "We believe that judgment is necessary."
He wouldn't speculate on how many old stem cells would qualify, but scientists welcomed the change.
"I expect that most existing lines will be found to have been ethically derived," said Dr. Sean Morrison, director of the University of Michigan Center for Stem Cell Biology. "This will eventually make hundreds of new stem cell lines available for use."WASHINGTON (AP) - The government is creating a master list of which embryonic stem... more
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At a recent Israeli Bar Association conference, Housing Construction Minister Ariel Atias remarked that all Israeli citizens “are one people (that) need to find a way to live together.” This message of unity sounds on the surface like a renewed push towards egalitarian democracy. But, in fact, the statement is a misleading departure from the subject of his speech: the need for segregation between Jewish Israelis and Arab Israelis, and between religious and secular citizens alike.
In an effort to showcase the complaints of Israeli mayors who “don’t’ want mixed cities,” Atias explained that when Arabs and Jews live side by side, “unwanted friction” arises that presents a threat to security. He added that part of his national duty is to “prevent the spread of a population that, to say the least, does not love the state of Israel,” Haaretz reports.
Identifying the slowing appropriation rate within the Housing Ministry and Land Administration as the cause of a land shortage within the ultra-orthodox community, Atias suggested that separate housing sectors for each community would better secure benefits for observant Jews.
In response to Atias’ proposal, MK Afu Aghbaria of the Hadash Party argued that a policy of segregation would only worsen tensions between Arabs and Jews. Hadash Chairman Mohammed Barakeh also cautioned that racism is a rising problem within the government, and its members must recognize that Arabs are not guests of Israel, but rather residents living in their own homelandAt a recent Israeli Bar Association conference, Housing Construction Minister Ariel... more
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July 6 (Bloomberg) -- Last week, we discovered that the state of California will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.
With California mired in a budget crisis, largely the result of a political impasse that makes spending cuts and tax increases impossible, Controller John Chiang said the state planned to issue $3.3 billion in IOU’s in July alone. Instead of cash, those who do business with California will get slips of paper.
The California morass has Democrats in Washington trembling. The reason is simple. If Obama’s health-care plan passes, then we may well end up paying for it with federal slips of paper worth less than California’s. Obama has bet everything on passing health care this year. The publicity surrounding the California debt fiasco almost assures his resounding defeat.
It takes years and years to make a mess as terrible as the California debacle, but the recipe is simple. All that you need is two political parties that are always willing to offer easy government solutions for every need of the voters, but never willing to make the tough decisions necessary to finance the government largess that results. Voters will occasionally change their allegiance from one party to the other, but the bacchanal will continue regardless of the names on the office doors.
California has engaged in an orgy of spending, but, compared with our federal government, its legislators should feel chaste. The California deficit this year is now north of $26 billion. The U.S. federal deficit will be, according to the latest numbers, almost 70 times larger.July 6 (Bloomberg) -- Last week, we discovered that the state of California will... more
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Ron Paul's legislative history is a lesson in principled failure. Among the bills he has co-sponsored: ending U.S. cooperation with the United Nations, a repeal of antitrust law "to restore the inherent benefits of the market economy," and stripping the government of the right to set a minimum wage. Just last week, he again introduced a bill "to repeal the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990," which would presumably make schools less safe but which would reinforce our right to bear arms. For Paul, ideology almost always trumps politics.
None of these bills, I should note, have picked up much support. And Paul's track record with economic legislation isn't any better. His perennial efforts—shifting the country back toward a gold standard, abolishing the personal income tax, and dismantling the Federal Reserve—are nonstarters. They so change the very fabric of this country that Paul can't marshal his colleagues to his side.
Which is why Paul's most recent legislative accomplishment is so impressive. He has rallied the majority of the House to support his new cause: an audit of the Federal Reserve. Legislators are sick of not knowing what's going on inside Bernanke's fortress, especially as the Fed becomes further enmeshed in the nation's fiscal policy. Paul's little bill has become emblematic of a larger movement, one that could spell trouble for Obama's troubled regulatory plan. Ron Paul—always an enemy of regulation—is now an enemy of Obama. And a mighty powerful one at that.Ron Paul's legislative history is a lesson in principled failure. Among the bills... more
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