Say Anything Blog

Kyle-Anne Shiver

One of the foremost scientists in stem cell research, Prof. Iam Wilmot, the creator of Dolly the cloned sheep, has decided to completely abandon his work with embryos in favor of the more productive, and morally acceptable, adult stem cell research.   
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And it has been noted among many in medical research for some time that the most encouraging scientific results have been found with adult stem cells, rather than embryonic.

  Prof Wilmut is backing direct reprogramming or “de-differentiation”, the embryo free route pursued by Prof Yamanaka, which he finds “100 times more interesting.”

  “The odds are that by the time we make nuclear transfer work in humans, direct reprogramming will work too.

  “I am anticipating that before too long we will be able to use the Yamanaka approach to achieve the same, without making human embryos. I have no doubt that in the long term, direct reprogramming will be more productive, though we can’t be sure exactly when, next year or five years into the future.”

  Prof Yamanaka’s work suggests the dream of converting adult cells into those that can grow into many different types can be realised remarkably easily.

Bravo!  Bravo!

ESR was never about science; it was always about promoting abortion as something useful.  If it’s OK to kill unborn humans for medical purposes, why not just kill them for convenience?

Last week FOX News reported that the U.S. State Department has 48 open assignments in Iraq which need department people to fill. However, there is a shortage of volunteers to fill the slots so Secretary of State Condi Rice issued a directive that State Department people shall be assigned to fill the posts. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Jack Croddy, Foreign Service Officer in the State Dept. made a statement that amounts to his refusal, and speaking for unnamed others, to go to Iraq if ordered. His comments on FOX News video have him saying that people who believe in what is going on there should go, and he added that such an assignment is a death sentence. Keep in mind that he and others would be working inside the green zone in air conditioned comfort; possibly safer than a pedestrian in D.C.

Today, Nov. 16 Associated Press reports that Diplomats won’t be forced to go to Iraq because there are volunteers coming forward to fill the slots. So a confrontation has been avoided without a showdown between the Secretary of State and the people who supposedly are the employees—the people who work for us. The department spokesman Sean McCormack put a positive spin on the situation, “We believe we are close to having all the jobs filled by volunteers. That doesn’t mean the policy has changed”. That’s our State Department—avoid conflict no matter what the cost.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi took no stand on the issue of refusal to serve by some employees—she observed that this indicated a difference in their view of the war. A difference in their view? The State Department is a part of the Executive branch of government directed by the president—so they are allowed to refuse an assignment because they have their own view of the war?  Who do these people work for? Representative Duncan Hunter, R of Calif. has a much higher expectation of our career officers at State; he took the position that they should serve as assigned and if they refuse they should be fired.

One important point: all government employees take an oath of office from congresspersons to judges to the recruits of the armed forces. The oath reads as follows:“ I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter”. What part of that promise do they not understand?

Rick Moran

A US economist working for the Carnegie Endowment for Peace and citing recent data from the Asian Development Bank estimates that the Chinese economy is actually 40% smaller than previously thought:

Keidel told AFP he made the calculations based on a recent ADB report that made its first analysis of China’s economy based on so-called purchasing power parity (PPP), which strips out the impact of exchange rates.

“The results tell us that when the World Bank announces its expected PPP data revisions later this year, China’s economy will turn out to be 40 percent smaller than previously stated,” Keidel wrote. “This more accurate picture of China clarifies why Beijing concentrates so heavily on domestic priorities such as growth, public investment, pollution control and poverty reduction.”

The ADB data was the first using purchasing power analysis, according to Keidel. Based on this new analysis, he said “the number of people in China living below the World Bank’s dollar-a-day poverty line is 300 million—three times larger than currently estimated.”

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And that number of 300 million Chinese living on a dollar a day is shocking. Given the disparity between rural and urban China, such numbers are the stuff of revolution. And indeed, there have been many demonstrations and even riots in rural villages that have been ruthlessly surpressed by the Communist authorities. With so many being so poor, that does not bode well for China’s economic or political stability in the future.

Perhaps this will help change some people’s attitude toward China who saw the country as an economic juggarnaut soon to overtake America as the pre-eminent economic superpower. And while China’s military continues to buy modern weapons, they are still a long way from being able to challenge the United States except perhaps in its own backyard.

China has been inflating the value of its economy by jiggering with their money from the beginning of their “capitalist revolution”.

There’s no substitute for “free people making free choices” when it comes to generating prosperity, and China is still a dictatorship.

The WaPo Article reprinted in the Arizona Republic is just classic:

Global warming is destroying species, raising sea levels and threatening millions of poor people, the United Nations’ top scientific panel will say in a report today that U.N. officials hope will help mobilize the world to take tougher actions on climate change.

The report argues that only firm action, including putting a price on carbon-dioxide emissions, will avoid more catastrophic events…

“Those in the weakest economic or political position are frequently the most susceptible to climate change,” the panel wrote.

“In all regions,” it added, those most at risk are “the poor, young children, the elderly and the ill.”...

Despite the sweep of science and scientists utilized by the IPCC, its reports have been rejected by some who argue that the world has gone through natural shifts in temperature before.

Critics also say society and industry should not be put to the difficult task of curbing emissions.

President Bush, until recently, questioned the validity of global warming.

Are you shitting me?  Questions the validity of Global Warming?

I for one question the validity of the data that is gathered because so many weather stations in the US are now heat islands and in the middle of parking lots.  I question whether NASA has correctly written their programs to analyze the data.  I question the amount of global warming attributable to CO2 versus the amount do to solar fluctuations and other natural causes.

But most of all I question the dire outcomes of destruction of species and sea level rising and poor people dying.  But that probably means that I don’t “care about the poor and the sick”. 

Bush also denies the existence of Santa Clause, but does believe in Jesus. 

Scientific Consensus of the UN:

Global Warming—real.  Jesus—not so much.  Santa Clause—the debate is out.

A flight from Seattle to Las Vegas had to be diverted to Portland due to an obviously failed “Mile High Club” initiation attempt. LOL, sheesh… Is there no self control any more?
An airport spokesperson said the offending passengers were neither cited nor arrested, but they were left in Portland. The plane continued on to Las Vegas.

The Wall Street Journal gave the top half of its opinion page yesterday to a long essay by Peter Berkowitz titled ”The Insanity of Bush Hatred.”  If anything, it deserves a gold medal for political propaganda – make that political lies.  What caught my attention immediately was the frequent use of the word “progressive” to describe the people Berkowitz was attacking.  It was used ten times.  In other words, progressives were attacked for hating Bush.

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Gang, y’all got to check out the latest FroggyProduction over at thedissedentfrogman. And watch the firearms training for journalists piece, must see TV for all members of the MSM.

Perhaps someone should get Algore:The Goreacle a calender and teach him how to keep track of the number of years till all life on Earth dies. It might make him slightly believable if his timelines were consistent.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - At least 30 members of a Russian Doomsday Cult have barricaded themselves in a remote cave to await the end of the world and are threatening to commit suicide if police intervene, officials and media said on Thursday.

Well dang… if they ain’t broken why are they trying to fix them? If they’re legal leave them be. Last I checked it’s not illegal to be nuts!

They are simple Christians,” a local priest, Father Georgy, told NTV television station. “They say: ‘The church is doing a bad job, the end of the world is coming soon and we are all saving ourselves’.”

Media reports said the cult members believed the world would end sometime in May next year. Police expected them to emerge when their supplies ran out.

BTW, TAKE NOTICE! The world better not end in May, I just bought a new car and want to get at least several thousand miles out of it. It’s also going to take more than this year for the Seahawks to get back the super bowl, soooo… the world being obliterated in a massive explosion from a comet, nuke, or some other catastrophe just isn’t workable in my schedule at this time.

Generally, I don’t get into personal stuff too much here.  I am rather jealous of my own privacy, which necessitates an above average respect for the privacy of others.

But today is an anniversary of sorts.  Five years ago I stopped smoking.  I didn’t quit.  That’s the wrong word.  I didn’t plan it out beforehand, or set a certain date and time by which I would have enjoyed my last cigarette.  I simply stopped.  No pills, no gum, no patches.  I just stopped.  I woke up that morning and decided I didn’t smoke any more.

When I started, many years ago, cigarettes didn’t have the negative health cachet that they do now.  Besides, there is no one so invulnerable as a young man going off to war.  And they were certainly cheap.  Ten cents a pack at a Navy or Army Base Exchange, and as I recall there was a packet of five in each and every C-rations pack. (The cigarettes were probably the least aged, and least unpalatable thing in there.)

But it wasn’t the expense of smoking.  Or the health thing, really.  Nor was it just cigarettes.  I still have some very nice Cuban Monte Christos put away which will probably go to a few select business associates one day. Fact is, I waited a full year before I tossed out that last half pack of Marlboros.

So, today’s my anniversary.  Five whole years.  To celebrate, I’m heading over to the gym later where I get to pay for the privilege of making my body hurt in an effort to improve my life.  Strange paradox, ain’t it?!

Michelle Malkin

Thousands of Deadly Islamic Terror Attacks Since 9/11:

          9,995 and counting…

Some deaths count more than others, Patrick Poole notes:

  The establishment media is seemingly obsessed with “grim milestones” in the War on Terror, as the Associated Press reminds us this past weekend. But in the next week those same establishment media outlets will probably stand mute when yet another “grim milestone” is reached – the10,000th attack by Islamic terrorists and militants since 9/11, which is responsible for approximately 60,000 dead and 90,000 injured.

  The chronicler of this bloody tally is Glen Reinsford, editor of TheReligionofPeace.com, who began compiling and updating daily a detailed list of reported incidents of violence and terrorism around the world targeting non-Muslims and Muslims alike. Because of space limitations he only posts the past two months worth of attacks on his websites main page, though he has archived all of the incidents from past years (2001-2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007). He also maintains a banner graphic with the updated number of attacks, which people can post on their own websites.

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Whatever happened to “the peoples’ right to know”?
I guess the MSM would rather we didn’t know about how many innocent people have been slaughtered by the terrorists.

Robert Knight

They’re coming for our children!

Blackboard Jungle Blackout



When California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed two bills on Oct. 12 that essentially turn the state’s public schools over to homosexual and transgender activists, there was virtually no media coverage outside California. There still isn’t.

Beginning in January 2008, California public schools must teach children as young as 3 to 5 years old that homosexuality is a normal, healthy lifestyle and that kids can choose their “gender.” This means banning the terms “husband” and “wife” for the more progressively inclusive term “partner.” “Moms” and “dads” will morph into sexually neutral “parents.” Textbooks will be rewritten to blot out any reminder of married-couple-led families as a social norm. Gender-confused kids will get to use the restrooms of their choice. Any expression of negativity toward deviant sexuality will be punished as “bigotry.” The coming changes are so radical that they produce gasps or professions of disbelief from people who hear about it from sources outside the mainstream media.



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So far, the media have maintained a near total news blackout on this development.

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Leaving aside the question of any prior California legislation regarding deviant lifestyles and ADULTS, the relevant question is whether Zelda’s “advanced thoughts” on this subject should be inflicted on children. The reporter, as you will note, didn’t really get to this, and she entirely missed the importance of California’s brave new definition of “gender.”

To get up to date on the rest of the country, visit Linda Harvey’s site: http://www.truthatsc....

As a CA resident, I can testify to the news blackout on this, which has effectively silenced any possible dissent to this newest implementation of totalitarian indoctrination on our children in govt schools.

All the more reason for private/home schooling.

THERE’LL be no ho, ho, ho this Christmas. Aspiring Santas have been told not to use the term “ho” because it could be seen as derogatory to women.

Thirty trainees at a Santa course in Adelaide last month, held by recruitment company Westaff, were urged to replace the traditional festive greeting with “ha, ha, ha”.

A Santa veteran of 11 years who attended the course told the Sunday Mail the trainer was very clear in spelling out no to “ho”.

Two Santa hopefuls reportedly left the course after the trainer’s edict.

Sheesh…

(Note $20.50 an hour??? Whoa.. that ain’t bad at all, lol)

My suggestion… leave Santa alone and let him HO-HO-Ho to his hearts content

Noel Sheppard

I blame Bush.

NASA Debunks Part of Global Warming Myth, Will Media Report It?

Is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration filled with climate change deniers?

Such seems likely to be alleged by hysterical alarmists in the press when and if they read a new study out of NASA which determined that “not all the large changes seen in Arctic climate in recent years are a result of long-term trends associated with global warming.”

Goes quite counter to all the recent media reports, as well as assertions by Nobel Laureate Al Gore, that low ice conditions in the Arctic are all the fault of that despicable—albeit essential to life and naturally occurring!—gas carbon dioxide.

Of course, it’s quite unlikely many climate alarmists will even hear about this study, for today’s green media wouldn’t want to do anything that destroys their illusion that there’s a scientific consensus regarding this matter.

[...]

  A team of NASA and university scientists has detected an ongoing reversal in Arctic Ocean circulation triggered by atmospheric circulation changes that vary on decade-long time scales. The results suggest not all the large changes seen in Arctic climate in recent years are a result of long-term trends associated with global warming.

  [...] 

  “Our study confirms many changes seen in upper Arctic Ocean circulation in the 1990s were mostly decadal in nature, rather than trends caused by global warming,” said [James Morison of the University of Washington’s Polar Science Center Applied Physics Laboratory].

Somehow I imagine Morison won’t be interviewed by any of the major television networks any time soon, especially as the study concluded that this circulation pattern may already be reversing possibly leading to increased ice levels in this area in coming years:

  The Arctic Oscillation was fairly stable until about 1970, but then varied on more or less decadal time scales, with signs of an underlying upward trend, until the late 1990s, when it again stabilized. During its strong counterclockwise phase in the 1990s, the Arctic environment changed markedly, with the upper Arctic Ocean undergoing major changes that persisted into this century. Many scientists viewed the changes as evidence of an ongoing climate shift, raising concerns about the effects of global warming on the Arctic.

[...] 

Once again, another in a seeming litany of reports emerging offering scientific alternatives for climate change beyond it being all man’s fault.

And folks wonder why so many people are skeptical concerning the anthropogenic impact on long-term weather patterns.

Of course, one thing’s for certain: this news definitely won’t make “An Inconvenient Truth” producer Laurie David happy!

As the truth continues to come out, the scareology continues to be exposed as being just that.

Innovation has been the life blood of the American success story.  Diverse individual ideas are the driving force behind innovation.  But the legacy of the United States of America may be at its apex.

  We are dangerously close to a precipice.  The Federal US government determines more and more.  At some point, in the not-too-distant future, we will awaken to realize that we have become a socialized state. 

  Innovation, through the years, has allowed us to devote more resources toward solving problems.  Nowhere is this more evident than in agriculture.  Previous to last century, 80% of the population was devoted to the production of food.  Innovative techniques and tools have reduced this man-power expenditure to a scant 20% of the population, while we export more food than ever before.  When there were only 20% of us doing everything other than agricultural work, there would have been less scientists and researchers.  Now that 60% of us are freed up from food production, a lot more of us can pursue our passions.

Massive shifts in the labor market helped to cause the great depression.  Once the labor was reabsorbed and people learned new skills, new technologies began to arrive in earnest.  Suddenly, our society could afford for people to sit around and day-dream.  We encouraged it.  Then something went awry.

  At some time in the recent past, a large number of people in the US decided that security is more important than freedom.  They haven’t yet come to realize that you must sacrifice innovation when you opt for security. 

  I work for a large corporation.  I have had several innovative ideas that I have not pursued for the security of working for a corporation.  My ideas may have been successful, but they may have failed.  I didn’t try them because I feel that I can’t risk the failure at this time in my life.  This might be a prudent choice.  It might be a terrible decision.  Time will tell.  I will serve as an example to others one way or the other.

Insecurity is one of the problems that we humans try to solve.  We give security blankets to babies.  We created Social Security for those that didn’t or couldn’t save for a retirement.  We create new laws, daily, designed to protect us from problems.

The problem is that a select few are solving these problems.  Is a group of 600 people more likely to develop, implement, and manage a solution to a problem than a group of millions?

When a few people are placed in charge of production and distribution, as with socialism, the drive to increase efficiency declines.  In my imagination, Jane Smith didn’t develop the new baby-wipe because one government bureau after another, just to get started, was too daunting a task.  But that’s what government intervention does to people; diminishes the drive to make things better.

If the government starts to control production (health care is a product, ladies and gentlemen) we will have shortages in supply or increase in cost.  Doctors are not robots.  The doctor’s staff needs to be paid.  When the government decides the price for the Doctor’s time, it is, in essence, stealing from the Doctor, and reducing the incentive for another doctor to compete based upon price.  This leads to a shortage in doctors and an increase in cost. 

Our way of life is under attack by those that, mostly with good intentions, have not thought through governmental control of our lives.