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Human-chicken hybrids in the lab
Nature reports on the creation of human-chicken hybrids using “embryo-like structures” in order to study human embryonic “organizer cells.”
, in an organized manner.
Taxes aren’t charity (SNAP and “government interference.)
Okay, old lady rant here, from someone who once qualified for WIC, but did what we had to* to refuse it. I’m seeing complaints about a proposal to change the SNAP (food stamp) program from money/cards/vouchers for dollars to a mix of money and commodities.
Most people complain that it would be a big government boondoggle. And I’m sure it would be bloated and subject to all sorts of agendas and unintended consequences. I’m not sold on a change.
However, I’m also seeing comments that SNAP should be “supplemental,” rather than basic. That rather than interfering and deciding to only provide nutritional foods, we should trust recipients to know and meet their own needs. And kids on SNAP should be allowed the “dignity” of having Cheetos and a birthday cake.
I started this post because I have a real problem with measuring a child’s dignity by whether their parents can use some one else’s money to buy Cheetos or other junk food. (And, come on! A birthday cake is flour, sugar, milk, and eggs and time.)
Taxes aren’t charity. And I know I’ve seen abuses at the grocery store and with Medicaid in my practice.
Charity is giving someone a ride to the store or offering to shop when you go. It’s giving whatever without government force and, sometimes, when it hurts in the long run. But tell me, who among us would be happy to see even a freely given gift abused by the recipient?
SNAP, WIC, etc., are helping hands, a bridge over hard times. it’s hard work – nearly a time-consuming job – to meet the requirements to access government assistance, I know. And I know there are gaps. I’m sorry, but they shouldn’t be something that is comfortable.
*(Came within minutes of getting utilities turned off several times, nursed those babies until they could reason, baked my own bread with wheat I bought by the big bag and ground myself, joined a cheese and vegetable coop, bought in quantity and learned to store it in smaller portions, made do with one car and shared rides with neighbors, and taught my kids to eat what they were given – when their cousins lived on French fries, Dairy Queen and cookies. Eventually, I was lucky enough to enroll in the local Junior College and then on to medical school and Larry worked harder and harder. I know we’ve been lucky, but…)
Divide and Conquer: Dems vs. Republicans
January, 1973 marked the big divide, with Roe v. Wade forever separating those of us who believe in the inalienable human right not to be killed from those who separate our species into two big classes: the ones who are human-enough and the ones that aren’t.
That was the ugly beginning of even further class divisions, with some groups of people given power to claim more “rights” than other groups. The concept of individual inalienable rights endowed by Nature of being human dissolved in the class warfare that resulted.
Don’t forget the 60’s, when the Dems opposed Civil Rights legislation while spending – redistributing- every penny of Social Security and Medicare taxes to engineer a society based on the power of the greatest number.
For me, though, the Dems proved themselves liars and undependable in 1968, when I was 12. Watching the national political Parties and the Presidential Primaries, I saw not only the deaths of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy. My natural inclination would have been sympathy toward the Party that claimed them.
However, I also became aware that it was the Dems who were rioting, calling policemen “pigs,” and soldiers “baby killers,” supporting the Black Panther and Weathermen, and telling us to “never trust anyone over 30,” to justify their violence.
I knew policemen and soldiers – and lots if people who were over 30 and deserving of my trust – so I knew these were false accusations. Even then, I could tell that they were dehumanizing entire groups, refining the old myth that some humans aren’t human-enough to possess inalienable rights in order to gain power.
Disappointed by BVI Immigration
A month ago, one week after Irma, I came into Beef Island as volunteer doctor with a small medical relief group on a charter plane. I was only given a visa for 30 days, even though I explained that I have a Non-Belonger Land Holder License (NBLHL), but didn’t have it with me when I canceled the rest of our vacation in Europe.
Today I went to the government offices in Spanish Town with my NBLHL and was refused a visa extension until I could produce a return ticket. The officer informed me that the NBLHL only allowed me 6 months “per annum” and proceeded to examine my passport, as though to check how long I had been present in the Country this year.
(I had to go up to Flow to get a good signal in order to buy the ticket online. I returned to find the officer leaving for lunch 15 minutes before noon.)
When I came in on September 14, there was no demand for a return ticket. At the time, there was a perceived shortage of doctors and we believed I would need to be self-sufficient for food and water as I wouldn’t have access to power or running water. The prisoners and looters were still at large.
Thank goodness, nothing was quite as bad as we feared: The British military had arrived by then; the wonderful people at Nanny Cay took great care of me and the rest of the group and we arrived the first day that Nanny Cay was able to turn on their desalination plant /water maker for a few hours.
The medical need on Tortola was already improving enough that I was able to come to Virgin Gorda just 4 days later. Although they don’t need me either, I’ve been working at the clinic in Spanish Town at least two days a week ever since. I don’t want a job and don’t need the experience, but feel that I made a contract that I must keep. I also want the docs, nurses, and staff to know me if one of the feared medical crises does arise.
BTW, That NBLHL I mentioned “authorizes” immigration “to grant leave to land for a period not exceeding six months…” Not “per annum,” and there is no mention of a return ticket six months in advance.
Larry and I have also applied for a “permit to reside” which required the same documentation that we submitted – and resubmitted after it was lost – for our NBLHL: letters from law enforcement and character references, and financial statements. We were required to leave the Country while it was processed, but have been informed that it languished in the Immigration department without action from 5 July to September 4 – 2 months before Hurricane Irma – and that it is most likely lost and will need to be resubmitted.
If you saw my post last week, you’ll recall that when Larry was finally able to come to the BVI 3 weeks after I did, he was required to pay duty or produce receipts at Beef Island Customs on the
(I had to go up to Flow to get a good signal in order to buy the ticket online. I returned to find Ms. Smith leaving for lunch 15 minutes before noon.)
When I came in on September 14, there was no demand for a return ticket. At the time, there was a perceived shortage of doctors and we believed I would need to be self-sufficient for food and water as I wouldn’t have access to power or running water. The prisoners and looters were still at large.
Thank goodness, nothing was quite as bad as we feared: The British military had arrived by then; the wonderful people at Nanny Cay took great care of me and the rest of the group and we arrived the first day that Nanny Cay was able to turn on their desalination plant /water maker for a few hours.
The medical need on Tortola was already improving enough that I was able to come to Virgin Gorda just 4 days later. Although they don’t need me either, I’ve been working at the clinic in Spanish Town at least two days a week ever since. I don’t want a job and don’t need the experience, but feel that I made a contract that I must keep. I also want the docs, nurses, and staff to know me if one of the feared medical crises does arise.
BTW, That NBLHL I mentioned “authorizes” immigration “to grant leave to land for a period not exceeding six months…” Not “per annum,” and there is no mention of a return ticket six months in advance.
Larry and I have also applied for a “permit to reside” which required the same documentation that we submitted – and resubmitted after it was lost – for our NBLHL: letters from law enforcement and character references, and financial statements. We were required to leave the Country while it was processed, but have been informed that it languished in the Immigration department without action from 5 July to September 4 – 2 months before Hurricane Irma – and that it is most likely lost and will need to be resubmitted.
If you saw my post last week, you’ll recall that when Larry was finally able to come to the BVI 3 weeks after I did, he was required to pay duty or produce receipts at Beef Island Customs on the items (water filters, etc.) he brought, in spite of the moratorium.
Beyond investing in our home at Nail Bay on Virgin Gorda, Larry and I have done what we could to assist physically and financially in the BVI recovery after Irma. I’m not as enthusiastic about residency as I was in June or even a month ago, and do not feel at all welcomed by the BVI.
Personhood “TBD”
“To Be Determined,” or the Schrodingder’s cat* version of human rights.
Does the possession of inalienable human rights depend on unknown future facts? Can the moral worth of a human being be determined by the actions of another human being – or by fate, the available and utilized medical technology?
Sherif Girgis discusses the theory of Princeton philosopher, Elizabeth Harman, in today’s Public Discourse. The professor’s view that abortion is – or may be – a neutral act has been the subject of discussion since she appeared in the YouTube video, Philosophy Time, produced by actor James Franco and Eliot Michaelson.
Besides the obvious problems pointed out by Girgis of defining “consciousness” and the TBD “kind” of a human fetus, there are other problems.
First, any concept of “inalienable” human rights would need to be discarded. There goes the Declaration of Independence and the basis of the United States Constitution.
In addition, Professor Harman’s theory would presumably allow the use of bodies of the human species for the benefit of humans with “moral worth,” as long as those bodies are never allowed to become conscious. This is the current practice of researchers using embryos, including those created for the purpose of manipulation and destruction.
But there’s nothing in this philosophy to prevent the intentional manipulation of a human body for research or to benefit others, as long as the body is never allowed to develop consciousness. Continual sedation or mutilation of the brain from the beginning – before consciousness – would prevent the development or acquisition of moral worth and rights.
In the process, “human” rights would cease to exist. The actions of others, laws and location and the potential use of technology would finally determine who is human enough to possess the right not to be killed. (Forget the right not to be “enslaved.”
What happens if (as Girgis proposes) the abortion itself is aborted or fails? Or if the brain isn’t damaged sufficiently to prevent consciousness?
Forget about opening the box: don’t put humans in there in the first place.
*I saw this analogy on a Facebook thread, but thought the same thought before I stole it.
Edited to correct my misspelling of Dr. Harman’s name.
This is bananas!!! (Can I even say that, anymore?)
But according to the University newspaper, only people-of-color can use the restaurant called “The Bridge” on the American University campus in Washington, DC, as a sanctuary. (Whatever that means.)
And only “people-of-color” get an extension for finals and other tests.
Segregation, with no separate but equal accommodation for non-people-of-color.
But no one – of color or without color – could come or go from parking.
And we all get to read this:
“”“Do I not pay? Do I not pay for tuition?” junior Romayit Cherinet said to the crowd. “Do I come here and try as best as possible to ignore these racist ass white people? To ignore the microaggressions every single day?”””
If that’s not “hate speech,” what is? If nothing else, where’s the cultural sensitivity?
The American University Administration, the sorority, and the new Student Body President, Ms Dumpson should have treated the bananas on a string as satire, bad satire at that, since it’s pretty much an insider joke: Most people would not associate bananas with racism, but back in September, a Black student getting ready for a protest said a banana was thrown at her. Another Black student found a banana outside her dorm room.
As to the FBI showing up (and the Administration live-streaming hints on cyber-security), when a tweet suggested that followers “troll” Ms. Dumpson… Where were they when people physically blocked access to the garage and trolled – and encouraged others to troll – the Provost by chanting, “Call Kerwin?”
Oh, yeah. They were caving.
FBI response to bananas on a string and encouraging others to “troll”? Grow up people!
Rest in Peace, @AndrewBreitbart
I’ve had a little crush on Mr. Brietbart since I saw his part in the movie, The Undefeated. He made a real impression on me with his charge that Republican men were “eunuchs” who did not defend Sarah Palin. My admiration grew when I heard him speak at CPAC last month. He was a joy to listen to and watch, and certainly an example of courage and action for Conservative causes.
I hope his family realize that we are grateful that they shared him with us. May the Lord give them His peace and surround them with His love.
Get the RINO’s out, now!
I tend to be a “some is better than none” type of voter. Normally, I say that just about any Republican is better than just about any Democrat.
But not on life and family issues. I wont cast a vote for pro-aborts or pro-homosexual “marriage” RINO’s.
I did refrain from criticizing my own State Senator, who is both, because of a misguided loyalty to the Party – and my husband is the County chair. In reward the man refused to allow me to be introduced as “Doctor of the Day” at the Senate, this May and he fought our ultrasound bill.
Never again.
Every Republican who cannot stand for the sanctity of life and traditional marriage should be hounded out of office, not just voted out. No violence, no threats, just unrelenting pressure to resign. (My husband says, “Good!” or I wouldn’t put this on line. I really do believe what I say about marriage.)
Watch Quartzsite, Arizona today
The Town Council will meet under their “emergency” rules today at 10 AM MST.
Pray for a peaceful meeting.
The Chief of Police has reportedly taken charge of the town since another “emergency” meeting on Sunday, during which the Council met behind locked doors, with no notice, against the wishes of the mayor. At that meeting, the usual Town Council meetings were suspended through September, along with any and all public comments at the meetings. The Chief has reportedly asked for help from County and State law enforcement, after the Chief forcibly removing a woman from the June 28 Council meeting against the mayor’s wishes.
The video of the incident is here.
More videos of past town meetings, here.
Supporters of Mayor Ed Foster facebook page, here.
Historic tax rates: burden increased on top incomes
Never sit still when told that the “rich” pay less in taxes than they should due to the tax cuts in the ’90’s.
A very interesting set of tables showing relative tax rates for households from the ’70’s to 2007.
There’s also a table showing Effective Individual tax rate, social taxes (Medicare and Social Security), and Effective Excise and Corporate taxes. You can view it online, in a pdf or in your Excel files.
This information belies the concerns that the rich don’t pay their fair share or that the burden of taxes falls heavier on the middle class due to “Bush Tax Cuts.”
Gov. Perry signs ‘cut, cap and balance’ pledge | San Antonio Business Journal
Gov. Perry signs ‘cut, cap and balance’ pledge | San Antonio Business Journal.
Death Penalty in Texas Internationally Criticized
Is it the concern of President Obama that if Texas executes a murderer, other nations will hold us accountable to their laws concerning murder? In the mean time, we’ll be in more danger from every murderer among us, especially illegal aliens like today’s killer.
(I’m trying to write this article without mentioning the name of the murderer, only the name of his victim. She was a child, and her killer has been in jail more years than she was alive.)
First, few realize that the Governor of Texas cannot pardon people about to be executed. Because Democrat Governor James “Pa” Ferguson, 1915 – 1917, was so corrupt that the Legislature took the power to commute and pardon away from all Governors. The Governor may only approve or reject the recommendation of the Board of Grants and Pardons. If he rejects the recommendation of the Board, he can only grant a 30-day reprieve, and that, only once.
Second, Adria Sauceda was 16 and her killer was 23, when her naked body was found because the accused’s brother had raised the alarm when the man came home saying he had killed a girl. Her body was found on the side of a road nearby.(See transcript, and/or the excerpt below from Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.)
(And did I mention that she was 16? Adria had gone to a party where there was beer. She shouldn’t have. However, she did not deserve to be gang raped or to have the man who falsely claimed to know her take her away from the party then brutally abuse and kill her. She was 16. A decent 23 year old man would have protected her.)
Third, the killer had been in the US since he was 2 years old. There’s no evidence that he told the police that he was an alien – and asking that question would have been complicated in San Antonio in 1994. (And still would be – notice all the fuss and bother over sanctuary cities in Texas.) He did not seek help during his trial. His lawyers brought up the Mexican Consulate angle on appeal.
Many of my pro-life and Catholic readers may be upset with me about my support of the death penalty. I will admit to being conflicted about the killing of people by my State. However, I do believe in punishment and I do believe that a man like this would be a real danger to the lives of other people unless he could be kept in solitary confinement.
I remember the prison break from maximum security in Kenedy, Texas, back in 2000, which ended in the death of a policeman on Christmas Eve. The seven men were serving anywhere from 5 years sentences for burglary to 50 and even 99-life for rapes and murders. One had been given a life sentence for a capital murder. This story was probably the main reason that I became less ambivalent about the death sentence: when proven killers have nothing to lose, they have nothing to lose by killing again.
From one of the many appellant decisions filed by Adria’s killer’s lawyers:
The evidence presented at trial shows that on May 20, 1994, the intoxicated sixteen-year-old victim was at a party. The twenty-three-year-old appellant also was at the party. At some point the intoxicated but conscious victim was placed in appellant’s car. Appellant and the victim left together in appellant’s car.
About thirty minutes later, appellant’s brother arrived at the party in a car which came to a screeching halt. Appellant’s brother was very excited or hysterical. Appellant’s brother started yelling to the people left at the party, “What the hell happened!” Appellant’s brother was yelling that appellant came home with blood on him saying he had killed a girl. Witnesses Torres and Ortega were present when appellant’s brother made these statements. Shortly thereafter appellant’s brother left in a rush.
Several of the party members went looking for the victim in the same area where the party was. They found her nude body lying face-up on a dirt road. They noticed the victim’s head had been bashed in and it was bleeding. Her head was flinching or jerking. These party members called the police.
When the police arrived, they saw the nude victim lying on her back. There was a 30 to 40 pound asphalt rock roughly twice the size of the victim’s skull lying partially on the victim’s left arm. Blood was underneath this rock. A smaller rock with blood on it was located near the victim’s right thigh. There was a gaping hole from the corner of the victim’s right eye extending to the center of her head from which blood was oozing. The victim’s head was splattered with blood.
There was a bloody and broken stick approximately 14 to 16 inches long with a screw at the end of it protruding from the victim’s vagina. Another 4 to 5 inch piece of the stick was lying to the left side of the victim’s skull. The police made a videotape of the crime scene[,] portions of which were admitted into evidence.
Later that day, the police questioned appellant. Appellant gave two voluntary statements. In appellant’s first statement he said he was with the victim in his car when she began hitting him and the steering wheel causing him to hit a curb. Appellant attempted to calm her down but the victim leaped from appellant’s car and ran away. Appellant claimed he sat in his car and waited about ten or fifteen minutes to see if the victim would return and when she did not he went home.
After giving this statement, appellant was informed that his brother had also given a statement. Appellant then gave another statement. In this statement, appellant claimed he followed the victim when she got out of his car and ran away. Appellant claimed the victim attacked him. Appellant pushed her and she fell to the ground. When she did not get up appellant attempted to wake her but could not. He then looked at her nose and saw bubbles. Appellant stated he got scared, went home, prayed on the side of his mom’s bed and told family members what had happened, claiming it was just an accident. After giving this statement an officer gave appellant a ride home.
Pajamas Media » Gunwalker: The ATF’s Kenneth Melson Blows the Whistle on the Justice Department
One of the key players from the ATF gave private testimony before the House and the Senate – without the DOJ lawyers, only his own lawyer. He told the Legislators that ” some of the “gun trafficking ‘higher-ups’ that the ATF sought to identify were already known to other agencies and may even have been paid as informants “by agencies such as the FBI and the DEA.”
Pajamas Media » Gunwalker: The ATF’s Kenneth Melson Blows the Whistle on the Justice Department.
‘Spillover’ Violence From Mexico: A Trickle Or A Flood? : NPR
Spillover’ Violence From Mexico: A Trickle Or A Flood? : NPR.
Federal Court Scheduled to Hear Challenge to Texas Sonogram Law
Can you imagine what would happen if Cardiologists hid the screen while a heart sonogram was being performed?
Federal Court Scheduled to Hear Challenge to Texas Sonogram Law. From Joe Pojman, Executive Director of Texas Alliance for Life:
The Office of Attorney General Greg Abbott is defending the law and filed a response yesterday demonstrating that the law is constitutional. The first hearing will be today. Texas Alliance for Life’s staff will be present.
Texas also has laws mandating informed consent for hysterectomies, radiation therapy and electric-shock therapy – all passed because of the public perception that doctors were patronistically making decisions for their patients, “for their own good.”
The sonogram has become standard of care, much as the sonogram of the heart or a catheterization before bypass surgery. Patients are already being required to pay for the sonogram in addition to or as part of the abortion fee. And yet, patients were not being allowed – in some cases, refused – to see their own medical information and the results of the test they had paid for.
For some reason, the Houston Chronicle, in its July 2 note on the lawsuit, only says that, “The center for Reproductive Right’s class action lawsuits were filed on of a San Antonio abortion provider. ” Planned Parenthood is not identified in today’s HC article, either.
Republicans: we eat our own
Can you imagine the grief of fighting the Progressives AND the Conservatives from the right, all the time? Do you ever send approval to our elected officials when they do the right thing? Do you ever offer constructive ideas, or do you bounce around like a ping pong ball, from one sound bite presented by the the lame stream media to another, with no control over your own direction?
Case in point: I’ve been following the blogs and the rants and reactions to what they perceive as compromise on the part of Republicans, according to reports in the New York Times‘ and the Houston Chronicle’s coverage of yesterday’s interview with Senator John Cornyn of Texas on Fox News Sunday. It seems very few people look for the original video, which is on-line, here, at Fox News.
Senator Cornyn flatly stated that the Republicans will not support and the American People do not want tax increases. From a more balanced article on the interview at the Wall Street Journal:
Republicans want major spending cuts before they agree to increase the debt cap. Many insist the budget deal can’t include any tax increase. But like Mr. Cornyn, some have opened the window to raising federal revenue. That could pave the way for an agreement.
Mr. Cornyn said Sunday he wanted any broad revamp of the tax code to be revenue neutral, meaning it shouldn’t bring in more cash than the current system. There may not be enough time to strike such a tax deal before Aug. 2, he said.
“But it ought to be the first thing we turn to, to make our tax code more rational. We could bring down rates, eliminate a lot of the tax expenditures and loopholes,” he said.
If the sides don’t reach a long-term budget accord this month, Mr. Cornyn said Congress may have to approve a short-term deal.
“The big problems aren’t going to go away if you cut a mini-deal, all it does is delay the moment of truth. So I’d say better now than then, but if we can’t, we’ll take the savings we can get now and we will re-litigate this as we get closer to the election,” he said.
The Dems WANT the government to shut down. They can’t wait to blame it on the unyielding, “political” Republicans. Worse, they’re floating the idea that Obama can ignore Congress’ will on the debt ceiling. And somehow, the far left always manages to control one another and stay on the same page while revving up the mob that wants to redistribute wealth, secure abortion on demand and declare war on our family values and children’s innocence but not on terrorists from a culture that would kill them in a minute for the very things they support.
The media, the Left, and our own reactionary mob will convince the rest of the country that the Republican leadership’s attempts at solutions are worthless political posturing. Our mob will be worse: making the perfect the enemy of good and dredging up old slights and rivalries.
I’ve been writing about Senator Cornyn and the ceiling debt, but could just as well be discussing Governor Perry or any number of State and Federal politicians and issues. If you’re at all able, look for the original source and/or two reports before making up your mind when you hear or read anything our Republican leaders in the media.
Sunny Fourth of July Parades make Republicans
The experts at Harvard say so (or at least, published a paper on it), so it must be true, right? Thank goodness we took our granddaughter to several over the years, including this one from 2007, where she’s pictured with our Congressman, Lamar Smith:
The Harvard News and Views published a press release and a couple of news agencies picked up on it, as of the time of this writing: Fox News, Jim Galloway’s blog in the Atlantic Journal and a website with the unlikely name of “Weasel Zippers.”
Here’s the Harvard News and Views summary of the findings by the researchers:
Key conclusions in the paper include:
• Fourth of July celebrations have a significant impact upon people’s political preferences;
• Attending one Fourth of July before age 18 increases the likelihood of identifying as a Republican by at least 2 percent and voting for the Republican candidate by 4 percent. It also increases voter turnout by 0.9 percent and boosts political campaign contributions by 3 percent.
The problem with the research is that the authors count all 4th of July days without rain as days that a child could have gone to a 4th of July parade. I remember one or two parades as a child, but remember Independence Day as a day for fishing and barbeques at the lake! Maybe — instead of limiting the influence to parades, the researches might just look into celebrations of any kind.
Wonder what the effect will be on Roni, since we took her to another parade that day where she got soaked? (But I bought her ice cream at the Dairy Queen while we waited for G-Dad to finish the parade and get the truck.)
Showdown Over Cancer Drug – WSJ.com
Showdown Over Cancer Drug – WSJ.com.
At the very least, Avastin should be “grandmothered” for those women who are on it. Let’s face it, the side effects are not as scary as metastatic breast cancer. There are some reports that the head of the Committee involved actually tightened the criteria for the follow up studies:
The odds are also stacked against Genentech because it will face a six-member appeals panel with five members who belonged to another panel that reviewed Avastin for breast cancer last summer. All of them voted against it.
In that episode, Dr. Pazdur rigged the review process against Avastin. Genentech was supposed to show that Avastin improved “progression-free survival,” the time women live without their disease spreading or worsening. Over three rigorous clinical trials, and in combination with chemotherapy, it did so, even if the results were less statistically robust in the follow-up studies. But Dr. Pazdur and his staff reviewers unilaterally revised the approval “endpoints” that Avastin was supposed to hit, to undermine the drug.
More:
A.M. Vitals: FDA Appeals Panel to Hold Avastin Hearing This Week – Health Blog – WSJ.
Avastin for breast cancer? FDA hears patients, experts debate drug – HealthPop – CBS News.
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