26 May 2010

* SCIENTISTS CREATE THE WORLD'S FIRST SYNTHETIC LIFE FORM *

* Hello, folks.
This to many people is a very scary time to be alive in the world. Wars and more wars, economic collapse, failed government policies and unjust laws in many places, natural disasters of immense, biblical proportion - earthquakes everywhere, floods, tsunamis, hurricanes, global warming, melting polar caps, volcanic disturbance and pollution, poisonous water - you name it . . . the governments of the world see what is happening, and I myself think they are a little scared as well . . .
But, on the other hand, this is a very exciting and perhaps the most special time in history to be a human being and living witness to what I feel is the most important time, and the series of unfolding events surrounding and defining this time, in maybe the last 2000 years, if not much longer. Though very difficult to understand, full of great challenges - and even simply to survive peacefully in many places - we as a global community are now witnessing some of the most dramatic discoveries, changes, and developments since 'The Sons of God' brought us some of the first gifts from Heaven long, long ago - Language, Math, Astrology, etc., things we have known about for eons, yet due to cataclysms, ice ages, and extinction, had long forgotten . . .
We are once again - in my opinion - discovering what we once knew a very long time ago, and why, as is stated in one of our most revered pieces of inspired literature The Bible - we have been created in the image of God . . .

** SCIENTISTS HAVE CREATED THE WORLD'S FIRST SYNTHETIC LIFE FORM in a landmark experiment that paves the way for designer organisms that are built rather than evolved.

The controversial feat, which has occupied 20 scientists for more than 10 years at an estimated cost of $40m, was described by one researcher as "a defining moment in biology".

Craig Venter, the pioneering US geneticist behind the experiment, said the achievement heralds the dawn of a new era in which new life is made to benefit humanity, starting with bacteria that churn out biofuels, soak up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and even manufacture vaccines.

However critics, including some religious groups, condemned the work, with one organisation warning that artificial organisms could escape into the wild and cause environmental havoc or be turned into biological weapons. Others said Venter was playing God.

The new organism is based on an existing bacterium that causes mastitis in goats, but at its core is an entirely synthetic genome that was constructed from chemicals in the laboratory.

The single-celled organism has four "watermarks" written into its DNA to identify it as synthetic and help trace its descendants back to their creator, should they go astray.

"We were ecstatic when the cells booted up with all the watermarks in place," Dr Venter told the Guardian. "It's a living species now, part of our planet's inventory of life."

Dr Venter's team developed a new code based on the four letters of the genetic code, G, T, C and A, that allowed them to draw on the whole alphabet, numbers and punctuation marks to write the watermarks. Anyone who cracks the code is invited to email an address written into the DNA.

The research is reported online today in the journal Science.

"This is an important step both scientifically and philosophically," Dr Venter told the journal. "It has certainly changed my views of definitions of life and how life works."

The team now plans to use the synthetic organism to work out the minimum number of genes needed for life to exist. From this, new microorganisms could be made by bolting on additional genes to produce useful chemicals, break down pollutants, or produce proteins for use in vaccines.

Julian Savulescu, professor of practical ethics at Oxford University, said: "Venter is creaking open the most profound door in humanity's history, potentially peeking into its destiny. He is not merely copying life artificially ... or modifying it radically by genetic engineering. He is going towards the role of a god: creating artificial life that could never have existed naturally."

This is "a defining moment in the history of biology and biotechnology", Mark Bedau, a philosopher at Reed College in Portland, Oregon, told Science.

Dr Venter became a controversial figure in the 1990s when he pitted his former company, Celera Genomics, against the publicly funded effort to sequence the human genome, the Human Genome Project. Venter had already applied for patents on more than 300 genes, raising concerns that the company might claim intellectual rights to the building blocks of life . . .

My, oh my . . . what the future has in store for us . . .

01 May 2010

* NEW INVESTIGATION INTO OBAMA BACKGROUND SPELLS TROUBLE AHEAD *

** A brand new, in-depth investigation into the background of Barack Obama may spell big trouble ahead regarding the issue of Presidential eligibility.
The investigation was conducted by Northeast Intelligence Network--a team of experienced, professional private investigators whose services have been utilized by Fortune-500 companies. The director, Douglas J. Hagmann, is a 23-year veteran in high-level investigations and is a member of the International Counter-Terrorism Officers Association.
Hagmann's investigation into the background and Constitutional eligibility of Barack Obama to serve as President of the United States is extensive and thorough. His conclusions are stunning.
For example, neither of Obama's parents were citizens of the United States at the time of his birth. Therefore, Obama would have to have been born on U.S. soil in order to qualify as a 'natural born citizen' according to the qualifications specified in the Constitution.
But Hagmann's investigation reveals that, contrary to the notion of those who point to a short-form birth certificate in Hawaii, and 2 birth announcements in Hawaiian newspapers, neither of these factors proves anything at all about Obama's status or citizenship:
the Certification of Live Birth is consistently cited by individuals, the media and others to prove the constitutional eligibility of Barack Hussein OBAMA. Nonetheless, even an authenticated and genuine Certification of Live Birth is legally insufficient for the purpose of proving eligibility, as it merely represents that OBAMA’s birth record is on file in the state of Hawaii. It falls short of providing the information necessary to determine constitutional eligibility in at least two areas: it does not offer any information regarding who supplied the information, nor does it confirm the authenticity of the information provided. Again, it merely indicates that the information is “on file.”
In other words, the 'certification of live birth' as touted by Obama apologists and the mainstream media as 'proof' Obama meets the eligibility requirements of the Constitution actually proves nothing.
In addition, Hagmann disputes the notion that birth announcements in local Hawaiian newspapers provide proof:
Many who argue that Barack Hussein OBAMA II was born in Hawaii not only point to the COLB as direct evidence of eligibility, but they also point to two separate birth announcements that appear in the Honolulu Sunday Advertiser and the Star-Bulletin in 1961. Those doing so either fail to understand the legal definition of a natural born citizen as it applies to the eligibility factor, or are guilty of intentionally misdirecting the core issue. A birth announcement is simply that – a public announcement that a baby was born. The birth announcements do not provide any information about the child’s citizenship, cannot be authenticated, and hold no weight of evidence to support either side of the eligibility argument.
However, the key information in Hagmann's report that casts doubts upon Obama's eligibility is the fact that the very organizations that published the short-form certificate of live birth and the 2 birth announcements in newspapers have direct connections with Barack Obama.
The DailyKos is the primary suspect and the first entity to publish 'proof' of a birth certificate. The DailyKos is an ultra-Leftwing hate-group that not only is 'in the tank' for Obama but smears and seeks to destroy those who oppose extremist, Leftwing initiatives in politics.
'Fight the Smears,' which also pointed to these 2 erroneous pieces of 'evidence,' is owned by 'Organizing for America,' which was originally named 'Obama for America.' This speaks for itself.
And finally, there is the much-hallowed 'Factcheck.org'--supposedly an independent, non-partisan clearinghouse that separates truth from fiction in the media and on the Internet. Hagmann's investigation reveals that Factcheck is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, which receives its primary funding from the Annenberg Foundation.
Barack Obama was a founding member, chairman, and past President of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, which was also funded by the Annenberg Foundation. Thus, the supposed 'neutrality' of Factcheck.org can safely be called into question.
The bottom line is that so far absolutely no positive proof has been provided that establishes that Barack Obama was born on American soil.
Why is this important? An individual who would spend millions of dollars hiding his background and pertinent documents from the public, and who would make false statements about about his history, cannot be trusted to tell the American people the truth about what his policy initiatives are intended to do regarding the 'fundamental change' of America. **