Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — The Obama administration today authorized the first study using embryonic stem cells paid for at taxpayer expense. Earlier this year, President Barack Obama issued an executive order overturning President Bush’s limits preventing taxpayers from being forced to pay for the destruction of human life.

Because embryonic stem cells can only be obtained by destroying human life, Bush put limits in place directing taxpayer dollars to adult stem cell research.

THE LATEST ON HEALTH CARE REFORM . . .

On a motion made by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-California), the Senate voted Tuesday night to table the Nelson-Hatch amendment that bars funding of “elective” abortions in the massive health care bill.

While many of the news stories reported that this amendment restricted abortions, this is simply not true. This amendment merely keeps what is current law by applying the Hyde amendment to the health care bill to ensure that federal funds are not spent on “elective” abortions. (more…)

The Episcopal Church, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), United Church of Christ, and United Methodist Church are the four mainline protestant denominations to sign the letter asking lawmakers to oppose the Nelson amendment.

They are joined by the Disciples Justice Action Center, NA’AMAT USA, the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, a pro-abortion group, The Religious Institute, and the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations.

The groups say their position is that there is a “social and moral obligation to ensure access to” abortions “at every stage in an individual’s life.”

M E E T I N G S Y N O P S I S

-December 10, 2009-

The Board of County Commissioners today authorized a road improvement agreement with the city of Edgerton related to the construction of improvements to 191st Street. The improvements would accommodate the Intermodal Facility proposed by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railways (BNSF) and the Logistics Park which is being developed by The Allen Group. The project, with an estimated cost of $14 million, will improve 191st Street from Four Corners Road to 188th Street and Gardner Road. Funding for the project will be provided through the county’s share of funding from the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT). (more…)

The game will be played at Reliant Stadium in Houston and will be televised on ESPN.
The Tigers finished with a 8-5 record and finished second in the Big 12 North.

Link.

The latest name added to the list is Ole Miss football coach Houston Nutt, who has reportedly spoken with Perkins about the job. Nutt, 52, is currently in the first of a four-year contract that pays him $2.5 million per season. Nutt has a 17-8 overall record in two seasons with the Rebels and has led them to back-to-back berths in the Cotton Bowl.

The International Olympic Committee on Wednesday reallocated two individual medals stripped from Marion Jones for doping, but in an unprecedented move withheld her 100-meter prize from Greek sprinter Katerina Thanou because of her “disgraceful” behavior in evading drug tests at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

GEISPOLSHEIM, France (Reuters) – French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Tuesday he would not let his country’s literary heritage be taken away by a “friendly” large American company, in a thinly veiled challenge to Google

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Apple Inc is preparing to launch a tablet personal computer in late March or April, with manufacturer partners poised to roll out as many as 1 million units per month, according to an Oppenheimer research note.

PARIS/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A new email client unveiled by Mozilla this week contains code from an unusual source — the French military, which decided the open source product was more secure than Microsoft’s rival Outlook.

The magnet school in Kansas City, Kan., made the Top 100 list of America’s Best High Schools, according to U.S. News & World Report.
Sumner came in at No. 62 this year. It is the only school in Kansas to make the Top 100 list.

MUMBAI (Reuters) – A consortium including Google and KDDI Corp has signed a deal on Thursday to build and operate an international undersea cable system, estimated to cost $400 million.

RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters) – Teachers trying to get students interested in molecular biology or space now have a new tool — video games.

GEORGETOWN, Del./SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Craigslist founder Craig Newmark testified on Thursday he decided to trust eBay Inc after a key 2004 meeting in which then-CEO Meg Whitman and other executives said the Internet giant shared the small private company’s core values.

By Jack Cashill.  Read more from Cashill at Cashill.com.

Climategate, TWA Flight 800, and Andy Revkin

© Jack Cashill

The respective investigations into the 1996 crash of TWA Flight 800 and into climate change have something very specific in common beyond the corruption of results for political ends.

That is the role of the New York Times, in particular Times’ environment reporter Andrew Revkin, in enabling that corruption.

In both cases, Revkin and the Times would pick sides in a scientific controversy, cozy up to the side picked, champion its counterfeit data, and marginalize the opposition.

As to “Climategate,” the emails hacked from the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit show Revkin very much an active participant in the information flow. (more…)

By Toby Dials.  Re-printed with permission.