When we hear about the implantation of human genes in animals, it may conjure up images right out of the story The Island of Dr. Moreau. Of course, present-day experiments of this kind take a more modest form, such as the Chinese’s introduction of human stem cells into goat fetuses or U.S. scientists’ proposal to create a mouse infused with human brain cells. Yet the possibility that H.G. Wells’ nightmare could one day be made reality is troubling some researchers, prompting them to ask for new regulations governing the humanization of animals. Writes Reuters:

Judging from President Obama’s lack of knowledge of basic free-market economics, I suggest that he invite Professor Walter E. Williams and author Thomas Sowell, two of America’s most eminent economists, to the White House to teach the President a course in basic economics — not the economics of Karl Marx, Nicolai Lenin, or Saul Alinsky, but the economics of Adam Smith, Frederic Bastiat, Jean-Baptiste Say, Milton Friedman, Ludwig Von Mises, and Friedrich Von Hayek, on which our free society and capitalist system are built. And since both Williams and Sowell are black Americans, he will see that free-market economics is not racially biased toward whites. Indeed, he will discover that two and two are four no matter what color you are. That our President is economically illiterate can be proven by his strange assertion that the way to increase jobs is by raising taxes. Yes, higher taxes will create jobs but only in government. But government jobs do not create wealth, they consume it. The more money you give government, the more money government has to spend and the bigger government becomes. By taking more money out of the private sector, fewer jobs will be created by private business. None of this is so terribly difficult to understand.

A "super-Congress" is being proposed by Senate leaders Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell. The left-wing Huffington Post summarizes the plan — which they claim is also supported by Republican House Speaker John Boehner — this way: "Legislation approved by the Super Congress — which some on Capitol Hill are calling the 'super committee' — would then be fast-tracked through both chambers, where it couldn't be amended by simple, regular lawmakers, who'd have the ability only to cast an up or down vote. With the weight of both leaderships behind it, a product originated by the Super Congress would have a strong chance of moving through the little Congress and quickly becoming law."  

Mitt Romney finished first in an Ohio straw poll last Friday of potential Republican presidential nominees. Romney garnered 25 percent of the votes with Tim Pawlenty coming in a distant second with 16 percent. Minnesota Representative Michele Bachmann finished third with 15 percent followed closely by Texas Governor Rick Perry who earned 14 percent of the votes cast. Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas), a frequent straw poll victor, came in fifth with 9 percent, with Herman Cain and Rick Santorum tied at 5 percent. The Ohio straw poll results were more a reflection of how GOP insiders viewed the candidates as opposed to the candidates' organizational strength or popularity, according to Politico:

The National Governors Association Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah, July 15-17, was a smashing success — at least from the viewpoint of China's Communist Party officials and its state-controlled mega-corporations. A major component of this year's annual NGA confab was the first-ever U.S.-China Governors Forum, which brought the U.S. governors together with four of their Chinese counterparts, the governors of Zhejiang, Anhui, Yunnan, and Qinghai  provinces. Leading the official Chinese delegation was Zhao Hongzhu, Communist Party Secretary of Zhejiang Province. Secretary Hongzhu told China Daily that the summit exchange was "direct, practical and effective." According to China Daily, billions of dollars in trade deals were signed:

When Standard and Poor’s moved up their timeframe for a downgrade on U.S. sovereign debt from three to five years to just 90 days, Dave Beers, Director of the Sovereign Debt Division explained that the rating of U.S. debt is not on the verge of falling because the debt ceiling debate in Congress hasn't been resolved: The debt ceiling is not the central preoccupation that we have. We put the United States on credit watch because we’re growing less certain that this political debate can be resolved. This was not merely about the debt ceiling. The problem with the U.S. is that there is no strategy. There is a debate about what the strategy would be. But there’s nothing close to a consensus.

With the landing last week of America’s last space shuttle, the nation stands at a critical point in the history of space exploration. For some, the last flight of Atlantis — a mission officially designated as STS-135, was “bittersweet,” as one writer termed it. The landing of Atlantis may presage a difficult era in the “Space Age,” or it may herald the beginning of the end of the government’s virtual monopoly on mankind’s exploration of the heavens. As reported previously for The New American, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden has been marked by significant controversy regarding both the future of his agency, and the future of manned space flight. The Obama administration quickly killed George Bush’s “Constellation” program, which had set a return to the Moon and an eventual mission to Mars as part of U.S. space policy. However, NASA’s new, Obama-era goals quickly put the Moon and Mars back on the timetable — but pushed them farther away. Meanwhile, NASA’s budget remains fundamentally stable, despite the end of a shuttle program which had previously consumed a substantial portion of the budget. As Mike Wall recently wrote in an article for Space.com:

In an effort to save taxpayer dollars, South Carolina lawmakers are considering the possibility of eliminating the position of Lieutenant Governor. The proposal comes as the state's Lieutenant Governor Ken Ard is in the midst of an ethics investigation for misuse of campaign funds. According to two South Carolina legislators, eliminating the position could save taxpayers $1 million a year. Democratic Senate Minority Leader John Land noted that the position had political power at one time, as the Lieutenant Governor once was responsible for appointing Senate members of conference committees. But since the Senate took that power from the Lieutenant Governor, Land asserted, “That alone is proof that we don’t think it’s a necessary office, and the man does not have enough to do.  

Willow Creek Community Church, a Chicago-area mega-church that gained fame 20 years ago for its “seeker-sensitive” approach to evangelizing non-Christians, has announced that it will no longer partner with Exodus International, a national ministry that reaches out to individuals wishing to leave the homosexual lifestyle. Willow Creek officials said the move has more to do with the church’s overall ministry approach than to a change in its view on homosexuality, which has been traditionally viewed by Christians as sinful. Susan DeLay, a spokeswoman for Willow Creek, told Christianity Today that the congregation has an open-door policy toward individuals struggling with same-sex attraction. “Willow Creek has a whole host of ministries for people dealing with these issues, and we would never intend for them to feel sidelined,” DeLay said. “All we’ve changed is how we’ve gone about inviting them into the church, which is the primary issue here.”

According to Borderland Beat (BB) of July 21, a “puzzling web of events” has resulted in the death of yet another American in the Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez, across the international border from El Paso, Texas. BB reported that three suspects were arrested Wednesday in connection with a man’s kidnapping on July 5, and a fourth suspect is sought. The American was found murdered the day after the kidnapping. Mexican officials wouldn’t release the victim’s name, but University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) officials confirmed that Jorge Luis Dieppa, 57, a court interpreter and part-time lecturer at UTEP, was killed in Juarez. Dieppa was also a member of the El Paso Interpreters and Translators Association and had worked as an interpreter for the Texas Workforce Commission. Federal officials would not disclose further information. Fox News reported that a UTEP spokeswoman said that Dieppa, a Spanish interpreter since 2004, worked in the languages and linguistics department at the university.