Sequester Madness: Feds Fund $880,000 To Study Benefits Of Snail Sex

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Photo Credit: AP

The National Science Foundation awarded a grant for $876,752 to the University of Iowa to study whether there is any benefit to sex among New Zealand mud snails and whether that explains why any organism has sex.

The study, first funded in 2011 and continuing until 2015, will study the New Zealand snails to see if it is better that they reproduce sexually or asexually – the snail can do both – hoping to gain insight on why so many organisms practice sexual reproduction.

“Sexual reproduction is more costly than asexual reproduction, yet nearly all organisms reproduce sexually at least some of the time. Why is sexual reproduction so common despite its costs,” the study’s abstract asks.

“This project will use a different organism, Potamopyrgus antipodarum, a New Zealand snail, which has both sexual and independently-derived asexual lineages that make it ideally suited to address fundamental evolutionary questions of how genes and genomes evolve in the absence of sexual reproduction.”

In other words, the study seeks to see if there are genetic advantages to sexual reproduction that justify its evolutionary costs, advantages such as avoiding genetic mutations or gene loss.

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FBI Plans to Spend $100 Million on Ammo

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The magnitude of the federal government’s ammunition buildup has been making headlines over the last few weeks, as members of the military, police departments and consumers are finding shelves bare when they want to buy ammunition. Alarms over the situation have developed just as the Obama administration is pushing hard on its agenda of gun control.

But the full impact may not yet have developed, as WND has uncovered plans by the FBI to spend up to $100 million over five years on millions of rounds for its machine guns and pistols.

According to a solicitation revised and released March 25 that WND discovered during routine database research, the FBI is gathering this ammo “to be carried and fired [by FBI Special Agents] in defense of life” as well as for training purposes.

The ammunition includes a combination of field-ready Glock 9mm rounds as well as reduced-lead training ammo. Weapons specifically listed in the Statement of Work, or SOW, are Glock Model 17, Glock Model 19, Glock Model 26, SIG Sauer P226, SIG Sauer P228, Heckler and Koch MP5 9mm submachine gun (K, A2, A3, SF and SD versions).

“The FBI is the federal government’s principal agency responsible for investigating violations of more than 260 federal statutes,” the SOW points out. “As the investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Justice, FBI Special Agents (SA), in the pursuit of duty, may be involved in high threat assignments where deadly force may be used in the face of violent confrontations.”

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Chief Justice Roberts’ Lesbian Cousin: He’ll Rule In Favor Of Same-Sex Marriage

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Photo Credit: AP

Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts’ cousin, a lesbian seeking to get married in California who will have reserved seating for relatives at two upcoming cases, wrote that she believes her cousin will rule in favor of same-sex marriage in an op-ed posted on the National Council for Lesbian Rights.

A spokesperson for the court did not respond to questions about a potential conflict for Roberts.

“I know that my cousin is a good man,” Jean Podrasky, 48, of San Francisco wrote. “I feel confident that John is wise enough to see that society is becoming more accepting of the humanity of same-sex couples and the simple truth that we deserve to be treated with dignity, respect, and equality under the law.

“I believe he understands that ruling in favor of equality will not be out of step with where the majority of Americans now sit. I am hoping that the other justices (at least most of them) will share this view, because I am certain that I am not the only relative that will be directly affected by their rulings,” she added.

In her op-ed, Podrasky cited Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) as a policymaker who was persuaded on the matter because of a family member who was gay.

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Texas Democrat Proposes Legislation that Would Remove Sheriffs Who Refuse to Enforce Gun Control

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Hundreds of sheriffs across the country have banded together and vowed not to enforce any new state or federal gun control legislation because they feel such laws would be in violation of the U.S. Constitution — the document they took an oath to uphold.

Glenn Beck recently hosted a number of these sheriffs on TheBlaze TV to discuss proposed gun legislation and why they are taking a stand.

Now, at least one lawmaker in Texas, state Rep. Yvonne Davis (D-Dallas), is proposing legislation that would remove any sheriff or law enforcement officer who refuses to enforce state or federal law. Keep in mind, sheriffs are elected by the people, not appointed by bureaucrats. In other words, the proposed bill would remove elected officials from office unless they enforce laws they feel violate the Constitution.

If found “guilty,” a court shall remove the person from office and disqualify them from public office for a period of 10 years.

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Rush Limbaugh: Churches Could Be FORCED To Marry Gays

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If the U.S. Supreme Court legalizes same-sex marriages across America, then churches could be forced to perform homosexual weddings, even if they oppose the idea on religious grounds.

That’s according to radio host Rush Limbaugh, who thinks there’s a good chance of it happening.

“The Catholic Church can be forced to give away abortifacients and birth-control pills. Why can’t the Church be forced to marry gay couples who want the sacrament? Any church,” Limbaugh said on his top-rated program Wednesday afternoon.

“I think it’s a pretty safe bet that that kind of thing will happen. Among militant leftists, attacking organized religion is part of the political agenda, whether gay or not.”

Limbaugh continued: “If you had to roll the dice on it, you say, ‘Yeah that’ll be the next phase.’ When it becomes legal and a church refuses to do it, don’t go some place that will, sue the people that won’t. That’s just a political philosophy of people on the left.”

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CDC: 110,197,000 Venereal Infections In US; Nation Creating New STIs Faster Than Jobs, College Diplomas

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Photo Credit: Cynthia Goldsmith

According to new data released by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 19.7 million new venereal infections in the United States in 2008, bringing the total number of existing sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the U.S. at that time to 110,197,000.

The 19.7 million new STIs in 2008 vastly outpaced the new jobs and college graduates created in the United States that year or any other year on record, according to government data. The competition was not close.

The STI study referenced by the CDC estimated that 50 percent of the new infections in 2008 occurred among people in the 15-to-24 age bracket. In fact, of the 19,738,800 total new STIs in the United States in 2008, 9,782,650 were among Americans in the 15-to-24 age bracket.

By contrast, there were 1,524,092 bachelor’s degrees awarded in the United States in the 2007-2008 school year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. That means the total number of new STIs in 2008 outpaced the total number of new bachelor’s degrees by nearly 13 to 1, and the number of new STIs among Americans in the 15-to-24 age bracket outnumbered new bachelor’s degrees by more than 6 to 1.

While the CDC estimates that there were 19.7 million new STIs in the United States in 2008, data published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated that the total number of people employed in the country actually declined by 2.9 million during that year.

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Poll: Anger at D.C. Rises Sharply

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Eight in 10 Americans are unhappy with Washington, according to a new poll — with nearly 30 percent describing themselves as “angry.”

Both of those numbers have jumped in recent months and are now the highest recorded since CBS began asking the question in 2010. In December, 75 percent of the country were unhappy with D.C., and only 21 percent were angry.

In addition, 61 percent of the country believe the United States is on the wrong track, the highest number since the aftermath of the debt ceiling debate in August 2011. President Barack Obama’s job approval has slipped from 52 percent in February to 45 percent today, and disapproval has jumped from 38 percent to 46 percent, the CBS poll found.

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Civil Rights Activist: ‘No Comparison’ Between Civil Rights, Gay Rights Movement

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Photo Credit: Penny Starr

Civil rights activist Rev. William Owens, who is founder and president of the Coalition of African-American Pastors, said Tuesday there is no comparison between the civil rights movement and the gay community’s fight for same-sex marriage.

“I marched and many other thousands of people marched in this same location years ago on the claim that we were being discriminated against, and today the other community is trying to say that they are suffering the same thing that we suffered, but I tell you they are not,” said Owens, who gathered on the National Mall with other traditional marriage supporters in favor of the Defense of Marriage Act.

The Supreme Court met Tuesday to consider Proposition 8, California’s ban on same-sex marriage. However, the Associated Press reported that the high court could dismiss the case with no ruling at all.

Owens said that as a black man, he cannot change the color of his skin.

“Every morning I wake up, I look in the mirror, and I see a black man, and there is absolutely nothing I can do to change the color of my skin,” he said.

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North Korea To Cut All Channels With South As “War May Break Out Any Time”

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Photo Credit: Ahn Young-Joon

Reclusive North Korea is to cut the last channel of communications with the South because war could break out at “any moment”, it said on Wednesday, days of after warning the United States and South Korea of nuclear attack.

The move is the latest in a series of bellicose threats from North Korea in response to new U.N. sanctions imposed after its third nuclear test in February and to “hostile” military drills under way joining the United States and South Korea.

The North has already stopped responding to calls on the hotline to the U.S. military that supervises the heavily armed Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and the Red Cross line that has been used by the governments of both sides.

“Under the situation where a war may break out at any moment, there is no need to keep north-south military communications which were laid between the militaries of both sides,” the North’s KCNA news agency quoted a military spokesman as saying.

“There do not exist any dialogue channel and communications means between the DPRK and the U.S. and between the north and the south.”

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Homosexual Marriage Hype: A Social Experiment Without Science Behind It

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Photo Credit: Agence France-Presse

The Supreme Court is hearing two cases this week that represent a challenge to one of the oldest and most fundamental institutions of our civilization. In Hollingsworth v. Perry and United States v. Windsor, the court is being asked to rule that constitutional equal protection requires the government to open marriage to same-sex couples.

The claimed right to same-sex marriage is not in the Constitution or in the court’s precedents, so the court must decide whether to impose a new law making marriage into a new and different institution. The justices are unlikely to take so momentous a step unless they are persuaded that granting this new right to same-sex couples will not harm children or ultimately undermine the health of our society.

A significant number of organizations representing social and behavioral scientists have filed briefs promising the court that there is nothing to worry about. These assurances have no scientific foundation. Same-sex marriage is brand new, and child rearing by same-sex couples remains rare. Even if both phenomena were far more common, large amounts of data collected over decades would be required before any responsible researcher could make meaningful scientific estimates of the long-term effects of redefining marriage.

The conclusions in the research literature typically amount at best to claims that a particular study found “no evidence” of bad effects from child rearing by same-sex couples. One could just as easily say that there is no reliable evidence that such child-rearing practices are beneficial or harmless. And that is the conclusion that should be relevant to the court.

Social-science advocacy organizations, however, have promoted the myth that a lack of evidence, so far, of bad effects implies the nonexistence of such effects. This myth is based on conjecture or faith, not science.

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