VOLUME No: 58 Issue No:2

Washington, D.C. - Feb 12, 2004

South Korean Scientists Clone Human Embryos

South Korean scientists have recently reported that they have successfully cloned the world's first mature human embryos. The scientists have said they grew the embryos in the hopes they would be able to harvest stem cells, and not because they are interested in cloning babies. The scientists allowed the embryos to grow to the blastocyst stage-- the stage where an "inner bulge" of stem cells develops. In many in-vitro fertility treatments, the common procedure is to put embryos into the patient's womb before or during the blastocyst stage. So far, this is the furthest progress any team of scientists has made in cloning humans. Stem cells are important to many in the scientific community because they are adaptable enough that they can form into any kind of tissue. This adaptability may be used in the future to treat many diseases when transplanted into patients. Sixteen women participated in the research, and 242 eggs were collectively harvested from them. One in three embryos grew all the way to the blastocyst stage, fully enabling the researchers to make as many as 30 blastocysts. None of the women were compensated monetarily for their participation. The Islamic Free Market Institute published a report on stem cell research in its August 29, 2001 IIissues. It can be found on the internet at: http://islamicinstitute.org/i3-stemcell.pdf.

Kerry Remains Ahead of Democratic Candidates

Now with 538 delegate votes (out of the 2,162 needed to win the candidacy), John Kerry (D-MA) retains his lead over the past week, winning five more states. Kerry won the Michigan and Washington caucuses on Feb. 7, the Maine caucus on Feb. 8, and the Virginia and Tennessee primaries on Feb. 10. Michigan was an important win in gaining the Muslim vote, and Virginia and Tennessee were crucial to Kerry's campaign. Many critics felt that a "Massachusetts liberal Democrat" would be unable to win any southern states. Retired Army General Wesley Clark dropped out of the race on Feb. 11, after a disappointing third place showing in Virginia and Tennessee. It has recently been purported that Clark has made statements backing Kerry, but Clark parted with a few words of advice to the remaining candidates on how to defeat Bush in the Presidential election: "Give 'em hell, and never retreat." Zogby's polling again showed similar results to the final tabulations. The polls indicated Kerry as a heavy favorite in Michigan, Virginia, and Tennessee. Michigan polls showed Kerry at 47 percent, and he won 52percent. In Tennessee he came in with 45 percent of the vote, and won 41 percent. Virginia polls showed him with 47percent, and he won with 52 percent. Sen. John Edwards (D-SC) came in second place in Michigan, Virginia and Tennessee with 27 percent of the vote.

Bush Predicts Rise in Jobs In the

"Economic Report of the President", released Monday to Congress, the Bush administration predicted that at least 2.6 million jobs will be created this year. At the current rate, jobs are being created at half the rate the Bush administration is forecasting. Despite the hopeful figure of 1.7 million jobs the Administration hoped to create last year, 53,000 jobs were lost. It is crucial for Bush's re-election campaign to pull through on these projected calculations. If there is a significant rise in jobs before the elections, more people will be satisfied that Bush has had a positive impact on the slow-growing American economy. If more jobs are lost, people might turn to other candidates in the 2004 election to help alleviate economic problems. Overall, the Administration predicted a 4 percent growth in the U.S. economy in the next fiscal year. Since January, 112,000 jobs have been created.