From reader Expat:
Hi Siggy,
My husband is spending the weekend writing a paper. Last night he came home and told me that while checking out something at GOLD (Genomes On Line Database), he had looked at the statistics page and was astounded at the amount of data that comes from the US. We have a friend who directs one of the Large-scale Projects - the Microbiome - at Washington University, so Erhard has been following these developments because WU is a major genomics center along with Venter Institute. He also loves GOLD’s internal search function that allows him to find matching gene sequences in different organisms and compare functions.
When you look at the amount of information that is free and now available to any researcher in the tiniest or poorest countries, you are struck by the size of the US contribution to the world of knowledge. The contrast to the world of snail mail and libraries that could afford journals couldn’t be greater.
Yes, we are big and we are rich, but it is our dynamism that makes this possible. We use government and private financing; we give people a free hand to try things out. We don’t demonize people who might want to start a biotech business that will make (God forbid) money. We also attract people from around the world who may stay and keep the dynamism going or may return home to work on projects specific to their country. Both categories bring the world closer together.
I was checking out the Franklin Institute site yesterday to get some info for a friend who will be in Philly next month. I came across a link to a research project in Austin that had bioengineered a cyanobacteria strain to produce cellulose for ethanol fuels without destroying farmland or using freshwater supplies. I regularly check Instapundit’s links about fuels from algae, thin film photovoltaic panels, nanotech, etc. Erhard says as these things start to come together, America will move on them so fast that the world will be astounded. He sometimes shakes his head at the crazy Americans (I’m included here), but he loves the excitement and innovation. Of course other countries have first-class scientists doing important work, sometimes the best in a particular field, but it is America that synthesizes and energizes.
I thought you might like to check out the site and look at the statistics (left sidebar).
I wish that Obama had enough intelligence, humility, and integrity to appreciate this aspect of American exceptionalism. Maybe he would go out into the world and try to infect it with our enthusiasm instead of apologizing. I wish that he liked us, warts and all, but he doesn’t. He is trying to dampen our spirit. We can’t let that happen.
3 comments:
I agree w/ Expat---
on American excellence...
BHO is a product of our leftest Education System---as were many of us---some of us find the truth about our founding...some do not...
Until we wrest the education system from the Dark Side ---BHO -and his ilke- is what we get...
C-CS
I grew up in the bastion of Democrats (Seattle). Thus through osmosis, I was a Democrat. The term "patriotism" if not left out of the vocabulary, was a no go zone.
Once I left Seattle and went to the midwest, I gradually became more aware of how great our country is. I stand proud today and state, "I am patriotic".
During the past number of years, I have spoken online and in person to many people who have come here from other countries. They think we are nuts. They feel we do not appreciate what we have and how lucky we are. We live in the best country in the world. We live almost in opulence and have many more freedoms, compared to where these people came from.
The reason we are so great is because of where we came from, the fighting we did to keep our country and the principals that our country was built on.
Obama is going out of his way to destroy this.
We as a country have absolutely nothing to apologize for, until now.
His name is Obama.
Obama is manifesting the words of his pastor, the one he pretended to throw under the bus when it was expedient.
"God damn America."
"America's chickinsssssss... coming home to roost."
"US of KKK A."
Barry Barack Soetoro Hussein Obama concerns himself with none of the principles and accomplishments of this country. He is focused on revenge against whites and against Western Civilization and the imposition of a racist and socialist economic environment. If he could do so he would obliterate all memory of American history except slavery and segregation. If he could he would squeeze the lifeblood out of every American who embodies the spirit of the Revolution, Constitution, capitalism, the Enlightenment, inalienable individual rights, the Judeo-Christian heritage, the Graeco-Roman heritage, and everything else that stands in contrast to the tribalist-collectivist-Islamist hell over which he longs to reign.
Please do not hope for anything from this man. He was carefully groomed literally from his birth by the forces who support him and there is no reason whatsoever to believe he will undergo some sort of "enlightenment" as president. Had he even once shown any indication that he might be receptive to such a conversion they would have tossed him like a live grenade, let him self-destruct, and found someone they knew they could mold into the Obama we see today.
Assume the worst and decide how best to oppose and defeat it.
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