Do they ever research anything.
Think Progress Memo To Palin: Fruit Fly Research Has Led To Advances In Understanding Autism

Her target population is intellectually vacuous. As long as her line has a giggle factor to those who have never been near a research lab, it's a win in her book.

That's great except this earmark didn't have anything to do with that. . . .it was for the Agricultural Research Service. It didn't have anything to do with studying the neurexin of fruit flies:

Earmark - Olive Fruit Fly, Montpelier, France

3. Specific Objectives:
a) Search for, collect, import, rear, and identify natural enemies that attack OLF in its likely regions of origin in Africa and/or southwest Asia.

b) Under quarantine conditions, (a) establish laboratory colonies of these new natural enemies and document their mating and ovipositional behaviors and bionomics when utilizing OLFF as a host, and (b) utilize both choice and no-choice tests to determine the actual and potential host range of the new parasitoids, using invasive pest, endemic non-target and beneficial fruit flies

http://vric.ucdavis.edu/scrp/1st-ann...Dec%202003.pdf


Maybe those leftist blogs should do THEIR research before they spew this crap. . . WOOPS!

__________________
"No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?"
- George Orwell Animal Farm

but she is apparently unaware that scientific research with fruit flies has led to valuable discoveries that have boosted autism research, as a study at the University of North Carolina demonstrated last year:

Yup. This research was just to save 100's of jobs that could be lost and all the associated revenue to California if olive groves are infested. Not to mention the inconvience suffered by martini drinkers across the nation

================================================== ===================
Representative Mike Thompson (D-Calif.)

“The Olive Fruit Fly has infested thousands of California olive groves and is the single largest threat to the U.S. olive and olive oil industries,” he said. “I secured $748,000 for olive fruit fly research and irradiation in the (fiscal year 2008) appropriations bill for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The USDA will use some of that funding for their research facility in France. This USDA research facility is located in France because Mediterranean countries like France have dealt with the Olive Fruit Fly for decades, while California has only been exposed since the late 1990s. This is not uncommon; the USDA has several international research facilities throughout the world, including Australia, China and Argentina.”

================================================== ========================

To put $800,000 into perspective, here are a few really important funding projects Alaska received

_Alaska Fisheries Marketing Board. From its federal funds, the board gave Alaska Airlines a $500,000 grant. It was used, in part, to paint a Boeing 737 to look like a Chinook Salmon to promote the state's seafood.

_The Alyeska Roundhouse received $450,000. The building is at the Alyeska ski resort in Girdwood, where Alaska Republican Sen. Ted Stevens has his home.

_Money for six "Alternative Salmon Products." The University of Alaska received several of these earmarks, which included $450,000 for development of baby food containing salmon in 2006.

_Alaska Christian College received $435,000 in 2005. The school had several dozen students at the time

She doesn't say anything about that. She is speaking to the earmark that didn't have anything to do with that research. That's just what you read into it. I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't know about the one study conducted at the University of North Carolina. However, that's not what she was talking about. . .that your link seemed to imply she was.

__________________
"No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?"
- George Orwell Animal Farm

I understand that. . .but again, it has nothing to do with autism research.

FYI. . .the non-paritisan Citizen's Against Government Waste has this earmark listed on it's Pig Book
"Oinkers" of 2008.

__________________
"No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?"
- George Orwell Animal Farm

Odd she didn't mention this award winner then:

Citizen's Against Government Waste - to Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) for $165.7 million in defense pork.


Let's see, less than a million for a state that ranks 49th in "pork" or 165 million for the state that ranks first????

Citizens Against Government Waste:

And seriously, salmon flavored baby food? Blech ....

I'm not arguing with Ted Steven's being a big porker. He was a major oinker. I still don't see what that has to do with autism research.

__________________
"No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?"
- George Orwell Animal Farm