Depressed Wages

I think this Truthout article is insightful and it relates to Obama's comments on the nature of the economy in the U.S.

Real wages have been declining when adjusted for inflation for several decades. The Truthout article talks about the productivity gap. Overproduction leads to recession.

I recently read an article in the April issue of Harper's magazine called Infinite Debt which explains how high profits in the finance sector brought about by deregulation created the economic incentive to shift capital away from manufacturing which ultimately had the effect of depressing wages.

Obama is trying to address the real, long-standing problems.

Ban Lifted on Funds

Obama reversed the Bush Administration's ban on Embryonic stem cell research, effectively freeing Federal funds for experiments that use them. There is a list of grave ailments; including Diabetes, and neurological conditions; including paralysis, that now may one day be cured because of this legislative victory.

McCain, the Republican presidential candidate in 2008, opposed this type of research.

The embryonic stem cells, or, (ES) cells, that originally came from humans, were banned. They were obtained from embryos; hence the term embryonic. The cells are of critical importance to researchers due to their ability to be grown indefinitely without losing their property of pluripotency.

Pluripotency is the ability to differentiate into cells of all three germ layers.

According to an article in Cell, it is possible that the human (ES) cells could some day be used to treat Parkinson's Disease and spinal cord injuries and diabetes.

Link to article in Cell.

"Embryonic stem (ES) cells are derived from totipotent cells of the early mammalian embryo and are capable of unlimited, undifferentiated proliferation in vitro." -Science.