Rules, regs to be integrated without congressional review
By Jerome R. Corsi
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Bush and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso at a White House summit meeting last April where they launched the Transatlantic Economic Council
Six U.S. senators and 49 House members are advisers for a group working toward a Transatlantic Common Market between the U.S. and the European Union by 2015.
The Transatlantic Policy Network – a non-governmental organization headquartered in Washington and Brussels – is advised by the bi-partisan congressional TPN policy group, chaired by Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah.
The plan – currently being implemented by the Bush administration with the formation of the Transatlantic Economic Council in April 2007 – appears to be following a plan written in 1939 by a world-government advocate who sought to create a Transatlantic Union as an international governing body.
An economist from the World Bank has argued in print that the formation of the Transatlantic Common Market is designed to follow the blueprint of Jean Monnet, a key intellectual architect of the European Union, recognizing that economic integration must inevitably lead to political integration.
As WND previously reported, a key step in advancing this goal was ...   more »

Researchers at University of California, Berkeley, have discovered the first example of fruit mimicry caused by a parasitic organism.  The parasite, a type of roundworm called a nematode, causes its host, in this case an ant, to grow a bright red abdomen that resembles the ripe berries found throughout their tropical forest environment.
The researchers believe the parasite induces this dramatic effect on its hosts as a way to trick birds into eating the infected ants.  This provides a mechanism for the parasite to propagate itself as the birds spread the parasite through their droppings.
“It’s just crazy that something as dumb as a nematode can manipulate its host’s exterior morphology and behavior in ways sufficient to convince a clever bird to facilitate transmission of the nematode,” said Robert Dudley, a professor of integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley, in a press release put out today by the University.
Dudley said the bizarre lifecycle of the nematode can be seen in tropical forests ranging from Central America to the lowland Amazon. 
“It’s phenomenal that these nematodes actually turn the ants bright red, and that they look so much like the fruits in the forest canopy,” said co-author Stephen ...   more »

Scientists have extended the lifespan of yeast, microbes responsible for creating bread and beer, by 10-fold. That's twice the previous record for life extension in an organism.
The breakthrough could ultimately inform efforts to extend human lives.
Instead of one week, the yeast lived for about 10 weeks through genetic tinkering and a low-calorie diet.
"We've reprogrammed the healthy life of an organism," said Valter Longo, a biologist at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles who led the life-prolonging experiments.
Longo and his colleagues detail their findings in two upcoming studies; one in the Jan. 25 issue of the journal PLoS Genetics and another in the Jan. 14 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology.
Genetic soldiers
DNA, short for deoxyribonucleic acid, is the body's set of blueprints and instructions, carried by genes.
"Evolution designed our genes, our army, to be ready for growth and reproduction," Longo told LiveScience. Problem is, pooling the body's efforts into growing makes room for genetic errors that lead to age-related disease. "We can use our energy to grow and reproduce, or protect ourselves."
Longo and his team previously found two genes — RAS2 and SCH9 — related to growth and development of ...   more »