Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Nobel researcher slammed for racist comments Dr. James Watson October 18, 2007

Nobel researcher slammed for racist comments
Dr. James Watson, a director at the Cold Spring Harbor Lab. (Thirteen/WNET New York)
BY ZACHARY R. DOWDY zachary.dowdy@newsday.com
October 18, 2007

London's Science Museum canceled a talk by Nobel Prize-winning geneticist James Watson after the Long Island-based scientist told a newspaper that Africans and Europeans had different levels of intelligence.Watson, a world-renowned scientist who co-discovered the structure of the DNA molecule - one of the 20th century's greatest scientific finds - has been quoted in a London newspaper saying Africans are less intelligent than Europeans, prompting a backlash from researchers, even those at his own Long Island laboratory.Watson, 79, who won the 1962 Nobel Prize for medicine for his groundbreaking project with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins, has been a director at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory for 50 years.

He was quoted in the Oct. 14 issue of The Sunday Times saying he feels "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa" since "all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours - whereas all the testing says not really."The comments attributed to Watson, who was touring the United Kingdom to promote a book, drew criticism yesterday from his own colleagues at the laboratory and from officials at London's Science Museum, who rescinded an invitation for him to speak there.

"The board of trustees, administration and faculty vehemently disagree with these statements and are bewildered and saddened if he indeed made such comments," read a statement released by the laboratory, which was attributed to the board of trustees and its president, Bruce Stillman.

"Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory does not engage in any research that could even form the basis of the statements attributed to Dr. Watson," it continued.Watson, who has made eyebrow-raising comments on race and gender in the recent past, could not be reached for comment.In 2000, he told an audience at the University of California at Berkeley that there is a correlation between skin pigmentation and sex drive, saying melanin content increases sex drive.He has also reportedly said women should be allowed to abort their unborn children if tests could determine that they would be homosexuals.And he also said ...

"That's why you have Latin lovers. You've never heard of an English lover. Only an English patient."- James Watson, in a 2000 speech at the University of California at Berkeley, on his perceived correlation between skin pigmentation and sex drive, saying melanin content increases sex drive."I've never read the Bible, so I'm not sure I've missed much."- Watson, arguing in 2003 that the book of the DNA sequence would eventually be more relevant to human life than the Bible.

www.ruffcommunications.com

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Who Pays the Most Income Tax?

Higher income earners pay the most, Treasury says

By Robert Longley, About.com

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Feeling overtaxed? Under the U.S. income tax system, most of the taxes collected are supposed to be paid by the people who make the most money. Thanks to President Bush's tax cuts, that is exactly the way the system works, says the U.S. Treasury Department.

According to the Office of Tax Analysis, the U.S. individual income tax is "highly progressive," with a small group of higher-income taxpayers paying most of the individual income taxes each year.

In 2002 the latest year of available data, the top 5 percent of taxpayers paid more than one-half (53.8 percent) of all individual income taxes, but reported roughly one-third (30.6 percent) of income.

The top 1 percent of taxpayers paid 33.7 percent of all individual income taxes in 2002. This group of taxpayers has paid more than 30 percent of individual income taxes since 1995. Moreover, since 1990 this group’s tax share has grown faster than their income share.

Taxpayers who rank in the top 50 percent of taxpayers by income pay virtually all individual income taxes. In all years since 1990, taxpayers in this group have paid over 94 percent of all individual income taxes. In 2000, 2001, and 2002, this group paid over 96 percent of the total.

Treasury Department analysts credit President Bush's tax cuts with shifting a larger share of the individual income taxes paid to higher income taxpayers. In 2005, says the Treasury, when most of the tax cut provisions are fully in effect (e.g., lower tax rates, the $1,000 child credit, marriage penalty relief), the projected tax share for lower-income taxpayers will fall, while the tax share for higher-income taxpayers will rise.

The share of taxes paid by the bottom 50 percent of taxpayers will fall from 4.1 percent to 3.6 percent.

The share of taxes paid by the top 1 percent of taxpayers will rise from 32.3 percent to 33.7 percent.

The average tax rate for the bottom 50 percent of taxpayers falls by 27 percent as compared to a 13 percent decline for taxpayers in the top 1 percent.

The White House has announced it will lobby Congress to pass legislation making most of President Bush's tax cutting measures permanent.

Source: U.S. Treasury, Office of Tax Analysis

Also See:

2005 Tax Season: Easy Filing, Tax Law Changes Tax Stress Relief Tips Famous Tax Scams

Military Tax Guide -- For Federal Income Tax for Tax-Year 2003 -- Useful Publications

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Wednesday, October 31, 2007