The Los Angeles Times does a genuine disservice to its readers in its analysis of President Barack Obama’s decision to dramatically expand federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. The analysis purports to answer frequently asked questions (FAQs) regarding stem cells in general and the controversy over embryonic stem cells. But what the Times produces instead is not a list of answers, but a recitation of frequently stated misconceptions (FSMs), half-truths, and outright lies about President Bush’s landmark decision to allow funding for the research for the first time, and the impact that Barack Obama’s rescinding of that decision will have on the research going forward.

We’ll take the questions and “answers” one by one below the fold.

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Google may be a name that evokes thoughts of flashy, new Internet technologies, or of a friendly relationship with the greater Internet community, but us critics have seen what they were up to all along. Just like any other industry titan, it takes what it can get, with government help when it must. What’s news, though, is that even the LA Times is taking notice:

“Google is not just a benign corporate entity. It has a variety of special interests,” said Jeff Chester, the executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, who has sparred with Google over data-privacy issues. “They’re in a great position to push their agenda through with the support of the [P]resident and the Democrats in Congress.”

….Competitors worry about Google’s close relationship with the Obama administration, said Bill Whalen, a research fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution.

“The question going forward is: Will Google turn into just another business entity looking for favors in Washington, or will it manage to keep the 767 flying at 30,000 feet above the political din?” he said, a reference to the Google founders’ private plane.

Going forward? Going forward? They’ve been this way all along.

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