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Stem Cell Research Moves Forward In The US
maniacdavid writes "President George Bush has finally made a clear and final decision on stem cell research. He will allow the existing 60 cell lines to continue their development in the hopes of curing a disease. He said the choice was difficult because of his stand on against stem cell funding during his campaign. But he allowed the 60 to continue because the choice between life and death was already made. This is good for both sides and many people are pleased. " Granted, there's the issue of these 60 lines viability, but at least it's not a total federal funding ban, as was widely expected. As well, there's increased funding on stem cells obtained from adults, umbilical cords, placentas and animals - 250$US million this year, which is still a pittance when you consider the potentials of stem cells.
OK, Folks. Texas has given all those complainers plenty of time to get used to the results. After seeing all of the whiners along the inauguration route, the folks from Texas have decided that we might just take matters into our own hands. Here is our solution: #1: Let Al Gore become President of the United States (all 49 states). #2: George W. Bush becomes the President of the Republic of Texas. So what does Texas have to do to survive as a Republic? -NASA in Houston, Texas (we will control the space industry). -We refine over 85% of the gasoline in the United States -The Defense Industry (we have over 65% of it). The term "Don't mess with Texas," will take on a whole new meaning. -Oil - we can supply all the oil that the Republic of Texas will need for the next 300 years. Yankee states? Sorry about that. -Natural Gas - Again we have all we need. Too bad about those northern states. Al Gore will figure a way to keep them warm.... -The Cotton Industry - Texas leads the nation in cotton production. Again, we hope the folks up north can stay warm without any cotton for fabrics and clothing. -The Computer Industry - we currently lead the nation in producing computer chips and communications: Small places like Texas Instruments, Dell Computer, EDS, Raytheon, National Semiconductor, Motorola, Intel, AMD, Atmel, Applied Materials, Ball Semiconductor, Dallas Semiconductor, Delphi, Nortel, Alcatel, Etc,Etc. -The list goes on and on... -Health Centers - We have the world's largest research centers for Cancer research, the best burn centers and the top trauma units in the world, and other large health planning centers. -We have enough colleges to keep us going: The University of Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Rice, Baylor, Southern Methodist, University of Houston, UNT, Texas Women's University, etc. Ivy grows better in the south anyway. We have a ready supply of workers (just open our northern or southern border when we need some more.) We have control of the paper industry, plastics, insurance, etc. In case of a foreign invasion, we have the Texas National Guard and the Texas Air National Guard. We don't have an army but since everybody down here has at least six rifles and a pile of ammo, we can raise an army in 24 hours if we need it. If the situation really gets bad, we can always call Department of Public Safety and ask them to send over a couple Texas Rangers. We are totally self sufficient in beef, poultry, hogs and vegetable produce and everybody down here knows how to cook them so that they taste good. Don't need any food. This just names a few of the items that will keep the Republic of Texas in good shape. There isn't a thing out there that we need and don't have. Now to the rest of the United States under President Gore: Since you won't have the refineries to get gas for your cars, only President Gore will be able to drive around in his 9 mile per gallon SUV. The rest of the United States will have to walk or ride a bike. You may think you can just import everything you need from other foreign countries? Think again, the Port of Houston is the number in foreign commerce and second in tonnage. You won't have any TV as the space center in Houston will cut off your communications. And sorry kids, No more Barney the Dinosaur. He's ours too. You won't have any natural gas to heat your homes but since Mr. Gore has predicted global warming, you will not need the gas. Just a few notes on REAL election results: Total Counties won by Bush: 2,434 Total Counties won by Gore: 677 Population of counties won by Bush: 143 million. Population of counties won by Gore: 127 million Square miles of country won by Bush: 2,427,000 Square miles of country won by Gore: 580,000 States won by Bush: 29 States won by Gore: 19 And an even more remarkable finding.... Average Murder per 100,000 residents in counties won by Bush: 0.1 Average Murder per 100,000 residents in counties won by Gore: 13.2 Researchers found one more interesting fact that might help explain these disparate murder rates. Gun ownership in the counties won by Mr. Bush is much higher than in the counties won by Mr. Gore. Signed The People in Texas
I am having trouble finding where in the Constitution or Bill of Rights the government is givin the task of dolling out tax dollars to fund any medical research. Could someone point me in the right direction?
Research should be privately funded. If you don't like the kind of research a company is doing, boycott that company's products. When the government gets involved, things get a lot more complicated. How will you boycott the government?
Power off before disconnecting connecting connector. Seen on a cash register
On the contrary, you appear to not entirely understand evolution.
Your claim essentially states that all life on the planet is all the same species with radically different traits. I'd be hard-pressed to say I'm the same species as a humming bird, or a tiger.
Yes, features change. Intra-species evolution. Species do not. I have brown hair, my mom has blond. Different genes. Hardly evolution. Under evolution, yes, those genes would have to become a part of our DNA, but they aren't evolution! Different features != evolution!
Evolving a facial feature is quite different from say, evolving legs instead of fins.
Mutations are very rarely beneficial to adding new alleles to the gene pool. As such, you're gonna have to go through a veritable mountain of mutations before you get even one that advances the species. Mathematically, you would have encountered mutations that would have contributed to the elimination of the species long before you reached that beneficial one.
From your Talk Origins site:
Even at the high end of 8 billion years, you don't have anywhere near enough time.
By contrast, in 8 billion years, there have been 4.7*10^17 seconds. And that's at 366 days a year.
That means you'd have to try approximately 40,000 combonations every second to achieve one example of those 124 chains by today. And look where life is.
Mathematical impossibility is defined as an event requiring more time to occur than there has been time for it to occur. By such definition, the formation of a cell from a primordial soup of material is mathematically impossible. That's one cell. Repeat that process an innumerable number of times till you get an organism that can survive and reproduce. Throw in a few trillion more years to eventually evolve to man.
If evolution was occuring so quickly, I would be a radically different organism from my parents, and I would look absolutely nothing like my grandparents.
Uncomfortable yet?
Math is one of the few things we know to be absolute. And the odds don't lie.
Perhaps you "get lucky", hit that wild chance, and get an organism to come together. Boom, it's killed by solar radiation.
Game over. Do not pass go, do not collect your parent's alleles. Back to square one.
Now, if you want to recalculate the age of the universe to several quadrillion years, I'll be willing to rethink it. But then you have to back up your claim for the age.
Standard disclaimer: Yeah, this is fundie crap. Go ahead and mod me down. But read it first.
...the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
"Violating entropy" is an old saw shot down by physicists time and again. "Overall entropy" says nothing about local entropy. To see another violation of entropy in exactly the same manner as life, take a look at your air conditioner. And no, that an AC unit is "intelligently designed" doesn't make the principal invalid.
Can you point me to anything validating that? And why does intelligent design not invalidate the AC argument?
Thank goodness! Moreover, if God were creating the universe, why make a male and a female? Why not an androgynous, peaceful, asexual society where men won't rage around fighting natural temptation to be the alpha male, leaving trails of orphans everywhere. Good one, God.
Genesis 2:7
Genesis 2:18-23
The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."
Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adamno suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called `woman,' for she was taken out of man."
We get the "alpha male run around, screw and fight" from original sin. We were made perfect, and given free will, with which we promptly screwed up.
Evolution is so powerful that if God were to create the universe as-is, we know enough that evolution would commence immediately on the then-existing species. God would have to take an active role in stopping evolution (which would then be detectable by science, BTW.)
Really? Then why have we never witnessed inter-species evolution? Intra-species, yes, but there has -never- been an example of one species becoming another.
Ironically, the quote at the bottom of the page today reads "You cannot have a science without measurement." --R. W. Hamming
We have never "measured" evolution. We hypothesize about it. It's as much a religion as Christianity.
I bet money before the announcement that Dubya would try to have it both ways. Which is exactly what he is trying to do. If you are going to permit the research, why tie the researchers hands with this silly, arbitrary 60 cell line limit? It's rediculous. Especially considering a conservative estimate is over 100 cell lines existing already. Where the hell did he get this 60 number from?
Also, who gives a shit if the pope wants to cry crocodile tears over a handful of cells? The catholic church had no problem with abortion when Aquinas decided that ensoulment happened at 40 days for boy children and 80 days for girls. Abortion was just fine up until 'quickening' which is around 4-5 months. Anti-choice is a new concept, just like having 'In Gh0d we Trust' on our money.
This just proves that Dubya is a full blown hypocrite, like most anti-choicers. If they truly believed they were killing 'human beings', then there would be no justification whatsoever for stem cell research, or abortion for the mother's health, rape, or incest. If they do support that, then they are supporting the wanton slaughter of millions of PEOPLE$#@!
Let's forget also about the hundreds of thousands of embryos that are discarded because of fertility treatments. Think of all the narcissistic anti-choicers that have 20 embryos created to implant 5 that only 1 makes it to full term. That's 19 people killed for the benefit of one. Republicans and anti-choicers need to keep their hypocritical mouths shut and go petition to have mentally retarted people put to death, like in the great state of Texas.
It still boggles my mind that we elected(or the supreme court selected) a president whose only accomplishment was having a daddy that was president. Dubya will be a one termer like his daddy, which provides me with some solace.
Finally intelligence wins out! Progess can at last happen. Experimenting on human beings certainly is progress. Mengele made many advances in medical science by experimenting on human beings. We should vivisect prisoners and infect the homeless too..we can learn a great deal! Some people may object, but hey, they aren't intelligent people like us, they are just religious fanatics who don't deserve a say in anything. If you stand in the way of Science, don't be surprised if it runs you over.
My extended family has been in that situation. I do not believe it is moral to distroy any number of lives (possible or otherwise, depending on how you look at it) to save my child. Any other way, yes.. I'll pay any amount of money to save my child, but distroying life to save life is something I'm morally against. I don't think man should even have the option to create and distroy life, that's something that is God's alone.
Anyway, it's just conjecture at this point. I'd much rather see research into synthetic cells and organs that could function without fear of failure or infection.