Bizarro World
The pres vetoes a bill to expand federal funding of stem cell research using embryos from fertility clinics with the donors' consent in order to "protect" them so that they can be thrown in the trash. Great news for all of us who have, have family or friends that have or may someday have any number of diseases that it is believed stem cell research could find cures for."Me Bizarro Tony Plutonium! Think this am good so little embryos can grow up to be landfill!"
The House passes legislation that would "deny jurisdiction to federal courts, and appellate jurisdiction to the Supreme Court, to decide questions pertaining to the interpretation or constitutionality of the pledge." (USA Today)
"Bizarro Tony Plutonium say this important work by Congress! All those little atheists and Muslims and Buddhists and Roman Catholics and Mormons and Hindus and Shintoists and Zoroastrians and Druids and Wiccas have to pray to our Christian God! It the law!"
The District of Columbia announced what was being cut back in anti-terrorism measures since their funding has been cut by 40% over last year.
"Everyone in Bizarro World knows that Indiana has all the terrorist targets! This good use of Bizarro tax dollars!"
Just f$#%$king shoot me.
6 Comments:
Its all so amusing when you say it.
Glad you are "back"
And it's great to be here! :-)
But I'm a sad little hobbit that much of our planned vacation to Manteo for a little kayaking and beer drinking and sleeping is in danger of being shortened (or potentially squashed). Hoping for at least a long weekend...
You know September is a much better month on the OB, still warm enough to kayak and enjoy the beach (water does start to cool down but its still swimable) and its a lot less crowded and bear can be bought at anytime, (the weeping radish in Manteo has some nice microbrews) so if you cant come in July or August think about September. (also better chance of seeing Jim Cantori in September; just joking)
Hope things go well with your new job
I'm not only in favor of embryonic stem-cell research to treat/cure disease, I'd be [Secret Service: note the conditional, please, and if you don't understand its significance, consult an English major] in favor of scooping George W. Bush's heart out with a rusty spoon and feeding it to my brothers while he watched if it would cure their diabetes.
But it wouldn't, we think.
Although, to be journalistically correct, I should point out that there has been no lab research to test this hypothesis.
Hey, SK!
Comment 1 - I'm not aware that many states typically fund medical research (state universities live on grants from the Feds and from corporations) but because the feds are abdicating their responsibility, some states ARE starting to fund stem-cell research. Most corporations depend on fed dollars to do basic research (they reserve most of their money for the aftermarket stuff that gets them patents. Oh, and for advertising. Lots and lots of advertising). International? That's kind of the problem, isn't it? Do we want to fall behind other countries in research on diseases that kill millions of US citizens?
Comment 2 - my sarcasm was intentional - there are groups of "Christians" that get a lot of media play (probably far out of proportion to their actual numbers) that would absolutely argue that Roman Catholics and Mormons are not Christian. At leat not good Christians. The point of the legislation is one branch of government trying to deny another branch its constitutional authority. I think that's a bad thing.
Comment 3 - no, it really DOESN'T make sense. If you look at the article that Lex linked to (now behind the NY Times paywall but just google "terror target list"), Indiana has almost 8,600 sites listed as potential terrorist targets. New York state (where they actually HAD terrorist attacks) only has 5,700. That discrepancy drives the apportionment of the dollars. Unless you think the Sweetwater Flea Market in Podunk, Tennessee is really a target...
1) Any research finding are subject to peer review. Anything that is found of great importance will be shared (and stolen by us if it will save even tens of lives). It can also be much cheaper to let others do the basic research. I'm not advacating that, but it is true. We can spend the same money not spent on stem cells in other areas that will potential and even more realistically save even more lives.
2) Sarcastic - If you say so. Next time use a :) or ;).
3)The list that you refer to was submitted by the states. All states were requested to submit the sites that they wanted protected. So blame Indiana, not the feds. You are also drawing conclusions based on unrealted facts.
It doesn't take long using the google search that you suggested to find this (http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/0713metkanga.html):
"Jarrod Agen, a Homeland Security spokesman, said his agency has a different, narrowed-down list of facilities, prioritized according to importance. And when it comes to doling out grant money to states, the database isn't the only source the agency consults, Agen said."
Lastly, we both need to understand the overarching principle behind this discussion:
Arguing on the internet is like running in the special olympics. (for the rest of this very non-PC tag line, leave a comment and email address at specialksplace.blogspot.com).
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