Be thankful for Paper Tigers

Is anyone else out there frightened by the unlimited willingness on the part of the presidential candidates to take on any and every cause from the Oval Office? I can't believe the degree of power that these candidates, and their followers, expect to exert once taking the helm. Mitt agrees to address our nation's pet population. Richardson will replace all of our incandescent light bulbs. Obama will bring the entire nation together in one accord, on everything. Perhaps the most confused one is Hillary, who promises as President to implement things that only Congress has direct decision over; things which she has not been successful in achieving as a Senator. ??!

I can't help wonder if these people haven't gotten confused with the holiday season, thinking that they're actually running for the job of Santa Claus, rather than President! "And what would you like for Election Day, little Johnny? ...Well sure, I can give you that!!"

The only thing more frightening than what these people expect to do from the White House would be someone who actually did have that much consolidated power.

Putting Some Skin in the Game

News from the science desk tells us that some intrepid researchers have developed a method of converting average skins cells into stem cells, which then have the potential benefits that have been argued possible only with human embryo cells. ...This is HUGE, if it proves out.

Evaporate would the debate about destroying humans to harvest their stem cells. Poof!

But perhaps the best part about the news, aside from the potential life-saving possibilities, is the fact that this research was, in some part, motivated by the insistence of our president not to invest federal funds to provide more lines of human embryo stem-cells. In other words, researches had to work the contingencies. And they came up with a process that is actually more simple and accessible than the one the president denied them.

So will Bush ever get an iota of credit for sticking to his principles, which contributed to this most amazing work? Will outspoken critics like Micheal J. Fox thank the president for causing scientists to pursue other avenues, which led to this incredible new future? Don't bet your skin on it.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is coming to town

Being an open and hospitable country can sometimes be a gut-wrenching thing. Case in point: the president of Iran is coming to visit. What's the right way to handle this situation? Some would argue that he should be turned back at his port of entry. However, his status as country VIP grants him undeniable access to the U.N., which is here in the U.S. And the rules also allow him access to anything else within a 25 mile radius, which includes Ground Zero.

What irony, that this man, one of the three legs of the "Axis Of Evil," will be able to stand on the edge of that sacred site, and feign his condolences to it victims, with cameras clicking and the images spread world wide. For the enemies of this country, those images will be grand trophies, and a great inspiration in their causes.

What's more, Columbia Univ has extended an invitation for M.A. to speak, risking even further the inflation of his status, and risking the outward appearance that anyone in the U.S. cares one wit what this fool has to say. ...C.U. also risks the reducing of their own status by this invitation.

But on further reflection, I've come to see C.U.'s way of thinking. Not that M.A. deserves any more microphone than he'll already have at the U.N., mind you. But if he is going to speak, why not give him all the rope he wants. Has this man ever said anything that can be rationalized or justified? Does he not always put his bloody foot in his mouth, without hesitation? Does he not always say things that are simply outrageous and undeniably mad?

So, let him come. Let him speak of the annihilation of Israel. Let him deny the Holocaust. Let him deny having any hand in Iraq. Let him deny any pursuit of nuclear weapons. Let the fool open his mouth and remove all doubt. ...But only if he must come anyway.

Abortion is "Safe"

The FDA today released details of a study that concludes the "Abortion Pill" (mifepristone) is "safe". ...In other words, the pill safely kills. Let us all rejoice in this astounding oxymoron.

Evolved from Africa

An article published at Nature.com settles a long-standing debate, concluding that the entire human race comes from a single, common ancestral home: Sub-Saharan Africa.

...I wonder how the NAACP will take this news --that all Americans are conclusively of African descent, and thereby qualify for recognition and representation by that organization.

Waste Water?

A dear (late) friend of mine had a favorite notion that he liked to mention, at opportune times, to invoke a debate that he was fascinated with. His notion was, "Businesses don't pay taxes." Inspired by his spirit, and in spite of every childhood scolding to the contrary, I've come up with my own controversy:

Water can't really be wasted.

The premise is: water, eventually, always finds its way back into the world supply, ready to be re-used.

So, kids, the next time mom or dad hollers at you to "turn off that garden hose, you're wasting water!", just tell 'em wasting water isn't really possible. ...And then RUN...like water off a duck's back!

Creation

Biology is the science of discovering how life functions, while evolution is the religion of explaining why.