Well, this will be a miniature linkfest because of increased responsibilties at work. Bastards actually want me to earn my salary. ::sniff:: Anyway, here goes:

Michael Fumento takes on the subject of stem cell research.

Researchers are engaged in a "stem-cell war," a deliberate effort to downplay the proven value of adult stem cells to attract more attention to the potential of embryonic stem cells.
It's a war being fought partly over ethics, but mostly over money.

Stem-cell research constitutes one of the most exciting areas in medical science. It promises to prevent, ameliorate and cure diseases for which there are now few if any treatments. Far easier is listing what stem cells don't have the potential to do, but here are a few of the wonders in progress:

More than 30 anticancer uses for stem cells have been tested on humans, with many already in routine therapeutical use.

By some accounts, the area in which stem-cell applications are moving fastest is autoimmune disease, in which the body's own protective system turns on itself. Diseases for which stem cells currently are being tested on humans include diabetes, lupus, multiple sclerosis, Evans syndrome, rheumatic disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis [Lou Gehrig's disease], among many others.

Just last February, two different human-autopsy studies demonstrated that stem cells transfused into the marrow work their way into the brain, where they can repair neurons and other vital cells. Other studies have shown that when injected into animals with severed spinal cords, stem cells rush to the injury site effecting repairs.
"I think the stem cells may act as a repair squad," says the leader of one of the two studies, Helen Blau of the Stanford University Brain Research Institute. "They travel through the bloodstream, respond to stress, and contribute to brain cells. They clearly repair damage in muscle and other tissues."

At a conference in late 2002, French researchers reported that during the last 14 years they had performed 69 stem-cell transplants with an 85 percent disease-free survival rate. Since improving their procedure in 1992, all 30 of the last transplants have been successful.

Stem cells have been injected into damaged hearts and become functional muscle. This destroyed the dogma that heart muscle cannot be repaired, just as stem-cell research also wrecked the firmly held belief that brain tissue cannot regenerate.

Unless you've spent the last several years stranded on a deserted island, you've probably heard of at least some of these medical miracles. But here's what you may have missed. While the overwhelming majority of favorable media coverage of stem cells concerns those pulled from human embryos, called embryonic stem cells, or ESCs, not a single treatment listed above has used that kind of cell.

...

Activists such as Christopher Reeve have it backward when they say that restrictions on ESC research funding will prevent him from walking again.

ASC studies already have enabled quadriplegic animals to walk again, and human trials should be right around the corner. But the chance of ESCs helping people such as Reeve in the next 10 years is practically nil. Reeve should know about this: Many of the amazing ASC studies, including Ira Black's, have been funded by something called the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation.

Read the whole thing.
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Boo freaking hoo. I'm certain that the same people ran the "Don't Vote For Perot" campaign.
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I think I'll skip the baptism. Thanks for offering, though.
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Frank imparts the words of wisdom that he would express if he were president. Excerpt:

So Iraq is just a start, and every despot out there better start packing if he knows what's good for him and every psychotic terrorist better renew his life insurance. Some may say that for every evil terrorist we kill, we create another bin Laden. Well, guess what; we can make bullets and cruise missiles even faster.

Still, there are going to be many Americans against our war in Iraq and other places. If you are one of them, then please write out your reasoned arguments in a letter, put it into a an envelope, address it to "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue", put a stamp on it, and then SHOVE IT UP YOUR ASS.

Thank you and God bless
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Found this article about the People's Republic of Berkeley and the strong anti-Semitism present there. Absolutely frightening stuff. Hat tip to Andrea.
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Jim Treacher has some thoughts about the Angel finale. I'm gonna miss that series. Oh well, it'll free up one more hour during the week.

Speaking of the Buffy/Angel-verse, did anyone else notice that Charisma Carpenter was on the cover of Playboy? And not just the cover. May I say that

1) She looks HOT!
2) And 100% God-given natural.
3) Did I mention she looks hot?

It had been a decade since I'd parted ways with some money for an issue. I just couldn't resist this time. For those of you that thinks this means I'm demeaning women, well, bite me. I love women. Short ones, tall ones, blondes, brunettes, redheads and pretty much any variation thereof. What I like most, though, is women that are natural. Too many Playmates(Pamela Anderson, Erika Eleniak) have been-altered- because they thought that being among the most beautiful women in the world just wasn't enough. I've been fooled on occasion, but to my eye, Charisma looks, well, unaltered, if you catch my drift. Gorgeous and sexy. Yippee!
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Spoons has a different take on the upcoming election than Geek with A.45. Choose your poison. Personally, I agree with some of both posts. Here are my opinions:

1) The Democrats have, as a party, gone off the deep end, with some obvious exceptions(Zell Miller, Joe Lieberman) still hanging around. A Kerry defeat could finally force the Democrats to repudiate some of the extremist factions within their party. The Republicans have already done this to a substantial degree, although I'm sure that some will disagree. This country needs the two major political parties to act somewhat like grownups. Right now, the Republicans are leading the Democrats in this category and it's not because the Republicans are necessarily behaving maturely.

2) Bush has firmly embraced the Gerald Ford liberal wing of the Republican party. Spoons is correct in that a Bush win could enshrine that as the dominant position in the Republican party for a long time. If that happens, us conservative/small "l" libertarians will have nowhere to turn.

Truthfully, neither choice thrills me. However, the issue foremost in my mind is how each man will act as Commander in Chief during the war on terror. There's no question in my mind that Bush is the clear leader here. Based on that alone, I have to hope for a Bush win. Notice the Blogs for Bush link in the gutter, just in case. My most fervent hope is that parties such as the Libertarian and Constituions parties will finally get a large enough following so as to make an impact nationally. However, that day is not yet upon us.
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James has a great roundup of President Bush's speech last night.
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The Carnival of the Vanities is up and running in its 88th incarnation. Amazing, isn't it? Check out the linkage at Spot On.
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The Instamonster offers this cogent analysis of the 2004 presidential election:

THIS ELECTION IS LOOKING LIKE a World Series between the Red Sox and the Cubs, as each side's fans worry, with some reason, that their guy will blow it. Republicans are afraid that Bush is in trouble, while Mickey Kaus continues his "Dem Panic Watch" feature. There's bad news for both candidates in the latest polls. Bush keeps falling in overall approval, but the voters seem to think less of Kerry as time goes on. It's a bizarre race to the bottom.
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The Emperor takes another whack at Andy Rooney. He's such an easy, pitiful target that it's like dynamiting fish in a thimble. Someone tell Misha to up the charge next time. He's going too easy on the 60 Minutes resident idiot.
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It seems that Serenity appreciates the simple joys in life. Heh.
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Jonathan Hawkins links to a drooling moonbat festival is his latest installment of Anyone Can Post On The Internet. He also posts some interesting data taken from the Battleground States Polling Data. Very interesting.
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Tactitus offers room under the Republican tent for DLC members. Apparently, they are no longer welcome in their own party(he links to and quotes from a Kos piece). Ideological purity above all else, I guess, and Kos and his ilk get to determine who's truly a Democrat and who isn't. I've seen dickless wonders like them try and tell Jeff Jarvis that he's not a real liberal.
Hat tip to Pejman.
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The Bartender has an updated Champagne Room set of comments going. All of the links are probably NSFW. Go there; wear something easily cleaned.

He also shows a post-chili eating contest photo. Been there, done that. Okay, not the flames.
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Steven H. offers some kindly advice to Hunter S. Thompson:

Geez, Hunter. You promoted drug use at a time when that was the last thing our country needed. You glorified the violent and the stupid. You attacked our values with no constructive purpose in mind, contributing to our moral decline.

You're ashamed that you carry an American passport? As an American, I'm kind of ashamed, too.
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WTF? I knew that Madison, Wisconsin was a midwest Berkeley, but this story manages to surprise me. Excerpt from LGF:

The City Council of Madison Wisconsin is considering a proposal to become a “Sister City” with the town of Rafah in the Gaza Strip: Madison-Rafah Sister City Project.
...
The lunatics have taken over the Madison City Council. That “municipal government” in Rafah that “reflects a democratic vision” ... is Hamas.
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Kim du Toit links to this story about "The Coming American Dictatorship." I'm not an alarmist, but there's some pretty scary stuff in there.
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Jen posts an amusing quote from Mrs. Cronkite.
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Harvey-the copycat- beats me to the punch with this list by less than 24 hours. Maybe I should have saved it in Publish mode? Just curious.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 09:23 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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