On the one hand I consider the current ban on stem cell research preposterous. On the other hand, I have to wonder just how much this ban has spurred the race towards successful reprogramming of human skin cells. The obvious benefit of this has already been voiced: it's much easier to obtain human skin cells than human blastocysts, which opens a possibility of using a patient's own cells to grow whatever tissue the patient needs. Imagine all of those people waiting for an organ donor to die so that they can have a new, functioning liver. Imagine them not having to do that. There is an obvious benefit to scientists: stem cells will be a lot easier to obtain for labs that are trying to, say, study cancer. These issues have nothing to do with ideology or political debate, and as was pointed out before, this area of research would be hot regardless of bans. Notice: one of the labs that made this breakthrough is not an American lab. I'm not sure what the laws are in Japan, but I suspect they do not restrict stem cell research as much as our laws do.

As for the current problems with the breakthrough... remember, this is a hot topic in today's science and a "race". Therefore, the pressure is on labs to publish these results as soon as they have them. So, the research is far from complete: a breakthrough has been made and announced, is all. The next big thing would be to develop cell lines that do NOT lead to cancer, and also to find out how these cancers develop. That last one is probably why these "problems" are actually very exciting: they reinforce the idea that cancer cells and stem cells are alike. Eerily alike. Expect breakthroughs in cancer biology to follow this development.

Whether you're a scientist or not, I think excitement about this piece of news is quite justified, caveats or no. This won't cure cancer tomorrow, but it's a huge step in the right direction. (Remember, the Wright brothers invented a flying machine, but that pile of canvas and wood was a far cry from a 747 or the Stealth bomber. A breakthrough is not a technology, it's just a breakthrough.)

Wow... this makes us Californians feel soooo damn relevant. Especially those of us who are immigrants, who only recently got naturalized and haven't yet lost the naive belief that in this nation voting actually, you know, matters.

And here I've been wondering why everyone is so damn cynical lately.

I love how this post is followed by one about Obama's comment on the U.S. foreign policy problem. You see, says Huckabee in his folksy way, you don't need none of them smart folk to tell us what's good and what's bad. It's all a gut feelin', folks, and a whole lotta faith. Studying somethin' and figgerin' it out gets you nowhere, like in my story.

Yeaaah, let's hope this man doesn't become our President, or this nation will be marchin' on Faith all the way to the cliff.

Next, print some excerpts from Hamilton's attacks on Burr! Or or or ooh! Attacks upon Jackson during his first Presidential campaign! Mudslinging is always an honored human pastime.

Yea, verily, since our mainstream media has been demonstrating the servility that is the envy of all the Russian serfs in history, 'tis the blogger's duty to keep up the good work. Rant on, bloggers, rant on!

Hey, I heard that the King of Norway once said: "I hate them Americans! They think we're like all tall and blonde. Such disrespect! Shoot, maybe we should, like, develop nuclear weapons so that they respect us a bit more?" This information comes to me via "reliable sources that wish to remain anonymous" (a.k.a. Pete Hoekstra). My conclusion is: Norway must be destroyed before these vile Scandinavian Fundamentalists take over the civilized world. (I mean, these people only understand force. Didn't you hear how this bearded guy on the street in Oslo was talking about "restoring the Viking culture?" They want us all to ride to work in longships, I swear.)

Oh yeah.

I've a strong feeling that if/when a Democrat (any Democrat) takes the White House in 2008, their first act as President in 2009 would be to make a beeline for the Kyoto document and put their John Hancock on it faster than you can say "greenhouse." If you think about it, this is the perfect photo-op: it's just one signature, it's MUCH easier to do than to extricate our troops from Iraq, it immediately communicates that you're "doing the right thing" and many of our energy-related businesses are already pointing sorta in that direction anyway. Oh yeah, and it's a signal to the rest of the world that Americans aren't all little Bush clones. Also good.

So, that's like ten popularity points for free. Mark my words, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, it'll happen.