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Cloning corporate interests

fluid_state

18:01 / 10.08.01

Let me see if I understand this correctly:

Stem-cell research is, apparently, a refutation of the rights America prescribes to human life, despite the potential of said research to improve human life. With this as the supposed bottom line, no new embryos will be created and destroyed to produce stem cells. However, several corporations/agencies/organizations have already begun such research and have a combined total of 60 existing stem cell lines; these lines will be used for research, and no others will be created. What was done has been decreed wrong, but an effort will be made to cull some good from it.

It disturbs the hell out of me. President Junior's decision ensures that the next wave of medical research occurs at the behest of entities whose bottom line is power*money and nothing but. Worse, it precludes other researchers from access to these experiments. actually, I just thought of a quicker way to present my fears...

fluid_state

18:08 / 10.08.01

We're going to make the best of a bad situation by keeping the soulless clones we already have. The people that own this now non-renewable resource won't make any more, honest. What, don't you trust us?

Dee Vapr

19:24 / 10.08.01

A cynical sideways move to try and capture some of the middle ground. Dubya is on his way to trying to capture a second term, and he thinks he can appease liberals and industry without unduly eroding his right-wing christian power base.

Expect more of this. I think he's more astute than he appears.

ps. the UK has already been conducting stem cell research for a while, and it appears, will continue to do so.

MJ-12

10:57 / 11.08.01

It's not actually an end to stem cell research outside of the existing lines, but an end to federal funding for it. This means, of course, that those with large reserves of cash/income will continue more or less unhindered

nul

12:36 / 11.08.01

Junior is far more clever than he is made out to be. Which, often, proves to his advantage when dealing with people who routinely under-estimate him. Dee-Vapr is right, of course. He's doing what he can to get a second term.

fluid_state

20:15 / 11.08.01

yep, his puppeteers are clever indeed... I've thought for a while now that Junior will be used to cement certain corporate controls (oooh, alliteration) before he gets scapegoated. He'll get cleared out of the White House and the G.O.P. will make a big show out of vilifying him for the public good; an "actual" show of change in an attempt to capture an apathetic youth/post-adolescent voting bloc. A fresh new face on a nasty old party to compete with Hillary circa 2004.

fluid_state

20:40 / 13.08.01

Okay, an update from my neck of the woods:
the CBC just reported that researchers in Montreal (dont remember the name of the facility) just discovered that stem cells need not be harvested from embryos.... they've just successfully harvested such cells from skin cells (of both mouse and human sources).

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