Prez. Bush, I have studied biology for almost 10 years now. I have an undergraduate degree with honors, and have done research at UC Berkeley and the University of Washington. I am an immunologist, and an HHMI predoctoral fellow. Translation - I know what the fuck I am talking about. Do you even know what a stem cell is, you dumb bastard? If there is one thing that pisses me off, it is seeing your asinine face with the droopy Shar-Pei eyes on TV, and listening to your fucking idiodic drone of a voice telling me what I can and cannot research. If toenail clippings would cure cancer, would you prevent toenail research because it is disrespectful of human life? A stem cell is a just that; a goddam cell. Would you like to take a few classes to lear what one is? Or would that be too much of a strain on your 2oz brain? It’s so much easier, I know, to have the answers whispered to you by the good ol’ fundamentalist Christian Coalition knee-jerk creatonist dipwads you surround yourself with.
Jeezuz christ. I don’t tell you what snack foods to eat; you can damn well keep your opinions out of our research.
He would do well to avoid pretzels, IMHO. Re the substance of the rant. Yeah, this is where technophilic Al Gore would be useful. He is pro-technology and understands the issues. W is as lost as a whelk in the Sahara when it comes to nuanced debates on bioethics.
So the federal government shouldn’t allow its opinions to influence how it spends its money? It should just give money to everyone that wants some? You may think your degrees and whatnot make you better qualified than Bush to decide this issue, but we didn’t elect you as president. So why don’t you stop telling other people how to do their jobs.
I’ll bet that if you could convince the Republicans that you could “harvest” stems cells from the poor and the non-moral majority population they would start singing a different tune.
One hallmark of a good leader is to know when he is over his head. Have a panel of scientists - hey, how about the chairs of the premier research institutions in the US? - come up with guidelines. He seems to think that slapping his hand on a bible in front of the TV cameras has suddenly elevated his medicore knowledge to encompass every area in which he will be called up - or step in even if he is not called upon - to make a decision.
the Ryan Do you think leaders are not supposed to have advisors and experts? Would you rather he didn’t have advisors in the middle east? As Cargogal says, that is what a leader does, they analyze expert opinions and make a descision with this in mind. Seems to me he has been listening to other’s opinions on this issue, but not the experts.
You gotta hype up that Altzheimer’s angle Cargogal. Float that and the possibility of revoking the 22nd Amendment, and the Elephants’ll hire someone to massage your feet, so long as they have a hope of reinstalling their Prophet.
I agree with you, **Cargogal **. I do not like Bush’s decision at all. However, it’s his job to decide how the government’s money gets spent. You and I are free to fund our own research if we want to.
gobear, I agree that a President Gore would have made decisions more to our liking, but not because of any personal expertise in biology. IIRC neither Gore nor Bush took a single science course in college.:eek:
In this instance, it seems pretty dead-on.
Now, I thought Bush banned all stem cell research in US besides those 60-odd cell lines, not just gov’t funding. Am I incorrect, and a lab with private funding can use any cell line they want? I hope that’s true.
If it was a full-on ban, then The Ryan’s point doesn’t apply.
Is your research funded by the Government? If you’re making your living off of the Gov’t teat, why shouldn’t you do what they say? By the way, I agree that GWB is less than wise in matters scientific (about the same level of scientific competence as Gore, i.e. none) and I want stem cell research to continue. Still, if I were in your shoes (and I was 10 years ago) I would make my living from non-Gov’t money so I could do what I wanted. Find some private money, get a side job and fund your own research but don’t expect your Sugar Daddy to give you money and expect you to do whatever the fuck you think is right. In what sort of Bizarro World do you live?
A rant about GW’s idiotic opinion on stem cell research, especially from an expert such as yourself, would be appreciated by me. Complaining that the entity that pays your salary has the audacity to direct your work is feeble.
Revtim you are right. The limits on stem-cell research are solely those that apply to federal funding.
Cargogal I think that your stem cell=toenail argument is disingenuous at best. The federal restrictions are only on embryonic stem cells. Embryonic stem cells are by definition extracted from embryos. This is potential human life, whether you admit it or not.
I don’t like the ruling either, but you clearly don’t know what the hell you are talking about.
Sadly, that viewpoint is espoused here again and again, SPOOFE. When criticizing Bush, always remember to slur his name (“Dub-ya”) or his appearance - two things that, ironically, he has very little control over.
Considering that they often come from abortions, and people who have abortion are often poor and always “non-moral majority”, I think you’re wrong.
Cargogal
There was a democratic process which resulted in Bush winning the presidency. By any reasonable definition, we elected Bush. Unless by “we” you mean some group other that US citizens.
Yes, he should decide when he’s over his head. Not you, him.
Balduran
Of course I don’t think that.
Seems to me that your estimation of someone’s expertise is directly proportional to how well they agree with you.
Have you ever done mouse work? You can extract an ES cell from an undifferenitated zygote, and the organism will grow normally (the remaining cells will fill in). Since we have the life, what’s the problem? Or is it that the cell you extracted represents ANOTHER life? Do we need to twin the hell out of every embryo in order to have optimal life respect?
“Hey! Only one child? You have no respect for life! That’s a potential quintuple that you have killed, leaving only one!”
You can grow ES lines. Pull out a cell, differentiate it into a being - or not. You can diffrentiate it into a chunk of muscle, too. It’s as much a potential tissue mass as it is a potential human.
