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| Starbucks, and other experiments on babies. |
| 12.16.04 (5:41 pm) [edit] |
To quote the lost-in-time Mr. Bungle, "God dammit, I love America". Really, I do. I love nearly every aspect of this country I live in, from fast food to movies, to towering buildings devoted to corporations, to the rich, to the poor, to the fat, to the slim, to the girls that are just-so-damned-hot-that-t hey-can-melt-the-skin-off -your-bones.
Not to say that these things don't exist in other countries. Australia, for instance, has some of the above mentioned hot girls. I really wanted to put a link there, but I figure Rinna would come kick my ass. She could too, and that's another thing I love about America.
That is, in part, why I love Starbucks so much. They have become so damned big that in Bellevue, WA, there is a Starbucks catty cornered from a Starbucks. I have seen it. It is real. I have also heard rumors that Austin, TX has one too. You see, people choose to do some crazy things, and let's face it, if Starbucks 1 is making enough money to stay in business, despite the fact that Starbucks 2 greets its customers when they look out the window, then God bless both of them. I wish they'd have been more creative, but hey, that's what you get from a generation raised on television.
That, and the Starbucks in Fred Meyers in Newberg, OR, makes an insanely good Tazo Chai.
Anyway, I came to the conclusion of my deep rooted love for America THIS VERY NIGHT. Okay, maybe I had an inkling or two that maybe, just [i]maybe[/i] I liked it here, but it was this evening, as I was passing through the "True Crime" section of the book session of the above mentioned Freddy's, drinking my Tazo Chai, reading rediculous names like [i]Bloody Passion[/i], [i]Dark Killer[/i], and [i]Love of Death[/i] (which, btw had the catchline "He was the victim of someone who loved too much..."), that it struck me. I love the fact that people are a) stupid enough to write this, b) stupid enough to buy this, and c) smart enough to NOT buy this.
Granted, America has a rediculously long way to go before it becomes the [i]Ultimate[/i] superpower (the updated word for empire), but for now, we're still the main superpower. Pat yourself on the back, America. A lot of people died for you to get here.
But there's this... insurgance, I suppose... of children who think they've got it all figured out. They've all but thrown out religion, tradition and decency in the name of "rebellion" or "anti-corporate action". And that's not all, really. On the otherside, it seems there's nothing but zealous billion dollar, stab-you-in-the-back business men who want to keep the world dim, because stupid people buy stuff.
At least, this is how media paints pictures. There's no off colors in this picture of America. There are the obviously rich and ignorant "reds" and the horribly mislead and disrespectful (and blameless) "blues". And I don't just mean the alphabet channels, either. This includes talk radio, celebrities, movies, music, news sites... right damn near everything is a political bias, and either side is so far winged that it's become a dumb mold.
Please, let me meet a democrat that doesn't think that a strong military is a dumb idea. One that has concerns concerning abortion and feels that racisim is winding down, and if we just stop making white americans look like bigots then it [i]will[/i] end.
Please, let me meet a republican who is unsure about the presence of God, who leaves open the door to his exisitance, but hasn't sworn a blood oath with a Christian church. Or one that feels that situational abortion is an issue that should be addressed, even if s/he believes that it is wrong.
Please, let me meet a politician who will address controversial material like illegal aliens, national language, traditions and boarders.
Oh my, I'm so off topic tonight. I'm supposed to jump into stem cell research... sigh... okay, transition time.
Please let me meet a republican that can tell John Kerry that he has good initiative, but mixed up the facts a little.
Please let me meet a democrat that doesn't hate President Bush. Or one that can let go of the fact that he's here. Or stop thinking that he's put an end to stem cell research.
Now, this is how I understand it, and I may be wrong, I spent most of the day here, and a few other random google searched sites to find that these cells are a special cell that hasn't quite gotten to it's place in life, and is sorta the jack of all trades cell. If something happens to you, these cells form and become whatever you've lost... ie, blood. There have been some evidence pointing that harvested stem cells can aid in "kick starting" the cells in other things, like nerves and such. Stem cells have even been used to aid in bone marrow transplants, the stem cells becoming most of the needed bone marrow.
At least, that's how I understand it.
Of course, like all things, they have to come from somewhere, and that somewhere is from inside us. Okay, so far, I've heard about three places that stem cells can be harvested, from the adult, from cord blood (left over blood inside the umbilical cord), and from the embryo.
THE CONTROVERSY:
It seems that George W. has stopped funding on stem cell research that affects active embryos... in other words, babies to be. On a side note, this does not stop private funding for embrionic stem cell research, nor for adult, cord blood [i]or fetus[/i] research. Might as well put that curtain hanger baby to good use, my daddy always used to say.
Now, on the red side of the house, it's argued that embrionic research is a person to be, and there are no guarentees that the embryo will survive, so in that since it's nearly abortion. In this sense, it would be murder, and murder is wrong. Then it could be considered as "The Scientific Crusades", really. Only it hasn't happened yet. As for the president, he has said that until there is further evidence of the miraculous (and don't think I mean that sarcastically) healing benifits, he cannot warrant the risks of "killing off millions to save a few thousand." Eh... who knows.
Scientific Crusades. Hee hee.
Oh, that wasn't a presidential quote. That was a Lunchbox quote.
Okay, anyway, on the blue side of the house, it's argued that the president is hindering science (which I believe is a religion in its own), by not funding this one area of research. While I agree that it would be good to see what these stem cells can do, I don't feel that restricting government funding from the embryonic department really hinders the testing. There are plenty of stem cells in the cord blood, abortion and adult sections of research that a breakthrough can happen. Sen. Kerry had made it seem that if embryonic research was allowed, then people would get up out of their wheelchairs and walk, the blind would see, and we'd see a new Jesus in the incarnation of modern medicine.
While I don't disagree that these things could happen, it's a bit pretentious to declair such things at such an early stage. It's like claiming that you are eating the best dinner ever before you've sat down to eat.
The only real disagreement I have with the republican side of this issue is that there is not enough discription on embryos that are discarded from in vitro fertilisation. It is my understanding that many eggs produced and inseminated, but only one is returned to the mother, while the rest are discarded. What I don't see here is a clear distinction of what happens to these eggs. If they are to be destroyed (in the same manner of an abortion), why aren't they considered for use? I don't find this as stupidity on the republicans, but more as an oversight.
That isn't to say that these eggs could be raised into children whose only purpose is to be the farms from which stem cells are harvested. That is horrible.
Fun fact: Germany, the country that fourty years ago slaughtered off six million jews in the name of cleansing, has banned embryonic stem cell research, while the UK has almost embraced it since 1991.
Just something to chew on.
--Avarice
[i]I want to have your abortion.[/i]
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posted by: avarice (reply)
post date: 12.16.04 (6:28 pm)
ANA! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN.
I missed you :(
posted by: misskendy (reply)
post date: 12.16.04 (7:20 pm)
Scientific crusades...what a great term..
Good blog !!
posted by: thisisnotablog (reply)
post date: 12.16.04 (7:47 pm)
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