Opinion Article
This guy seems to have understood what has been going on for the last couple of years and I believe his outlook seems pretty fesible. What do you guys think? Tim you can talk to.
Article
Article
posted by 8-bird at Wednesday, September 07, 2005
18 comments
18 Comments:
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The fact of the matter is that Katrina is an unspeakable tragedy. Granted, it was not handled well in the early hours and days, but there has been much done (by our fearless leader and others) to improve the response to this tragedy. I agree that the Bush/Cheney team is not right to lead the country during this time but not because I think they are incompetent. I don't think it is possible for any two man team, no matter who the men are, to lead the sort of response that Hurricane Katrina's effects warrant.
Ok, some of you may be surprised by that response, especially coming from me. That response is not to say that I don't dislike the way our president has handled some situations and issues while in office but I truly feel that if it is wrong to use 9/11 as the all encompassing free pass to do what he wants in the name of protection from terrorism (and I do think that to some extent), then it would also be wrong for non-supporters of Bush to use a national disaster such as Katrina as a free pass to lambaste our president and the way those in power manage the country.
I truly believe that the last thing any of us needs to do right now is to question our government based on party affiliation. To fully recover and grow the U.S. (especially Louisiana and the other affected areas) need full support that completely crosses and finds strength on both sides of the aisle.
And a sidenote: I don't like the fact that there was such a big deal made about Clinton's escapades in the white house. Truly, though, he shouldn't have lied, no matter what the consequences (apparently they get worse when you lie...). For that he, and the party, are still paying a great price....
touché
Jon your points are good and people should not start getting geedy like Mr. Monopoly becuase they can rip W. a new asshole. But two days he stayed on vacation after the storm hit. By all account, excluding the command that was sent, all the people associated with the federal government either say they did not know what was going on or that it was some else's job to do their job. There was/is no good way to fix a situation in which so much damage is down so quickly but to say you can not blame the pied pipper(is that right) for rats actions then what is the head of anything really reponsible for. I do not think Bush could have done anything himself to solve the problem but he could have started screaming and kick asses till something was done. As to that I think the real A-Hole is the head of FEMA, who some how knows less then what is on TV. Thats my thoughts. America is great becuase Jon and I can have differing opionions but still be friends. I am really surpirsed that Tim has not said anything at all.
funny thing is, i'm right...nate is wrong...just kidding nate. nice work starting an interesting section in the blog...more people should weigh in.
I'm weighing in at about 175 pounds. I'm not terribly up to date on whats going on, so I'm not going to give my opinion
This is quite long…I apologize for that. I did try to add some questions to keep everyone involved while reading.
Strangely, this is the section I tackled last. I feel it could ruffle the most feathers if I’m not careful. With that in mind, I will try to point out some of my thoughts while reading Tim’s statements and perhaps ask some questions that I hope will inspire thought.
Firstly, stem cells and abortions are not correlated one-to-one or any multiple thereof. There are many places that we can get stem cells. Some of them are: embryonic stem (ES) cells, embryonic germ (EG) cells, fetal stem cells, and adult stem cells. (http://www.aaas.org/spp/sfrl/projects/stem/main.htm)
Secondly, Tim sets forth a challenge (one of those things that created a giant hole in the back of Jared’s underpants last year…). And I quote “My challenge: find me facts that prove stem cells will cure anything.” I cannot give him facts. I do, however, have a question that I will post if he doesn’t retract that challenge (not a damaging question, but one that will require some thought and can be avoided if we stop thinking in black and white and begin to use the gray region). I believe that we have rarely in our history seen a discovery that has had the potential to help as many people as it is hoped stem cell research can.
Thirdly (is that correct usage? Drew, help me out). We don’t need the stem cells from aborted fetuses. As stated before there are other sources for the stem cells. The beauty of the stem cells in unborn fetuses is that they are an (almost) entirely blank slate. They can be molded however the researcher chooses. For this reason, they are sometimes more attractive for research purposes (don’t quote me on the reason for the unborn fetus stem cells…I’m not really sure, but it made sense in my head).
Oh, by the way, FDR≠God, but some of his influence is remarkable (Tim brings him up here more than I’ve heard the name in the last 5 years, probably) considering his life and the times he lived in. Has anyone ever heard that one shouldn’t “lose the forest for the trees” or something like that…I never get that one right (anyone help me out on what I mean there?) I may be wrong, but I think of FDR as a man who could see the forest as well as distinguish the trees that form the forest....i.e. he saw the big picture as well as the details….
I could (and will, if anyone wants to) argue that we are not as racist a country as we were 50 years ago. Even if one argues that we are, then I simply argue that the efforts to end racism are not in vain as this would imply that there has been no growth within the nation socially. The efforts to end racism were and are made in good faith. Many of the people that fought (and continue to fight) for an end to racism do so because it is the right thing to do. A society that contains so many people that do what they feel is right cannot help but grow. The growth may be slow and difficult (both to obtain and to see) but only positive ends can be achieved through persistence based on a truly noble cause, such as an end to racism.
The efforts to end racism have sprouted innumerable scientific studies into the question “What is race?” They have also allowed countless children like me who have grown up in a small town in the Midwest to be exposed to someone of a perceived different race without a predisposed bias against people different than myself. Does anyone who is reading this far honestly believe that could have happened for as many children 50 (or 100, if you’d prefer to jump that far back) years ago?
Help me out, Tim. Which of those opinions is an outlier? And a follow up: Can you tell me honestly that you crunched the numbers on that or did you just use the rule of thumb that anything more than three standard deviations from the mean is an outlier? If so, I might be interested to see which numbers you used for standard deviation and mean.
As for Grover Norquist, I think I’d have an easier time connecting him to Bush than to Kerry, but I’ve been wrong before. Here are a few of his credentials:
1. Serves on the board of directors of the National Rifle Association of America (Do they support Bush or Kerry more strongly? Do you suppose the board of directors of such a large organization would ever meet with the candidate they support?)
2. Serves on the board of directors of the American Conservative Union (Is Bush or Kerry most likely to be involved with the nations largest conservative lobbyist organization)
3. In the past he was: Campaign staff on the 1988, 1992, 1996 Republican Platform Committees. (That seems like a pretty important role for the party George Bush and his father are members of. Suppose he ever met one or both of the Bush’s?)
Anyway, that’s me stretching for connections, I know. However, I do think that while there seems to be no close connections between W and Norquist, I believe it would be safe to say that Norquist and W would get along better than Norquist and Kerry.
I’m in an argumentative mood. Could anyone tell?
i might give more thoughts later...but you've probably all had enough of my thoughts for quite a while.
This response will be shorter...I promise
Tim,
You are very welcome for the clarification, but be careful. As I stated earlier, that is merely a guess. I honestly am not a person with expertise in the area of stem cell research. I will remind everyone, however, that there are multiple sources of obtain stem cells. One of them is from adult living tissue (liver, I believe). We could probably argue the start of life, but I don’t think that needs to be done here. As for the moral and social ramifications of fetal stem cells, that is up to every person individually. I’m sure those pursuing research in that area would argue that there is no moral issue or that if there is, it is certainly justified. Those on the opposite end of the spectrum are free to their opinion as well.
On a lighter note, I noticed you didn’t retract your challenge. So, I challenge you! Again, I quote Tim; “My challenge: find me facts that prove stem cells will cure anything.” (Hopefully this challenge is already obvious to those paying attention as I spotted it as soon as I read Tim’s original statement) The challenge: Find me facts that prove stem cells will NOT cure something.
You’re right, that statement is a bit cynical…and although I’m usually agreeable to cynicism like that, I whole-heartedly disagree. (Maybe I should ask for facts proving that the number of aborted fetuses would have changed your competition measurably, but I won’t.)
SIDENOTE: AS I’M WRITING THIS I HEARD FROM THE KITCHEN “BIZZARO, I LOVE YOU”…..MY BROTHER-IN-LAW AMUSES ME!!
There is a lot of respect bestowed upon FDR. Maybe because he was a visionary and he sought to better social conditions in the nation. Things he started were not without consequences; nothing is without consequences. Things are very rarely designed correctly the first time. That doesn’t mean that the first one was less important or not as good, it was simply the first and should continue to be maintained and adjusted to fit current needs….Unfortunately not everything you mentioned has been maintained and/or adjusted as needed. This is not FDR’s fault. I agree, he was not perfect, but I do think he deserves respect and perhaps a little admiration.
Race: First of all, if you are going to call it an outlier because it is such a small percentage, then you need to view the nation without racial lines. If you maintain presently accepted views of race, then I believe that statistic is not an outlier, or it could not have been reported in good faith.
I need some clarification. I am not sure what you mean by the “Looking at the total population really only matters on a political plain. If politics wants to play the "race card" to gain the advantage, they must always convince a significant amount of non-blacks for it to have its effect. Which is why I bring up that stat. For those who are using race to destroy the other side, it won't work.”
I think that looking at the total population has its merits in more areas than just politics (although I have some friends who argue that politics are completely involved in everything...If that is the case, I guess my argument is screwed). I’m not sure what advantage is being gained and why only non-blacks. They must also convince blacks as well, if its going to be done right. And what destruction do you speak of?
Anyway, I got nothing else right now... See, you thought I was lying when I said it would be shorter...it's over 300 words shorter...Oh, and Nate, look what you started.....
is anyone besides tim and i reading these?
Pointless argument for us
They are working to figure out ways so that we do not need to use embryonic stem-cells for these tests and hopfully not in the real world. No one likes the idea of taking cells from embryos but inorder to find out what they can do it is important to take the risk.
To TImmy
This article talks about rats and stem cells, in it we hear that 10% of the stem-cells that were placed in the rats heart took hold and are functioning like regular heart cells. I dare anyone to say that this is not amazing and that the applications are not obvious.
That being said then if you remember the first article at the top of this post then you will recall that now they are looking for ways to use other types of cells, Jon if I recall there are 3 types found in adults, to create stem-cells that could be used. The article also makes an important note, this research is far from over and until the time when we can do this on a scalable level then we need to continue using more powerful stem-cells to do research. If we do not continue doing research on both fronts (abilities of stem-cells and how to get them) then when one of them is finnaly figured out and ready to help everyone then we are going to say, "Ah fuck in A why did we not study the other one more".
Jon if I recall from previous readings and conversations when I worked at Tripos, Chemical software company, I heard that indeed the reason embryonic stem-cells are so useful is becuase they are a completly clean slate. You can think of it as a black-board (race-card, whitie using the black man's board) the first time you use it there is no residue on it, perfectly clean. But once you write on it you can never get that clean again. That is why embyos are so powerful, no residue means a better chance of the differentiation taking hold thus a better chance to study them and or use them in the field.
PS: I used a black-board as a joke, as you should all know, or mabye it is a teachers son thing, black-boards were originally made out of slate. Since we were using the clean slate metaphor I thought I would take it one step further.
God I am bored at work. But I geuss I should start programming again.
Yeah conspiracies. God damn Illuminati always fucking shit up. Or are they maybe they are the ones cleaning up the mess. Did you know that some conspirists say that they Illuminati are really a bunch of lizard people from Atlantis that must eat people inorder to keep from transforming back into there lizard form. Did you also know that the Clinton's and Bush's are related, to some European bloodline, along if Gore and almost every president, escluding two if memory serves.
I do not believe that the comments made by New Orleaneans, is that right, are conspricies. They are frustrated and need someone to blame for their suffering. True they lived their, they knew the dangers. But seriously how long did it take for anything to happen, how could heads in the US government not know that there were people in the dome(of doom). The news was telling them.
To play the rasict card is wrong but that is the only weapon minorities have. If they start screaming classist, then everyone will just say go get a job and move. The fact is, and Bush has stated it, that the responce was to slow, to small and wrong. This day in age we need better responces then that.
Another interesting observation that I had when watching the news was that everytime someone was rescued by an ordinary person they white. Another interesting thing, saw this on Carl Mesias show on comedy central, take it as you will, but it holds some merit, if you don't think so put your head down as hard as you can on the table till something that looks like a brain comes out. Anyway the observation was that when blacks were pictured in the news with lots of supplies it was labled looting. When whites wre pictured in similar situations they were labled as scavanging. At the lowest level they are the similar but the connotation is very different. This has nothing to do with Bush but I can see how this would make Blacks angry and want to lash out and someone.
One more thing that would anger blacks and make them think race could be an issue. Bush has allowed contractors to pay people less then what everyone else gets payed. I can see how this will help the rebuilding process go faster but how will it help the workers that need the money to restart their lives?
all I can say is...wow...you guys need to get laid, and SOON!
talk to anna for me, drew.
WOW
This is a funny article way off topic but still worth reading. It is about the old commi scares and what the FBI was doing to protect us.
India has more the Cows
Actually they are the fastest growing economy in the world today, the are fast becoming the most energy intensify societies in the world. You want to know why. Becuase everytime you call customer support you get one of these guys, or someone in America who is from a gehtto speaking ebonics that I don't understand. Maybe this stuff only happens in the Computing world but I can never understand the support person on the phone. No wonder everything is automatic phone services. Sorry spent 20 min with Rafiti trying to figure out a problem the other day.
Before going over the edge:
Dr. Solanki said that the brighter Sun and higher levels of "greenhouse gases", such as carbon dioxide, both contributed to the change in the Earth's temperature but it was impossible to say which had the greater impact.
They both contribute. That means that even he acknowlodges that green-house gases are not good.
Dr Solanki does not know what is causing the Sun to burn brighter now or how long this cycle would last.
Of course he does not know becuase if he did then I would believe him, or atleast trust his word that it is possible.
He added, however, that the study also showed that over the past 20 years the number of sunspots had remained roughly constant, while the Earth's temperature had continued to increase.
So it might not explain it.
I would agree that research should be sent into this area, in which it has already. But even these scientist do not dare try to say that green-house gases are good are that we should not try to lower them. The health benifits to man, beast and Earth would be best served by lowering the level of C02 in the air regardless of global-warming.
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