Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Silat on August 31, 2004, 12:26:48 PM
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Or " I learned so much during my one year as a teacher"
FIRST LADY LAURA BUSH'S GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING SO-CALLED STEM CELL RESEARCH AND OTHER KINDS OF PSEUDOSCIENTIFIC FLAPDOODLE
Hello there. I'm Laura Bush. Call me a fussbudget, but as one of the world's great readers of stuff, I make it a point to stay current on all the issues that matter in today's complicated, perverted, and frightening world. Yes indeedy, even with my demanding schedule as a stay-at-home mom for two college graduates, I'm never too busy to keep up on my reading – whether it's spending hours upon lonely hours gazing at the cracked plaster above my antique bed to find Spanglish words hidden in the ceiling, or reading aloud from pop-up books salty enough to retain the attention of a roomful of colored kindergarden urchins. Not surprisingly, all that reading has made me quite the crackerjack science expert over the years, too. Yessirooni it has! And now all the world can benefit from my smartness when it comes to understanding all sorts of complicated stuff that is beyond the grasp of our spouses! Here are some examples:
POPULAR SCIENTIFIC MISCONCEPTION: Stem cell research has the potential to revolutionize the treatment of illness and reduce human suffering throughout the world.
DR. LAURA SETS THE RECORD STRAIGHT: " "That's ridiculous! We don't even know that stem cell research will provide cures for anything — much less that it's very close! If that bossy French woman Madame Curie had been smart enough to see things my way, she would have enjoyed a lot more quality time with her incorrigible children instead of wasting time in lab surrounded by rats and fungus. "
POPULAR SCIENTIFIC MISCONCEPTION: Studying a newly discovered species helps us better understand other organisms within its genus.
DR. LAURA SETS THE RECORD STRAIGHT: "What nonsense! We don't even know that learning about something will teach us anything – much less that it ever can! Besides, I don't know about you all, but I get to the point where my brain just says, 'Hold your horses, Laura! That's enough information and ideas for this month.'"
POPULAR SCIENTIFIC MISCONCEPTION: Sending new rockets into space will lead to a greater understanding of our planet and solar system.
DR. LAURA SETS THE RECORD STRAIGHT: "Jiminy Cricket, I don't understand why folks are so eager to let Martians know we are here. Don't we have enough trouble with foreign trash sneaking over the border as it is? Besides, we don't even know that new rockets will rocketize properly — much less that the round earth theory will prove out!"
POPULAR SCIENTIFIC MISCONCEPTION: New inventions currently under development may one day dramatically impact the way we live our daily lives.
DR. LAURA SETS THE RECORD STRAIGHT: "That's absurd! After my hubby fell off of that doggone Segway three or four times, I decided the world simply doesn't need any more newfangled inventions!"
POPULAR SCIENTIFIC MISCONCEPTION: Experimental drugs need to be tested in order to determine their efficacy and subsequently save lives.
DR. LAURA SETS THE RECORD STRAIGHT: "That is just ludicrous! We don't know that giving drugs to people will have any effect — much less that they'll be anywhere near as good as Xanax. Besides, as far as I'm concerned, there has been quite enough experimentation with drugs in this household to last a millennium!"
POPULAR SCIENTIFIC MISCONCEPTION: The way to test a theory is to submit predictions to comprehensive and rigorous experimentation.
DR. LAURA SETS THE RECORD STRAIGHT: "That's preposterous! Use your heads people: how in the word can a theory sit down and take a test? Besides, even if they could, we don't even know that they'll score high enough to be legacied into Yale!"
POPULAR SCIENTIFIC MISCONCEPTION: Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it.
DR. LAURA SETS THE RECORD STRAIGHT: "How silly! Anyone who has thrown, with great force I might add, as many shot glasses and Fiestaware plates across rooms as I have knows only too well that stuff flying through space stops when it hits a wall — or your hubby's noggin."
POPULAR SCIENTIFIC MISCONCEPTION: Initiating an archaeological excavation is a wonderful way to unearth lost cultures and better understand human history.
DR. LAURA SETS THE RECORD STRAIGHT: "Poppycock! If my hubby's long string of failed oil drilling ventures proved one thing it is this: digging holes in the ground is a just a waste of money!"
POPULAR SCIENTIFIC MISCONCEPTION: The practice of conservationism enables society to manage natural resources so as to maximize benefits over a long period of time.
DR. LAURA SETS THE RECORD STRAIGHT: "Pshaw! We don't even know that conserving things results in conservation — much less that conserved things last longer and leave you with a house full of extra stuff you don't have any space for!"
POPULAR SCIENTIFIC MISCONCEPTION: Legitimate scientific findings must be reproducible, based upon logical and/or mathematical reasoning, and maintain rigorous standards for honesty and accuracy.
DR. LAURA SETS THE RECORD STRAIGHT: "Oh boy, that's a corker! We don't even know that that modern science stuff is even real — much less that it supports all the HARD scientific truths about the origins of the universe that are spelled out clear as day in Jesus Christ's best-selling biography The Holy Bible!"
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Isn't it true that Bush did not in any way ban stem cell research and that we have enough stem cells right now for any research?
lazs
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Originally posted by lazs2
Isn't it true that Bush did not in any way ban stem cell research and that we have enough stem cells right now for any research?
lazs
No.
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what part is not true?
lazs
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We probably do not have enough strains.
Bush did not ban stem cell research. He restricted government funding to research on strains that were in existance at the time of the funding restriction.
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Originally posted by Holden McGroin
He restricted government funding to research on strains that were in existance at the time of the funding restriction.
A key point routinely (deliberately?) never mentioned by stem cell proponents.
If it is clearly such a boon to mankind, this is a veritable bonanza awaiting the first successful company.
Why are private corporations not funding this research?
Secondarily, why should we expect government to fund it all?
Thirdly, the government is funding SOME of the research. Are thre not other health care issues that need funding just a desperately? Like universal health care, far better prescription coverage for seniors.
Who amongst us thinks we can fund EVERYTHING to the MAX and do it SIMULTANEOUSLY?
If it's going to be such a boon, where are the private investors?
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This just in... Dr. Laura is a quack.
Is she even a doctor?
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Originally posted by Toad
Thirdly, the government is funding SOME of the research. Are thre not other health care issues that need funding just a desperately?
It is even funding stem cell research itself. It is however restricted to the 60 some odd strains in existance in summer 2001.
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Agreed. The US government IS funding stem cell research.
Because the amount/degree does not satisfy critics, they represent the US government as NOT funding it at all.
Blatant dishonesty.
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yep
evil Bush - LOL
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so if Bush quit increasing the funding level of the NEA ....
you could say that Bush banned art in America?
lazs
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Originally posted by Sandman
This just in... Dr. Laura is a quack.
Is she even a doctor?
Yes.
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Originally posted by OneWordAnswer
Yes.
Physiology.
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Perhaps free market is not funding the research because of government limitations placed on development.. If private business is only allowed to research 60 some odd strains in exixtance and is ordered to ignore the potential billion other strains, I would think that is somewhat limiting your end conclusions..
It would be like potentially having the best new product in history but only allowed to sell to .0000000000000000000000001% of the market...
Plz correct me if I'm wrong on the possible number of strains. But doesnt every person represent a new strain?
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FYI, Curie was polish :)
Thank you :D
PS. So was Chopin. Right Staffo ? :D
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Originally posted by fd ski
FYI, Curie was polish :)
Thank you :D
PS. So was Chopin. Right Staffo ? :D
Half right :p
It depend if you're speaking of Marie or Pierre ;)
(I'm nitpicking)
For Chopin I'm pretty sure he was Polish ,because it's why my surname is Frederic :)
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Originally posted by lazs2
so if Bush quit increasing the funding level of the NEA ....
you could say that Bush banned art in America?
lazs
No it's like saying he limited it to works by Piccasso only ... we won't pay for Dali's ......
....and Chopin's parents were both French, He was born and raised in Poland but lived in France.
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Originally posted by TheDudeDVant
Perhaps free market is not funding the research because of government limitations placed on development.. If private business is only allowed to research 60 some odd strains in exixtance and is ordered to ignore the potential billion other strains, I would think that is somewhat limiting your end conclusions..
However this is not the case. Pfizer can look at any strain it wants to, it just doesn't get government funding to look at strains other than those which were developed by 2001.
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Bush did not ban stem cell research. He restricted government funding to research on strains that were in existance at the time of the funding restriction.
However this is not the case. Pfizer can look at any strain it wants to, it just doesn't get government funding to look at strains other than those which were developed by 2001.
Exactly, Ya beat me to it by seconds.
Crumpp
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Originally posted by Toad
A key point routinely (deliberately?) never mentioned by stem cell proponents.
If it is clearly such a boon to mankind, this is a veritable bonanza awaiting the first successful company.
Why are private corporations not funding this research?
Don't you remember it was the same way with High-Def TV? Companies cried a river because the Fed wouldn't subsidize research so they could compete with Japan. Still, they found a way.
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Originally posted by Toad
A key point routinely (deliberately?) never mentioned by stem cell proponents.
If it is clearly such a boon to mankind, this is a veritable bonanza awaiting the first successful company.
Why are private corporations not funding this research?
Secondarily, why should we expect government to fund it all?
Toad you might google to learn about the truth of how much the government funds most medical and scientific research in this country. If the gov didnt do this then it wouldnt happen as it is so expensive.
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Originally posted by Sandman
This just in... Dr. Laura is a quack.
Is she even a doctor?
Laura Bush hehe Not the Dr Laura you listen to on the radio:)
Its a parody of Laura Bush.....
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Half right Manedew :)
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http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/faqs.asp
All the info you need on stem cells. Not the political side.
http://www.stemcellresearch.org/commentary/index.html
Commentary from both sides.
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Originally posted by Silat
Toad you might google to learn about the truth of how much the government funds most medical and scientific research in this country. If the gov didnt do this then it wouldnt happen as it is so expensive.
Well the world's leading stem cell research pioneer thinks the US is capable of catching up with private funding. He probably knows more about it than I do.
A Stem-Cell Research Pioneer (http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/aug2004/nf20040813_9702_db_81.htm)
This has been a catalyst and a wakeup call in the U.S. It has stimulated private organizations in the U.S. to fund human ES cell work. There's a lot of activity going on in the U.S. with human ES cells. The impact of the Bush restrictions can still be overcome by those with private funding.
Note that someone that actually knows what he's talking about calls them "Bush restrictions", not a "Bush ban on stem cell research.
There's even a better deal in that article:
Founded two years ago, the bank is the first of its kind worldwide and is run jointly by the National Institute for Biological Standards & Control (NIBSC) and the Medical Research Council (MRC). It will hold existing and new adult, foetal, and embryonic stem-cell lines in liquid-nitrogen storage.
The cells will be available to researchers worldwide once their research is granted approval by a steering committee. Academic researchers will have to pay a nominal fee for the lines, although commercial ventures will have to front the full economic cost.
The HFEA is a non-departmental government body that regulates and inspects all British clinics providing in-vitro fertilization (IVF), donor insemination, or the storage of eggs, sperm, or embryos.
So you see, there's many different lines of stem cells available for research if you get your project approved and can pay a nominal fee. They'll just be from Britain. ;)
Once again, seems like much ado about nothing. There is stem cell research funded by the US government. Private organizations can fund their own stem cell research to their hearts content. Academic researchers have access to all the stem cell lines in Britain's stem-cell bank for a nominal cost.
I guess the sky isn't falling after all.
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A few points:
Bush provided, for the first time, federal funding for stem cell research, but that money could only be used for work that used currently available embryos. This was a compromise between abortion foes who want a complete ban and scientists and patient advocates who want full funding.
At that time the White House claimed that more than 78 stem-cell lines were available and expected funding to amount to $100 million per year. But for various reasons only 22 of these lines are usable and only $25 million was available last year for this research.
Regarding private companies, a large amount of medical research in the US depends on federal funding. Even drug research by pharmaceutical companies often involves NIH funds. The regulations related to patent developments based on stem-cell research are still unclear. Thus private companies have been reluctant to spend large amounts of money on this research until they can be assured of patent protection.
Most scientific organizations favor revising Bush’s restrictions, including the American medical Association and the National Academy of Sciences. Several prominent republicans also oppose Bush’s policy, including Trent Lott and Orrin Hatch.
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But for various reasons only 22 of these lines are usable and only $25 million was available last year for this research.
Yes, we took a big bill in paying for defense. Takes money to stop folks from flying airplanes into our buildings. Remember the Clinton Years? The ones we dismantled our Armed Forces under? Well we have to rebuild them cause they are needed.
Most scientific organizations favor revising Bush’s restrictions, including the American medical Association and the National Academy of Sciences. Several prominent republicans also oppose Bush’s policy, including Trent Lott and Orrin Hatch.
It would be great to fund the research, no doubt and it could possible save lives. Unfortunately it really does NOT fall within:
1. Regulation of interstate commerce
2. Foreign Policy decision-making and regulation of Tariffs
3. National Defense
All of which are the JOB of the Federal Government. Funding Medical Research falls under the "nice if we can do it" catagory. The plain reality is that according to the Constitution, Stem Cell research falls plainly in the lap of private investors. They will benefit the most from it in the end. Sure lives will be saved but not before the company gets paid as is always the case in American Medicine.
Bush took the middle road. Good for him.
Crumpp
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British National Stem Cell Bank Up and Running within 12-Months
Britain's national stem cell bank should receive its first deposit of stem cell lines next year. The bank will be run jointly by the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC) and the Medical Research Council (MRC).
It will hold existing and new adult, fetal, and embryonic stem cell lines in liquid nitrogen storage. The cells will be available to researchers in the UK and other countries once their research is granted approval by a steering committee. Academic researchers will have to pay a nominal fee for the lines, although commercial ventures will have to front the full economic cost.
At least 70 stem cell lines are currently in existence and it is hoped that samples of all of these lines will be stored in the bank.
SOURCE/REFERENCE: Reported by http://www.reutershealth.com on the 9th September 2002
Relax. Most likely the scientists will soon be able to borrow all available lines from the Brits for research. We absolutely could not make this happen faster than what the Brits are doing right now, no matter how much money we spent.
The sky is NOT falling.
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This just in .....It has been reported by un-named sources, the avatar sandman uses is a picture of him hitting laura bush. Sources close to sandman say , it simply easier to take her on
then arnold .
Stand by for futher details.
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so mandew... if Bush said he would only pay for one kind of art then that would be the same as him banning alll art?
lazs
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no not saying that .. just claifying your metaphor as i saw it ... :D
I agree that it's not, but who's saying he ban'd what?.... if you generalize something and ban part of it .... can you seperate it from the part you allow....when talking about it in such general terms... terms poloticians love
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Originally posted by Crumpp
Remember the Clinton Years? The ones we dismantled our Armed Forces under? Well we have to rebuild them cause they are needed.
Crumpp
Please provide gov links to show that the above statement is true...
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Don't have too. I joined in the Reagan years and served right on thru the Clinton years. Still in.
The amount of men and equipment the US Military "downsized over Clintons watch is unbelieveable.
At second glance, however, the Defense Department accounted for more than 100 percent of the decline. Subtract from the downsizing DoD's 260,000 cut in civilian employment and 670,000 cut in military personnel, and the non-Defense civilian workforce actually grew by 60,000 over the 12 years. Add in 145,000 new Postal Service jobs, and the non-Defense workforce grew by more than 200,000.
http://govexec.com/features/0199/0199s1.htm
President Bush had nothing to do with the military downsizing policies of the democrat controlled White House of the 1990’s.
To further complicate the lives of active duty and veteran personnel, the Clinton administration stripped the services of their free-of-cost benefits and placed the services under the TRICARE system. That system required payroll deductions (sans: additional payroll taxes) for dental and health care while insisting that military and veteran personnel seek care from a list of TRICARE providers, before seeking assistance from downsized military medical facilities.
http://www.useless-knowledge.com/columnists/michaeljohnmccrae/article78.html
http://www.americandaily.com/article/126
After a decade of slashing armaments spending by nearly 70 percent and downsizing the military contracting industry, Washington now seems inclined to increase outlays for weapons. And this spending will go far beyond the request for $12.2 billion in Kosovo emergency funds now before Congress.
http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/kosovo53.htm
With the end of the Cold War and the disintegration of the Soviet Union came the desire to attain peace dividends in the form of reduced defense budgets and the rapid downsizing of the United States military force structure.
http://tri.army.mil/tsac/clinton.htm
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Since 1990, active Army ranks have been reduced from 770,000 to 495,000. The Army currently has 10 active combat divisions compared to the 18 it had at the start of Operation Desert Storm in 1991. What's been cut?
293,000 reservists;
two reserve divisions;
20 Air Force and Navy air wings with approximately 2,000 combat aircraft;
232 strategic bombers;
13 ballistic missile submarines with 3,114 nuclear warheads on 232 missiles;
500 ICBMs;
four aircraft carriers;
121 surface combatants and attack submarines, plus all the support basing, transport and logistic access, tanks, armored fighting vehicles, helicopters, etc.
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http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=14512
Pentagon is anticipating about a $15 billion cut between the years 2001 and 2002 and a $77 billion inflation hit, which was made clear in the balanced budget agreement. The combined pain is an apparent $92 billion reduction in Defense Department buying power in the years ahead.
http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/article.cfm?Id=166
Results 21 - 30 of about 18,300 for Military Downsizing Clinton years. (0.26 seconds)
Crumpp
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mandew... I have no problem with someone telling the truth about how stem cell research is or isn't banned or funded.
If the left told the truth then they wouldn't be humiliated so often.
lazs
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Originally posted by Manedew
No it's like saying he limited it to works by Piccasso only ... we won't pay for Dali's ......
....and Chopin's parents were both French, He was born and raised in Poland but lived in France.
Bzzztt wrong answer :)
Justyna is hardly a french name :) He was born and raised in Poland and had to emigrate to Paris because of nationalist reason. During his life there was no such thing in poland, so if you want to be picky, he was born in what was then russia :)
While he did life and die in paris, I think any coneseur of his music will clearly see where his heart was. Revolutionary etiude anyone ?
He requested that his grave be sparkled with polish soil, and his heart was removed and burried in Warsaw, as her her request as well.
So, we'll give you french say... 10% :)
hehehehe
And staffo, i was talking about Marie offcouse, she was more talented of the two :D