Adventures in My Mind
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Jul 19, 2006
The 1st Veto of His Tenure
Veto expected today on stem cell bill - Yahoo! News
With all of the shoddy legislation that has come across his desk in the last 6 years, W has decided to draw his line in the sand regarding stem cell research.
Apparently, his conservative Christianity just will not allow all Americans, even the World, to benefit from expanded federal funding of stem cell research. The recent House and Senate bills passed by wide margins and are supported by a large majority of Americans. Neither bill, however, passed by a two-thirds, veto-proof majority.
The sad truth is that this pending veto is aimed more at shoring up the base than any sort of real scientific reasoning or even any compassion for the unborn. Every year thousands of human embryos are created for the purpose of invitro fertilization (IVF). The vast majority of those go unused, stuffed into freezers and eventually destroyed.
What possible sense does it make for the them to be discarded without being put to any beneficial use. And what about the vanity of the rich and famous that creates a good number of those unnecessary embryos? Do we really need Cheryl Tiegs and Cindy Margolis touting the joys of IVF and surrogate parents long after nature has told them that giving birth is not a natural choice for them? Shouldn't this really be the cause of W's alarm and not what the proper use of the discarded embryos should be?
This, of course, is a symptom of the meglomania that causes him to think that he is incapable of faulty decision making. Despite support from prominent Republicaans and a large portion of Americans, W will once again go it alone and veto a bill that is nothing but beneficial to one and all.
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 10:28 AM
Jul 18, 2006
Bush Threatens Stem Cell Veto
Senate takes up stem cell bill; Bush vows veto - Yahoo! News
Let me see if I've got this right ...
Executive order that secretly taps telephone conversations?
Check.
Declare a pre-emptive war on a country that poses no immediate threat to the U.S. simply to force democracy on a region that isn't really looking for it?
Check.
Slander and libel anyone who uses truth and facts to make a case against said war?
Check.
Label them unpatriotic?
Check.
Stop all international aid to health clinics in developing countries if medical and/or social workers mention birth control or abortion as solution.
Check.
Support Senate legislation that would expand federal funding of stem cell research that would dramatically improve our ability to fight and cure diseases and traumatic injuries?
Negative. That would be like admitting that there is a larger moral view of the world that is outside of the West Texas hardpan. It would be the same as saying that intelligent, thoughtful people of differing opinions are indeed not godless heathens whose very souls are in danger of bathing in an eternal lake of fire; and that there may be less dogmatic responses to such important and complex issues.
Yeah, but who has the time for that when there's a war to run?
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 12:31 AM
Jul 5, 2006
Karma? Come Uppence? Just Desserts?
Enron founder Kenneth "Kenny Boy" Lay died this morning in Aspen, CO.
Lay and former Enron CEO, Jeff Skilling, were found guilty of multiple counts of fraund, conspiracy, and insider trading for their roles in the meteoric rise and ultimate collapse of Enron, destroying billions in shareholder value and employee pensions. Along the way the enriched themselves with hundreds of millions of dollars of stock options that were artificially inflated because of their criminal mismanagement of their company.
Lay was facing many years behind bars for his role in the scheme. Many would say that his death is a just reward for the harm that he and his cohorts created. I disagree.
A just reward woud be for him to live a long life either 1) in financial destitution like the Enron pension holders or 2) behind bars where he would have plenty of free time to think about how his money-loving, egocentric business practices damaged tens of thousands of people--from ex-employees, to shareholders, to his own family that will forever be stained by his greed and shocking lack of morals.
Neither of these will happen now. Fortunately his heart didn't give out before the verdicts were read.
0 Comments | Link to this post posted by Teddy 11:19 AM
