And some people thought things might get weird after legalizing stem cell research.....

Britain To Go Ahead With Human-Animal Embryos For Research:
"The British government published its draft bill to overhaul the 1990 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act this week and it differs from the White Paper introduced late last year in that research using part human part animal embryos is to be allowed after all.

Some news reports are saying this is a major shift by government ministers after the angry reaction to the White Paper from scientists, MPs and patient groups that banning such research would impede medical breakthroughs.

The bill covers a number of areas, including research using three types of human-animal embryo:

* Cytoplasmic embryo or cybrid: where a human cell is inserted into an animal's egg that has been stripped of nearly all its nuclear DNA. The embryo would be 99.9 per cent human and 0.1 per cent animal.
* Human-animal chimera: where animal cells are introduced into human embryos.
* True human-animal hybrids: where a human egg is fertilized by animal sperm or vice versa.

The new bill will allow research to use cybrids and chimera, but not the true human-animal hybrids. If passed, the law will require all such embryos to be destroyed after 14 days; and under no circumstances would it be legal to implant them into a womb."

Yeah, I'm sure they'll *never* let one of these come to full term, say 10, 20 years from now. Right. Maybe 51% animal, so they feel justified in locking it up in a room somewhere and studying it for it's lifetime.

I suggest next they work on transferring the brains of quadriplegic people into healthy, mobile chimpanzees. Seems to follow to me.

What's the highest honorary medal that can be granted to a bird?

Because I'd like to nominate this one....

Political Radar: "As President Bush took a question Thursday in the White House Rose Garden about scandals involving his Attorney General, he remarked, 'I've got confidence in Al Gonzales doin' the job.'

Simultaneously, a sparrow flew overhead and left a splash on the President's sleeve, which Bush tried several times to wipe off."

so fucking lame

Garrison Keillor: A Prairie Homophobic Companion? - TMZ.com

"In an article titled "Stating the Obvious" in salon.com, the Minnesota author wrote, 'The country has come to accept stereotypical gay men -- sardonic fellows with fussy hair who live in over-decorated apartments with a striped sofa and a small weird dog and who worship campy performers and go in for flamboyance now and then themselves. If they want to be accepted as couples and daddies, however, the flamboyance may have to be brought under control. Parents are supposed to stand in back and not wear chartreuse pants and black polka-dot shirts.'"

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the "GLBT community" (which i am a part of) needs to get over this crap. as do the ACLU and other liberals that think they should legislate what everyone thinks and says in defense of gays, and every person that's not a "straight white male." "patriarchy, blah, blah blah" this is life, this is America, they've got a right to say it, and others have the right to say they're idiots. or fire them because they don't want them representing their company.

this "hate speech" thing is snowballing out of control. a slippery slope, as they say. people can be prejudiced and bigoted if they choose to, or never get past their lousy upbringing. i don't think it helps anybody's cause to whine about every "slur" that some b-list celebrity or basketball player makes. i thought the ACLU and the left in general wanted to PROTECT the 1st amendment, not chip away at it. i will continue saying and thinking whatever i damned well please, and i hope everybody else does too. at least you can find out that they're a-holes easily that way.

we're living through a time when a kid takes her school to court because she was disciplined and teased for saying "that's so gay." a comment uttered by about 1/2 to 3/4 of kids and teens in the US daily, and without hatred behind it. it's an expression, and in time, it will fade to more infrequent use. everybody's just losing their mind over this stuff. and i tell you what, if, God forbid, some crazy politician makes a law against some words, and Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock can't use the dreaded "n-word" anymore - screw it, i'm moving to Canada.

when you begin to curtail speech that "someone" finds offensive (the terrorists win!), that's just the beginning. first go the "hate" words, then some that make people "uncomfortable," then what?

"Wherever they burn books they will also, in the end, burn human beings." - Heinrich Heine

i've listened to G. Keillor enough (his story about the church ushers competition is one of the funniest things i can remember hearing) that i would bet that he didn't mean any of it in a disparaging way. and for those saying he was "branding all gay men as trendy fashionistas.....," please note - he said "The country has come to accept stereotypical gay men..." the key word there is *stereotypical*. in the eyes of a huge chunk of America, when they think of gay men, that's what they imagine. not to mention thinking they're hedonistic, drug using sluts. sadly, that's a very accurate description of a segment of the community. i hope that in coming generations, as acceptance of gays grows, maybe there won't be so many gay guys who hate themselves for being gay and try to self-destruct and lose themselves in those ways, often without even realizing it.

i think all Keillor was saying is that we need to work on our image. there are plenty of us that are family men and women. these are the people that need to be "out" the most. because we don't get the attention - it all goes to the club guys and the ones who wear thongs and chaps to gay pride, or those damned guys dressed up like nuns with beards in freaky face paint/makeup (i'm not even Catholic, but that creeps me the hell out). the news flocks to that because it's titillating and flamboyant and a lot more interesting to report on than the average citizens that live average lives, and happen to be gay. the fact is, we need to be more visible simply as human beings, not just sex-crazed Peter Pan types. that should start with our own shows and media, but that's another story.

in a nutshell: get over it

But what if they *want* to fight?

Support Bill Richardson for President Bumperstickers - Buy Bill Richardson Bumper Stickers:

"Gay Rights - Bill Richardson not only has taken unpopular progressive positions on gay rights, but also has succeeded in getting those positions adopted.

"[I]n terms of actual [gay rights] accomplishments Bill Richardson stands above the other current candidates because he's actually pushed forward and implemented laws that have helped our community."
- Matt Foreman, Executive Director, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

'He's … been wonderful. He's kept every promise he's ever made to the [gay] community.'
- Alexis Blizman, Executive Director, Equality New Mexico.

Animal Rights - As Governor, Richardson spearheaded the movement to ban cockfighting in the state of New Mexico, even though it was an ingrained institution with many citizens there."

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WAIT, WAIT, WAIT! he banned cockfighting? they just said he was *for* gay rights! wtf....???

oh, ok. they switched to a new topic there. my bad. at least he "spearheaded" something. that sounds a little gay.

/i actually did misread it the first time. kinda threw me off.

Hack Yourself

Hack Yourself by Michael Montoure at bloodletters.com

i love this. need a new outlook on life? think your life sucks? read this essay. "If you don't like the story your life has become — tell yourself a better one."

it sums up a lot of my own beliefs, things i often forget about, and in a way that grabbed me and inspired me some. i'm already at a point of tremendous change in my life, and this helped me to remember how much of my life i can control as this all happens.

oh, there's some great horror fiction by the guy who wrote this on the site as well. 4 short stories posted. he's pretty good.

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"We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust our sails" - unknown

Wesley Clark is crushing your head!