inkbluesky

The debate or controversy that surrounds stem cell research has, for the most part been much ado about nothing on one side that has created arguments based on little that resembles reality. Arguing with them is akin to arguing with a seven year old arithmetic student about vectors and missile launches. The U.S. military much to their credit, at least some of the time, tends to want what it wants and blow-up doll arguments about stem cells are not going to stop them from pursuing a promising field of medical research, The military’s plan to regrow body parts

Yesterday the Department of Defense announced the creation of the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine, which will go by the happy acronym AFIRM. According to DOD’s news service, AFIRM will “harness stem cell research and technology … to reconstruct new skin, muscles and tendons, and even ears, noses and fingers.” The government is budgeting $250 million in public and private money for the project’s first five years. NIH and three universities will be on the team.

The stem cell issue aside. Its not much of an issue anyway, the ability to regrow genetically impaired or war damaged body parts has some fairly profound implications as far as defining what constitutes you. The original parts or the new and more likely then not, improved parts.

brazil nightscape

Few people have heard of P.J. O’Rourke. Probably for good reason, he is what passes for a comedian on the Right.  He heard of the Vatican’s new list of sins and while they are ripe for parody this is the best P.J could come up with,

Not to argue theology with the Vatican, but environmental pollution is hardly among Satan’s strongest temptations. Pollution is not a passion we resist with an agony of will for the sake of our immortal souls. I’ve been to parties where all seven of the original deadlies were on offer in carload lots. Never once have I heard a reveler shout with evil glee, “Let’s dump PCBs in the Hudson River!”

The original sins available in “carload lots”? The so-called original sins are not actually spelled out in scripture which kinda impedes the reader’s ability to imagine what P.J. encountered at these parties and then one is forced to imagine the mass of them in increments of “carload lots”. Forget it, just the thought of some drunk rich Conservatives in a room trying to have clever conversations between original sinning in any quantity is too much like thinking about prostate exams.