MsGuy

My initial reaction to this new technology was hope that it might prove to be the long awaited cure for HIV infection (and whatever else might ail us). Then I got to thinking. Folks, we have just sleepwalked across the Rubicon into the era of post-human and nobody's even talking about it. We now have a practical technical means to edit/alter/rewrite the human genome in precise detail, a biological equivilent of cut and paste. Anyone who thinks we can ring-fence this technolgy with a few laws passed by Congress is living in some other reality than I am. I'm just put out I won't live long enough to see what kind of weird world this technology gives birth to. No way this genie gets shoved back into the bottle. It's too valuable for everything from crop breeding to disease control. The potential for uber-bucks will drive rapid perfection of the technology. And the perfection of the technology will drive the emergence of post human civilization. technology patented; 1st clinical trials already under way [Click on the "cut and paste" graphic to see how it all works.] AdamSmith, GM Franken-nauts might just make your dream of colonization of space feasible. Alea iacta est, y'all. Fasten your safety belts.

"Just think what it will cost for already cash strapped states like New York and California." 3 to 4 billion for California, according to the Governor. Not clear which iteration of the bill that might be based on.

Nice bit of Americana, OZ, thanks for sharing.

This is why I stopped investing in securities decades ago. I always figured that if those smart guys in New York were willing to sell it to me, I probably couldn't afford to buy it. Goldman Sacks: Paragon of Integrity

Probably Randy Gardner holds the (best documented) record at 264 hours. What is your friend on, crystal meth?

I think the underlying purpose of the Founders was to give us a better government than we deserved. Not necessarily a good one, just a better one than we would have had if left to our own devices. All things considered, they didn't do such a bad job of it.

"Time is the enemy" but Google is your friend. Pliny the Younger write 2000 years ago ``I apologise for this long letter. I did not have enough time to shorten it.'' "I made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter." Pascal, Provincial Letters XVI There is also the Thoreau one: "Not that the story need be long, but it will take a long while to make it short." Maybe it's a case of great minds think alike or maybe the old guys weren't above plagiarizing a clever conceit.

"When the American republics begin to degenerate it will be easy to verify the truth of this observation, by remarking whether the number of political impeachments augments." Not a happy thought.

UCLA researchers have successfully modified blood stem cells to specifically attack HIV. Apparently folks have theorized about this approach for years but only recently has the technology been available to make it something practical to implement. We can only hope that this won't turn out to be yet another dead end line of research. Note that, if it works out, this approach could be adapted to other persistant viruses. UCLA research

Casual sex isn't a bad thing at least not for young adults, according to a new study. University of Minnesota researchers asked more than 1,300 people age 18 to 24 about their most recent sexual encounters, their self-esteem and their emotional well-being and found the results startling. Only about one-fifth said their last encounter was casual, but their overall emotional status was no different than the four-fifths who said they were in a committed relationship. "We were so surprised," said Marla Eisenberg, an assistant professor at the university's School of Public Health. "The conventional wisdom is that casual sex, 'friends with benefits,' and hooking up is hurtful." Sometimes straight people are just too damn weird for words. Well, maybe it's only in Minnesota.

World's longest bad Asian driver joke.

Sounds like that Tom Lehrer bit that Lookin uses as a tag line: "If anyone objects to anything I say, I am quite prepared not only to retract it, but also to deny under oath that I ever made it." He might even get himself elected. Just needs to run as an independent and hope both the party candidates get indicted the week before the election. Hey, remember it's New Jersey we're talking here.

If your cable carries the TV Guide Network, you can watch her hour long special next week (12/13 at 8/7c). link

WTF brought that on?

The first weeks sales of 701,000 broke all recent records for a debut album. I hope she is enjoying her celebrity. First weeks sales

Yeah, it's good to see that folks in the rust belt still have that good old American entrepreneurial spirit.

$175/vote. I believe you. Money_makes_the_world_go_round.com

Thanks, TY. I've been wanting to try cooking a brined bird for some time and your post was just the thing to tip me over into actually doing it. My x-mas bird will definitely be brined.

So how did your brined turkey turn out? Assuming it was good, what was your recipe?

Two old friends on a walk down memory lane. Kinda sweet.

Dude, I could have used that oxygen.

I second Expat's request. That would be .

Maybe, maybe not. Strangely enough a gay attack ad can backfire on the wingnut, especially if the target is both fairly conservative and married. Many traditionist rightwing types get offended by public accusations of homosexuality not backed up by solid evidence. The concept of straight acting married men being gay just weirds them out.

This is a bit off topic but, when you were a kid, did you ever want to buy one of those rocket motors on offer on the back page of comic books? Assemble/build your own rocket and fire it off in the back yard? I craved one as a kid but the parental units seemed convinced that I would blow up something important. To this day I suspect that they were just too cheap to spring for the cost.