Science, Truth and Stem Cell Research
I wrote an article on my take concerning Missouri Amendment 2 (the embryonic stem cells “cures” initiative), which is now published on OFB. I'm going to doing something no big name writer will offer: I will offer a quality guarantee on this article. If you can find fault with any of the major premises, I will do my best to defend my answer with hard, cold facts. If I cannot, I will make a retraction of the article. How's that for a guarantee?
I'm mostly preaching to the choir on my blog, I suspect, but hopefully this article might prove useful to someone (if nothing else, if somehow you've missed the whole debate on the issue). I don't claim to say anything new, but I do think this article is unique thanks to my guarantee. In fact, maybe in the future I'll guarantee all of my articles with this guarantee.
Apple and Intel
I should probably work this into a larger piece sometime, but I think a quick observation is worthwhile. I've noticed with the Intel switch, some Mac advocates have suddenly realized that Dell does make a cheaper computer than Apple, while many PC users who would never have considered an Apple now find Apple enticing.
It is amazing how a little CPU could inspire people to swap positions. Yes, Apples with Intel processors do not have the mystical quality that Apples with PowerPC did. PowerPC was a RISC processor and that made Apple seem a bit more exotic. I liked it well enough. But, I care more about my apps and speed than I do about how “cool” my processor sounds. If, as most will now admit, Intel's Core microarchitecture blows the consumer variants of POWER out of the water in most ways, why not enjoy that and keep on using your beloved OS? Frankly, if I wanted to go with Dell's $399 special, it was just as valid to do so against a PowerPC G4 PowerBook as it is against a Core Duo MacBook. And anyway, if you compare Apple against other premium brands with very thin metal enclosures, lighter weight units, etc., I think the MacBook family still comes out favorably.
The reverse switch to being intrigued by Apple is a lot more explainable. Macs are now the only computer that can run the three biggest desktop OSes legally. With Parallels well designed virtualization, they are also really decent at running Windows applications. And, since Windows can replace Mac OS X if desired, there is far less risk in taking the plunge than before. I think that helps a lot. Even die hard Mac haters like how Apple is squeezing the latest PC technology into sleek, small machines.
The latter group does not mystify me, the former does. Personally, I think the days of processor brands defining how much awe a system should get are fading away quickly.
Back to Normal
Well, I don't have any more scores to report, so expect my normal type blog postings to return tomorrow. I can't promise that one more baseball post might not wander in, but don't let them scare you away. If anything, let the possibility of my upcoming political musing scare you instead! 
GO CRAZY FOLKS, GO CRAZY!
Wow! Woohooo! What else can I say? WOOOOHOOO!
SOURCE: STLTODAY.com
How amazing. And an amazing team — Molina, Rolen, Eckstein, Pujols, Edmunds, Reyes, Weaver, Carpenter, Wainwright and the rest performed amazingly. How wonderful for them to allow Cardinal Nation to see a World Series win in the brand new Busch Stadium — the first time since Yankee Stadium in 1928 that a team won a World Series in its own stadium during that stadium's inaugural year, I am told.
It's only been a few years since we lost Jack Buck, but I'm sure he'd be proud of the team and his son, Joe Buck, who did an amazing job too. Slam-a-lama-ding-dong indeed!
But, to again quote the senior Buck, “GO CRAZY FOLKS, GO CRAZY.”
The best team, with the best fans, in the best city. Yup, once again St. Louis is Perfectly Centered, Remarkably Connected. Woohoo!
Oh, a question to Mark: you correctly reined in my enthusiasm in calling the 2004 NLCS victory of the Cardinals a “trouncing.” I think I can use it completely justifiably now, right?
Could It Be Tonight?
So far so good, we have one nothing in the bottom of the third. Let's Go Cardinals!
That's More Like It
OK, so now it is 3-1. I don't want to get too excited yet, but would one more win tomorrow night be too much to ask? Apparently, it has been since the New York Yankees in 1928 that a team won the World Series in its own stadium during the first year of that stadium. With this being the Busch Stadium III's first year, that'd be an interesting record to break.
It was quite a game — far more eventful than the last few, but I'm not sure I really need it that eventful. Hopefully the Cards can beat the Cheat-ahs tomorrow by taking an early lead or maybe doing another shutout like they did in Game 3.
Waddya think?
Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head
Well, Game 4 of the World Series was delayed because of rain tonight. With more rain on the way, I wonder if the Cards will get to play tomorrow? I hope this doesn't hurt the momentum that has allowed them to get a 2-1 lead so far…
Liar: McCaskill and the Cloning Amendment
There is no doubt that senate hopeful and State Auditor Claire McCaskill (D-MO) knows how to play dirty. After her attack campaign that allowed her to beat Gov. Bob Holden in the 2004 Democratic Primary, my dad — a dyed in wool Democrat — refused to vote for her in the general election, instead going Republican. McCaskill has been and continues to be willing to bend the truth to the breaking point for her politics of personal gain. I've been pretty calm on politics lately, but I just felt sick this morning listening to McCaskill.
She, like others promoting “Amendment 2 - Life Saving Cures,” has been trying to fool those who do not know better into thinking voting yes on this amendment will not protect cloning in Missouri — that it will actually ban cloning. I knew she's been saying that, but hearing her say it live on KMOX 1120 with Charles Brennon this morning just made me want to scream through the radio.
FACT: The bill protects Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer. This is cloning. When you create an embryo that has identical genetic information to the person who wants the “cure” (if there is such a thing to come out of this research), what exactly do you call that other than cloning? If you do not think SCNT is cloning, then be prepared to say Dolly the Sheep was not a clone.
FACT: The bill is both anti-life and anti-choice. Once the clone has been produced, it must be aborted. That not only proves disturbing for pro-lifers, but it should also bother pro-choice abortion proponents who normally advocate this so-called “right” out of a desire to promote freedom. If that is really the case, how do you support this?
FACT: None of this research is presently banned in Missouri, this bill only rolls out the red carpet to cloning research. By voting on this bill, you insure that scientists will be able to get better at human cloning, making it more and more likely a human clone will be born in the future.
(Incidentally, I liked the new commercial for Senator Talent that had him explain his rejection of Amendment 2, but I'd urge anyone on the fence not to see this as a Republican vs. Democrats issue. Even if you insist on voting for Auditor McCaskill for senator, you can still reject Amendment 2.)
Happy Birthday, iPod
It is hard to believe that it has been five years since Apple launched the iPod. When I first heard that Apple was going into the music player business, I thought maybe Steve Jobs had finally gone off his rocker (hear Jobs launch the product over on Engadget). Although he had guided the struggling computer maker back into the black, ironically, with colorful computers, did he really think Apple had any place in the music player business? I was among the group that was hoping that day's announcement was to be the return of an Apple PDA, but no such “luck.”
Five years later, I cannot think of a more brilliant move by Jobs. Using the iPod as a launching pad while the Mac continued its slow progress toward ditching Mac OS Classic for Mac OS X, suddenly Apple became the cool brand again. And more than just what it did for Apple, consider what this product launch did for the consumer electronics industry? Suddenly, it was desirable to have an “MP3 Player,” something that previously had simply seemed geeky — portable CD players were now so 1990's. Suddenly a new business in making iPod accessories appeared. Suddenly, a word as strange as “iPod” would be part of everyday language. Notice the key phrase “suddenly:” the iPod's growth has been “steady,” but it has been anything other than “slow.”
Few product launches have single handedly altered a market as much as the iPod did. The iPod is to electronic music storage what the Model T or the Beetle were to cars — something that redefined the industry. And just as those two illustrious models are unlikely to be passed up in single model sales ever again, I suspect that if the iPod brand ever falls, it will be unlikely that there will be such a clear dominance in the music player market again.
Really, the iPod is a lot like the Beetle. Like the Beetle, it looks a lot like it did at its launch. Things keep changing to keep it competitive with flashier models, but it never really rejects its essential look and feel that makes the iPod an iPod. And what could be better than a New Beetle + iPod?
I wonder what we will be using to listen to music fifty years from now?
Nameless, Part II
I talked to my classmate for a moment about class, all the while hoping Amelia would not return before I had finished the conversation. But, Amelia came up from behind when, to my surprise, my nameless friend exclaimed, “Amelia, what are you doing here?” Now, that was not what I was expecting! “Hi, Alex,” Amelia replied. I didn't learn the details until one day the next semester when Alex and I got to talking, but they explained to me that Alex too had been a student at the Lutheran high school that my cousin was still attending. At that point, I explained to Alex that Amelia was my cousin and that she had come to get a feel for LU and sit in some classes (including Brit Lit I). Alex remarked that she had not yet had time to read that day's assignment (this was about an hour and a half before class) and that she had better go read it fast, so she could “say something to sound intelligent” in class.
We ended up sitting at a large round table near the windows overlooking the football field. As I recall it, I spent most of lunch quietly tending to my food while Amelia and Maggie talked. Maggie was talking about some career choices; at one point Amelia provided a bluntly honest remark about the one way Maggie was leaning, and Maggie remarked that Amelia's honesty was one of the things she really appreciated about Amelia. I, of course, did not disagree, for my cousin would have likely hit me if I had — she's always been that way to me (I can only hope Amelia does not read this, or… gulp Ouch!).
All kidding aside, it was a nice lunch. With plenty of time to spare, we left the cafeteria and traveled up the hill to the dorm located directly by the local AutoZone. This was Maggie's dorm, and she offered to give Amelia a tour of it. Since I could not join them (obviously — it was the ladies' dorm), I took to leaning up against a column of the building and reading the next reading for Brit Lit. It wasn't a very comfortable column; it was rather slick and its tall foundation only offered enough ledge to barely allow me to pretend to sit. Time passed for what seemed like an eternity without so much as a sign of life from inside the building. Periodically, I checked my watch only to see that “plenty of time before class” start inching toward “not so much time.” After awhile, an acquaintance from another class came out; seeing me just leaning against the column, she asked if I was waiting for someone. I said I was and talked for a little bit; at first she offered to go in and see what had become of my cousin and Maggie, but since she did not know Maggie or what part of the building she lived in, that wasn't really possible.
Finally, about ten or fifteen minutes before class, the two missing members of our happy little trio reappeared. Amelia had not been feeling too well, and had been sitting down for a bit. Fortunately, she was feeling fine now. We parted company with Maggie, who had other places to go, and headed a little less quickly back across campus to Brit Lit. We got there in plenty of time and made our way in. I usually sit in the front row of a class, but since there was not a second front row spot available, I opted to lead us to seats further back. One thing I recall was how much blander and dirtier the back of the room seemed. Maybe that's why those who sit in the front row are statistically said to do better… well, probably not. I offered Amelia the extra bottle of water I had somehow managed to get stuffed in my satchel along with my books — she didn't want it, so so much for my amazing feat of fitting it in — and then busied myself getting my mind ready for the always possible pop quiz, a quiz which did not appear that day.
At any rate, I was disappointed that this class was not among the most interesting of the Brit Lit I sessions I had been in hence far. We looked at a text on literary criticism (I believe it was by the ever relevant Samuel Johnson) and then finally got to something I hoped would show off my professor's talents a bit more: the great metaphysical poet John Donne. We moved quickly and covered a number of Donne's works, including the rather amusing “the Flea.”
After class, I introduced Amelia to my professor, Dr. Glover, and then slipped out of the room toward the room down the hall that had the next stop on our tour. I was a bit dejected. There is nothing worse than telling someone how great something is and then it being less than exciting when that person actually is around to see the thing in question. That had been Brit Lit. Dr. Glover is an amazing professor, but it just had not been the best day. I was pretty sure the next class would be much more successful, and it was. This next class was Philosophy of Religion and our topic was the problem of evil.
We walked in the room, and I was about to again find a seat in the back, when I heard someone call my name. Alex was at the door. Alex and I sometimes chatted and joked about literature on the way out of class, but that day, as I said, Amelia and I had quietly and briskly left the room. When I came over, Alex had thought of a clever play on words from Donne which she presented to me. We talked for a few moments, until my professor, Dr. Meyers, arrived and I returned with Amelia to staking out a good seat. With it a fairly cool temperature outside, it was a good day for Amelia to be visiting — the room this class was in was often miserably hot, but was tolerable that Friday.
A few of my friends were in the class, and a couple that were on the side of the room we ended up on (the opposite that I normally was on) were among those I introduced Amelia to. JonPaul was one of them, and while he was yet another fellow I was unfortunately unable to name at the time (I may forget names, but once they stick, I do remember them), but somehow I fudged the introduction and all was well. A few other friends, whose names I did know were on the other side of the room, and I simply never got to introduce them to my cousin, which was a shame. Amelia is the type of person who people always want to be introduced to; I recall as late as last semester, one friend from that class who I had failed to introduce to Amelia inquired to me about who that was who had been with me that day in Fall of '04. That was not an isolated incident, either.
By this time, it was already 2:00, but there was still more to come in our little adventure. I will detail the conclusion another day.
