The Beasts bless the Children

The following story taken from Yahoo News proves that many times animals are more humane than humans and that humans often are the most irrational of animals.

Headline: Lions Rescue, Guard Beaten Ethiopian Girl

Story of the Week 6.21

On the heels of the recent security breach involving MasterCard, its pleasing to see a financial company take the initiative to protect its customers. What is perhaps the most frightening is that they are the first.

Headline: Sun Life Financial First to Add Identity Theft Monitoring to Annuities

Stem Cell Savior or Mad Scientis

Stem Cell Savior or Mad Scientist

Sometimes the worst ideas are born out of good intentions. The film Pearl Harbor comes to mind. At idea that seems solid and potentially beneficial for all involved yet in reality and execution it often falls flat on its face.

Dr. William Hurlbut is potentially trapped in this scenario. He is trying to bridge the gap between those in favor of stem cell research and those opposed. Though his research he believes that there can be a compromise that makes both sides happy. So far he’s only caused to make everyone uncomfortable.

Dr. Hurlbut original plan was to quote Wired News’ Kristen Philipkoski,

“…using human cloning technology, or somatic cell nuclear transfer, to join a human egg and genetically altered human tissue. The result of this "altered nuclear transfer" would not be an embryo, he said, but a disorganized mass of human cells. Nevertheless, the proposal left some critics with the image of a ghoulish bundle of teeth, eyes, fingers and various human organs.”

Story location:
Wired News

How can a “Ghoulish bundle of teeth, eyes, fingers and various human organs” be a compromise? No one wants to recreate the last moments of the wicked witch of the west’s last moments in the name of science. This can not be a good idea.

Just a few more quotes from Wired News.

"Repugnant and weird,"

- Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer

"It's a kind of pollution of the human genome."

- Paul McHugh, chief of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Hospital

"Morally creepy."

- Michael Sandel, a Harvard University professor of government

Yet the good Doctor Frankenstein…err, Hurlbut is undeterred. His new attempt is designed to use the same process but lower the “yuck factor”. When an experiment can elicit the “yuck factor” from other scientists, I think you have a pretty good idea whether or not you should continue.

Check out more about Dr. Hurlburt here and here

Analysis Updates

Periodically, we will try and updated former analysis with new links to information. Check out the links below to follow up on any former topics:

Dear Leader: InstantLive

Gonzalez v. Raich: CNN Article

Monster Engine: Forums

Midwest Airlines: Press Release

Monster Engine.com Review

To quote Degas, “Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” Dave Devries takes this concept to a new level with his site Monster Engine. Devries takes drawings by children usually age 7 or 8 and then uses them as guides for paintings. For these children their art isn’t just on the paper, for they are not accomplished artists, it is in the ability to create a feeling an aura that Devries runs with.

Looking at the paper you would hardly see the imagination of a child. Somehow Devries does, or he is at least in touch with his own. This is not an exercise in which one artist attempting to force his vision on another. As shown in an interview between Devries and one of the other artists, this is a collaborative process between two visions. Imagination is an incredible and powerful force. Devries and his young collaborators use their imaginations to create beautiful works of art.

These paintings and drawings are clearly artistically flawed if you’re looking at it from an academic point of view. Yet this is what makes them true to the imaginations that spawned them. The imagination is not always refined; it is not often crystal clear. The drawings and paintings of Monster Engine capture this haze of our imagination.

It is a pleasure and welcome break in the day to visit Monster Engine. I have no doubt that after you do, you’ll feel a tingle in the corner of your mind. Don’t worry, its just your imagination waking up.

Check out Monster Engine here:

Gonzales v. Raich – Legality of Medical Marijuana.

Subtitle: The Sovereignty of States Laws and the Upcoming Battle over Gay Marriage

In a ruling today by the Supreme Court the sovereignty of individual states and their laws was again threatened. The Supreme Court ruled that even though the medical use of marijuana is allowed in the state of California those using the drug can still be prosecuted by the federal government. The Supreme Court has reaffirmed the precedent that the laws of the federal government supersede those of the state government. This has some very interesting consequences.

Within the next few years there will be before the Supreme Court a challenge either to the law allow gay marriage in Massachusetts or against any number of states which have laws against gay marriage. This will also be influenced by the defense of marriage act which was established by congress which allowed for each state to set its own standards for the definition of marriage.

Should the Supreme Court decide that banning gay marriage is unconstitutional, it will also affect the Defense of Marriage act. If it does make the defense of marriage act null and void then all those states that have banned marriage would then be subject to a federal decision on gay marriage. Similarly if the Supreme Court finds the ban constitutional and congress supports this ruling with legislation then the state of Massachusetts could be forced to comply with a ban on gay marriage.

Medical marijuana and gay marriage have nothing in common other than their universality of controversy. It is intriguing that medical marijuana has given a potential glimpse in the coming battle over same sex marriage. As proven in this case states laws can be over ruled by federal laws.

While it seems that we have segregated the country in respect to gay marriage by many states enacting their own legislation, the warring parties have simply limped to their respective corners. Make no mistake there are several more rounds to go, with the final blow to either side inevitably coming in the highest court in the land.

Check out the Supreme Court Opinion here:

Check out My Way News’ article on the ruling here:

Check out the Defense of Marriage Act here:

Check out the Massachusetts Supreme Court Ruling on Gay Marriage here:

Midwest Airlines Review

The airline industry is in constant fluctuation. With the struggles of the major carriers, many smaller regional airlines have taken the opportunity to increase there market position. These smaller airlines often attract customers by offering services or fares that the larger carriers have eliminated. One of these regional airlines is Midwest Airlines.

Midwest like many of the regional carriers has actually been around since the mid-eighties. Based out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin they have historically focused on serving the smaller airports in smaller towns in the center of the nation. After opening bases in both Omaha, Nebraska and Kansas City, MO in the mid-nineties, Midwest began to make a push towards being a more visible travel option.

In February of 2005 Midwest continued to expand its offerings by adding several new non-stop flights to Boston, Los Angeles and New York. I was able to recently travel from Boston’s Logan Airport to Kansas City International on Midwest Airlines. I flew during one morning flight and one evening flight over the Memorial Holiday weekend.

Midwest has routinely won awards for the service on their flights. However, I was surprised to find that the service was not in my opinion superior. The morning flight especially seemed more cold than expected. Perhaps I was expecting too much because of their reputation. The flight staff did not seem overly pleased to be working at 6 AM, which is somewhat understandable, yet as I boarded the plane with my 7 month old daughter not one employee offered to help me find my seat or to help me and my family get situated. In addition I myself stopped to help an elderly gentleman place his bag in the overhead compartment while the stewardesses chatted with each other in the back of the plane. This was clearly a very small sample but not a good first impression to make. Also on the morning flight we received bags of pretzels but not Midwest’s famous chocolate chip cookies. I was unaware that pretzels were breakfast food. Upon receiving the fresh baked cookies during the evening flight I was very please to find that they were both warm and of good size. I highly doubt that anyone on the morning flight would have found them even remotely distasteful.

The plane itself was also a very pleasant surprise. The seats were leather and much larger than normal coach seats. I had the feeling that despite my location over the wing of the airplane that I was sitting in a first class seat. The adjustable headrest was also very welcome as I found myself easily drifting off to sleep.

The service at the ticketing counter and gate were of similar ups and downs. The gentleman at the morning ticketing counter was very pleasant and friendly – he must have been a morning person. The agents at the gate themselves were generally sour faced and somber, regardless of the time of day. In Kansas City the skycaps looked bored and spoke in a teenage like mumble but they did manage to get all of our bags on the plane. The pilots’ announcements were standard in their blandness but that is always somewhat comforting. An energetic or excited pilot warning of turbulence might cause some worry.

On a whole, considering the price of the fare, the accommodations of the planes themselves and that warm fresh cookies, I would recommend Midwest Airlines to anyone looking for a low priced alternative to the major carriers. The value and quality of flight, far paced the hit or miss service of the employees.

Check out Midwest Airlines at www.midwestairlines.com