Brian's blogs

International: Well, this isn’t exactly international, but California scientists succeeded in cloning human embryos of two males using DNA from skin cells. I was really excited about this until I read that this has been done before, and that the only way it would really be something new was if they had extracted stem cells from the embryos to create the first cloned human stem cell line. Nevertheless, it seems like it is only a matter of time before this happens, and perhaps only a matter of time before scientists clone an actual human being.

Opinion: While I do have a problem with creating what could viably become a human just for the purpose of experimentation and the harvest of stem cells, I think that they should have at least extracted stem cells this time if they were able to. I don’t really know the details. It seems like a waste to clone the embryos and not go any further. However, I don’t have a problem with cloning people, despite the arguments I’ve heard about playing God (the Tower of Babel being a popular example). I also think it’s ridiculous whenever I hear people argue about whether or not clones would have souls, but I guess that doesn’t really pertain to the article I’m supposed to be writing about.

International: Now this is interesting. Osama bin Laden’s son, Omar Osama bin Laden, claims that he wants to be an ambassador for peace between Islam and the West. In this article there’s an interesting picture of him wearing a leather biker’s jacket and sporting dreadlocks. He is married to a British woman and has not denounced his father despite the fact that he is calling for peace between the East and West. While he was trained in an al-Qaida camp he seems to have broken away in 2000, but the circumstances aren’t entirely known.

Opinion: I have no clue what to think of this guy. I think he’s probably harmless and not likely to pop up in the news too much, but the fact that he defends his father scares me. It’s one thing to be loyal to your parents, no matter what terrible things they might have done, but when they have orchestrated the mass murder of thousands – perhaps that is when you must denounce what your parents have done although you may still feel love for them. What I really wonder is what actually happened when Omar parted from his father.

National: Edwards has lashed out at the media because, despite beating Clinton in Iowa, and other victories that show him to be a candidate worth paying attention to, the media has focused on Obama and Clinton. Edwards has put up stuff about this on his website, showing that he has only received a small fraction of the coverage the other two leading candidates have received.

Opinion: I think this is a little whiny of Edwards, but he has a point. However, what did he expect running against a black man and a woman. Hilary and Obama are candidates that may set a historical precedent, while Edwards would not. I think it’s too bad he’s not getting covered as much for, let’s face it, that precise reason, but I don’t know if complaining about it will do anything for him.

National: This article is just under the one above and is part of the same link. Mike Huckabee has been taking heat for comments he made about gay marriage. One of his arguments was that if the law opened the door for gay marriage, he is afraid polygamy, pedophilia, and bestiality might be next in line for being legalized as marriage. The gay community and others have protested, saying this comment equates gay marriage with these other sexual behaviors, and is “out of the mainstream of American thought.”

Opinion: While I disagree with Huckabee’s argument, I believe it would be better to legalize civil unions rather than “marriage” (there is no constitutional basis for making gay marriage illegal from what I can tell), in order to draw a definite difference between the two – but, people are going to call it what they will. However, I disagree that this thinking of Huckabee’s argument is out of the mainstream of American thought. Most definitely it is out of the mainstream thought of liberal America and the gay community, but not America as a whole. In fact this seems to be just one of several issues that splits the American mainstream down the center. On the matter of homosexuality being equivalent to these other behaviors, the main difference that I see is that homosexual marriages would be consensual (whether or not they are moral).