However, it seems that most of the people who object to cloning of pets do so much like the fellow in the first link above:

A critic, David Magnus, co-director of the Center for Biomedical Ethics at Stanford, said: "It's morally problematic and a little reprehensible. For $50,000, she could have provided homes for a lot of strays."

This woman had $50K (to which I say at Christmas time and house buying time and wedding time "Damn, must be nice!") to do with as she pleased. She chose to take HER money and do something that would provide HER happiness. Why is it so difficult for some people to grasp that this is not only perfectly reasonable but also perfectly admirable? Why does Mr. Magnus believe that he knows best when it comes to this woman's money?

His rebuttal, and the one in the DMN article linked second, are not really rebuttals and do nothing to add to the debate. Their statements are logically false. It does not follow that because something is good for society that an individual should do that thing. This case of the cloned kitty is no different.
6:34:29 PM  permalink  What do you think?  []  trackback []

The article goes on to say that men get aroused and want to have sex when viewing pictures of naked women while for women, desire depends on a bunch of different things. Is this really news? Did Pfizer really think that by giving women Viagra, they'd suddenly turn into sex-crazed maniacs? Obviously, the research team at Pfizer is predominantly, if not totally, male.

Evolutionary biology teaches us that males want to have sex with as many females as possible if they can get away with it. This is because if they manage to impregnate all those females, their genes have a better chance of making it into the next generation. So if you see a bunch of naked women and you are male, of course your arousal turns into desire which turns into a masturbation fest.

But if you're a woman, arousal and desire are divorced because you have to gauge how likely it is that a given man will not only impregnate you but also care for your child and barring that, give your child good enough genes that they can make it on their own. In a male, if the body is willing, the mind almost always is too because he's driven to procreate with as many females as possible, generally speaking. However in a female, just because the body is willing doesn't mean the mind is if she deems the possible mates as unworthy.

That's why it shouldn't be much of a shock that giving Viagra to women generally doesn't mean they want to have more sex. Sex for women frequently has a strong connection with the mental, whereas sex for men can be divorced from the mental. That's why the term "Coyote Ugly" has such resonance with men. Do research into affecting brain chemistry and you have a better chance of finding a drug that makes women want you. The holy grail for research scientists.
8:41:06 PM  permalink  What do you think?  []  trackback []

I used to really enjoy reading The Filibuster but based on today's readings, I begin to wonder if they've just completely lost it when it comes to the policies of the Bush administration. But even Calpundit leaves out the first part of the disclaimer from the document which you can read on his site and which I post here in its entirety:

Imagining the Unthinkable

The purpose of this report is to imagine the unthinkable – to push the boundaries of current research on climate change so we may better understand the potential implications on United States national security.

We have interviewed leading climate change scientists, conducted additional research, and reviewed several iterations of the scenario with these experts. The scientists support this project, but caution that the scenario depicted is extreme in two fundamental ways. First, they suggest the occurrences we outline would most likely happen in a few regions, rather than on globally. Second, they say the magnitude of the event may be considerably smaller.

We have created a climate change scenario that although not the most likely, is plausible, and would challenge United States national security in ways that should be considered immediately.